The 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
Happy Mardi Gras!!
We have finally reached the end of Carnivale (“carne”=meat + “vale”=farewell) and so we’re ready to eat up all the sweets and treats in the house so as not to be tempted by them during the forty days of fasting that lie ahead.
One of the counterintuitive things about Lent is that the harder I make my penance, the easier it will be to keep it and to benefit from it. If I choose something relatively easy (like soda), then I only really think about it a few times a day. I may even finish a soda or two before I even realize Lent is happening and I’ve botched it up for the day... If I give up meat or TV or games on my phone, though... That’s going to require me to restructure whole aspects of my life for six weeks.
And that restructuring is actually really good for me... It causes me to look at parts of my life that are on auto-pilot and to ask whether I want or need to continue to have them in my life at all...
This is why we do a spring cleaning or why a new doctor reevaluates our prescriptions. It’s why any good weight loss program begins with several weeks of intentional eating and a food diary. It’s why we do an examination of conscience before confession. Modern life is busy! A shocking amount of what we do is on auto-pilot. And that’s necessary to keep us sane when we’re in busy phases of life. It’s not mentally healthy as a long-term strategy, though. Both our spiritual and our mental health demand we go off auto-pilot on a regular basis and make sure that we’re moving at a sustainable speed and along a good heading... A tough Lent is a profoundly good and healthy way to do that for me individually and within my relationships...
For that reason, it’s not really ok to say “I’m going to do something extra instead of giving something up.” Giving something up is a different kind of spiritual exercise. It works different “spiritual muscles.” You can’t work your arm muscles by jogging and you can’t improve your cardiac health by lifting weights. Sure, ANY exercise is better than none, but all exercises are not the same and the Church is clear that the spiritual exercise of fasting during lent is not optional.
Giving something up is an “ascetic” or “apophatic” spiritual exercise. It works those parts of ourselves that need to be reigned in and disciplined. It taps into the self-sacrificial aspects of love and focuses us within ourselves. It specifically disrupts patterns of behavior which reinforce delusions, excuses, self-justifications for bad habits and vices.
Doing something extra is a “kataphatic” spiritual exercise. It works those parts of ourselves that want to express virtue from the inside outward. It builds up our capacity for Love of God and love of Neighbor. It taps into the more intellectual and builds up patterns of behavior which reinforce new good habits.
Both types of spiritual exercise are good and necessary. And just like physical exercise, we need a balance. While it’s true that any is better than no exercise, the Church specifically tells us to fast and to give something up during Lent. We’re asked to engage those “muscles” that are associated with “ascetic” / “apophatic” spiritual exercises for about six weeks (forty days). And then? THEN the Church gives us 8 weeks (about fifty days) to exercise those other “kataphatic” spiritual muscles which express the wisdom and grace that we have gained during Lent in an outward way.
And so I want to encourage everyone to think about what they want to give up for Lent. Pick something different, something challenging, something which will require some adjustment in your everyday life. Just as our New Years’ resolutions have begun to fade from our lives, we are given the gift and the opportunity to make a new resolution - not for a year, but for six weeks - to strengthen our capacity for self-control and for self-reflection.
Until Ash Wednesday, though, enjoy your Mardi Gras weekend!!
Upcoming Events
Confessions every Friday & Saturday from 5p until Mass and Sunday from 9a until Mass
Sunday Morning Catechism in the Hall (with Coffee & Donuts) after the 9:00a Mass during the School Year unless otherwise indicated
Pastoral Council meeting monthly on the third Wednesday at 6p unless otherwise indicated
Feb 15 First Quarter Social - Mardi Gras theme for Potluck Brunch following Sunday Mass
Feb 18 Ash Wednesday - Not a Holy Day of Obligation, Day of Obligatory Fasting
Feb 20 Friday in Lent - Stations of the Cross at 5:30p followed by Mass
For Your Information:
ASH WEDNESDAY is not a Holy Day of Obligation, but it is an excellent way to begin the Holy Season of Lent and to make the next three months more meaningful, spiritually valuable, and personally fruitful. Masses (with the distribution of Ashes) will be offered at 9a and 5:30p.
LENT The Season of Lent is meant to be penitential. It’s meant to be a time of deliberate and conscious discomfort in order to shake up our normal ruts and clarify our attention to the Lord and His Sacrifice for us and for our sins.
- Catholics aged 18 and up are obliged to abstain from meat on every Friday in the Lenten season. If your doctor advises otherwise, feel free to check in with Fr Ryan.
- Catholics between the ages of 18 and 59 are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. On Fasting Days, only one meal should be eaten and that meal should not include meat or meat broth. If your work is strenuous, you may take some extra food once or, at most, twice. That extra food should be genuinely necessary and should also exclude meat and meat products. If your doctor advises otherwise or if your medicine must be taken with food, exceptions can be made. Feel free to check in with Fr Ryan. Please note, ice cream before bed doesn’t count as medicine...
- All Catholics are expected to “give something up” for Lent. As good as it might be to “do something extra” such as attend Daily Mass, say an extra Rosary, etc, Lent isn’t about doing something extra - it’s about giving something up. It’s a penitential season, not merely a virtuous one. As such, every Catholic from about the age of 14 should choose a food or activity which they generally enjoy and from which they can medically abstain for the entirety of Lent. As with all penances in the Church, Sundays are the Lord’s Day and fasting is not allowed! And so whatever you give up, you CAN have on Sunday.
LENTEN DEVOTIONS On the Fridays of Lent, Confession is available at 5:00 p.m. Stations of the Cross at 5:30 p.m. followed by Mass. On February 27, March 13, and March 27, we will have a simple meat-free Lenten potluck after Stations and Mass as we have done in years’ past. Fr Ryan will make a hearty soup.
FORMED.ORG has weekly features at https://watch.formed.org/this-week-on-formed. Remember to sign in using our parish’s zip code (71282) at https://signup.formed.org
ROSARY GROUP meets on Monday at 5:30p for prayer and supper. Everyone is invited. Contact Louise Magoun (318-341-2403), coordinator for more information.
MAUSOLEUM Construction will begin in Summer 2026. Our sales representative, Garth Daniels, can be reached at (318) 295-4409. If you have any questions or you know of anyone else interested in making a purchase, please encourage them to speak with Garth or to call the church office.
FIRST QUARTER SOCIAL THIS SUNDAY will be in the Church Hall following the 9:30am Mass. Margo Corulla and Darryl & Abby Ellerbee will serve as co-chairs. Norman & Marie Ernst, Brian Johnson, Sidney & Mary Jane Johnson, Robbie & Tori Kivett, Brian & Brittany McFall, Ed Mills, Billy & Courtney Nadeau, Teddy & Alyssa Oliver, Mike & Sue Rome, Jason Trichell, Mary Trichell, Levi Washington will assist. Plan to join in the Mardi Gras celebration. THANK YOU to all who will be servants and helpers!
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Payton Trichell (birth anni)/family
- Sun 8:00a (Traditional Latin Mass) PRO POPULO for the living & deceased members of our parish
- Sun 9:30a In memory of deceased members of the Bolton and Howington families
- Mon NO MASS
- Tues 9:00a In memory of Carol Folk LaHitte/P Lancaster
- Wed 9:00a ASH WEDNESDAY For the Deceased Priests of the Diocese of Alexandria
- Wed 5:30p ASH WEDNESDAY In memory of Joe Farlow/Bullard
- Thu 9:00a (at Legacy Nursing Home) In memory of John Johnson (birth anni)/family
- Fri 5:30p In memory of MaryAgnes York & Gail Graugnard/P Gilfoil
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Pat & Marleigh Bullard, Patrick Thomas, & Eva & R L Reynolds/family
- Sun 8:00a (Traditional Latin Mass) PRO POPULO for the living & deceased members of our parish
- Sun 9:30a For a special intention of the Guizerix family
Altar Candles this week are burning in memory of Nettie and Phillip Scurria
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) | EMHC(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/14 5:30p | - | M Rome | - |
| 2/15 9:30a | Mary Katherine, Maura, Elizabeth | Youth | - |
| 2/21 5:30p | - | C VanderVieren | A Keene |
| 2/22 9:30a | Cooper and Courtland | A Oliver | - |
Stewardship Stewardship involves more than just the gift we bring to the altar. Today’s readings say clearly that it is fidelity to God’s law that makes our offering acceptable.
COLLECTION ON ASH WEDNESDAY (Feb 18) supports the Catholic Church in Eastern Europe.
Community Celebrations
Happy Birthday to Jay Bailey (Feb 14), Mike Rome (Feb 14), Abner Harris (Feb 15), Tim Harris (Feb 15)
In Our Daily Prayers…
Please let us know of anyone who is ill or hospitalized and would like to receive a visit from Father. Also, help us keep our prayer list up to date by advising us of those who should be added or removed.
For our Pope, Leo XIV, our Bishop, Robert Marshall; and our Diocesan leaders, our President, Governor, Mayor and national, state and local elected representatives
Our parishioners who are sick, shut-in, under full-time care and for those who care for them, and for those otherwise in need of our prayers: MaryKathryn & Nap Book, Chris, Susan, and David Cagnolatti, Connie & Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Leslye Ellerbee, Susan & Johnny Gilfoil, Margaret & Pat Gilfoil,Terry Farlow Hall, Sidney & Mary Jane Johnson, Frances & Bill Kennedy, Ed Mills, Susie Murphy, Bobby Reynolds, Phillip and Peggy Scurria, Mike & Sue Rome, Lori Sullivan
Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Ashley Alexander (Regan), Graham Allen (S Gilfoil), Marie Farlow Bellard, Martha Book, Kay Boolos (S Gilfoil), Chris Breard (Gilfoil), Gayle Brown (Dukes and Oliver), Sarah Cannon (Gilfoil), Albert Christman, Jeannie & Donald Collins, Teresa Carney Condra, Jami Cook (Wilks), Craig Cox, Gene Cox, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, Judy Fortenberry, Donna Fulton (Ellerbee), Fred and Cathy Fulton, Morgan, Alex, and Palmer Gilfoil, Thom Gilfoil, Wyly Gilfoil (Gilfoil), LaVonne Givens, Charlotte Green, Rita Hargrave, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), Patricia Lively (Wilks), Charles Howington, Callie Halbach Hyams, Jimmy Hopson(Wilks), Will Irby (P Gilfoil), Diane Johnson, Carla Leese (S Gilfoil), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Ruth McDonald (Copes), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Kiely McKellar (S Gilfoil), Boyce Miller,Mike Morelli, Cole Norris, Randy Parker, Russell and Betty Petersen, David Peterson, Quintin Purvis, John Neill, Curt and Brianne Rome, Bailey, Scott, and Tiffney Rome, Debbie Kedrick Sims, LeeAnn Rome Tranchina (Rome), Randy Watts, Jr.
Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Preston Collins, Henry Ellerbee, Lilly Falgout, Jag Gilfoil, Matilda Johnson, Caroline Marsh, EmmyLu Marsh, Charlize Richardson, Chandler Wood
