The Gospel According to John Come soar high above with the "beloved disciple" in a 28-week study of this profound gospel. Like the eagle, St. John has an amazing vision and sees the hidden realities of Jesus' life, passion, and death. In his gospel, we discover Jesus Christ the Messiah, the Eternal Word of God, the Bread of Life come down from heaven, and the Good Shepherd. Come and discover the inexhaustible and divine mystery, who is present and active in His Church right now. Classes begin: Thursday, February 11th Registration deadline: February 18th For more information contact: Mr. Phillip Bellini 504-227-3795 pbellini@arch-no.org Cost is $40 … [Read more...]
Archives for February 2016
From the Pastor – February 28, 2016
February 28, 2016 By
There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ (Lk 13:6-9) I love the agricultural parables of Jesus. Anyone who has ever planted and nurtured a garden can understand them. We have such rich soil here in Southern Louisiana that just about anything can grow. So if something in our garden isn’t growing, we’re pretty quick to remove it. In this parable, it’s pretty clear … [Read more...]
Lenten Prayer Mission
February 21, 2016 By
February 29, March 1-2 Fr. Jeffrey Montz, STL Monday – 7:00 PM Tuesday – After 6:00 PM Mass Wednesday – 7:00 PM Confession is available each day of the Mission beginning at 5:00pm Rev. Jeffrey A. Montz, STL is a native of New Orleans. The faithful witness of his parents helped to lead him to develop a personal relationship with God and to foster within him a sense of vocation to the priesthood from a young age. He attended Archbishop Hannan High School, and upon graduation entered St. Joseph Seminary College. After graduation from St. Joseph Seminary in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts, Fr. Montz continued his seminary formation at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans where he received a Masters of Divinity in 2008. That same year he was ordained to the … [Read more...]
Corporal Work of Mercy: Feeding the Hungry
February 21, 2016 By
A request from Deacon Richard Eason: “The parish provides a meal service for the homeless at the Ozanam Inn on the fourth Thursday of each month. This is a great opportunity to serve Our Lord’s neediest people and fellowship with many of our parishioners. The next meal service is set for February 25th. For those interested, the meal is cooked in the kitchen of the rectory of Our Lady of Good Counsel, beginning at noon. The meal service is provided at the Ozanam Inn beginning at 5:00 pm. Please contact Dorothy ‘Dottie’ Forly,” at 242-1919. … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – February 21, 2016
February 21, 2016 By
While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Lk 9:34-36a) What a difference a week has made. Last weekend we heard of Christ going into the desert to be tempted by the devil. And this weekend, Christ has gone from the desolation of the desert to the glory of the Transfiguration on the mountaintop where God announces Jesus as being His beloved Son. But why do we go from one dramatic place to another during this first week of Lent? Most of the Church Fathers saw the Transfiguration as a glimpse of the glory of Christ given to his disciples so that they might be strengthened to witness the scandal of the Cross. And … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – January 31, 2016
February 2, 2016 By
And all spoke highly of Jesus and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth. They also asked, “Isn’t this the son of Joseph?” When the people in the synagogue heard this, they were all filled with fury. They rose up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town had been built, to hurl him down headlong. (Lk 4:22 & Lk 4:28-30) What happened here? These are two different parts of the 4th chapter of Luke’s Gospel separated by only 5 verses. In the first section, the people are rapt by the beautiful words of Jesus, and in the second they are so angered as to want to kill Him. What provoked that? What caused their attitude to change? Actually, it was a strong statement of Jesus about what had happened with prophets that had come … [Read more...]
From the Society of St Vincent de Paul
February 2, 2016 By
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! With your financial and gift purchasing assistance we were able to help so many this past holiday season. By the numbers, for Thanksgiving 2015 we provided food baskets with gift certificates for the meat entrée to FORTY-TWO families to ensure they would enjoy a traditional holiday meal. Thanks to Louise McGehee School who donated an additional 12 baskets for Thanksgiving; we gave out 6 of those at Thanksgiving and then remaining 6 at Christmas. Christmas was truly a blessed time for us. With your help we provided 20 (TWENTY) families with Christmas gifts with angel giving tree gifts going to 53 children ages 3 months to 18 years old providing new clothing and toys for Christmas. We also provided food baskets to 51 families (25 from Sacred Heart, 20 … [Read more...]
Speak Up for Your Faith!
February 1, 2016 By
Friedrich Niemoller was a German Lutheran pastor who was active in German politics in the 1930's. As a national conservative, he was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler. However, after Hitler sought to take control over the Lutheran church, Niemoller became a vocal critic of the Nazi regime. For that, he was imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1937 to 1945. After the war, he was asked why he ever supported Hitler. He replied: “I find myself wondering about that too. I wonder about it as much as I regret it. Still, it is true that Hitler betrayed me. I had an audience with him, as a representative of the Protestant church, shortly before he became Chancellor, in 1932. Hitler promised me on his word of honor, to protect the church, and not to issue any … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – January 24, 2016
February 1, 2016 By
He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord.” (Lk. 4:16-19) Imagine being present in the synagogue when this dramatic scene took place. All the eyes are on Jesus and He reads this dramatic reading from Isaiah 61, and then succinctly explains that the passage refers to Him. There are three important Greek words in this passage … [Read more...]
