RESCUED. FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT March 18, 2018 BOUND

Transcription

1 CHRIST THE REDEEMER CATHOLIC CHURCH IN THIBODAUX RESCUED FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT March 18, 2018 BOUND Welcome to Christ the Redeemer! Whether you re from down the street or from out of town, we re glad you re with us this morning. We welcome saints. We welcome sinners. We welcome those who are searching. We welcome the most seasoned Catholics and those Catholics coming home. We welcome those interested in learning more about the mysteries of the Faith, as well as those who have never stepped in a Catholic Church. We pray that your time with us this morning is filled with grace. Welcome! CHILDREN S LITURGY IS AVAILABLE AT BOTH 9:00 AND 11:00 A.M. MASSES Want to focus on the message and the Mass? We can help. Children s Liturgy is also available. The priest will call the kids (K-2nd grade) after the opening prayer. Kids return to Mass during the offertory. WELCOME TO WEEK 5 OF OUR SERIES ENTITLED RESCUED 1. In week no. 1 entitled ENCOUNTER we discussed how we were made for encounter with God. 2. In week no. 2 entitled FOR US we discussed how often resist the encounter with God because we are afraid that God might get too close to areas of our heart that we don t like about ourselves. 3. In week no. 3 entitled THIRSTY we discussed how even though we resist God we still thirst for more in life. Our thirst for more won t go away, even when we resist the encounter. 4. Last week, in week no. 4 entitled RESIGNED we discussed how we soon grow tired of trying to fill our longing for more. We give up and give in. We become resigned, believing that this is as good as it gets.

2 THE LITURGY OF THE WORD FIFTH WEEK OF LENT YEAR A FIRST READING Ezekiel 37:12-14 Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD. RESPONSORIAL PSALM Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 R. With the Lord there is mercy and fullness of redemption. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD; LORD, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to my voice in supplication. R. If you, O LORD, mark iniquities, LORD, who can stand? But with you is forgiveness, that you may be revered. R. I trust in the LORD; my soul trusts in his word. More than sentinels wait for the dawn, let Israel wait for the LORD. R. For with the LORD is kindness and with him is plenteous redemption; And he will redeem Israel from all their iniquities. R. SECOND READING Romans 8:8-11 Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you. GOSPEL John 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33B-45 The sisters of Lazarus sent word to Jesus, saying, Master, the one you love is ill. When Jesus heard this he said, This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, Let us go back to Judea. When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.

3 Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise. Martha said, I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus told her, I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world. He became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Sir, come and see. And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how he loved him. But some of them said, Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died? So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the dead man s sister, said to him, Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me. And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, Untie him and let him go. Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

4 RESCUED NOTES FOR SUNDAY, MARCH 18 WEEK 5 OF 6 THIS WEEK: BOUND NEXT WEEK: RESCUED LET S SUMMARIZE WHERE WE VE BEEN. WEEK 1, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18 l FIRST WEEK OF LENT l ENCOUNTER God was us to encounter Him. We were made for encounter. Jesus was driven into the desert because the desert is a Biblical image of encounter. God doesn t just call us to encounter, God tirelessly calls us to encounter. WEEK 2, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25 l SECOND WEEK OF LENT l FOR US Believe it or not we resist the encounter. While we long for encounter we also resist it. We resist the very thing we long for. We recoil when God gets too close because we are afraid of places in our heart that are filled with pain, shame, or self-protection. We resist God there because of who we perceive God to be and who we perceive ourselves to be. Even though God is for us we resist the encounter where we need God the most. WEEK 3, SUNDAY, MARCH 4 l THIRD WEEK OF LENT l THIRST Our souls were intentionally made for encounter. That s how God made us. The origin of our soul is God. Thus, our souls thirst for God. We were made by God for God and we thirst for God because of how He made us. To thirst is to be human. We are made to thirst for God. We want more. You want more. You are thirsty for more. WEEK 4, SUNDAY, MARCH 11 l THIRD WEEK OF LENT l RESIGNED So... we were made by God... for God... but we resist God? Just because we resist God doesn t mean our souls stop longing for God. We thirst no matter what. We thirst... even when we aren t going to the only source that can quench the thirst. If we resist God we will try to quench the thirst with other things. This won t work. It never works. Thus, we try harder and harder, only to grow more tired. We begin fade, we begin to forget. Then, dangerously we forget that we forgot. We grow resigned to compulsive pursuit of things that we grasp at to medicate our discontent within. Soon, we believe this exhausting cycle of drinking the sand when we a mirage is as good as it gets. I no longer ask for the water, I am resigned to chasing the mirages in the desert. FLAT TIRES. without reference to God s original plan and its hope of restoration in Christ people tend to accept discord... as just the way it is.... When we normalize our fallen state, it is akin to thinking it normal to driving with flat tires. We intuit that something is amiss, but when everyone drives around in the same state we lack a point of reference for anything different. Christopher West, Theology of the Body Explained, page 60 HELP ME FORGET. I m thirsty. I m tired... and still thirsty. I grow resigned to never quenching my thirst, the best I can get in life is coping. Now... my only option is to chase the mirages in the desert. Now... my only option is to medicate the ache within. Temptation seduces me. Temptation promises me what it never provides, but the allurement of what it promises helps me forget about my emptiness and resignation. I grasp. I sin. I sin again. I sin yet again. The cycle continues... with more sin. I rationalize, everyone sins. And now... I am addicted to grasping. I am a slave to sin. I am BOUND.

5 THE ENEMY US I drink... too much... and I can t stop. I m bound. I spend what I don t have. I m in deep debt. I m bound. I work too much. I have to pay for all this. I m bound. I look at pornography... and I can t stop. I m bound. I had plastic surgery. I have to look younger. I m bound. I blame others, a lot. I m right, all the time. I m bound. I have to be right. All the time. I m bound. I refuse to forgive. I won t let them win. I m bound. I will never tell anyone. I can t. I m bound. I contracept. I am now and have a right to. I m bound. I m irritated that contraception is on this list. I m bound. I m mad that you just named my irritation. I m bound. I am having an affair because I m unhappy. I m bound. I get physically abusive. It s their fault. I m bound. I neglect my children. I need my time. I m bound. I have to have more, at least more than them. I m bound. I will never let (person) into my heart again. I m bound. I gamble... and I can t stop. I m bound. I eat to excess. I can t stop the gluttony. I m bound. My phone. I itch to check. I cannot not look. I m bound. I neglect my aging parents. It s my life. I m bound. If people only knew what I ve done. I m bound. I m angry at (person) and I have a right to be. I m bound. I m mad that you imply I have to forgive. I m bound. I m mad that you imply I have grow up. I m bound. I m irritated reading this list. I m bound. I wish we didn t have to hear this again. I m bound. I wish Lent, and this preaching, were over. I m bound. I don t like it when someone calls me a sinner. I m bound. Being a Christian is to be a nice person. I m bound. I hate that I have to admit that something on this list is true about me. I hate that part of me. I can t make it go away. I m bound. And, I hate that I m bound. SIN That s it. They re right. The best life can offer is this relentless pursuit of another house, another camp, another car, and another toy. I m bound. I know it s a lure. I know there s a hook in it. But, I can t help it. I know it s going to hurt. I know I m going to get hooked. But... that lure is alluring. I can t stop chasing the lure. And, I can t stop getting hooked. I m bound. If only I had more money. I m bound. If only I were younger. I m bound. If only I were thinner. I m bound. If only I looked like I used to. I m bound. If only I were married to someone else. I m bound. If only I lived somewhere else. I m bound. If only I were smarter. I m bound. If only I had different parents. I m bound. If only I had a different childhood. I m bound. If only I were like someone else. I m bound. If only the Enemy stopped tempting me. I m bound. If only life were easier. I m bound. I liked it better when I didn t know I was bound. I liked it better when it seemed okay to be like everyone else. I liked it better when I could rationalize that sin isn t real. I m bound. Lazarus was dead. He was bound with burial cloths. He was stuck in the tomb. There was no way out. O my... perhaps there s too much in this list that s personal. There was no way out... unless someone else came to get him out of the tomb. He was bound. I am bound. I am Lazarus. I am bound. There is no way out unless Jesus comes to get me. I am bound and I admit that I am bound. My only hope, MY ONLY HOPE, is the real Jesus... and I NEED HIM TO RESCUE ME.

6 WEEK WEEK MONDAY OF WEEK Daily Mass at 7.30 a and 5.30 p. Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions available from 6.00 to 9.00 p. Special resources provided to help you be on retreat in the midst of your ordinary life. Chanted Evening prayer at 6.00 p. Chanted Night Prayer at 8.45 p. WEEK TUESDAY OF WEEK Daily Mass at 7.30 a and 5.30 p. Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions available from 6.00 to 9.00 p. Special resources provided to help you be on retreat in the midst of your ordinary life. Chanted Evening prayer at 6.00 p. Chanted Night Prayer at 8.45 p. WEEK WEDNESDAY OF WEEK Daily Mass at 7.30 a and 5.30 p. Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions available from 6.00 to 9.00 p. Special resources provided to help you be on retreat in the midst of your ordinary life. Chanted Evening prayer at 6.00 p. Chanted Night Prayer at 8.45 p. MONDAY MARCH 26 TUESDAY MARCH 27 WEDNESDAY MARCH 28 THURSDAY THURSDAY MARCH 29 MASS OF THE LORD S SUPPER GOOD FRIDAY FRIDAY MARCH 30 THE PASSION OF THE LORD SATURDAY SATURDAY MARCH 31 EASTER VIGIL EASTER SUNDAY SUNDAY APRIL 1 EASTER MASS SCHEDULE THURSDAY Chrism Mass at a at the Cathedral of Saint Francis de Sales. What happens at Chrism Mass? Priests renew their ordination vows and Bishop Fabre blesses the sacred oils used for the Sacraments. If you have never attended the Chrism Mass, try it this year! You ll love it! MASS OF THE LORD S SUPPER at 7.00 p commemorates the institution of the Eucharist. In remembrance of the Last Supper we will also ritualize the washing of the Apostles feet. Just as Jesus left the Last Supper and spent the evening in prayer, this Mass ends differently as we spend the remainder of the night in prayer. TENEBRAE Eucharistic Adoration, sacred chant and Confessions available until mid-night. GOOD FRIDAY HIKE FOR CHRIST starts at 9.00 a and ends around 3.00 p. What is the Hike for Christ? A 5.5 mile pilgrimage walk as public witness to the solemnity of the Lord s death on the Cross. Join over 300 other parishioners for our 28th annual Hike for Christ! Confessions from p to 3.00 p STATIONS OF THE CROSS from 2.30 to 3.00 p CELEBRATION OF THE LORD S PASSION including the Gospel Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, as well as the Veneration of the Cross at 3.00 p SATURDAY Join us at 9.00 a on the morning of Holy Saturday. Our Catechumen Chelsi Bourgeois will formally profess her belief in the Apostles Creed. We ll chant the Office of Readings and spend some time in silence. Confessions available from p to 3.00 p. SATURDAY NIGHT EASTER VIGIL begins at 8.00 p. Affectionately referred to as the Mother of all Liturgies, the Easter Vigil is the preeminent Mass of the entire year! Chelsi Bourgeois will finish her journey towards becoming Catholic and joining our family! EASTER SUNDAY EASTER SUNRISE MASS will begin at 6.00 a in the parking lot of the church. Bring a lawn chair and allow the cathedral of nature to illustrate how the light overcomes the darkness in the natural world as we celebrate how Jesus resurrection ushers forth the true light s victory over darkness in the spiritual world! EASTER MASS SCHEDULE 6.00 a 9.00 a a

7 ANNOUNCEMENTS ST. JOSEPH ALTAR In celebration of the Feast of St. Joseph, our St. Joseph Altar will be on display in our church lobby from 8.00 a to 5.00 p on Monday, March 19th. Altar Blessing will immediately follow the 7:30a Mass. THE LIGHT IS ON On Wednesday, March 21st, every Catholic Church in the diocese will be hearing confession from 6.00p to 9.oo p. CCD REGISTRATION CCD Registration for the year will be opening soon for all new and returning students. CCD provides religious education for students in grades 1-11 and Sacrament preparation for grades 2, 10, and 11 (including Catholic School students). For more information, contact Rebecca Abboud at our church office. 33:11 BABYSITTING Babysitting for 33:11 is available free of charge in the Family Life Center. They have games, movies, and toys for a variety of ages! 33:11 will be held from 6.30p to 8ishp every Wednesday during Lent. EPHESIANS BIBLE STUDY Registration is now open for a second Ephesians Bible Study. The group will meet on Thursdays from 6.00p to 8.00p beginning on April 19th. Registration forms can be found in the information center. THANK YOU! WEEKEND OFFERTORY l Our collection from the weekend of February 25, 2018 was $11, Thank you! GOD IS CALLNG YOU FOR MORE ISN T HE? IT S TIME... TO COMMIT TO ONE HOUR A WEEK OUR ADORATION CHAPEL IS IN NEED OF ADORERS. ONLY TWO SLOTS LEFT TO FILL! SATURDAY MORNINGS l Slot one: 1:00 a - 2:00 a; Slot two: 2:00 a - 3:00 a For more information call Sara Oubre at or MASS INTENTIONS. MARCH 17-23, MASS INTENTIONS. Donald L. Dugas, Pat Jardell, Robert Bobby Daigle, Hilery Richard, Al Waguespack, Brett Ordoyne, Percy & Vernice Legendre, Cliff Aucoin, Leroy Aucoin, June Aucoin, Arthur Duet, Jr., Kurt Turner, Jim Martin VIGIL LIGHT IN MEMORY OF: Jim Martin, David M. Belanger, Byron Legendre ADORATION LIGHT IN MEMORY OF: Jim Martin, Rosemary Abadie, Cliff Aucoin LITURGICAL MINISTERS FOR NEXT WEEKEND. MARCH 24-25, :00 MASS. Lector: Marian Fertitta Commentator: Jane Bourgeoi Altar Servers: Cullen Eschette Extra-Ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist: Tally Adams, Larry Bonvillain, Shirley Bonvillain, Jane Bourgeois, Ken Bourgeois, Vickie Cancienne, Sheila Toups 7:00 MASS. Lector: Preston Lejeune Commentator: Karen Bergeron Altar Servers: Volunteer Extra-Ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist: Peter David, Carey Dean, Mary Dean, Barbara Grabert, Michael Sobert, Thomas Toups 9:00 MASS. Lector: Dian Leger Commentator: Evelyn Gondron Altar Servers: Dylan Aulich, Blake Henry, William Jackson Extra-Ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist: Evelyn Gondron, Richard Gondron, Gaynel Guillot, Margaret Landry, Richard Landry, David Moon, Tracy Moon Children s Liturgy Facilitator: Heidi McElroy 11:00 MASS. Lector: Sophia Galey Commentator: Elaine Benoit Altar Servers: Abbie Hebert, Cullen Murillo Extra-Ordinary Ministers of the Eucharist: Elaine Benoit, Eric Duplantis, Linda Duplantis, Donovan Galey, Tiffany Galey, Carole Gonzalez, Johnny Gonzalez Children s Liturgy Facilitator: Sandra Durocher THIS WEEK AT CHRIST THE REDEEMER. MARCH 18 MARCH 19 MARCH 20 MARCH 21 MARCH 22 MARCH 23 MARCH Mass (FB) 9.00 Mass (FB) Mass (FB) 3.00 Mass (Español) LENT 5TH WK 8.00 St. Joseph Altar Blessing 7.45 Prayer Al-Anon 6.00 AA 6.00 LAS 6.30 Baptism Prep 7.00 Bible Study 7.00 Young Adults 6.00 E-Six 9.00 Mary s Moms & The Light Is On 7.00 KC Meeting 7.00 English Class 2.00 Rosary 5.00 TOPS 6.00 Bible study 7.00 Holy Hour 7.30 Choir 3:00 Mass 6.00 Stations of the Cross Good Fridays Confessions today, all day 7.00 a to 7.00 p except during Holy Mass and Stations of the Cross 8.30 Mass 4.00 Mass (FM)