Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: September 15, 2019
Dear Parishioners and Friends,This weekend here at the Cathedral I’ll be addressing the need for all of us to embrace an active Stewardship of Ministry as part of Parish life. Although I haven’t yet finished thinking about what I’ll say yet, I do want to mention something here, since it’s an often-misunderstood part of our Catholic faith.
On one of the walls of the Saints’ practice facility in Metairie is a HUGE poster of their coach, Sean Payton, telling them “Do Your Job!” It’s a good reminder to the football team of course, but it also is directed at us, as members of the Church.
Some people think that it’s enough for someone to be a Catholic in name only. Lots of others are Catholic, but only when they want to be – usually at family baptisms, weddings and the like, as well as (probably) Christmas and Easter. Others do worship at Mass on Sundays and holy days, but that’s all. In every one of these situations, frankly, we’re NOT “doing our job!”
Our job is not just to pretend, but actually to be a Catholic! This means embracing a life of Total Stewardship, returning to the Lord some of the blessings He has given to us. It means spending time with God (Stewardship of Prayer), sharing financially with the Church and needy (Stewardship of Finance), and participating actively in our religious life and works (Stewardship of Ministry).
Our job then is not just to come to Church. We need to be active in some way. Sure, many Church ministries happen at Mass – reading, distributing communion, serving as acolyte or usher, for example – but many other important things happen behind the scenes. Just note the long list on page 4 of The Carpenter this week!
I don’t want to sound mean. Sure, there are some whose health and other responsibilities limit the time they can give to active Church ministry, even the more sedentary ones. But when you read in the Gospels the rather plain warnings of Jesus that not just the sinful but the lazy and uninvolved will not be saved – see Matthew 25:44-46, for example! – we should all be asking, “Do I do enough?” This weekend, as we focus on our Stewardship of Ministry, I hope each of us can give a more positive answer to this question!
Finally, I just wanted to say something else. Two more words of gratitude, actually. Now that the Memorial Mass for my sister Amy Counce has been celebrated, I have to thank everyone who expressed condolences and sympathy to my family and me at our loss. Amy was a super-special sibling, and also a widely-known and -respected member of the Baton Rouge community as well, and we will miss her. Your sharing our bereavement has made it easier to bear, and for that we all thank you. And in a special way I want to express our appreciation to the Cathedral staff and ministers who went “above and beyond” in helping my family with the Memorial Mass events, especially Lorie, Carla and José, and David, Pheriché, Andy, Dickie, Caitlyn, Connor and Sean. Knowing we could depend on you made it so much easier! Thanks!
Yours always in Christ,
Fr. Paul
