Second Sunday of Easter or Sunday of Divine Mercy | St. Edward Catholic Church, Tallulah

From The Font

“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’”

This brief verse from St. John sums up the entire Christian life. We have the end of the day, but the beginning of the week which can symbolize the difference between our situation at this moment (the dark of night) and the longer-term of our potential eternal life (the beginning of the week). The locked doors can symbolize the separation from God that comes with Original Sin and our own day-to-day actual sin. They also symbolize the isolation of being separate from God and the isolation from the world that often comes with sin. Fear is surely another side effect of sin.

Into all that, Jesus enters our lives and offers us not necessarily an immediate fix or even a change in our circumstances, but peace. How many of us would be delighted with a profound, overwhelming sense of peace. Maybe we have an illness or a relative suffering from one… Whether they feel better or not, what a gift a dose of peace would be! Maybe we’re unhappy with our lot in life - our money, our job, our family, our marriage, our whatever… While a change in circumstance may or may not help us, a powerful sense of peace from the Holy Spirit surely would!

St. John really does sum it up for us. When our immediate circumstances aren’t what we’d like, Jesus often comes to us with the offer of peace. Why not just fix everything? For the same reason a doctor prescribes therapy and a coach requires weight lifting… Some kinds of suffering are necessary for us as human beings. Jesus wants to get us to Heaven, not to the end of the Hallmark movie. And Heaven requires that we be shaped and transformed. Sometimes that’s painful, but as St. Paul reminds us - all the suffering of this present age will be as nothing compared to the Glory that is to be revealed to us in Christ Jesus. And so the Lord comes to offer us peace rather than easy answers or quick solutions. And if we’re being honest, that peace is the better offer. All human circumstances have their drawbacks, God’s peace is all good…

Thoughts from Fr. Ryan

Wow! Holy Week and Easter were such a huge success here at St. Edward! We had great turnout and our servers, decorators, musicians, and readers outdid themselves. My sincere thanks to everyone who helped out and attended the Holy Week Liturgies!

This Sunday has four names, one old, one new, one official, and one that sounds especially fancy. The official name is the “Second Sunday of Easter.” The fancy one is the “Octave Day of Easter” - meaning it’s the eighth day of the week-long ongoing celebration of Easter Sunday. The old nickname is “Low Sunday” which was used because this Sunday was considered a day of rest from all the celebrating.

The new name is, of course, Divine Mercy Sunday. At the end of his life, Pope St. John Paul II declared that the Sunday after Easter would be the Feast day of the Polish devotion to our Lord’s Divine Mercy.

The Devotion itself has a rocky past and one that’s too complicated to get into in a short article. The gist of it, though, is quite simple. Our Lord died on the Cross in part to fulfill our Lord’s Divine Justice and so His Death and Resurrection give us a certain assurance of God’s Divine Mercy. The qualification that’s so important for us in the US is that the assurance of God’s Divine Mercy is not absolute! God’s Mercy is freely available to us if, and only if, we repent of all of our personal sins from our hearts.

In the US today, we are constantly being told that everyone goes to Heaven. We hear it from our Catholic clergy; we hear it from Protestants; we even hear it from the news and entertainment media. This doctrine of “universal” salvation is thoroughly wrong and dangerous! While it may make us feel a little better for the moment to say that someone is “in a better place” or “with Jesus now,” if those words cause us not to pray for our beloved dead with our whole hearts, we are doing both ourselves and our loved ones a grave disservice.

So with that caveat noted, the devotion to Our Lord’s Divine Mercy is a real gift to us because it provides us a firm reminder not only of our need to ask God for forgiveness but of His genuine assurance of forgiving us if we ask. Think about that for a moment! ANYthing I have done, God can and will forgive IF I am sorry for it and I’m willing to ask Him for that forgiveness. Unlike our contemporary “cancel culture” which is willing to excommunicate someone from the public square for mistakes made years ago, the Lord knows the real damage that sin does to ourselves and to others and yet He is willing to assure us of forgiveness. That’s a radical reality that we can and should spend some time considering and celebrating.

Devotion to the Divine Mercy is most typically celebrated by way of the so-called “Chaplet” of Divine Mercy which is prayed on the beads of the Rosary and which is simple to memorize, quick and easy to pray and readily available online to get you started. I certainly recommend that if you don’t know about the Devotions to the Divine Mercy to do an online search and look into this excellent and worthy devotion!

Mass Intentions for the Coming Week

Sat 5:30p In memory of Thomas Magoun/family
Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
Mon NO MASS
Tue 9:00a In memory of May DiTomasso
Wed 9:00a In memory of Beverly Lancaster/family
Thu 9:00a In memory of Jason Jumonville/family
Fri 5:30p In memory of Becky Lancaster/family
Sat 5:30p In memory of Lee Rome/K Collins
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)
4/23 5:30p	None Scheduled	A Farlow
4/24 9:00a	Preston, Evelyn, Courtland	J Howington
4/30 5:30p	None Scheduled	MA Gilfoil
5/1 9:00a	Caroline, Cooper, Maura	S Marsh
5/7 5:30p	None Scheduled	MK Book
5/8 9:00a	Henry and MaryKatherine	S Marsh

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
May 1 First Holy Communion for four of our children followed by a parish wide reception
May 3 Workshop on Dealing with Stress & Anxiety as a Christian. 6 p.m. Parish Hall.
May 4 Confirmation for four of our youth followed by a parish wide Potluck Supper
May 6 First Friday Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - 5:30 p.m.
May 7 First Saturday Devotions to our Blessed Mother - Mass and Holy Hour - 9 a.m.
May 8 Mother’s Day
May 15 Senior’s Mass for Youth Sunday followed by a parish wide reception

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.

FIRST COMMUNION… will take place at the 9 a.m. Mass on Sunday, May 1. We hope you’ll join us to celebrate four of our young children: Harper Bedgood, Travis Hamilton, Thomas Myers Hamilton, and Gabriel Paz.

STRESS AND ANXIETY WORKSHOP…MAY 3… 6:00 p.m. - Church Hall. Workshop on Dealing with Stress & Anxiety as a Christian. Open to the public.

CONFIRMATION… will take place at a special Mass on Wednesday, May 4 at 6 p.m. with Bishop Marshall. All are very welcome to attend. The ceremony will be followed by our quarterly pot-luck social. Please pray for our soon-to-be-confirmed: Preston Collins, Henry Ellerbee, Caroline Marsh, and Chandler Wood.

SECOND QUARTER SOCIAL will be a Potluck Supper for all of our faith family on WEDNESDAY, MAY 4 following Confirmation of four of our youth. Please mark your calendars and plan to bring a dish and participate to celebrate Caroline, Preston, Henry, and Chandler. The Second Quarter (April, May, June) Social Committee - Libby Bullard (Chairperson), Angel Farlow, Margaret and Pat Gilfoil, MaryAnne Gilfoil, Terry and Andy Hall, Isabell Hernandez, Ann Keene, Alyce and C.W. Keene, Bobby Reynolds, Delia Trichell, and Cathy VanderVieren will set up the Hall, have the A/C on, and tidy up afterwards.

FIRST FRIDAY… MAY 6… Mass and Benediction at 5:30 p.m. Please consider making a special devotion to the Sacred Heart by attending first Friday devotions for nine consecutive months.

FIRST SATURDAY… MAY 7… Mass and Benediction at 9 a.m. Our Lady of Fatima called for special devotions to be offered on the first Saturday of each month. All are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

SAINTS ALIVE…ANGELS AT WORK…KUDOS to everyone who contributed to the success of Holy Week and Easter. Our church was beautifully decorated for each of the special days and unless you have been responsible for making all these adjustments, you can not imagine the time that this takes!!! The flowers, as always, were such an addition to the beauty! Our young people “came through” (as they always do) so that our services seemed seamless despite all the many adjustments (especially with incense) that are part of the service. The readers for each service spent time preparing and being present; and, it was appreciated! Our music was beautiful and added greatly to the solemnity and joy of each occasion. And certainly, most importantly, our Faith Family showed up to be a part of the culmination of Lent 2022! THANK YOU!!!

Our Return to the Lord


Weekly Budget FY 2020-21	$ 2,111
March Budget	$ 8,444
March Income	$ 9,143
March Expenses	$ 8,404
April Budget	$ 8,444
April 16/17 collection	$ 798
April Income To Date	$ 6,044

Stewardship “Blessed are they who have not seen and have believed”, Jesus says in today’s Gospel. For those who have not seen to believe, however, we must be good stewards of our faith, living it joyfully and sharing it generously. Then, in our time too, men and women in great numbers will be added to the Lord.

INFIRM PRIESTS COLLECTION Through your generosity, we added $3,293 to our account to offset the monthly fee that is assessed to St Edward for the Infirmed Priests of the diocese. Thank you!

Let us Rejoice in the Lord!

Happy Birthday Norman Ernst II (April 27), Ginny Marsh (April 28)

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 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: Libby Bullard, Connie and Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Leslye Ellerbee, Mary Ernst, Monique Florence, Susan and Johnny Gilfoil, C.W. and Alyce Keene, Bill Kennedy, Ed Mills, Kathleen Mills, Terry Murphy, Sug Regan, 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, Emily Chancellor (C Copes), Ruthie Coenen (Wilks), Molly Corulla, Truman and Diane Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), Don Deweese, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Ashley and Chuck Edwards (Keene), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, April Franklin (Wilks), Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Rita Hargrave, Melissa Jennings (Gilfoil & Keene), Dee Jones (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), Bailey, and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Beverly Sibille (Gilfoil), Albert Thom (Rome), Meg Keene Thomas, Lucy Thomason (gr-dau of Bentley Curry)(Book), Paul Wayne and LeeAnn Rome Tranchina (Rome), Elaine Trimble (Rome), Joe Yerger

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