Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: August 02, 2020
Sometimes I use up all of the space allotted for my weekly column in The Carpenter writing about one idea. This is NOT one of those times! As I sit down to compose something, there are many things whirling through my head that deserve to be shared. The common thread running through them is that each begins with a feeling!
The first is my feeling of intense gratitude to our wonderful parishioners and friends who continue to support St. Joseph Cathedral Parish with their financial offerings in these difficult times. Although our weekly attendance now has risen to just more than half of what we “used to get” before the Covid19 pandemic, our income is only down about ten per cent. That’s remarkable! Whether you drop an envelope or check into the baskets at church or your bank forwards your donation each month, know that your generosity is appreciated greatly! God will remember you for it, too, I’m sure!
In line with this is a feeling of fond remembrance to a departed parishioner of ours. Mr. Richard McCabe Cointment, Jr., was a fixture in the farthest back pew at our 4 pm Saturday vigil Mass for close to 60 years. Although he had slowed down a lot before his death at age 91 in January 2019, he was a proud supporter of the Cathedral. Dick Cointment left the Parish a sizeable bequest in his will, and just this past week the last steps finalizing the legal establishment of the Richard McCabe Cointment Family Endowment for St. Joseph Cathedral at the Baton Rouge Area Foundation were filed. Could I ask everyone to say a prayer now and then for the repose of his soul, and in gratitude to God for his generosity? Because of his kindness in this life, we all know the Lord will bless him richly in eternal life.
As a result of this, I have a feeling of duty: please think similar thoughts yourself! Remembering the Cathedral’s dedicated funds in your will – or setting up a “living trust” if you don’t want to wait that long! – is a most effective way to provide for the needs of our beloved Cathedral Parish. Such gifts “keep on giving,” as the old saying goes. St. Joseph’s is the oldest existing church building in Baton Rouge, and as we all know its maintenance, operating, and beautification costs are steep. Thank God and thank goodness that our parishioners have always been known for immense, sacrificial generosity!
Now, indulge me with one more mention of congratulations to our “First Communion class” of 2020: Miss Alexis Shows, Miss Cecile Cazes, and Miss Lillie Madden. They received our blessed Lord for the first time in His gift of the Most Holy Eucharist last month – and almost certainly are still “keeping count” of how many times they’ve shared in the Blessed Sacrament since! In a way, their simple joy and youthful eagerness to receive Jesus helps revive similar desires in our older, sometimes more tired hearts. We became Baton Rouge’s first Eucharistic community in 1792, and it’s reassuring that our children remind us that we still are one!
Now not all feelings are warm, good ones. My heart has been aching quite a bit for our Director of Music, Mr. David Summers, ever since the coronavirus pandemic “shut down” our choir and most of our congregational singing back in March. He and our cantor, Mr. Andy Plaisance, have been trying to patch together familiar music with other antiphonal and solo pieces as best they can, so that our weekend worship maintain the beauty and musical coherence that proper Catholic liturgy demands. But it’s frustrating for him, surely, to be so limited in this time, without the supporting vocalists, arrangements and hymnals that add so much to our prayer. David, we’re with you, buddy! Hang in there!
Finally, as we welcome Bishop Duca back from his all-too-short vacation, let’s all of us together do our best to strengthen a feeling of hope. That’s the bishop’s personal motto, you know: “Hope in the Lord.” As our struggles with the limitations on activity and business due to the Covid19 virus continue – and apparently long into the future – it’s all to easy to fall into the trap of discouragement. While it may be natural to grow emotionally weary at times, we need to recall that for believing Christians, God’s power will always triumph. As St. Paul reminded the Romans in last Sunday’s Second Reading, “We know that all things work out for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28). The Lord is not going to forsake or forget us, even if we must share in His Son’s Passion a bit more in these trying times. If we hold fast in hope, in confident trust in God, we shall never be separated from God’s love.
Yours in the Lord’s Providence,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
