“Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.” (Phil. 4:4-5 )

This third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday” from the Latin St. Paul uses when he tells us to “rejoice in the Lord always”: gaudete in Domino semper! The spirit of the Liturgy in Advent is one of expectation and preparation for Christmas and the Second Coming of Christ, but our penitential attitude is suspended on Gaudete Sunday so that we might focus on the joy of our Redemption, which should never be far from our hearts.
To highlight the importance of Gaudete Sunday, the priest wears rose vestments and lights a rose candle on the Advent wreath. Why do we mark this day by focusing particularly on joy? Because the Church wants us to erupt with joy on Christmas and knows that need preparation to do so. Why preparation? An obvious reason is that during Advent we get distracted by the commercial side of Christmas, which can be frustrating and wear us down.

But we also need preparation because many of us don’t always live our lives with authentic Christian joy because we don’t remember what that means. In St. Paul’s letters, he exhorts the Thessalonians, the Philippians, the Romans, the Galatians, the Corinthians and the Colossians to rejoice in the Lord always. But St. Paul wasn’t writing from the comfort of an oceanfront villa on a Greek island. He was writing these letters in chains from a prison cell in Ephesus, where he was recovering from being beaten! So when he says “rejoice always,” he means even in our suffering, which we share with the Lord!

And St. Paul is not naive when he tells us to rejoice always. On a human level it might be impossible to rejoice always, but on a supernatural level it means accepting God’s will for us and recognizing His presence at every moment.  He helps us to rejoice, even while we are suffering.

But if we place our hearts and minds on material things or our hopes on human affection, we will never be completely joyful. Real joy comes from God, and points us to eternal joy with Him. Real joy is rejoicing in the Lord!

This Sunday’s Mass is the perfect place to rededicate ourselves to Christian joy. In the Mass, we join ourselves in a real way to the eternal events of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday. We bring ourselves – joyful and suffering – to the Cross, where we are sorrowful in Christ’s death but joyful in the hope of the Resurrection. And our joy is supernatural because it’s the joy of Jesus. During the Last Supper in the Upper Room (the “first” Mass), He told us, “I have revealed this to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete!” (Jn. 15:11). Today remember that St. Paul’s joy is rooted in the Lord! So be joyful! Jesus loves you!

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

There will be a party for all ages following the 10:30am Sunday Mass on All Saint's Day, November 1st. If you have any questions or are interested in helping out, please contact Kate Cousino at 891-6708 or email

About the Saints
In preparation for the feast, here is a look at some of the Saints significant to our own parish:

Outside, across from the ramp, you may have noticed a new statue. This is a statue of St. Henry, patron saint of the childless, the handicapped, and those rejected by religious orders. Henry lived around the turn of the first millennium. Henry was a Duke of Bavaria and received the crown of Holy Roman Emperor from the hands of Pope Benedict VIII. His life was marked by great piety and he once attempted to abdicate his throne and retire into a monastery, but was persuaded not to by the Abbot. Instead, he and his wife Cunegundes took personal vows and remained childless. He funded many good works and died naturally at the age of 52.

Images of St. Stephen can be found within the Church, including the Deacon's shrine on the Camp St. side. St. Stephen was a deacon chosen by the apostles to see to the corporal needs of the early Christians. He is honored as the Proto-martyr, the first martyr; he was stoned to death for his preaching and died praying for the souls of his persecutors. He is mentioned in the book of Acts, chapters 6 and 7. He is the patron saint of deacons and stonemasons.

Good Shepherd parish has a special devotion to Mary under the title Our Lady of Good Counsel. This image is said to have arrived floating from heaven on clouds to settle before the unfinished wall of a church dedicated to Our Lady of Good Counsel in the Italian town of Genazzano in 1467. The image itself is a fresco, painted on a paper-thin piece of plaster which is remarkably suspended in the air before the wall, supported only by a small attachment at the base. The image is associated with many miracles and graces and some have reported seeing the features of the face of our Lady or the infant Jesus move. Devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel was especially promoted by the Augustinian order, and several popes were enrolled as members of the Pious Union of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

For more Saint stories, visit http://saints.sqpn.com for a searchable index of saints organized by patronage, occupation, life status, etc.

Seasonal Resources for Your Family

About the Feast of All Saints: www.churchyear.net/allsaints.html

Find your patron saint: www.saints.sqpn.com

Choosing a Saint Costume: www.faithandfamilylive.com/magazine/calling_all_saints

More resources for celebrating church feasts at home: www.domestic-church.com/CONTENT.DCC/pages.dir/fridge.htm

Traditionally, the Church dedicates each month of the year to a certain devotion. In November, we remember the Holy Souls in Purgatory – faithful Christians who have died and gone before us but who still must atone for their sins. The time they spend in Purgatory cleanses them so that they may enter Heaven free from all effects of sin.

Praying for the dead, especially for those we have known, is a requirement of Christian charity. Our own prayers and sacrifices can be offered up to relieve their suffering. The following prayer, among others, can be incorporated into our daily prayers during this month: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Elmo J. Bourgeois, James Borrows, Carl J. Galle Sr, Cecelia G. Muth, Rose Silva, Elizabeth & Fervans Lapeyre, Marie & Ray Gordon, Eleonore & Jacques Livaudais, Alma & Olga Lapeyre, Tommy Ellis, Temple & Tim Brown, Leo Seal, Deacon Maurice Hartson III, Deacon Paul Nalty, Cathy & Nancy Hartson, Romo Roussell, Augustine Roussell, Paul Emile, Nancy Joseph, Monroe Joseph, Corine Joseph, Dolores Joseph, Tom Emile, Eugene & Jim Roussell, The Fowler Family, Ronald Fowler, John Hillebrand Sr, The Martin Family, The Hillebrand Family, Lester Heidingsfelder, Hugh & Dorie Evans, Frank & Helen Schmidt, High Evans, Jr, Louise Richard, William A. Richard, Frank Davis, Chester Baker, Kathleen Hickey, Warren Schuliegkamp, Donald Klotz Sr, Karen Klotz, Christopher Sigman, Art Geil, Ellen Conrad, Edna Klotz, Wade Klotz, Mary Kahl, Vetter Amadeo Taylor, Lena Amadeo, Peter Amadeo, Sarah Amadeo Wilder, Peter Amadeo Jr, Lena Amadeo Cook, Edith Taylor, Emma Nugent, "Grandma" Cosgrove, Birdie Cavin, Margarethe Smart, Steve Harmon, Marceille Harmon, Wylie Cavin Sr, Wylie Cavin Jr, High Claycomb, Verne Claycomb, Charmian Claycomb, Nellie & Frank Seo, The Coleman Family, The Seo Family, Sister Virginia Dunker DC, Sister Mary Patrice Murray DC, Sister Angela Neuhoff DC, Vincentian Priests, Brother James Steinbach CM, Mim & Arthur Baudier, Esma & Phil Martin, the Reverend James Fitzpatrick, John Edward McAuliffe Sr, Margaret McAuliffe Stacey, The McNamara Family, The Tracy Family, The Boudreaux & Bergeron Families, Twiller N. O'Connor, Louise Naquin, Isabel O'Connor, Henry O'Connor, Sam Naquin, Matthew Wischan, Taylor Naquin, Tillie Daigle, Ida Guillory, Adam Guillory Sr, Adam Guillory, Lottie Arboneaux, August Lopez, James Guillory, Mary Guillory, The Frank & Williams Families, Lloyd & Florence Savoie, Emile & Catherine Lehmann Sr, Joseph & Virginia Prima, Jeannette E. Miranda, Lula Prima, William (Bill) Collins, Lois Collins, The Frederick Family, The Cleaver Family, The Roach Family, The Stoll Family, The Griener/von der Haar Families, Herman Merthens, The Wolcrnski Family, The The Maciasek Family, The Sudecki Family, Rose Marie Melancon.

“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy name…” we pray every day. “Hallow,” there’s that word we’re hearing a lot about this weekend. And it means “holy.” So what does “Halloween” mean, and where does it come from?

The origins of Halloween as we celebrate it are very Christian and very American. Although it’s true that the ancient Celts of Ireland and Britain celebrated a minor festival at this time of year which commemorated the end of summer and the beginning of the darkness of winter, that feast wasn’t on a specific day but tied to the position of the sun. Halloween specifically falls on the last day of October because it’s the Evening before the Feast of All Saints, or "All Hallows," which falls on November 1. How did we get the date?

In the early Church, Christians were accustomed to solemnize the anniversary of a martyr's death. Frequently groups of martyrs suffered on the same day, which led to a joint commemoration. During the persecutions of Diocletian (circa 300) the number of martyrs became so great that a separate day could not be assigned to each. Since the Church felt that each martyr should be venerated, it appointed a common day for all of the martyrs. We hear mention of an “all martyrs” day beginning in the 4th century, and the feast was firmly established by Pope Boniface IV’s consecrating the previously pagan Pantheon in Rome to the “Blessed Virgin and All the Martyrs” on May 13, 609 or 610. The feast remained on that date until Pope Gregory III (731-741) consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter to “All the Saints” and fixed the anniversary for November 1. Pope Gregory IV (827-844) extended the celebration to the entire Church. In English, the day before November 1 was the feast’s evening vigil, "All Hallows Even," or "Hallowe’en." In those days Halloween didn’t have special significance for Christians or those long-dead Celtic pagans!

About a hundred years later, in 998, St. Odilo, the abbot of the powerful monastery of Cluny in southern France, added a celebration on November 2. Since November 1 was the day when we honored the saints, he felt that we also needed a day to pray for the souls of the faithful departed. This feast, called All Souls Day, spread from France to the rest of Europe. All Souls Day is a solemn feast to remember those who have died and now are in Purgatory, being cleansed of their venial sins and atoning before entering fully into Heaven. The importance of the feast was made clear by Pope Benedict XV (1914-22), when he granted all priests the privilege of celebrating three Masses on All Souls Day: one, for the faithful departed; one for the priest's intentions; and one for the intentions of the Holy Father. Only on a handful of other very important feast days are priests allowed to celebrate more than two Masses.

So now there’s a day for the Saints and a day for the Souls in Purgatory. What about Halloween? Although there are many other stories, one goes that some less than devout people in Ireland thought that the people in Hell ought to get a day, too. So they devoted the Eve of All Saints by engaging in all types of mischief, and they added a sinister air to it. As the custom came over to America, it took on a life of its own.

Also, since Protestants didn’t celebrate All Saints Day or All Souls Day, the idea of “trick or treat” may have its origins in the persecutions of Catholics after King Henry VIII took over the Church. As an illegal minority, they could be bribed or persecuted! While many of the origins are hard to trace definitively, Halloween as it’s celebrated in America is a unique experience. But the date is tied to the celebration of All Saints!

Since Monday is All Souls Day, let us pray for these departed members of our extended parish family:

“John went throughout the whole region of the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
A voice of one crying out in the desert:
“Prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight his paths.” (1 Thes 3:12 )

In the ancient world, there were no interstates. Roads were little more than worn down paths that were constantly being affected by traffic or weather. One of the hallmarks of the Roman army is that they built roads wherever they went. But when there was a battle, roads and bridges would be destroyed in order to stop the advance of the enemy. But one thing was certain: when word came that someone important was coming, the people would do their best to fix the roads or build new ones so that the entourage accompanying the visiting dignitary could arrive without delay or hindrance.  The same thing is done today. During the Jubilee Year in Rome, tremendous efforts were made to repair Rome’s streets to welcome the visitors. And prior to the Olympics in Beijing, very large highways were built to accommodate the visiting crowds. I remember when I was a senior at Notre Dame in 1984 and President Reagan came to visit. The entire main road leading to campus was given a makeover, including the laying of new sod!

So John the Baptist is telling us that we need to “prepare the way for the Lord.” We need to “make straight the paths.” But for us, the pathway will not be marked on the dirt. John wants us to clear the pathway to our heart from sin, which is creates an obstacle for the Lord to come into our lives. Isaiah and John speak of valleys, mountains, uneven ground and rough places. We call these obstacles by their proper names: pride, sloth, lust, dishonesty, hypocrisy, selfishness, superficiality, sensuality, hatred, drunkenness and addiction and more. We have to make low the mountains of our pride and egoism. We have to fill in the valleys that come from a shallow prayer life and a minimalistic way of living the Gospel. We have to straighten out whatever crooked paths we’ve been walking.

This coming Tuesday is a good day for that. If you’ve never been to our 5:00pm Eucharistic Holy Hour and Mass, this is the day for you. Tuesday is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and it’s a Holy Day of Obligation. During the Holy Hour, I will be in the Confessional to help you “prepare the way for the Lord” by hearing your confessions and giving you absolution. If you stay and adore the Blessed Sacrament for 30 minutes (by arriving no later than 5:15pm), and if you receive Communion at Mass, and if you pray for the intentions of the Holy Father and if you completely detach yourself from sin, you will receive a Plenary Indulgence (see next page). That makes a pretty straight path.

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God. The conviction that human life is sacred and that each person has inherent dignity that must be respected in society lies at the heart of Catholic social teaching. Calls to advance human rights are illusions if the right to life itself is subject to attack. We believe that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death; that people are more important than things; and that the measure of every institution is whether or not it enhances the life and dignity of the human person. (US Bishops: Faithful Citizenship - Civic Responsibility for a New Millennium, 1999).

40 Days for Life
September 23 – November 1

40 Days for Life is a community-based campaign that draws attention to the evil of abortion through the use of a three-point program:
* Prayer and fasting
* Constant vigil
* Community outreach

40 Days for Life takes a determined, peaceful approach to showing local communities the consequences of abortion in their own neighborhoods, for their own friends and families. It puts into action a desire to cooperate with God in the carrying out of His plan for the end of abortion in America.

For more information about what we are doing to respect life, call the office or Carol Schmitt at 985-707-3306.

Feast Day - October 4

Blessing of the Pets – October 11

Many of the stories that surround the life of St. Francis of Assisi deal with his love for animals. Part of his appreciation of the environment is expressed in his Canticle of the Sun, a poem written in Umbrian Italian in perhaps 1224 which expresses a love and appreciation of Brother Sun, Sister Moon, Mother Earth, Brother Fire, etc. and all of God's creations personified in their fundamental forms. Francis' attitude towards the natural world, while poetically expressed, was conventionally Christian. He believed that the world was created good and beautiful by God but suffers a need for redemption because of the primordial sin of man. He preached the universal ability and duty of all creatures to praise God (a common theme in the Psalms) and the duty of men to protect and enjoy nature as both the stewards of God's creation and as creatures ourselves. Next Sunday, all pets are invited into the schoolyard after the 10:30am Mass for the Blessing of the Pets, but make sure your pet plays “nice” before bringing him over!

There are many exciting projects ongoing in our parish. This past Tuesday we had a huge crane arrive to bring me up the 215 feet so that I could do an initial inspection of our steeple cross in preparation for mounting our new cross. Our steeple looks to be in very fine shape and we will be moving forward with the preparations to replace our broken cross. Our new cross is coming along very nicely. It is cast bronze and based on the original cross design for our church from Favrot & Livaudais dated June 12 1905. Please click here to see project pictures including crane shots from  the top.

We are also continuing to repair the structural damage at the Blessed Pauline house, one of our parish properties on Constance St. On Monday of the coming week, we will begin to replace the faulty wiring in our bell tower and choir loft. Also ongoing is the scraping and painting of our first level windows.

We have such a beautiful church, and it is very exciting to be part of restoring it to its original beauty. If you would like to be a part of this exciting and enormous task, please contact me at or 899-1378. And please continue to keep these projects and all of our wonderful volunteers in your prayers.

Liam Cousino, Sexton
  

Feast Day, September 27
Patron of Charitable Societies

Born in 1581 into a farming family in Pouy, France, Vincent's initial desire to be a priest was mainly for social advancement and monetary gain. Through a process of careful planning and being in the right place at the right time, Vincent was ordained a priest at the ripe age of nineteen by an elderly bishop who could barely see or hear.

Beginning his ordained life with less than pure motives, Vincent's change of heart began in the middle of one of his visits to the poor tenants of a wealthy estate holder.

When Vincent was called to hear the confession of a dying man, the spiritual naiveté of the penitent shocked Vincent. The poor man knew next to nothing about his religion. Not long after, Vincent preached a sermon on general confession from the pulpit in the village chapel of Folleville, France. In it he asked the people to take to heart the necessity of repentance. The response overwhelmed him. For hours the villagers stood in line to go to confession. Inside they poured out their longing for the Gospel and for good priests to minister to them. Vincent had not guessed at their hunger or their need. Based on this conversion of heart, Vincent gathered a little band of priests to his side.

In 1626 Vincent and three priests pledged to: “Aggregate and associate to ourselves and to the aforesaid work to live together as a Congregation … and to devote ourselves to the salvation of the poor country folk.” The Congregation of the Mission was born. As more man added to the number, the Congregation began preaching across France. Later, he also founded the Daughters of Charity with St. Louise de Marillac.

Vincent's works are astounding when viewed as a whole. Today the “Vincentian family” has a presence on all five continents, thus fulfilling its founder’s wish, expressed in one of his last conferences: “Our vocation is to go not into one parish, nor into only one diocese, but throughout the earth. And to do what? To inflame the hearts of men. It is not enough for me to love God if my neighbor does not love him as well.” 

 Today the Congregation of the Mission numbers 3,600 members, known also under the name of Lazarists, and the community of the Daughters of Charity numbers 27,000 in over 80 countries. The charities directly descended from the first group of Ladies of Charity brought together by Vincent at Chatillon-les-Dombes, are united in an international organization with 250,000 members. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul, founded in 1835 by Frederic Ozanam, a lay society with obedience to the Church, has 875,000 members in 130 countries. Finally, more than 500 congregations or communities, most of them congregations of women, declare themselves followers of Vincent or under his patronage.
Adapted from material on the Worldwide Vincentian Family Website: www.famvin.org

 St. Stephen Parish was founded by the Congregation for the Mission in 1849. Although the Vincentian Priests turned the the care of the Parish to the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 2006, the devotions and the charitable work of St. Vincent de Paul continues through the work of individual Daughters of Charity, the Ladies of Charity and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

“Brothers and sisters: May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we have for you.” (1 Thes 3:12)

During this week when our country celebrates “Thanksgiving Day,” I want to express my thanksgiving to so many of you for your goodness to me. This past weekend with the Archbishop made me realize how truly blessed I am to be living in such a wonderful parish. Without meaning to exclude anyone, I do want to mention in particular a few people. First, I’m grateful to our Archbishop for his pastoral leadership and pastoral presence that made last Sunday so important in terms of promoting unity in our parish. Second, I want to express my deep gratitude to the leadership of the former Our Lady of Good Counsel and St. Henry parishes for their promoting participation in the Eucharistic procession and Mass. On Sunday, we literally “followed Christ” together as our Archbishop carried Him through our streets.

In terms of organization, I am grateful to Kathy Fayard and Renee Torina for organizing the procession. I am also grateful to our DRE, Phillip Bellini, our parish secretary, Dixie Williams, and our able volunteers for keeping things organized and working together. Brian Morgan prepared the program and led the music in and out of the church, Liam Cousino is the reason the cross is standing in the church, and Hunter Harris and Rosary Henry (and their many friends) are the reason we ate so well! Special thanks also goes out to my friend John Rowland at Southern Hospitality Catering who donated a lot of the food, and Jude Trahant and Dudley Vandenborre, who caught the fish! And I am most profoundly grateful for so many of you unnamed parishioners who remember me in your prayers. Without them I could not weather the spiritual attacks.

I have much to be grateful to as your pastor. It’s a humbling position. I’ll never be able to fully express my thanksgiving to you. But please know that I do express my thanksgiving to God for you every time I celebrate Mass. It’s the greatest form of thanksgiving I can make. And that’s actually what the word “Eucharist” means in Greek. It means “thanksgiving.” So when I offer my Eucharist “for all parishioners” on Sunday, please know that I’m offering it for each of your personally. I may sometimes be lax in effectively thanking you, but I thank God for you daily.


Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

  

“Jesus says, ‘My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here.’ So Pilate said to him, ‘Then you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’” (Jn. 18:36-38a)

On the last Sunday in Ordinary Time we remember Christ as Universal King. And it’s powerful to recall that His Kingdom was established on earth not as an exercise of power, but in an exercise of humility. Look at our church. Our forefathers who built this church had the Kingship of Christ in mind even before the feast of Christ the King was added to the Church calendar in 1925. Look up at the grand mural painted in the apse of our church to depict St. Stephen beholding Christ reigning in Heaven with His Father and the Holy Spirit. And then look in front of that mural to the marble cross which announces the kingship of Christ in the inscription above his head: I.N.R.I. Those four letters stand for four words: Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum or “Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews.” Although we pray daily “thy Kingdom come” for a return of Christ in glory, we also recognize that the kingdom is here because Christ already inaugurated it on the cross. And the king is already present here, in the humble presence of the Eucharist. But to recognize that presence, we have to have faith.

It would be easier for us to adore Christ if He appeared in glory surrounded by the angels and the saints. And that will happen one day. But today He desires to hide his majesty under his great humility. The humility of the Eucharist reminds us that Christ’s crown wasn’t one of jewels but one of thorns. His dominion wasn’t dressed in a robe of purple, but in a body crimson with blood. And His throne was not of gold, but of the wood of the cross.

What does it mean for us to relate to Christ as king? Most people think that this simply means to obey Christ as we would obey a king. But seeing Christ as king is not the same as seeing another human being – one with the same humanity that we have – as a king. It’s doesn’t mean following the arbitrary whims of a king weak with original sin. It means trusting what Christ reveals is the truth, the very truth that sets us free (Jn. 8:32). Obedience in Christ’s kingdom is really the summit of freedom. Obedience is recognizing that Christ reveals authentic freedom through His service to us. Obedience to Christ makes us free to love purely, free to follow Christ in holiness, and free to give our lives out of love as a ransom for many. True freedom isn’t a license to do whatever gives us pleasure. That’s a slavery to sin! True freedom gives us happiness and holiness in this life, and eternal life in the next.

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

Their generous contributions made it possible to have such a beautiful reminder of our faith on top of the tallest steeple in New Orleans. Many gave “In Memory” of someone else, so here is the list of the names that will be on the cross:

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Ballard, III
In Memory of the Bergeron & Boudreaux Families
Philip & Ella Boudreaux
Kathy, Molly & Katie Burns
Matalin & Emma Carville
Robert & Druscilla Charlebois
The Chisesi Family
In Memory of Mae Colgan Clementino
The Howell Crosby Family
Ronnie Demilio
In Memory of Louis J. Derbes, C.M.
Martin Feldman
Dr. & Mrs. Norman Francis
Arthemise Galle
Joyce Griener
In Memory of Mary & Jimmie Hanemann
Hunter P. Harris & Family
Lucy M. LaBella
Ronald & Mary Ellen Leggio
Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Liljeberg, Sr.
In Memory of Garrett & Claire Martin
McNamara & McAuliffe Families
Patricia & David Mitchell
Superintendent & Mrs. Henry Morris
The Nalty-Hanemann Family
Rev. Msgr. Christopher Halpin Nalty
Deacon Paul & Jane Nalty
The Paciera Family
In Memory of John Leon Pecarrere, Sr.
Herbert Joseph Petit, Sr.
For the Grandchildren of Edward & Julie Poitevent
The Rareshide Family
In Memory of William G. Raymond
Rivers Robinson Singley
Joel & Margaret Soniat
Vetter Amadeo Taylor
Renee Torina

“Brothers and sisters:
Every priest stands daily at his ministry, offering frequently those same sacrifices
that can never take away sins.
But this one offered one sacrifice for sins,
and took his seat forever at the right hand of God.” (Heb. 10:11-12)
Over the next two weeks, there are three important events happening in our parish. And they are each centered on the “Paschal Mystery.” What is the Paschal Mystery? Simply put, the Paschal Mystery is the suffering, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. When the Jews were slaves in Egypt, God told them to slaughter a lamb in the evening twilight and to place its blood on the two posts and the lintels of their houses. Seeing the blood, the Lord would “pass over” their homes in striking down the first-born of the Egyptians. (Ex. 12). The lambs which saved the Jewish people were commemorated in the Jewish feast of Passover, and the lamb was called the passover lamb, or “paschal” lamb in Hebrew. The meaning of this event and its prophecy were revealed in the first-born Son of God, who allowed Himself to be slaughtered in the evening twilight with His blood dripping down the cross to save us from an eternal death due to sin. In doing so (in the words of John the Baptist), Jesus was the “Lamb of God.” The mystery of a God who loves us so much that He would become a man and suffer and die so that we might rise with Him is what makes up the mystery. That is the mystery that we proclaim with the cross of Christ, and that is the mystery in which we participate at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, where we enter into the Paschal Mystery by remembering it and receiving the Lamb of God as the Bread of Life in the Holy Eucharist.

So what are the three events over the next week? (1) the erection of a new glorious cross on our steeple as a visible sign to our community of our belief in the Paschal Mystery, (2) a Eucharistic procession from Our Lady of Good Counsel Church to St. Henry Church to St. Stephen Church in which we proclaim that our Lord is truly present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament, and (3) the celebration of Mass in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (the “Old Latin” or “Tridentine” Mass) in which we participate in Holy Mass as it was celebrated for at least 1700 years before it was changed after the Second Vatican Council. And each of these events point us to Jesus Christ, our Savior.

The above Scriptural selection from Hebrews reminds us that Jesus died once and for all as an offering to God so that our sins could be forgiven. And since the sacrificial offering was made by the Son of God, it exists forever and for all time. Our proclamation of that great mystery of love with the sign of the cross, and our participation in the mystery through Eucharist and the Sacrifice of the Mass point to our salvation in Heaven!

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty
msgr.nalty@gmail.

As stated in last week’s bulletin Father Leo Patalinghug and Msgr. Nalty came out victorious in their “throwdown” challenge against Chef Bobby Flay. This will be the last bulletin announcement about it, but the episode will run again on Sunday, September 20 at 10:00pm CST on the Food Network (channel 67 on Cox). If you liked it, write the Food Nework and ask for more!