It was now about noon and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon
because of an eclipse of the sun.
Then the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.
Jesus cried out in a loud voice,
“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit”;
and when he had said this he breathed his last. (Lk. 23:44-46)

*  *  *

“Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion” begins Holy Week. If you have never really experienced all of the services of Holy Week, consider doing so this year. Commemorating the events of the Lord’s Suffering and Death help us to have a greater understanding of the importance of the Easter Resurrection. Jesus had to suffer and die before he rose.

On Holy Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 p.m., which commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist when Jesus washed his Apostle’s feet. This Mass begins the Sacred Triduum, and it is when the Eucharist is removed from the center Tabernacle in the church and “reposed” in another altar to commemorate Jesus’ being arrested and jailed. This year we will have Adoration at this Altar of Repose from the end of Mass until the sun rises on Good Friday at 6:00 a.m.  On Good Friday the church will be open beginning at 7:00am for those who are walking to visit the nine churches. Also open will be St. Henry Church and Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, both of which will be closed at noon.

Later on Good Friday the Veneration of the Cross will take placed 3:00 p.m., the hour of the death of Our Lord. Stations of the Cross will take place at 6:00 p.m.

Holy Saturday is a day of great stillness, as we remember that Christ had died and descended into Hell. That great stillness is broken by the joy of the Easter Vigil Mass at 8:00 p.m., when we loudly proclaim the Resurection of Our Lord. The Easter Vigil which will be preceded by Confessions beginning at 6:30 p.m. There will be no 4:00 p.m. vigil Mass, and Masses on Easter Sunday will be as usual at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

This weekend there is a sign-up sheet at the back of church for those who will respond to the plea of Jesus “to stay awake with me one hour” (Mt. 26:40) on Holy Thursday. It is one of the most solemn nights of the year to contemplate Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prepares for his Passion and Death. Please consider taking one of the hours to fill out our Holy Thursday Vigil. And please consider attending all of the events of Holy Week, which is the most important week of the year for all Catholics.

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ,
the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know Him and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of His sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.. (Phil. 3:8-11)

*    *    *

St. Paul constantly used the words “in Christ” to speak about his goal. He wanted to “gain Christ” and gain righteousness from faith “in Christ.” The great spiritual classic “Imitation of Christ” and even wrist bands asking “What Would Jesus Do,” remind us that we are called to configure our life to Christ. We don’t just follow His example, we are called to live like Him. When we suffer, we carry His cross. When we rejoice, we thank Him. Easter is a good time to conform our lives to the Passion.

There are only two weeks until Easter Sunday. Next weekend is Palm Sunday, and then we begin Holy Week. Each year there are quite a few who attend all of the events of Holy Week, but many people limit themselves to the bare necessities: Holy Days of Obligation. If you have never really experienced all of the services of Holy Week, consider doing so this year. Commemorating the events of the Lord’s Suffering and Death help us to have a greater understanding of the importance of the Easter Resurrection. Jesus had to suffer and die before he rose.

On Holy Thursday we will celebrate the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 p.m., which commemorates the institution of the Holy Eucharist when Jesus washed his Apostle’s feet. This Mass begins the Sacred Triduum, and it is when the Eucharist is removed from the center Tabernacle in the church and “reposed” in another altar to commemorate Jesus’ being arrested and jailed. This year we will have Adoration at this Altar of Repose from the end of Mass until the sun rises on Good Friday at 6:00 a.m. On Good Friday the church will be open beginning at 7:00am for those who are walking to visit the nine churches. Also open will be St. Henry Church and Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, both of which will be closed at noon. Later on Good Friday will be the Veneration of the Cross at 3:00 p.m., the hour of the death of Our Lord. Stations of the Cross will take place at 6:00 p.m. Finally, we will have the Easter Vigil Mass at 8:00 p.m., which will be preceded by Confessions at 6:30 p.m. There will be no 4:00 p.m. vigil Mass, and Masses on Easter Sunday will be as usual at 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

Next Sunday there will be a sign-up sheet at the back of church for those who will respond to the plea of Jesus “to stay awake with me one hour.” (Mt. 26:40) on Holy Thursday. It is one of the most solemn nights of the year to contemplate Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prepares for his Passion and Death. Please consider taking one of the hours to fill out our Holy Thursday Vigil. And please consider attending all of the events of Holy Week, which is the most important week of the year for all Catholics.

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

Many of you at last Sunday’s 10:00am Mass knew that I said Mass for many of the members of Bacchus before their parade rolled. I must admit that wading through traffic to the Convention Center isn’t one of my favorite things to do on a Mardi Gras Sunday. Well, I want to report that the men of Bacchus were very good to us as they took up a collection and made a generous donation to Good Shepherd Parish. I have been friends with a number of the members of Bacchus for years, and this year’s parade was surely exceptional – especially having Drew Brees as King! But one of the rewards for wading through traffic was when Pip Brennan, the captain of Bacchus, came into the luncheon carrying the Lombardi Trophy. Yes, the photo above is real. Congratulations to Bacchus and the Saints!

There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. So cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’
He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’ (Lk 13:6-9)

I love the agricultural parables of Jesus. Anyone who has ever planted and nurtured a garden can understand them. We have such rich soil here in Southern Louisiana that just about anything can grow. So if something in our garden isn’t growing, we’re pretty quick to remove it.

In this parable, it’s pretty clear that the owner of the orchard represents God the Father, who searches the orchard looking for good fruit. In the barren fig tree, he finds none, so he wants it cut it down so that it won’t be wasting the soil. The gardener in the parable represents Jesus who asks for another year to spend special attention to the tree before a decision is made to cut it down.
We don’t have to stretch too far to see the deeper meaning behind the parable. The trees of the garden represent each of us, and the barren tree represents those people who people receive all types of gifts from the soil, but give nothing back. Those people are “wasting soil,” and should be cut down because in a sense they are already dead.

But Jesus pleads for those barren lives, and asks that they be given another chance to bear fruit. And we shouldn’t make light of the words of Jesus. He who is “kind and merciful” isn’t proposing a permanent decision not to cut the tree down. He’s proposing “another chance.” He’s interceding to give us another chance. And so each Sunday He cultivates our souls with His words of spirit and life in the Scripture, and He fertilizes our souls with His Sacred Body and Blood in the Eucharist. And He asks each of us to bear fruit.

What does it mean “to bear fruit”? Does it mean just to “be nice to people” and not to commit mortal sin? Is it just showing up for Mass, putting a dollar in the collection, receiving Communion and going home? From the parable, it appears to mean something more. It means to produce a harvest of good works. It means taking part in the corporal works of mercy (feed the hungry; give drink to the thirsty; clothe the naked; shelter the homeless; visit the sick; visit those in prison; and bury the dead) and the spiritual works of mercy (instruct the ignorant; counsel the doubtful; admonish sinners; bear wrongs patiently; forgive offences willingly; comfort the afflicted; and pray for the living and the dead).

As we prepare for our Parish Ministry Fair next weekend, consider what fruits God is calling you to bear. He’s given you another chance, another year. His Son is cultivating and fertilizing your soul. What fruit will you bear?

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

As I mentioned in the bulletin and at Mass several weeks ago, we will start using some of the Latin Mass parts in our Lenten Sunday Masses.  On the opposite page are those parts.  They are the “Sanctus” (Holy, Holy, Holy), the “Mysterium Fidei” (the Mystery of Faith) and the “Agnus Dei” (the Lamb of God).  Many of the older members of the parish will be quite familiar with the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei, if not the Mysterium Fidei, but everyone will find that they are very easy to chant, once you get used to it.

February 26-28, 2010

Young men (high school seniors, college age or older) who are interested in taking a closer look at diocesan priesthood are asked to attend a retreat at the Carmelite Spirit Life Center in Lacombe.  For more information call (504) 861-6298 or email vocations @archdiocese-no.org

While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him, and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him. (Lk 15:20)
*    *    *
When we hear the Gospel for this Sunday, our mind immediately identifies it as the “Parable of the Prodigal Son.” It’s so familiar that we could probably recite it from memory and likely explain it to others. We call the son “prodigal” because what he did was “prodigious” meaning “extraordinary in size and degree.” Calling someone a “prodigious” spender means they are a person who spends a lot of money. And the son is call “prodigal” because he spent his money with a wasteful extravagance.

Our eyes tend to be fixed on the prodigal son rather than on the father or the other son. He’s the protagonist. He’s the one who carries the action of the parable by demanding his inheritance, skipping town, spending all of his money and then finding himself in the lowest place possible – the one who feeds the pigs. We keep our eyes on him with a small sense of scorn. “How could he do that to his family?” we wonder. And we begin to compare him to other “prodigal sons” we might know in our own lives.
But there’s something else about the son. We might also see a little bit of ourselves in his conduct. We might recall how we’ve “squandered” gifts given to us by our family and by God. And we might then shift our gaze to another character in the parable: the father.

In the “return home” of the son, we can visualize the sad father looking out across the fields, longing for the return of his beloved son. Then we see his eyes widen he recognizes the distant figure of his son walking downcast toward the family home. And then we see the joy on the father’s face and the tears in his eyes, as he jumps to his feet and runs out with abandon to embrace his lost son!

How can the father be so forgiving? Why doesn’t he condemn the scurrilous conduct of his son? It only makes sense because Jesus is talking about our heavenly Father, who isn’t concerned about His own pain. He is concerned about us – how we are hurting ourselves by taking the gifts of God and turning away from the giver, as if the gifts alone can bring us happiness. That’s what we do when we sin. And sin puts us in the mud with the pigs.

Sure the story is rightly called the “Parable of the Prodigal Son,” but it could also be the “Parable of the Prodigious Father” because of the extraordinary way that the Father forgives us. His is not a conditional forgiveness putting us on a “restrictived allowance” so it won’t happen again. He doesn’t “clip our wings” but restores us to the same status we had before. And that’s when we realize how generous He really is. Lent is a good time to realize how much Our Father wants to restore us to our souls to their original, unstained status through the Sacrament of Confession. Don’t forget your “Easter duty”!

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

Reverend Thomas Chambers, CSC was the celebrant last week for the 10:30am Mass, and is now in residence at Good Shepherd Parish.

Father Chambers is a member of the Congregation of the Holy Cross, and lived at Sacred Heart Church on Canal Street until it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. He is the past president of Our Lady of Holy Cross College on the West Bank, and he is currently President of the Willwoods Community (www.willwoods.org), an entity of the Archdiocese of New Orleans that ministers in the areas of faith and marriage, affordable housing, and assisted-care living (Malta Park in our parish). Willwoods also co-owns and operates WLAE public television station. The slogan of Willwoods is “rooted in prayer, united in service,” and that could best describe Father Tom! Father is regularly present at our Tuesday evening Holy Hours and Mass, but will also be taking part in other parish activities according to his schedule. So if you happen to see him, give him a hearty “welcome to Good Shepherd, Father Tom!”

While he was still speaking, a cloud came and cast a shadow over them, and they became frightened when they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said,
“This is my beloved Son; listen to him.” (Lk 9:34-36a)

What a difference a week has made. Last weekend we heard of Christ going into the desert to be tempted by the devil. And this weekend, Christ has gone from the desolation of the desert to the glory of the Transfiguration on the mountaintop where God announces Jesus as being His beloved Son. But why do we go from one dramatic place to another during this first week of Lent? Most of the Church Fathers saw the Transfiguration as a glimpse of the glory of Christ given to his disciples so that they might be strengthened to witness the scandal of the Cross.  And this is certainly true. But three things immediately jump out of the reading.

First, is the number of apostles. Not all of the twelve are present – only Peter, James and John, the same three apostles that would accompany Jesus into the Garden of Gethsemane. Even though they were strengthened by their witness to the glory of the Transfiguration, they would still flee at the beginning of the persecution of Christ.

The second point is the encounter between Jesus and Moses and Elijah. Of course, an easy connection can be made to Jesus being the fulfillment of the law (represented by Moses, who received the Ten Commandments) and the prophets (represented by the prototypical Elijah). But it’s important to note what they are discussing on Mt. Tabor. Shrouded in glory, they’re not focused on Heaven’s glory but on the “exodus that He was going to accomplish in Jerusalem.” This exodus meant the passage Jesus would make from the slavery of death to the Promised Land of eternal life, a journey prefigured in the exodus by which Moses led the Jewish people out from the slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land of Israel. And the means by which Jesus would accomplish this exodus is His suffering and death. Once again, the Transfiguration points to the cross.

And then comes the third, penultimate point of the passage: God the Father speaks. He confirms His Son’s true identity. Jesus wasn’t John the Baptist, or Elijah, or one of the prophets, as many people believed. He wasn’t simply the long-awaited Messiah. God the Father thundered from heaven, “This is my beloved Son!” Then he gave a command to the three apostles with Jesus on the mountain: “Listen to Him!” The command echoes to us to listen to what Jesus said about his suffering and death, and believe in Him.

The encounter on Mt. Tabor is given for us to remember where we are headed. Is it to the glory of Heaven represented by the transfigured Lord? We hope so. But we can only get there through the Paschal Mystery: the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Lent, we embrace the cross. It’s the only means by which we are saved.

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty

Filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days, to be tempted by the devil. (Lk 4:1-2a)

That little verse above is the reason behind the holy Season of Lent. And all I can say is thank God for Lent!

I always look forward to Lent. And this year is no exception. Christmas ran into New Year’s, and then weekly victories by the Saints kept the emotional level of the city high until the Mardi Gras season started. Then we won the Super Bowl, which was followed by the biggest parade the city has ever seen! And if we hadn’t had enough excitement, it’s still before Mardi Gras weekend and four days of parades in front of the church!

Now that Lent is here, I’m happy to create my own little desert of calm by the Lenten disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. It’s the perfect remedy to the last two weeks of noise, feasting and excess. Let’s all take a deep breath!

One of the good disciplines of Lent is “giving something up.” When I was in seminary, I remember that my rector always gave up smoking cigars during Lent. And then one Friday in Lent, I went by his room and smelled cigar smoke. The next day I asked him about it, and he said that he decided to do something different because he felt like everyone knew he gave up cigars. He felt like he was doing it for the “crowd” rather than God. Well, I’m not sure that that was necessarily a “bad” thing that people knew about it.

Think about the Gospel today and the fast of Jesus. The only way the Evangelist Luke would have known to write about the 40 day fast is if Jesus had told His disciples about it! No one else was there when Christ fasted. He must have opened up his heart to tell them a little about this important moment in His hidden life. Sharing pain can help with healing, sharing joy can bring joy, and sharing penance can give strength. Jesus shared this story to tell us that He was tempted and He overcame. And filled with the same Holy Spirit as Jesus, we can overcome the temptations of the world so as to focus on the reward of heaven. I ate my last bit of steak on Tuesday night and washed it down with a last sip of wine. And now I’ve got those imposing 40 days ahead of me. Maybe in a few years when I build up enough spiritual strength, I’ll have the courage to give up coffee!

Rev. Msgr. Christopher H. Nalty