After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.” Simon said in reply, “Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.” When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him. (Lk 4:4-11)
You have to put this encounter between Simon Peter and Jesus in context. First of all, Simon was a professional fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. And the way fishing was done in that area and at that time was by throwing a cast net over fish in shallow water during the night. So when Jesus arrives and tells him to go throw a net into the deep water during the middle of the day, it would be like telling a Louisiana fisherman looking for speckled trout to take their boat out to the blue water of the Gulf at night! It didn’t make sense. But there was something compelling about Jesus, and despite the protestation, Simon goes out. Now imagine that Louisiana fisherman’s shock if he limited out on 6 pound specks in 10 minutes in the middle of the Gulf at night. Peter knew it was impossible, and only God can do the impossible. Knowing that Jesus is from God (he calls him “Lord,” which is generally a “post-resurrection” title for Jesus), Simon realizes that God has chosen his boat and him, and he becomes deeply aware of his unworthiness. This is a characteristic of Jeremiah in the first reading and St. Paul in the second. And it’s also a characteristic of most priests, including your pastor.
God chooses each of us to “put out into deep water” in a different way. It may be by engaging in volunteer work to help those less fortunate. It might be to teach the faith to others. It might be to help the poor and the Church through charitable offerings. And it might be to pray for those who need prayer. We might resist it at first, and feel out of our “comfort zone,” but once we become aware that God is guiding our life and our mission, we begin to see the miracles happening. It might be a miracle that we became friends with someone poorer than us. It might be that someone unconnected to the faith ends up becoming a priest or a religious. It might mean a newly renovated church or a medical miracle. But putting out into deep water for the Lord means to trust ourselves entirely to His mission. And that’s symbolized in the reading when Simon leaves everything behind to follow Jesus.
Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty
Prayer for the Saints
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Mardi Gras Madness?
Due to the relatively small response to the inquiry about Mardi Gras festivities, the parish set-up will be decidedly “low key.” We will have a tent set-up on the school side of the church, and we will be selling wrist bands that give you access to the tent, which will have soft drinks, wine and beer available. Also, we are inviting people to bring some sort of dish or cookies or chips to make a “pot luck.” The wrist bands will also be honored by St. Stephen Central School so that we can use the bathrooms.
Palm Branches Needed
Each year the blessed palms from Palm Sunday are burned to make the ashes for Ash Wednesday. We will burn them at the Masses on the weekend of February 14. Since the palms are blessed, burning is the suitable way to dispose of them. Please remember to bring them to Mass next weekend and place them in the brass urns in the back of the church. Thank you!
Totus Tuus Discerment Weekend
February 26-28, 2010
Young men (high school seniors, college age or older) who are interested in taking a closer look at diocesan priesthood are asked to attend a retreat at the Carmelite Spirit Life Center in Lacombe. For more information call (504) 861-6298 or email vocations @archdiocese-no.org
Pray for the Poor of Haiti
Bishop Shelton Fabre, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of New Orleans authorized a special second collection for victims of the earthquake in Haiti. The money is being sent to Catholic Relief Services. THANKS to all of the donors from our parish, who contributed nearly $6,000 to the relief so far, including one donor who gave $1,000.
Those wanting to make a donation directly to CRS may do so online at www.crs.org. If the server is down, please call toll free 1-877-HELP-CRS or text RELIEF to 30644 and following the instructions.
Welcome to Father Tom Chambers, CSC!
Reverend Thomas Chambers, CSC was the celebrant last week for the 10:30am Mass, and is now in residence at Good Shepherd Parish.
Father Chambers is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, and lived at Sacred Heart Church on Canal Street until it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He is the past president of Our Lady of Holy Cross College on the West Bank, and he is currently President of the Willwoods Community (www.willwoods.org), an entity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans that ministers in the areas of faith and marriage, affordable housing, and assisted-care living (Malta Park in our parish). Willwoods also co-owns and operates WLAE public television station. The slogan of Willwoods is “rooted in prayer, united in service,” and that could best describe Father Tom! Father is regularly present at our Tuesday evening Holy Hours and Mass, but will also be taking part in other parish activities according to his schedule. So if you happen to see him, give him a hearty “welcome to Good Shepherd, Father Tom!”
Our Lady of Lourdes
February 11 Masses 6:30AM (Rectory) 8:30AM (Church)
On 11 February 1858, Bernadette Soubirous went with two girlfriends to collect some firewood to sell in order to be able to buy some bread. As she was wading through a river near the Grotto of Massabielle, she heard the wind but did not see the trees and bushes move. As she looked toward the Grotto, she saw a light and a beautiful lady – “Lovelier than I have ever seen” - dressed in white with a blue sash fastened around her waist and two golden yellow roses on each foot. She remained in an ecstatic state contemplating the Lady until called by her friends. Three days later, Bernadette returned to the Grotto with the two other girls, who reportedly became afraid when they saw her in ecstasy. Bernadette remained ecstatic when they returned to the village. On 18 February, she was told by the Lady to return to the Grotto over a period of two weeks. The Lady said: “I promise to make you happy not in this world but in the next.” In total, there were seventeen apparitions, the last taking place on July 16 of the same year. Bernadette often fell into an ecstasy during these apparitions, which were witnessed by the hundreds of people, although no one except Bernadette ever saw or heard the apparition.
During one of the apparitions, the Lady told Bernadette to drink of a mysterious spring within the grotto itself, something unknown and unseen. Bernadette scratched at the ground, and water began bubbling up and soon gushed forth. The water was muddy at first, but became increasingly clean. As word of the “miraculous spring” spread, the water was given to medical patients of all kinds, after which numerous miracle cures were reported. The first cure with a “certified miracle” was a women whose right hand had been deformed as a consequence of an accident. However, several miracles turned out to be short-term improvement or even hoaxes, so Church and government officials became increasingly concerned. Eventually, the government barricaded the Grotto and issued stiff penalties for anybody trying to get near the spring. In the process, Lourdes became a national issue in France, resulting in the intervention of emperor Napoleon III to reopen the grotto on 4 October 1858.
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord commemorates the purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the presentation of Christ in the temple, which took place 40 days after his birth as Jewish law required. According to Mosaic law, a mother who had given birth to a boy was considered unclean for seven days. Also, she was to remain 33 days "in the blood of her purification." Luke tells us, quoting Exodus 13:2,12, that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Jerusalem because every firstborn child was to be dedicated to the Lord. They also went to sacrifice a pair of doves or two young pigeons, showing that Mary and Joseph were poor. Once in the temple, Jesus was purified by the prayer of Simeon, in the presence of Anna the prophetess. Simeon, upon seeing the Messiah, gave thanks to the Lord, singing a hymn now called the Nunc Dimittis:
Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, your word has been fulfilled: My own eyes have seen the salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of every people: a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.
Simeon told Mary, "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against, (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that thoughts out of many hearts may be revealed." Simeon thus foreshadowed the crucifixion and the sorrows of Mary at seeing the death of her Son.
The name Candlemas (“Candle Mass”) comes from the activities associated with the feast. In the Western Church, a procession with lighted candles was popular, and beeswax candles are blessed and may be saved for later use in your home. After an antiphon, during which the candles held by the people may be lighted, there is a procession into the church which commemorates Christ's entrance into the temple. Since Vatican II, the feast is officially designated “The Presentation of the Lord.”
Blessing of the Throats
Tuesday, February 2 after 6:00pm Mass Wednesday, February 3 after 8:30am Mass
On Wednesday, February 3 the Church celebrates the Feast of St. Blaise, the bishop of Sebaste in Armenia who was martyred in the year 316. The oldest accounts tell us that Blaise was a physician at Sebaste before he was made bishop. At the time of the early 4th century persecution under Licinius, he was taken prisoner at the command of the governor, Agricolaus. After suffering various forms of torture St. Blase was beheaded.
The most popular story attributed to St. Blaise occurred while he was in prison, when he cured a young a boy with a fishbone in his throat who was in danger of choking to death. That story, and the fact that St. Blaise had been a doctor, made the saint very popular for intercessory prayer for throat ailments.
At an early date, the veneration of this Eastern saint was brought into Europe, and Blaise became one of the most popular saints of the Middle Ages. Numberless churches and altars were dedicated to him.
On the vigil of his feast, and on the feast itelf, the blessing of St. Blaise will be given in St. Stephen Church. The blessing of the throat is carried out using two white taper candles that were blessed on the previous day, February 2, the Presentation of the Lord (Candlemas Day) (see previous story). The white color of the candles symbolizes purity. A red ribbon draped over the base of the candles symbolizes the martyrdom of St. Blaise. The candles are grasped in an X-shape and held up to the throat of the person receiving the blessing: "Through the intercession of St. Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."
I don’t know about you, but after all of the yelling I did in the Superdome last Sunday, I could sure use a blessing for my throat!
The Bones of St. Peter, Apostle
In the summer of 64 A.D., a fire started on one end of the Circus Maximus in Rome, and it quickly spread throughout the Eternal City. By the time it was extinguished, it had burned for a week and destroyed 80% of Rome. While it was burning, the Emperor Nero remained at his summer home in Anzio, deservedly earning the taunting phrase "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." When Nero returned to Rome, the populace greeted him with anger and derision. In order to avoid a political disaster, Nero decided to blame the fire on a small but growing religious group of then-pagan Rome: the Christians.
Over the next three years, until his death in 67 A.D., Nero arrested as many Christians as he could find, and put them on trial for arson. Unable to convict them of arson (they had nothing to do with the fire), he convicted them of treason when he discovered they refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods of Rome, instead worshipping Jesus Christ as God. The penalty for treason was death, and for these Christians, it was a public execution. They were brought to Nero's Circus, across the Tiber River from Rome, and killed in terrible ways. The most notable person killed in these persecutions was a man originally known as Simon Bar-jonah, who Jesus renamed Peter. In October of 64 A.D., St. Peter was killed in the Circus for the enjoyment of the crowds and buried in a small graveyard on the Vatican Hill.
In 325 A.D. the first Basilica was built over St. Peter's tomb, but excavations undertaken in the 1940's located the Apostle's grave, as well as his mortal remains, directly underneath the altar in St. Peter's Basilica.
Since the late 1970's these excavations (the “Scavi”) been open to very small groups lead by expert guides. For nine years, Msgr. Nalty was one of those guides. During that time, Msgr. Nalty was also given special permission to photograph parts of the excavations.
On Wednesday, January 27, 2010 at 7:00pm (during RCIA) in the Rectory, Msgr. Nalty will give a special slide show explaining the search for the Bones of St. Peter.
After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
