Mary, Mother of Jesus Catholic Church 9323 Highway 165 South, Woodworth, Louisiana
Rev. John Pardue, Pastor
Church Mailing Address: P. O. Box 408
Rev. Blake Deshautelle, In Residence 2120 Coulee Crossing, Woodworth, LA Mailing Address: P. O. Box 408, Woodworth, LA 71485 Telephone: (318) 445-7554 frjohnpardue@gmail.com
Office Hours: TWTh 8:00-noon (318) 487-9894 or 767-6508 Secretary/Bookkeeper: Laura Callico, mmjwoodworth@att.net Cantor/Music Director: Priscilla Gadel, priscilla.s@prodigy.net
Nativity of the Lord, December 25, 2011
CALENDAR Saturday, December 24 4:00 pm Mass - Carl Bess, Jr. + Sunday, December 25 8:00 am Mass - For the People No 5:30 pm Mass Monday, December 26 No Mass Tuesday, December 27 No Mass Wednesday, December 28 No Mass Thursday, December 29 No Mass Friday, December 30 No Mass Saturday, December 31 4:00 pm Mass - Valorie Clayton + Sunday, January 1 7:30 am Rosary 8:00 am Mass - Lynda Ellington 5:30 pm Mass - For the People
Sanctuary Candle burns in memory of Walter and Jeanne Deptula
Dear Parishioners, Today we celebrate the mystery of the Lord’s Nativity. This is nothing short of a miracle. The Incarnation means that God became man and took on human flesh. It is a miracle because it is impossible. God is omnipresent. So how could a creature contain God? Even though only one person of the Blessed Trinity became man, that person is a Divine Person. God the Son has all the gifts of divinity, including being uncontainable. Moreover, the three persons are a communion of persons. Their unity is so perfect that where you find one, you find the other two. So it seems impossible that God could become man. But we recall what the Angel Gabriel told Mary, “Nothing is impossible for God.” Jesus is the ultimate miracle. But the miracle continues. We celebrate his birth so that he can be born in our hearts. We celebrate his birth so that we can be transformed, changed, sanctified. That is why with the angels we sing, “Gloria in excelsis deo.” There are those who do not want us to celebrate his birth. They do not want our Christmas parades, our mangers in the public square, nor do they want us to even say the words, “Merry Christmas.” Why not? What harm could it do them? The answer is easily discovered when we answer the following question, who is the one behind their objections? Of course we know the enemy of our salvation, Satan. He does not want to remember the day he lost everything. The birth of Christ signals the beginning of our salvation. Dear friends, today is a day for us to rejoice. God loved us so much that he gave us his only begotten son so that we could be rescued from sin, disease, death, and worst of all, final damnation. Merry Christmas! Father John
The Liturgical Calendar for 2012 has arrived. If you are interested in Mass intentions or memorial candles for certain dates in 2012, please call me, email me or come by during office hours. Laura
CHRISTMAS PARTY PHOTOS Parishioners who attended the MMJ Christmas party and had their photo taken by Betty Morris may pick up their photo on the credenza in the vestibule.