Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: July 08, 2018
Well! My column in The Carpenter this week was going to lead with another discussion of the new Sunday Mass schedule I announced this past weekend. But as we all found out last week, after last weekend’s bulletin had been printed, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Michael Duca of Shreveport to be the next Bishop of Baton Rouge!
I was out-of-town (doing some work in the Archdiocese of Newark for the Canon Law Society of America) when the announcement of the new bishop was made, so actually I missed most of the excitement. I did watch a re-run of the press conference from the Catholic Life Center, and from the warm welcome and all of the excited smiles it was clear that Bishop Duca was truly impressive in his own joy, warmth, humanity and holiness. While I’m sure that for Bishop Muench and his top aide Father Ranzino, and their staffs, it was more frantic than fun for a while – especially right on the heels of Bishop Muench’s little health scare from heat exhaustion at the end of his Jubilee Mass on June 24 – the whole hectic presentation of the new bishop seems to have gone extremely well. You’ve probably heard the old saying, “You only have one chance to make a first impression.” Well, it seems that Bishop Duca made a great first impression – I think we’re very fortunate to be receiving him as our new chief shepherd.
Bishop Duca’s warm welcome will continue here at the Cathedral Parish, where I hope we soon get to know him both as our new bishop and also as a good friend. He’s actually already said Mass here a number of times for our Catholic legislators, and visited on a few other occasions. We’ll certainly be seeing a lot of him in the future, and not just at his Installation Mass here on Friday, August 24, at 2 pm. I do need to mention that admission to the Cathedral for that service will be by ticket only, but there will be a special evening prayer service the night before and open to the public at the new St. George Church. Please consider taking part!
Okay, now that I’ve mentioned the big news of last week, let’s move on to the big news of this past weekend. As you know, the diocesan Pastoral Planning Task Force established by Bishop Muench has, over the past few years, been wrestling with the problems brought on by demographic changes and the shortage of priests within our local Church. Quite a few neighboring Parishes have been amalgamated with nearby ones, and even a few church buildings closed. Other recommendations have been urged by the bishop and Task Force, including a strong appeal to re-evaluate and then reduce parochial Mass schedules wherever possible. This is known to be a big help to our ever-aging clergy as well as enabling better worship, since principles of good liturgy urge that Sunday Mass be better attended.
Accordingly, here at St. Joseph’s we’ve discussed this for more than two years. While the time did not seem ripe to me in 2016, attendance here has not increased even though income has remained steady and adequate. Our liturgical ministries are stretched too thin. My own health is generally good, but standing for long periods is becoming more difficult. The members of the parochial Pastoral Council have been in agreement for some time in recommending a change in the Mass schedule. It’s finally time, I think, to make the change. This is all something you heard from me this past weekend at all of the Masses.
Therefore, as I announced, here at the Cathedral beginning August 5, Sunday Mass is at 8:30 am and 10:30 am only. We will have coffee-and-doughnuts after the early Mass only, and the children’s Nursery will be open in the Parish Hall during the later Mass. Please realize that this change is being made in hopes of enhancing our attendance and worship at those two Masses, and while it will take some getting used to it should not be too inconvenient for all of us to adjust. Although we’ll talk more about this during the coming month, I want already to thank you for your understanding and support!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
