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, December 18, 2016 Fourth 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 December 17 & 18, 2016

Saturday - 4 P.M. Intention: Maizie Marks (L), Evelyn Arnoult,

Catherine Finnan, George Spaulding, Joseph Segari,

Pete Fountain, Dorothy Van Hoven, Jennie Spitale,

William E. Kelley, Hubert LaBorde, Ronnie Normand,

Flora Maria Be, Mary Cali & Jacob Kerth, Sr.,

Patrick C. McKinney, Merle & Charles Dittmer,

Rose Marie Greco Federico

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

R. Aucoin, C. Casente

Cantor: Trish Foti

Sunday - 9 A.M. Intention: Walter Haydel & Rosemary Haydel (L)

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

C. Rispoli, B. Soleto, K. Klapatch, R. Theriot

Song Leaders: Traditional Choir

Sunday - 11 A.M. Intention: Thomas Prunty, Dianne Z. Harrison,

Brenda Frey (L), Joseph Torres, Marilyn Groetsch (L),

Melvin & Mary Ducote, Kelvin Ducote,

Hilton F. Daigle, Jr., Connie Gauchet,

Joseph Donald Bernard, JoAnne Flettrich

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

D. Childers, R. Meece, K. & M. Sorensen

Song Leaders: Contemporary Choir

Sunday - 6 P.M. Intention: Parishioners

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:

M. Drawe, D. Powers

Cantor: Lauren Gisclair Pianist: Beth Kettenring

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

5:30 p.m. Barbara Twickler

Tuesday 7:00 a.m. Thanks to the Lord

Wednesday 7:00 a.m. Floyd C. Bangs, Sr.

8:15 a.m. June & Marvin Ackermann (L)

Thursday 7:00 a.m. Irvin Dares

5:30 p.m. Floyd C. Bangs, Sr.

Friday 7:00 a.m. Floyd C. Bangs, Sr.

The Church Sanctuary Lamp burns in memory of

The Souls in Purgatory

The Blessed Mother

Votive Lamps burn

in memory of

Pete Fountain

Adoration Chapel

Sanctuary Lamp burns

in memory of

Stuart and Gloria Fourroux

Adoration Chapel Candles

burn for the

Seminarians at St. Ben’s

Altar Ladies Week of December 18

M. Surcouf, L. Hart, Y. Morise

Linens Large - M. Costanza

Small - E. Beyer

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

Special Second Collection

There will be a special Second Collection taken at

all the Christmas Masses to help support Priestly

Formation at Notre Dame Seminary and to assist

with the various Charitable Organizations of the

Archdiocese of New Orleans. Thank you for your

generosity as we help our young men studying for

the priesthood.

Stewardship of Treasure Weekend of December 10 & 11

Envelopes …………………………………...$3,921.00

Loose ………………………………………….3,552.00

Electronic Giving ……………………………....191.00

Repairs & Maintenance ………………………777.00

Msgr. Richaud Fund ……………………..………….0

Totaling ……………………………………..$8,441.00

Immaculate Conception Collection……….$1,956.00

Retired Religious Collection…………………$765.00

“Let us focus on generosity, or returning God’s gifts

with increase, through the generous sharing of our time,

talent and treasure.”

~ Fr. Cooper

St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 34 Issue 51

Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God

Christmas Mass Schedule

Christmas Eve: Saturday, December 24: 4PM, 6PM, and Midnight

Christmas Day: Sunday, December 25: 9AM and 11AM

Please note that there will be No 6PM Mass on Christmas Day, Sunday December 25. There will also be No Confessions neither on Saturday, December 24 at 3PM nor on Sunday, December 25 at 5PM.

*The Adoration Chapel will close at 3 PM on Saturday, December 24 and will re-open at 7:30 AM on Monday,

December 26.

Parish Office Closed

The Parish Office will be closed on Friday, December 23 through Monday, December 26 in observance of Christmas. We will reopen on Tuesday, December 27 at 9 am.

Adoration Chapel New Year’s Schedule

The Adoration Chapel will close at 3 PM on

Saturday, December 31 and will re-open at 7:30 AM

on Monday, January 2.

Is Mary Calling You to Her

Legion?

The Legion of Mary is the right arm of the pastor. We visit the sick in homes, hospitals and nursing homes, 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. Will you answer Our Lady’s call? For more information, please call Diane Schexnayder at 504-577-4190.

Bible Study

Save the date! Unlocking the Mystery of the Bible is an engaging journey beginning with Genesis and ending with Jesus' passion, death and resurrection. Uncover the story woven throughout Scripture and get the "big picture" of the Bible. The journey will begin on January 11 and end on March 15, 2017. All sessions will be held in the Teen Center on Wednesday, at 7 p.m. There is a $10 fee for the workbook. If you have questions or would like to pre-register, contact Val Hebert at email valencemet@aol.com or call 504-427-0327.

Fr. Cooper’s Corner

God and Sinners Reconciled

At Christmas Vigil Masses, Catholics will hear St. Matthew’s account of the Nativity in which the boy to be born of Mary is given two names: Emmanuel, from Isaiah’s prophecy (Is 7:14) which means “God-with-us;” and Jesus, from the angel’s instructions, which means “God saves” (Mt 1:21). These are not just random sounds or empty monikers, but they point to the way God wants us to understand and relate to Him in His Incarnation. God is with us in order to save us from our sins. He has come as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He has come, in short, on a life-saving mission of mercy. As Pope Francis said in December of last year, “Christmas is truly the feast of God’s infinite mercy.” This is a reality of which we will sing heartily on Christmas. So many of our great Christmas hymns are theology in poetry, but we have become so accustomed to them that sometimes the words have lost their impact. It is fitting this year that we pay attention to the way they mark the real reason for the season. “‘Hark!’ The Herald Angels sing glory to the newborn King,” we will bellow in our homes, Churches and Christmas parties. “Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.” The sweet little boy wrapped in swaddling clothes, being held by Mary and Joseph, is “Mercy mild,” the incarnate reconciliation of God and sinners. “O Holy Child of Bethlehem,” we will melodically pray to Jesus before crèches, actualizing the Christmas mystery, “descend to us we pray. Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.” Jesus indeed comes to cleanse us from the inside out and make us His dwelling place, His manger. He comes not merely to be born in the world but in each of us, lifting us by His birth to true spiritual rebirth. My favorite Christmas hymn is Minuit Chrétien, from which the English “O Holy Night” derives. In the English, we ponder, “Long lay the world in sin and error pining till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.” As beautiful as the loose translation is, the original French lyrics are so much richer. Instead of the focus on the “O Night Divine,” there is a concentration on Jesus the Savior: in the chills inducing climax we sing, “Noël! Noël! Voici le Rédempteur!” (“Christmas! Christmas! Behold the Redeemer!”) and rejoice that our Redeemer has broken all our shackles, liberating the earth and opening for us the doors of heaven. The word “Redeemer” means the one who has “paid the price,” “bought us back,” “ransomed us,” from slavery — real slavery to sin — and set us free. With the Shepherds, Magi, and Mary and Joseph, we behold our Rescuer. When we adore Christ in the presepio and on the altar, we are worshipping the one who took on our nature so that He might take our place on death row, who loved us so much that He came to die so that we might live forever. For our soul to feel its worth, we have to grasp that God loved us so much that He Himself came to deliver us. He did not even send a legion of archangels. He came personally, taking on our nature to pay the price of our sins and liberate us from the enslavement to which they led. There is no greater manifestation of who God is and what our dignity is in His eyes. The whole purpose of Advent is to prepare us anew to meet Christ as Emmanuel and Savior. John the Baptist’s Advent mission is to help us to prepare the way by calling us to profound conversion, lowering the mountains and hills of our pride and vanity, filling in the valleys of a shallow prayer or moral life, straightening the tortuous roads that distract and delay us from growth in holiness, and smoothing those paths that remain rough and inconsistent. Our Advent hymns have announced this need for conversion and divine mercy. We have prayerfully sung, “Come, thou long expected Jesus, born to set thy people free, from our fears and sins release us, let us find our rest in thee.” We

Parish Motto—Building the Kingdom of God

St. Benilde Catholic Church

have chanted, “Then cleansed be every heart from sin, make straight the way of God within, prepare we in our hearts a home, where such a mighty Guest may come.” We have turned to Him, in the original Latin lyrics of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” and implored, “O Come, O Come, King of the Nations, Come Redeemer of all, to save your servants conscious of their sins against you.” We have intoned, “O Flower whose fragrance tender with sweetness fills the air, dispel with glorious splendor the darkness everywhere; true man yet very God, from sin and death now save us and share our every load!” The long-expected Jesus born to set His people free is coming to cleanse our hearts from sin. The King of the Nations is coming to dispel with glorious splendor the darkness of sin and death. The Fruit of Mary’s womb is coming to change the world, to change our world, by His Mercy and Love. Let us, therefore, behold and adore our Redeemer, Mercy mild, who wants that mercy to be born in us on Christmas day. Let us come to receive that Mercy. And filled with the forgiving love that restores our true dignity, let us go out to sing and share in all its depth this Joy to the World!

Finding God in Our Everyday Life Experiences Join Archdiocesan Spirituality Assistant Director, Sr. Gloria Murillo, STJ, to learn the

importance of reflecting on your everyday life experiences; how to pray with your everyday life experiences; to recognize God in those experiences and to learn a method for reflection on the action of God in your life. Wednesday, December 23, 7 -9 p.m. at the Archdiocesan Spirituality Center 2501 Maine Avenue, Metairie. Register on the web http://asc.arch-no.org, email archspirctr@arch-no.org or telephone (504) 861-3254. Cost $25 (adjustments can be made).

St. Benilde Catholic Church Volume 34: Issue 51

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.

Important Reminder for School Families

To maintain the status of a registered, active and supporting school family of St. Benilde Parish, a contribution level has been set at $520 per calendar year. This obligation must be met by December 31, 2016 to avoid paying the higher non-participating tuition rate for the 2017-18 school year.

Trip to San Antonio

Join the Chers Amis on a fun-

filled and exciting trip to

beautiful, historical San

Antonio, TX. The trip is

scheduled for April 24 through

28, 2017.

Please call Virginia at 504-835-9477 or Barra at 504

-834-7908 for more information.

St. Benilde Happenings

DECEMBER 18, 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: