Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, or Sunday of the Word of God

From The Font

He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah…

The Book of Isaiah straddles an horrific moment in Jewish history. In about 600 BC, the Jews were defeated in battle by the Babylonian Empire and almost the entire population was forcibly relocated to modern-day Iran. The temple was destroyed and the holy objects were desecrated. It was the unimaginable worst-case scenario. For many Jews, it was as close to “God is Dead” as can be imagined…

The Jews remained in Babylon as second class citizens for about 60 years. Miraculously, the Jewish religion persisted through the Prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah and the leadership of Priest\Governors like Ezra and Nehemiah. Understandably, the writings of these people are deeply sad and unrelentingly critical of the sins and faults of the people who picked a fight with the Babylonians in the first place. But, as I said, after about 60 years, it suddenly and unexpectedly ended.

The Book of Isaiah isn’t actually a book by a guy named Isaiah. It’s more like a collection of sermons from a group founded by the Prophet Isaiah. The first two thirds of the book come from the hard days of the Exile. They are dire and hard hitting and only occasionally hopeful. But the last chunk comes from the time when the return to Israel had begun.

This last section was written while the Jews were shocked to be set free from their captivity. In fact, they were given back a lot of the sacred items for the temple. They were even given cash to rebuild the temple. And so they went from thinking God was basically dead to being flabbergasted that God wasn’t dead. In fact, they had just been punished by Him and now, He was ready to start blessing them again.

SO! When Jesus reads these words just as the Jews have resigned themselves to being conquered by the Romans… Is it any surprise that folks lost their cool? It wasn’t really the spiritual component that most of the people listening understood, it was the politics.

For us now, it should be the spiritual aspect that we consider. But the historical context is important all the same.

Thoughts from Fr. Ryan

This Friday is the feast day of Thomas Aquinas who is the patron of Students and Teachers. He was an Italian born in the 1200s to a rich family. He was also brilliant and his family had a big plan for him. Much to their frustration, Thomas joined the Dominicans - an order which took a vow of poverty - and left his family’s money and power to study in Paris at the most important university in the world at the time.

In Paris, he studied under a saint named Albert and became a master of Philosophy. Almost immediately, he got into hot water with some of the higher-ups because of his genius. Thomas was unafraid to read anything, including the recently republished writings of Aristotle, the greatest student of Plato.

At the time, lots and lots of books and topics were simply off-limits. Thomas, simply, didn’t care. He read everything. For a while, he was blacklisted as a speaker and teacher. But he never backed down from a challenge and he considered preaching and writing to be as important as teaching. He wrote hundreds of historically important books, documents, commentaries, and essays. He also wrote the music and prayers for the Feast of Corpus Christi and the hymns that we sing now for Adoration.

Despite his brilliance, Thomas was a deeply prayerful man and toward the end of his life, he started to resist writing in favor of praying. But his spiritual director and the head honcho of his Monastery (AKA the Prior) demanded - through Holy Obedience - that he continue to write. In the midst of finishing his most important work, the Summa Theologica, Thomas was so overcome with a vision in prayer that he rushed upstairs to his study intending to burn the entire book. His young secretary, also a Dominican brother, rushed into the fire and saved the book from destruction. There are some wonderful legends about that young man… At any rate, Thomas was also forbidden by the Prior and his spiritual director from damaging his writings in the future.

St. Thomas Aquinas is the single most important philosopher of the middle ages and he’s probably in the top five most important philosophers in world history alongside Plato, Aristotle, Confucius and St. Augustine. It really is impossible to overstate the importance of St. Thomas.

His life is a pretty good example for any student who is serious about learning anything - whether it’s algebra, religion, piano or pinball… Learning demands a certain degree of natural aptitude. Then it demands study and practice. It also demands that we have our broader life and our human nature in good working order. From there, we need coaches we can trust and we need passion. It may be hard to put all that together for a subject in school, but we as human beings must be life-long learners. If we content ourselves with what we already know, we will quickly begin to decline and to lose whatever we have. But if we’re constantly trying to learn a little more and to teach what we have learned to others, then we’ll be more fully human, more intellectually acute, and much more personally happy. That goes for everything from minor stuff like languages and hobbies to essential things like the Lord Jesus.

Mass Intentions for the Coming Week

Sat 5:30p In memory of Pat Bullard/family
Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
Mon NO MASS
Tue 9:00a In memory of Margaret Magoun/family
Wed 9:00a In memory of Regan, Adams and Weimer deceased family members/family
Thu 9:00a In memory of May DiTomasso
Fri 5:30p In memory of Becky Lancaster/family
Sat 5:30p In memory of Racer Holstead/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 Margo Corulla

Assistants at Holy Mass

Date	Servers	Lector(s)
1/22 5:30p	Evelyn, Henry	P Wilks
1/23 9:00a	Chandler, Kathleen, Maura	M Lancaster
1/29 5:30p	None Scheduled	MK Book
1/30 9:00a	Preston, Evelyn, Courtland	S Marsh
2/5 5:30p	None Scheduled	C VanderVieren
2/6 9:00a	Caroline, Cooper, Maura	C Guizerix

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
Jan 23 Confirmation Preparation – Parish Hall - 5 p.m.
Jan 24 Repeat of DEALING WITH STRESS AND ANXIETY AS A CHRISTIAN…6 p.m.
Jan 25 Date Change……Pastoral Council Meeting – Parish Hall – 6 p.m.
Jan 26 First Communion Preparation – 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 the group. If you need additional information, please contact the Coordinator, Louise Magoun, at 318-341-2403.

DEALING WITH STRESS AND ANXIETY AS A CHRISTIAN has become increasingly important to all of us. Our first workshop was very interesting….SO MUCH SO THAT IT WILL BE REPEATED!!! Monday, January 24. The workshop is open to the public and free. It will begin at 6 p.m. and last about an hour.

PASTORAL COUNCIL... CHANGED... will hold its regular meeting on TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 2022, at 6:00 p.m in the Church Center. Appointed members of the Council: MaryKathryn Book, Kendra Collins, MaryAnne Gilfoil, Louise Magoun, Levi Washington, and Blanche Wilks. Appointed as Trustees by the Bishop are Michel Lancaster and Cathy VanderVieren. Appointed by the pastor to serve as Finance Council Chair is Darryl Ellerbee. All members are requested to make a special effort to attend. Parishioners are encouraged to attend and contribute to the discussions.

DOORS AND TABLES….to dispose of…..if you are interested, you can check them out in the Hall….

2 Hollow core doors 3‘ x 6’7”
1 Hollow core door 2’ x 6’ 6”
2 folding tables 6’ x 2’ 6” w/ Metal frame and particle board top with brown surface

CONGRATULATIONS….JOHN AUBREY and THOMAS DALE WILLIAMS, infant sons of George and Katie Magoun Williams were christened last weekend at St. Edward. They are the twin grandsons of our parishioner, Louise Magoun, and the brothers of Trey!

Our Return to the Lord


Weekly Budget FY 2020-21	$ 2,111
December Budget	$ 8,444
December Income	$ 11,897
December Expenses	$ 9,174
January Budget	$ 10,555
January 15/16 collection	$ 3,014
January To Date	$ 6,711

Stewardship The U.S. bishops’ pastoral on stewardship reinforces today’s reading from I Corinthians: “Because its individual members do collectively make up the Body of Christ, that body’s health and well-being are the responsibility of the members–the personal responsibility of each one of us. We all are stewards of the Church.”

Second Collection for the Church in Latin America...

Let us Rejoice in the Lord!

Happy Birthday Mary Jane Johnson (Jan 22), Brice Wood (Jan 22), Travis Hamilton (Jan 24, 2013), Courtland Jude Collins (Jan 29, 2010)

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: Connie and Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Leslye Ellerbee, Mary Ernst, Monique Florence, 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

Our friends and relatives who need our prayers: Lee Adams (Smith), Ashley Alexander (Regan), Graham Allen (S Gilfoil), Kathryn Wood Allsopp (D Wood), Jenna Faye Allen (Florence), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), James Arceneaux (Book), Judy and Danny Beard (Keene), Marie Farlow Bellard, Ruthie Coenen (Wilks), Molly Corulla, Sara Cannon (Gilfoil), Truman and Diane Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), Amelia Florence Cowart and her family (Florence), Don Deweese, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Tommy Dunning, Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, April Franklin (Wilks), Cogan Fulton (Ellerbee), Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Kathy Garley Hanlon (Gilfoil), Rita Hargrave, Carroll Holmes and family (Keene), Lyn and Calvin Lisonbee (Keene), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Caryn Oliver, Sue Perrilloux (D Wood), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Frances Robinson (Wilks), John and Martha Rogan, Bailey, Lee, and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Saldana Family (Book), Theresa and Albert Thom (Rome), Meg Keene Thomas, Lucy Thomason (gr-dau of Bentley Curry)(Book), Elaine and James Trimble (Rome), Joe Yerger

Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Callie Ezell, Chris Hall (USMC), Nick Hall, Emmy Lu Marsh, Maddie Oliver Bridges, Carter Sullivan, Walker Sullivan, Brice Wood, Marsh Wood