News - January 2025 RSS Feed

Dear Parishioners, In my bulletin article two weeks ago I spoke briefly about parishioner involvement in liturgical ministries at Masses. Next week’s Gospel relates the calling of Peter, Andrew, James and John by Jesus, from being fulltime professional fishermen to His full-time followers. Perfection and experience were not required of these men for the roles Jesus wanted them to fulfill as Apostles, and neither are perfection and experience required of those who share their talents, gifts, and abilities in the parish setting. If you are reading this church bulletin, that is a sign that you have an interest in our church parish family/community and may have the desire/wish/inclination to see if and where Jesus is calling you to give/use your talents and abilities for the good of your St. Peter parish brothers and sisters. Among our Mass-goers, there are those who would be effective lectors/readers, as well as those who would be effective choir members, instrumentalists, and/or song leaders/cantors, as well as those who would be good Eucharistic ministers, those who would be effective hospitality ministers/ushers/collection personnel, and those would be good servers, both children and adult servers as needed. As you hear the Gospel next week of the call of the two sets of brothers, think about your own personal abilities/talents/gifts and the call of Jesus. Parishioner participation in parish life has many more possibilities than the ones I just talked about earlier and are not just limited to participation at Masses, but have many forms in parish life, from being “behind-the-scenes” to being “in-front-of-the camera,” so to speak. Yet to make our Eucharistic celebrations the best that they can be for us to better experience Jesus, our faith, and our unity as a parish family, the Mass is the best and most appropriate place to start. So, evaluate your talents/abilities/gifts, don’t be afraid to use them if applicable for our parish, consult me with your questions and/or ideas, and like the 12 Apostles, see that we should not be afraid to respond if we hear Jesus’ voice in our hearts calling us to continue building up His Body in our parish community, our spiritual home. Again, perfection and worthiness are not required – just a faithfilled heart.

Dear Parishioners, I went to the window early this past Tuesday morning wondering what I was going to see when I opened the blinds, but the amount of snow amazed me, as did the steadiness of the snowfall throughout Tuesday. I write this article on Wednesday morning, January 22, knowing that Thursday the 23rd is also going to be a day to stay off the roads because of the refrozen melted snow of Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This winter storm event brings us many different thoughts and reactions. What comes to my mind is that God is in control of everything – at least for those who believe in God – and those who may profess that they don’t believe in God or that God is not in ultimate control of nature are still subject to things beyond their control. Since early Tuesday morning we have had to stop our regular routines as far as getting into our cars and going places and to being very aware of the danger of the icy roads. It’s very similar to us hunkering down for a threatening hurricane in the middle of summer and worrying about wind speeds and rising water. At this point we can thank God that we as a south Louisiana community have literally “weathered” this rare winter snowstorm with minimal problems, except for those with pipes that have burst, and we pray that they are quickly repaired. May this adjustment this past week bring us all a good sense of humility – that there are things that take place in our world and in our lives that we have no control over – and that our humility may help us to be stronger believers in God, better neighbors to our brothers and sisters, and better people in general. To be better people because of this past week is a very valuable by -product of the inconveniences we have endured.

Family of the Month for January 2025 is Lionel & Lindy LeBouef Knight of the Month for January 2025 is Richard Maus, Jr. All practical Catholic gentlemen 18 years and older are invited to join our council. Contact Robert Beadle or Joel Ocmand for details.

Dear Parishioners, In the third line of the second reading this weekend, St. Paul says that “there are different forms of service but the same Lord.” We all know that people have different abilities, talents, and skills, and these can make up our service as the baptized, the people of God, the parishioners of our worshipping community. Certain abilities, talents, and skills of ours are certainly needed at the celebration of Mass, especially on the weekend and on holydays of obligation. The five major ministries – ways to be of service – at Mass are lectors, extraordinary ministers of Communion, vocal and instrumental musicians, altar servers, and ministers of hospitality/ushers. As we have begun a new liturgical year, and more recently, a new calendar year, and I’m still the new pastor, I would like to talk about more parishioner participation in these ministries. If reading in front of a group at Mass from the ambo appeals to you, then perhaps you may be called to be a lector. If distributing the Eucharist at Mass as you see other parishioners do, then perhaps you may be called to be a Eucharistic minister. If you can play the piano, have a strong solo voice, or would like to be part of a choir, perhaps you may be called to be part of the music at Masses. If you would like to be an altar server, no matter what your age, and to serve at Mass, especially when the school-age servers are literally in school, then perhaps you may be called to serving at Mass. If you would like to help with taking up the collection, recruiting gift bearers at the offertory, or welcoming parishioners as they enter the church, then you may be called to be a hospitality minister. Again, “different forms of service but the same Lord.” I am simply “planting seeds” right now. Hopefully, more parishioner interest in these ministries may take root and begin to grow. Please talk to me about your interest if you feel the Holy Spirit is calling you to use your gifts.

Dear Parishioners, With all the activity in 2023 and in the first half of 2024 that I was involved in as pastor of St. Gertrude’s in Des Allemands and its merge with St. John the Baptist in Paradis, as well as in the second half of 2024 in becoming pastor of St. Peter’s and its joining with St. Hubert’s, I didn’t realize that 2025 would be a “Holy Year” - something that the Pope designates every 25 years. Since this is only the third Holy Year in my lifetime, this celebration is certainly not something we observe often. In the Holy Year of 1975, I was fourteen years old, and a “graduating 8th grader” at St. Peter School, and twenty-five years later, in the Holy Year of 2000, I celebrated 13 years of ordination to the priesthood. This 2025 Holy Year marks my 38th anniversary of ordination, and if the good Lord keeps me here until I’m 89, I’ll observe the Holy Year of 2050! The first Holy Year of Jubilee was declared by Pope Boniface VII in 1300, and every 25 years since, a Holy Year of Jubilee has been celebrated throughout the Catholic Church. So, for more information on the Holy Year of 2025 and all the events that are taking place throughout the United States, go to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) website. There you will find all you need to know about what the Holy Year of Jubilee is all about. As we “ring in” 2025, let us never forget that every year, month, week, day, minute, and second are gifts from God, and therefore “holy” and that by our Baptism and membership in the Church, we are holy people as well. Being holy is nothing to be afraid or ashamed of – if we make a sincere and consistent effort to love God, to love our neighbor, and to keep the commandments as best we can, we are holy. It’s a title that Jesus wants to always give us as well as a title that we should strive for. To be holy doesn’t make us superhuman, weird, or unapproachable, it makes us more human, normal, and approachable as Jesus was when He came to earth to “pitch His tent among us” and join us in the human and earthly journey.