ST. BENILDE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

1901 Division Street • Metairie, Louisiana 70001

Church Office: (504) 834-4980 • Church Fax: (504) 831-5810 • Church Email: stbenildechurch@cox.net

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.