Bulletin for the Week of April 17, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

This weekend we celebrate what is commonly referred to as "Good Shepherd Sunday." It is called "Good Shepherd Sunday" because of the Gospel readings of the day (there are three readings that are rotated yearly) which are taken from the 10th chapter of St. John's Gospel.  In the 10th chapter of John's Gospel, Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd who will lay down His life for His sheep.  He also tells us that He knows His sheep and they follow Him, that He will give them eternal life, and that no one can take them out of His hand.  Jesus' willingness to lay down His life for us (specifically for our salvation) derives from the fact that if we choose to be, we are the sheep of His flock, and He has real love for us as a shepherd has for his flock. If we remain in His flock, we will remain safe from harm (spiritual harm) and will receive the gift of eternal life.  During this Easter Season we continue to marvel at how good God is to us in giving us His Only Begotten Son, the Risen Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and our Good Shepherd. Thanking God for such a Good Shepherd, we continue to celebrate our Easter Joy!

Speaking of Shepherd's, our diocese has a new one!
As I mentioned in February, Pope Francis named the Most Reverend J. Douglas Deshotel the seventh Bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette. Bishop Deshotel has been serving as Auxiliary of the Diocese of Dallas since 2010, and he was installed as our bishop on Friday.  
Certainly, we are sincerely grateful for the devoted service of Bishop Michael Jarrell who has served as our Ordinary for the last fourteen years, but at the same time we are very excited to welcome our new shepherd.  We remember in Matthew's Gospel at the end of chapter 9 when Jesus felt pity for the people, as they were "like sheep without a shepherd."

So Jesus immediately gathered the disciples, gave them authority, and named the twelve apostles, which is recorded at the beginning of chapter 10 of Matthew's Gospel.  Simply put, Jesus gave the people shepherds.  Today, our bishops are the successors of the apostles, and we celebrate the continuing gift God has given to us in providing shepherds for his flock. 

As way of background, Bishop Deshotel was born on January 6, 1952 in Basile, Louisiana, as the third of eight children to Welfoot Paul Deshotel and Luna Marie Manual. After attending Immaculata Minor Seminary High School in Lafayette, he went on to attend Holy Trinity Seminary in Texas, where he earned a B.A. in Philosophy, and a Masters of Divinity from the University of Dallas. On May 13, 1978, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Dallas by Bishop Maurice Schexnayder in his hometown church of St. Augustine’s in Basile. On April 27, 2010, he was ordained as Auxiliary Bishop of Dallas by Bishop Kevin J. Farrell in the Cathedral Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Guadalupe.

Bishop Deshotel's assignments have included associate pastor and pastor of various church parishes throughout the Diocese of Dallas, as well as Vice Rector of Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas. Additionally, he has served on the Diocesan Presbyteral Council; Diocesan Priests’ Personnel Board; Diocesan Finance Council; Bishop’s Senior Staff; Diocesan Review Board; Diocesan College of Consultors; and Region X Chairman, USCCB.

Again, we welcome and celebrate Bishop Deshotel as our new Bishop!!

Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of April 17, 2016 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.

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