Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: July 24, 2016
What a horrible Sunday! While the previous week of confrontation and protest was terrible for Baton Rouge, the wanton murder of law enforcement officers here was even more horrendous. While we were trying to worship and pray together and so make some progress away from prejudiced and violent ways, we were all shocked by news of more cowardly destruction directed against brave men who we all depend on to keep us safe. We live in such a wonderful, diverse community – while we do have our problems there is much evidence that we have slowly been making progress in overcoming these. Now, we will just have to begin again.
First of all, then, we must pray: for the repose of the souls of those killed, and then for the survivors and for all of their families. The Lord has taken those who have died unto Himself – a wonderful place to be! – but so many hurting persons remain with us and He has entrusted them into our care. We will do honor to the dead by the way we treat the living.
Our prayers also need to continue so that we can become closer to the Lord. Cultivate His presence in life! If we find ourselves distanced from God, we will similarly be far from our neighbor. So I continue to urge people to join in with the diocesan effort to pray, fast and reflect on how to become holier and more attuned to the needs of others.
As I write this, plans are being made for a special afternoon of adoration and prayer this Sunday, July 24. Bishop Muench will celebrate the 12 noon Mass that day, and at its conclusion expose the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance for adoration. The Cathedral will then remain open all afternoon so that people from throughout our city and diocese can come and spend some time in prayer and reflection. (The quiet of the afternoon will be interrupted a few times for shared prayer like the Rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, but for the most part everyone in attendance will be “alone with the Lord” in their personal prayer.) The afternoon will conclude with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 6 pm.
Other parishes are surely making special efforts to provide prayer time and other opportunities for discernment as well. Make plans to join us here or at other churches. It would also be good if more people would affiliate with the various civic groups such as Together Baton Rouge. This is a way to influence the direction in which needed reforms within our community can proceed, and to become active in such efforts. As I said in last week’s Bulletin, “Prayer is needed, but if we don’t do more than that we can rightly be accused of laziness and hypocrisy. Persons of every economic class, race, language group and political affiliation need to put aside entrenched preconceptions and preconditions that prevent progress. Real efforts at being people of justice, tolerance, and willingness to engage in difficult dialogue – and change when necessary – are what are called-for.”
Let me close by dealing with less tension-filled subjects. For one, I do wish to thank everyone who took part in our Parish Pot Luck Supper last weekend. The food was good but the time spent together just enjoying each other’s company was even better! Second, I want to make sure everyone has already marked down Sunday, September 25, on their calendar: it will be our 8th annual GRAND Day, honoring grandchildren and grandparents with a special Mass and festival afterwards! If you’ve ever been a grandchild, you’re invited!!
What about the forthcoming change in our Sunday Mass schedule, you ask? The diocesan Pastoral Plan has been released to the clergy, and will be made public in September. Part of that plan urges a reduction in Mass schedules whenever possible – in fact it makes it clear that eventual coordination of such things among neighboring parishes will eventually be the practice. But it doesn’t seem that we have to proceed before then – and the Parish’s Pastoral Council was not eager to rush things – so at present I’m inclined to leave things as they are through September at least. Keep on inviting your friends to join you on week ends at the Cathedral: another thousand people in the pews each weekend would be a powerful argument in favor of the status quo, I tell you!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Father Paul
