The 5th Sunday of Easter
From The Font
“In my Father's house there are many dwelling places.”
Scripture study is difficult because the New Testament consists mostly of sermons. Good sermons aren’t designed to be encyclopedias or complete and logical statements of all the details associated with a theological topic. Good sermons are specific to an audience and are composites of encouragement, challenge, information, exhortation, example, and wit. When Jesus explained Heaven to His ardent followers (as He does in today’s Gospel), He uses the metaphor of dwelling places, literally “mansions.” When St John explains the same thing to first century Christians later on, he uses images of light, golden streets, and the pearly gates. St Paul’s explanations of eternal life are radically different. So are the other sermons and writings of first century disciples. SO which one is “correct?”
Well, all of them are “true,” but all of them are also metaphor. So none of them are true from something like a scientific or literal perspective. Heaven doesn’t consist of some kind of neighborhood of houses and roads. It’s perfect union with Jesus Christ. But we can think of each of us having a perfect “place” or “home” or “dwelling” in that perfect union. If I were explaining that to a Buddhist, I might use the Buddhist metaphor of Nirvana. If I were explaining it to a Star Trek nerd, I would reference the Changeling’s Great Link. If I were preaching to people who lived by the sea, I would probably mention the ocean. And if I were preaching to third graders with assigned seats, I might reference their assigned seats.
The important takeaway is that metaphor is both helpful and limited. Metaphor is an important part of preaching and most of the New Testament consists of sermons of one form or another. As such, when we read the New Testament, we need to keep in mind the limitations of both preaching and metaphor.
It’s true when Jesus says that Heaven has many “dwelling places,” but it’s not true in the same way that Tallulah has many dwelling places. We’ll understand these things perfectly in eternity, but in the meantime, we want to keep a look out for potentially confusing metaphors when we read the Bible.
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
The end of school is imminent!
Congrats to our Seniors - both High School and college!! Congrats in particular to Henry and to both Preston and Aiden.
Congrats, too, to our First Holy Communicants! Congrats especially to Finlay and Kateyn! Congrats also to our guest First Holy Communicants from Florida, Mason and Luke!
A special congrats to our parents, grandparents, and guardians who managed to get their kids up, dressed, and to school for the past 9 months!
We don’t want to get cocky - there’s still a few weeks to go, but most of us are already thinking about what the summer holds. Who’s going to camp? Who’s going on vacation? Who’s going to the Lake? Who’s going to the beach? Who’s crazy enough to go to Disney or Universal?
Even though our modern American culture tends to glorify overworking - even on vacation, we would do well to think for a bit about how to find a kind of vacation which isn’t about just being busy and which is also not about just being slothful.
Running through a theme park is hardly restful or restorative. It may be a lot of fun and it may even be the right thing for the fam. At the same time, being the Martha of the family during the beach vacation can be stressful for some folks and exhilarating for others.
The ones who lay in the sun or ride the jet ski all summer at the lake may or may not be actually resting or recuperating...
I write about leisure at this time every year. Culturally, the US is not good at leisure. We’re good at laziness. We’re good at sloth. We’re good at pretending to do recreation at theme parks and at the beach. But real leisure requires a good deal of self-understanding.
Each of us is different! If I go to the beach, I’m going to be miserable and distracted. For me, recreation is a dumb book, a small group of friends, a simple chapel with a small altar for me to offer my daily Latin Mass, and a simple accommodation. That’s me.
My sisters love a beach trip. My dad and my brothers-in-law love golf. My best friend just wants to go to a hotel... I don’t get why he likes hotels, but he really does.
It’s not for me to judge what does or does not help someone relax and get recharged. Extroverted people need to be around large groups of strangers to get recharged. Introverts - like me - need to avoid that and spend some time alone or with close friends. Some people cannot handle having nothing to do. Others thrive on it.
It’s important that we know ourselves and that we make time this summer to recharge. It’s also important that we recognize how important this recharging is! Stress is at epidemic levels in our world. Sloth isn’t the answer. Antidepressants aren’t the answer. Fun isn’t the answer. The answer is recreation... real recreation. The mind is really good at releasing stress. It is! But we have to activate that feature in ourselves.
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30p In memory of deceased members of Regan, Adams, and Weimer families/Regan
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
- Mon No Mass
- Tues 9:00a In memory of John and Marie Johnson/family
- Wed 9:00a In honor of A.P. and Pat Guizerix/family
- Thu 9:00a In memory of Gus Gremshell
- Fri 5:30p In memory of Fred Wyly (birth anni)/Magoun
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Mary Ernst/Gustafson
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living Deceased Members of our Parish
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 5/6 5:30p | None Scheduled | C VanderVieren |
| 5/7 9:00a | MaryKatherine & Courtland | S Marsh |
| 5/13 5:30p | None Scheduled | P Wilks |
| 5/14 9:00a | Cooper & Maura | Seniors |
| 5/20 5:30p | None Scheduled | M K Book |
| 5/21 9:00a | Kathleen & Evelyn | A Oliver |
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 7 First Holy Communion - 9 a.m. Mass - reception following; all are invited
- May 14 Recognition of our high school graduates - 9 a.m. Mass - reception following
- May 16 Pastoral Council Meeting - 6 p.m., Church Hall
- May 21 Second quarter social - Potluck Brunch - following 9 a.m. Mass
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 Easter season that are worth checking out at https://watch.formed.org/easter. Remember to sign in using our parish’s zip code (71282) at http://signup.formed.org
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION… for four young people this weekend during the 9 a.m. Mass. From our faith family will be Finley Nadeau and Katelyn Naya and, from Florida, Luke Morelli and Mason Morelli (the great nephews of Norman Ernst). Please join us in the Church Hall following Mass to congratulate our Communicants.
SENIOR MASS… honoring Preston Collins and Henry Ellerbee will be on Sunday, May 14 during the 9 a.m. Mass. Please join us in celebrating the achievements of these outstanding young people of our faith family!!!
POTLUCK BRUNCH …. May 21 following 9 a.m. Mass. All faith family members are encouraged to participate.
Setting up the Hall and providing cleanup afterwards will the the Second Quarter (April, May, June) Social Committee consisting of Libby Bullard, Angel Farlow, Margaret and Pat Gilfoil, MaryAnne Gilfoil, Terry and Andy Hall, Isabell Hernandez, Cindy and Jamie Howington, Ann Keene, Alyce and C.W. Keene, Frances Kennedy, Elizabeth and Paul Naya, Bobby Reynolds, Delia Trichell, and Cathy VanderVieren.
Stewardship “The one who has faith in me will do the works I do, and far greater than these,” Jesus tells his disciples. That’s quite an assignment for us as Christian stewards!
SECOND COLLECTION this weekend is for our Building Fund.
Our Return to the Lord
| Weekly Budget FY 2022-23 | $ 2,111 |
| March Budget | $ 8,444 |
| March Income | $ 9,529 |
| March Expenses | $ 10,108 |
| April Budget | $ 10,555 |
| April 29/30 Collection | $ 990 |
| April Income To Date | $ 11,748 |
Let us Rejoice in the Lord!
Happy Birthday Father Ryan Humphries (May 6), Skipper Guizerix (May 11), Mary Anne Gilfoil (May 13), Eddie Mills (May 14)
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
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), Marla Evans Cummings, 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, Dee Jones (Keene), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Boyce Miller, John Neill, Caryn Oliver, Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Levi and Kristin Reagan and their infant twins, Mary Anne and Adam Todd (Gilfoil/Ginn), Frances Robinson (Wilks), Janie Saxon (Lancaster), Bailey, Scott and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy),Tuleta Sasser (Wilks), 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
