Homily for the 13th 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 six years ago. This mass, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our three hundred and ninety first 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 June 28, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

The homily this weekend will focus on our young children.  It might be entitled, "Crying Babies, Crying Babies!  What to do?"  One of the joys of the growth of our parish has been our new parishioners who are parents of young children.  There is a certain "life" that is brought to a community when young children are present.  Many commented about their presence at our parish picnic and the joy that their presence brought to our hearts.  Our programs, such as Vacation Bible School, are growing each year (Reminder: Vacation Bible School registration is going on right now).  Pope Francis recently addressed the issue of crying children, referring to children’s tears as “the best sermon.”  The Pope also told parents of young children that “children cry, they are noisy, they don’t stop moving. But it really irritates me when I see a child crying in church and someone says they must go out. God’s voice is in a child’s tears: they must never be kicked out of church.” (emphasis added)

However, many parents of young children have asked what they should do if their child begins to cry at Mass?  The issue for them is to figure out how to be courteous and thoughtful of others during Mass, as well as reverent in the church.  That issue will be addressed in the homily this weekend, as well as how others in the congregation can respond in a charitable way by listening to what the Pope tells us is "the best sermon."  A good article on this was published last year in the Catholic Herald (UK) which is still available online.  I tried to get permission to reprint the article, but was unable to do so, so here's the link:

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/09/12/what-should-you-do-when-a-child-starts-crying-during-mass/


How Time Flies!
Last week marked my fifth anniversary of being your pastor. How time flies!! As with any church community, we've had our joys and sorrows over the last five years, as well as our successes and bumps in the road. Over that time we've said "good-bye" to people we love with the hope of seeing them again in Heaven, and we've welcomed with joy new members to community who were baptized into our church.  We've had all the experiences in between: First Confessions and Communion, Confirmations, Weddings, Anointings  of the Sick, etc.  My hope, as your pastor, is that in all these experiences, whether joyful or not, we've all grown closer to Jesus over the last five years as we ourselves continue our journey towards the destination of eternal life. In the end, that's all that really matters.

I want to thank all of you for making my job as pastor a joy. My assignment at St. Landry has been a great blessing to me. Your patience and support has been wonderful, and is very much appreciated. You all have made me a better person and priest over the last five years, and have taught me much. Our parish has changed much over this time, and my hope is our St. Landry Church community will continue to adapt to meet all your spiritual needs on your journey through life. Thanks again!

Sanctuary Project - Please mark the date!!
I am very excited to announce that we have a date for the installation of our new altar, and therefore a date for its consecration.  The altar will be installed during the week of August 3, 2015, and the consecration will take place at the 10am Mass on August 9.  Bishop Jarrell has graciously agreed to preside at the consecration.  A reception will follow the consecration Mass.  The following week, our new flooring will be installed in the sanctuary, the aisle and the foyer.  More information will be provided next week to update you on our Sanctuary Campaign construction.

Again, Many Thanks!  

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of June 28, 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 Twelfth 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 six years ago. This mass, 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our three hundred and ninetieth 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 June 21, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Happy Father's Day! Many thanks to all our devoted father's who lead and guide their families by teaching and example.  The ultimate goal is to make our way to Christ, and thus to God, the Father. We pray that in their fatherly vocation they always stay focused on true good for their families, which is the salvation of the souls entrusted to their care. Again, Happy Fathers Day!

At St. Landry Church, our patron St. Landry serves as a "father" of sorts to our church family. We celebrated the feast of our patron, St. Landry, on June 10. He is a wonderful patron for us in both his teaching and example, and as we learn more about him, we can learn more about what our goals should be as a church community.  His life has a great similarity to what Pope Francis is calling us to be, servers of God's people, both in word and deed.

It is important to note that there were actually four St. Landrys: (1) Saint-Bishop Landry of Sées (c.405 – 480), in the Basse-Normandie region of France; (2) Saint Landry of (Soignies) Belgium also known as Saint Landry of Metz (c. 622 – 700); (3) Saint Landry of Savoy, (1012 – 1050) was a Benedictine monk of Novalise in Savoy; and (4) Saint Landry, Bishop of Paris, also known as St. Landry the Confessor. Our church in Opelousas is named after this fourth St. Landry.

In 650, during the reign of Clovis II, Saint Landry succeeded Audobertus as Bishop of Paris. During the famine of 650-51, Saint Landry sold all of his personal possessions, as well as some of the furniture and sacred vessels of the church, to feed the poor. In 651, Saint Landry, Bishop of Paris, founded a hospital, dedicated to St. Christopher, near the Cathedral of Notre Dame (which hospital later developed into the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris). This hospital is still in operation today, and on our parish pilgrimage two years ago we were able to see the building.  Shortly after our visit, it was decided that the building could no longer be used as a hospital, so it will serve another purpose in the future.

Saint Landry built the original church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, which became the parish of the kings of France. Saint Landry served as Bishop of Paris until his death, which occurred in 661. He was buried in the Church of Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois in Paris, and today you can see his statue and frescos painted in St. Landry’s Chapel at Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois (we saw these on our pilgrimage, as well).

Let us remember to ask our patron to intercede for us in prayers for our church parish, as well call upon his intercession in time of need.  St. Landry, pray for us!!
 Father James Brady

WELCOME SEMINARIAN MICHAEL VIDRINE

The staff and parishioners welcome Mr. Michael Vidrine as our summer seminarian. Following is his brief bio.
I was born on April 10, 1996 to Darlene and Kirby Vidrine. I grew up in Palmetto, with 5 brothers and 3 sisters, attending St. John the Evangelist church parish in Melville. I was home schooled until high school, then I attended and graduated from John Paul the Great Academy in Lafayette. In the fall semester following my graduation from high school, I started at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, where I just completed my first year of seminary. If it is the Lord's holy will, I will be ordained a priest in the summer of 2022, but in any case, I am very grateful to be at the beautiful church of St. Landry for my first summer assignment.

APPRECIATION

This weekend marks the 5th anniversary of Father Brady as our Pastor and Shepherd. May the Lord continue to bless our parish with him as Pastor. Please join us for coffee, juice and donuts, in the south sacristy, after the 8:00 am and 10:00 am Masses. If you are not able to do so, then greet Fr. Brady outside the Church after all Masses.

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of June 21, 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 Eleventh 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 six years ago. This mass, 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our three hundred and eighty 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 June 14, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Although we have been celebrating Ordinary Time at our daily Masses, this is the first Sunday that we've celebrated a Mass in Ordinary Time in our Sunday liturgy.  This is an indicator that we are now solidly into the summer season, and with that comes our summer activities here at the church.

Our young people will be travelling later this month to "Steubenville on the Bayou" in Houma, which will be held from June 26th-28th.  Deacon Joubert will be leading the group, with the able assistance of his wife, Mary, and our seminarian, Michael Vidrine.  There still may be room available if any of our young people ( those who are entering 9th grade through those who have just graduated) are interested.  Please contact Deacon Joubert if you would like to go or would like further information.

Our Vacation Bible School will be the week of July 13th through July 17th.  It is a week of learning about the bible and our Catholic faith for our elementary school age children.  It is both educational and fun.  Please call the office or Deacon Joubert if you would like to register or need additional information.

Finally, RCIA registration will begin later this summer.  If you know anyone who is interested in becoming Catholic, please encourage them to attend the program.  The program is also helpful for those who simply want to learn more about their Catholic faith or those who would like to be Confirmed (there is a shorter Adult Confirmation program that begins after the first of the year as well).  The RCIA program extends through the Fall and Winter, and those in the program will receive their Sacraments at the Easter Vigil Mass in March.

Sanctuary Light

Now that our sanctuary light has been re-installed, I'd like to provide a few notes about it's history, and to thank those who provided the previous sanctuary light.  The previous sanctuary light, which has been used for more than a decade, was donated by Mrs. Lorraine Dupuis, In Memory of B.D. Dupuis.  We thank the Dupuis family for their generosity and kindness in donating the sanctuary light.  It hasn't been retired, though.  It will still be used in the chapel in Valentin Hall, where we have our First Friday Eucharistic Adoration, weekly Saturday morning Mass, and is also a place for people to come and pray during the day.  The re-installed sanctuary light now hanging was originally donated by the Sandoz Family.  It was restored by one of our parishioners, and the bracket was donated by Lucius Doucet and Rose Boulet.  Many thanks to all!

Sanctuary Campaign

Two weeks ago I mentioned in my homily that last weekend we would finish our Sanctuary Campaign acknowledgments.  I was wrong...we had a number of donations in the last week of the campaign that necessitated us doing one more acknowledgment insert this weekend (a good problem to have!).  With the additional donations, we did exceed $150,000 for the campaign.  Again, Many Many Thanks!

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of June 14, 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 Corpus Christi

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 six years ago. This mass, Corpus Christi, is our three hundred and eighty eigth 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 June 7, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, commonly referred to as "Corpus Christi." In this solemnity, we celebrate the continuing gift God gives to us in the Eucharist, the gift of His very own Presence, His very own self.  It is the gift that feeds us and strengthens us to cooperate with His grace to live a Christian life.

Sunday after the 10 am Mass we will have a special devotion to the Eucharist in celebration of this feast. Following Mass we will have a Eucharistic procession in the church and then silent Eucharistic adoration for the afternoon. Benediction and re position will take place at 3:45 pm. I hope everyone is able to spend some quiet time in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament Sunday afternoon. The Eucharist is the "source and summit" of our sacramental faith, and our devotion to Jesus cannot be complete without devotion to His Grace and presence in the Blessed Sacrament.

It is also significant to note that in years past behavior in our churches generally reflected the reverence we should have when in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. It seems we were more properly attired, were quiet and were attentive to the fact that we were in the presence of God when entering a Catholic Church. This reverence was also an act of good manners in that those praying were not disturbed or distracted in their prayers by others. Reverent behavior is a reminder to us of the awe we should have in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament and God's great love for us, His creatures, in calling each of us to live a life in Christ. This weekend, as we celebrate Corpus Christi, let us also reflect on our behavior in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament not only this weekend, but at all times we are in a church or chapel, and if we need, to adjust our behavior to properly honor and reverence the presence of God in the Eucharist.

BISHOP JARRELL RESIGNS

As many of you know, all bishops, upon their 75th birthday, must submit a letter of resignation.  Bishop Jarrell, a native son of St. Landry Church and bishop of our diocese, turned 75 last month and has submitted his letter of resignation.  For now, nothing will change until the letter of resignation is accepted, and we do not know exactly when that will be.  It is a good time for us to reflect on the gift that the apostolic tradition and episcopacy is to us in general, but also specifically the gift that Bishop Jarrell has been to us and our diocese.  He has guided our diocese with a steady hand for some 13 years, exhibiting both prudence and wisdom.  His love for the people entrusted to him has been evident in his tireless devotion year in and year out.  Every now and then I get a glimpse of his life and schedule when trying to schedule something with him, and wonder how he does so much with both vigor and good cheer.  Despite the demands on him, he has always been generous with his time and service.  He will be greatly missed by our diocese and by me personally.  One particular gift  to me was my assignment here at St. Landry, for which I will always be grateful to him.

For now, Bishop Jarrell still has work to do until his resignation is accepted.  However, during this time we should thank God for the gift that he has been to us and pray for his smooth transition when the time comes.  We should also keep in prayer during this time our new bishop as yet unknown.

      Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of June 07, 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.