Thursday, August 25, 2016

Bulletin for the Week of August 28, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

I want to begin by thanking all of you for your prayers and support over the last two weeks.  With my parents’ house flooding, so many pitched in to help me in so many ways.  From the priests who covered Confessions and Masses as well as those who covered my other duties here, to those who provided tools and the sweat of their brow to help gut the house, to strangers who brought meals to the houses in the neighborhood, all kindnesses shown to myself and my family are sincerely appreciated!

To update, Mom and Dad are doing well in their new surroundings.  It was quite miraculous that we were able to find a place for them together (they are both disabled) under the circumstances.  Hopefully they will continue to adjust to their new environment and establish a new routine and a good rhythm of life.  Thanks again!

Now that the storm waters have receded from our area, we begin the process of recovery.  For some it will be relatively fast, for others painstakingly slow.  We should all do our best to support those in need.  As I mentioned in the homily last week, the best place for help is right here among us as neighbors.  We should not focus on what we can't do but rather should focus on what we can do, and then do so on an individual basis.  All the small pieces add up to a big piece and the individual interaction strengthens our solidarity as human beings, making cheerful and fulfilled givers and truly grateful receivers.  As desirable as they are, coordinated relief efforts (whether governmental or private) are not capable of the great power of neighbors loving their neighbors.  In the end, only Jesus can save, and no person or group is capable of the relief needed for this widespread a disaster.  Individually, though, if we focus on what we can do and then by God's Grace take action, then the love of our neighbors shown will alleviate much suffering and provided great relief and consolation. 

Report of St. Landry Church storm damage
We did have some damage here at St. Landry due to the storm, mostly leaks.  Considering the magnitude of the storm, our problems were relatively minor.  We had a leak in the rectory in Monsignor Melancon's room, a leak in the Valentin Hall Chapel and a leak in the south sacristy of the church building.  One of our compressors also went out during the storm, and we are checking to see if it is storm related.  All in all, our campus did well considering the age of the buildings and the volume of the rain.  The premises will be inspected by the insurance company and we will begin the necessary repairs in the near future.

Diocesan Relief Efforts - Thanks to Bishop Deshotel for the tax holiday
As mentioned above, in addition to our individual help of our neighbors, coordinated relief efforts are necessary and desirable in the case of a widespread disaster such as this.  In light of that, our diocese is coordinating a relief effort, and more information on giving financially to this effort can be found on it's website:  www.diolaf.org.  The diocese has committed to giving $1,000,000 to the relief effort from The Centennial Campaign (which we will be starting in the coming weeks).  In addition, in order to help local parishes feeling the financial strain of the flooding, Bishop Deshotel has graciously decided to give a diocesan tax break for the month of August, meaning that we will not have to pay our usual diocesan assessment for any donations to local parishes received this month.  We thank Bishop Deshotel for this help both to the diocesan wide coordinated relief efforts and to our individual parishes

Father James Brady



The bulletin for the week of August 28, 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.

0 comments: