A Parish Built on Rockwell Drive
St. Luke Catholic Church has served the south side of Brownsville, Texas since its official establishment on January 15, 1974. The first Mass was celebrated just four days later, on January 19, at Homer Hanna High School, while the new parish church, hall, and rectory were under construction. For nearly two years the small congregation met wherever space allowed - including at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Old Port Isabel Road - waiting for the permanent home to take shape.
Bishop John J. Fitzpatrick dedicated the new church building on April 4, 1976. Monsignor Patrick Doherty served as the first pastor of St. Luke and remained with the parish until 1980. In 1992, with Father Juan Nicolau as pastor, the parish opened a religious education facility, and a gymnasium was added a year later in 1993. Today the parish is shepherded by Fr. Juan Manuel Salazar, with Deacon Javier A. Garcia assisting in ministry.
Mass Times, Confession, and the Bilingual Weekend
The weekend schedule at St. Luke brings together English and Spanish-speaking parishioners in four Masses that move from Saturday evening through Sunday night. Saturday brings the vigil Mass at 6:00 p.m. in English. Sunday begins with a Spanish Mass at 8:00 a.m., continues with an English Mass at 11:00 a.m. served in part by a youth and young adult choir, and closes with a Spanish Mass at 6:00 p.m.
The Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered every Saturday at 4:00 p.m., one hour before the vigil Mass, and at other times by appointment through the parish office. The church sits at 2800 Rockwell Drive, within parish boundaries that stretch from Highway FM 802 on the north to Boca Chica Boulevard on the south, and from 14th Street and Padre Island Highway on the east to Expressway 83/77 on the west.
The Family of Families
The parish mission statement names St. Luke a "Family of Families, Community of Communities," and lays out a three-part vision that begins with why the parish exists. In its own words, "Because we like to express and share our faith with all humankind. We know we are a unique creation from God." From that conviction flows the work of making God's presence known through the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and the sacraments, making His love present through pastoral care, peace and justice, and family life, and responding to His call through evangelization, Catholic education, and the stewardship that supports parish life.
The mission is carried out through commissions that report to quarterly Parish Pastoral Council meetings, with the pastor, church leaders, and parishioners working together toward shared goals. The parish closes its statement with this aspiration: "Let us be a special symbol of the Kingdom of Heaven - a place where peoples from many lands are gathered into one, in spirit and truth, in justice and love." A welcoming line used throughout the parish captures the same spirit: "There are no strangers at St. Luke, only friends we have yet to meet."
From First Communion to Confirmation: The Path Through CCE
Religious education for children, teens, and adults runs through the parish's CCE (Continuing Christian Education) program, which meets in person and follows the school year. Elementary children gather on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m., while middle and high school students meet on Sunday mornings from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Christian Initiation classes for adults are held on Monday evenings from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. in the CCE building.
The sacraments of initiation follow a steady timeline. Children typically begin Reconciliation preparation in first grade and receive the sacrament in second grade. Eucharist preparation begins in second grade, with First Communion usually received in third grade. Confirmation requires at least two consecutive years of CCE, with teens generally beginning in ninth grade and receiving the sacrament in tenth grade or later, once they are at least sixteen years old. More than six absences in a single year may require a student to repeat the year.
The Director of Religious Education, Mrs. Helen Vargas, leads the program with the help of DRE/CCE Assistant Mrs. Lynette Sanchez. CCE registration is by appointment on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The $50 family registration fee can be paid online through the Diocese of Brownsville or in person at the CCE office by cash or check. The parish uses the Remind app as its main form of communication with families, with separate class codes for elementary, middle school, and high school parents.
Adults preparing for the sacraments meet on Monday evenings with catechists who communicate primarily by email from cce@stlukecc.org or by text. Adult Confirmation classes are part of Christian Initiation for Adults and typically take one to three years. The parish also offers a Reconciliation Class for any adult who wishes to make a first confession.
Volunteers in the CCE Program
Because the program involves children and teens, the Diocese of Brownsville requires that adult volunteers complete Empowering God's Children training and a background check. Open roles include catechists for Wednesday evening elementary or Sunday middle and high school classes, classroom aides who help with crafts and check-in, greeting and safety volunteers who welcome families and monitor halls and bathrooms, event organizers for retreats and rallies, hospitality volunteers who set up refreshments, and office volunteers who assist the staff during large group sessions. A summer Bible Camp adds another week of need for catechists, helpers, and sponsors.
Ministries at the Altar and Beyond
Parishioners serve at Mass and throughout parish life in a number of long-standing ministries. The Altar Society is a community of women who prepare the church environment for liturgies and lead the rosary when needed; monthly meetings run from September through May, and new members are always welcome. The Choir invites youth and adults to sing or play at one of four weekend Masses - Saturday 6 p.m. in English, Sunday 8 a.m. in Spanish, Sunday 11 a.m. in English with the youth and young adult choir, and Sunday 6 p.m. in Spanish.
Lectors proclaim the readings at Mass and meet on the third Thursday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion assist with the distribution of Communion and bring Communion to parishioners who are ill; they, too, meet on the third Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Ushers welcome and seat the assembly, distribute bulletins, and oversee the offertory collection at each Mass. Altar Servers assist at the altar and in prayer; children, youth, and adults may serve once they have received First Communion, with monthly meetings on the second Saturday of the month from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Adults eighteen and older who wish to serve in any ministry that brings them alongside children or teens must complete Empowering God's Children training and a background check through the Diocese of Brownsville.
Saint Luke Intentional Disciples
The parish's youth ministry, known by the acronym SLIDe (Saint Luke Intentional Disciples), gathers Catholic young people from the parish for fellowship, faith, fun, and family. The group is led by Coordinator of Youth Ministry David Vargas, whose contact line is the same as the CCE office. The ministry's introduction invites teens to "SLIDe into the community of Catholic Youth from our parish," and explains the name this way: "We make it our INTENTION to love, listen and live out the story of the kingdom in each and every place we go!" Members serve in the ways they feel called - through a Wednesday night prayer group, altar serving, the retreat team, action teams, fellowship, liturgy, and choirs - rather than by sheer numbers.
The youth ministry maintains a Facebook page for regular updates and administers the Flores-Feist Youth Ministry Scholarship Endowment, an annual scholarship opportunity for parish teens. Adults who feel called to minister to the parish's young people are invited to contact the CCE office.
Sacraments Beyond Initiation
The parish prepares couples, adults, and the sick for the sacraments that mark the rest of the Christian journey. Engaged couples should call the parish office at least six months before the wedding date to schedule the first interview; a preparation program and a couples' retreat are part of the process. Parents and legal guardians seeking Baptism for children age seven and under may register at the parish each month, with the Baptism Preparation course to be completed within three years. For children older than seven, the family should contact the Religious Education office to enroll the child in CCE classes and meet the requirements for their age group.
For the Anointing of the Sick, the parish asks families to notify the office of any ill or homebound person who wishes to receive the sacrament. The parish shares the catechism's description of the sacrament: "the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age." Those discerning a vocation to religious life or Holy Orders can call the parish office or follow the link to the Diocese of Brownsville's Office of Vocations.
Prayer and Devotional Life
The parish's Prayer Life page gathers links to Catholic prayer resources used by the community. Among them are the daily Mass readings from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Scriptural Rosary, the Vatican Way of the Cross, the USCCB Stations of the Cross, Divine Mercy prayers from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy, the Mary Page of classical Marian prayers, Lectio Divina from Saint Andrew's Benedictine Abbey in Valyermo, California, Sacred Space daily reflections from the Irish Jesuits in twenty-one languages, and the "Bible in a Year" podcast with Father Mike Schmitz through Ascension Presents. The parish also points to a treasury of traditional Catholic novenas, prayers to Jesus and the saints through EWTN, and Eucharistic devotion resources from the USCCB.
Joining the Parish
The parish office at 2800 Rockwell Drive is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The CCE office, located in the same complex, is open Monday through Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The parish can be reached by phone at (956) 541-1480, with the religious education office on its own line at (956) 541-0184. Online giving is available through the Diocese of Brownsville, with St. Luke listed under "select organization." Weekly bulletins are published online, with past issues available for browsing and a subscription option for delivery by email.