Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of the Lord
From The Font
“To him all the prophets bear witness...”
Prophets and Prophecies are funny things. The vague ones and the poetic ones often say more about the inventiveness of the interpreter than the authenticity of the prophet. But as the number of prophets and prophecies grow and as they become more specific, we can’t help but give more and more credence to them.
The foreshadowing of Jesus goes back to the Book of Genesis 3:14. Events from the life of Abraham and Jacob and Moses and Joshua and Samuel and Nathan and a dozen others all line up with events in the life of Jesus. Words spoken by Elijah and Elisha and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Joel and a dozen others line up with the lineage and the details of the life and actions of Jesus. The writers of all four Gospels cite the Old Testament time and time again in regard to the preaching and miracles of Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles, the disciples on the way to Emmaus specifically note how Jesus revealed to them connections between His own life and the Old Testament and how His explanations took up hours and hours as they walked along.
If the only witness testimony that Jesus had came from prophets, though, we would be right to be skeptical… After all, the world into which Jesus entered was not saturated with news and digital copies of every book ever written. The world of Ancient Israel had a small class of scholars who could read and write and precious few books, scrolls and texts from which to read.
Beyond the prophets and the texts, Jesus bore witness to Himself by His many miracles. His charismatic presence also managed to convert certain people to Him immediately and to repel certain others.
Even beyond these, we know from astronomy that the very heavens themselves bore witness to the coming of Jesus as the motion of Jupiter caused it to appear to dwell within the constellation Virgo who, seen from the ancient middle east, was “crowned” with twelve “stars” and which aligned with both the sun and the moon around the time of the winter Solstice in about the year between 1 BC and 1 AD. To be genuinely honest, it would seem that so much more than just prophets bear witness to the Lord Jesus!
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
Happy Easter!!
So our month and a half of fasting and penance has come to an end and the Church calls on us to rejoice for eight consecutive days through to next Sunday and then to celebrate the Resurrection for a further six weeks through the celebration of Pentecost at the end of May.
We can and should ask ourselves why these dates and times and periods of time matter. As our world speeds up and everything tends to happen in shorter and shorter lengths of time, the six weeks of Lent and the eight weeks of Easter seem increasingly out of date… And in some ways they don’t fit with our modern sense of haste… But if they don’t fit, it’s not a problem with Lent and Easter, it’s a problem with Human Nature… We, as people, aren’t built to rush through everything. It’s one of those classic problems with modernity - just because we CAN doesn’t mean we SHOULD. Rushing through life is no way to live. We’re fortunate here in the rural south to be insulated from the worst aspects of the rush-oriented life, but we still have mobile phones and youtube and three sports to get the kids to and all the other parts of rushing around to rob us of the time that it takes to stop and smell the roses (literally - thanks to Ms Sug for trimming them back!).
Human beings aren’t made for efficiency, that’s what we make machines to do. We’re made for art and beauty and reflection and consideration and love and passion and joy and supernaturality. Philosophers have known for a long time that the modern world is a threat to our sanity and our happiness, but the powers that be have pretended that modernity is all good for us. It’s only now in the light of the insanity of COVID lockdowns and the seemingly sudden socialist takeover of our governments that it’s easy to see how anti-human the hustle and bustle really is.
Statistics about pills and depression and suicide are downright horrifying. Modern man is many things, but he is unquestionably not happy. And no amount of faster phones or funnier youtube videos or cuter instagrams can fix that.
What can fix it is a return to what is actually human. Lent and Easter take a long time. They can’t be rushed. You can’t download an app to get through them more quickly. There’s not an audiobook version. They take a long time because the human heart and the human mind and the human soul function with a sense of time. Just like a garden or a painting take however long they take, so, too, our humanity takes time. And that’s not accidental. It’s something God built into us from the beginning.
If we’re looking to continue what we began this Lent with improving our prayer-life and add to that by improving our happiness and our sanity, the best thing we can do is build some good, old-fashioned waiting into our lives. It may seem hard to do now, but it’s the very best investment we can make.
There is nothing that a life of rushing is going to get us that’s really worth having… This Easter season is a real opportunity to smell those roses and let the Lord restore our humanity. It’s not called re-creation for nothing.
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 8:00 p.m. In memory of Father Ferre and in honor of Trey Williams/ Magoun
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
- Mon No Mass
- Tue 9:00a In memory of SeSe Holstead/family
- Wed 9:00a In memory of Alan Horton/Fr Ryan
- Thu 9:00a For the special intentions of A.P. and Pat Guizenix/family
- Fri 5:30p In memory of Becky Lancaster/family
- Sat 9:00a Private Intentions of Father Ryan (Traditional Latin Mass)
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Pat Bullard/family
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning for the special intentions of the Wilks family.
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 4/3 8:00p | Carter, Walker, Henry | MK Book |
| 4/4 9:00a | Volunteer | S Marsh |
| 4/10 5:30p | None Scheduled | A Keene |
| 4/11 9:00a | Preston, Marsh, Evelyn | B Sullivan |
| 4/17 5:30p | None Scheduled | C VanderVieren |
| 4/18 9:00a | Caroline, Henry, Kathleen | Youth |
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
- April 20 Pastoral Council Meeting – Parish Hall – 6 p.m.
For Your Information:
ROSARY GROUP… a group of parishioners is meeting on Monday at 5:30 p.m. to pray the Rosary. Everyone is invited to join with the group. If you need additional information, please contact the Coordinator, Louise Magoun, at 318-341-2403.
LILIES and FLOWERS FOR EASTER...Envelopes can be found on the table at the entrance of church if you would like to have Easter Lilies in memory of a loved one or in honor of someone. You may drop your envelope in the collection basket.
ST JOSEPH SOCIAL…. Thanks to all who took part in making the St Joseph Social such a grand success!! We are so fortunate to have a flexible First Quarter Social Committee who graciously converted from a Mardi Gras party to the St Joseph theme when weather made it necessary. Also, Louise Magoun invested days of baking, planning, and executing a plan to make everything go smoothly. It is that “get it done” attitude that makes St. Edward faith family so special!!
Stewardship Alleluia! Christ is risen and is victorious over sin and death! We are good stewards of our faith if, like St. Paul, we share this good news whenever and wherever we can.
EASTER SUNDAY collection to help reimburse St Edward for funds we pay to support Infirmed Priests of the Diocese of Alexandria. The entirety of this collection remains here at St Edward, the Confessor, Tallulah.
Our Return to the Lord
| Weekly Budget FY 2020-21 | $ 2,111 |
| February Budget | $ 8,444 |
| February Income | $ 9,122 |
| February Expenses | $ 7,631 |
| March Budget | $ 8,444 |
| March 27/28 collection | $ 3,095 |
| March income to Date | $10,436 |
Let us Rejoice in the Lord!
Happy Birthday Henry Ellerbee (April 7), Ann Marie Marsh (April 8)
In Our Daily Prayers…
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.
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: Harper Bedgood, Connie and Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Mary Ernst, Monique Florence, Margaret and Pat Gilfoil, Susan and Johnny Gilfoil, C.W. and Alyce Keene, Bill Kennedy, Charlotte Marsh and Lance and Stephenie, Ed Mills, Kathleen Mills, Sue & Mike Rome, Delia Trichell, and Don Wood
Those under full-time care: Frances Kennedy, Carol Dunning, Sharon Hansen of Gonzales, Consuelo Marsh of Lake Providence
Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Lee Adams (Smith), Ashley Alexander (Regan), Jenna Faye Allen (Florence), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), James Arceneaux (Book), Todd Beene, Marie Farlow Bellard, Molly Corulla, Hattie Brown (Lancaster), Jerry Bullard, Sara Cannon (Gilfoil), Truman and Diane Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), Carol Dipert (Rome), Tommy Dunning, Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Kathy Garley Hanlon (Gilfoil), Rita Hargrave, Justin Rittenhouse and Arielle Lewis (Keene), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Frances Robinson, Lee and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Linda Sanchez (Wilks), Theresa and Albert Thom (Rome), Meg Keene Thomas, Elaine and James Trimble (Rome), Teresa Vidrine (Wilks), Joe Yerger
Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Anna Ginn, Josh Hall, Chris Hall (USMC), Matt Hall (USArmy), Nick Hall, Emmy Lu Marsh, Bailey Rome, 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.