The 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
One of the most confusing aspects of Christianity is the matter of asking God for things… No matter what your situation is, God already knows! God knows better than you do. He understands (better than anybody) every aspect and detail of your situation. God knows what you’re thinking, what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking about wrongly and He knows the same about everybody else involved with that situation. And if that’s the case, then why oh why does God need me to ask?
This is most bizarre when Jesus is talking to the people in the Gospels who have physical handicaps. He walks up to a blind man and says “what do you want me to do for you?” Seriously?!? I want to see. And the deaf man wants to hear. And the guy who's been paralyzed wants to be healed of their big, obvious, debilitating conditions. Even though it couldn’t be more obvious, Jesus still makes a habit of asking: “What do you want me to do for you?”
The same framework is proffered in the Gospels: “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you.” In today’s Gospel, almost always associated with asking the Lord for good and holy priests and bishops, the Lord tells us that we should make sure to ask Him for this…
It’s a bit like when someone stops me at the end of Mass as people are rushing out of the Church and says “Father Ryan, I want to talk with you about such and such.” I always ask that person to call or text me because I WILL FORGET that this moment occurred. I have a poor memory for those kinds of moments. But God doesn’t! He doesn’t need us to remind Him of things like this…
And yet.. When it comes to prayer, Jesus advises us that we ought to begin all of our prayers by acknowledging God’s Divine nature and His goodness. Our model for prayer, the Our Father, Jesus begins with “Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” The whole act of “blessing God” and praising His goodness is just repeating things God knows about Himself. It’s easy to mistake this kind of prayer as something akin to sucking up rather than what it really is.
The art of prayer and the beauty of it is that when we raise our hearts and minds to God, we are not merely trying to achieve some specific end, we are inviting the Lord to shape and to mold us. We are inviting the Lord to make us into something new. Prayer is less about what we accomplish in the world than it is about the human experience of being loved by God.
I like to compare this to the phenomenon in relationships of making up after a fight. Most fights in serious relationships are not bad things. They are people revealing to one another their raw edges and their fundamental human needs and beliefs. In that way, making up is less of an intellectual process or a problem solving exercise than it is a mutual recognition and understanding. The money problems or the drama with the kids or the annoying habits that caused the fight aren’t fundamentally different before and after… The make up isn’t really about fixing any specific situation. The make up is about all the humanity that was caught up in the situation. And the make up process - however that looks for the couple - is about the couple settling into a slightly new appreciation of one another. I know this is massively oversimplified, but it works as an analogy for the way in which intercession and prayer aren’t so much about real world results as they are about us reaching a new appreciation of the Lord. Sometimes, as the country song says, the Lord calms the storm and sometimes He calms His child. It’s not that the Lord is or isn’t going to heal a disease, stop a war, or soften a heart - it’s that the asking is transformative.
The other, and no less essential, aspect of all of this is that the Lord works not so much through practical processes (the way we do), He works through “Grace” - the living Power of the Holy Spirit at work in our hearts and in the world. Garth said it that some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers. What’s best ordered to our salvation and good isn’t always getting what we want, but more on that in another article.
Upcoming Events
- Confessions every Friday & Saturday from 5p until Mass and Sunday from 9a until Mass
- June No Pastoral Council meeting this month
- June 21 Father’s Day
For Your Information:
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.
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
MAUSOLEUM Construction will begin in the coming months. 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 pu
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Pat and 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 In memory of deceased members of the Roy and Johnson families/family
- Mon NO MASS
- Tue 9:00a In memory of Father Ferre (birth anni)/Magoun
- Wed 9:00a In memory of Joe Farlow/Bellard
- Thu 9:00a (Legacy Nursing Home) In memory of Bryan Stamey/family
- Fri 5:30p In memory of Neal Bolton/Howington
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Gail Graugnard and Mary Agnes York/P Gilfoil
- 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 Guizeriz family
ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning in memory of Becky, Beverly, and Edgar Lancaster
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) | EMHC(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6/13 5:30p | - | A Farlow | M Rome |
| 6/14 9:30a | Annie, Thomas Meyers, Katelyn | J Howington | - |
| 6/20 5:30p | - | MA Gilfoil | C VanderVieren |
| 6/21 9:30a | Michael, Finley, Ashlyn | Youth | - |
Our Return to the Lord
| May Budget | $ 10,000 |
| May Collections | $ 18,461 |
| May Expenses | $ 14,557 |
| June Budget | $ 10,000 |
| June 7 Collection | $ 3,373 |
| June to Date | $ 3,373 |
Stewardship In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends out the disciples to meet the needs of others. His admonition to them is the same challenge he makes to us: “The gift you have received, give as a gift.”
Community Celebrations
Happy Birthday to Mary Kathryn Book (Jun 13), Emily Ginn (Jun 14), Connie Copes (June 15), Penny Ernst (Jun 15), Margaret Gilfoil (Jun 16), Robert Wood (June 18)
Happy Anniversary to Beth and Chip Sullivan (June 19)
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, Ann Claire Fordice and her children, 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, Mary Trichell
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), Albert Christman, Jeannie & Donald Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), 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, Maggie Reynolds Guillory, Rita Hargrave, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), Patricia Lively (Wilks), Charles Howington, Callie Halbach Hyams, Jimmy Hopson(Wilks), Will Irby (P Gilfoil), Diane Johnson, Andrew and Chelsea Keene-Lewis, Carla Leese (S Gilfoil), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Kiely McKellar (S Gilfoil), Boyce Miller, Mike Morelli, Randy Parker, 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
