January / February 2022

For The Good

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

If St. Paul were beginning his mission of evangelization in the year 2022, he would by necessity use all of the mediums of communication available to him. Granted, social media can definitely be used in an exaggerated manner and be an endless black hole of our time, but they also can be used “for the good.” I am incredibly grateful to our great diocesan communication team who were recently recognized for their use of social media by our local Press Association. Day in and day out, they make sure that you, the faithful of the diocese, are kept up-to-date and encouraged by the happenings around our diocese.  

I am so grateful to Bishop Guillory, our bishop-emeritus, for starting “For the Good,” our morning, 90-second presence before the 6 o’clock news hour. There isn’t a day that goes by that someone doesn’t stop me and say, “Bishop, I listen to you every morning.” I will often ask what parish they attend and thank them for their kind words. More often than not, they will tell me that they are not Catholic, but that they so appreciate a biblical word of encouragement every morning. This is certainly a wonderful method of evangelization in our community today. Most often these video messages are based on the daily Mass readings. So simple, yet I believe it has a profound impact on our community at-large. Many also don’t realize that these short clips can be viewed on our diocesan YouTube page as well as Facebook and Instagram. Find us on YouTube and Instagram @DioceseofBeaumont, on Facebook @CatholicDioceseofBeaumont. 

If you use any of these methods of social media, I would like to encourage you to sign up and evangelize family and friends by forwarding things that touch your heart or share upcoming events happening in our parish communities that you read about on these platforms. There is so much good happening in our Church around Southeast Texas, but often people are unaware. Wouldn’t it be great if all carefully planned and beautifully presented events were full to capacity? Obviously, we are still coming out of the pandemic and some people are still reticent, but your personal invitation is sometimes all it takes for someone to attend an event or be involved. By staying connected to the diocese you can be better informed and help promote our diocese and our faith and can also advise us on how we can do better. 

If you are reading this message you already subscribe to our beautiful ETC Magazine, and I hope you are always encouraged by the things you read. Please always feel free to share your thoughts with our communications department, or stories that you would like to see, after all this is our magazine! ([email protected]) We always want to better serve the needs of our faithful throughout the Diocese of Beaumont.  
Similarly, if you have ideas or thoughts on how we can do better as a Church, or if you have something to share with Pope Francis as he prepares for the Synod on the Universal Church, please feel free to email us at [email protected]. Thank you to all of you who took the time to share your thoughts in our recent parish survey. I look forward to studying the results and sharing with you an overview of how we are doing as a Diocese in the coming months. Your Church cares, and your thoughts matter. May the Lord continue to strengthen His Church so that each of us might be the best we can be and make a difference in our world. St. Paul’s example of evangelization teaches us all to share the Good News with our family, friends and co-workers. Thank you for helping us build up the Kingdom together for the good of our community. 

Sincerely yours in Christ, 

Bishop David L. Toups