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The Pastor’s Corner
This weekend, our parish participates in the diocesan Mission Cooperative Plan and we welcome Michael Heinzman who helps the missions in Haiti. The Missionary Cooperative plan assigns a mission group to every parish to speak about the work of our church in other parts of the world and to remind us that our church is fundamentally a Mission Church. Our diocesan mission office assigned the Diocese of Fort-Liberte-Haiti to share with us news of how our church continues to help the poorest of the poor.
The diocese of Forte-Liberte-Haiti was founded 21 years ago. Most of the parishes are in the remote, rural areas and in the mountains. Because of this, the parishes are very hard to reach and have been neglected in many ways.
The Church in Haiti is struggling to bring God's love to the many hurting people and we are the comfort. In Haiti there are 9.5 million people in an area smaller than Maryland. 70% of these cannot read, and 85% live below poverty level. In slum areas 4 out of 5 children do not reach the age of five, and nationally 1 in 3 children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The Hurricanes in 2004 and 2008, along with the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake, and another hurricane later that same year, have left Haiti severely damaged and in the desperate need of our prayers and support.
"Farming and other typical sustainable activities are difficult and this intensifies the suffering and acute poverty throughout the diocese. In many ways the priests are desperate to try and help the people in their parish - coming to see me in the Chancery every month, with nowhere else to turn. But there is almost nothing I can do to help them. Last month, a priest from a very remote diocese did not have enough money to purchase 2 new tires for his jeep. I gave him two of mine, and took his very old and worn tires to put on my car." - Bishop Max Mesidor (WaWa)
As I mentioned last weekend, this appeal is a reminder to us of the universality of our Church and, as Jesus teaches us, of our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in need. We are so blessed to live in a prosperous society, and none of us can truly understand what it is like to worry day to day about food, clothing and shelter (not to mention medical care and education). We take our infrastructure, which provides us with many resources as a given. This blessing is completely gratuitous, as we had nothing to do with our place of birth, just as those we help had nothing to do with the location of their birth. Through no fault of their own, they live in great poverty.
Mr. Michael Heinzman is a faithful volunteer for the Diocese of Fort-Liberte who makes service trips to Haiti and gives mission talks at parishes in the United States and will speak to us at all this weekend's Masses about the diocese and how we can help with our donations. We look forward to Mr. Heinzman's message of mercy and our generous response to this appeal.
May 24, 2015 - Confirmation (5pm Mass).
The diocese of Forte-Liberte-Haiti was founded 21 years ago. Most of the parishes are in the remote, rural areas and in the mountains. Because of this, the parishes are very hard to reach and have been neglected in many ways.
The Church in Haiti is struggling to bring God's love to the many hurting people and we are the comfort. In Haiti there are 9.5 million people in an area smaller than Maryland. 70% of these cannot read, and 85% live below poverty level. In slum areas 4 out of 5 children do not reach the age of five, and nationally 1 in 3 children suffer from chronic malnutrition. The Hurricanes in 2004 and 2008, along with the devastating January 12, 2010 earthquake, and another hurricane later that same year, have left Haiti severely damaged and in the desperate need of our prayers and support.
"Farming and other typical sustainable activities are difficult and this intensifies the suffering and acute poverty throughout the diocese. In many ways the priests are desperate to try and help the people in their parish - coming to see me in the Chancery every month, with nowhere else to turn. But there is almost nothing I can do to help them. Last month, a priest from a very remote diocese did not have enough money to purchase 2 new tires for his jeep. I gave him two of mine, and took his very old and worn tires to put on my car." - Bishop Max Mesidor (WaWa)
As I mentioned last weekend, this appeal is a reminder to us of the universality of our Church and, as Jesus teaches us, of our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters in need. We are so blessed to live in a prosperous society, and none of us can truly understand what it is like to worry day to day about food, clothing and shelter (not to mention medical care and education). We take our infrastructure, which provides us with many resources as a given. This blessing is completely gratuitous, as we had nothing to do with our place of birth, just as those we help had nothing to do with the location of their birth. Through no fault of their own, they live in great poverty.
Mr. Michael Heinzman is a faithful volunteer for the Diocese of Fort-Liberte who makes service trips to Haiti and gives mission talks at parishes in the United States and will speak to us at all this weekend's Masses about the diocese and how we can help with our donations. We look forward to Mr. Heinzman's message of mercy and our generous response to this appeal.
Father James Brady
Please mark your calendars and, if possible, attend the following celebration:
May 24, 2015 - Confirmation (5pm Mass).
The bulletin for the week of May 17, 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.
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