Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: January 03, 2021
Dear Parishioners and Friends,
Happy New Year! I think most of us at some point during 2020 longed to see this, far more than we’ve anticipated January 1 in the past.
The Christmas season doesn’t really end until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord on January 10, but didn’t it seem that many people began celebrating it even earlier than usual this year? I guess we were all trying to ward off some “Covid blues”! Still, I hope the seasonal feasts of the Lord’s Nativity, of the Holy Family, of St. Mary herself, and of the Epiphany have been good experiences for you and your household.
I do want to offer formal thanks to everyone who helped with our holiday celebrations, especially with décor. Our beautiful Christmas trees are obtained through GreenSeasons Landscaping, and Robert Heroman and his assistants at Billy Heroman’s Florists do the bulk of their lighting and the rest of the decorating and arranging of poinsettias, garlands, wreaths, bows and ribbons. Our cantor, Andy Plaisance, is “in charge” of our seasonal banners and altar cloths, and our “maintenance lady” Carla Kennedy takes care of our candles and candlestands. I know I speak for everyone in sharing our gratitude for their work.
You know, this year is the first year since I can remember that we’ve used white poinsettias (with gold ribbons in the trees) instead of red ones. There was no real significance behind this: I just figured that hey, we certainly could try something different, since our whole experience of 2020 was different! Whatcha think?
This is the season of New Year’s “resolutions,” of course. There is certainly nothing wrong with using the occasion of a new year to make a fresh start in anything called “self-improvement”: exercising, eating less but more healthy foods, drinking less – or at least for the taste and not the buzz – that sort of thing.
Yet one thing we could all consider is “other improvement”. Some people have immense needs, especially of the financial sort. In the current pandemic many have lost their good health, and many more have lost their livelihoods. Yet others have smaller needs, although still important ones. I’m thinking here of the need for a card, or conversation, or comfort – or a small gift of sweets or a potted plant or something else reassuring. To benefit others instead of self is the epitome of Christian life. Could you perhaps do something to address situations like this once a month in 2021?
We can also act selflessly as part of our obligation to be good stewards of God’s blessings to us – in time, talent and treasure. In these ways we give back to God and His holy Church. Any resolution you make along these lines wins blessings from the Lord and deep appreciation by those on the receiving end of your gifts. In this vein I do want to mention that St. Joseph Cathedral Parish recently received a sizable bequest from the late Mrs. Helen Price Langlois. She remembered us in her last will and testament, and her gift has been placed into our “trust funds” with the Baton Rouge Area Foundation so that her generosity will continue to produce benefits for our Parish community in perpetuity. We are so grateful to her for what she did in her earthly life, and continue to commend her to the Lord even in the peace of death.
In Him who has shown Himself our Savior,
Very Rev. Paul D. Counce
