ST. BENILDE. ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 1901 Division Street Metairie, Louisiana 70001

Transcription

1 Sunday, September 4, 2016 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time ORDINARY FAMILIES EXTRAORDINARY FAITH ST. BENILDE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH 1901 Division Street Metairie, Louisiana Church Office: (504) Church Fax: (504) Church CLERGY Rev. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor Rev. H.L. Brignac, Sacramental Asst. Deacon Biaggio DiGiovanni Deacon Stephen Gordon Deacon Clifford Wright BAPTISMS First and Third Sundays of the month at 12 Noon. Please call the Parish Office for more information. MATRIMONY Please contact a priest/deacon 8 months prior to your wedding. FUNERALS Arrangements may be made at the Parish Office. MASS TIMES Saturday Vigil 4 p.m. Sunday 9:00, 11:00 a.m. & 6 p.m. Monday Friday 7:00 a.m. Monday and Thursday 5:30 p.m. First Saturday 8:45 a.m. HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION See Inside the Bulletin for Schedule CONFESSION TIMES Saturday 3:00 3:45 p.m. Sunday 5:00 5:45 p.m. Monday 6:00 6:45 p.m. and by appointment at the Parish Office DIVINE MERCY ADORATION CHAPEL Eucharistic Adoration from 7:00 p.m. Sunday till 4:00 p.m. Saturday DEVOTIONS Holy Hour in Church Monday, 6:00-7:00 p.m. Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Following 7 a.m. Mass on Tuesday NEWCOMERS Call the Parish Office to receive a New Parishioner Registration Packet. ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY St. Benilde Conference (504) ST. BENILDE SCHOOL Mr. Matt Downey, Principal 1801 Division Street Metairie, LA (504)

2 St. Benilde Catholic Church Ministers of the Liturgy September 3 & 4, 2016 Saturday - 4 P.M. Intention: Joseph Segari, George Spaulding, Roy Carubba (L), Josephine Meyer, Rosita Martinez, Laura Eagan, Barbara Burke, Sabella Family, Reparation Sacred Heart, Marian & Auburn Quigley, Hubert LaBorde, Flora Maria Be, Patrick McKinney, Merle & Charles Dittmer, Rose Marie Greco Federico R. Aucoin, C. Castente Cantor: Trish Foti Sunday - 9 A.M. Intention: Parishioners M. Evola, P. Fleming, C. & R. Ayers Song Leaders: Traditional Choir Sunday - 11 A.M. Intention: Rev. Joseph Cazenavette (L), Sharon Marino (L), Melvin Ducote, Poor Souls, Lionel Scott, Jr., JoAnn Meyer, Gerry Golemi, Pierre Dewey LaFontaine, Eileen Gernon Joseph Donald Bernard, Kelvin Ducote Dianne Z. Harrison, Rev. Danilo C. Digal, C. & T. Pitre, J. Ackermann, J. Wright Song Leaders: Contemporary Choir Sunday - 6 P.M. Intention: Jay Champagne A. Calongne, B. Henry Cantor: Lauren Gisclair Pianist: Beth Kettenring Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekday Masses 7:00 a.m. Don Rowan, Sr. 5:30 p.m. Janet Dares 7:00 a.m. Maria Mercedes Cabrera 7:00 a.m. Florence Duncan 7:00 a.m. Alice Lowrie 8:15 a.m. Special Intention (L) 5:30 p.m. Special Intention 7:00 a.m. Edward F. McCabe II The Church Sanctuary Lamp burns in memory of The Souls in Purgatory The Blessed Mother Votive Lamps burn For Protection During the Hurricane Season The St. Joseph Votive Lamps burn in Thanksgiving for a Prayer Answered Adoration Chapel Sanctuary Lamp burns in memory of Stuart and Gloria Fourroux Adoration Chapel Candles burn in memory of Shirley and Philip Zanco, Jr. Altar Ladies Week of September 4 M. Curry, G. Boling Linens Large - F. Alvarez Small - C. Oleksik The Altar Flowers are in memory of Deceased Parishioners

3 St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 34 Issue 36 Stewardship of Treasure Weekend of August 27 & 28 Envelopes.$2, Loose...3, Electronic Giving..0 Repairs & Maintenance Msgr. Richaud Fund Totaling $6, Mission Collection..$1, Let us focus on generosity, or returning God s gifts with increase, through the generous sharing of our time, talent and treasure. ~ Fr. Cooper Archdiocesan Confession Night Archbishop Aymond is asking all churches in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to have a light on in the confessional on Wednesday, September 14, as a sign that Christ is not only the light of the world but one who is eager to forgive and to heal us. St. Benilde Catholic Church will offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation on September 14 from 5 6:30p.m. If you have been away from the Sacrament of Reconciliation, we invite you to come back to God s loving mercy and forgiveness. R.C.I.A. Begins Soon The R.C.I.A.(Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) is a set of sessions to share with others the truths of the Catholic faith. The program is open to those who have never been baptized, baptized Christians seeking to become Catholic, and Catholics desiring a better knowledge of their faith. Weekly meetings are held on Mondays, beginning September 12, at 7:30 p.m., in the library. Please call the Parish Office for more information. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion Sept. 10/11 4 PM P. Delaup, E. Van Hoven 9 AM J. Tusa, P. Cifreo, R. Meche, R. Theriot 11 AM J. Hutchinson, R. Oleksik, S. Gordon, L. Peters 6 PM L. Daigle, B. David Out Of Reverence For The Lord Jesus who so generously shares with us His Body and Blood in the Eucharist, worshipers are earnestly invited to remain with the congregation until Mass is concluded. Friends of the Poor Walk The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is sponsoring a Friends of the Poor Walk on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Laketown Park & Walking Path, Kenner. Onsite registration begins at 8 a.m. The one-mile walk will start at 9 a.m. Music and refreshments will be provided from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Overflow parking is available in the Treasure Chest Casino parking lot. Walkers are to solicit and collect pledges. Donations appreciated. Next weekend SVDP members will be at all the Masses with more information, registration forms, and accepting donations. Forms for preregistration are also available in the Parish Office or online at This is an important fundraiser for our SVDP because all money raised at St. Benilde stays in this Parish. Thank you for your generous support of our efforts to help the less fortunate in our Parish.

4 St. Benilde Catholic Church Fr. Cooper s Corner The Mercy of the Holy Eucharist The celebration of the Eucharist, in words made famous by the Second Vatican Council, is the source and summit, the font and apex, the alpha and omega of the Christian life. It s the starting point from which everything in the Christian life flows, and it is the goal toward which everything goes. Therefore the Eucharist must likewise be the root and fruit of the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. There is a deep, intrinsic connection between God s mercy and the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. When Jesus consecrated the chalice of His Precious Blood, He said He was explicitly doing so for the remission of sins. In the Divine Mercy devotion, the apparitions of Jesus to St. Faustina in the 1930s, which the Church has found worthy of belief, Jesus asked us to offer to the Father His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world. St. Thomas Aquinas, in his famous Adoro Te Devote, written by papal commission for the first celebration of Corpus Christi in 1264, beautifully commented, O Lord Jesus, Holy Pelican, cleanse me totally clean with your blood, one drop of which is enough to save the whole world from every sin. In Medieval symbolism, the Pelican willingly rips open her breast and bleeds to death so that her children may live off her blood, and St. Thomas says Christ did that for us to redeem us from our sins and ensure our eternal survival, highlighting the connection between God s mercy and his Eucharistic self-giving. St. John Paul II emphasized in his 2003 encyclical on the Eucharist that the two sacraments of the Eucharist and Penance are very closely connected and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in his 2007 Eucharistic exhortation added that love for the Eucharist leads to a growing appreciation of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This connection was illustrated in a particularly beautiful and poignant way in the life of the patron saint of priests, St. John Vianney, who heard Confessions hours a day for 31 years so that, he said, his people and penitents from all over 19 th century France would be able worthily to receive Holy Communion. And that connection between these two Sacraments is reemphasized in the ministry of confessors today all over the world. Pope Francis has himself stressed that the Eucharist is not a prize for the perfect, but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak. The Eucharist is itself a Sacrament of Mercy, strengthening us from the inside to live our life in loving communion with Christ and helping us to make our life truly Eucharistic, so that with Christ we may do this in memory of Him, offering our own body, blood, soul, sweat, tears, work, and all we are and have out of love for God and others. St. John Paul II reminded us, however, of the perennial teaching of the Church, that the celebration of the Eucharist, however, cannot be the starting-point for communion; it presupposes that communion already exists, a communion that it seeks to consolidate and bring to perfection. The Eucharist requires that it be celebrated in communion, by someone persevering in sanctifying grace and love, remaining within the Church bodily as well as in our heart. Reaffirming the clear teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the saintly pontiff stated, Anyone conscious of a grave sin must receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation before coming to communion. It s important to underline this intrinsic connection between the Sacraments of Penance and the Eucharist because, as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote in 2007, we are surrounded by a culture that tends to eliminate the sense of sin and to promote a superficial approach that overlooks the need to be in a state of grace in order to

5 St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 34: Issue 36 approach sacramental communion worthily. It would be a severe failure in mercy, a gross spiritual malpractice, for the Church not to stress this perennial doctrine and discipline: that before one receives Jesus Christ in Holy Communion one must be in communion of life, restored often by God s mercy in the Sacrament of Penance. The reason behind this truth was stressed by St. Paul when he declared, Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord, in other words, for the Lord s death. Since to receive Jesus unworthily is sinful and Jesus died for our sins, anyone who received Jesus unworthily is guilty of His death. Therefore, the Apostle warned, A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself (1 Cor 11:27-29). St. Thomas Aquinas harrowingly illustrated St. Paul s point in the Lauda Sion Salvatorem, reminding us that the Bread of Life (Jn 6:48) becomes the bread of death for those who consume Jesus in the state of sin: Sumunt boni, sumunt mali, sorte tamen inaequali, vitae vel interitus. Mors est malis, vita bonis: vide paris sumptionis quam sit dispar exitus, the Doctor of the Church insisted. Both good and bad receive, but to unequal ends, one to life and the other to the tomb. Death to the bad, life to the good; behold how different the outcome of a similar ingestion. When one receives unworthily, the Sacrament becomes a sacrilege; the spiritual medicine becomes for that person it s shocking to say a form of spiritual poison. Receiving Holy Communion is meant to be the consummation of the loving union between Jesus the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church (and the individual bride, a human soul), when the Bride takes within her the Body of the Bridegroom and becomes one flesh with Him. Similar to relations between a man and a woman, however, what is meant to be an act of mutual love and sanctification becomes seriously sinful when the man and woman have not been joined by God in a one-flesh loving communion. An analogous sin of existential incoherence happens with those who receive Jesus without already being joined to Him in a communion of grace in life, who do not have the intention to leave sin behind and faithfully persevere in saying I do! in total sacramental, doctrinal, and moral union of life with Christ. In an age in which many approach Holy Communion superficially, akin to receiving birthday cake at a birthday party, this teaching of the Church might seem unwelcoming or lacking in mercy. But it s actually the pinnacle of mercy. The Church invites everyone to the Banquet, per Jesus famous Parable (Mt 22:12), while at the same time committing herself to helping everyone arrive properly dressed, restored to their Baptismal garments lest the greatest Gift of all serve to their ruin rather than resurrection. It is this intrinsic requirement for one to be in the state of grace to receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist worthily that helps all those who desire to receive Jesus in Holy Communion appreciate more deeply and avail themselves more frequently of the Sacrament of Penance. It is through the Sacrament of Mercy that Mercy incarnate Himself prepares us to receive Him through the hands and prayers of the same priests through whom He gives us His Body and Blood. Just as Jesus at the beginning of the Last Supper washed the feet of His disciples and cleansed them of the filth that had accumulated through contact with the world, so He continues to wash us in the Sacrament of his Mercy of any filth accumulated since the bath of Baptism. This is the means by which He out of love helps us participate fully and worthily in the Sacred Banquet of His Body and Blood.

6 EVENING OF PRAYER IN HONOR OF THE HOLY NAME of Mary ST. BENILDE CATHOLIC CHURCH Monday, September 12, 2016 Beginning with Holy Mass: 5:30 p.m. CELEBRANT: Fr. Robert Cooper, Pastor and continuing with Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament until 10 p.m. With private and congregational prayer At 7:15 p.m., there will be a talk given by Paul Maclean, Lay Coordinator of the Office of the New Evangelization for the Diocese of Houma, Thibodaux. He was commissioned in 2013 by Bishop Sam Jacobs and currently serves under Bishop Shelton Fabre. Paul travels throughout South Louisiana making presentations on many topics directed toward evangelization and the promotion of adoration chapels. Paul will be speaking to us about the unique role of South Louisiana in these times and our Blessed Mother s role concerning this. Paul has both informed us and has been a source of inspiration and hope with his presentations to us many times throughout the history of the Prayer Warriors of St. Joan of Arc. For more info call: Hazel Cannon ( ); Cindy Hemelt ( ); Maggie Pruett ( ), Pauline Lee ( ) Sponsored by St. Benilde Parish in conjunction with the Prayer Warriors of St. Joan of Arc A Crusade for the Conversion of Greater New Orleans Spiritual Director: Fr. Stan Klores Is Mary Calling You to Her Legion? The Legion of Mary is the right arm of the pastor. We visit the sick in homes, hospitals and nursing homes, teach CCD, and are RCIA sponsors. We assist in many other Spiritual Works of Mercy needed to help our pastor. We meet most Saturdays at 2:05 p.m. in the Parish Office. We need your help. Will you answer Our Lady s call? For more information, please call Diane Schexnayder at CCD Registration St. Benilde s CCD Program is offered to pre-k3 through 12th grade students not currently attending Catholic school. Classes begin on Sunday, September 11, in the main school building. We teach religion from 9:45 a.m. until 10:45 a.m. Registration forms are available on the parish website and in the Parish Office. The usual fee/tuition is $50 per student. For more information, please visit or call Mary Kelly at ext Confirmation Meeting Attention High School Sophomores and any Juniors who did not register last year and are interested in receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. Anyone who is currently a sophomore or older, and their parents, should attend an informational meeting on Sunday, September 11, at 12 noon, in the cafeteria. Registrations forms may be found on the parish website and in the Parish Office. They may be returned to either the School or Parish Office. Please note, the Archdiocese of New Orleans requires two consecutive years of religious instruction before Confirmation. For more information, please contact Cecilia Wilson at or by at cwilson@stbenilde.com

7 SEPTEMBER 4, 2016 ST. BENILDE CATHOLIC CHURCH ID # DIVISION ST. METAIRIE, LA NANCY CAROLLO MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAYS - 9 A.M. TO 3 P.M. FRIDAYS - 9 A.M. TO 12 NOON SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS: