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The Pastor’s Corner
This weekend, we celebrate the Holy Family: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Our focus is on the Human Nature of Jesus. Not only did he become flesh and is like us in all things except sin, but he grew up in a family and was raised by Mary and Joseph. This celebration reminds us that Jesus is fully human like us, subject to all the struggles and trials of life just as we are. It reminds us that we can imitate Him in all things by the Grace of God.
This week, we might say: "Happy Mary, Mother of God!!" That may sound a bit strange, as opposed to "Happy New Year!!" However, that is the feast day that we celebrate on January 1st each year. The celebration is not as much about our Blessed Mother as it is about the fact that Jesus is indeed God in His Divine Nature. Therefore, our Blessed Mother is the Mother of God. The celebration of this feast is intended to strengthen our faith about the two natures of Jesus, both divine and human, to celebrate the fact that God Himself has visited us on earth, and to properly understand the special role our Blessed Mother was given in God's plan of salvation. Because of its importance, it is a holy day of obligation and we are obliged to attend Mass that day. Our special schedule for that day is a 4 pm vigil Mass on Thursday, December 31st and 9 am and 5 pm Masses on Friday, January 1st.
As we continue to celebrate Christmastide, we will celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord next Sunday. Traditionally, this feast was celebrated on January 6, ending the "twelve days" days of Christmas. However, we now celebrate it liturgically on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. "Epiphany" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to reveal."
Therefore, the Epiphany celebrates God's revealing or manifesting Jesus' identity as true God, Messiah, and Savior of the world. It not only commemorates the fact that Jesus appeared to save us, but that God revealed the identity of Jesus to the world. The Gospel reading for the day is from the second chapter of Matthew, where the magi from the east seek the newborn king of the Jews, and of course, find Him and pay Him homage.
As we continue to celebrate the joy of Christmas for the remaining time in the Christmas season, we are reminded in the Epiphany that God not only sent his Incarnate Son as our Lord and Savior, but that He did so in a way that we could recognize and understand, and then follow Him in the way of truth and peace. Like the magi, our mission is to seek Him, come to know Him, and pay homage to Him not only with our words, but also by living our lives in the way Jesus taught us. In two weeks we will celebrate the Baptism of The Lord, when we are reminded of our own baptism and the Grace God has given to us to lead a life in imitation of Jesus and renew our resolve to cooperate with the Grace we have received.
Many Thanks for the beautiful Christmas Liturgies
After next weekend, we will we will return to "Ordinary Time" liturgically, changing from white to green for our liturgical color. With the beginning of Ordinary Time, we thank all those who made our celebration of Christmas so beautiful. The music was wonderful throughout, and we thank our musicians and singers: The Adult Choir and their director J.P. Porrier; our youth choir and their director, Rafael Henry; and Marla Faust/Megan Wilkes. Our Altar Society did a wonderful job in decorating the church, and they were coordinated by Deacon Joubert and Yvonne Normand. We thank our various ministers at the liturgies, our readers, extraordinary ministers, servers and sacristans who volunteered their time and made adjustments to their personal schedules to serve us. We thank those who donated to the flower fund, making it possible to beautifully decorate our sanctuary and church. And of course, our wonderful office staff and maintenance crew did a great job over the course of the holidays. Again, thanks to all!!
This week, we might say: "Happy Mary, Mother of God!!" That may sound a bit strange, as opposed to "Happy New Year!!" However, that is the feast day that we celebrate on January 1st each year. The celebration is not as much about our Blessed Mother as it is about the fact that Jesus is indeed God in His Divine Nature. Therefore, our Blessed Mother is the Mother of God. The celebration of this feast is intended to strengthen our faith about the two natures of Jesus, both divine and human, to celebrate the fact that God Himself has visited us on earth, and to properly understand the special role our Blessed Mother was given in God's plan of salvation. Because of its importance, it is a holy day of obligation and we are obliged to attend Mass that day. Our special schedule for that day is a 4 pm vigil Mass on Thursday, December 31st and 9 am and 5 pm Masses on Friday, January 1st.
As we continue to celebrate Christmastide, we will celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord next Sunday. Traditionally, this feast was celebrated on January 6, ending the "twelve days" days of Christmas. However, we now celebrate it liturgically on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. "Epiphany" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to reveal."
Therefore, the Epiphany celebrates God's revealing or manifesting Jesus' identity as true God, Messiah, and Savior of the world. It not only commemorates the fact that Jesus appeared to save us, but that God revealed the identity of Jesus to the world. The Gospel reading for the day is from the second chapter of Matthew, where the magi from the east seek the newborn king of the Jews, and of course, find Him and pay Him homage.
As we continue to celebrate the joy of Christmas for the remaining time in the Christmas season, we are reminded in the Epiphany that God not only sent his Incarnate Son as our Lord and Savior, but that He did so in a way that we could recognize and understand, and then follow Him in the way of truth and peace. Like the magi, our mission is to seek Him, come to know Him, and pay homage to Him not only with our words, but also by living our lives in the way Jesus taught us. In two weeks we will celebrate the Baptism of The Lord, when we are reminded of our own baptism and the Grace God has given to us to lead a life in imitation of Jesus and renew our resolve to cooperate with the Grace we have received.
Many Thanks for the beautiful Christmas Liturgies
After next weekend, we will we will return to "Ordinary Time" liturgically, changing from white to green for our liturgical color. With the beginning of Ordinary Time, we thank all those who made our celebration of Christmas so beautiful. The music was wonderful throughout, and we thank our musicians and singers: The Adult Choir and their director J.P. Porrier; our youth choir and their director, Rafael Henry; and Marla Faust/Megan Wilkes. Our Altar Society did a wonderful job in decorating the church, and they were coordinated by Deacon Joubert and Yvonne Normand. We thank our various ministers at the liturgies, our readers, extraordinary ministers, servers and sacristans who volunteered their time and made adjustments to their personal schedules to serve us. We thank those who donated to the flower fund, making it possible to beautifully decorate our sanctuary and church. And of course, our wonderful office staff and maintenance crew did a great job over the course of the holidays. Again, thanks to all!!
Father James Brady
The bulletin for the week of December 27, 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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