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The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

December 29, 2019

From The Font

"...the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream...”

How does the Lord speak to us? For some, like Moses, Elijah, St. Paul and St. Padre Pio, the Lord spoke with audible words and with clear instructions. For others like St. Faustina or St. Catherine Laboure, He spoke through “locutions” or communications in which the receiver doesn’t hear any words aloud but has the complete sense of the Lord’s intention within their mind. For some others, the Lord spoke aloud through a saint or an angel.

In today’s Gospel, we hear of the Lord using human dreams to communicate. Beyond St. Joseph, the Gospels tell us that Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, had prophetic dreams as well. There are examples of saints like John Bosco also having prophetic dreams.

Beyond all of these supernatural forms of communication, the most common way in which the Lord speaks to us is through the Church, specifically the Sacred Scripture. As the Lord reminds us through the Gospels, it is better to have not seen and yet have believed. The supernatural is hugely important and yet if we see too much of it or come to rely upon it in order to sustain our faith, we will cease to grow in that faith. It seems counterintuitive and yet, we can see something similar in married couples. Those couples who have been married for thirty or forty years know each other so well that communication without words and without the need for much outward show becomes more and more common. It’s not that the show of romance or the talk of affection is gone, it’s just become much more deeply internal. The metaphor isn’t exact, but nothing really can be exact when it comes to learning to listen to the Lord. Each of us must train himself to recognize the voice of the Lord speaking, as He did to Elijah, in a “still, small voice.”

Most of us won’t experience mystical or supernatural communication from God. Those of us who do, will experience it only once or twice. But all of us are constantly hearing the Lord speak to us through the Church, through the Scriptures and through our conscience… The real question is “are we listening?”

Thoughts from Fr. Ryan

Why, oh why, is New Year’s Day a Holy Day of Obligation? Actually, it’s not… We don’t come to Church because it’s a new year - although that’s a nice coincidence… It’s good to say Thank You to the Lord for the blessings of the past year and ask His blessing on the new year that is to come.

The reason that we’re obliged to go to Mass this week is the “Octave of Christmas.” Advent is four weeks of preparation for Christmas. Christmas, then, isn’t just a single day… It’s a full two weeks of celebration and the first week is meant for celebration both worldly and at Holy Mass.

The Church has three remaining “Octaves” in which every day is celebrated at Mass if that day were the day of celebration itself. Both the first day and the Octave day of these special feasts are Holy Days of Obligation. We’re probably most familiar with Easter. It follows six weeks of Lent and every day is a day of feasting. Easter is on a Sunday and so the Octave day is also a Sunday. All Sundays are Holy Days of Obligation and so there’s nothing extra to do. Easy enough. Pentecost also has an Octave and it also falls on a Sunday. The third is Christmas which falls where it may and so the Octave Day of Christmas is a Holy Day of Obligation. The time between is meant to be a celebration after the anticipation of Advent. When Advent is reduced to a Holiday season, though, the ongoing celebration is less enthusiastic and all of the religious aspects of Christmas lose their appeal. Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord and even the beginning of Carnivale are just an afterthought to the two months of post-Halloween holiday “cheer.” Still, we don’t do ourselves any favors by bemoaning that without also steeling ourselves to honor God and to celebrate well today’s feast of the Holy Family, this Wednesday’s feast of the Mother of God, next Sunday’s feast of the Epiphany and the coming start to Carnivale - which is thankfully late this year. (Easter isn’t until April 12 so Ash Wednesday isn’t until the last week of February.)

Like I mentioned in the bulletin last week, we shouldn’t think of these things as accidental. The world is not one big Darwinian roll of the dice… There is no reason - scientific, historical or spiritual - to believe that this world is just one random chance after another. To the contrary, great men like Einstein, Gibbon and Ratzinger wrote extensively about the visible outlines of plans large and small in the way in which history has played out and thus in the way in which our lives unfold. Accidents, to paraphrase a popular TV show, are simply a word used by people unfamiliar with the laws of probability.

And so why, oh why, another Holy Day of Obligation and yet more religious feasts at the end of a holiday season when we’re all worn out with parties? Because this is the way the Lord designed it. Because this is for our good and the good of those around us. Because we need to differentiate between partying and feasting. Because we, as humans, as Christians and as Catholics, must be shaped and formed by the Lord and while that can be pleasant, it can also be trying.

Calendar of Events

  • Confessions every Fri & Sat from 5p until Mass at 5:30p and on Sun from 9a until 9:30a Mass
  • Pastoral Council meeting monthly on the third Tuesday after the 5:30p Mass
  • Sunday Morning Catechism in the Hall after the 9:30a Mass unless otherwise indicated
  • Dec 31/Jan 1 Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God (Holy Day of Obligation) see schedule below
  • Jan 4 “Burning of the Greens” following 5:30 p.m. Mass. More info below….

For Your Information:

MASS SCHEDULE FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF MARY, THE MOTHER OF GOD ( a HOLY DAY OF OBLIGATION and all Catholics are obliged to attend Mass).….will be a 5:30 p.m. Mass on December 31, 2019 at St Edward or a 6 p.m. Mass on January 1, 2020 at St Theresa in Delhi or a church of your choice in Vicksburg.

BURNING OF THE GREENS...JANUARY 4, 2020...You may want to join in the annual Burning of the Greens Epiphany celebration on Saturday, January 4 following the 5:30 p.m. Mass. Blessings of King Cakes and the Queens Soup will be a part of the activity.

PRAYER FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A NEW BISHOP...Praise to you, Lord our God, our eternal shepherd and guide. In your faithfulness, grant to the Diocese of Alexandria a new bishop whose watchful care will serve to continue the good work of his predecessors. In your Love, give us a shepherd who will lead us in being Christ’s heart of mercy, voice of hope,and hands of justice. Help him to fill our minds and hearts with the truth of the Gospel, the power of the sacraments, and the desire to build up your holy Church. We ask this through Jesus Christ,your Son our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen

Our Return to the Lord

  • Weekly Budget FY 2019-20 $2,111
  • November Budget $8,444
  • November Income $8,535
  • November Expenses $8,325

Stewardship Joseph’s obedience to God was not a one-time thing. His attention to the angel’s warning kept Jesus from being murdered by Herod and led to the fulfillment of the prophecy that the Messiah would be a Nazorean. Fidelity to God’s will assures the best use of my talents, too!

Mass Schedule & Intentions for the Coming Week

  • Sat 5:30p In memory of Paul Vandervieren/family
  • Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased members of our Parish
  • Mon NO MASS
  • Tue 5:30p In memory of Joseph and Louise Testa/Magoun - Vigil Mass for Holy Day of Obligation
  • Wed NO MASS AT ST EDWARD - Mass in Delhi @ 6:00p
  • Thu 9:00a In memory of Sally Higdon/Magoun @Legacy Nursing Home
  • Fri 5:30p In memory of May DiTomasso
  • Sat 5:30p In memory of Michael King/Humphries
  • Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Dead members of our Parish Family

ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning for the special intentions of Sug Regan

Assistants at Holy Mass

  • 12/28 5:30p
    • Lector: MA Gilfoil
    • EMHCs: C VanderVieren & M Rome
  • 12/29 9:00a
    • Servers: C Marsh, H Ellerbee, K Ellerbee
    • Lector: D Ellerbee
    • EMHCs: B Smith & K Collins

Let us Rejoice in the Lord!

Happy Birthday Beth Sullivan (Jan 4), Edward Yerger (Jan 7)

Happy Anniversary Abby and Darryl Ellerbee (Jan 5)

In Our Daily Prayers…

Our Holy Father Pope Francis and Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI; Archbishop Aymond and our Diocesan leaders, our President, Governor, Mayor and national, state and local elected representatives

Our parishioners who are sick, shut-in, or otherwise in need of our prayers: Terri Brown, Pat Bullard, Connie Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Susan Gilfoil, Josephine Hodge, C.W. and Alyce Keene, Bill Kennedy, Ed Mills, Kathleen Mills, Sue & Mike Rome, Delia Trichell and Don Wood

Those under full-time care: Frances Kennedy, Sue Scurria (Texas), Jim Farrell of Vicksburg, Margaret Fortenberry of Tensas, Sharon Hansen of Gonzales, Consuelo Marsh of Lake Providence, Jean Cantrell, Marie Cedotal

Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Lee Adams (Smith), Ashley Weimer Alexander (Regan), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), Jenna Faye Allen (Florence), Marie Farlow Bellard, Hattie Brown (Lancaster), Jerry Bullard, Colton Bullock (Farlow), Richard Chappuis (Johnson), Karen Cobb, Jami Cook (Wilks), Carol Dipert (Rome), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Melinda and son, Will, Fewell (Farlow), David Fortenberry, Meg Gaumnitz (Copes), Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Kathy Garley Hanlon (Gilfoil), Cooper Harris (R Wood), Bo Holloway, Diane Johnson (Johnson), Terry Lynn Jones (Howington), Ben Lenhart (G Marsh), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Michelle McGuire (Gilfoil), Tobie McKowen (Wilks), Keith Melancon (Regan), Tucker Melancon (Johnson), Lindsay Mills, Debbie Pettis (Rome), Sam and Betty Phillips (Hodge), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Debbie Prine (Wilks), Lee and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Linda Sanchez (Wilks), Walter Scott, Andy Sevier, Beverly Sibile (Gilfoil), Theresa Thom (Rome), Elaine and James Trimble (Rome), Adam Triplett (Reynolds), Teresa Vidrine (Wilks), Conner and Hudson Wood (nephews of Bart)

Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Norman Ernst, Anna Ginn, Josh Hall, Chris Hall (USMC), Matt Hall (USArmy), Nick Hall, Emmy Lu Marsh, Maddie Oliver, Bailey Rome, Blake Sullivan, Brice Wood

Those Catholics residing at Christian Acres, Louisiana Transitional Center for Women, and our local Detention Centers and for their families and loved ones.

PLEASE LET US KNOW OF ANYONE WHO IS ILL OR HOSPITALIZED OR WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE A VISIT. PLEASE HELP US TO UP-DATE OUR PRAYER LIST BY ADVISING US OF ANYONE WHO SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THE PRAYER LIST.