ST. BENILDE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
1901 Division Street • Metairie, Louisiana 70001
Church Office: (504) 834-4980 • Church Fax: (504) 831-5810 • Church Email: [email protected]
www.stbenilde.org
CLERGY Rev. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor Rev. H.L. Brignac, Sacramental Asst. Deacon Biaggio DiGiovanni Deacon Stephen Gordon Deacon Clifford Wright
BAPTISMS First and Third Sundays of the month at 12 Noon. Please call the Parish
Office for more information.
MATRIMONY Please contact a priest/deacon 8 months prior to your wedding.
FUNERALS Arrangements may be made at the Parish Office.
Sunday, October 8, 2017 Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
ORDINARY FAMILIES
EXTRAORDINARY FAITH
DEVOTIONS Holy Hour in Church
Monday, 6:00-7:00 p.m.
Novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help Following 7 a.m. Mass on Tuesday
NEWCOMERS Call the Parish Office to receive a New
Parishioner Registration Packet.
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY
St. Benilde Conference (504) 233-3246
ST. BENILDE SCHOOL
Valerie Perez, Interim Principal
1801 Division Street • Metairie, LA (504) 833-9894
MASS TIMES Saturday Vigil … 4 p.m.
Sunday … 9:00, 11:00 a.m. & 6 p.m. Monday—Friday … 7:00 a.m.
Monday and Thursday … 5:30 p.m. First Saturday … 8:45 a.m.
HOLY DAYS OF OBLIGATION See Inside the Bulletin for Schedule
CONFESSION TIMES Saturday … 3:00—3:45 p.m. Sunday … 5:00—5:45 p.m. Monday … 6:00—6:45 p.m.
and by appointment at the Parish Office
DIVINE MERCY ADORATION CHAPEL Eucharistic Adoration from 7:00 p.m. Sunday
till 4:00 p.m. Saturday
Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God
Ministers of the Liturgy October 7 & 8, 2017
Saturday - 4 P.M. Intention: Ray Vitrano, Jr., Annie Bollinger,
Dolores Fallon, George Spaulding, Flora Maria Be,
Merle & Charles Dittmer, Patrick C. McKinney,
Dorothy Van Hoven, Rose Marie Greco Federico,
Jennie Spitale, Rita G. Vaccaro, Joseph Segari,
Judith Theisges, Marisa Saborio, Holy Souls,
Julie P. Fielding, Dale Forshag, Mary Lewis (L),
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:
A. & P. Delaup
Cantor: Trish Foti Organist: Jared Croal
Sunday - 9 A.M. Intention: June & Marvin Ackermann (L)
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:
K. Klapatch, R. Theriot, J. Tusa, P. Cifreo
Song Leaders: Traditional Choir
Sunday - 11 A.M. Intention: Walter (Bubber) Blessing, Kelvin Ducote,
Michael Bollinger, Lucien Sabath, Glenn Gennaro,
Joyce Fontenelle, Mary & Melvin Ducote,
Dianne Z. Harrison, Joseph Donald Bernard,
Paul J. Hymel, Jr., Ray Waguespack, Todd Hillburn,
Paul G. Powers, Jr., Miriam Whitman, Dolores Fallon
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:
N. Bostick, L. Frey, A. Duersel, T. Pitre
Song Leaders: Contemporary Choir
Sunday - 6 P.M. Intention: Parishioners
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:
L. Daigle, B. David
Cantor: Lauren Gisclair Pianist: Beth Kettenring
Weekday Masses Monday 7:00 a.m. M. Maria Cabrera
5:30 p.m. Ray Waguespack
Tuesday 7:00 a.m. Frank Anthony Federico
Wednesday 7:00 a.m. Bill C. Johnson
8:15 a.m. Lorraine McCaslin
Thursday 7:00 a.m. Mr. & Mrs. Hilton Daigle, Sr.
5:30 p.m. Lynette LeDuff
Friday 7:00 a.m. Janice B. Grillot
The Church Sanctuary Lamp burns in memory of
The Souls in Purgatory
The Blessed Mother
Votive Lamps burn
For Reparations for Sins
Adoration Chapel
Sanctuary Lamp burns
in memory of
Stuart and Gloria Fourroux
Adoration Chapel Candles
burn for
Hurricane Irma Victims
Altar Ladies Week of Oct. 8
J. LeBoeuf, J. Rojas, T. Gsell
Linens Large - E. Lemoine
Small - J. Didier
The St. Joseph Votive Lamps
burn for a
Favor Granted
St. Benilde Catholic Church
The Altar Flowers are in memory of
Deceased Parishioners
Stewardship of Treasure Weekend of Sept. 30/Oct. 1
Envelopes ………………………………………$4,193.00
Loose ……………………………………………..2,776.00
Electronic Giving ………………………………….150.00
Repairs & Maintenance ………………………..2,072.00
Msgr. Richaud Fund ……………………………...287.00
Totaling ………………………………………...$9,478.00
Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion
Oct. 14/15 4 PM R. Aucoin, K. Hartdegen 9 AM J. Powers, G. Rojas, R. Meche, B. O’Hara 11 AM D. Childers, R. Oleksik, P. & R. Serio 6 PM M. Drawe, D. Powers
St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 35 Issue 41
Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God
Safe Environment Training
All volunteers who have ongoing contact with minors, even one unsupervised contact with minors, and all who participate in an overnight event, must attend Sate Environment Training prior to volunteering for the first time and every three years thereafter. Safe Environment Training will be held at St. Benilde on October 17 at 6:30 PM in the cafeteria.
Liturgical Workshops Scheduled
Workshops for new ministers will be held this fall:
Readers—Oct. 28, St. Clement of Rome, 4317 Richland
Ave. Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion—
Nov. 4, St. Philip Neri Church, 6500 Kawanee Ave. Both
are from 9 AM to 1 PM. You must get Fr. Cooper’s
permission before registering with the Parish Office.
ALL SOULS DAY MASS
REMEMBRANCE
On All Souls Day we honor all of our deceased loved
ones in a special way. Here at St. Benilde Church we
will be remembering your deceased loved ones both on
this day with the celebration of Holy Mass (Thursday,
November 2) and at all of the Masses throughout the
month of November.
In that spirit, we invite you to inscribe the names of
those you wish for us to remember and pray for on All
Souls Day and during the Masses throughout the month
of November on the special All Souls Remembrance
Envelopes found in the vestibule of the Church. Please
place your envelopes in the collection basket, the poor
box or bring them to the Parish Office before
November 1. The suggested donation is $5 per name
recorded on your envelop. Mass remembrance envelopes
will remain on the altar throughout the month of
November and names will be printed in the Parish
Bulletin.
MOVIE NIGHT AT ST. BENILDE
"FINDING FATIMA”, a compelling documentary-drama that tells the crucial details about the appearances and messages of Our Lady at Fatima in 1917, will be presented on Friday, October 13, in the cafeteria. Mass will be celebrated at 6 PM. Doors open at
6:30 PM and the movie will begin at 7 PM. The rosary will be recited following the movie. Refreshments will be served. All are welcome.
Public Square Rosary
This year is the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions
of Our Lady at Fatima. Please join us to for the 2017
Public Square Rosary on Saturday, Oct. 14, at 12 noon,
at the intersection of Veterans Memorial Hwy. And
Causeway Blvd. Parking is available on the neutral
ground across from Macy’s garage.
Rosary Congress All are invited to join The St. Benilde Holy Name Society to
recite the Rosary at the annual Rosary Congress on Monday,
Oct. 9, at 10PM at St. Rita’s Church, 7100 Jefferson Hwy,
Harahan. We will meet in St. St. Benilde parking lot at 9:30
PM and car pool to St. Rita’s.
Fr. Cooper’s Corner
Fatima’s Great and Hidden Servant
The history of Fatima is a continuous illustration of God’s words to us through the Prophet Isaiah: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways” (Isa 55:8). The divergence between divine and human ways, between God’s thinking and ours, is seen in the selection of three uneducated shepherd children in a small out-of-the-way Portuguese village to entrust Mary’s poignant appeal to conversion, prayer and sacrifice, consecration and peace. It is shown likewise in Mary’s entrusting to them a message and then telling them to keep it secret. It is also very much seen in what happened with the seers after the apparitions. By human logic, they would have remained fulfilling the mission and eventually propagating the message Mary had entrusted to them. Within two years, however, Francisco’s life on earth would be over and within three, Jacinta’s. The following year, Lucia would be sent away to school in a convent in the north of Portugal. She would become first a Sister of St. Dorothy and then a cloistered Carmelite, and would live from 1921 through 2005 (for the most part) cut off from the world. Would it not have made more sense, according to human logic, for Francisco and Jacinta to stay on earth longer so that they might be able to train people in how to respond to Mary’s summons, to show them how to pray the Rosary and offer up sufferings for the conversion of sinners? Would it not have made more sense for Lucia not to live a hidden life keeping the secrets hidden, but rather give her the mandate to preach from the rooftops? Fr. Gonçalo Portocarrero, who uses satirical humor better than anyone I have ever known, wrote in a recent article about Lucia’s failure. “The Lady who appeared in Fatima gave her,” Fr. Gonçalo comically observed, “the task of spreading devotion to her Immaculate Heart throughout the world. One would suppose, therefore, that Lucia would dedicate herself to touring and international roadshows, traveling around the whole world and giving interviews about the facts of which she was the only surviving witness; … to have made use of all the means of social communication, without excluding modern social networks, to promote Marian devotion; … to make the rounds of talk shows, so as to be able to be seen and known by millions of television viewers
throughout the world; … to dedicate her time to writing best-sellers of clear relevance for today’s world: ‘I Saw Hell!’ or ‘The Visionary of Our Lady Confesses the Full Truth!’ … or even, ‘Finally, All You Ever Wanted to Know About the Conversion of Russia!’” But, rather, “she closed herself off, under rigorous anonymity, in a religious institution in which she could not confide the revelations she had received to anyone, not even the other nuns or the students. Worse yet: some years later, … she requested and received the grace of being transferred to a convent with a stricter rule of cloister, where she closed herself off forever, prohibited by this very rule from having contact with the outside world, except on very limited occasions.” Yet, in God’s plan, she still fulfilled her mission in an extraordinary way. The whole world has come to know about Fatima. God’s ways, indeed, are not our own.
Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God
St. Benilde Catholic Church
“Without propaganda or publicity, without marketing or special offers,” Fr. Gonçalo noted, the pilgrims who come by the millions each year to Fatima “are, in the end, the objective expression of Sister Lucia’s mysterious triumph—or, to express it better, they are visible proof of the supernatural efficacy of her human inefficiency.” God’s ways are clearly not ours. For me one of the most curious aspects of the celebration of the centenary of the Fatima apparitions is the relatively small attention that Sr. Lucia has been receiving. While she was alive, she was the constant reference point for the private revelations and their interpretation. Francisco and Jacinta were, for the most part, in the background. With her cousins’ canonization by Pope Francis on the 100th anniversary of Mary’s first appearance and the focus on the young age and heroism of the shepherd children in 1917, Lucia, whom the world remembers as a 98-year-old Carmelite, has taken their place in relative obscurity. That will certainly change as the cause of her canonization proceeds. But I think it is important for us in this centenary not to miss the opportunity to ponder God’s mysterious ways with regard to her and celebrate and learn from her life. Lucia, at 10, was the wise elder stateswoman when Mary appeared to the shepherd children. In the first apparition, Lucia asked our Lady whence she came and Mary pointed upward saying, “I am from heaven.” With childlike audacity Lucia asked, “And will I go to heaven, too?” “Yes, you will,” Mary replied. “And Jacinta?” “Also,” said our Lady. “And Francisco?” “Also but he must say many rosaries.” A month later, when Mary appeared to them a second time, Lucy repeated her request: “Will you take us to heaven?” Mary replied, “Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain a little longer, since Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth. He wishes also for you to establish devotion in the world to my Immaculate Heart.” Eighty-eight more years was what Mary intended by a “little longer,” but it was in that preparation for eternity that Lucia did make Mary known and loved throughout the world and through whom greater devotion to Mary’s Immaculate Heart was brought about. After the deaths of Francisco and Jacinta, the Bishop of Leiria thought it would be prudent to send Lucia away from the people constantly crowding upon her asking her to repeat the story. He wanted her to receive an education in order to be able to communicate in writing what had occurred. Lucia would eventually become a prolific author, writing under obedience four memoirs of the apparitions, two manuscripts about her parents, a diary of 2,000 pages, 10,000 letters including several to Popes, and many other personal texts. Prior to the apparitions, she had expressed the desire to become a nun. When she made her first Communion at the age of six—four years before most others at the time—she later said, “I lost the taste and attraction for the things of the world, and only felt at home in some solitary place where, all alone, I could recall the delights” of God. That is what she eventually found in the convent, where she lived as the exact opposite of a “celebrity,” serving the other sisters in domestic work and God and the world through her prayers. When she died, St. John Paul II spoke of how well she fulfilled her Mission. “The visit of the Virgin Mary… was for her the beginning of a singular mission to which she remained faithful until the end of her days. Sr. Lucia leaves us an example of great fidelity to the Lord and of joyful adherence to his divine will. … I have always felt supported by the daily gift of her prayers, especially in the harsh moments of trial and suffering. May the Lord reward her amply for the great and hidden service she has done for the Church.” While Saints Francisco and Jacinta remain examples of heroic childlike response to Mary, Lucia has become one of lifelong perseverance in faithfully, joyfully living out the Fatima message. In God’s mysterious plan, He knew we needed both, and in this Centenary, we thank Him for this double witness and seek, until the end of our days, to emulate it.
St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 35: Issue 41
Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God
OCTOBER 8, 2017
ST. BENILDE CATHOLIC CHURCH – ID # 113850
1901 DIVISION ST.
METAIRIE, LA 70001
504-834-4980
NANCY CAROLLO
504-834-4980
MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAYS - 9 A.M. TO 3 P.M.
FRIDAYS - 9 A.M. TO 12 NOON
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS:FYI—a change was made on the
cover of the bulletin for the principal’s name.