Holy Day of Obligation4:00pm Vigil Tuesday, August 146:30am (St Henry) 12:00 PM Wednesday, August 15After her Son's Ascension, Mary aided the beginnings of the Church by her prayers. In her association with the apostles and several women, we also see Mary by her prayers imploring the gift of the Spirit, who had already overshadowed her in the Annunciation. Finally 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. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an … [Read more...]

I would like to thank Mike Diecidue of Dash Lumber for his incredible generosity in donating the materials for the repairs of the Blessed Pauline house, one of our parish properties. By repairing this property ourselves, we are saving ourselves a $20,000 expense that would have come out of the St. Henry Church account. And also, thanks to Bill Richards for donating his time to assist with the painting of the windows in our church. We have begun the scraping and priming, and painting will begin soon. Please pray for Bill and Mike and their families in thanksgiving.We have many projects in the works in our parish, and are hoping to begin more with your help. I am looking for volunteers to assist with some of the painting at our church. I would also like to invite anyone who may feel called … [Read more...]

Good Shepherd Parish is very grateful for the faculty and students of St. Stephen's School who collected a large amount of canned good during their recent food drive.  That food will be very useful in providing for the needs of the poorest members of our parish during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. … [Read more...]

On Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 1:00 p.m. we will conduct a pro-life workshop in the cafeteria of St. Stephen Central School. The Sidewalk Heroes workshop is designed to help churches, groups and individuals feel better equipped to be on the sidewalk in front of an abortion mill. This workshop is geared for anyone going out on the sidewalk – whether to participate as a “prayer warrior” or as a counselor – but it can also be a great source of information for individuals who strongly believe in the pro-life movement but have never worked “in the trenches.”The workshop is faith-based, 3 hours long, and is packed with good information. The information includes the basics of abortion techniques; specific physical, emotion and spiritual consequences of abortions; who is typically seen going … [Read more...]

Welcome to our new Director of Religious Education and our new Building Manager ("Sexton")It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce that the parish has hired two new full-time employees. They are Phillip Bellini and Liam Cousino. Phillip comes to Good Shepherd Parish after having worked for the last six years at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Kenner. While there he was directly in charge of the CCD program, the RCIA program, Sacramental preparation for First Holy Communion and Confirmation (for the church and school) and Adult Religious formation. Phillip has a virtually every certification from the Archdiocese of New Orleans to serve as a DRE and a catechist. Some of you may know that Phillip was responsible for bringing the Vatican Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles to the … [Read more...]

This Sunday's Gospel passage marks the beginning of the “Bread of Life” discourse from the 6th chapter of John's Gospel, a chapter we'll read in its entirety over the course of the next five weeks. This week begins with the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, which makes up the first fifteen verses of chapter 6. It's a miracle that prepares the followers of Jesus for the words to follow. By revealing that He has the ability to perform miraculous acts, Jesus presents Himself as someone to be believed. But He doesn't want His followers to settle for earthly food. Over the course of the discourse, Jesus calls His disciples to a greater reality: the reality that God has come among them and desires to bring them into communion with Him. Jesus recognizes and attends to the earthly … [Read more...]

I want to express my sincere appreciation to all of you who extended condolences to me and my family upon the sad occasion of the death of my Dad. I am particularly grateful to those who have prayed for us, those who have offered Masses for Dad, and for those who attended the funeral on Tuesday. Had he been here in person, Dad would have been very humbled by the attendance of two Archbishops, an auxiliary Bishop, an Abbot, over fifty priests, as well as scores of deacons and over 1000 religious and lay faithful who were in attendance. The photo of Dad above is the entirely of the cropped photo that was used for the newspaper obituary. It was taken only three months ago, and it shows Dad posing for a photo that he wanted to send to a priest-friend of mine from Pittsburgh. Dad's the guy on … [Read more...]

During the months of June and July, St. Stephen School will be undergoing renovations, among which is the removal of asbestos insulation.  For that reason, we will be unable to use the school for any summer activities. Also, parking in the schoolyard will be limited. I would kindly ask that the limited parking places in the schoolyard be reserved to our handicapped parishioners in need of the ramp. … [Read more...]

The church building is a concrete sign of the Church community, formed from the "living stones" who are the believers, an image very dear to the Apostles. St Peter (cf. I Pt 2: 4-5) and St Paul (cf. Eph 2: 20-22) emphasize how the "cornerstone" of this spiritual temple is Christ and that, united to him and well compact, we are also called to participate in the building of this living temple.If God therefore takes the initiative to come and dwell among men and it is always he who is the principal author of this project, then it is true that he also does not want to accomplish it without our active collaboration.Thus, to prepare oneself for Christmas means to be committed to building the "dwelling of God with men". No one is excluded; everyone can and must contribute in order to make this … [Read more...]

On Friday, June 5 at 7:00 p.m., Msgr. Nalty has scheduled the Zephyr's game as the first outing for the altar servers of the parish, and wants to make it into a parish outing. He's already spoken with Father John Arnone, and it will be a joint outing with both of our parishes! Tickets are $8 each and can be reserved by signing the sheet on the back table or calling the parish office. We need to preorder tickets by May 19 at the latest, so MONDAY is the LAST DAY to SIGN-UP! … [Read more...]