The 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
The Lord’s Prayer, AKA the Our Father, is both a prayer and a philosophy of prayer.
In itself, the Our Father is a prayer that should be memorized and said several times a day. It’s got everything a prayer should have. It’s personal in that it addresses God as Father. It properly orients us toward God’s Will over and above our earthly needs. It reminds us of our constant need for forgiveness. And it begs God for protection - which we need more than we realize.
At the same time, the Our Father is really a plan or program for prayer. Any time we set aside more than five or ten minutes for prayer, we need some sense of structure. It doesn’t need to be extensive or even conscious, but most of us will find attention shifting from one type of prayer to another as time passes.
It works the same way in a conversation. When we spend time with a friend, we rarely spend the entire time on the same topic of conversation and in the same attitude, demeanor, and posture. Rather, parts of our conversation will be informational while others will be about listening or asking questions. Some of our conversation will be driven by feelings or concerns while others may be lighter or funny. We may have inside jokes or shared opinions. We may have areas of conversation that we avoid due to disagreement or loyalty to other friends. And so, whether or not we do it consciously, we structure our conversations to adapt to our needs and our moods.
In prayer, the Our Father gives us a broad structure to adapt our prayer time to our needs. Its structure gives us an order or an outline to follow for a good and productive prayer time. The Our Father begins with praise of God who is holy (hallowed). Then, we subjugate ourselves to God’s will and recognize that His will is supreme in Heaven and on Earth. Then, we ask God for our needs (our daily bread). Then, we ask forgiveness for our sins and extend forgiveness to those people who have hurt us in our lives. Finally, we ask God for protection from temptations and the assaults of our enemy, Satan.
That structure of prayer can work for any amount of time we set aside. I could easily get through each of those spiritual movements in a minute or two or I could spend quite a lot of time on them. To praise God, I could call to mind a few memorized scripture quotes, then thank God for a few specific blessings or I could linger over passages of scripture and make a list on paper of every blessing that God has given me today from green lights and parking spaces to family and friends. Or I could do anything in between. In the same way, it’s easy to imagine a simple prayer of docility to the Holy Spirit in which I consciously commit myself to obeying the Lord and it’s easy to imagine making a long list of every situation in my life that makes me anxious and then saying that same kind of prayer for each and every specific situation. That part of my prayer time could take 20 seconds or an hour if I wanted it to…
All of us could probably spend just about any amount of time listing off to the Lord things which we need, want, would like, or would like to change.
And all of us could, I hope, enumerate our sins to the Lord and ask forgiveness, either quickly together or one by one. I’m sure we’d have no problem doing the same thing with people who have hurt us and who we might need to forgive.
Honestly, the hardest part of this system of prayer that Jesus gives us is the last bit. And that’s mostly difficult because Protestant Christianity badly misunderstands temptation and spiritual warfare. There’s not enough space left in this article to detail them and that’s not the purpose of this article anyway. Suffice it to say that temptation is not sin and temptation is, itself, necessary for spiritual growth. Also, demons (and Satan, Himself) are not the cause of every temptation and they are not the cause of every spiritual demise. When we ask for protection from the Lord as the final part of our prayer time, we are asking the Lord for fortitude and strength. We are asking the Lord to give us the virtue we need to receive His grace and to respond to it with Faith, Hope and Charity.
So the next time you’re setting aside a moment for prayer, think deliberately about the Our Father both as a memorized prayer and as a system of prayer.
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30 pm In memory of Donald and Payton Trichell/family
- Sun 8:00 am (Traditional Latin Mass) PRO POPULO for the living & deceased members of our parish
- Sun 9:30 am In memory of deceased members of Johnson and Roy families
- Mon NO MASS
- Tue 9:00 am In memory of Racer and SeSe Holstead (anniv)/family
- Wed 9:00 am In memory of Jeanelle Fredericks/Anja Baker
- Thu 9:00 am In memory of Rosa and Gus Gremshell and May DiTomasso
- Fri 5:30 pm In memory of Joseph Testa/Magoun
- Sat 5:30 pm In memory of Philip and Nettie Scurria/family
- Sun 9:30 am For the special intention of the Guizenix family
Altar Candles this week are burning for the special intentions of Margo Corulla
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) | EMHC(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/26 5:30p | - | MA Gilfoil | C VanderVieren |
| 7/27 9:30a | Cooper & Courtland | J Howington | - |
| 8/2 5:30p | - | M Rome | M Ernst |
| 8/3 9:30a | Annie, Thomas Meyers, Katelyn | D Hamilton | - |
Upcoming Events
- Confessions every Fri & Sat ~5pm until Mass and Sunday ~9am until Mass
- August 17 Third Quarter Social - Potluck Brunch following 9:30 a m Mass
For Your 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
ROSARY GROUP meets on Monday at 5:30 p.m. to pray the Rosary. Everyone is invited to join in prayer. For more information, contact Louise Magoun (318-341-2403), coordinator.
TRADITIONAL LATIN MASS is offered at 8 a.m. on SUNDAY. There is no longer a Mass on Saturday mornings. The Sunday Morning Traditional Latin Mass does count for your Sunday Mass obligation. English translations of the readings and prayers will be provided and the sermon will be in English.
MAUSOLEUM We have reached the end of our sales period for the Mausoleum. It will, of course, be possible to purchase spaces in the future, 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 call the church office. THIRD QUARTER SOCIAL will be a Potluck Brunch on Sunday, August 17 in the Church Hall. The Committee for the event includes Shannon and Bart Wood and Betty and Kenny Smith, co-chairs, MaryKathryn Book, Kendra and Dave Collins, Connie and Dan Copes, Kaci and Norman Ernst, Lance and Stephenie Marsh, Peggy and Phil Scurria, Beth and Chip Sullivan
Our Return to the Lord
Stewardship Jesus is describing God’s immeasurable generosity when He says in today’s Gospel, “Whoever asks, receives; whoever seeks, finds; whoever knocks, is admitted.” But, it should also be the description of us as Christian stewards–those seeking to follow Christ by using our gifts in service to others.
| Weekly Budget FY 2025-2026 | $ 2,500 |
| June Budget | $ 10,555 |
| June Collections | $ 13,752 |
| June Total Expenses | $ 11,151 |
| July Budget | $ 10,000 |
| July 20 Collection | $ 2,654 |
| July Collections To Date | $ 9,251 |
Let us Rejoice in the Lord!
Happy Birthday Nap Book (July 26), Enrique Paz (Aug 1), Louise Magoun (Aug 2), Stephen Riddick (Aug 2)
Happy Anniversary Renee and Robert Wood (July 30), Blanche and Skeeter Wilks (August 1), Margaret and Pat Gilfoil (August 3)
In Our Daily Prayers…
PRAYER FOR HURRICANE SEASON...Our Father in Heaven through the intercession of our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us during the Hurricane Season from all harm. Protect us and our homes from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hastened to help us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
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, 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, Mike & Sue Rome
Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Ashley Alexander (Regan), Graham Allen (S Gilfoil), Marie Farlow Bellard, Nap and Martha Book, Kay Boolos (S Gilfoil), Dick & Sue Boyd (S Gilfoil), Chris Breard (Gilfoil), Gayle Brown (Dukes and Oliver), Sarah Cannon (Gilfoil), Fran Castile (Keene), Caroline and Albert Christman, Jeannie & Donald Collins, Teresa Carney Condra, Jami Cook (Wilks), Mike Coullard (Oliver), Gene Cox, Marla Evans Cummins, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, Judy Fortenberry, April Franklin (Wilks), Fred and Cathy Fulton, Thom Gilfoil, Wyly Gilfoil (Gilfoil), LaVonne Givens, Charlotte Green, Rita Hargrave, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), Charles Howington, Callie Halbach Hyams, Will Irby (P Gilfoil), Diane Johnson, Carla Leese (S Gilfoil), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Kiely McKellar (S Gilfoil), Frank McKinney, Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Boyce Miller,Cole Norris, Randy Parker, John Neill, Bailey, Scott, and Tiffney Rome, Janie Saxon (Lancaster), Sara and Jess Shields (Keene), Debbie Kedrick Sims, Tommy Trichell, 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, Carter Sullivan, Walker Sullivan, Chandler Wood, Marsh Wood
