LIVE-STREAM MASSES: Although many people have returned to the in-person celebration of the Mass (either on the weekend or the less-crowded weekday Masses) for some, that is still not a safe, comfortable option. We at St. Catherine Labouré Parish had resumed our regular Mass schedule months ago and we have been offering a live-streamed Mass, through our parish website, for even longer. Many people make use of that option so that they can, from the safety of their own home, still experience the celebration of the Mass and feel a connection to their parish community. We receive expressions of appreciation frequently regarding the live-stream Masses. However, originally we were only able to stream Masses from St. Joan of Arc Church, so we did not stream a Mass on the days when we didn’t have a Mass at St. Joan’s. With the installation of a new and better camera system at both of our churches, we can now stream from both and we will thus be filling in the gaps in our streaming schedule with Masses from St. Louise de Marillac Church. Starting this weekend and continuing until further notice, our live stream schedule will be enhanced by including a Friday and Saturday morning Mass from St. Louise de Marillac church as well as the 6:00 PM Saturday evening Mass (which is the anticipated Mass for Sunday), also from St. Louise. As we have had some difficulties at times streaming through Facebook, while we’ll continue to use that platform, we are encouraging those who watch the Mass to do so through our parish website. 

The Live-Stream schedule will be as follows:

• Mondays at 8:00am - St. Joan
• Tuesdays at 8:00am - St. Joan
• Wednesdays at 8:00am - St. Joan
• Thursday at 8:00am - St. Joan
• Friday at 9:00am - St. Louise
• Satruday at 9:00am - St. Louise
• Saturday Vigil Mass at 6:00pm - St. Louise
• Sunday at 11:00am - St. Joan

 

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TWO BECOME ONE: One of the beautiful aspects of our Catholic Sacrament of Marriage is the realization that, by the grace of God, two people are so profoundly joined that the “two become one.” That “one new person” is made stronger and better by the qualities / gifts of each spouse. One spouse doesn't “absorb” the other or “consume” the other, but instead, through each spouse sharing who they are with the other, they benefit and support each other. A similar dynamic is at work in bringing together the parish communities of St. Joan of Arc and St. Louise de Marillac. The two have become one in St. Catherine Labouré Parish, and this new parish family is better and stronger as a local manifestation of the body of Christ, than each parish individually. As a larger community, founded on faith, our new parish has great potential to see new, enhanced, enriched ministries; to provide new and greater opportunities for people to grow in, live and celebrate the Faith; and to benefit from the wider range of gifts /skills / talents embodied by it’s people. Hopefully, as time goes on (and we get past the restrictions and limitations imposed by Covid) all those of our parish will begin to experience, appreciate, be a part of, and share with others the vibrant faith life that can and should be a hallmark of St. Catherine Labouré Parish.
 

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PRAYING FOR OTHERS: One illustration of my above point is with regard to the power of prayer. Both the former St. Joan of Arc PARISH and the former St. Louise de Marillac PARISH had wonderful traditions of praying for their members who were sick, carrying crosses of any kind, or who had passed from this life. That is one of the areas in which the strength of a now larger community of faith can be realized. We have combined our bulletin prayer lists into one so that we can all be praying for anyone who has requested prayers, regardless of what former parish community the request was associated with. Hopefully all the members of St. Catherine Labouré Parish will take on the powerful work of charity of praying for one another!

You will also notice in our petitions at our weekend Masses, instead of mentioning by name all those who have asked for prayer (the list of which can become quite lengthy at times), we will collectively prayer for all those on our Parish Bulletin Prayer List. This list, with all the individual names, will be in the bulletin each week. Names can be added to this list at any time by notifying the parish office.
Please note, though:

• out of respect for a person’s privacy, the request to have someone’s name added to our published prayer list must come from the individual themselves or an immediate family member.
• Also, as people often recovery from illness or difficult situations by the aid of prayer, names will stay on the prayer list for a maximum of four weeks. After that, if the person is in further need of prayer, their name can easily be added back onto the list, but it will need to be resubmitted.

- Fr. Dan