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Mass Times
- Saturday Vigil 4:00 PM EnglishEnglishEN
- Sunday 7:30 AM EnglishEnglishEN 9:00 AM EnglishEnglishEN Doughnuts and coffee after Mass 11:00 AM EnglishEnglishEN Children's Liturgy of the Word and doughnuts and coffee after Mass 6:00 PM EnglishEnglishEN TEEN Mass the second Sunday of every month with music and homilies especially for the Young Church!
- Monday 8:45 AM EnglishEnglishEN Rosary and Novenas at 8:10 am 6:00 PM EnglishEnglishEN
- Tuesday 8:45 AM EnglishEnglishEN Rosary and Novenas at 8:10 am 6:00 PM EnglishEnglishEN
- Wednesday 6:00 AM EnglishEnglishEN 8:45 AM EnglishEnglishEN Rosary and Novenas at 8:10 am.
- Thursday 6:00 AM EnglishEnglishEN 8:45 AM EnglishEnglishEN Rosary and Novenas at 8:10 am
- Friday 8:45 AM EnglishEnglishEN Rosary and Novenas at 8:10 am
- First Friday 12:10 PM LatinLatineLA Mass (1962)
- First Saturday 8:45 AM EnglishEnglishEN
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Confession Times
- Sunday 5:00 PM to 5:45 PM Also by appointment and special times
- Wednesday 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM
- Saturday 3:00 PM to 3:45 PM
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A message from Father Pat Wattigny, Pastor
Dear Parishioners,
As you have heard and read at Masses and elsewhere, we are in the middle of what I will call "Round 2 Delayed" of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. I call it “Round 2 Delayed,” because much of what the Pennsylvania grand jury reported and the Mr. McCarrick affair revealed in Washington D.C. are old evils and crimes that are only now coming to the light of truth, and since the bishops of this country exempted themselves in 2002 from the Dallas Charter norms which set down punishments and guidelines for how to clean up this mess, now we see some of the sick chickens coming home to roost for our poor Church. For the most part, and I have read 75% of the Pennsylvania report, the sins and crimes are not current, but we know that they can still happen today: our neighboring Diocese of Lafayette had to remove a priest from ministry just two or three months ago for a recent crime committed. My point in mentioning all this sludge --- and there are a few words that could describe this horror better, but they’re not fit to print --- is that we all need to pray and act for the purification of the Church.
Let me be clear here. The evils of clergy sex abuse are precisely that -- evil! They are crimes, and in my office as both pastor here at St. Luke and chaplain at Pope John Paul High School, I will not tolerate ANYONE who abuses a child or young adult entrusted to our care. Any such action will be reported immediately to LAW ENFORCEMENT.
I published the letter by Bishop Robert Morlino of Madison, Wisconsin on our parish web site which indicated the severity of the problem of the homosexual subculture within both the priesthood and episcopacy as well as the Bishop's powerful remedies for that problem. I strongly recommend you find Bishop Morlino's letter and read it prayerfully. Our own Archbishop Aymond has written a solid letter about the evil of clergy sex abuse. You can read both of them on our site.
What I propose we do at our local level is to add a Mass of Reparation specifically and only for this intention. I have been considering making that a daily Mass on Fridays at 6 a.m., but it may actually be better to add it on the second Saturday of each month at 8:45 am. The Mass, on whichever day it is celebrated, may not have a homily and will include the Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus added to the end of the Mass so that we may beg God's mercy on the Church. One parishioner has already told to me that adding a Mass might cause resentment in our parishioners, since this would be asking the laity to pray for the sins of the clergy. While there is much truth in that viewpoint, I also know what St. Paul says in the letter to the Corinthians: When one member of the body suffers, the whole body suffers. I am inviting those of you who want to pray for the purification of the Church, for the healing of her members crippled by clergy sexual abuse, and in reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus to let me know your thoughts about which time would be better to do this: whether 6 am on Fridays or 8:45 am on the second Saturday of each month.
I want to propose another idea in conjunction with the series on Humanae Vitae that I did in the bulletins last month. I will begin doing another series in the bulletin shortly, and I have been asked to do a teaching in the parish, also. I want to raise a point here, one that Pope Paul VI prophesied unknowingly 50 years ago when he released that document: that the large-scale rejection of the Church's teaching in Humanae Vitae by CLERGY and laity alike, is, I believe, one of the underlying causes for the scandalous problem, but it is also a path to correcting all of it. It is sad but true that clergy abuse didn’t start there, and it is also true that absolute fidelity to it won't automatically cure the Church of that scourge, but fidelity to Christ can do wonderful things in human lives. So as we pray, fast, and make reparation for all sins, let us all strive to be more faithful to Jesus as disciples, one day at a time!
Yours in the Sacred Heart of Jesus,
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Dear Friends,
A message from Father Francis Offia, Pastor
As you can see from the pictures above, we welcomed the new members of our parish family in a special way last Sunday, August 19th. It was a time of meeting with most of them personally, interacting with them and letting them know how much we appreciated their joining us. This event is born out of the repeated call by the Holy Father, Pope Francis, and our own Archbishop Aymond that Church parishes must become more and more a place of welcoming. Our Archdiocesan Synod, which was concluded few years ago, re-echoed the importance of WELCOMING within the whole scheme of the New Evangelization. And so we were very excited to improve on our own welcoming strategies. We are happy that we accomplished that last Sunday.
But the news around the country days and weeks before August 19th raised a big question in my heart. In the days following the release of the grand jury report in Pennsylvania and the stories surrounding Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and sexual abuse, I asked myself over and over again – is this really the Church into which we are welcoming people? How can we be welcoming people into a Church where, according to the grand jury report, some of the priests abused and molested kids under their care? How can we be welcoming people into a Church where the leadership – some of the bishops - failed to be the true shepherds to the victims of sex abuse? How can we be welcoming people into a Church with such high level of moral decadence? I asked myself, maybe we shouldn’t be welcoming anybody into this kind of Church. However, we went ahead with our celebration to welcome our new parishioners into An Imperfect Church.
I am not the originator of the phrase – “imperfect Church.” One paragraph in the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads: “The Church on earth is endowed already with a sanctity that is real though imperfect. In her members perfect holiness is something yet to be acquired. Strengthened by so many and such great means of salvation, all the faithful, whatever their condition or state - though each in his own way - are called by the Lord to that perfection of sanctity by which the Father himself is perfect.” (CCC 825) Another paragraph goes on to say: “Christ, 'holy, innocent, and undefiled,' knew nothing of sin, but came only to expiate the sins of the people. The Church, however, clasping sinners to her bosom, at once holy and always in need of purification, follows constantly the path of penance and renewal. All members of the Church, including her ministers, must acknowledge that they are sinners. In everyone, the weeds of sin will still be mixed with the good wheat of the Gospel until the end of time. Hence the Church gathers sinners already caught up in Christ's salvation but still on the way to holiness.” (CCC 827)
One of the favorite books that I read for my Ecclesiology class was written by Francis A. Sullivan, S.J. titled, “The Church We Believe In – One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.” The author spends pages in teaching on the Church as A COMPLEX REALITY. The Church is holy, because of the continuous presence of Christ, the Head, and, indeed, of the Blessed Trinity who is always holy. But, also, that the Church is imperfect, because of her human element which consists of broken men and women with their own flaws and limitations.
Therefore, we are welcomed into this Church not because of the human elements of the Church who can err, who have actually erred according to what we learned from the grand jury report.
No. We are welcomed into this Church, because of the ALL HOLY GOD WHO IS FATHER SON, AND HOLY SPIRIT who is present here - despite all this brokenness.
God bless you,
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Questions About the Parish and the Faith
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July 23What is the Catholic Church teaching on organ donation?
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October 17If I've committed a sin and the penalty is automatic excommunication and I didn't realize the penalty was automatic excommunication but I knew it was a sin and now I regret it and want to go to confession to confess it, will I be excommunicated after I confess
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910 Cross Gates Blvd, Slidell, LA 70461
(985) 641-6429 -
Today's Readings
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Reading 1 Eph 4:1-7, 11-13Responsorial Psalm Ps 19:2-3, 4-5Gospel Mt 9:9-13
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This Week
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Saturday, September 22, 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
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Sunday, September 23, 5:00 PM - 5:45 PM
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Monday, September 24, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
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Tuesday, September 25
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Tuesday, September 25, 9:30 AM - 11:30 AM
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Adoration Times
- Perpetual: All or welcomed. If you come in the late or early hours, you will need a key
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NOLACatholic News
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September 21
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September 19
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September 19
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September 15
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News from the Vatican
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No one can remain indifferent to the way minority groups are increasingly the object of so much fear, scorn and hatred, Pope Francis said.
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While God’s holy church is made up of sinners, it also has its share of hypocrites who love to cry “scandal” to point out the failings of others and make themselves appear pure, Pope Francis said at...
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In a series of letters leaked to the press, retired Pope Benedict XVI chastised a German cardinal for criticizing his decision to resign from the papacy, saying an understandable pain as a result of...
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