Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: January 24, 2016
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Since 2016 sees an especially early Lent and Easter, it’s not too soon to begin looking at the calendar and making plans especially to place the right kind of priority on our spiritual lives in these special seasons.
Of course, even before Lent begins we here in Louisiana are caught up in the carnival season! This affects our Parish calendar a bit, since we have to be smart and not try to hold services at the same time as downtown parades! Specifically, on Saturday, January 30 and Saturday, February 6, our Saturday afternoon 3 pm confessions and 4 pm vigil Masses are cancelled. Make sure you note this on your calendar as well! As we like to say: “Come downtown on Saturday for the parades, and then again on Sunday for church!”
I certainly hope you enjoy the festivities which end on Mardi Gras, February 9. Whether you enjoy the parades and parties, or prefer to use the holidays as quiet or family time, if your Mardi Gras brings you ready to immerse yourself in the repentance and spiritual renewal that Lent is supposed to mean, then you did it right!
Ash Wednesday on February 10 begins the Lenten season; Masses here will be at 7 am, 12 noon and 5 pm, with distribution of ashes at all Masses. While not a legal “holy day of obligation,” it is sort of a “popular day of obligation,” as we express to God both sorrow for our sins and a firm purpose to make amends for them.
On the First Sunday of Lent, over 1,200 people from across the Diocese of Baton Rouge come to the Cathedral for celebrations of the bishop’s Rite of Election. In these two massive ceremonies, Bishop Muench decides (“elects”) to authorize the admission into the Catholic Church the many hundreds of catechumens and candidates for full communion who have been preparing for this by participation in their parochial RCIA processes. This year it will be necessary for us to cancel our 12 noon Sunday Mass that day, in order to provide for the best possible schedule of these two additional services.
On the Wednesdays of Lent, we host a 5 pm Holy Hour, with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, closing with Benediction. We also offer the Sacrament of Penance (confession) for extended noontime hours on weekdays and during that Holy Hour. Of course, you’re always encouraged to take part in daily Mass at noontime, and in the “Stations of the Cross” which are prayed on Fridays in church at 11:30 am.
One “new” thing this Lent will be our Parish’s participation in the “One Book, One Church” program sponsored by the diocesan Office of Christian Formation. Each of us is being encouraged read The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming, a short book written in 1992 by the late Father Henri Nouwen. It offers wonderful insights into prayer and forgiveness. While this can be done alone, I’m encouraging our parishioners and friends to read it and then come together in faith-sharing groups: one large one will meet here in our Parish Hall on Tuesday evenings during Lent, but even more you’re encouraged to gather parishioners and friends in your neighborhood, perhaps at your house or a different home each week. The book itself is available online and in local bookstores, and we have quite a few copies at the Parish Office as well. A free discussion-guide also has been developed for use in this diocesan program, so appropriate for the special Jubilee Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis. No, it’s not mandatory that you participate, but yes, you will draw closer to God and become holier if you do!
Yours in the Lord Jesus,
