ST. BENILDE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH

1901 Division Street • Metairie, Louisiana 70001

Church Office: (504) 834-4980 • Church Fax: (504) 834-4997 • 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, November 27, 2016 First Sunday of Advent

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 Mr. Matt Downey, 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 November 26 & 27, 2016

Saturday - 4 P.M. Intention: Carl A. Guidroz, Jr., Lastenia Alvarez,

Merle & Charles Dittmer, Mark Western,

Patrick C. McKinney, Flora Maria Be,

Rose Marie Greco Federico, Hubert LaBorde,

Maizie Marks (L), George Spaulding,

Patty Weiss & Family (L), Mary Quaid, Gerry Golemi,

Pete Fountain, Dorothy Van Hoven

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

K. Hartdegen, A. Delaup

Cantor: Trish Foti

Sunday - 9 A.M. Intention: Parishioners

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

C. & R. Ayers, K. Klapatch, R. Theriot

Song Leaders: Traditional Choir

Sunday - 11 A.M. Intention: Dianne Z. Harrison, Daigle Family (L),

Joseph Torres, Melvin & Mary Ducote, Joseph Senko,

Hilton F. Daigle, Jr. , JoAnne Flettrich,

Rev. Joseph Cazenavette (L), Cecile R. Cambre,

Joseph Donald Bernard, Kelvin Ducote,

O’Sullivan & Zito Families

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

Song Leaders: Contemporary Choir

Sunday - 6 P.M. Intention: Mary Quaid

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

Cantor: Lauren Gisclair Pianist: Beth Kettenring

Weekday Masses Monday 7:00 a.m. Don Rowan, Sr.

5:30 p.m. Michael Bollinger

Tuesday 7:00 a.m. Lucien Sabathe

Wednesday 7:00 a.m. Joseph Senko

8:15 a.m. Joseph Rodosta

Thursday 7:00 a.m. Maria Mercedes Cabrera

5:30 p.m. Michael Bollinger

Friday 7:00 a.m. Lillie Soupenne

Saturday 8:45 a.m. Rosary & Altar Society

The Church Sanctuary Lamp burns in memory of

The Souls in Purgatory

The Blessed Mother

Votive Lamps burn

in memory of

Lillie Soupenne

Adoration Chapel

Sanctuary Lamp burns

in memory of

Stuart and Gloria Fourroux

Adoration Chapel Candles

burn for Brenda Frey (L)

Altar Ladies Week of November 27

B. O’Hara, J. Didier

Linens Large - J. Zeringue Small - A. Delaup

The St. Joseph Votive Lamps

burn in

Thanksgiving for a Prayer

Answered

St. Benilde Catholic Church

The Altar Flowers are in memory of

Deceased Parishioners

Stewardship of Treasure Weekend of November 19 & 20

Totals unavailable due to early

bulletin deadline.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

Dec. 3/4 4 PM C. Casente, K. Hartdegan 9 AM M. Evola, P. Fleming, J. & G. Rojas 11 AM J. Hutchinson, R. Oleksik, S. Gordon, L. Peters 6 PM A. Calongne, B. Henry

St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 34 Issue 48

Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God

Christmas Memorial Greenery and Flowers

The beautiful poinsettias and greenery that adorn our altar and sanctuary are a special part of the celebration of Christmas at St. Benilde Catholic Church. We invite all parishioners to share in the experience through a memorial or thanksgiving gift by using the Christmas Flowers Memorial Envelopes found in the vestibule of Church. Donations toward the cost of Christmas decorations in the Church may be made in memory or honor of your family members and friends. This is a wonderful way to remember loved ones, honor friends, and offer thanksgiving to God for prayers answered and blessings received during this past year. The suggested donation is $10 per remembrance. Please place your envelopes in the collection basket, the Poor Box or bring it to the Parish Office by December 26. Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Memorial Envelopes will be placed on the altar throughout the Christmas Season and names will be printed in the bulletin.

December Calendar

Dec. 1 CALM—7 p.m.—Church Dec. 3 Rosary & Altar Society Mass and Meeting Legion of Mary—2:05 p.m.—Parish Office Dec. 5 RCIA—7:30 p.m.—Library Dec. 6 Chers Amis—7 p.m.—Cafeteria Parish Council—7 p.m.—Parish Office Dec. 7 Radio Rosary—5:45 p.m.—Library Young Adult Group—7 p.m.—Teen Center Dec. 10 Legion of Mary—2:05 p.m.—Parish Office Dec. 11 Holy Name/Men’s Club Mass & Breakfast Men’s Club Chili Cookoff Dec. 12 RCIA—7:30 p.m.—Library Dec. 14 Grandparents’ Club—6:30 p.m.-Cafeteria Dec. 15 Concert— 7 p.m.—Church Dec. 17 Legion of Mary—2:05 p.m.—Parish Office Dec. 17/18 Hospitality Weekend-Grandparents’Club/ Chers Amis Dec. 19 Men’s Club—7:30 p.m. –Cafeteria RCIA—7:30 p.m.—Library Dec. 20 SVDP—6:30 p.m.—Parish Office

December

Priest Mass

Schedule

4pm

9am

11am

6pm

Dec. 3/4 Fr. H.L. Fr. H.L. Fr. Cooper Fr. Cooper

Dec. 10/11 Fr. Cooper Fr. Cooper Fr. H.L. Fr. H.L.

Dec. 17/18 Fr. H.L. Fr. H.L. Fr. Cooper Fr. Cooper

Dec. 24/25 4 & 6 p.m.

Fr. Cooper

Fr. Cooper Fr. H.L. No Mass

Dec. 31/Jan. 1 Fr. H.L. Fr. H.L. Fr. Cooper Fr. Cooper

Fr. Cooper’s Corner

Advent Message 2016

Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord:

This weekend, the Catholic Church, good mother that she is, focuses the faithful on a beautiful liturgical season which calls us to live in anticipation of a new beginning, a new coming of the Lord. This season of joyful preparation is also a season of great hope. If we fully enter into its celebration, we will be constantly invited through our liturgical readings and practices, to clear away all that entangles us and open a space in our hearts, our homes, our relationships and our lives, for Love Incarnate to be born again. This wonderful liturgical season of the Church year is called Advent.

The focus in the Office of Readings in the Liturgy of the Hours, the official prayer of the Church, during this Advent season will be on preparing for the coming(s) of the Lord. One of my favorite readings is taken from an Advent homily given by St. Bernard of Clairveaux. His insight unveils the special truth of this wonderful season of beginning again. He reminds us of the Lord's coming(s). He then situates us where we live our daily lives, on the road of continual conversion, the heart of the Christian vocation:

We know that there are three comings of the Lord. The third lies between the other two. It is invisible while the other two are visible. In the first coming He was seen on earth, dwelling among men; in the final coming "all flesh will see the salvation of our God and they will look upon Him whom they have pierced." The intermediate coming is a hidden one; in it only the elect see the Lord within their own selves, and they are saved. In His first coming our Lord came in our flesh and our weakness; in this middle coming He comes in Spirit and in power; in the final coming he will be seen in glory and in majesty. Because this coming lies between the other two, it is like a road on which we travel from the first coming to the last (St. Bernard of Clairveaux).

This Sunday is the First Sunday of Advent and with it the season begins! Many of the faithful throughout the world will bring their advent candles out of storage and set it them in a prominent place. Over these special weeks preceding Christmas, families, religious communities and all of the faithful will gather, pray and sing together – inviting the coming of the Lord into our lives, our homes, the Church and into the world through all who have been baptized into the Body of Christ. We live in a new missionary age; a culture where the influences of Christian traditions are waning. That is why many are again asking, “Why do Christians celebrate Advent?” We need to give them an answer through the witness of our living faith.

The word "Advent" is derived from the Latin words, ad-venio or adventus, which both signify a coming. It is a liturgical season in the Catholic Church that has birthed customs and practices in daily Catholic life meant to be filled with living faith. These customs form a framework, a pattern that moves us forward in the process of continual conversion that is meant to be what the Christian life is all about. We are always invited to begin again. That is the heart of the message which Christians can bring to an age often staggering in the existential sadness which is one of the horrid after effects of the dictatorship of relativism. The Advent candles we will light symbolize Jesus Christ, the True Light of the world. It is He who can dispel the dreariness of an age which has all but lost real hope. The message we are to proclaim during this wonderful season is that the Lord is always coming for those who look for Him!

Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God

St. Benilde Catholic Church

The formal celebration of Advent dates back to the fourth century but the practice of preparing for the coming of the Lord by living as though He is always coming goes back to the very beginnings of the Church. Through the history of the Western Church the season of Advent has become a significant part of the pattern of life, faith, culture and worship that is Catholic Christianity. During the weeks which precede the Nativity of the Lord Jesus, ("Christ-Mass"), Catholics will be invited by the Church to prepare, to "get ready," to make a place for the Lord in our lives and in our homes, to anticipate His coming(s).

Catholic Christians repeat together – experientially - through our "liturgy" (which means the "work" of worship), the meaning of the Christian life. We walk through the great events of Christian history so as to inculcate the "mystery" of faith more deeply within our "nitty-gritty" lives. We build a "way" - a pattern - of daily Christian living with these customs, practices, and celebrations. During Advent, the Church, as a mother, calls us all to get ready, to clean the house, to set special times aside, so that we will be ready for all of His comings!

The Scriptural texts that we will hear at Mass will introduce us to great figures, such as John the Baptist, who embodies the call to repentance and "preparing the way" for all who live between the first and the final coming of Jesus. These Old and New Testament passages will be beautifully juxtaposed in every Eucharistic Liturgy and in the Liturgy of the Hours in order to point to - and expound upon - all the "comings" that St. Bernard so insightfully wrote about. The faithful are invited to experience the extraordinary graces found in the full smorgasbord of sacramental and liturgical services. However, ultimately, it will come down to each person, each family, making the choice to accept the invitation and to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

For me, celebrating Advent, indeed celebrating all the seasons of the Church year, are continual calls back to faith, repentance, conversion and holiness of life, the things that really matter. The ritual of Catholic Christian life provides a form into which the freshness of the Spirit can be poured again and again. I remember a retired priest once telling me "Son, we get filled with the Spirit, but then we leak." So we do. It is time to refill!

The familiar patterns and practices of Catholic faith present an opportunity for shaping family life, customs, and inform a piety that all can help us to assimilate the beauty and truth revealed in the comings of the Lord. They help us to break from the monotony of regular daily life in order to participate in something bigger than ourselves. They connect us to the One who always comes to those who are prepared. They are, as we used to say more often, "occasions of grace."

The liturgical seasons of the Catholic Church are an extraordinary gift and opportunity. After all, human beings are going to mark time. We will mark it either with the ordinary stuff of ordinary life or we will fill it as well with the things of God, thereby transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. Why do we celebrate Advent? Because we need it!

Bring on the candles, the songs, the colors, and the seasons. Bring on the special liturgical times, and fill the air with all the special smells. I love it all. Advent is a road, a way of living the Christian life and vocation, in the here and now, which enters into the eternal mysteries. We now live in that intermediate time between the first and the second comings of Jesus Christ. We are to be changed by the first and called to prepare ourselves - and the world in which we live - for the second. During this process of conversion, He continues to come to all those who make themselves ready. Happy Advent, Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

Wishing you a holy and prayerful Advent journey, I am

Sincerely yours in Christ

Fr. Cooper

St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 34: Issue 48

Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God

The Pastor’s Appeal on the #iGiveCatholic Day of

Giving provides an effective and efficient vehicle for

helping to fund the educational needs of our school

community. Among other things, the funds raised

within this 24 hour period will make possible increased

resources for scholarships and other financial aid to our

families, provide for capital improvements to our aging

buildings and investments in new technologies, supply

additional resources for our little ones academic, faith,

moral, and character formation, and assist us in our

continued efforts to open wide our doors to children

with special learning needs. On November 29, 2016,

(#iGiveCatholic Giving Day) we hope to raise $24,000

in 24 hours …. Will you be in that number?

All you need to do is visit www.stbenilde.org/

igivecatholic on November 29th to get started with

your online donation or you can mail a check to: The

Pastor’s Appeal, St. Benilde Catholic School, 1801

Division Street, Metairie, Louisiana, 70001. Advanced

giving can begin on November 18th so between

November 18th and 29th, you can donate online or by

sending a check to the address listed above. Every gift

of $25 or more will go further with $20,000 of

matching funds provided by the Whitman Family

Foundation! Also, the first 20 donors will personally be

given a SBS car magnet from Ms. Betty!

Every gift, no matter the amount, will make a

significant difference – and is deeply appreciated. On

behalf of the children who will receive the benefits of

your generosity, I say “thank you” for your faith and

consideration. May God bless you for your

commitment to His mission – and for partnering with

me to make a difference in our children’s lives!

~ Fr. Robert T. Cooper, Pastor

Holy Spirit Women’s Retreat

Michelle Moran and Fr. Joe Krafft will be

the featured speakers at the annual Holy

Spirit Women’s Retreat from January 27-

29, 2017 at the DoubleTree by Hilton in

Lafayette, LA The theme is “Receive the

Holy Spirit.” Michelle Moran lives in London and has

a passion to bring the grace of Baptism in the Spirit to

people all over the world. She is highly acclaimed as

an anointed minister of God’s power in the charismatic

gifts. She is currently President of the International

Charismatic Renewal Office in Rome and meets

regularly with Pope Francis to plan for the Golden

Jubilee of the Renewal in 2017. Fr. Joe Krafft is a

favorite with retreatants. He is on the faculty at Notre

Dame Seminary in New Orleans and is a zealous and

gifted priest. Also on the program are Deacon Larry

Oney, a dynamic preacher, author and businessman,

his wife, Andi, Patti Mansfield and the CCRNO Team.

This retreat is sponsored by the Catholic Charismatic

Renewal of New Orleans (CCRNO) and serves

hundreds of women from throughout the Gulf South.

Weekend and Saturday commuters are welcome. Early

bird discount until November 30. Register online at

www.ccrno.org or call 504-828-1368.

Is Mary Calling You to Her Legion?

The Legion of Mary is the right arm of the pastor. We visit the sick, teach CCD, and are RCIA sponsors. We assist in many other Spiritual Works of Mercy needed to help our pastor. We meet most Saturdays at 2:05 p.m. in the Parish Office. We need your help. Please call Diane at 504-577-4190 for more information.

NOVEMBER 27, 2016

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: