Saturday, August 6, 2016

Bulletin for the Week of August 7, 2016 - and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

Again, it is good to be back home!  I want to thank all those who helped while I was away on vacation:  Msgr. Melancon and Fr. Leger, our deacons, and of course our staff.  All seemed to run smoothly and I very much appreciate their help in holding down the fort while I was away.  As we begin to prepare for the coming school year, there are many exciting things going on in our parish, and I just want to mention a few.  As you know, each year we try to expand our services to you and to upgrade our facilities.  One of the goals of our church parish is to provide adequate facilities and programs that help us to grow in our knowledge and love of our Savior Jesus.

The Valentin Hall construction continues to be going smoothly and our hope is that Phase 2, which renovates the second floor for use as office space, will be completed in the near future.  As you might recall, Phase 1 was the replacement of the windows of the building, which is complete.  After Phase 2 is completed, we will begin work in two areas:  The parking lot (Phase 5) and the north wing of the first floor (Phase 3).  The parking lot will be expanded and asphalted, and a sidewalk will be installed from the back of the church building to Valentin Hall.  The new parking spaces can be used not only for parking at Valentin Hall, but also for Sunday Masses and other events at the church.  

In Phase 3, the north wing of the first floor will be modified to provide three conference/meeting rooms and a library for use by the various bible study and other groups that regularly have meetings.  This additional meeting space has been sorely needed for some time, as with the growth of our parish Valentin Hall has become used much more, oftentimes with multiple meetings on the same nights.  We will finish the Valentin Hall Construction with Phase 4, which is the renovation of the south wing of the first floor, namely the kitchen area and new handicapped entrance.   

Insofar as programs are concerned, we are exploring the expansion of our Come, Lord Jesus! program to Thursday night in addition to the current Tuesday and Wednesday meetings.  The program is designed to be in a small group setting, and attendance has been wonderful in all the groups.  With three nights of bible study in the Come, Lord Jesus! format, as well as a more traditional Bible Study group on Mondays, there is plenty of opportunity for all of us to learn more about Jesus in His Sacred Word.  Please check the bulletin for announcements, or if you are interested in attending or helping to organize the program, please give me a call.

We also have had an increase in the number of parents with young children attending Mass.  We hope to have a couples program, probably monthly, addressing specific challenges to raising children in this day and age as well as a social element so that our young families can get to know each other in a social setting.  We are very excited about this and hope that the Valentin Hall construction can provide a nice facility for this use once it is completed.  Again, if you are interested in attending or helping to organize please give Deacon Joubert a call.  

Finally, school started last week for some of our students, and for some it will start this week. We welcome back all the students, faculty and staff at Opelousas Catholic, especially our principal, Mr. John Cavell, who begins his second year at the helm of the school.  We also pray for all our students, teachers and staff not only at Opelousas Catholic, but also those at other schools or who are schooled at home. The beginning of the school year brings excitement to all as we think of our young people continuing the journey of their education, not only an education in academics, but also their growth in faith and human maturity.

As we begin this school year, let us pray that our children and teachers have a safe and successful year, developing the talents given to them by God for use in service to Him and our neighbors. May they, and we, continue to grow in faith, hope and charity over the coming nine months! 

May God Bless and Keep You!

Father James Brady



The bulletin for the week of August 07, 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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