Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat, scheduled for April 26-28, 2019, is a retreat to help those women and men who are hurting from an abortion or miscarriage. The retreat is confidential and non-judgmental. All faiths are welcome. The cost is $190/person, but financial assistance is available. Priest Facilitator is Fr. Robert Cavalier. For more information, please contact the retreat facilitators: Pam Richard –(504) 460-9360/ richj504@bellsouth.net or Donna Scheuermann-(504)258-9183/ or donnas@1791.com.

With professional instruction, Natural Family Planning has proven itself to be safe, effective, and a moral way for couples to plan their families. It is a method which respects the meaning of human sexuality as God created it and thus marital love is enhanced and strengthened. This class series the Office of Marriage and Family Life is offering in the SymptoPro™ Method of Natural Family Planning will be conducted by Kelly Donahue of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The dates of the class series are May 3, May 17, May 31 and June 28, 2019. Hours are 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The classes will be held in the Most Holy Trinity Family Life Center in Covington. The cost is $100 and includes all classes and materials. Preregistration is required.

This weekend, our special collection supports the Catholic Home Missions Appeal. Nearly half our country is considered mission territory. This appeal helps our brothers and sisters here in the United States who do not have access to basic pastoral services like Mass, the sacraments, and religious education. Through your support, the Catholic Home Missions Appeal helps these mission dioceses form vibrant faith communities and strengthens the Church at home. Please be generous.

Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." - John 20:29

All are invited to a Healing Mass and Anointing of the Sick on Sunday, April 28, 2019, at 1:00 PM at St. Mary's Assumption Church. You may visit the National Shrine of Blessed Seelos at 919 Josephine St., New Orleans before and after Mass.

With professional instruction, Natural Family Planning has proven itself to be safe, effective, and a moral way for couples to plan their families. It is a method which respects the meaning of human sexuality as God created it and thus marital love is enhanced and strengthened. This class series the Office of Marriage and Family Life is offering in the SymptoPro™ Method of Natural Family Planning will be conducted by Kelly Donahue of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The dates of the class series are May 3, May 17, May 31 and June 28, 2019. Hours are 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The classes will be held in the Most Holy Trinity Family Life Center in Covington. The cost is $100 and includes all classes and materials. Preregistration is required.

COPING WITH AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION • Be aware of your environment and any possible dangers • Take note of the two nearest exits in any facility you visit • If you are in an office, stay there and secure the door • Attempt to take the active shooter down as a last resort PROFILE OF AN ACTIVE SHOOTER An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, typically through the use of firearms. CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION • Victims are selected at random • The event is unpredictable and evolves quickly • Law enforcement is usually required to Contact your building management or end an active shooter situation human resources department for more information and training on active shooter response in your workplace. CALL 911 WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO HOW TO RESPOND WHEN AN ACTIVE SHOOTER IS IN YOUR VICINITY 1.RUN • Have an escape route and plan in mind • Leave your belongings behind • Keep your hands visible 2. HIDE • Hide in an area out of the shooter’s view • Block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors • Silence your cell phone and/or pager 3. FIGHT • As a last resort and only when your life is in imminent danger • Attempt to incapacitate the shooter • Act with physical aggression and throw items at the active shooter HOW TO RESPOND WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT ARRIVES • Remain calm and follow instructions • Put down any items in your hands (i.e., bags, jackets) • Raise hands and spread fingers • Keep hands visible at all times • Avoid quick movements toward officers such as holding on to them for safety • Avoid pointing, screaming or yelling • Do not stop to ask officers for help or direction when evacuating INFORMATION YOU SHOULD PROVIDE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OR 911 OPERATOR • Location of the active shooter • Number of shooters • Physical description of shooters • Number and type of weapons held by shooters • Number of potential victims at the location ST JOSEPH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OPEN OUT -- JUMP OVER RAIL AND ESCAPE THROUGH THE WINDOWS. KNOW THE EXITS OF THE CHURCH. DON'T TRY TO HIDE UNDER THE PEWS. GET OUT!

All those interested in becoming a mentor at St Anthony School or in assisting us in the Isaiah 43 Mentorship Program, please come to the informational meeting Monday April 29 at 6:30 pm in the St Anthony Cafeteria. We can use volunteers also in assisting us in soliciting local businesses for gift cards and/or grants to provide food and entertainment to mentors and mentorees.

With professional instruction, Natural Family Planning has proven itself to be safe, effective, and a moral way for couples to plan their families. It is a method which respects the meaning of human sexuality as God created it and thus marital love is enhanced and strengthened. This class series the Office of Marriage and Family Life is offering in the SymptoPro™ Method of Natural Family Planning will be conducted by Kelly Donahue of the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The dates of the class series are May 3, May 17, May 31 and June 28, 2019. Hours are 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. The classes will be held in the Most Holy Trinity Family Life Center in Covington. The cost is $100 and includes all classes and materials. Preregistration is required.

COPING WITH AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION • Be aware of your environment and any possible dangers • Take note of the two nearest exits in any facility you visit • If you are in an office, stay there and secure the door • Attempt to take the active shooter down as a last resort PROFILE OF AN ACTIVE SHOOTER An active shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area, typically through the use of firearms. CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION • Victims are selected at random • The event is unpredictable and evolves quickly • Law enforcement is usually required to Contact your building management or end an active shooter situation human resources department for more information and training on active shooter response in your workplace. CALL 911 WHEN IT IS SAFE TO DO SO HOW TO RESPOND WHEN AN ACTIVE SHOOTER IS IN YOUR VICINITY 1.RUN • Have an escape route and plan in mind • Leave your belongings behind • Keep your hands visible 2. HIDE • Hide in an area out of the shooter’s view • Block entry to your hiding place and lock the doors • Silence your cell phone and/or pager 3. FIGHT • As a last resort and only when your life is in imminent danger • Attempt to incapacitate the shooter • Act with physical aggression and throw items at the active shooter HOW TO RESPOND WHEN LAW ENFORCEMENT ARRIVES • Remain calm and follow instructions • Put down any items in your hands (i.e., bags, jackets) • Raise hands and spread fingers • Keep hands visible at all times • Avoid quick movements toward officers such as holding on to them for safety • Avoid pointing, screaming or yelling • Do not stop to ask officers for help or direction when evacuating INFORMATION YOU SHOULD PROVIDE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT OR 911 OPERATOR • Location of the active shooter • Number of shooters • Physical description of shooters • Number and type of weapons held by shooters • Number of potential victims at the location ST JOSEPH STAINED GLASS WINDOWS OPEN OUT -- JUMP OVER RAIL AND ESCAPE THROUGH THE WINDOWS. KNOW THE EXITS OF THE CHURCH. DON'T TRY TO HIDE UNDER THE PEWS. GET OUT!

The Office of Justice and Peace, Office of Racial Harmony, and Isaiah 43 Program are hosting their monthly Peace Prayer Walk on Tuesday, April 30, 2019. We will gather at 6:00 PM at St. Martha Parish located at 2555 Apollo Ave., Harvey, LA 70058. All are invited to attend as we follow Pope Francis’ calling to be in the community to encounter and dialogue with others to promote peace. For more information, contact Kristina Gibson at (504) 310-8772.

In this novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as Our Mother of Perpetual Help from this icon pictured on the left) we pay tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary in asking for her assistance. This picture of the Blessed Mother with her Divine Son above has helped her provide strength, comfort and even miracles to the faithful for centuries! .......... Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary. What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name. Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you Mother of Perpetual Help. Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you. (Then say three Hail Marys).......... First placed in the Church of San Matteo in Rome in 1499, the picture was thought to be lost at one point after Napoleon’s armies sacked that church in 1798. Fortunately, however, it was in the care of the Augustinian fathers until Pope Pius IX ordered that the icon be given to the Redemptorist order at the Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome in 1866 for public viewing once again. Since then it has been copied and venerated in churches and homes all over the world. Note in this picture how Jesus, while safely cradled in his mother’s arms, looks anxiously at St. Gabriel the Archangel, who holds the cross and nails for His Crucifixion. (St. Michael the Archangel, at left, holds the lance, spear, and the vessel of vinegar and gall for our Lord's Passion as well.) The Blessed Mother looks at us solemnly, perhaps as if in contemplation of her beloved Son’s future Passion and death for our salvation! Remember that when we pray this novena to our Lady of Perpetual Help, that we are not choosing to worship her over her Divine Son. She is "our Mother on the order of grace,” according to a Vatican II document, and all the graces Mary gives us come directly from our Lord. She is always ready to intercede with Him on our behalf, but never for anything contrary to His wishes. As long as we approach her as we do Him, with sincerely humble and contrite hearts, we can count on her aid and guidance. Mary’s last spoken words in the Gospels concerned her Son when she said at the wedding feast at Cana “Do whatever he tells You” (John 2:5). If we persevere in our intentions to do Christ’s will for us, we are doing hers as well.

Registration is going on for our 3-Day-Retreat at St Mary Of The Pines in Chatawa MS. This is a ladies only retreat with the theme of "The Power of Praying Women". $170 for single; $140 double and triple occupancy. June 28-30. Limited space. Reserve today. Registration forms in back of church.

Retreat May 31 through June 2

The Archbishop will ordain the transitional deacons to the priesthood. All are invited to witness this great event.