Uptown New Orleans Catholic Church on Napolean Avenue - Monsignor Nalty
Rectory 504-899-1378 | Fax 504-899-0480
School 504-891-1927
ststephenpar@archdiocese-no.org
From the Pastor – August 30, 2026
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life.” (Mt. 16:24-26)
I spent five years of my seminary formation in Rome, studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University. During the first three years, I obtained a Bachelor in Sacred Theology, which would be similar to a Masters of Divinity. During my final two years of seminary, I spent most of my time studying canon law. Anyway, one day I was discussing the Scriptural passage above with a friend who was in advanced Scripture studies, and I asked him: “To what was Jesus referring to when he told His disciples to ‘take up his cross’? Since Jesus hadn’t been crucified yet, what would that phrase have meant to his disciples?” My friend told me that the phrase had no “symbolic” meaning. It was a literal statement. Crucifixion was the way the Romans punished disobedience, and they forced the ones to be crucified to carry their crosses to the place where they would be crucified. “If that’s the case,” I said, “the disciples must have been shocked at the statement. “Exactly,” he said.
In many respects, our society has “drained” some of the meaning out of the expression “carrying the cross.” We live in a world where crosses are fashion accessories. Sometimes they’re diamond studded, hanging from a gold necklace. Sometimes they’re big and gold, around the neck of a rapper. I often see them on the end of Rosaries, hanging from rearview mirrors.
Think about it: if Jesus were killed today, He might be killed by lethal injection or with a sword. Imagine what we would think if we saw someone wearing a syringe full of poison or a sword around their neck. When we see the cross – wherever we see it – it should cause some sort of reflection in us. A cross shouldn’t be ignored; it should remind us that Our Lord suffered in a terrible way so that death could be destroyed.
And when it comes down to it, that’s what it means to carry one’s cross. It’s to recognize that Jesus destroyed death to give us life. It’s to recognize that voluntarily embracing suffering is to unite ourselves to Christ so that we might share abundantly in Heaven. “Carrying one’s cross” means to willfully suffer, whether by graciously bearing illness, by accepting criticism, or by voluntarily denying ourselves the things of the world.
We might not get literally crucified in this life, but our willing embrace of life’s difficulties helps us to understand the true meaning of the Cross of Christ.
(Very Rev. Msgr.) Christopher H. Nalty
msgr.nalty@gmail.com
Masses
St. Stephen
Saturday Vigil at 4:00 pm
Sunday at 8:00 am and 10:30 am
Sunday at 5:00 pm at OLGC
Our Lady of Good Counsel (OLGC)
Center of Jesus the Lord
Charismatic Mass
Sunday at 10 am
Weekdays Masses
Monday – Friday 6:30 am St. Henry
Tuesdays 6:00 pm St. Stephen
First Fridays 6:00 pm Latin Mass
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament
Tuesdays 4:45 – 5:45pm St. Stephen
Thursdays 7:00 – 8:00am St. Henry
Confession Times at Good Shepherd
Saturdays 3:00 – 3:45pm St. Stephen
Sundays 9:30 – 10:15am St. Stephen
Sundays 10:00 – 10:30am OLGC
First Fridays 6:30 – 7:00pm OLGC
Saint Teresa of Calcutta
Feast Day September 5
On 10 September 1946, on a train journey from Calcutta to Darjeeling, Mother Teresa received what she termed the “call within a call,” which was to give rise to the Missionaries of Charity family: “to quench the infinite thirst of Jesus on the cross for love and souls” by “laboring at the salvation and sanctification of the poorest of the poor.” On October 7, 1950, the new congregation of the Missionaries of Charity was officially erected as a religious institute for the Archdiocese of Calcutta.
Throughout the 1950s and early 1960s, Mother Teresa expanded the work of the Missionaries of Charity both within Calcutta and throughout India. From the late 1960s until 1980, the Missionaries of Charity expanded across the globe and in their number of members. Mother Teresa opened houses in Australia, the Middle East, and North America, and the first novitiate outside Calcutta in London. In 1979 Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. By that same year there were 158 Missionaries of Charity foundations.
By 1997, the Sisters numbered nearly 4,000 members, and were established in almost 600 foundations in 123 countries of the world.
On September 5, 1997 Mother Teresa died at her Motherhouse in Calcutta. Hundreds of thousands of people from all classes and all religions, from India and abroad, paid their respects. Presidents, prime ministers, queens, and special envoys were present at her funeral on behalf of countries from all over the world.
Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions
September 2026
For the care of water.
Let us pray for a just and sustainable management of water, a vital resource, so that everyone may have equal access to it.
Please pray for the intentions of the Holy Father!
The Queenship of Mary Aug. 22
The Feast of the Queenship of Mary – the Coronation – was established in 1954 by Pope Pius XII in a document called Ad Caeli Reginam. The original date for this feast was chosen as May 31st, but was later moved to the octave day of the feast of the Assumption, August 22nd. The Catholic faith states as a dogma that Mary was assumed into heaven, and is with Jesus Christ, her Divine Son. Mary should be called Queen, not only because of her Divine Motherhood of Jesus Christ, but also because God has willed her to have an exceptional role in the work of eternal salvation.
Jesus Christ as Redeemer is Lord and King. The Blessed Virgin is Queen, because of the unique manner in which she assisted in our redemption, by giving of her own substance, by freely offering Him for us, by her singular desire and petition for, and active interest in our souls. Mary was chosen Mother of Christ so she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race.
As Pope Pius XII wrote: “From the earliest ages of the Catholic Church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother’s solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.”
The Catechism tells us that “the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.” (CCC 966).
All devotion to Mary is intrinsically linked to the worship of Jesus Christ. However, devotion is different than the worship. Because God is infinite, we offer him worship – called “latria” in Greek. Devotion is different. We can be devoted to our parents or our closest friends. And we owe special devotion to the saints who have preceded us to Heaven. But to Mary is owed the highest devotion because of the special role that God chose for her in His plan of salvation. In Greek, devotion is called “dulia” and to Mary we owe the highest devotion or “hyperdulia.”
And as Queen of Heaven, Mary serves as a powerful intercessor for us. This intercession in no way diminishes the unique salvific mediation of Jesus Christ; rather, she reveals to us His power. As she herself states in her great “Magnificat”: her soul “magnifies” the Lord. Just as a magnifying glass doesn’t change the size of the thing it magnifies, but only makes it easier to see and understand, Mary does the same thing for us with Christ. She adds nothing to His greatness but she allows us to understand it and appreciate Him more and more.
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