“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.” (Lk 10:25-27) There’s a tendency to take this Sunday’s Gospel as an encouragement of laziness. We hear that Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus doing nothing, and Martha is doing all of the work. Yet, when Martha complains, Jesus reassures the two that Mary has “chosen the better part.” So doing nothing but listening to Jesus is better than helping out around the house? Sounds like a quick way our of household chores! “Need me to mow the lawn? Sorry, but I’ve chosen the “better portion”; I’m heading to the Adoration Chapel to pray! That’s not really what’s going on here. What Jesus is referring to is not the literal … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – July 13, 2025
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Lk 10:25-27) If you could ask God one question, what would it be? Would you ask about the future? Would you ask for the next Powerball number? Next year’s Superbowl Champion? Or perhaps you’d want to know about something from the past. Why did Katrina hit us? Why did my loved one have to die? Perhaps you’d want to know the answer to something current. Why do bad things happen to good people? What is the cure for cancer? If … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – July 6, 2025
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. … Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ (Lk 10:1, 7-9) The mission of the 72 disciples of Jesus has been spoken about by the Fathers of the Church in several ways. St. Augustine thought the 72 to be the first priests of the Church working in concert with the 12 Apostles (bishops). Other saints, such as St. Cyril, saw the 72 as the first worshipping community of Christians sent out to teach. Either way, the 72 brought the Gospel (Good News) of Christ to those who had never received it. Theirs was the work of “evangelization,” from the Latin word … [Read more...]
Kateri Tekakwitha
July 14, 2025 First Native American Saint On Sunday, October 21, 2012 the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI canonized the first Native American Saint, Kateri Tekakwitha. St. Kateri was born in 1656 near Auriesville, New York, the daughter of a Mohawk warrior and a Christian mother. At the age of four, smallpox attacked Tekakwitha's village, taking the lives of her parents and baby brother, and leaving Tekakwitha an orphan. She was adopted by her two aunts and an uncle, and although forever weakened, scarred, and partially blind, Tekakwitha survived. The brightness of the sun blinded her and she would feel her way around as she walked. When Tekakwitha was eighteen, Father de Lamberville, a Jesuit missionary, came to Caughnawaga and established a chapel. Her uncle disliked the … [Read more...]
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel – July 16
Our Lady of Mount Carmel is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary in her role as patroness of the Carmelite Order. The first Carmelites were Christian hermits living on Mount Carmel in the Holy Land during the late 12th and early to mid-13th century. They built in the midst of their hermitages a chapel which they dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, whom they conceived of in chivalric terms as the "Lady of the place." Our Lady of Mount Carmel was adopted in the 19th century as the patron saint of Chile, in South America. Since the 15th century, popular devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel has centered on the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular, a sacramental associated with promises of Mary's special aid for the salvation of the devoted wearer. … [Read more...]
Prayer for Religious Liberty
Almighty God, Father of all nations, for freedom you have set us free in Christ Jesus (Gal 5:1). We praise and bless you for the gift of religious liberty, the foundation of human rights, justice and the common good. Â Grant to our leaders the wisdom to protect and promote our liberties. By your grace may we have the courage to defend them, for ourselves and for all those who live in this blessed land. We ask this through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, our patroness, and in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, with whom you live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. St. Thomas More, pray for us St. John Fisher, pray for us St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us Bl. Miguel Pro, pray for us … [Read more...]
Ignatian Volunteer Corps
ENRICH YOUR RETIREMENT – ENRICH THE LIVES OF OTHERS Are you retired or finished raising your family? Do you want to give back, enrich your spiritual life and build community with other mature adults? Then consider joining the Ignatian Volunteer Corps (IVC) here in New Orleans. At IVC we believe the life experience, wisdom, and skills of 50+ women and men, rooted in Gospel values, can bring justice, and transform the world. For more details, visit our website at ivcusa.org/ivc-offices/welcome-to-ivc-new-orleans, or contact Becky Goff (Regional Director) at bgoff@ivcusa.org. … [Read more...]
From the Pastor – June 29, 2025
Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. (Gal 5:1) As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day next Friday, we might reflect a little bit about what it means to be “free.” In the context of the Fourth of July holiday, freedom means being separated from the political control of a king as had been the case prior to the American Revolution. But “freedom” means many things. Webster’s Dictionary has a very lengthy definition of freedom. In part it reads: “a : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action b : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : independence c : the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous.” In all of these … [Read more...]
Solemnity of Peter and Paul
On Sunday, June 29, the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Benedict XVI will bestow the pallium on 38 metropolitan archbishops, including 14 from Europe and six from North America. The Americans are: Archbishops Jerome Listecki of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Dennis Schnurr of Cincinnati, Ohio; and Thomas Wenski of Miami, Florida. The vestment is called a “pallium,” (plural is “pallia”) and it is a narrow band of cloth woven of white lamb's wool with a ring in the center which rests on the shoulders of its wearer. The narrow band falls down the front of the chest like a necktie and goes similarly down the back. It is decorated with six black crosses, one on each tail and four on the loop. The pallium has its origin as a liturgical vestment of the Holy Father since at least the 4th century, … [Read more...]
The Orans Posture
The Latin word “orans” is translated as “one who is praying.” The “orans posture” is praying while lifting up one’s hands. This posture of prayer has a Scriptural basis in First Timothy: “I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.” (1Tim. 2:8). The orans posture was common in early Christianity and can be seen in early Christian art. Several of the early Church Fathers saw it as “the outline of the cross.” The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (the “rubrics,” or rules for the celebration of the Mass) references the orans posture with the phrase “with hands extended.” It is instructed to be done twenty-eight times and is used as a direction only for the priest; the laity are never directed to pray “with hands … [Read more...]
