Bulletin for the Week of April 24, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

In the coming weeks, we will begin a more visible and active phase of our construction in Valentin Hall.  Our original plans had to be modified to meet our needs and budget capabilities, and we have been able to work out the major details.  After the remaining minor details are ironed out, we hope to sign the construction contract and begin work in earnest.  Needless to say, the new windows that have been installed have been a great improvement, and when all the windows are installed and the frames restored and painted, the building will certainly look much better from the exterior and be much more energy efficient.  When our parking lot, handicapped entrance and other exterior improvements are made, the building and corner will be not only more functional, it will be much more attractive.  

The interior renovations have been long needed, and will restore the building and improve functionality for parish use.  The interior portion of the work will improve the building infrastructure, including an electrical upgrade and wiring, lighting, air conditioning, bathrooms (including handicapped accessibility), more meeting rooms, more office space and a newly renovated kitchen/small reception area.  The hall will serve us better as our parish center not only for offices and meeting space, but also for the education of our children in CCD and sacramental preparation programs, and will provide adequate space for bible study and prayer groups.  It is indeed a very exciting time for us, and our hope is that the newly renovated building will serve our parishioners needs for years to come.

In that regard, financing for the building has been made possible by your generous donations to the regular offertory.  When we began planning the project and announced the plans last fall, our plan was to not have a capital campaign to finance the project, but rather to save the money needed by achieving our goal for the regular offertory.  Your response has been to do that and then some, and I want to express my thanks to you for your generosity and kindness.  Truly, this project is a community project, and all of us have been a part in its success to this point.  Let us pray that the project continues to go smoothly.  Again, many thanks to all of you for your generosity, and let's hope we are able to keep up!

As we move forward in the Easter Season, I want to remind you once again of a couple of dates.  Our Easter picnic will be on May 1 after the 10am Mass.  I hope you are able to come with your family.  It is such a joy for our parish to come together, to see our children playing games and enjoying the fun jumps, and for us to simply spend time together as community rooted in the joy of Christ's love for us.  Please make plans to come that day and enjoy the food, drink and fellowship.

Another exciting announcement is that Bishop Deshotel is going to be the celebrant for our Confirmations, which will take place on May 15 at the 5pm Mass.  I know that our Confirmation candidates are excited about his visiting our parish for the first time as Bishop on their Confirmation day.  I hope you are able to join us in welcoming Bishop Deshotel on that day, and please keep our candidates and their families in your prayers as they approach this special day.

Finally, we have reached the halfway point of the Easter Season.  Hopefully, we continue to reflect and have great joy in God's Love for us in giving us the gift of eternal life with Him.  We should continue to thank God for that gift, which is our Hope.  One of the themes of Easter is that we become more motivated by Love of God, and less by fear of Him.  In other words, because of the great Love He has shone for us, we should not live our life of faith because we are afraid of Him, but rather as a response in Love to the Love He has already shown us.  Of course, throughout our lives we can be motivated by fear, duty, and obligation.  All of these work in the sense of bettering our lives.  However, the highest and most perfect motivation is Love, and our Hope is that we can be motivated by Love more and more in our daily living.  Let us make that our goal for the remainder of the Easter Season!  

Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of April 24, 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.

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.