Friday, August 19, 2016

Bulletin for the Week of August 21, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

After the storms and flooding last week (the time of this writing is last weekend, and the rain is still coming down, so I don't know the extent of flooding) we should keep in our prayers all those affected by the weather, and when the opportunity permits, to lend a helping hand to those who are in need.  Let us always remember that our Christian Faith is marked and should be known by how we are willing to joyfully give of ourselves to help others, especially those in need.

Upcoming Events - Please mark your calendars!

Many good things will be taking place in our community in the coming months.  As I mentioned last week, Saturday October 1st will be The Festival de la Grande Eglise, and The Nuit de la Comedie will take place the Wednesday before, September 28th.  The Cemetery Tours will then take place the two weekends following, October 8-9 and 15-16.

In addition, our annual Memorial Mass for Lt. Fr. Joseph Verbis Lafleur will take place on Wednesday, September 7 at 6:30pm.  I am both humbled and honored to be the main celebrant and homilist.  Fr. Lafleur has been an inspiration for me since my arrival here at St. Landry, and being able to celebrate his life in this way will make this year's Memorial Mass a very special time for me.  The Memorial Mass gives us the opportunity as an entire community to learn about the extraordinary life of Fr. Lafleur. Please make plans to attend this special event celebrating the life of a man we believe is a saint and for whom St. Landry Church is "home."  We especially hope that parents will bring their children so that they can learn of the rich spiritual heritage they have and the gift of faith that by God's Grace has been handed down to them.

Valentin Construction

We hope to begin the parking lot construction more in earnest this week.  The rain has put a hamper on the preparatory ground work that needs to be done, but we still hope our new parking lot will be ready by the weekend of October 1st.  The second floor construction is moving along nicely, as we are in the phase of flooring, painting and other finishing touches, so we look forward to the construction moving down to the north side of the first floor in the near future.

Children in Church - "God's Voice is in a Child's Tears" 

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 the presence of so many children at our parish picnic and the joy that it brought to our hearts.  Our programs, such as Catechism and Vacation Bible School, are growing each year.  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.”)  As you know, as far as I'm concerned, children and their cries are always welcome in our church.

However, many parents of young children have asked what they should 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. A good article on this was published in the Catholic Herald (UK) which is still available online. The article addresses what the priest, parents and others in the congregation should do in the case of a crying child.  The suggestions are basically courtesy and common sense, and the article is worth reading.  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/

Let us thank God for the blessing of our children!  God Bless!!



Father James Brady



The bulletin for the week of August 21, 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.

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