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Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 17, 2020

COVID Quarantine UPDATE

On Monday, May 11, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards instantiated Phase I of President Donald Trump's plan for ending the COVID-19 Quarantine. While we have a long way to go together, this news is especially good for us here at St. Edward. Because we're a small congregation, we are able to get back to our Faith in a way which is very nearly normal.

At St. Edward, beginning May 16th:

  • No more than fifty people in total may attend any service or gathering.
  • All are asked and expected to observe the precepts of "social distancing." Masks and gloves are welcome and strongly recommended, but not required.
  • Holy Communion is available only under the single species of the Sacred Host.
  • Our weekly schedule will be gradually adjusted to resemble our usual pre-COVID schedule.
    • Saturday and Sunday Masses are presently back to normal (Sat 5:30p & Sun 9:00a).
    • Daily Masses will be offered Tue, Wed, Thu at 9:00a, not 9:15a and Friday at 5:30p.
    • ALL Masses in May will be live-stream unless otherwise indicated, BUT after May, only Masses which are indicated will be live-streamed.
    • When the Legacy Nursing Home (AKA The Olive Branch) reopens for Public Mass, the Thursday will take place there.
    • Fr. Ryan will begin taking his day-off again on Mondays and so no public Mass will be scheduled.
    • NOTE: each week for the next month or so will be different, so please take a close look at the schedule.
    • THANK YOU for you patience with us and for your cooperation!

Thoughts from Fr. Ryan

I’m a natural introvert. That means that I tend to recharge by spending time alone and that means that I tend to have a natural psychological safety net against loneliness. That’s served me VERY well in the last two months. I can honestly say that God has been especially good to me this Lent and Easter.

That said, my vocation and my purpose in life is not to be recharged and to enjoy my time to myself… My vocation and my purpose in life is YOU and your families and your Faith. And whatever psychological safety nets I may have, I have been very anxious to get back to sharing our Faith with one another!

Lent and Easter, by their nature, are meant to make us see symbolism in what others might dismiss as ordinary. In Lent, the absence of flowers is meant to point to the death of the Lord. In Easter, we’re meant to recognize in water the sign of new life. In Christ, all things are elevated and transformed. Our moment in history rejects Christ Jesus and so it rejects this way of thinking. The world around us sees only the fear of illness and the false compassion of preventing sickness.

As Christians, we should see in this worldwide illness a sign of the temporary nature of the world itself… We shouldn’t worry ourselves trying to answer “why” God would let this happen, we should instead ask what is God telling ME through this experience. Am I more aware of my own mortality and frailty? Am I more aware of the importance of spending quality time with my family? Am I a little anxious about getting to Heaven and maybe I need to go to confession more often? (That’s a big one for us here in Tallulah - VERY few of us here go to confession very often… «insert wagging finger here») Has this experience shaken up our over-attention on the day-after-day grind of modern life and caused us to reprioritize the way we live? If so, then thanks be to God. If not, why not?

Yes, people have died in this event. And yes, that’s tragic. But we have to keep in mind that people die all over our world for all sorts of reasons every day. Almost all of those deaths pass by without reflection. Heart attacks, cancer, and drug overdoses may cause us to rethink that pat of butter at breakfast or that next cigarette or the general unfairness of the world, but they generally don’t make us stop and reevaluate our lives. This illness - which has killed very few people relatively speaking - has given us an incredible opportunity and those who have died from it have not died in vain.

As Christians, we don’t believe that an illness is all that much a risk because it can, at worst, kill the body. The broader disease of apathy and spiritual sloth and religious mediocrity is the real pandemic. COVID-19 is its mostly harmless cousin.

As we start to reintegrate our lives, let’s make every effort not to waste the incredible gift that we’ve been given in this shake up. It’s a truly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reset ourselves and our families and to concern ourselves with the spiritual life to the same degree we’ve concerned ourselves with our own health and safety.

Schedule of Events

All Masses in May are live-streamed unless otherwise noted

  • Saturday May 16
    • 9:15a Holy Mass (in future, only First Saturday will have a morning Mass)
    • 5:30p Holy Mass (NOT Live-streamed)
  • Sunday May 17
    • 9:00a Holy Mass
  • Monday May 18
    • In an effort to get back to a normal schedule, no public Mass will be scheduled on Mondays. Fr. Ryan usually offers a private Mass around 9am. If he decides to live-stream or invite public attendance, it will be posted on his own twitter profile @FrHumphries and the parish facebook page Facebook.com/StEdwardTallulah.
  • Tuesday May 19
    • 9:00a Holy Mass
    • 11:00a COVID-Catechism
  • Wednesday May 20
    • 9:00a Holy Mass
  • Thursday May 21
    • 8:30a Fr Chris Decker's Mass from Livonia (on Youtube)
    • 9:00a Holy Mass (Traditional Latin Form) - The Ascension of the Lord & Fr. Ryan's 15th Anniversary of Ordination
    • 11:00a COVID-Catechism
  • Friday May 22
    • 5:00p Confessions (in the Confessional)
    • 5:30p Holy Mass
  • Saturday May 23
    • 5:00p Confessions (in the Confessional)
    • 5:30p Holy Mass (NOT Live-streamed)

Mass Schedule & Intentions for the Coming Week

  • Sat 9:15a In memory of May DiTomasso
  • Sat 5:30p In memory of Josephine Hodge/G Cox
  • Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased members of our Parish
  • Mon NO MASS
  • Tue 9:00a In memory of Sue Scurria/Wilks
  • Wed 9:00a In memory of Josephine and Billy Hodge/family
  • Thu 9:00a TLM for a Special Intention of the Faith Family of St Edward...15th Anniversary of Ordination of Father Ryan
  • Fri 5:30p In memory of Michael Mills/family
  • Sat 5:30p In memory of Dale Magoun/G Cox
  • Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased members of our Parish

ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning in celebration of the 15th Anniversary of Father Ryan’s Ordination (May 21)/By the Faith Family of St Edward

Our Return to the Lord

  • Weekly Budget FY 2019-20 $2,111
  • April Budget $8,444
  • April Income $7,085
  • April Expenses $7,910
  • May Budget $10,555
  • Collection May 9/10 $2,260
  • May Income to Date $5,145

Stewardship In today’s Gospel, Jesus prays,”I have given You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do” Good stewards follow His example by using their time and talents for the glory of God.

Let us Rejoice in the Lord!

Happy Birthday Dave Collins (May 24)

In Our Daily Prayers…

Our Holy Father Pope Francis and Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI; Archbishop Aymond, Bishop-elect Robert Marshall 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, Libby Bullard, Connie and Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Mary Ernst, 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, Carol Dunning, Margaret Fortenberry of Tensas, Sharon Hansen of Gonzales, Consuelo Marsh of Lake Providence, Jean Cantrell, Marie Cedota

Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Lee Adams (Smith), Ashley Alexander (Regan), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), Jenna Faye Allen (Florence), James Arceneaux (Book), Marie Farlow Bellard, Sara Cannon (Gilfoil), Georgie Gilfoil Breard, Hattie Brown (Lancaster), Jerry Bullard, Karen Cobb, Jami Cook (Wilks), Carol Dipert (Rome), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Meg Gaumnitz (Copes), Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Kathy Garley Hanlon (Gilfoil), Bo Holloway, Terry Lynn Jones (Howington), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Michelle McGuire (Gilfoil), Tobie McKowen (Wilks), Keith Melancon (Regan), Debbie Pettis (Rome), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Lee and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Linda Sanchez (Wilks),Mary and Spencer Sevier and family, Beverly Sibile (Gilfoil), Theresa Thom (Rome), Elaine and James Trimble (Rome), Teresa Vidrine (Wilks), Todd Windham

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.