The Second Sunday of Lent
From The Font
“Rabbi, it is good that we are here!"
As strange as it might seem, there are plenty of saints who would say that mystical experiences like the transfiguration aren’t especially helpful in the spiritual life. I expect most of us reading this wouldn’t mind having Jesus or the Blessed Virgin Mary or even a saint we’ve never heard of like Hildegard of Bingen appear to us mystically with a message from God. It ranks pretty high on my own cool-stuff-o-meter...
The reasoning these saints give is that Jesus, Himself, says that it is better to have not seen and yet believed. Mystical experiences can be genuinely beneficial to the one receiving them, but more often than not they aren’t intended to help the receiver get holier... Rather, mystical visions and the like are given to be used for others. St Padre Pio could read the souls of those who came to him for confession. But he didn’t do that just to help him realize that God is God. He had that gift for others. St Francis of Assisi was given many mystical messages. But they were mostly given to him in order to empower him to found his religious order and to teach the Gospel of Jesus.
One of the hardest things for us to hear is that even miracles of healing don’t have the long-lasting effects that we might expect. I know at least one individual personally who experienced a bona fide miraculous healing in her youth. But by the time she was in her 20s, the emotional power of that experience was (by her own admission) basically gone. She knew in her mind that the healing happened, but it didn’t really help her Faith life.
The point that I’m making here is that if God wants to give us a miracle or a mystical experience, that’s great! He certainly knows if we need it or if we can benefit from it. But we shouldn’t concern ourselves about mystical experiences. Whether or not God wants to use you or me in this way, the demands of our Faith and the daily practice of our Faith will look the same. We still need to pray daily, fast weekly, confess monthly, obey the moral law, be charitable to those we meet and make a worthy Holy Communion as often as possible.
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 Kathleen Mills/Massey
- Sun 9:30a Pro Populo for the Living & Deceased Members of our Parish
- Mon 5:30p No Mass
- Tue 9:00a In memory of Norman Stephen (birth anni) and Mary (Nanny) Ernst/Magoun
- Wed 9:00a In memory of Sally Higdon/Magoun
- Thu 9:00a In memory of Rosa and Gus Gremshell and May DiTomasso
- Fri 5:30p In memory of Becky Lancaster/family
- Sat 5:30p In memory of deceased members of Regan, Adams, and Weimer families/family
- Sun 9:30a 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) | EMHCs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/24 5:30p | None Scheduled | C VanderVieren | L Magoun |
| 2/25 9:30a | Kathleen and Evelyn | C Guizerix | None Scheduled |
| 3/2 5:30p | None Scheduled | P Wilks | M Rome |
| 3/3 9:30a | Chandler and Annie | B Sullivan | None Scheduled |
| 3/9 5:30p | None Scheduled | MK Book | N Ernst |
| 3/10 9:30a | MaryKatherine & Courtland | K Collins | None Scheduled |
Stewardship Abraham was prepared to sacrifice his only son, Issac. St Paul reminds us that God Himselt “did not spare his own Son.” Are my gifts to the Lord–of my resources, of my time, of myself–also sacrificial!
Our Return to the Lord
| Weekly Budget FY 2022-23 | $ 2,111 |
| January Budget | $ 8,444 |
| January Income | $ 9,710 |
| January Expenses | $ 11,821 |
| February Budget | $ 8,444 |
| February 17-18 Collection | $ 2,372 |
| February Income To Date | $ 7,857 |
Upcoming Events
Confessions every Friday & Saturday from 5p until Mass and on Sunday from 9a until Mass
Sunday Catechism with Coffee and Donuts after Mass unless otherwise indicated
Wednesday Morning Catechism about 9:30 a.m in Church and on Facebook and YouTube
Pastoral Council meeting monthly on the third Wednesday at 6p
Feb 28-29 Lenten Mission at St Edward - with Father Daniel Hart….see notes below
March 1 Friday in Lent – Stations of the Cross at 5:30 p.m. followed by Mass
March 1 First Friday devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus - 5:30 p.m.
March 2 First Saturday Devotions to our Blessed Mother-Mass and Holy Hour– 9 a.m.
For Your Information:
LENTEN REGULATIONS. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence. This means that we do not eat meat and we have only one full meal. The other Fridays of the season of Lent are days of abstinence from meat. The obligation to abstain from meat binds Catholics 14 years of age and older. The obligation to fast, limiting oneself to one full meal and two lighter meals in the course of the day, binds Catholics from the age of 18 to 59. Those who are younger or older may freely embrace these disciplines. But Lenten disciplines should never endanger your health. It is obvious that abstaining from meat is meaningless for vegetarians, who must choose some other form of abstinence. It is equally obvious that replacing meat with a gourmet seafood meal is not in keeping with the spirit of Lent.
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.
PILGRIMAGE!... Fr Ryan is leading a Pilgrimage to Assisi and Rome in Italy in September of 2024. More information is available at HolyTravels.org/FrHumphriesItaly . Please pass the word around!
FORMED.ORG… FORMED has an entire page of weekly featured videos that are worth checking out at https://watch.formed.org/this-week-on-formed. Remember to sign in using our parish’s zip code (71282) at http://signup.formed.org
GROUP.ME... is an app on your phone or PC from the makers of Skype. It allows for private discussions and notifications. It’s free and considered very secure. Fr Ryan has set up three groups which are open to anyone associated with our parish.
- StEdward Group An open discussion group which allows for Q&A with Fr Ryan, as well as the ability to report issues and concerns at our Church or on our property.
- Daily Mass at St Edward A notification group for Fr Ryan to post updates and schedule changes to our Daily Masses at St Edward.
- TLM at St Edward A notification group for Fr Ryan to post schedule updates and get feedback about our Saturday morning Traditional Latin Mass here at St Edward.
LENTEN MISSION AT ST EDWARD…. will be this Wednesday and Thursday at 6 p.m. in the Church Hall. Father Daniel Hart, Pastor of our sister parish St Edward the Confessor, Fishville, La and St Mary Catholic Church, Jena, LA will be our presenter. Fr Daniel studied in Rome and is enthusiastic to share his down to Earth and practical style of preaching with us. All are most welcome!
FIRST FRIDAY …. MARCH 1...Holy Hour and Mass 5:30 p.m. ...make a special devotion to the Sacred Heart and attend first Friday devotions for nine consecutive months.
FIRST SATURDAY … MARCH 2… Mass and Holy Hour … 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.
FIRST SUNDAY BENEDICTION…MARCH 3 …. at the conclusion of weekend Masses as part of our larger program to improve Eucharistic Devotion and to understand what a gift we have in the Most Holy Eucharist.
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 Pope Francis; Bishop Robert Marshall, and our Diocesan leaders, our President, Governor, Mayor and national, state and local elected Our parishioners who Second sick, shut-in, or otherwise in need of our prayers: MaryKathryn and Nap Book, Connie and Dan Copes, Elizabeth Crothers, Leslye Ellerbee, Susan and Johnny Gilfoil, Margaret and Pat Gilfoil, Terry Farlow Hall, C.W. and Alyce Keene, Bill Kennedy, Wood McCarty, Second Mills, Terry and Susie Murphy, Bobby Reynolds, Sue & Mike Rome
under full-time Second: Frances Kennedy
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 Arceneaux (Book), Marie Farlow Bellard, Tommy Bickham (C Copes), Chris Breard (Gilfoil), Willetta and Mac Cagnolatti, Sarah Cannon (Gilfoil), Fran Castile (Keene), Jeannie and Donald Collins, Jami Cook (Wilks), Bobbe and Gene Cox, Marla Evans Cummings, Carol Dipert (Rome), Mac Donaldson (Ellerbee), Joe Farlow, Mike Farlow, Patty Farlow, Monique Florence, Jimmy Fordham (Gustafson & Fordice), Judy Fortenberry, April Franklin (Wilks), Thom Gilfoil, Wyly Gilfoil (Gilfoil), LaVonne Givens, Charlotte Green, Theresa Gunter, Rita Hargrave, Ralph Harris (Gilfoil), Arlice Evans Headley, Evie Hilburn (Lancaster), Charles Howington, Will Irby (P Gilfoil), Diane Johnson, Dee Jones (Keene), Chelsea Keene & Andrew Lewis, Emery and Kale Kirkland (Gilfoil), Calvin “Beans” and Lynn Lisonbee, LaLa Lopez (Hernandez), Caroline Marcello (Watts), James Albert Martin, Michelle McGuire(Gilfoil), Kiely McKellar (S Gilfoil), Mona Martin (MA Gilfoil), Boyce Miller, Vickie Morelli (Ernst), John Neill, Caryn Oliver, Wayne Pitre (Gilfoil), Bailey, Scott Rome Tranchina (Rome), Second Claire Warner and her parents, MaryBeth and Steve
Our collegiates: Aidan Collins, Preston Collins, Henry Ellerbee, Callie Ezell, Lilly Falgout, Jag Gilfoil, Chris Hall (USMC), Nick Hall, Bruen Johnson, Matilda Johnson, Caroline Marsh, Emmy Lu Marsh, Blake Sullivan, Carter Sullivan, Walker Sullivan, Marsh Wood
