Bulletin for the Week of January 24, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

With the beginning of the new year, a spring time of sorts comes early to our parish - the beginning of sacramental preparation of our children for their First Confession and First Communion, and of our young adults for their reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation. We have approximately 20 of our children preparing for their First Confession and First Communion, and about 30 or so of our young adults preparing for Confirmation. This time of year is a good time for us a parish community to reflect on the goodness of God in giving us the gifts of the sacraments, which are channels of grace that help us to live the Christian vocation and mission given to each of us. Please remember in your prayers all those preparing to receive sacraments this year, their families and our church community, as these times are definitely times of great joy and thanksgiving for all of us!

There are several other upcoming activities about which you should know. We will administer the Anointing of the Sick at the 4pm Mass Saturday, February 6 in connection with the World Day of the Sick (which is The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on February 11). Please see the announcement below for details about it. Anointing of the Sick, of course, is also available at any time for those in need. Just call the office to set up a time for a visit.

Lent is also just around the corner (Ash Wednesday is February 10), so we should be making preparations for our prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Weekly activities that we currently have at St. Landry that can help us with our prayer life during Lent, or any other time of year, are:

       Mondays at 10am and 6pm Bible Study

      Tuesdays at 6pm: Come, Lord Jesus! (Prayer and Scripture Study focused on Sunday's Gospel Reading);

    Wednesdays at 5:45am: That Man Is You! (Presentation and Discussion on Men's Spirituality);

    Wednesdays at 5:15pm: Come, Lord Jesus! (Prayer and Scripture Study focused on Sunday's First Reading).

Finally, for those baptized adults who have not received the sacrament of Confirmation, we will have an Adult Confirmation Class led by Deacon Diesi on Monday evenings, with Confirmation taking place at the Easter Vigil on March 26, 2016. Please call Deacon Diesi at the office for more details. Let's hope that in these activities we can come to greater knowledge and love of Our Savior during the Lenten Season.

World Day of the Sick 

February 11, the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, is designated as World Day of the Sick. The focus of this remembrance is prayer for healing and the redemptive value of suffering. In conjunction with this day, we will offer Anointing of the Sick at the 4pm Mass on February 6 for those who suffer from a serious illness or are infirmed due to age. If you or someone you know would like to receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, please make plans to come to this Mass. If one is unable to walk up to Communion at regular Masses, then they should sit in the pews marked and reserved at the front of the church. This is a wonderful way for us as a community to support and pray for those who suffer from illness or the burden of years, and for them to receive the Grace of strength to bear their burden in the light of the salvation of the world and the hope for eternal life. 

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of January 24, 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 Ordinary Time

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 six years ago. This mass, the Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our four hundred twenty 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 January 17, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

On Friday of this week we will mark the 43rd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which required states to legalize abortion. Since that date, some 50 plus million children were never given the opportunity to live the life God intended to give them, something we may take for granted. Science is slowly but surely catching up to what we have always known in faith, that life begins at the time of conception and should be nurtured and protected from that time, just like any human being who has been born. In this day and age, the value of human life and its dignity is not fully recognized by the world in general, nor in our society in particular. It would be naive and foolish to believe that many of our recent tragic events which we all mourn as a nation, whether it be terrorism or school shootings, are not related to this lack of respect for human life in general. Let's do our best in word and action to help change the minds and hearts of all to respect and cherish all human life as the gift from God that it is, and to respect and dignify all people not only in the big things, but in the little things.

The Catholic Church has been in the forefront of the movement to overturn the Roe v. Wade decision. More importantly, though, our Church has been in the forefront of trying to change the minds and hearts of individuals and our society about abortion. We do this in several ways, not the least of which is to publicly protest the injustice of abortion. In that regard, this week I will join a group of students and parents from Opelousas Catholic to travel to Washington, D.C. to participate in the Pro-Life Rally and March for Life. The March for Life is the longest sustained annual civil rights protest in our nation. Not all of us can travel to Washington, D.C. to march, but I do hope that as many of us as possible will participate in our local march here in Opelousas, which will be held on Saturday, January 30. It begins at 10am at Our Lady Queen of Angels Church with a short program.  The keynote speaker will be Krista Corbello, Youth Programs Co-director of the Louisiana Right to Life Federation.  The march will depart from Queen of Angels and proceed to The New Life Center, where the Catholic Daughters will provide refreshments.  The march should be finished around noon.

On a personal level, and in Christian charity, we all have a duty to help those who participate or have participated in abortion to see the immorality of the act, be they the mothers, the fathers, the doctors or the nurses, and to repent. We also have a duty to help those who have participated in abortion to heal, especially on a spiritual level, as no sin is greater than God's mercy. Rachael's Vineyard is a diocesan program designed for men and woman who have participated in abortion and tries to facilitate healing of the wound left by the abortion. If you know of anyone who might benefit from this program, please inform them of the program's availability so that they, who often are also victims of abortion because of the harm it has done to them, might begin the healing process. For information, they can call our office or contact the Diocese of Lafayette directly. Finally, if we know someone considering an abortion, we should try to persuade them to give life to their child. We should not be afraid to voice the right thing to do and try to persuade their hearts and minds. If I can ever be of assistance in such a situation, please contact me and I will be happy to help.

            Father James Brady

YEAR OF MERCY – PLENARY INDULGENCE


The Year of Mercy began on December 8, 2015, and will continue until November 20, 2016.  The Diocese of Lafayette has designated ten sites as places of pilgrimage for the year.  Books have been printed with the locations and days of the week and times when the locations are open to visitors.  Visiting the places of pilgrimage and following the guidelines listed on the Diocesan Website (diolaf.org), one can obtain plenary indulgences.  Stamps are available at each site for you to stamp the location on the booklet so that you have a keepsake at the end of the year.  The Acadiana Catholic will also have the list available in their next edition so one can use either the booklets printed or the magazine when visiting the sites.  This is a wonderful opportunity for us to visit churches and shrines in our diocese and lift each other up in prayer as we show mercy during this very special year.

The bulletin for the week of January 17, 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 Baptism of the Lord

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 six years ago. This mass, the Baptism of the Lord, is our four hundred twenty 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 January 10, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

We come to the end of the Christmas Season today in celebrating the Baptism of the Lord. The Baptism of Jesus reminds us of our own baptism. By our Baptism the Gates of Heaven are thrown open to us and we received the Grace to live a Christian Life. However, we must cooperate with our Baptismal Grace, that is, we must accept the Grace and act upon it. God never forces Himself into our lives. The heart of our life as Christians is that we freely give ourselves to God for His purpose.

Although Grace is a free gift given by God and as such is nothing that we merit or can earn, we can dispose ourselves to receive fully His Grace by undertaking prayer and the study of our faith and by practicing virtue. In this way, we are "formed" into the life of Christ. Christian Formation is a combination of study, prayer and worship (both formal and in the lives we lead) that directs and leads us towards Christ.

Our church parish provides opportunities for such activities. We have two Come, Lord Jesus! groups that meet on Tuesday's at 6pm and Wednesday's at 5:15pm. These groups combine prayer and scripture study that focuses on the Mass readings for the following Sunday. For men, we have "That Man is You" which is directed by Deacon Joubert that meets Wednesday mornings at 5:45am. We also have a formal bible study directed by Deacon Miller which meets at 10am and 6pm on Mondays.  Also, I highly recommend a yearly retreat for all as part of our continuing formation. It is a time of quiet and reflection, something critical to a good spiritual life.  A men's retreat from our parish is held each year at Our Lady of the Oaks in Grand Coteau, and there are woman's retreats as well.  In addition to these things, we also have charitable and fraternal organizations, such as The Catholic Daughters and the Knights of Columbus who provide plenty of opportunity to put our faith into action in activities such as the monthly breakfast at New Life Center.  We all should have activities that help us continue to learn about Jesus and express our beliefs in our actions.

With the beginning of Ordinary Time this week, we again thank all those who made our celebration of Christmas so beautiful here at St. Landry. The music was wonderful throughout, and we thank our musicians and singers: The Adult Choir and their director J.P. Porrier, the Youth Choir and their director, Rafael Henry; and Marla Faust, Megan Wilkes and Millie Boudreaux. Our Altar Society did a wonderful job in decorating the church, and they were coordinated by Deacon Joubert and Yvonne Normand. We thank our various ministers at the liturgies, our readers, extraordinary ministers, servers and sacristans who volunteered their time and made adjustments to their personal schedules to serve us. We thank those who donated to the flower fund, making it possible to beautifully decorate
our sanctuary and church.  Thanks to all!!

            Father James Brady

YEAR OF MERCY – PLENARY INDULGENCE


The Year of Mercy began on December 8, 2015, and will continue until November 20, 2016.  The Diocese of Lafayette has designated ten sites as places of pilgrimage for the year.  Books have been printed with the locations and days of the week and times when the locations are open to visitors.  Visiting the places of pilgrimage and following the guidelines listed on the Diocesan Website (diolaf.org), one can obtain plenary indulgences.  Stamps are available at each site for you to stamp the location on the booklet so that you have a keepsake at the end of the year.  The Acadiana Catholic will also have the list available in their next edition so one can use either the booklets printed or the magazine when visiting the sites.  This is a wonderful opportunity for us to visit churches and shrines in our diocese and lift each other up in prayer as we show mercy during this very special year.

The bulletin for the week of January 10, 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.

Radio Maria Interview about the cause for Father Lafleur

Radio Maria interviewed our pastor, Father James Brady, on the cause for Father Lafleur. The interview covered a number of other topics including the history of our church, the sacraments, and many other items. It starts 2 minutes and 50 seconds into this broadcast:

Click here to hear the Radio Maria interview from St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana.

Homily for the Epiphany

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 six years ago. This mass, the Epiphany, is our four hundred twentieth 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.

Homily for Mary Mother of God

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 six years ago. This mass, Mary Mother of God, is our four hundred nineteenth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father Jerry Mesley.

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 January 3, 2016 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

As we continue to celebrate Christmastide this weekend, we celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord today.  Traditionally, this feast was celebrated on January 6, ending the "twelve days" days of Christmas.  However, we now celebrate it liturgically on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8.  "Epiphany" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to reveal."  Therefore, the Epiphany celebrates God's revealing or manifesting Jesus' identity as true God, Messiah, and Savior of the world.  It not only commemorates the fact that Jesus appeared to save us, but that God revealed the identity of Jesus to the world.  The Gospel reading for the day is from the second chapter of Matthew, where the magi from the east seek the newborn king of the Jews, and of course, find Him and pay Him homage.

As we continue to celebrate the joy of Christmas for the remaining time in the Christmas season, we are reminded in the Epiphany that God not only sent His Incarnate Son as our Lord and Savior, but that He did so in a way that we could recognize and understand, and therefore follow Him in the way of truth and peace.  Like the magi, our mission is to seek Him, to come to know Him, and to pay homage to Him not only with our words, but also by living our lives in the way Jesus taught us.

Giving Thanks and My Particular Thanks for You and Your Generosity at Christmas!

Last week we celebrated the secular New Year, and at this time of year it is appropriate to reflect and give God thanks for the gifts he has given to us, the first and foremost being His Son, the source of all grace and 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 five 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 to me of being your pastor 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 and during Christmas.  The number of cards, the amount of food, and the Christmas gifts you have dropped by is 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, not only during the past few weeks, but ever since I arrived.

Thanks again, and may God Bless you in this Christmas Season, that you may receive the Grace God the Father gives to you in the Incarnation of His Son, that you may cooperate with that Grace through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that you may come to know Him ever more deeply in the upcoming year.

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of January 03, 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 Feast of the Holy Family

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 six years ago. This mass, Feast of the Holy Family, is our four hundred eighteenth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father Jerry Mesley.

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 27, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

This weekend, we celebrate the Holy Family:  Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Our focus is on the Human Nature of Jesus.  Not only did he become flesh and is like us in all things except sin, but he grew up in a family and was raised by Mary and Joseph.  This celebration reminds us that Jesus is fully human like us, subject to all the struggles and trials of life just as we are.  It reminds us that we can imitate Him in all things by the Grace of God.
 
This week, we might say:  "Happy Mary, Mother of God!!" That may sound a bit strange, as opposed to "Happy New Year!!"  However, that is the feast day that we celebrate on January 1st each year.  The celebration is not as much about our Blessed Mother as it is about the fact that Jesus is indeed God in His Divine Nature.  Therefore, our Blessed Mother is the Mother of God.  The celebration of this feast is intended to strengthen our faith about the two natures of Jesus, both divine and human, to celebrate the fact that God Himself has visited us on earth, and to properly understand the special role our Blessed Mother was given in God's plan of salvation.  Because of its importance, it is a holy day of obligation and we are obliged to attend Mass that day.  Our special schedule for that day is a 4 pm vigil Mass on Thursday, December 31st and 9 am and 5 pm Masses on Friday, January 1st.

As we continue to celebrate Christmastide, we will celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord next Sunday. Traditionally, this feast was celebrated on January 6, ending the "twelve days" days of Christmas. However, we now celebrate it liturgically on the Sunday between January 2 and January 8. "Epiphany" comes from a Greek verb meaning "to reveal."

Therefore, the Epiphany celebrates God's revealing or manifesting Jesus' identity as true God, Messiah, and Savior of the world. It not only commemorates the fact that Jesus appeared to save us, but that God revealed the identity of Jesus to the world. The Gospel reading for the day is from the second chapter of Matthew, where the magi from the east seek the newborn king of the Jews, and of course, find Him and pay Him homage.

As we continue to celebrate the joy of Christmas for the remaining time in the Christmas season, we are reminded in the Epiphany that God not only sent his Incarnate Son as our Lord and Savior, but that He did so in a way that we could recognize and understand, and then follow Him in the way of truth and peace. Like the magi, our mission is to seek Him, come to know Him, and pay homage to Him not only with our words, but also by living our lives in the way Jesus taught us.  In two weeks we will celebrate the Baptism of The Lord, when we are reminded of our own baptism and the Grace God has given to us to lead a life in imitation of Jesus and renew our resolve to cooperate with the Grace we have received.

Many Thanks for the beautiful Christmas Liturgies

After next weekend, we will we will return to "Ordinary Time" liturgically, changing from white to green for our liturgical color.  With the beginning of Ordinary Time, we thank all those who made our celebration of Christmas so beautiful.  The music was wonderful throughout, and we thank our musicians and singers: The Adult Choir and their director J.P. Porrier; our youth choir and their director, Rafael Henry; and Marla Faust/Megan Wilkes. Our Altar Society did a wonderful job in decorating the church, and they were coordinated by Deacon Joubert and Yvonne Normand.  We thank our various ministers at the liturgies, our readers, extraordinary ministers, servers and sacristans who volunteered their time and made adjustments to their personal schedules to serve us. We thank those who donated to the flower fund, making it possible to beautifully decorate our sanctuary and church.  And of course, our wonderful office staff and maintenance crew did a great job over the course of the holidays.  Again, thanks to all!!

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 27, 2015 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 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 six years ago. This mass, Christmas, is our four hundred seventeenth 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 20, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Today we celebrate the fourth and final Sunday of Advent.  As the time 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.  In our Gospel reading today, we hear the story of The Visitation, where our Blessed Mother, after being told her mission by the angel Gabriel, follows his directions and visits her cousin Elizabeth.  One goal of our life on earth is to fulfill the mission God has given to us, whether it be wife, husband, single person, mother, father 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 in His overall plan of salvation as well as His plan for OUR salvation.  If we allow God to speak to us through the life of Jesus, not only this week, but at all times, 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.

This week we also begin to celebrate Christmas.  Of course, we celebrate Christmas Day on Friday in a special way as the birthday of Jesus.  However, we continue to celebrate the Christmas Season until the Baptism of the Lord, which is celebrated on January 10, 2016.  For the most part, the secular world will be finished with Christmas by the day after December 25th.  We, on the other hand, will 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.  Let's not just enjoy Christmas Day, but the Christmas Season.

Enjoy reflecting on the gift God the Father has given us in His Son.  Enjoy reflecting on the gift Jesus has given us in His Life, Death and Resurrection, the events that have led to our salvation.  Enjoy reflecting on the gift of the Holy Spirit, who prompts and empowers us to live a life in imitation of Christ.  Ponder the gift of eternal life (our one true Hope) given to us if we follow Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Let us, as a community, not follow the world in allowing Christmas to end after December 25, but rather keep the Christmas spirit in our hearts all year by continuing to celebrate and reflect on the great gift we have all received at Christmas:  the gift of God Himself dwelling among us and leading us to eternal life with Him.

For all those who are out of town for Christmas, know of my prayers for you and wishes for your Merry Christmas!

Priest on Call for the Hospital
Last week I mentioned that the best way to get a hold of a priest outside of business hours was to call the office and choose option 5.  However, I forgot to mention that if the emergency is a hospital emergency then the best way to get in contact with a priest is to ask the hospital personnel to contact the priest on call.  There is a priest on call 7 days a week for Opelousas General, and all of the Lafayette hospitals have chaplains, so if the emergency call is for a hospital visit, the best way to contact a priest is through the hospital.

Sanctuary Lighting
Just an update on the sanctuary lighting...  We tried to install new lighting last week, but unfortunately ran into some problems.  The sanctuary lighting will not installed until after the first of the year.  Remember, patience is a virtue!

God Bless and Merry Christmas!

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 20, 2015 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.

Advent Mission by Doug Barry

This Mission of Advent is our four hundred sixteenth podcast to be posted. The Mission is given by Doug Barry. He's a co host of Life on the Rock on EWTN each week as well being a founder of Radix http://radixguys.com/ and Battle Ready http://www.battlereadystrong.com/

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

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 six years ago. This mass, Third Sunday of Advent, is our four hundred fifteenth 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 13, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

As Christmas approaches, I want to report to you the status of the various ongoing projects at the church.  Last week, we were able to make our full report on the Sanctuary Project expenses.  We have only the sanctuary lighting to complete and it will be installed this week beginning Monday.  This final part of the project should be finished in time for Christmas.  We will also be meeting with the architects at the diocese this week to present our plan for the Valentin Hall renovations, and we hope that we will be able to move forward with construction some time in February or March of 2016.  As you know, we are not doing a campaign to finance the construction, but rather are depending on our regular offertory.  As of now, and as you can see in our weekly bulletin, we are a little behind in our regular offertory compared to the amount we budgeted at the beginning of the year.  To some extent we rely on Christmas Gifts above and beyond the regular Christmas offering to help make the budget, so if you are able, please consider putting St. Landry Church on your Christmas Gift List!  Thanks again for all everyone has done to bring us this far!!

Doug Barry to Speak Here this Week!!
As was mentioned last week at the Masses, we are very excited that Doug Barry, co-host of the weekly TV program "Life on the Rock" on EWTN, is going to speak here at the church at 7pm Tuesday evening of this week.  There is a flyer in this bulletin with the details.  We welcome Mr. Barry, and hope you can come out and join us for this very special event!

Statue Restorations
We hope you like the re-furbished Sacred Heart statue.  I think it turned out beautifully and want to thank the person who has been generously restoring and painting the statues in the church.  Please be sure to keep her and her family in your prayers.  Before I get too many questions about the whereabouts of St. Joseph, for your information it is now his turn to be "freshened up."

Festival Accounting
Just a note to let you know that the Festival de la Grande Eglise was a great success.  We were able to raise over $25,000 to help offset expenses we incur each year in maintaining our historic cemetery.  For a first time event, things went very smoothly, and we were able to learn much to improve it in the future.  We have done our evaluations and believe we should continue to have the festival on a yearly basis, so we will again have the festival in October of 2016.  Thanks again to Yvonne Normand, the festival chair, the group leaders, the volunteers and all who worked so hard to make the festival a great success!

New Phone System - Emergency Phone Calls
As you know, we installed a new phone system in July of this year, and we have had some problems with it.  We think we found the source of the problem last week, and since the repair was made, we have not had the previous problems we were experiencing.  Please let us know if you have any more problems with the system, and please accept my apology for any inconvenience you might have experienced.

Our new phone system has an emergency line feature.  In the case of an emergency, please dial the receptionist, or extension 100, during business hours.  Outside of business hours, please choose option number five on the main menu.  Because the emergency line is generally not monitored during business hours, this is the quickest way to get in touch with myself, one of the other priests or the deacons in the case of an emergency

God Bless

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 13, 2015 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 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 six years ago. This mass, Second Sunday of Advent, is our four hundred fourteenth 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 Week December 6, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The 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."  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.  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 6:30 pm until 8 pm.  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.

This Tuesday is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and is a holy day of obligation.  It also begins the "Year of Mercy" declared by Pope Francis, a time we are to celebrate God's goodness to us not only in forgiving our sins, but in showing us the way to salvation.  Masses for The Immaculate Conception will be Monday evening with the vigil Mass at 5:30 pm, and then Tuesday at 8:40 am (Opelousas Catholic School Mass), 12:05 pm and 5:30 pm.

Finally, don't forget 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!

Accounting for Sanctuary Campaign
The Sanctuary Campaign has ended, and nearly all the work is done.  We only have left to install new lighting for the sanctuary (which we hope will be installed this week), and all of the expenses we will incur have been paid.  The campaign was a great success, and we were able to accomplish not only the stated goals, but also do the work needed on the sound system, lighting, pews and sacristy.  As a matter of accountability and transparency, below is a summary of the contributions and expenses of the campaign.

Contributions:                                                 $151,500

Altar and Installation                                        $ 17,408
Flooring (Tile and Carpet)                                $ 55,351
Sound                                                                $ 17,406
Bathroom and Pew Construction                      $ 11,698
Air Conditioning                                               $   9,510
Sacristy Renovation                                          $ 15,378
Miscellaneous/Administrative                         $   3,539
Diocesan Assessment                                       $ 21,210

Total Expenses:                                               $151,500

Note:  we will receive an assessment credit for nearly all the Diocesan Assessment.  The credit we receive will be used to repair the roof for the north and south sacristies.

Again, many thanks to all who supported the campaign, whether by way of time, talent, donations or prayer.  All were necessary to the success of the campaign, and all are appreciated!                        

God Bless

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of December 06, 2015 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 Christ the King

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 six years ago. This mass, Christ the King, is our four hundred thirteenth podcast to be posted. The homily is given by Father Jerry Mesley.

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 November 22, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Thursday of this week we celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  Mass that day will be at 9 am and I hope to see you there.  Although Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, it is certainly religious in its theme.  This year, we have much to thank God for as a church parish and a community.  The generosity of so many of our parishioners in volunteering their time, talent and treasure has been such a great blessing to me as your pastor, and I am grateful to God for the blessing that each of you are to me in my priestly life and in the furtherance of the mission of St. Landry Church.  Our mission is quite simple:  To grow in our knowledge and love of God the Father through the life of Jesus Christ, His Son, with His Grace prompting us to serve all in charity by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are blessed with three devoted deacons and a hard- working and dedicated staff who make all the good things happening here possible. Thanks to them and all of you. I am very blessed to be your pastor!

My hope is that during this time of the year all of us are able to look back and see the blessings that God has given us as a church community and individually during the year and to thank Him.  Of course, some of us have suffered during the year, and many have said "good-bye for now" to loved ones who have passed into the next life.  However, even if it has been a difficult year for you individually or as a family, we can still thank God for the hope of eternal life that He has given us, a hope that eases the pain of suffering and death in this world with the belief that we will all be joined together again, without pain or suffering, in God's Heavenly Kingdom.  Let us take the time to thank God for all His blessings, great and small.

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, the end of the Church's liturgical year.  This celebration is a reminder to us that Jesus can help us to overcome any problem we might have if we let Him reign in our hearts.  The primary goal of our life here on earth is to live with God for eternity in the next life, and as Christians this must be our first priority. We make this our first priority by following God's commands as Jesus teaches us through His Church in Sacred Scripture and Tradition, and by cooperating with God's Grace and living a life of virtue and prayer in Faith, Hope and Charity.  No matter what the circumstances in our lives here on earth, we always have the hope of eternal life in heaven, and nothing on earth has the power to take that away from us. In sum, we celebrate the gift God has given to us in Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and we renew our resolve to live a life on earth worthy of the eternal life God has promised. Let us praise Christ our King!

God Bless

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of November 22, 2015 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 Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 six years ago. This mass, Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our four hundred twelfth 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 November 15, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

We are rapidly approaching the end of the liturgical year (next Sunday) and the end of our secular year (December 31). During this time, we will celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas and in general the holiday season. In addition, this coming year we celebrate a "Year of Mercy" beginning on December 8, the date of our observance of The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. The observance of the Year of Mercy will continue until Sunday, November 20, 2016 (The Feast of Christ the King).

"Mercy" has many different and nuanced meanings in our spiritual life, such as the forgiveness of sins, giving a helping hand or even just some kind words that sooth someone's suffering. Over the course of the Year of Mercy we will examine several different meanings of "mercy" as it relates to our life in Christ. However, for now, and in preparation for the Year of Mercy, it is good to reflect on the ultimate mercy of God, which is our salvation. In our salvation, mortal man has been lifted up and out of the despair of sin and death by our Savior Jesus Christ, and then given the gift of immortality, that is, eternal life in union with God. This "mercy" was made known to us by God coming to earth in the life The Incarnate Son, Jesus the Christ, who by allowing Himself to be lifted up on The Cross lifted us out of the pit that we had dug for ourselves and could never have gotten out of without Him. Not only that, He bailed us out while we were still sinners, and because of His Love for us, continues to bail us out even when we sin again.

We also must show mercy towards others. It is critical to our salvation because Sacred Scripture teaches us that in order to receive a merciful judgement, we must be merciful to others. However, in order to be merciful to others, we must first learn what mercy is. Studying the life of Jesus during the coming year will help us to see the different ways we can be merciful to others, especially in more nuanced and particular ways. The beauty of this design by God is that we not only experience God's Mercy in direct ways, but also experience it in the work of The Holy Spirit in ourselves and other people, that is, in the entire Body of Christ.

As stated, we are coming to the end of the liturgical year, a time when we should reflect on the previous year as well as put forward renewed effort to cooperate with God's Grace in the year to come. This year, a good focus for our end of year reflection is to honestly examine our hearts to make sure we are attentive to God's teaching as given to us in Sacred Scripture and as taught by His Church, to search our lives for the areas where we are in need of His Mercy and in humility ask for it, and in light of His Mercy for us, to look for ways to show mercy to others.

St. Landry Awarded the 2015 Preservationist of the Year Award
As I mentioned a few weeks back, last weekend St. Landry Church was awarded the 2015 Preservationist of the Year Award "in recognition of its ongoing effort to preserve and renovate the historic St. Landry Church in Opelousas, Louisiana." We are so grateful to the Preservationists of St. Landry, Inc. for their recognition of our work. As I mentioned at the award ceremony, "preservation" for us a church community, at the core, is observing and preserving the faith that's been handed down to us for our salvation and for the next generation. In this case, it meant providing a fitting place for the worship of God by our community. In our ongoing work as a community of faith, we must always remain focused first on our salvation...the most precious gift God has given to us!

God Bless

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of November 15, 2015 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 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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 six years ago. This mass, Thirty Second Sunday in Ordinary Time, is our four hundred eleventh 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 November 8, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

Many thanks to all who participated in our Memorial Mass on All Souls Day last Monday.  What a beautiful liturgy, and I know the families who grieve appreciate the support of those who were able to attend.  We thank all our servers, lectors, choir members and sacristans, as well as Deacon Joubert who coordinated the liturgy.  Their work and dedication is very much appreciated.  Please be sure to keep in your prayers those who mourn and for the repose of souls in purgatory.

Mark Your Calendar for Annual Volunteer Appreciation Banquet
We are rapidly approaching Thanksgiving and the end of the Liturgical Year, which concludes November 22 when we celebrate The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.  The feast day reminds us that we should give praise to God the Father for the gift of His Incarnate Son Jesus and that the Spirit of Christ the King should always reign in our hearts.  As has now become custom, we will also have our appreciation banquet for all our volunteers that evening after the 5 pm Mass at the Opelousas Catholic cafeteria.  At the risk of omitting someone (please accept my apology in advance!) these volunteers and their spouses are invited:

          Members of The Altar Society and Knights of Columbus
          Money Counters
          Readers
          Extraordinary Ministers of Communion
          Altar Servers and their parents
          Festival Volunteers
          Ushers
          Members of the Parish Advisory Board and Finance Council
          Trustees
          Sacristans
          Members of our choirs and musicians
          CLJ/Bible Study Leaders
          Youth Group Volunteers

We thank all of our volunteers for their gift of time and talent. Without these gifts we would not be able to function as a healthy church community.  Please make plans to attend, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Food Boxes During November
As usual we will focus on helping those who are in need during the holiday season. We will again place boxes at the doors of the church during the month of November for non-perishable food donations. The donations will be sent to ICONS, our local food pantry, for distribution to those in need in our community. Please be generous in helping during the holiday season.

Veterans Day
This week, on Wednesday, November 11, our country celebrates Veteran's Day, a day when we take time to give thanks to those who have served in our armed forces. As we are reminded every time armed conflict occurs in our world, in order to protect individual and societal freedoms, including the freedom to practice our faith, an armed force is often necessary. We are thankful for the brave men and women who have served or are currently serving in our armed forces, and we pray for them and their families.  John's Gospel tells us: "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." We thank God for raising up these men and women who are willing, if necessary, to lay down their life so that others have the opportunity to live a life in freedom and full human dignity. We pray that God will continue to bless our country, and that He bless and keep in his care our veterans and active service members. May we always appreciate what they have done for us!

God Bless

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of November 08, 2015 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 All Saints Day

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 six years ago. This mass, All Saints Day, is our four hundred tenth 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 November 1, 2015 and the Pastor's Corner

The Pastor’s Corner 

It's good to be home from my trip to Philadelphia for my brother Ed's 25th Jubilee.  The trip went well, and I was able to extend to him all the good wishes many of you asked me to express.  He was very appreciative of the prayers and support!  Thank you much!!

This weekend, we celebrate All Saints Day, which is the celebration of what is commonly referred to as the "Church Triumphant." The Church Triumphant are those people who have gone before us from this life, and whose souls are now in Heaven in union with God. We hope many of our family members and friends are members of Church Triumphant, and we celebrate them for two reasons.  First, because they are now living in a state that we hope is also our final end, and our hope is to see them again there in perfect happiness.  Second, while living here on earth they gave us an example of living a life in Christ, which is the greatest gift any of us can give to another.  We thank God and all in The Church Triumphant for handing on the faith to us.

All Souls Day, which we celebrate on Monday, is a day we pray for what is known as the "Church Suffering."  The members of the Church Suffering have passed from their human life on earth and are now in purgatory, but "suffer" because they have not yet reached fullness of union with God. Praying for the dead is a good and pious act (2 Maccabees 12:46), and is one of the traditional Spiritual Works of Mercy.  Both these pious devotions are good for our souls and help us to grow in our knowledge and love of Jesus, so I encourage all of us to attend Mass both these days and participate in other services offered.  The blessing of the cemetery will take place this weekend on Saturday after the 4pm Mass, and Masses Monday for All Souls Day are at 12:05pm and 6pm (our Annual Memorial Mass praying especially for those who passed away last year).

Special Devices for Hearing Impaired Available
With the installation of the new sound system, it is so nice to hear compliments about the sound instead of complaints!!  We're so glad that so many of you are enjoying it as well.  However, we have several members of our congregation who have hearing impairments and may be in need of additional sound support.  We have available devices that receive the sound signal directly from the system and can be used with headphones or ear buds.  If you are in need of such a device, please see Fr. Brady and we would be happy to provide you with one.  Many people in our congregation have used them to great benefit, so don't be shy about asking for one!


Sacred Heart Statue
Our beautiful Sacred Heart statue is not missing from the sanctuary.  Rather, it is being re-furbished just like St. Jude and St. Anthony were.  We look forward to its return refreshed and updated.  Again, we thank those who have made the refurbishment of our statues possible.  Thanks much!!

God Bless

            Father James Brady

The bulletin for the week of November 01, 2015 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.