Domestic Church is an officially recognized lay movement that provides life-long formation for Sacramentally married couples for the sake of achieving sanctity together, growing in mutual love, and providing an environment where children can thrive and grow in union with Christ, so they may truly be called a Domestic Church! Evangelization is the first step of any real faith journey. We must experience the reality of who Christ is, who we are, and what His love for us is capable of doing before we can make any real progress. And, since Domestic Church provides for this journey to be undertaken in union with our spouses, we must experience Christ anew, together, before we can begin to grow together toward sainthood. Come, receive the Good News, and stir up the grace of your Sacrament! The next retreats in Louisiana will be offered on March 8-11 and May 24-27. For more information on Domestic Church, including upcoming retreats, please visit www.domesticchurchfamilies.com or contact the local coordinators, David and Kate Dawson, 504-206-8957, ddawson@arch-no.org.

During the 50 days of the Easter Season the Paschal Candle (Easter Candle) will burn at all Masses celebrated at St. Benilde Church. The Paschal Candle represents Christ, the Light of the World. The pure beeswax of which the candle is made represents the sinless Christ who was formed in the womb of His Mother. The wick signifies His humanity, the flame, His Divine Nature, both soul and body. Five grains of incense inserted into the candle in the form of a cross recall the aromatic spices with which His Sacred Body was prepared for the tomb, and of the five wounds in His hands, feet, and side. During the Easter Vigil, the deacon carries the candle in procession into the dark church. The candle, representing Christ himself, is blessed by the priest who then inscribes in it a cross, the first letters and last of the Greek alphabet and the current year. If you would like the Paschal Candle to burn in memory of a loved one or in thanksgiving for prayers answered throughout the Easter season, please contact the Parish Office. The cost of the candle is $300.

On the First Sunday of Lent our local Church celebrates Safe Haven Sunday to raise awareness and directly address the harms of pornography on individuals, marriages and families. Please see this weekend’s bulletin for resources and additional information on how to make all homes a safe haven from this moral evil. To download the flyer, click here.

The Archdiocesan Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration will take place on Sunday, June 10, 2018, at 3 PM, in St. Philip Neri Church, 6500 Kawanee Ave., Metairie. Please call the Parish Office at 834-4980 for more information and to be registered. The deadline to register is February 28. Please Note: This celebration will not be a Mass, but a prayer service. Attendance of Mass for Sunday obligation will have to be met within one’s respective parish.

The Men’s Club will be serving up the first Fish Fry of the Lenten Season on Friday, February 23, beginning at 5:45 PM (Pre-Sale Ticket holders may enter at 5:00 PM). The menu will include adult and child fish plates, combo plates, redfish with shrimp cream sauce, gumbo, seafood muffuletta, and much more. Advance sale tickets will be sold after all the Masses on the weekend of February 17-18. Tickets will also be available in the Parish Office from Feb. 19—23. Our next Fish Fry will be March 23.

Congratulations to our own Mr. Timmy McCaffery the new Director of CYO/ Youth & Young Adult Ministries. The appointment made by Archbishop Aymond will take effect on March 1st. Timmy McCaffery has served as Associate Director of the Marriage and Family Life Ministry for our archdiocese. He and his family are active parishioners of St. Benilde Parish and two of his children currently attend St. Benilde School -Peter in Kindergarten and Blaise in PK4. The prayers of the entire St. Benilde community are with Mr. McCaffery as he begins this new role in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

The Father/Son Program for 11-14 Year old boys and the Mother/Daughter Program for 10-12 year old girls will be held in the St. Philip Neri Parish Center on March 2, 2018. The purpose of these programs is to foster open communication between parent and child and to provide sexuality information and fertility appreciation in a Christ-centered atmosphere of love. The cost is $25.00 for parent/guardian and one child. Pre-registration is required. Further information is available from the Office of Marriage and Family Life 504- 861-6243. Online registration is available this year. Mother/Daughter-- https://nolacatholicfla.regfox.com/motherdaughter-program-2018 or Father/Son-- https://nolacatholicfla.regfox.com/fatherson-program-2018

The holy and penitential Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 14th, with the distribution of Ashes. The Mass Schedule is 7AM, 9AM, 12Noon (Word Service with the Distribution of Ashes – No Mass) and 6PM. The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, February 12th and Tuesday, February 13th for the Mardi Gras Holiday. We will reopen on Wednesday, February 14th at 9AM. The Adoration Chapel will be open on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, February 13th. For our complete Lenten Schedule visit: www.stbenilde.org/lent

As we conclude the application process for a new principal for St. Benilde School, we ask that our parish/school family offer prayers and sacrifices that the Lord Jesus will send us a new principal to lead our children closer to the heart of Jesus and to continue the tradition of academic excellence and faith formation that have been the cornerstone of the ministry of Catholic education at St. Benilde for the past 50 years. And so we pray: O Christ, our Teacher,You invite Your faithful people to make disciples in Your name and to announce good news to the poor. We thank You for the gift of Catholic schools, where the message of Your life, death, and resurrection is proclaimed,Christian community is experienced, service to our brothers and sisters is modeled, and worship of You is cultivated. Provide for us a principal whose leadership will fulfill that mission and ensure that our children and families can benefit from a high quality Catholic education. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Catholic Schools. Amen.

Engaging the Struggles of Your Heart, the second series in the Walking Toward Eternity program, is a challenging study that can open our eyes to obstacles in our Christian walk. Through prayer, reflection, guidance and the aid of the Holy Spirit, we begin to engage these difficulties in a positive way as we continue toward our goal of union with Christ. The Cost of the Study is $10. All meetings for the study will be held in the St. Benilde Teen Center on Wednesday evenings at 7pm starting February 7th. Preregistration by email at: valencemet@aol.com or by calling (504) 427-0327.

Catholics often participate in the tradition of having their throats blessed. To do this, the priest consecrates two candles, generally by a prayer, and then holds each in a crossed position on the throat of the person being blessed. At the same time, the following blessing is given: “Through the intercession of Saint Blaise, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from ailments of the throat and from every other evil. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” Why does the blessing of the throat take place on St. Blaise Day? St. Blaise, a physician and bishop, asked God to cure a child who was choking to death on a fish bone and the child’s life was saved. Thus, St. Blaise is the patron saint of healthy throats. The Blessing of Throats will take place at St. Benilde after the 8:45am Mass on Saturday, February 3rd.

The annual St. Benilde Boy Scout Troop 227 Spaghetti and Meatball Dinner is scheduled for Sunday, February 4th. Dinners will be available for eat-in or take-out, from 10 AM-2 PM, in the cafeteria. Pre-sale tickets will be sold after all the Masses on the weekend of January 20th-21st. The cost is $7 in advance or $8 at the door. This fundraiser helps defray the cost of summer camp. Hope to see you there!

A ten-session video/discussion series featuring Father Michael Gaitley, MIC, will be offered at 7 PM in the Teen Center, on Tuesday evenings: January 23, 30, February 6, 20, 27, March 6, 13, 20, 27 and April 3. (No session on February 13 due to Mardi Gras.) The series is based on Fr. Gaitley’s book “The Second Greatest Story Ever Told.” Itreveals the heart of St. John Paul II's witness for our time, building on the prophetic voices of Saints Margaret Mary Alacoque, Thérèse of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe, and Faustina Kowalska. The profound connection between Divine Mercy and Marian consecration will be explored. According to Fr. Gaitley, we must prepare for the Lord's final coming, whenever it may be, not with fear and trembling, but with trust in His Divine Mercy. The cost is $10 per person for materials. Please make checks payable to St. Benilde Church. To register, or for more information, please contact Val Hebert at valencemet@aol.com or call (504) 427-0327.

Our second graders will celebrate their First Reconciliation on Saturday, January 20th at 10:00 AM in the Church. The whole parish family shares in the responsibility for the religious education of our children. Through our faithful witness to the Gospel, the parish is called to help our children to understand the nature of sin and be examples of God’s forgiveness. The parish “intercedes for them and helps penitents with maternal care and solicitude to acknowledge and admit their sins and to obtain the mercy of God who alone can forgive sins” (Rite of Penance, #8). The entire parish is invited and encouraged to walk this journey of preparation with our children through prayer and intention as they approach the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.

On the weekend of January 20th - 21st, St. Benilde will be welcoming NET Ministries to our parish. NET Ministries is a national organization of Catholic young men and women who participate in the missionary work of the church by traveling the country putting on retreats for different parishes. They will be doing a retreat for our sixth and seventh grade students on Friday and our Confirmation Candidates on Saturday. If anyone is interested in helping these visitors to our parish by being a host family, assisting with meals or making a monetary donation to help defray the cost, please contact Cecilia Wilson at the St. Benilde School Office: 504-833-9894. Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

The Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God is NOT a Holy Day of Obligation this calendar year. However, because of the importance of this Feast Day in the Universal Church, we will have Mass on Monday, January 1st at 7:00 AM and 5:30 PM. Even though the obligation has been dispensed this year, all are invited and encouraged to attend Mass to ask for the special intercession of our Lady. Please note that there will be No 6PM Holy Hour or Confessions on Monday, January 1st.

The Adoration Chapel will close at 4:00 PM on Saturday, December 30th and will re-open at 7:30 AM on Tuesday, January 2, 2018. The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, January 1, 2018 in observance of the Solemnity of Mary, The Holy Mother of God and New Year’s Day.

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.

The Mass Schedule for Christmas at St. Benilde – Christmas Eve: Sunday, December 24th: 4PM, 6PM, and Midnight. Christmas Day: Monday, December 25th: 9AM and 11AM. Please note that there will be No Confessions neither on Sunday, December 24th at 5PM nor on Monday, December 25th at 6PM. There will also be no 5PM Mass or 6PM Holy Hour on Monday, December 25th. The Adoration Chapel will close at 4:00 PM on Saturday, December 23rd and will re-open at 7:30 AM on Tuesday, December 26th. The Parish Office will be closed on Monday, December 25rd and Tuesday, December 26th in observance of Christmas. We will reopen on Wednesday, December 27th at 9:00 am.

This year, December 24, 2017 (Christmas Eve), is on the 4th Sunday of Advent. This has given rise to some questions regarding the liturgies for these consecutive celebrations. In order to celebrate appropriately, a person should participate in Masses for the 4th Sunday of Advent and again for Christmas Vigil/Day. This means that at St. Benilde an individual must attend Mass on Saturday, December 23rd at 4PM or Sunday, December 25th at 9AM or 11AM to fulfill their Sunday Obligation. In addition, to fulfill one’s obligation for Christmas (which is a Holy Day of Obligation) an individual must attend Mass on Sunday, December 24th at 4PM, 6PM, or Midnight or on Monday, December 25th at 9AM or 11AM. Please call the Parish Office if you have any questions or need additional clarifications.