Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: May 26, 2019
This weekend is a busy one but a wonderful one! Saturday, May 25, two transitional deacons, Tim Grimes and John Vu, will be ordained priests of the Diocese of Baton Rouge by Bishop Michael Duca. This will be Bishop Duca’s first ordinations here for our diocese and in our beautiful Cathedral church. Everyone is invited to the ordination Mass and to the reception immediately afterwards in our Parish Hall.
Then, the next day, Sunday, May 26, at our Parish’s 10:30 am Eucharist, Father Grimes will celebrate his “First Mass of Thanksgiving” here! He and his family have considered the Cathedral as their Parish for many years, so it’s fitting that he offers his “First Mass” in our midst. Of course, all parishioners and friends are invited to this special Mass and to the reception which will follow as well!
One additional aspect to the Ordination and “First Mass” that’s kind of neat revolves around Tim’s parents: Bill and Jan Grimes are both musicians, and in fact they are retired professors from the LSU School of Music. They have collaborated closely with the diocesan Worship Office and our parish musicians in deciding on and then arranging much of the music which will be part of these two celebrations! I can’t wait to hear it all!
Of course, what’s most important about our priestly ordinations is that these men have made the generous decision to devote their lives to Christ and His holy Church here in our midst. This calls for much prayer on our part for Fathers Grimes and Vu, who have been assigned to parishes in the southwestern part of our diocese. I also hope that many more young men – and even from time to time some “not so young” men! – will notice the tug on their hearts that God makes, drawing them to consider lives of priestly service. As you’ve heard me say many times, it’s a most rewarding life and very much a possible choice for sincere men of integrity and purpose! Please, guys: that “crazy idea” you just can’t stop thinking about may well be God’s way of inviting you to discern becoming a seminarian for us!
In the meantime, our Parish’s life goes on. We’re preparing to hire roofers to climb their ladders onto the rectory and office roofs, repairing holes and other damage, and replacing the original shingles and flashings and other elements up there. Since each is partially a flat roof and also partially a hipped roof, it’s a bit more complicated a design. This doubtless makes repair and replacement issues more complicated and expensive: sigh!
We’ll also be hiring a new janitor in the next week or so. Don’t think that this is easy: it’s actually quite difficult to find someone who is a “good fit” for what is an extremely necessary but also rather monotonous job! Setup and takedown of space, with sweeping and mopping and buffing of floors, coupled with needed mowing, trimming and leaf-blowing, is an underappreciated role in our Parish’s life, I’ll admit, but it’s work which must be done and done dependably and well. If you know of someone who might fill this role, please let me or Mrs. Lorie Weeks, our Director of Operations, know!
Yours in the Risen Lord,
Fr. Paul D. Counce
