December 2, 2018 - First Sunday of Advent

Rev. M. Keith LaBove, Pastor Parish Website: www.stpat.org

stpat.org@gmail.com

Office Hours

Monday – Thursday: 8:30 am – 3:00 pm; Friday 8:30 am – 12 noon Celebration of the Eucharist

Saturday: 4:00 pm – Sunday: 8:30 & 10:00 am Monday through Friday: 7:30 am

Holydays of Obligation: 7:30 am only Sacrament of Reconciliation

Saturday: 3:00 – 3:30 pm and Weekdays: 7:00-7:25 am (and by appointment)

Baptisms

Seminars are held every other month - register

by calling the office. At-tendance is suggested

during pregnancy.

Anointing of the Sick The Church recom-

mends this sacrament for those who are grave-

ly ill or in danger of death. Call the priest to

arrange a visit.

Weddings

Arrangements must be made at least six

months in advance to allow time for prepara-

tion and planning.

406 East Pinhook Road Lafayette, LA 70501-8727

Phone: (337) 237-0988

Welcome to St. Patrick Church

First Sunday of Advent December 2, 2018

MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK

Saturday, December 1--Vigil of the First Sunday of Advent 4:00 PM: Dr. Leonard & Betty Rolfes Sunday, December 2--First Sunday of Ad-vent

8:30 AM: Sick List 10:00 AM: Parishioners of St. Patrick Monday, December 3--St. Francis Xavier, Priest

7:30 AM: Jeanette & David Dugas; Mary Frances & Gene Rozas; Pat & Raymond Tassin Tuesday, December 4--St. John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church 7:30 AM: Francis Stutes

Wednesday, December 5--Weekday 7:30 AM: Dr. Tommy Comeaux & Dorinne; Col. Clark Comeaux & Catherine (living); Col. Kimberly Fedele (living) Thursday, December 6--St. Nicholas 7:30 AM: Eldon Butler Friday, December 7--St. Ambrose, Bishop 7:30 AM: Dr. Charles Stewart

Non-Liturgical Devotions Daily Rosary: Monday - Thursday 6:55 am Our Lady of Perpetual Help Novena: Tues-day 7:15 am Rosary for Priests: Wednesday 7:00 am Chaplet of Divine Mercy: Thursday 7:15 am Pro-Life Rosary: 1st Fri. of the month 7 am

“Friendsgiving in Christ” A heartfelt “Thank You” to all who graciously volunteered their time and talent in making our “Friendsgiving in Christ” a success. Thank you as well for your presence and your generous donations in sharing your blessings from the Lord with those less fortunate. Upcoming Weekend Retreat Jesuit Spirituality Center, Robin Hebert Pre-senter. Bearing Our Sacred Mysteries: A Jour-ney with Our Mother, January 17—January 20. Fee: $290.00. For more information: 337-662-3187 or jesuitspiritualitycenter.org

I will raise up for David a just shoot; he shall do what is right and just in the land. — Jeremiah 33:15

The Light is on For You On the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of Advent (Dec. 5 & 19) from 6:30—8:00 pm St. Patrick and all the parishes of the Diocese of Lafayette will be open for individual confession. Please make plans to come on Advent Wednesdays and spread the word of this spe-cial outreach of mercy to those you know. Immaculate Conception Next Saturday, December 8th., is the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary and it is a holyday of obligation. Mass will be at 9:00 a.m. We honor Mary, the Immaculate Conception who is Pa-troness of the United States. The collection will be for the Needy. The angel who brought Mary the news called her “favored one”. The Church echoed those words when, in 1854, it proclaimed as doctrine the Immaculate Concep-tion. So widespread was this belief that eight years before the Vatican pronouncement, United States bishops had embraced Mary as America’s patroness under the title of the Immaculate Conception.

Holy Hour for Vocations You are invited to the monthly “Holy Hour for Vocations and for the Spiritual Renewal of All Priests” on Monday, December 3rd., from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at St. Patrick Catho-lic Church, 406 E. Pinhook Road. Recitation of the Rosary begins at 5:30 p.m. All are welcome to join in these prayers for vocations and perseverance of vocations to the priest-hood and religious life sponsored by the Serra Club of Lafayette. "Glorious Night" Christmas Concert! Coming for the first time to Lafayette for one night only, the Daughters of St. Paul Choir will be performing a "Glorious Night" Christmas Concert! This concert will take place on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, at 7 PM at Angelle Hall, 601 E. St. Mary Boulevard on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The Sisters are taking sponsorships and tickets are on sale now, go to www.Pauline.org/LAFconcert or call 504-887-7631 for more information. 40 Hours Devotion—Our Lady of Fatima The priests of the Diocese of Lafayette invite you to join them in a 40 Hours Devotion at Our Lady of Fatima in Lafayette. This popular devotion involves 40 hours of Eu-charistic Adoration, and will be staffed by priests. It will begin with Holy Mass at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday (Fr. Mi-chael Russo), December 6, 2018 and will conclude with Holy Mass at 8 a.m. on Saturday, December 8, 2018 (Fr. Michael Champagne, CJC). This devotion is being offered for the reparation of sins committed by priests. Feel free to drop in at any time during this period for quiet prayer in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord. Please join us in praying for our Church and the sanctification of the clergy. Food for the Journey The Central Deanery of the Diocese of Lafayette pre-sents “Food for the Journey”, a monthly lunchtime speak-ers series designed to help Catholics live out our faith in our daily lives. Our speaker for December is Rev. Floyd Calais, Retired Priest of the Diocese of Lafayette. “Food for the Journey” will be held on Tuesday, December 11, 2018, at River Oaks Catering and Event Center Lafayette, 520 East Kaliste Saloom Road, beginning at 12:00 noon. An optional buffet is available for purchase beginning at 11:30 a.m. All are welcome to come “eat and be fed” – please bring a friend! Pre-registration is not required. For more information, please call Danielle Huval (232-1322). Schedule of Christmas Masses Christmas Eve: Monday, December 24: 4 & 6 pm Christmas Day: Tuesday, December 25: 8:30 & 10 am New Year’s Eve: Monday, December 31: 4 pm New Year’s Day: Tuesday, January 1: 9 am

Centennial News Centennial Mass—All are invited– The closing Mass for the Centennial Year of our Diocese will be December 12th at the Cajundome Convention Center, at 6 pm. Our Diocese and the wonderful people of our dio-cese and how God has poured forth His Love and guid-ance upon us in these last 100 Years will be the fo-cus—A Century of love. Along with the Mass, there will be a Historical Display before and after the Mass as well as a presentation of the many people and cul-tures of our Diocese. The doors will open at 4:30 be-cause there will be much to be a part of and see. All Catholics throughout our whole Diocese are invited and encouraged to attend. Please mark your calendars. Tolton—From Slave to Priest—performed live by Jim Coleman, December 6th at 7 pm and December 7th at 7 pm at St. Pius X Elementary School Auditori-um in Lafayette (205 E. Bayou Pkwy). Admission is $25 (ages 10 & up). For ticket information contact Stephanie Bernard—337-261-5694 or visit: www.diolaf.org. Centennial Yard Signs—All Week—let us all put out our Centennial Yard Signs in solidarity of faith, know-ing that God continues to make us His Church with His Grace. Centennial Items for Sale — a limited amount of items were created for this Centennial Year and are true collectors’ items which will only be available dur-ing the remainder of this year—Centennial History of the Diocese of Lafayette (book), Centennial Paper-weight (color design), Centennial Christmas Ornament and the new Silver Commemorative Coin and a de-signer box. These items will be available for purchase at the Convention Center. Second Collection Next Weekend Support the Retirement Fund for Religious. Do you remember the sisters, brothers, or religious order priests who made a positive difference in your life? Today many are elderly and need assistance. This reli-gious communities struggle to meet retirement needs while continuing to serve the People of God. Please give to next week’s Retirement Fund for Religious col-lection. STEWARDSHIP OF THE PAST WEEK Our Response to God’s Generosity to Us Offertory…………….……… $ 2,902.00 Thanksgiving Day (UCO)….. $ 787.49 Thank You!

The second collection this weekend is for our Building Fund. Christmas Project Heifer International: Donation sheets are available under the stairwell. Make checks payable to St. Patrick Church.

Date

Saturday, December 8 4:00 p.m.

Sunday, December 9 8:30 a.m.

Sunday, December 9 10:00 a.m.

Lectors Edward Turner Susan Cain Karen Begnaud

Eucharistic Ministers

Merrick Stelly Janell Venable Dana Guidry

Suzanne Lavergne Maggie Sonnier Gerrie McGovern

Robin Roy Jean Arceneaux Sarah Delatte

Altar Servers Harold Guilbeau Mary Kramer Nicholas Begnaud

Ushers Martha Thompson George Guidry

William & Stephanie Bacque Jenny Feehan Ben Berthelot

Liturgical Roles for December

From the Pastor’s Desk

This weekend marks the First Sunday of Advent. We begin a new liturgical year, we switch from green to violet, decorations become a bit more restrained, and we stop using the Gloria at Mass, at least until Christ-mas. All around us, the sights and sounds of the season tell us that it’s time to get ready for Christmas, nothing more urgently perhaps than our shopping list. As we well know, in some areas this began a few weeks ago.

Part of our challenge in celebrating Advent is to not be sidetracked by this emphasis on Christmas. Our society is not very good at waiting, and Advent is all about waiting. The first thing we have to admit is that the majority of the Christmas trappings all around us have little if anything to do with celebrating the birth of the Christ –Child. We are surrounded instead by marketing efforts aimed at having a successful retail season. The higher the profits, the more successful the season will be judged, with little to no regard for things like peace on earth and goodwill toward men (and women and children).

We can fret about all that, and perhaps enter into the various controversies that seem to plague the sea-son in recent years. But the challenge of truly celebrating Advent runs even deeper than that. For no matter how much it might seem to be so, Advent is not just about preparing for Christmas, even though that glorious feast marks the end of the season.

If we are to grasp the richness of Advent, it is quite instructive to take a look at the Sunday Scripture readings that the Church gives us during the season. The first Sunday, we are all about focusing on the end of the world, and the Second Coming of Christ, when all creation will be redeemed in Christ Jesus. The next two Sunday draw us into the beginnings of Jesus’ public ministry on earth, as we spend not one but two of the four Advent Sundays hearing about “the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord’”. The sto-ry of John the Baptist fills half of our Advent Gospels. This year, because Christmas falls on a Tuesday, we do not even hear about Mary until two days before Christmas.

So yes, Advent is about preparation. It is about a promise, from God himself, to come again. It is also about a presence, as the stories of John announcing Christ invite us to recognize Christ present in our midst. On-ly at the end is Advent about pregnancy and parenthood, as we rejoice in the birth of the Messiah.

Advent is about God coming to rescue his people, as he chooses to do so. It is about hearts open to a God who saves, who transforms, who redeems. How does God want to enter into our lives this year?

Readings for the Week

Monday Is 2:1-5; Ps 122:1-9; Mt 8:5-11

Tuesday Is 11:1-10; Ps 72:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 17; Lk 10:21-24

Wednesday Is 25:6-10a; Ps 23:1-6; Mt 15:29-37

Thursday Is 26:1-6; Ps 118:1, 8-9, 19-21, 25-27a; Mt 7:21, 24-27

Friday Is 29:17-24; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Mt 9:27-31

Saturday Gn 3:9-15, 20; Ps 98:1-4; Eph 1:3-6, 11-12; Lk 1:26-38

Sunday Bar 5:1-9; Ps 126:1-6; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Lk 3:1-6