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Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

February 23, 2020

From The Font

“An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth... You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy”

It’s easy to get into the mindset that the Jews had one moral law and that Jesus came to replace that “old” law with a new one. But just before today’s Gospel, Jesus says every clearly that “neither a jot nor a tittle” of the law can be set aside.

Rather than think about one law replacing another, we ought to think not in terms of laws, rules, policies and lists but in terms of genuine love for God as the driving force behind our choices. Jesus isn’t replacing one list of rules with another, He’s explaining that the rules themselves are just applications of attitudes.

Think about a gift given to a loved one. I might know that my loved one likes a certain type of flower or a certain kind of sweets. (My mother for example, LOVES a no-longer-produced Christmas candy called “minty bells.”) It’s not so much that I gift that certain type of flower or chocolate to my loved one, it’s the sentiment and the way the gift is given and the thought behind the gift rather than the gift itself which really matters.

The same principle holds with obedience. If someone I love desperately cares about some moral principle or about safe driving or about being a good grandparent, then I love them better when I honor their concern.

Jesus isn’t telling us that justice should always be replaced by naive meekness. He’s telling us that mercy is better than fairness. He’s telling us that loving those we despise is more pleasing to God than getting even with them. And He’s not limiting His direction to two or three scenarios that most of us will never encounter, He’s giving us principles for life which confront most of us every day. Most of us don’t get punched in the face very often, but all of us get cut off in traffic or get mixed up in workplace conflict or get frustrated with a friend or relative every day.

The core lesson of the Sermon on the Mount is that our choices flow from moral principles which are themselves just an expression of our love or our lack of love for God, neighbor and self.

Thoughts from Fr. Ryan

Even though Carnivale has been especially long this year, it really does feel to me like we just celebrated our Burning of the Greens with the Queen’s soup and the blessing of the King cakes.

So much of our family calendars seem to blur by with so much haste. Football season has come and gone. Basketball is basically done and we’re only three months from graduation and the rush rush rush of summer.

The season of Lent offers us a much needed excuse to pause and to consider our daily lives and just how quickly time can pass us by. We joke about how long the six weeks of Lent may feel - especially if we dig deep and give up something really precious to us! And those jokes hit home because a little penance is unbelievably powerful in slowing down the rush of days. Prayer, penance and works of mercy aren’t just random things which Jesus draws out of thin air - they’re actually gifts the Lord baked into our human nature.

Prayer has a wonderful way of framing our day - especially when we set aside time for prayer each morning and evening. Morning prayer helps us to recognize the spiritual reality within so many moments that we will otherwise lose to the false assumption that they are meaningless. Evening prayer fixes in our minds the context of the day and gives us the reflection we need to choose to improve ourselves day by day.

Penance - that is the voluntary choice to accept some small suffering for the good of our souls - is no less powerful. It makes us appreciative of the many blessings in our lives and it gives us a sense of compassion and empathy for those who suffering much worse trials involuntarily.

Works of mercy - like giving to the poor, visiting the sick, admonishing the sinner and instructing those who question - aren’t just good things to do. They are a legitimate part of genuine belief and of expressing the love for neighbor which should bubble up as a natural consequence of our love for God. Expressing love matters. It matters in marriage and family; it matters in friendship; and it matters in faith.

The season of Lent gives us enough time in penance to reclaim ourselves from the busyness that so easily absorbs us in the modern world. It helps to slow down the passage of time and it gives us a chance to be less focused on the rat-race of work, school, sports and other. And that’s something we all need.

Even those who have no sense of daily stress and who generally have everything together need, from time to time, to be shaken out of the comfort zone and forced to check in with ourselves and our Lord.

Spiritual growth requires this kind of jarring from time to time. The saints have all sorts of names for the way the Lord will shake us up, but all of them agree that it’s absolutely necessary.

As we say farewell to Carnivale and welcome Lent, let us make the commitment to ourselves not to let this time pass without reflection and some real work toward the growth that we all desire.

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 except Jun & Dec

  • Sunday Morning Catechism in the Hall after the 9:30a Mass unless otherwise indicated

  • Feb 23 First Quarter Social - Potluck Brunch following 9 a.m. Mass - Church Hall

  • Feb 26 Ash Wednesday - Mass and Distribution of Ashes 530 p.m. A day of Fast and Abstinence but NOT a Holy Day of Obligation

  • Feb 28 Lenten Friday-Day of Abstinence from Meat...Stations of the Cross at 5:30 p.m. followed by Mass

  • March 6, 20, April 3 Lenten Soup Supper following Stations and Mass -- Church Hall

  • March 22 St Joseph Altar - Church Hall following 9 a.m. Mass

  • March 25 Holy Day of Obligation -- The Annunciation of the Lord -- Mass on Tuesday at 5:30 p., at 9 a.m. at Legacy Nursing Home, or 6 p.m. at St Theresa, Delhi.

For Your Information:

FIRST QUARTER SOCIAL … Sunday, February 23, 2020, following the 9 a.m. Mass in the Church Hall.

ASH WEDNESDAY AND LENT….Ash Wednesday, which is this week, begins our Lenten season. Mass and Distribution of Ashes is at 9 a.m. at Legacy Nursing Home and at 5:30 p.m. in Church. Additionally, Father Ryan will have Mass and Ashes in Delhi at St. Theresa at 12:15 p.m. Ash Wednesday is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation.

On the Fridays of March 6, March 20, and April 3, we will gather in the Church Hall, following Stations and Mass, for Soup Supper and a short Lenten educational session. We will NOT have a Mission this year but Father Ryan will be conducting a Mission at St. Patrick in Lake Providence on Monday, March 9 and Tuesday, March 10, at 6 p.m. if anyone would like to attend.

STATIONS OF THE CROSS … during Lent will be at 5:30 p.m. each Friday followed by Mass.

LENTEN REGULATIONS. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence. This means that we do not eat meat and we have only one full meal. The other Fridays of the season of Lent are days of abstinence from meat. The obligation to abstain from meat binds Catholics 14 years of age and older. The obligation to fast, limiting oneself to one full meal and two lighter meals in the course of the day, binds Catholics from the age of 18 to 59. Those who are younger or older may freely embrace these disciplines. But Lenten disciplines should never endanger your health.

It is obvious that abstaining from meat is meaningless for vegetarians, who must choose some other form of abstinence. It is equally obvious that replacing meat with a gourmet seafood meal is not in keeping with the spirit of Lent.

ACTS RETREAT...APRIL 16-19, 2020 at Maryhill Renewal Center. For additional information, please contact Kendra Collins or check the table at the entrance of church.

SCOTLAND TRIP IN JULY 2020...Father Ryan will be guiding a trip in July to Scotland. The trip will be partly tourism and partly pilgrimage. If you are interested, please contact Ginny Marsh for more details.

COMMUNITY CHOIR….the group that does the Christmas Choral Program is preparing a Palm Sunday program that will be presented at 6 p.m. on Palm Sunday at First Baptist Church. If you have ever wanted to be a part of that group but did not feel that you had the voice to be involved, NOW is your chance….there will be a drama presentation along with the music and the group is actively looking for participants and need children as well as adults for the activity. Michael Lancaster and Father Ryan are involved and would be happy to answer any questions you might have!

Our Return to the Lord

  • Weekly Budget FY 2019-20 $2,111
  • January Budget $8,444
  • January Income $9,133
  • January Expenses $8,470
  • February Budget $8,444
  • Collection February 15/16 $2,083
  • February Income to Date $6,077

Stewardship In today’s first reading, the Israelites are urged to love their neighbors as themselves. In the Gospel, Jesus spells out how we are to do that--to give generously to those who ask of us and not to turn our backs on those who seek to borrow.

Ash Wednesday collection to support the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.

Next Sunday (March 1) .. Second Collection for Black and Indian Missions

Mass Schedule & Intentions for the Coming Week

  • Sat 5:30p In memory of Bitsy A Weimer/Regan
  • Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased members of our Parish
  • Mon NO MASS
  • Tue 5:30p In memory of Carroll Regan/Regan
  • Wed 9:00a Ash Wednesday … In memory of Rosa Gremshell Legacy Nursing Home
  • Wed 5:30p In memory of Becky Lancaster/family
  • Thu NO MASS
  • Fri 5:30p In memory of Sally Higdon/Magoun
  • Sat 5:30p In memory of Matt Farlow/VanderVieren
  • 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 Margo Corulla

Assistants at Holy Mass

  • 2/22 5:30p
    • Lector: M Rome
    • EMHCs: MA Gilfoil & C VanderVieren
  • 2/23 9:00a
    • Servers: W Sullivan M Wood C Ellerbee
    • Lector: D Ellerbee
    • EMHCs: B Smith & K Collins
  • 2/29 5:30p
    • Lector: C VanderVieren
    • EMHCs: A Farlow & L Magoun
  • 3/1 9:00a
    • Servers: C Sullivan, C Marsh, MK Marsh
    • Lector: J Howington
    • EMHCs: N & M Ernst
  • 3/7 5:30p
    • Lector: L Bullard
    • EMHCs: P & B Wilks
  • 3/8 9:00a
    • Servers: P Collins, M Wood, E Kivett
    • Lector: A Oliver
    • EMHCs: C Howington & A Keene

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, Margaret Gilfoil, Susan Gilfoil, 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, 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, Sara Cannon (Gilfoil), Georgie Gilfoil Breard, 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), 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.