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Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

September 27, 2020

From The Font

Which of the two did his father's will?

In the ancient world (and in our modern world as well), only the rich could afford to run on at the mouth. Sure, there were prophets and preachers who weren’t necessarily wealthy, but they were afforded free time by their vocation and by the support of others. Then, as now, the poor do and the rich talk. Then, as now, the talkers tend to think of their talking as better than doing.

Jesus’ words are a condemnation, and not a subtle one, of the chief priests and elders who loved to preach in the market place and to tell others what to do and how to do it.

Whether or not we think about it, we are rich. We live in a world of talking. We’re glued to our phones where we constantly talk and most of us fortunate enough to be able to take a few days off every week for rest. We have enough to eat and we have a sense of security that we’re going to be able to put food on the table and provide for ourselves and those we love. Already, we’re in the top 1% of the world just by that security. Because of our wealth, our religion is pretty easy. In fact, it’s mostly talking. We don’t have to build the Church, we just have to give some cash so it can pay the bills. If we decide to give to the poor, we can hand over a few bucks and drive away. If we want to learn our faith, we can flip on the XM or listen to a podcast on the phone or watch a YouTube video or text the pastor.

And so the words of Jesus then still apply strongly to us… How are we doing, and not just talking about, our faith? My point isn’t to wag a finger, but to point out that our world - by our wealth and our culture - is oriented toward an easy Faith, an easy religious practice, and a lot of talking with very little real doing. Our world may well be putting us in spiritual danger… We’re not promised by the Lord a world that will be easy to grow holy in! As such, we need to be ever more deliberate to be living our faith - doing our faith - consciously and deliberately. We need to make sure that following Jesus isn’t reduced to just talking the talk and showing up at Mass on the weekend. We need to pray, to fast, to do works of mercy, and to ask the Lord every day whatever He wants of us.

Thoughts from Fr. Ryan

This Wednesday is the feast of St. Jerome. Jerome was an ornery man. He didn’t get along very well with a lot of people. He had a years’ long fight by letter with St. Augustine. He was tough, but he was also one of the smartest men of his age and he knew languages!

And so when the Pope and the Bishops decided it was time to lock in the books of the Bible and translate them all into one language for the first time, Jerome got the call. Of course, no one was sure how to do this! We tend to think of the Books of the Bible as set in stone by the Holy Spirit. But both the Old and the New Testament were pretty fluid at the beginning. The Old Testament book list wasn’t actually locked in until about 250BC! Before that books were added or removed by the King or the Sanhedrin. The same was true of the New Testament. Letters from Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch and others were considered equal to letter from St. Paul in certain places but not in others. Enter St Jerome…

His plan was simple and based on the way the Old Testament book list was locked in. He traveled to every major Church in the world (Europe, the Middle East and North Africa). He asked them what Gospels, letters, Old Testament books, etc they read at Mass throughout the year. When he finished his trip, he picked the books that basically everyone agreed upon and, voila, the Bible was born.

Obviously, there’s more to it than that. There was some discussion about which version of certain letters to use and some back and forth about books of the Old Testament which were written after the locking down of the booklist in the 250s BC. There were other folks who Jerome called on to do some of the traveling. There was a good bit of input from a lot of people before the booklist was locked down. But the basic plan was pretty simple, and it was based on Mass. The books we now consider part of the “Canon of Scripture” include Four Gospels and the Acts (which is basically the Gospel of St. Luke part 2), the Book of Revelation, and twenty letters from St. Paul, St. Peter, and others.

There are many other Gospels. Some are very similar to the ones we have and some entirely bizarre inventions written either to confuse, amuse or maybe even to sell. There are tons of letters from saintly popes and bishops that could have been in the Bible just as easily as the twenty we have. There’s a very famous short text called the Didache which amounts to the first Catechism and which claims to have been written by the Apostles themselves. My point is simply that lots of things could have happened. There were a lot of ways that confusion could have spread in the Church, but the Holy Spirit brought us through it and made of it a great good: The Bible.

As we face our own time of chaos, let’s ask St. Jerome, who faced plenty of challenges, to pray for us that God would bring some remarkable good from this bizarre year.

Upcoming Events

  • Confessions every Friday & Saturday from 5p until Mass at 5:30p
  • Sunday Morning Catechism in the Hall after the 9:00a Mass unless otherwise indicated
  • Pastoral Council meeting monthly on the third Tuesday at 6p unless otherwise indicated
  • October 2 First Friday Mass and Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - 5:30 p.m.
  • October 3 First Saturday Devotions to our Blessed Mother - Mass and Holy Hour - 8:30 a.m.
  • October 4 Blessing of Livestock & Pets for the Feast of St Francis at 4 p.m. in church parking
  • October 10/11Feast of St Edward, the Confessor celebrated at both Masses
  • October 11 Potluck Brunch to celebrate St. Edward’s Feast Day following 9 a.m. Mass
  • October 16 Quarterly Healing Mass - 5:30 p.m.

For Your Information:

SUNDAY MORNING CATECHISM … Sunday Morning Catechism along with Coffee and Donuts on Sunday after the 9 a.m Mass. As has become our program, Fr. Ryan will present a short teaching using the projector which is correlated to a specific chapter in our workbooks. Workbooks for all ages will be available in the Hall, free of charge, to anyone who needs one throughout the year. Parents are strongly encouraged to attend these presentations as they will help you, as your child’s teacher, teach your children and, hopefully, increase your own knowledge and understanding of our Faith.

ALTAR SERVER SCHEDULE…..Father Ryan will resume an Altar Server Schedule for Sunday morning Mass beginning October 4. If you have a child who needs to have training to be an altar server, please call Father Ryan and arrange for that training.

SECOND COLLECTION...BISHOPS EMERGENCY DISASTER FUND...SEPTEMBER 26-27... This weekend, we will have a special collection taken throughout the United States to assist people and parishes affected by natural disasters. It is designated, this year, to assist those impacted by Hurricanes Laura and Sally and other storms as well as the wildfires in the West. Should there be any remaining funds from this national collection, they will be used to assist those impacted by the next round of storms, fires, or earthquakes.

FIRST FRIDAY…OCTOBER 2 ...Holy Hour and Mass....5:30 p.m. ...make a special devotion to the Sacred Heart and attend first Friday devotions for nine consecutive months.

FIRST SATURDAY …OCTOBER 3 … Mass and Holy Hour … 8:30 a.m. Our Lady of Fatima called for special devotions to be offered on the first Saturday of each month. Father Ryan will offer Mass on the first Saturday of each month in the Church. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

BLESSING OF LIVESTOCK AND PETS…OCTOBER 4... If you have pets that you would like to have blessed as a part of celebrating the Feast of St Francis (Oct 5), please have them at the church parking lot at 4 p.m. on Sunday. If you have large pets or livestock (ie horses, etc), please make an appointment for Father Ryan to come to your house/barn/pasture.

FEAST OF ST EDWARD THE CONFESSOR CELEBRATION … POTLUCK BRUNCH FOLLOWING 9 A.M. MASS - check out your recipes and bring your favorite Fall dish for sharing as we celebrate the feast day of our patron saint! Our thanks to the Third Quarter Social Committee who will provide leadership to this endeavor - Shannon and Bart Wood and Betty and Kenny Smith, co-chairs, MaryKathryn Book, Kendra and Dave Collins, Connie and Dan Copes, Bruce and Kate Copes, Dana and Randy Dukes, Lance and Stephenie. Marsh, Susie and Terry Murphy, Peggy and Phil Scurria, Beth and Chip Sullivan

Mass Intentions for the Coming Week

ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning for the special intentions of

Assistants at Holy Mass

  • 9/26 5:30p
    • Servers: None Scheduled
    • Lectors: MA Gilfoil
  • 9/27 9:00a
    • Servers: None Scheduled yet
    • Lectors: J Howington
  • 10/3 5:30p
    • Servers: None Scheduled
    • Lectors: P Wilks
  • 10/4 9:00a
    • Servers: C Marsh/H Ellerbee/K Ellerbee
    • Lectors: D Ellerbee
  • 10/10 5:30p
    • Servers: None Scheduled
    • Lectors: A Farlow
  • 10/11 9:00a
    • Servers: W Sullivan/M Wood/C Ellerbee
    • Lectors: A Keene

Our Return to the Lord

  • Weekly Budget FY 2019-20 $2,111
  • August Budget $10,555
  • August Income $13,411
  • August Expenses $8,406
  • September Budget $8,444
  • September 19/20 Collection $2,755
  • September income to Date $9,172

Stewardship The first son in today’s Gospel said he would do his father’s bidding but did not. The second son balked at first, but then repented and did as he was asked. What service is God calling me to do? Which son am I more like?

SECOND COLLECTION FOR BISHOPS EMERGENCY DISASTER FUND...to assist those impacted by Hurricanes Laura and Sally as well as the wildfires in the West.

Let us Rejoice in the Lord!

Happy Birthday Bishop Johnson (Sept 26, 2008), Blake Sullivan (Sept 26), Susie Murphy (Oct 1)

Happy Anniversary Sharyn and William Marsh (Oct 5)

In Our Daily Prayers…

Our Holy Father Pope Francis and Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI; 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, or otherwise in need of our prayers: Connie and Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Mary Ernst, Susan Gilfoil, C.W. and Alyce Keene, Bill Kennedy, Cooter Marsh, 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 Cedotal

Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Especially all of those impacted by Hurricane Laura, Lee Adams (Smith), Ashley Alexander (Regan), Jenna Faye Allen (Florence), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), James Arceneaux (Book), Marie Farlow Bellard, Georgie Gilfoil Breard, Hattie Brown (Lancaster), Jerry Bullard, Stella & Fernando Calvo (Keene), Sara Cannon (Gilfoil), Karen Cobb, Truman and Diane Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), Carol Dipert (Rome), Kim Dorbeck (Keene), Eli Edgecomb(Gilfoil), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Meg Gaumnitz (Copes), Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Kathy Garley Hanlon (Gilfoil), Rita Hargrave, Bo Holloway, Terry Lynn Jones (Howington), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), James H. Lossin (Keene), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Lee and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Linda Sanchez (Wilks), Theresa Thom (Rome), Meg Keene Thomas , Elaine and James Trimble (Rome), Teresa Vidrine (Wilks), Terri Wilson, Todd Windham

Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Anna Ginn, Josh Hall, Chris Hall (USMC), Matt Hall (USArmy), Nick Hall, Emmy Lu Marsh, 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.

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, hasten 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.