Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: November 29, 2020
Yes, our secular calendar still has the awful label “2020” on it, but for us Catholics we’re starting a New Year: a year of grace begins, as it always does, on the First Sunday of Advent! And in one sense, we are particularly blessed this time around: the still-omnipresent danger of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to restrict us, keeping us more to ourselves. That’s a blessing. Even if not technically “quarantined” at home due to actual exposure to the virus, we all should have more “alone time” these days as we limit contacts beyond our household. We need to make part of it “alone with the Lord time” by increasing our prayer.
Yes, now is the time to resolve to be more interiorly-focused upon God. After all, at the end of our lives He will be all that matters. In His mercy He forgives our sins if we are truly repentant of them. But He can tell whether or not we are really people of faith who are actually sorry for our sins, or if we are folks who are still just “hoping we can get away with them”. And we can tell too, as last Sunday’s Gospel account of the Last Judgment (Mt 25:31-46) reminded us: our good deeds will reveal whether we really paid attention to the Lord’s commands. Shopping this year will probably be more “online,” and gatherings with family and friends fewer and smaller. But there is still ample opportunity for us to help others.
One traditional way of caring for the poor which we have here at the Cathedral is our Advent Giving Tree. Over the next three weekends, stop by the tree in the rear of the church, and help make a needy child happy this Christmas. Either bring an unwrapped toy in a gift bag or offer a monetary donation (make checks out to “St. Joseph Cathedral”). We will forward these to the St. Vincent de Paul Society who again have offered to organize the actual gift-giving from the whole Baton Rouge community. And on the behalf of the children and their parents: thank you!
It’s a good idea for me also to remind you of an upcoming religious opportunity: Tuesday, December 8, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although it is not a holy day of obligation this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, still you may wish to wear your mask and come to our 12:00 noon Mass that day. Or stay home but make it a day of extra prayer! Under this title Mary is the Patroness of the United States of America, and goodness knows the leaders and people of our nation could use Mary’s intercession in asking God for more help in these difficult times!
Many people think mistakenly that this feast refers to Jesus’ virginal conception in Mary’s womb, but that doctrine actually is memorialized on the Solemnity of the Annunciation nine months before Christmas. This December Solemnity recalls that Mary, by another special miracle, was herself preserved free from sin all her life long, beginning at her own conception in St. Anne’s womb. She is the only fellow human being ever given such a grace by God: the rest of us are at least “infected” with the limitations traditionally called “original sin.” These are ignorance and an inclination to sin personally (a tendency toward evil that is called “concupiscence” – see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, nos. 388ff., and especially no. 405). It is especially appropriate that Mary never be scarred spiritually by sin, given her role as Jesus’ mother. Her prayers for us can be a big help in our non-miraculous but necessary overcoming of sin in our own lives.
Finally, a little bit of good news: we won’t have to cancel one Advent Saturday vigil Mass this year, since the downtown Christmas Parade has been! Yay!
Yours in the coming Christ,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
