September 18, 2016

This past Wednesday, September 14, St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish quietly celebrated our 41^st Anniversary as a Church Parish of the Diocese of Lafayette.  Bishop Gerard Frey established our parish on September 14, 1975, the day that St. Elizabeth Seton was canonized in Rome. The Bishop appointed Father Gene Lafleur as the first Pastor of our church parish.  From modest, simple and humble beginnings, the community of St. Elizabeth Seton Church has grown over the past four decades to the delightful, hospitable, friendly, faithful and generous community that we are today as a Catholic Church Parish. The Lord has been so gracious and bountiful in his graces and blessings over the past 41 years through the Pastors, the hundreds and hundreds of families and friends of our Parish.  I do want to acknowledge the diligence, the leadership and the zeal of the Priests, Deacons and Religious who have served the people of St. Elizabeth Seton over the years.  Each of them has added so much to the vitality, to the character and the spirit of our Church Family.  I do want to say a word of appreciation to the many laity who has also served as leaders, as staff, as volunteers and as ministers here at St. Elizabeth Seton over the past 41 years. The Priests who have served as Pastors have been so instrumental in forming the community of faith that St. Elizabeth Seton is today. Father Gene Lafleur served from 1975 to 1987; Father Russell Harrington served from 1988 to 1994; Father Harold Trahan served from 1995 to 2007 and Father Marty Borcherding served from 2007 to 2012.  I have been so blessed to be your Pastor since July 1, 2012. I feel so much at home here with all of you; I am a fellow parishioner as well as your Pastor.

May our 41^st Anniversary be a time for us to renew and to refresh our belonging to St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish! May we be steadfast in our gathering to worship, praise and adore the Lord each and every Sunday or Saturday afternoon. May we be devoted to our daily personal and family prayers, our Bible reading and our devotions. May we strive to be faithful and generous stewards of the Lord’s blessings and gifts by sharing our time, our talent and our treasure in the community of St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish.  May we respond to the Lord and become involved in some ministry, program or activity here at St. Elizabeth Seton.  With Jesus Christ as our Savior, Shepherd and Teacher, may his Spirit lead us to make ‘stewardship, a way of life.’ May each of our hearts feel a sense of joy, hope, pride and peace to belong to such a blessed faith community as St. Elizabeth Seton!

Last weekend (September 10-11), Viator spoke before each of the Masses about the new Parish Website. He did an excellent job in presenting the features of the website and the great resource that the website is for us now and in the future. Take time and look at the website and enjoy some of its features that Brody pointed out to us last weekend. I am so grateful to all those who were helpful to setting up and designing the new website.  My gratitude to Dale Firmin, Kathy Mouton, Brian Phillips, Kevin and Lisa Prejean (and their company, Prejean Creative), Peter Piazza and Diane Triche who were part of the Parish Website Committee at some time or other. Brody deserves a special thanks for all he has done for the new website and for his coming to speak at all the Masses last weekend. As you use the new parish website, please offer any suggestion to the members of the committee to improve the website.

The special collection for the Flood Victims amounted to $15,880.  Thank you all for your generosity and your kindness in sharing some of your resources to help those who have been so affected by the flooding of their homes and property. You as a community of faith are indeed a generous, compassionate and caring people.  And we also thank the family from Illinois who sent a $2,000 check!  May the Lord bless them with his grace, peace and serenity.

This Wednesday, September 21, is the Feast of St. Matthew, the Apostle and Evangelist.  The Gospel for Mass that day will be your homework for the week: Matthew 9:9-13.  May the call of Matthew echo the call of the Lord to each one of us to follow him and to be his disciple and his servant. My prayers, love, best wishes and gratitude to you and to your loved ones, for who you are and for all you do for the Lord and for the good of St. Elizabeth Seton Church Parish.    SHALOM!

Fr. Gary

Homework for the week of September 18 - September 24
Matthew 9:9-13