Homily for Christmas

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over seven years ago. This mass, Christmas, is our four hundred seventy fourth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the Week of December 25, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

Merry Christmas!! Today we begin our celebration of Christmas, and over the next 8 days celebrate the Octave of Christmas, which is a special eight day celebration of the Nativity of our Lord.  The octave ends on the Feast Day of Mary, the Mother of God (January 1st). Of course, we celebrate Christmas day in  a special way since we commemorate the day of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.  We will continue to celebrate the Christmas Season until the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, which this year is January 9, 2017.

Remember that much of the secular world will be finished with Christmas by tomorrow morning.  However, we continue to celebrate the Mystery of the Incarnation for more than two weeks. Our Blessed Mother reflected on the marvel of the Incarnation in her heart (Luke 2:19). So should we.

At this time of year, it is always good to give God thanks for the gifts he has given to us, the first and foremost being His Son, from whom all graces flow and who is the source of our salvation. We should also take into account the particular gifts we have received in the past year and thank God for them. Each and every one of us has at least been blessed with the gift of living another year here on earth, with the opportunity to grow in our knowledge and love of God.

In my case, there is the specific gift that St. Landry Church and its people have been to me. I want to thank all of you for your support of me in my vocation and as your pastor. The last six and a half years have been a joyful time for me, and I am lucky to be here. You have been supportive in every initiative we have undertaken, and have been patient with me when I make mistakes. I know that you have helped me to become a better priest and pastor. The longer I am here, my appreciation for God's gift of being a pastor here only deepens. I want to especially thank our staff, who have been absolutely wonderful in their help to me and our parish.

I also want to thank you for your generosity, especially over the last few weeks, not only in the Centennial Campaign, but in the cards, food, and the Christmas gifts you have dropped by the rectory.  Your outpouring has been both generous and humbling. I will try to thank you individually when we see each other. In the meantime, please know of my thanks and appreciation for the Christmas gifts and for all you have done for me and our parish!

Thanks again, and may God Bless you in this Christmas Season!!!

Fr. Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 25, 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.

Homily for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over seven years ago. This mass, Fourth Sunday in Advent, is our four hundred seventy third podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the week of December 18, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

As the time for celebrating the birth of our Savior approaches, we should intensify our preparation and anticipation of celebrating the Incarnation of our Lord. This Fourth Sunday of Advent reminds us we have a mission here on earth, and that mission may not be what we expect. In our Gospel reading today, we hear how Joseph was going to quietly divorce our Blessed Mother after finding her with child, but changed course after God spoke to him in a dream, so he took her into his home and fulfilled his mission as husband and foster father of Jesus.

One goal of our life on earth is to fulfill the mission God has given to us, whether it is wife, husband, single person, mother, father, priest or religious. God created us for this mission, but he made us free, so we are able to accept or reject the role He has given us.  If we allow God to speak to us through prayer and the life of Jesus, then we can discern what is truly good for us in our lives and live a life at His direction. Whatever mission God has for us, He will provide the Grace to accomplish it. Once we determine what God is asking, then we decide whether or not to accept His invitation. During this last week of Advent, as we prepare for and anticipate the coming of Jesus to the world, in our prayer let us put ourselves in a position to hear God’s voice and accept the Graces Jesus gives us to fulfill our mission.

Sabbatical
As most of you know, June of this year marked the 10th Anniversary of my priestly ordination. What a great gift the priesthood has been to me, especially because it has led to my pastorate here at St. Landry Church. A priest is able to take a sabbatical after every 10 years of service, and it is recommended that a priest take at least one sabbatical during the time of his priestly service.  In that light, I will be taking a sabbatical beginning shortly after the first of the year and concluding the first week of May.  During that time, I will be participating in the sabbatical program at the Institute for Continuing Theological Education located at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Italy.

A sabbatical program is intended to help a priest reflect on his vocation, be further educated in scripture and theology, enrich his understanding of the world and our faith by travel and a retreat, help him to see his faults and weaknesses in his priestly service, and take concrete steps to improve on them.  It is also intended to provide renewed energy and zeal in his priestly service.  Since my service is to you, as I will discuss in the homily this weekend, I would like feedback about your needs, or what you think would be good for our parish community.  My email address is jbrady@diolaf.org, and I ask if you would like to provide input, that you send it to me at that address prior to my departure on January 5.  It is a very exciting time for our parish, and I look forward to continuing my service to our community upon my return.

One of the obstacles to taking a sabbatical is the availability of replacements for the priest while he is gone. We are so blessed to have both Monsignor Melancon and Fr. Jerry Mesley to cover the priestly needs of our parish during the sabbatical, and to have Deacons Diesi and Joubert to assist in the pastoral needs of our community during that time. A sabbatical would also not be possible without an outstanding staff, and I am thankful that we have such a staff!

Fr. Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 18, 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.

Homily for the Third Sunday in Advent

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over seven years ago. This mass, Third Sunday in Advent, is our four hundred seventy second podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the Week of December 11, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

Today, we celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent, also known as Gaudete Sunday. "Gaudete" is the Latin word for "rejoice." This weekend, we "lighten up" a little bit from the work of our Advent preparation to anticipate and rejoice the coming of the gift of The Incarnation at Christmas. This continuing gift of Christ is already present now in the lives we lead in imitation of Christ. The gift comes again this year in our continued change to more closely configure our lives to Jesus' life, that is, in our continuing conversion. To mark this celebration in our liturgy, the ministers will wear lighter colored vestments rather than the usual Advent violet, so rose colored vestments will be used this weekend.  Considering this is a time when we should rejoice because of the events that give rise to our salvation, it is good to remember that our goal is to live our Christian vocation with joy. At times, we might feel like our faith is a burden, but in reality it truly frees us from slavery to sin and frees us to grow closer to God.  So while remembering and preparing for the joy and peace of our life in Christ, let us be sure to continue to be vigilant and to make spiritual preparations for His coming at Christmas!!  We should always rejoice and give thanks to God for the gift of faith that he has given to each of us in our journey of life!

Speaking of "Rejoicing," Many Thanks for Your Generosity in The Centennial Campaign!
As you all know, last weekend was "commitment weekend" for the Centennial Campaign.  Your generosity exceeded all expectations!!  Shame on me for underestimating our ability and willingness.  It is amazing when we all choose to do what we can and not worry about what we cannot!  Last weekend, we received $168,000 in pledges and donations to the campaign, bringing the total for the campaign to $528,000!!  I can't thank you all enough for your support of the many good things the campaign contributions will bring to both our diocese and our church community here at St. Landry.  Next weekend, in preparation for my sabbatical we will talk about our community and where we hope to go from here when I return in May.  I do believe there are many wonderful things that our parish can do to serve all of you better and for us as a church to serve all our brothers and sisters around us.  As you know, no matter what happens we can always grow closer to Jesus in our minds, hearts, bodies and souls in every experience in life, good or bad.  For now, let's enjoy this good experience!!

For your information, the Centennial Campaign volunteers will continue to follow up with those who requested more information and those who have not yet been able to make a decision.  The formal active phase of the campaign will end on December 31, 2016.  Thanks again!!

Fr. Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 11, 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.

Homily for the Second Sunday in Advent

Homilies are now available to download and listen to!

As part of our answering the challenge of the Holy Father to go out and evangelize utilizing new technologies, we're now offering the homily each week for download. Clicking the link to the homily should download it and automatically start it playing in whatever music player your computer is set up with.

On the technical side, the file sizes are about 5 megs which means it may a minute or two to download on slower Internet connections. It is also an MP3 formatted file which means that these are essentially podcasts. Don't worry if all the technical words don't mean much to you. It means we're using the latest in technology in order to make sure our church parish can reach the most people.

The current week's homily is available on a link on the front page of the website next to the link for the current week's bulletin. On the page with the prior bulletins, the corresponding homily will be sitting side by side with its bulletin. We started on the anniversary of the start of the Catholic Church, Pentecost Sunday --- over seven years ago. This mass, Second Sunday in Advent, is our four hundred seventy first podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father James Brady

So, take a listen and let us know what you think. Click here to download the homily from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Bulletin for the Week of December 4, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

PASTOR’S CORNER:

Today we celebrate the Second Sunday in Advent as we continue to prepare and anticipate the coming of our Lord at Christmas, which is the "The Mystery of the Incarnation." We also look to the future, remembering the Second Coming of Jesus, and renew our efforts to be vigilant, as we do not know "the hour or the day."

In our Gospel reading today, John the Baptist heralds the coming of the Lord, exhorting us to prepare the way for Him by repentance and the forgiveness of sins. If we allow God to forgive our sins and to heal the wounds our sins have caused us, then there is "more room" to receive fully the Spirit of Jesus. We remember God's twofold Mercy, that is, the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of His Grace to overcome future sins.  Obviously, Sacramental Confession is highly recommended during Advent, and we will continue to have not only our regularly scheduled times for Confession, but also an additional time each Wednesday evening from 6:30pm until 8pm. I hope you are able to do a thorough examination of conscience and to receive the fullness of God's Mercy in the Sacramental Graces given in Confession during Advent.

Thursday, December 8 - Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception - Holy Day of Obligation
This Thursday, December 8, is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  It celebrates the Immaculate Conception of our Blessed Mother, preparing her to carry Jesus’ human nature in her womb.  It is a holy day of obligation, which means that we are obliged to attend Mass that day just as if it was a Sunday.  Masses for The Immaculate Conception will be Wednesday evening with the vigil Mass at 5:30pm, and then Tuesday at 8:40am (Opelousas Catholic School Mass) and 12:05pm. Please note that because of the Opelousas City Christmas Parade, there will no 5:30pm Mass on Thursday evening.  If you need to attend Mass on Thursday evening, Our Lady of Mercy will have an evening Mass at 5:15pm.

Centennial Campaign Commitment Weekend!
As mentioned over the last few weeks, this is Commitment Weekend for our Centennial Campaign. The campaign has gone very well, and I cannot express in words how much I appreciate the generosity and kindness of those who have pledged and donated to the campaign.  At Masses this weekend, we will have our "in pew" commitments for those who have not yet had an opportunity to give to the campaign.  My belief and practice is that every person who walks through the doors of our church is cherished and loved in the same way, regardless of how our society outside our church community may see or label.  God has the same love for all, and we should imitate and practice that same love.  Any gift that is given is important both for our church community and for the person. Our strength as a community is in the number of people who are willing to participate and doing what they can without worrying what they cannot.  My hope is that we are able to remember these things as we each make our gift to the campaign.  Thanks again!

Reminder - Giving to those in Need during the holiday season
Finally, a reminder that boxes are out for collection of food, clothes and toys for those in need. Your generosity, whether by way of material goods or a monetary donation, is very much appreciated!

Fr. Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 04, 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.