Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: June 04, 2017
I’m usually scared to guess what the average Catholic knows about any particular aspect of our religion. Intelligent people who can remember sports scores, the names of all their relatives, and every line of every movie they’ve ever seen still often have a tough time remembering what they were taught in catechism class or Catholic school, apparently!
Yet I’m pretty confident that most every Catholic will connect the Sacrament of Confirmation with the Holy Spirit. It’s the most significant celebration of the powerful, living, active presence of God with us.
So it’s a real joy that here at the Cathedral we get to celebrate Confirmation each year on the feast day that’s also most-connected to the Holy Spirit: the great Solemnity of Pentecost. The first coming of the Holy Spirit described in the Acts of the Apostles was quite dramatic – tongues of flame, a mighty wind, an earthquake, after all – but we try to do a pretty good job here as well, with fire added to the usual billowing incense and grand music which characterize our special celebrations.
As I write this column, 99 adults and young adults from all over the Diocese of Baton Rouge are scheduled to be confirmed by Bishop Robert Muench this weekend at our 12 noon Pentecost Sunday Mass. Among them are three of our Cathedral parishioners: Kayla Marie Filostrat, Joey Michael Moffett, and Joseph George-Michael Patrick. Please pray for everyone who will be receiving this sacrament and so completing their Christian Initiation this weekend: may their lived faith be a powerful witness to the reality of God and effectiveness of the Church in making Him known!
Remember that this coming Saturday, June 10, at 10 am Bishop Muench will ordain seven “permanent deacons” for our diocese. They are Stephen G. Brunet and Kirk W. Duplantis of Immaculate Conception Parish in Denham Springs; William L. “Byrd” Corbett and Timothy T. Messenger, Sr., of St. Joseph Parish in Ponchatoula; George J. Hooper of St. Thomas More Parish in Baton Rouge; Minos J. Ponville, Jr., of St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Baton Rouge; and Gary C. Mooney of St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish in St. Gabriel.
As we announced last week, Gary Mooney has been assigned to St. Joseph Parish as Deacon Assistant effective July 1! He and his wife Sue are looking forward to meeting everyone here and doing whatever they can to assist in prayer and ministry here.
Sincerely in the Lord who shares with us His Spirit,
Fr. Paul
