Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: September 26, 2018
October here in the Gulf South is not only a month full of football games. We hope it also turns out to be a month of significantly cooler weather! And here at the Cathedral and throughout our Diocese of Baton Rouge other important things are always going on.
The month always starts out with an annual retreat for the priests of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Priests have to make a retreat each year, and this year rather than making a private retreat elsewhere I look forward to joining my priestly brothers at the familiar Manresa Retreat House in Convent. It will be Bishop Michael Duca’s first chance to be with us as a group for an extended period of prayer and fraternity. This will help both him and us get to know each other and work together better. But it should also help reinvigorate our faith, and strengthen our commitment to priestly service both of the Lord and of you, His holy people. In the light of the challenges of doing that well in this day and age, we surely need a time to “recharge our spiritual batteries” a little bit, don’t you think?
In any case, this is why there will be no daily noontime Masses or confessions here from Monday through Thursday, October 1-4. There may be a few priests around town who will be making their retreats at other times, but they can’t be everywhere, and we know that those who come even to daily Mass are among the most understanding of all!
October also, throughout the Church in the USA, is “Respect Life” month. This month we pray with special fervor that our Church remain strong in upholding the dignity of all human life from conception until natural death. True, some feel that Catholics place undue emphasis on the sad legality of abortion in our country. We do so in defense of those who have no one else to defend them, not because we deny the importance of other issues.
And indeed, there are other “life issues.” Frankly, as I and my own peer group grow older, for us questions of the right to life and quality of life for “senior citizens” are increasingly important. Especially in some parts of Europe euthanasia rates are increasing dramatically. More and more often it’s possible for physicians and families to end the lives of persons – sometimes even against their own wills – which have become in their opinion burdensome or useless. This too is an affront against the dignity of the human person, and our God-given right to life. Although Catholics and other Christians are increasingly minorities in society, in the face of such sin we must never become a silent minority!
Don’t forget that on Sunday, October 28, we’ll again celebrate GRAND Day at the Cathedral at and after our 10:30 am Sunday Mass. Families and children are specially invited: After the special Mass we’ll have our usual indoor and outdoor party and picnic, complete with food and drink, music, a petting zoo, pony rides for youngsters, our “round the block train,” and much more! I hope to see you here for it!
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
