The 1st Sunday of Lent
MASS THIS SATURDAY (MARCH 4) will be at 6:00pm, not 5:30pm. No Services of any sort this Friday (March 3). Fr Ryan will be out of town Friday and Saturday. Everything Sunday is as usual.
From The Font
“Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”
The common wisdom of our age is that power should be used to create happiness - or what we think happiness is. So a powerful person who helps the impoverished is considered a good person. Along the same lines, most folks would say that if I can avoid being poor or sad or cold or hot or bored or whatever, then I should avoid those things. So power should be used to make myself and others happy. When a rich person or a celebrity or another powerful person doesn’t use power for that purpose, society tends to think they are misusing it.
And so Jesus - who is ALLpowerful - choosing to go into the desert to suffer and be tempted makes as little sense as Jesus choosing to die on the Cross. It seems unnecessary.
At the same time, we all understand that our human nature is frail and that certain things just take certain kinds of effort. None of us would begrudge a coach who expects his or her athletes to be in the gym every morning. We all understand that’s what’s required. The same with music or academic study.
The thing to keep in mind with so many of the events in the life of Jesus is that He’s doing these things on our behalf. We don’t have the power or self-will to do the things that we need to do in order to fulfill God’s Divine Justice. And so Jesus takes our Human Nature upon Himself and fulfills Divine Justice for us.
God doesn’t need to fast in the desert or be tempted, but we do… We really do. God doesn’t need to die on the cross, but we do… Our sins are deadly and we cannot do anything at all to make recompense for them.
Because there’s no way for us to be saved, Jesus - who is God, ALLpowerful - takes pity on us and does the work for us. So much of what Jesus does in the Gospel are things that we SHOULD be doing, but we don’t or we can’t because of our sinful human nature.
In Lent and in other spiritual exercises of our Faith, we walk in the footsteps of Jesus doing what He did first. Without Him going first and without the Holy Spirit’s continued help, we could never fulfill God’s Divine Justice and thus be saved. In Jesus, we can.
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
For a long time, Lent was my very favorite time of year. I thought I was just a weirdo until I became a priest and a lot of Catholics said the exact same thing. Lent is the most practical time of year as far as religion goes. What am I supposed to be doing? Well… go to Mass on Sunday, no meat on Friday, give up something that’s a little annoying but not enough to ruin your day. That’s it!
Catholicism since the 1960s has been so very annoyingly vague! Other than Mass on Sundays and Holy Days, the Church doesn’t tell us what to do! What is prayer? Oh, it’s whatever you want it to be. What are we supposed to believe? Here’s a 1000 page book. What about this moral rule? If you don’t like the teaching, you can just shop around until you find a priest conservative or liberal enough to give you the answer you want. It’s infuriating! But Lent is clear and direct.
Honestly, the lack of clarity that has been so pervasive in the last 60 years is NOT actually how the Church works at all. We still have a lot of very clear and helpful teachings. If all you want to know is whether this or that is right or wrong, we have that. If you want to know why it’s right or wrong, we have that too. If you want to know the psychological or historical or biblical or logical or philosophical reasons, we have that. The problem is that we also have so much noise pollution in the Church.
We have clergy spouting “theological opinions” that they were taught in seminary by subversive buffoons. We have self-help gurus who adopt Christian vocabulary (c.f. Joel Olsteen). We have deliberate and accidental misrepresentations of Catholicism by our often well-meaning Protestant friends. We have dozens of watered-down textbooks that claim to teach CCD but which don’t actually teach much of anything. We have “experts” on the news and books and youtube and tiktok and an endless stream of noise all claiming to speak for Jesus.
Most of us aren’t interested in getting a doctorate in theology. Most of us just want to know what is right, what is wrong, how we should live, and how we get to Heaven. And whereas Catholicism had the simplest and clearest answers to those questions for 1000 years, we find ourselves after 60 years of reform with too much double-speak and not enough Jesus-speak.
In the last 10 years, I’ve given 11 parish missions and at least two dozen talks variously titled “how to get to Heaven: a practical summary.” The summary is really easy: Sunday Mass, monthly confession, daily prayer, weekly fasting, do works of mercy when the opportunity arises, offer up little sufferings, and frequently say some version of the prayer: “Lord Jesus, if You make clear what you want me to do, I will do it.” That’s really it.
Lent helps us to be concrete about many of those things and so a lot of Catholics really like the season even if it’s not the most pleasant of times and even if it means doing a little fasting and a little penance.
Whether Lent is your favorite time of year or not, I hope and pray that this Lent is a good and holy one! Let’s pray for each other that the Holy Spirit uses these next weeks to great effect!
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Pat Bullard, Patrick Thomas, and Eva and R.L. Reynolds
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
- Mon - No Mass
- Tue 9:00a In memory of Sally Jo Higdon/Magoun
- Wed 9:00a In memory of Thomas Trichell and for healing for Delia and Tommy/B Hayes
- Thu 9:00a In memory of Gus Gremshell
- Fri NO MASS - Fr Ryan away
- Sat 6:00p In memory of Racer Holstead (death anni)/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) |
|---|---|---|
| 2/25 5:30p | None Scheduled | L Bullard |
| 2/26 9:00a | Annie and Chandler | S Marsh |
| 3/4 5:30p | None Scheduled | MA Gilfoil |
| 3/5 9:00a | Courtland and Preston | A Oliver |
| 3/11 5:30p | None Scheduled | M Rome |
| 3/12 9:00a | Cooper and Volunteer | B Sullivan |
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
March 3 (Friday)... NO SERVICES of any sort (Mass, Stations, etc). Fr Ryan out of town.
- March 4 (Saturday)... Mass at 6 pm, not 5:30pm with Fr Taylor Reynolds. Sunday Mass as usual.
- Mar 11 & 12 (Sat & Sun) - Guest priest, Fr. John Paul, OFM. Fr Ryan will be doing the parish mission at Our Lady of Fatima, Monroe. No Sunday Morning Catechism, everything else as usual.
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.
FORMED.ORG… FORMED has a collection of videos for Lent that are worth checking out at https://watch.formed.org/lent. Remember to sign in using our parish’s zip code (71282) at http://signup.formed.org
Stewardship What temptations lure us from the path of discipleship? Possessions? Pride? Power? Oh Lord, create for us a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit within us!!
Our Return to the Lord
| Weekly Budget FY 2022-23 | $ 2,111 |
| January Budget | $ 10,555 |
| January Income | $ 9,721 |
| January Expenses | $ 10,433 |
| February Budget | $ 8,444 |
| February 18-19 Collection | $ 2,420 |
| February Income To Date | $ 7,511 |
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; 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, Susan and Johnny Gilfoil, MaryJane Johnson, Bill Kennedy, Ed Mills, Terry and Susie Murphy, 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), Pam Amacker (Gilfoil), James and Carolyn Arceneaux (Book), Marie Farlow Bellard, Tommy Bickham (C Copes), Chris Breard (Gilfoil), Sarah Cannon (Gilfoil), Ruthie Coenen (Wilks), Jami Cook (Wilks), Susan Ward Daigle (Gilfoil & Keene), Don Deweese, Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, Monique Florence, Judy Fortenberry, April Franklin (Wilks), Thom Gilfoil, Wyly Gilfoil (Gilfoil), Charlotte Green, Rita Hargrave, Arlice Evans Headley, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), Charles Howington, Melissa Jennings (Gilfoil & Keene), Dee Jones (Keene), William and Averyell Kessler (Lancaster), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Boyce Miller, Caryn Oliver, Sue Perrilloux (D Wood), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Frances Robinson (Wilks), Bailey, Scott and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Albert Thom (Rome), Barbara Thomas (Gilfoil), Tommy Trichell, LeeAnn Rome Tranchina (Rome), Joe Yerger,
Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Callie Ezell, Lilly Falgout, Chris Hall (USMC), Nick Hall, Bruen Johnson, Caroline Marsh, Emmy Lu Marsh, Blake Sullivan, Carter Sullivan, Walker Sullivan, Marsh Wood
