A vast majority of all the active Permanent Deacons, and many wives, spent Saturday at Notre Dame Seminary for Convocation 2017. Our Archbishop, Gregory Aymond, spent the entire day with us and presented for several hours and also answered many questions. The Archbishop gave his thoughts and broke open for us a Vision Statement that has been produced for the community by a committee that has worked on our vision for a few years now. It's kind of like a mission statement backed up by several bullet points to clarify who is the Permanent Deacon in the life of the church in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. It was evident by his presentation that the Archbishop had really studied the document, overall gave his assent, and broke open for us what he sees as the practical realities of this Vision Statement.
The Deacons also received a presentation on liturgy and presiding at the many things Deacons actually preside at like Adoration, Benediction, prayer services, Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals. The presentation was offered by Msgr. Kenneth Hedrick, recently retired from the Archdiocese Office of Worship.
One of the highlights of an event such as this is the opportunity for Deacons and wives to get together with old classmates, friends from across the footprint of the Archdiocese and to pray together throughout the day.
I think I can speak for all Permanent Deacons when I say how thankful we are to Archbishop Aymond for his gift of presence yesterday, his support of the diaconate and his prayers for us and the work we do for the people of God.
I love the ministry of the Permanent Deacon; to serve and not be served.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Saturday, October 28, 2017
It's a girl!!!!!!!!!
Are you kidding me? It's a girl!!!!!!!!!!! My daughter Elizabeth and husband Mark are expecting #1 child in March an it's a girl. This will be my third grandchild; girls in the lead. Here is the announcement picture with Winston and Jockomo announcing the news:
Two Apostles share a feast day today
Ordinary Time: October 28th
Feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles
Sts. Simon and Jude
However meagre in details is the history of these glorious apostles, we learn from their brief legend how amply they contributed to this great work of generating sons of God. Without any repose, and even to the shedding of their blood, they "edified the body of Christ"; and the grateful Church thus prays to our Lord today: "O God, through the work of the apostles you have spoken your Word of love, your Son, into our world's deafness. Open our ears to hear; open our hearts to heed; open our will to obey, that we may proclaim the good news with our lives."St. Simon is represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom. St. Jude's square points him out as an architect of the house of God. St. Paul called himself by this name; and St. Jude, by his Catholic Epistle, has also a special right to be reckoned among our Lord's principal workmen. But our apostle had another nobility, far surpassing all earthly titles: being nephew, by his father Cleophas or Alpheus, to St. Joseph, and legal cousin to the Man-God, Jude was one of those called by their compatriots the brethren of the carpenter's Son. We may gather from St. John's Gospel another precious detail concerning him. In the admirable discourse at the close of the last Supper, our Lord said: "He that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father: and I will love him and will manifest Myself to him." Then Jude asked Him: "Lord, how is it, that Thou wilt manifest Thyself to us, and not to the world?" And he received from Jesus this reply: "If any one love Me, he will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him, and will make Our abode with him. He that loveth Me not keepeth not My word. And the word which you have heard is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."
The churches of St. Peter in Rome and Saint-Sernin at Toulouse dispute the honor of possessing the greater part of their holy remains.
—Excerpted from The Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B.
St. Jude
Patron: Desperate situations; forgotten causes; hospital workers; hospitals; impossible causes; lost causes; diocese of Saint Petersburg, Florida.
Symbols: Bearded man holding an oar, a boat, boat hook, a club, an axe or a book; nearly every image depicts him wearing a medallion with a profile of Jesus, and usually with a small flame above his head; often carries a pen or sits at a writing location to make reference to the canonical Epistle; sailboat; inverted cross; square; halbert; club; loaves and fish; long cross; knotted club; boat hook; fuller's bat; lance; saw; flail; closed book; shield: red with sailboat with a cross on the mast.
St. Simon
Patron: Curriers; sawmen; sawyers; tanners.
Thursday, October 26, 2017
One of the earliest Popes of the Church
St. Evaristus
Facts
Pope Francis preaches no makeup; kind of...
Santa Marta: We Must Truly Change, Not With Makeup
Pope Says Easygoing Christians Do Not Exist
PHOTO.VA - OSSERVATORE ROMANO
“Jesus calls us to change our lives, to change paths, calls us to conversion.”
According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis gave this reminder today, Oct. 27, 2017, during his daily morning Mass in his residence Casa Santa Marta, as he reflected on today’s Gospel.
“Changing our way of thinking, changing our way of feeling. Your heart, which was worldly, pagan, now becomes Christian with the strength of Christ: to change, this is conversion. And changing your manner of acting: your works must change.”
A proper conversion, the Holy Father said, “involves everything, body and soul, everything.”
This change, the Pope warned, is not a change “made with make-up,” but a change “the Holy Spirit makes, within.”
This is a “battle,” the Pope said, because it involves that we fight against evil in our own hearts. This is, he noted, “a struggle that does not give you ease, but gives you peace.”
This change, the Pope warned, is not a change “made with make-up,” but a change “the Holy Spirit makes, within.”
This is a “battle,” the Pope said, because it involves that we fight against evil in our own hearts. This is, he noted, “a struggle that does not give you ease, but gives you peace.”
“Easygoing Christians, who don’t fight, don’t exist,” the Pope noted: “Those are not Christians, they are lukewarm.”
The Holy Father invited those gathered to make a daily examination of conscience to “help us in this,” in fighting against the “maladies of worldliness.”
“We must allow Jesus to enter, and must “ask ourselves, each day: how have I passed from worldliness, from sin, to grace? Have I made room for the Holy Spirit, so that He could act?”
The Holy Father invited those gathered to make a daily examination of conscience to “help us in this,” in fighting against the “maladies of worldliness.”
“We must allow Jesus to enter, and must “ask ourselves, each day: how have I passed from worldliness, from sin, to grace? Have I made room for the Holy Spirit, so that He could act?”
Pope Francis concluded, saying that for conversion, “a generous and faithful heart” is needed, a heart truly “faithful to the Word of God.”
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
King and Saint
St. Alfred the Great
King of Wessex, scholar, and renowned Christian monarch. Alfred was born in 849, the fifth son of the Wessex king. During a journey to Rome in 853, he was accepted as a godson by Pope Leo IV . He was a great scholar, translating classics for his people, and early on seemed destined for a career in the Church. Instead, he became king and was forced to spend most of his reign in conflict with the Danes who were then threatening England. His work as a patron of the arts, literature, and especially the Church made him a beloved figure in England
Facts
Wednesday General Audience; Pope Francis on trust
General Audience: Place Your Trust in Him
Official Summary of the Catechesis — Oct. 25, 2017
PHOTO.VA - OSSERVATORE ROMANO
Here is the Vatican-provided English-language summary of the Pope’s address at the General Audience this morning:
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Speaker:
Dear Brothers and Sisters: In this, the last of our catecheses on Christian hope, I would like to speak of hope’s fulfilment in heaven. On Calvary, Jesus assures the Good Thief that he will be with him that very day in heaven. The Lord’s solidarity with us sinners culminates on the cross; there, as one of his final acts, he opens the gates of heaven to a repentant criminal. The Good Thief’s humble plea for mercy was sufficient to touch the heart of Jesus. His humility reminds us that, like the publican in the Temple, or the prodigal Son, we can only trust in God’s mercy, and, at every hour of our life, turn to him with hope in his promises. Jesus died on the cross to redeem our sins, our mistakes and our failings, and to bring us with him to the house of the Father. He desires that nothing be lost of what he has redeemed. No one, then, should despair, for his grace is always present to those who put their trust in him. The hour of our death need hold no fear for us if, like the Good Thief, we can turn to the Lord and pray in confident hope: “Jesus, remember me” (cf. Lk 23:42).
Speaker:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Norway, India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. I extend a particular welcome to the priests from the Metropolia of Nea Ionia of the Orthodox Church of Greece, accompanied by His Grace Metropolitan Gabriel. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in our Lord Jesus
Speaker:
I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Norway, India, Malaysia, China, Indonesia, Japan, the Philippines, Canada and the United States of America. I extend a particular welcome to the priests from the Metropolia of Nea Ionia of the Orthodox Church of Greece, accompanied by His Grace Metropolitan Gabriel. Upon all of you, and your families, I invoke joy and peace in our Lord Jesus
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
This Saint was once a Pope
St. Boniface I
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