Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: January 20, 2019
As you will know from its frequent mention in The Carpenter over the past few weeks, this weekend is Stewardship of Finance weekend here in our Parish. I’m speaking at the weekend Masses about the need for all of us to be good stewards of the material resources God has blessed us with. In plain English, that means returning a portion of these to the Lord and His holy Church.
Know that in giving you’re doing God’s will. I suspect many Catholics recall, along with the Ten Commandments, that there are five other traditional “Precepts of the Church.” (And by the way, they’re still around, listed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church at nos. 2041-2043!) The fifth one is “You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church,” so that faithful Catholics – each according to one’s means – really have a religious duty to be good Stewards of the community of the faithful. While perhaps the sin of violating that obligation isn’t confessed all that much, it remains a spiritual obligation nonetheless. We emphasize it on Stewardship of Finance weekend!
So please fill out and return the usual “commitment form” that you’ll find in this week’s issue of The Carpenter. Before doing so, pray and reflect carefully – with your spouse and the other family members who live with you and depend on you! – about the generosity you need to show in making a consistent, proportional and sacrificial offering each week or month to the Church. I really hope that you will be able to increase what you’ve been giving up until now, even if it appears to be only a slight one. Your stated intentions enable the Parish to budget and make sensible plans in the year ahead.
Already I know I can count on your generosity. To build on one of the key phrases of the Gospel (in Mt 5:16), “your light does shine” in the amount you give! My appreciation to you for your goodness can’t be understated.
Did you know that January 11 last week was the 200th birthday of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos? He was a Redemptorist priest who ministered to the sick and suffering in New Orleans at the end of his life. Known as “the Cheerful Ascetic,” he was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II during the Jubilee Year 2000. Father Seelos had an intense prayer life, and mystical gifts are attributed to him. His dedication to ministry with cheerful holiness led him to be a “spiritual father” to tens of thousands in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, Michigan and finally Louisiana before he died of yellow fever in 1867.
Here at the Cathedral we offer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick on the first Saturday of each month, immediately after the 4 pm vigil Mass. In conjunction with this, we administer a special blessing with Blessed Seelos’ relic. The relic is also available for veneration at all times in the display case in the southwest corner of the Cathedral. No, no one here in our Parish has ever been miraculously cured of illness or affliction through his intercession – yet! But many have testified to increased spiritual peace and tranquility which they have received through his help. He ministered to the sick and suffering during his life on earth; he still helps us even now! Why not discover devotion to Blessed Seelos as he celebrates (in heaven!) 200 candles on his birthday cake?
Always yours in Christ,
Rev. Paul D. Counce
