St. David Catholic Church

Very Rev. Oswald P. Pierre-Jules, Jr., S.S.J.
Pastor
Dean of St. Bernard Deanery

Sunday, October 25, 2020
 

Yes, God has been and remains in charge and in Him we trust!

My dear Beloved friends and families:
 

     Once again, I welcome you back and I truly hope that you had a blessed and productive week.  I hope that you are taking advantage of voting early so that you will not have to do so on November 3^rd to avoid facing long lines. If you already did, I congratulate you and if you haven’t done so, it is time to do so.  Yes, it is extremely important to fulfill our civic duties as citizens of this country.  How are you my beloved parishioners and friends? To those of you at home, please know that you are greatly missed and as a faith community, we continue to walk by faith not by sight.  Therefore, we know that one day and hopefully soon, our family will be fully and completely united. Indeed, during these difficult and challenging times, it is important to remain united through thoughts and prayers.  I would like to take this time to extend best wishes to all of you who are celebrating birthdays/anniversaries during the month of October. May God continue to bless you and may He continues to watch over you and your loved ones.  Again, I love you all dearly, and please be stay safe,

     Again, on behalf of your beloved parish, I continue to extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to all of you who continue to support your parish financially.  Yes, it is unbelievable because even though, you are away from the parish, your generosity and good will continue to remain strong and unwavering.  Yes, the parish continues to remain opened and it is because of you. As the pastor of the parish, I will forever remain grateful. Moreover, your responses to my letter on behalf of this year Fund Fest are remarkable and surprising. As of this weekend, we have $10,250.00 in the bank.  WOW! WOW!  Yes, God is good all the time. Again, let us continue to remind ourselves that our Lord and Savior is continuing to walk along with us and He will never abandon us. Yes, it continues to remain a very challenging time and at times a very frightening one. However, we continue to remain a Church family that has faith and a family that trusts in a God who is good all the time. As a result, in the midst of dark times, we continue to walk by faith and hope believing that tomorrow will be a better day.

     Moreover, throughout those terrible and difficult times, we continue to remain convinced that our faith in God‘s power continues to go through the test. Since God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent, we do not need to tell Him how we feel and how anxious and confused we continue to be throughout this pandemic. At the same time, we must continue to remind ourselves that as today’s disciples, we have the responsibility to bring hope and comfort to those we encounter every day; those who are more anxious and confused than we are. Indeed, we know that our Christian life is a journey, and as today’s disciples, we continue to live with faith in challenging and troubling times filled with anxieties, confusion, despair, and uncertainties.  Indeed, God, our Father who is good at all times is also in charge, and in Him we continue to place our complete and unwavering trust.  As we continue to deal with and navigate those difficult times, let us continue to ask Jesus to lead us along the way.  To those of you who are at home, I continue to remind you that until everyone of you is back, our Church family remains incomplete.  Again, please remain patient and take your time.  Yes, we will be here waiting for you and yes when everyone is back, it will be a great and happy day.
    
     In this weekend’s Gospel, like last weekend, the Pharisees attempted to put Jesus to the test where a scholar of the law asked: “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” In response, Jesus replied: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your mind, and the second is that you shall love your neighbor as yourselves; for indeed, the whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments”. My friends, today, Jesus continues to remind us that loving God and loving our neighbor covers all the commandments. We are also reminded that it is impossible to claim that we love God whom we do not see if we do not love each other. It is certainly a challenge because at times, as human beings, we have failed to follow and practice the commandments. Let us continue to ask Jesus, the teacher and interpreter by excellence to continue to order our every step so that we might be able to practice and live the commandments of God in our daily lives. Moreover, as we continue to face the challenges that go along with this terrible pandemic, let us pray for so many first responders, doctors and nurses, and all of those who continue to reach out to those in needs throughout this pandemic. May God bless and reward them all.
     
     Let us also continue to call upon God especially during those times of trials that we may be able to realize that His unwavering and everlasting presence is and will be with us every day, and that His Son Jesus might continue to order our every step throughout our Christian journey. Let us also continue to ask Jesus to help us to learn more about Him so that we may be able not only to bear witnesses to Him but also He continues to walk along with us.  My friends, I humbly urge you to continue to remain strong and confident that the Son of God will never abandon us and that God’s grace will remain in us and with us throughout those challenging times.

 Wishing you all a very blessed, safe, and productive week, and with deep love and admiration I remain yours truly,

 Fr. Oswald Pierre Pierre-Jules, Jr., S.S.J.
Your Pastor and member of the family

2020 Parish Theme:

 St. David: Faith, Family & Fellowship

                   All are invited to attend Sunday Mass at  9:00 AM 
                   which live-streams on Facebook.  The link on
                   Facebook is:  St. David Catholic Church        

              Parishioners of St. David Parish are invited to join together
             to pray the Rosary on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m.  
             Telephone-Conference Call:  1-712-770-4721 - Code:  222140

            The Pastor's conference call with his parishioners:                         St. David: every Wednesday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. 
Haitian Community:  every Thursday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m. 

       Our Father in Heaven through the intercession of Our Lady of         Prompt Succor, spare us during this Hurricane season from           all harm. Protect us and our homes from all disasters of                   nature. Our Lady of Prompt Succor, hasten to help us. We               ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.  

          My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the most Blessed
          Sacrament.  I love You above all things and I desire to receive
          You into my soul.  Since I can not now receive You sacramen-
          tally, come at least spiritually into my heart.  I embrace You as
          if You were already there, and unite myself wholly to You.
          Never permit me to be separated from You.  Amen          

                                                                                     St. Alphonsus Liguori

        From: Mary M. Aucoin
        Realtor New Orleans:  The Advocate

       I  suggested  all Catholics continue to make   their contributions           to the Church as they would have at Mass.  If you participated in          the envelope system, mail your check to your parish Church.  If            you usually put cash in the collection, consider writing a check            and sending it.  I would also like to suggest increasing your                    contribution.  After all, what do you have to  spending on?                        Restaurants, bars, movie theaters, etc. are closed.  Our parishes            still have to pay bills.