1 st Sunday of Advent November 29, 2015 St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish 4700 PINEDA STREET • NEW ORLEANS, LA 70126 CHURCH LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF LOUISA DR AND PINEDA – 5029 LOUISA DR. PHONE 504 282 0296 • FAX 504 288 8585 • WEB PAGE ADDRESS www.stgabe.net • EMAIL ADDRESS [email protected]PASTORAL TEAM: MASS SCHEDULE: Pastor: Rev. John Payne, J.C.L. Saturday Vigil: 4:00 p.m. Pastoral Associate: Mrs. Michele Bergeron Sunday: 8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Parish Secretary: Mrs. Belinda Rodgers Daily: 8:30 a.m.-Mon. – Thurs. in Daily Chapel OFFICE HOURS: MAINTENANCE STAFF: Monday: 11:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Mr. Willie Daniel Tuesday - Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Mr. Christopher Travis Patin NEW PARISHIONERS: Welcome! Please fill out a Registration Form in church or on the webpage. Also, all parishioners please complete the form to notify us of your change of address, telephone number, or email. The form can be placed in the collection basket, given to an usher, or sent to the office. CONFESSION (Reconciliation): Saturday 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. or any time by appointment. BAPTISM: Parents must call the parish office at least 3 months prior to the Baptism. Baptism is ordinarily celebrated on the second Sunday of the month. PARISH SCHOOL OF RELIGION (PSR): provides religious formation for youth Pre-K through high school. PSR meets Sunday mornings at 9 a.m., September thru May. MARRIAGE: As soon as a decision to marry is reached, an appointment should be arranged by the couple with the priest to begin the process of marriage preparation. This should be at least 1 year in advance of the anticipated wedding date. Reservations should not be made with a reception hall before setting the date and time of the wedding with the church. VISITATION OF THE SICK: Please inform the parish office when someone is sick, shut-in, or hospitalized, and unable to attend mass. FUNERAL: When a member of the family dies, please notify the priest as soon as possible, before making arrangements with the funeral home.
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St. Gabriel the Archangel Parish 4700 PINEDA STREET • NEW ORLEANS, LA 70126
CHURCH LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF LOUISA DR AND PINEDA – 5029 LOUISA DR.
Mr. Willie Daniel Tuesday - Thursday: 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Mr. Christopher Travis Patin
NEW PARISHIONERS: Welcome! Please fill out a Registration Form in church or on the webpage. Also, all parishioners please
complete the form to notify us of your change of address, telephone number, or email. The form can be placed in the collection
basket, given to an usher, or sent to the office.
CONFESSION (Reconciliation): Saturday 3:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. Sunday 10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. or any time by appointment.
BAPTISM: Parents must call the parish office at least 3 months prior to the Baptism. Baptism is ordinarily celebrated on the second
Sunday of the month.
PARISH SCHOOL OF RELIGION (PSR): provides religious formation for youth Pre-K through high school. PSR meets Sunday mornings at 9 a.m., September thru May.
MARRIAGE: As soon as a decision to marry is reached, an appointment should be arranged by the couple with the priest to begin the process of marriage preparation. This should be at least 1 year in advance of the anticipated wedding date. Reservations should not be made with a reception hall before setting the date and time of the wedding with the church.
VISITATION OF THE SICK: Please inform the parish office when someone is sick, shut-in, or hospitalized, and unable to attend
mass.
FUNERAL: When a member of the family dies, please notify the priest as soon as possible, before making arrangements with
The second reading today tells us when Christ comes again we are to be blameless in holiness. How do we do that?
Maybe some examples will help.
If you are blameless under law, then no one can blame you for any violation of the law of the land. You weren’t
speeding, for example, or cheating on your income tax, or violating any other law of the city or country. If you are
morally blameless, then no one can blame you for any violation of the moral law. You weren’t lying, for example, or
cheating on your spouse, or violating any other command of the universal moral law that applies to all people no matter
where they are.
So here’s the thing to see. You can keep all the laws of your land and still be a real jerk. And the same truth holds for
the moral law. You can be a priggishly righteous jerk about that too. To be blameless in holiness something more than having a great record for keeping the laws is necessary to be ready for the Lord’s coming. That more is love.
If you want what is bad for your neighbor, if you curse him in public or even in your heart, if you wish he would just
go away, if you tell him in your thoughts or to his face to go to hell—you do not love him. And you are blameworthy with regard to holiness if you don’t. It doesn’t matter how moral or legal your conduct is otherwise.
To be blameless in holiness, then, takes being loving. And being loving is what makes us ready for the return of the
Lord. The best preparation for Advent is hearts strengthened through love of one another.
If any parishioner would like to list the names of their deceased loved ones, please complete an In Memory Of
envelope, which can be found on the entrance tables or call the parish office to make arrangements.
RETIREMENT FUND FOR RELIGIOUS - COLLECTION DECEMBER 12 & 13
Senior Catholic sisters, brothers, and religious order priests have spent their lives ministering to others, often for little, if any, pay. Their sacrifices now leave their religious communities without adequate savings for retirement and health care. Your gift to the collection for the Retirement Fund for Religious supports their day-to-day care, providing necessities such as prescription medications and nursing care. Envelopes have been included in your envelope packages, or you may donate through your WeShare account, or pick up an envelope from the entrance tables.
Food for Seniors – Early Distribution December 7
The Jubilee Year of Mercy With the forthcoming Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy, beginning December 8, 2015 and lasting through November 20,
2016, Pope Francis has invited the Church to rediscover and to celebrate the centrality of God’s mercy in our world and our
lives. In his announcement of the Holy Year of Mercy the Holy Father declared, “I am confident that the whole Church,
which is in such need of mercy for we are sinners, will be able to find in this Jubilee the joy of rediscovering and rendering
fruitful God’s mercy, with which we are all called to give comfort to every man and every woman of our time.… Let us
henceforth entrust this Year to the Mother of Mercy, that she turn her gaze upon us and watch over our journey” (Homily at
the Celebration of Penance, March 13, 2015). This will be a special time for the Church across the world to take approximately a
year to focus on forgiveness and healing in a special way.
The logo and motto are shown here. Together they provide a fitting summary of what the Jubilee Year is all about. The motto
Merciful Like the Father (taken from the Gospel of Luke, 6:36) serves as an invitation to follow the merciful example of the
Father who asks us not to judge or condemn but to forgive and to give love and forgiveness without measure (cfr. Lk 6:37-
38). The logo – the work of Jesuit Father Marko I. Rupnik – presents a small summa theologiae of
the theme of mercy. In fact, it represents an image quite important to the early Church: that of the
Son having taken upon his shoulders the lost soul demonstrating that it is the love of Christ that
brings to completion the mystery of his incarnation culminating in redemption. The logo has been
designed in such a way so as to express the profound way in which the Good Shepherd touches the
flesh of humanity and does so with a love with the power to change one’s life. One particular feature
worthy of note is that while the Good Shepherd, in his great mercy, takes humanity upon himself,
his eyes are merged with those of man. Christ sees with the eyes of Adam, and Adam with the eyes
of Christ. Every person discovers in Christ, the new Adam, one’s own humanity and the future that
lies ahead, contemplating, in his gaze, the love of the Father.
The scene is captured within the mandorla (the shape of an almond), a figure quite important in
early and medieval iconography, for it calls to mind the two natures of Christ, divine and human. The three concentric ovals,
with colors progressively lighter as we move outward, suggest the movement of Christ who carries humanity out of the night
of sin and death. The darker color suggests the depth of the love of the Father whose love penetrates the darkness and forgives
all.
Pope Francis’ Prayer for the Year of Mercy
Lord Jesus Christ,
you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,
and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.
Show us your face and we will be saved.
Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;
the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;
made Peter weep after his betrayal,
and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.
Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:
“If you knew the gift of God!”
You are the visible face of the invisible Father,
of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:
let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.
You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weakness
in order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:
let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.
Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,
so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,
and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,
proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,
and restore sight to the blind.
We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy,
you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen
Advent and Christmas Schedule
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Tuesday, December 8 8:30 a.m. in Daily Chapel 7:00 p.m. in the Church
Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession)
Monday, December 14 Tuesday, December 15
Wednesday, December 16 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in Church
Scripture Study - “Mary in Scripture”
Wednesdays Dec 2, Dec 9, Dec 16 6:30 – 7:45 p.m.
Repeats on Sunday Dec 6, Dec 13, Dec 20 9:00 – 10:15 p.m.
Parish Hall
Christmas Masses
Christmas Eve Vigil Thursday, December 24
6:00 p.m. in Church Caroling begins at 5:30 p.m.
Christmas Day Friday, December 25 9:00 a.m. in Church
Feast of the Holy Family Saturday, December 26
4:00 p.m. Vigil Mass Sunday, December 27
8:00 a.m. Mass 10:30 a.m. Mass
All Masses are in Church
Monday, Dec 28, Tuesday, Dec 29 Wednesday, Dec 30
8:30 a.m. Mass in Daily Chapel
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God New Year’s Eve,
Thursday, December 31 5:00 p.m. Vigil Mass
In Church (NOTE: Only one mass)
Epiphany of the Lord Saturday, January 2 4:00 p.m. Vigil Mass Sunday, January 3
8:00 a.m. Mass 10:30 a.m. Mass
All Masses are in Church
Providing affordable housing for seniors for more than 45 years.
1000 Howard Ave., Suite 100
New Orleans, LA 70113
Phone: 504-596-3460
Fax: 504-596-3466
TTY 800-846-5277
www.christopherhomes.org
BUSINESS ADVERTISEMENTS NEEDED – Do you own your own business or know of someone
who does? Then why not prayerfully consider renewing or placing an ad in our weekly bulletin?
If you or someone you know would be interested in advertising in the bulletin please contact the
Universal: That we may be open to personal encounter and dialogue with all, even those
whose convictions differ from our own.
Evangelization: That pastors of the Church, with profound love for their flocks, may
accompany them and enliven their hope.
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has
anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He
has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and
recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed
go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.
Luke 4:18-19
Crèche Exhibit-2015, St. Alphonsus Art and Cultural
Center The annual International Crèche Exhibit at St. Alphonsus Art and Cultural Center will open at noon Sunday, November 29, 2015, at St. Mary’s Assumption Church and will remain open Monday through Saturday, 10:00 AM-2:00 PM. It will also be open Sunday, December 6, 2015, noon - 4:00 PM. More than 100 Crèches will be exhibited. This is open to the public. For more information, contact Blanche Comiskey at 504-482-0008.
