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

Transcription

1 Sunday, May 21, 2017 Sixth Sunday of Easter 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 May 20 & 21, 2017 Saturday - 4 P.M. Intention: Catherine Finnan, George Spaulding Dale Forshag, Patricia Fichter, Maizie Marks, Mary Cali Kerth & Jacob Kerth, Sr., Judith Theisges, Melissa Mendel Zimmerman, Flora Maria Be, Evelyn Arnoult, Rose Marie Greco Federico, Dorothy Van Hoven, Joseph Segari, Dolores Fallon A. & P. Delaup Cantor: Trish Foti Organist: Jared Croal Sunday - 9 A.M. Intention: Parishioners K. Klapatch, R. Theriot, J. Tusa, P. Cifreo Song Leaders: Traditional Choir Sunday - 11 A.M. Intention: Richard O Hara (L), Dianne Z. Harrison, Lillian Segari (L), Mary & Melvin Ducote, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Walter Clement, Kelvin Ducote Elizabeth Coste, Patricia Fichter, Glenda Dennis, Joseph Donald Bernard, Johnny Walker, Joseph Conrad Stengle, Jr., Paul Hymel, Jr., Mary Schlumbrecht, John Smestad, Sr. K. & M. Sorensen, D. Childers, R. Oleksik Song Leaders: Contemporary Choir Sunday - 6 P.M. Intention: June & Marvin Ackermann (L) D. Childers, R. Oleksik Cantor: Lauren Gisclair Pianist: Beth Kettenring Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Weekday Masses 7:00 a.m. Harold Frisard 5:30 p.m. Francis Carter 7:00 a.m. Anna Roux 7:00 a.m. Doug Leo Blanchard (L) 7:00 a.m. Venita Morel 8:30 a.m. Jennie Spitale 5:30 p.m. Sr. Therese Fletchinger SSND 7:00 a.m. Paul Onebane The Church Sanctuary Lamp burns in memory of The Souls in Purgatory The Blessed Mother Votive Lamps burn for the Newly Baptized 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 Our Deceased Priests Altar Ladies Week of May 21 M. Seeber, F. Alvarez Linens Large - B. Koch-Jones Small - C. Jones The Altar Flowers are in memory of Deceased Parishioners

3 Stewardship of Treasure St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 35 Issue 21 Weekend of May 13 & 14 Envelopes...$3, Loose.2, Electronic Giving Repairs & Maintenance Msgr. Richaud Fund Totaling..$6, Shrine of the Immaculate Conception Collection.$ Total from May 8 & 9..$10, Religious Retirement Fund Collection $1, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion May 27/28 4 PM R. Aucoin, K. Hartdegan 9 AM C. Frederick, L. Director, C. & R. Ayers 11 AM N. Bostick, L. Frey, P. & R. Serio 6 PM J. Zeringue, T. Kettenring 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. Safe Environment Training Summer Cabbage Ball Registration is still open for the St. Benilde Men s Club Summer Cabbage Ball Program. It is open to boys and girls currently in grades pre-k4 to 12th. Games will be held on Tuesday and Thursday nights through June 29.The registration fee includes insurance, free icees after each game, and a team shirt. Forms may be found in the school and parish offices and on the parish website at All volunteers who have ongoing contact with minors, even one unsupervised contact with minors, and all who participate in an overnight event, must attend Sate Environment Training prior to volunteering for the first time and every three years thereafter. Safe Environment Training will be held at St. Benilde on June 1, 2017 at 2 PM. The location will be posted that day. Is Mary Calling You to Her Legion? The Legion of Mary is the right arm of the pastor. We assist in many of the Spiritual Works of Mercy needed to help our pastor. We meet most Saturdays at 2:05 PM in the Parish Office. We need your help. Will you answer Our Lady s call? For more information, please call Diane Schexnayder at

4 St. Benilde Catholic Church Fr. Cooper s Corner Mary, Model and Teacher of Faith When the fullness of time arrived, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law. All of the expectant waiting for the Savior's coming in the Old Testament was concentrated in our Lady's faith: In Mary... is fulfilled the long history of faith of the Old Testament, with its account of so many faithful women, beginning with Sarah: women who, alongside the patriarchs, were those in whom God's promise was fulfilled and new life flowered." Like Abraham, our father in faith," who left his homeland trusting in God's promise, Mary abandoned herself with complete trust in the Angel's announcement, thus becoming a model and mother for believers. The Virgin Mary, perfect icon of the faith," believed that nothing is impossible for God, and thus made it possible for the Word to come to dwell among mankind. Our Mother is a model of faith. By faith, Mary accepted the Angel's word and believed the message that she was to become the Mother of God in the obedience of her devotion. Visiting Elizabeth, she raised her hymn of praise to the Most High for the marvels He worked in those who trust Him. With joy and trepidation she gave birth to her only Son, keeping her virginity intact. Trusting in Joseph, her husband, she took Jesus to Egypt to save Him from Herod's persecution. With the same faith, she followed the Lord in His preaching and remained with Him all the way to Golgotha. By faith, Mary tasted the fruits of Jesus' resurrection, and treasuring every memory in her heart, she passed them on to the Twelve assembled with her in the Upper Room to receive the Holy Spirit. Our Lady lived out her faith amid a fully human life, that of an ordinary woman. God did not spare her pain, exhaustion in her work or trials of her faith. A village woman one day broke into praise for Jesus exclaiming: Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nourished you. Jesus said in reply: Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it (Lk 11:27-28). It was a compliment to his Mother on her fiat, her 'be it done.' She lived it sincerely, unstintingly, fulfilling its every consequence, but never amid fanfare, rather in the hidden and silent sacrifice of each day. Our Lady lived entirely from and in her relationship with the Lord; she was disposed to listen, alert to recognizing the signs of God in the journey of His people; she was integrated into a history of faith and hope in God's promises with which the fabric of her life was woven." By faith, Mary penetrated into the Mystery of the one true Godhead (who exists in three divine persons) in a way granted to no other creature. And as mother of our faith," she has made us sharers in that knowledge. We can never hope to fathom this inexpressible mystery; nor will we ever be able to give sufficient thanks to our Mother for bringing us into such intimacy with the Blessed Trinity. Our Lady is Teacher of faith. Every aspect of faith in Christian life finds its prototype in Mary: being faithful to God and viewing the circumstances of ordinary life in the light of faith, even in moments of obscurity. Our Mother teaches us to be totally open to the divine will even though it is mysterious, and often does not correspond

5 St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 35: Issue 21 with their own wishes, and is a sword that pierces their soul, as the elderly Simeon would say prophetically to Mary when Jesus was presented in the Temple. Her complete trust in God's faithfulness and in His promises never wavers, even when the Lord's words were difficult or apparently impossible to accept. Therefore, if our faith is weak, we should turn to Mary." Amid the darkness of the Cross, our Lady's faith and docility yields an unexpected fruit. In the person of John, Christ is entrusting all men to His Mother, and especially His disciples: those who were to believe in Him." Mary's motherhood extends to Christ's whole Mystical Body. Jesus gives us His Mother as our mother; He places us under her care, and offers us her intercession. Therefore the Church constantly invites the faithful to turn with particular devotion to Mary. Our weakness is not an obstacle to grace. God takes it into account; that's why He has given us a mother. In the struggle which the disciples must confront all of us, all the disciples of Jesus, we must face this struggle Mary does not leave us alone: the Mother of Christ and of the Church is always with us. She walks with us always, she is with us... Mary accompanies us, struggles with us, sustains Christians in their fight against the forces of evil." In the school of faith, our Lady is the best teacher, for she always had an attitude of trust, of openness, of supernatural outlook, no matter what happened around her. Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart. Let us try to imitate her, talking to our Lord, conversing like two people in love about everything that happens to us, even the most insignificant incidents. Nor should we forget that we have to weigh them, consider their value, and see them with the eyes of faith, in order to discover the Will of God. Mary's path of faith, although certainly different in many ways, is also similar to that of each one of us. Moments of bright light alternate with moments of darkness with respect to God's will. When they found Jesus in the Temple, Mary and Joseph did not understand the saying which He spoke to them. If, like our Lady, we welcome the gift of faith and place all our trust in God, we will confront each situation with faith and an abiding hope in God s providential care. Let us turn to Mary and ask her to help us live by faith and to recognize Jesus in our lives. We need a faith that assures us that nothing is comparable to the Love of God in which we have been made sharers; faith that nothing is impossible for those who work for and with Christ in His Church; faith that all men and women can convert to God; faith that despite our own wretchedness and falls we can be made whole again with God's help and that of those around us; faith in the means of holiness that God has given His Church, in the supernatural value of work and of little things; faith that we can redirect this world to God if we always hold onto His hand. In short, faith that God puts each of us in the best circumstances, whether of health or sickness, of working environment, etc., so that we can become saints, if we respond through our daily struggle. Christ lays down one condition: we must live by faith; then we will be able to move mountains. And so many things need moving in the world, but, foremost, in our own hearts. So many obstacles placed in the way of grace! We have to have faith, therefore: faith and works, faith and sacrifice, faith and humility. For faith makes us all-powerful: If you will only believe, every gift you ask for in your prayer will be granted (Mt. 21:22). Spurred by a strong faith, let us tell Jesus: Lord, I do believe, but help me in my faith to believe more and worthier! Let us address this same plea to our Lady, Mother of God and our Mother, and Teacher of faith: Blessed art thou for thy believing; the message that was brought to thee from the Lord shall have fulfillment. Mother, help our faith!"

6 St. Benilde Catholic Church THE PRIESTHOOD To any young man in our parish who is discerning a call to the priesthood or who feels some attraction to priestly life and ministry, I would be happy to hear from you and delighted to talk with you. Know that I pray for you daily and that I am ready to support you in your vocational journey. I invite all members of our parish family to become personally and actively involved in the effort to identify men with apparent qualities for priesthood and encourage them to discern the will of God in their lives. Let us recommit ourselves to fervent prayer that the call of Christ the High Priest will echo in the hearts of the next generation and that it will be nurtured and sustained so as to grow and flourish. ~Fr. Cooper Eucharistic Adorers Needed For the past 10 years, we have been blessed to have Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration here at St. Benilde Parish. Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration is the adoration of Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist. The Eucharist is displayed in a special holder called a monstrance, and people come to pray and worship Jesus continually throughout the day and the night. Come to our Perpetual Adoration Chapel and spend some time with our Lord. He is waiting there to embrace you, lovingly and mercifully! If you would like to become a committed adorer, please contact Joy Rojas at (504) or visit the parish website: Let s Stay Connected!! Facebook: Robert Cooper Instagram: frrobertcooper The Online Giving (E-Giving) program is a convenient way to practice responsible financial stewardship by using electronic funds transfer (EFT). Through Online Giving, all contributions to St. Benilde Parish will be made via an automatic payment (ACH - bank draft) from your checking account. Once your Online Authorization Form is completed and you are properly enrolled, monthly donations to the regular Sunday Collection, the Repairs and Maintenance Fund, or the Msgr. Richaud Endowment Fund become automatic. To Enroll in our Online Giving Program, visit the parish website: Have U Heard? Hear a sampling of Fr. Cooper's past homilies at Simply click on the "ipadre" icon found on the Homepage.

7 MAY 21, 2017 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: