Homily for the First Sunday of Lent

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over five years ago. This mass, The First Sunday of Lent, is our three hundred and sixty ninth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady.

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the Week of February 22, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

This week we begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday.  Lent is a time when we reflect on our struggles to follow The Way of Jesus in this life, and we watch Jesus show us The Way to eternal life so that we can imitate it in our own lives.  I once again look forward to making this Lenten Journey with you.

Lent recognizes the reality that we still struggle in our earthly life despite the fact that our Savior died and rose from the dead.  Salvation is ours, but we still struggle in this life to be rid of sin and to do good.  We will have this struggle our entire lives.  The reason for this is that God will not impair our freedom and make us follow Him.  Our love of God and our neighbor is a choice, and a choice is no choice if we are not free to make it.  In our Fallen Nature, we struggle with making the right choices.  Scripture tells us that we are all sinners, and our sins always affect us and others negatively.  Sin produces our struggle in this life, whether it be our own sins or the sins of others that affect us, directly or indirectly.

During Lent, we will have many activities to help with our prayer, our relationship with God.  In this bulletin is an insert for your review containing the many activities we have during the Lenten Season which provide opportunities for prayer, study and fellowship.  For families, some of these activities are perfect for a Lenten family activity, such as the Stations of the Cross and the Soup and Bread Dinner.  Other things are more individual.  It is up to you to seek to examine your life and what is needed for increased "prayer, almsgiving and fasting" in you or your family's life.  Finally, please mark your calendar for our Lenten Parish Mission, which will be given by Mr. Paul George, Campus Minister at ULL and renowned speaker.  The Mission will be on March 9, 10 and 11 at 6pm in the church. Mass will precede the Parish Mission presentations at 5:30pm for those who may not have had an opportunity to attend Mass during the day.

We hope that these activities can help all of us grow closer to Jesus during the season of Lent so that we can celebrate the joy of Easter more deeply.  In recognizing our own sinfulness during Lent, we better understand the gift of the life and death of our Savior, so that in His Resurrection that we celebrate at Easter we can better appreciate the gift of eternal life despite our unworthiness.  Hopefully, we will then be more open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to live better lives! Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ!!

      God Bless

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of February 22, 2015 has been posted. Click here to see it.

The calendar on the website has been updated with all events for the coming week along with prayer intention information and information on the second collection for all of the masses. Take some time to look at our calendar here.

Updates are also being made to our St. Landry Catholic Church blog. You can get to the blog from the church home page under the Bulletins and News section or you can just click here to go to it.

Don't forget, we're also sending out live updates via Twitter. Our Twitter name is StLandryCath. You can see updates by clicking here.

And we're also on Facebook --- friend us! You can see our updates on our page SaintLandryCatholicChurch.

Homily for the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over five years ago. This mass, The Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our three hundred and sixty eighth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father Jerry Mesley.

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the Week of February 15, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

This week we begin the season of Lent on Ash Wednesday.  Lent is a time when we reflect on our struggles to follow The Way of Jesus in this life, and we watch Jesus show us The Way to eternal life so that we can imitate it in our own lives.  I once again look forward to making this Lenten Journey with you.

Lent recognizes the reality that we still struggle in our earthly life despite the fact that our Savior died and rose from the dead.  Salvation is ours, but we still struggle in this life to be rid of sin and to do good.  We will have this struggle our entire lives.  The reason for this is that God will not impair our freedom and make us follow Him.  Our love of God and our neighbor is a choice, and a choice is no choice if we are not free to make it.  In our Fallen Nature, we struggle with making the right choices.  Scripture tells us that we are all sinners, and our sins always affect us and others negatively.  Sin produces our struggle in this life, whether it be our own sins or the sins of others that affect us, directly or indirectly.

During Lent, we will have many activities to help with our prayer, our relationship with God.  In this bulletin is an insert for your review containing the many activities we have during the Lenten Season which provide opportunities for prayer, study and fellowship.  For families, some of these activities are perfect for a Lenten family activity, such as the Stations of the Cross and the Soup and Bread Dinner.  Other things are more individual.  It is up to you to seek to examine your life and what is needed for increased "prayer, almsgiving and fasting" in you or your family's life.  Finally, please mark your calendar for our Lenten Parish Mission, which will be given by Mr. Paul George, Campus Minister at ULL and renowned speaker.  The Mission will be on March 9, 10 and 11 at 6pm in the church. Mass will precede the Parish Mission presentations at 5:30pm for those who may not have had an opportunity to attend Mass during the day.

We hope that these activities can help all of us grow closer to Jesus during the season of Lent so that we can celebrate the joy of Easter more deeply.  In recognizing our own sinfulness during Lent, we better understand the gift of the life and death of our Savior, so that in His Resurrection that we celebrate at Easter we can better appreciate the gift of eternal life despite our unworthiness.  Hopefully, we will then be more open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to live better lives! Praise to our Lord Jesus Christ!!

      God Bless

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of February 15, 2015 has been posted. Click here to see it.

The calendar on the website has been updated with all events for the coming week along with prayer intention information and information on the second collection for all of the masses. Take some time to look at our calendar here.

Updates are also being made to our St. Landry Catholic Church blog. You can get to the blog from the church home page under the Bulletins and News section or you can just click here to go to it.

Don't forget, we're also sending out live updates via Twitter. Our Twitter name is StLandryCath. You can see updates by clicking here.

And we're also on Facebook --- friend us! You can see our updates on our page SaintLandryCatholicChurch.

Homily for the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over five years ago. This mass, The Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our three hundred and sixty seventh podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady.

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the Week of February 8, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

This coming week, on February 11, the feast day of Our Lady of Lourdes, we will celebrate the World Day of the Sick. This weekend, we will commemorate this day by celebrating the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick at the Saturday, 4pm Vigil Mass for all of those who have a serious illness or are infirmed due to age.

The Anointing of the Sick is a sacrament instituted by Jesus in Sacred Scripture in the Book of James: "Are there any who are sick among you? Let them send for the priests of the Church, and let the priests pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick persons, and the Lord will raise them up; and if they have committed any sins, their sins will be forgiven them." (James 5:14). The Anointing of the Sick (sometimes referred to as "Last Rites") is given to those who begin "to be in danger (of death) due to sickness or old age." In case of doubt about whether the circumstances warrant the sacrament, the sacrament is to be administered. We receive many calls at St. Landry to provide this sacrament, whether it be someone preparing for a medical procedure, someone who is hospitalized, or someone who is a resident in a nursing home. The sacrament has brought great consolation and relief to many people in our community. The sacrament helps us to configure the suffering caused by the illness or injury to Jesus suffering on the Cross for the salvation of the world. It also gives us consolation in the time of difficulty caused by the illness by helping us to understand and accept suffering because it has a saving effect, just as Jesus' suffering saved the world. It helps us to realize that we have a role in the salvation of the world, and suffering is a part of it, so the sacrament aids us "to carry our cross" and to "offer it up" by giving us the Grace to do so.

I hope that all take advantage of this sacrament when needed. You need only call the church and myself or Monsignor Melancon will be glad to administer it. As a practical matter, it is good not to wait until the last minute to request it. Some people are of the mistaken belief that it should only be administered just prior to one's passing from this life to the next. However, it can be administered any time when someone is seriously ill (or has a serious condition) or is of a certain age (around 70, depending on the person's general health). Anyone who is homebound or in a nursing home can be anointed regularly (usually every few months). Please let us know if you have a loved one who needs to be anointed and we will be happy to administer the sacrament. Waiting until the last minute can be a problem, as there are times when both Monsignor Melancon and I are out of town or unable to do so because of other duties in our ministry. Also, please know that if there is an emergency and someone requires hospital care at Opelousas General, there is a priest on call each day for anointing. Therefore, if you are unable to reach myself or Monsignor Melancon, let the hospital staff know that you would like the priest on call to come for an anointing, and they will know how to contact him.

Let us thank God for the goodness He gives to us in all the Sacraments, making sure that we dutifully dispose ourselves to receive them and fully cooperate with the Graces received in them!

      God Bless

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of February 08, 2015 has been posted. Click here to see it.

The calendar on the website has been updated with all events for the coming week along with prayer intention information and information on the second collection for all of the masses. Take some time to look at our calendar here.

Updates are also being made to our St. Landry Catholic Church blog. You can get to the blog from the church home page under the Bulletins and News section or you can just click here to go to it.

Don't forget, we're also sending out live updates via Twitter. Our Twitter name is StLandryCath. You can see updates by clicking here.

And we're also on Facebook --- friend us! You can see our updates on our page SaintLandryCatholicChurch.

Homily for the Week of February 1, 2015

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over five years ago. This mass, The Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our three hundred and sixty sixth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady.

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.