The 21st Sunday of Ordinary Time
From The Font
"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”
The modern idea of Christianity as a Faith of kindness, mercy and endless love is a fraud! It’s fake. It’s false. It’s really kind of demonic.
Jesus is God and God IS love! God’s mercy is everlasting! And Christians should be kind as a matter of ordinary living. But love and mercy aren’t all that God is and kindness isn’t the defining value of Christian life…
God is a Holy Trinity, not just Jesus. The love of God is self-sacrificing, passionate, friendly, and familial. God’s mercy can only be understood in light of His justice. And the Christian life isn’t just a random mixture of morals and virtues, it’s designed by the Lord to sanctify us in order that we can face the judgment which is a necessary part of entering Heaven!
Jesus isn’t asking us in our Gospel today to enter through the narrow gate just because it pleased Him to make the gate narrow… He’s telling us to strive for that because only a certain type of human soul can exist there…
We might think of an analogy where we are told that we need to be physically fit and train our minds to deal with the challenge of hiking Mt. Everest. It’s not that some jerk has made a rule at random! If you don’t train yourself, you can’t climb that mountain… In the same way, if we don’t train our souls, we can’t exist in Heaven. Hell is, by definition, the eternal domain of those who cannot exist in Heaven.
Modern people and some modern Christians have taken up a self-serving reinterpretation of the teachings of Jesus which make this life much easier but which will very possibly cost them their eternal life… Imagine the danger of someone skimping on their training for the climb of Mt Everest because they had convinced themselves that everyone who made the trek was simply exaggerating! Well that would be lovely in the short term! But given how many people die every year on that mountain, it serves as an apt illustration of our Lord’s words in our Gospel today.
We can’t afford not to take the Lord very seriously when He tells us to strive to enter through the narrow gate!
Thoughts from Fr. Ryan
One of the most shocking pieces of art I’ve ever seen in person is the horrific “St. Bartholomew Slayed” in the Church of St. John Latteran in Rome. The statue must be more than 10 feet tall and St. Bartholomew looks to be wearing a loose fitting toga and carrying a formidable knife. Then the eyes notice the flattened face hanging from the toga and you realize that the toga is, in fact, St. Bartholomew’s skin because he was martyred by being flayed. It’s horrifying! There’s an even more famous statue in the same mode in Milan.
If you’re unfazed by macabre art, you can brave the many “ossuary” chapels across north-central Europe. These are monastic chapels decorated with the skulls and large bones of monks who died in the monasteries. Some famous ossuary chapels boast thousands of individual skeletons and large, ostentatious chandeliers made entirely from human bones.
Why the Catholic fascination with this kind of thing? Why do we celebrate the way in which martyrs were killed and the entire phenomenon of death? After all, Jesus didn’t just die, He rose!
Part of it goes back to St. John. As the last living apostle, St. John’s writings are the only directly apostolic writing we have about the state of the early Church. St. Peter and St. Paul had both been martyred in the 60s AD. The other apostles were off on their missions, not expected to return. And so St. John was the go-to authority for bishops in the Roman Empire in the first century.
What St. John noticed was the major threat posed by Christians who were emphasizing the “spiritual” and the celebratory aspects of Faith to the exclusion of taking up one’s cross and following Jesus to Calvary. Authentic Christianity is a Faith of great joy, but not because it avoids or runs away from difficulty. Christians find joy in following Jesus, wherever that leads. But many in the early Church were more interested in avoiding hard work, spiritual discipline, genuine charity, and real love of neighbor. In his letters, St. John called out these attitudes and especially decried those who prioritized the spiritual at the expense of the physical! He said, in fact, that anyone who went so far as to deny Christ has come in the flesh was an antichrist.
Add to that the experimentation of the early church with prayers to the deceased saints and the unexpected spiritual power of relics…
And so the early saints were eager to embrace the teaching of St. John and to discover what spiritual benefits could be gained from the relics of the saints.
From this, the spiritual masters of the early Church preached the value and necessity of meditating upon death. In particular, St. Benedict of Nursia - who founded the order - instructed his monks to “keep death always before [them].”
As the Benedictine order thrived, so did the artistic interest in the macabre. After all, for the one who really, faithful hopes for salvation in Jesus, there’s nothing to fear from the images of physical death… In fact, those images serve to confirm that Jesus is Lord of all things living and dead. For the Christian, the martyrs are victors and their death-stories are tales of victory.
Of course, it doesn’t really make it less creepy…
Mass Intentions for the Coming Week
- Sat 5:30p In honor of Mike and Sue Rome on the occasion of their 50th anniversary
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
- Mon NO MASS
- Tue 9:00a In memory of Wayne Magoun/family
- Wed 9:00a In memory of Lillie (MaMe) Jumonville/family
- Thurs 9:00a In thanksgiving for a special anniversary/Magoun
- Fri 5:30p In memory of Cougan Fulton/Lancaster
- Sat 5:30p In memory of Lee Rome/P Gilfoil
- Sun 9:00a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
ALTAR CANDLES this week are burning for the special intentions of Blanche and Skeeter Wilks
Assistants at Holy Mass
| Date | Servers | Lector(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 8/20 5:30p | None Scheduled | P Wilks |
| 8/21 9:00a | Cooper and Maura | Youth |
| 8/27 5:30p | None Scheduled | L Bullard |
| 8/28 9:00a | Henry and MaryKatherine | A Oliver |
| 9/3 5:30p | None Scheduled | A Farlow |
| 9/4 9:00a | Chandler, AnneMarie, Maura | Beth 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
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.
PRAYER FOR HURRICANE SEASON… .Our Father in Heaven through the intercession of our Lady of Prompt Succor, spare us during the Hurricane Season from all harm. Protect us and our homes from all disasters of nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hastened to help us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
Our Return to the Lord
| Weekly Budget FY 2020-21 | $ 2,111 |
| July Budget | $ 10,555 |
| July Income | $ 10,849 |
| July Expenses | $ 11,185 |
| August Budget | $ 8,444 |
| August 13/14 Collection | $ 3,317 |
| August Income To Date | $ 5,966 |
Stewardship Today’s reading from Isaiah describes the Isralites bringing their offering to the Lord “in clean vessels.” The gift of myself – my patient endurance and fidelity to the will of God–is as important as the monetary gift I offer.
Let us Rejoice in the Lord!
Happy Birthday Elizabeth Crothers (Aug 21)
Happy Anniversary Sue & Mike Rome (Aug 19 - 50 years), Susan & Johnny Gilfoil (Aug 22 - 52 years), Mary Jane and Sidney Johnson (Aug 26), Kendra and Dave Collins (Aug 29)
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, Marie, Norman, and Mary Ernst, Susan and Johnny Gilfoil, Jamie and Cindy Howingston, C.W. and Alyce Keene, Bill Kennedy, Ed Mills, Kathleen Mills, Terry and Susie 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, Sarah Cannon (Gilfoil), Ruthie Coenen (Wilks), Kevin and AnnaBeth Collins (Book), Truman and Diane Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), Susan Ward Daigle (Gilfoil & Keene), Don Deweese, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Ashley and Chuck Edwards (Keene), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, Monique Florence, Judy Fortenberry, April Franklin (Wilks), Thom Gilfoil, Charlotte Green, Rita Hargrave, Arlice Evans Headley, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), John and Carlyle Ashly Hoogland, Melissa Jennings (Gilfoil & Keene), Dee Jones (Keene), Lyn and Calvin Lisonbee (Keene), LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Caryn Oliver, Sue Perrilloux (D Wood), Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Frances Robinson (Wilks), Bailey, Scott and Tiffney Rome, Dianne W. Roper (Murphy), Albert Thom (Rome), Janice Spencer and family (Wilks), Meg Keene Thomas, Lucy Thomason (gr-dau of Bentley Curry)(Book), Gabby Trejos (Wilks), 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, Caroline Marsh, Emmy Lu Marsh, Maddie Oliver Bridges, Blake Sullivan, Carter Sullivan, Walker Sullivan, Brice Wood, Marsh Wood.
