Posts
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!
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.
0 comments:
Post a Comment