Al Mansfield, Coordinator -- Office Hours MWF 10-5 -- 1901 Division St Metairie LA -- CCRNO Prayer Meeting and Mass 7:30 pm Every Wednesday at St Benilde -- Youth Prayer Meeting at Rummel Raider Room at 7:30 pm Sunday Nights.

Come Lord Jesus! Bible Study -- In St Anthony Parish Office/Hall -- Thursdays at 9:30 in St Anthony Rectory ++ Also at 1 pm St Joseph has their CLJ in the St Joseph Social Room ++There is another group for Young Adults that meets on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at 31 Derbes Drive, Gretna LA +++ Please join us for one, two, or all three ++ It’s a program that was developed in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA in the late sixties and early seventies by Father Conley Bertrand, a parish priest. Graced with a love for prayer and Scripture and an ardent zeal, he sought to communicate these qualities to his parishioners. Come, Lord Jesus! is the fruit of many years of prayer, reflection on Sacred Scripture, and experimentation. This inspiring program is a complete study of the Sunday Readings, including Gospels (Be My Witness), Epistles(Love One Another) and the Old Testament(Give Glory to God) in three separate volumes. Following the Liturgical Calendar and utilizing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, members grow in sanctification through prayer, Scripture, Eucharist, and Christian community.

Come join the St Vincent DePaul Society or come volunteer to help the poor in our parishes.

The Knights of Columbus is the largest Catholic, Family, Fraternal, Service, organization in the world. Becoming a Knight can transform your life. As a Knight, you have the opportunity to support your parish, give back to your community, grow in your faith and gain exclusive access to the top-rated insurance program in the country to protect your family. Charity is the first principle of the K of C. Knights are men who get things done. By working together, our Order had the ability to donate more than $1.5 billion to charity and provide 691 million volunteer hours to worthy causes in the past decade. Unity and Fraternity are the second and third principles of the Knights of Columbus. The K of C was founded so men could work together to serve their parishes and communities, protect the well-being of their Catholic families, and support each other in faith and in many other ways.

If you or someone you know in St. Joseph or St. Anthony Parishes is homebound and would like to receive Holy Communion, please notify the office at 504-368-1313 and someone will be in contact with you.

Fr. Gary will again this year be offering classes on our Catholic Faith for those interested in becoming Catholics or wanting to enrich their Faith. Classes will resume September 8th at 6:30 pm in the St Joseph Rectory and will run throughout the year on most Thursday nights until Holy Week. Call Parish Office for details. We are also looking for those who would like to assist Fr. Gary in presenting the classes. Sometimes the best way to learn our Faith is to teach our Faith. All are welcome!

This one night seminar will answer everything you always wanted to know about Annulments but were afraid to ask. The Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry, a ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Marriage and Family Life, will be hosting a one-night seminar on Annulments on Thursday, March, 30 2023, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church (155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, LA 70070.) The Seminar, which will offer an overview of the process, is FREE & open to those seeking more information on having their previous marriages annulled. Deacon Drea Capaci is the speaker for the Presentation. Members of the Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry will be available to answer your personal case questions on a one-on-one basis at the end of the session. If you have questions about the seminar, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life 504-861-6243.

Catholic Charities’ food pantry is open Monday – Thursday from 10 am – 2 pm. The food pantry is located at 2505 Maine Ave in Metairie. Clients should go down the driveway to the left of the building. The food pantry is located in the back building, fourth door from the front. Clients can receive a pre-packed bag of food and some optional supplemental items every two weeks. Clients fill out a simple intake form at their first visit, and at subsequent visits only need provide their name.

Please join us this Friday for That Man Is You! We have Breakfast at 5:45am, followed by 6:15am Video Presentation, 7:00am Small Group Discussions, then dismissal at 7:30am so that you can put into practice what you have learned. Week 20: Physics and Faith: Beauty Beyond Description

Each Lent, Catholic families across the country unite to put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through CRS Rice Bowl, families learn about how our sisters and brothers across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. Please remember to turn in your CRS Rice Bowl with your generous contributions to help the needy. Bowls can be dropped off to Parish Office, collection put into the CRS second collection, brought to the Lenten Mission, and/or use CRS website to donate on line. What ever way you give, thank you for your gift.

St. Joseph Church Gym Seventh & Newton Streets 5:00 – 7:00pm Friday, March 24, 2023 Hosted by St. Joseph St. Vincent de Paul Choice of: Fish Dinner – includes fried catfish, baked macaroni, salad, and bread - $15.00 Shrimp & Grits Dinner – includes shrimp & grits, salad, and bread - $15.00 Drinks & desserts available for purchase Dine in or take out

For Those Hurting from Abortion or Miscarriage, There is forgiveness, hope and peace after abortion. If you or someone you love is hurting from abortion or miscarriage, we can help. Please consider attending this faith-based, healing retreat. All faiths are welcome! Open to women and men. Date: April 21-23, 2023 Price: $195/person (Financial Assistance Available) Facilitators: Pam Richard and Donna Scheuermann Priest Facilitator: Fr. Robert Cavalier To register or for more information, contact the retreat facilitators: Pam Richard – (504) 460-9360 or [email protected] Donna Scheuermann – (504) 258-9183 or [email protected]

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus will be held at St Anthony Church every 1st Friday after the 8:30 am morning mass.

Beginning February 24th Each Friday during Lent at 6:30 p.m. St. Joseph – Mass & Stations St. Anthony – Stations only

SAVE THE DATE! Join the Notre Dame Seminary community on Friday, March 3rd at 7:00 PM for the annual Aquinas Lecture. The lecture will be held in Schulte Auditorium at Notre Dame Seminary and is free and open to the public. This year’s lecture, “Humanity's Original State: Thomas Aquinas on Original Justice, Happiness, and Friendship with God,” will be presented by Professor Reinhard Hütter. Professor Hütter is a faculty fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology of The Catholic University of America. His teaching and research focus on fundamental theological questions of the relationship between faith and reason, nature and grace, revelation and faith, theology and philosophy, and dogma and history. For more information, contact Dr. David Liberto ([email protected]).

Woman’s New Life Clinic’s Born to Run – New Orleans 5K & 1/2-mile Fun Run! Saturday, March 25, 2023 New Orleans Lakefront PLACE 7546 Lakeshore Dr. New Orleans, LA US 70124 DESCRIPTION Saturday, March 25, 2023 | Lakefront Shelter #1, New Orleans 7:00 am — Mass of Solemnity of the Annunciation of our Lord 7:30 am — Runner sign-in, on-site registration available 8:30 am — 1/2-mile Fun Run/Walk begins 9:00 am — 5K begins Post-race “Birth”day Party to follow Event includes t-shirt*, race prizes, and post-race party featuring free food, music, and fun for the whole family. *Register by Wednesday, March 1, to receive a race t-shirt.

Widowed? Separated? Divorced? Listen. Accompany. Heal. Beginning Experience is an international ministry founded by a Catholic religious sister and her divorced friend offering hope and healing for those who have lost their marriage through death, separation or divorce. The Beginning Experience weekend transforms lives and has helped thousands navigate the road through grief. Visit www.beginningexperience.org to learn more about the program. Please consider including the following announcement in your bulletin. One weekend … All the difference. Join us for the Beginning Experience of New Orleans Weekend Retreat April 28-30, 2023 at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center located at 5500 St. Mary Street in Metairie. For more information including registration and fees, contact Registrar, Liz Reis at (504) 858-1813 or email [email protected] Weekend program includes materials, two nights’ lodging and five meals.

The St Joseph Women's Club will be hosting a Womens Day Of Reflection on Saturday May 27th with presenter Noel Delery from the Archdiocese Of New Orleans Spirituality Center. This is an all day event culminating in Mass and is open to all women. This is a free event, so please encourage other women to come to this Day Of Reflection. More details to follow.

On First Saturdays, the Rosary will be prayed after Mass. ++ The Five First Saturdays devotion is one of the principal points of the Fatima message. It centers on the urgent need for mankind to offer reparation and expiate for the many injuries that the Immaculate Heart of Mary suffers from the hands of both impious and indifferent men. On the First Saturday during 5 Consecutive Months, the Devotion consists of: 1. Going to Confession, 2. Receiving the Sacrament of Holy Communion, 3. Saying five decades of the Rosary, 4. Meditating for 15 minutes on the mysteries of the Rosary. All this offered in REPARATION for the sins of blasphemy and ingratitude committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Join us for a free event to explore Lent, the Eucharist, and your own call to discover how men rise from the ashes. Lent begins with ashes, reminding us of mortality, and the call to penance. But it is also a call to rise, rise to greatness. Dr. Edward Sri, Bishop Andrew Cozzens, and John Michael Lucida are coming together to challenge our thoughts on the Eucharist. How we can see it as a source of transformation and power. Join thousands of men and watch this free event. Never look at Lent the same again. It's time to rise. TOPIC Rise from the Ashes WHEN Saturday, March 11, 11am CT WHAT Free, 2-hour online event

The Office of Marriage and Family Life is pleased to announce that the annual Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Church, New Orleans. This prayer service will honor couples who are celebrating or have recently celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The celebration is open to couples married between 1993 - 1998. To register, please contact your parish office before Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Please Note: The Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration is a prayer service, not a Mass and will not fulfil the couple’s Sunday obligation. Couples should plan to attend Mass at their home parishes.

On March 18 and 19, the Archdiocese of New Orleans will host a very important second collection to raise funds to offset the costs of educating seminarians at Notre Dame Seminary and St. Joseph Seminary College. All funds collected will go directly to supporting the education and formation of the 22 men currently studying to be priests in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The annual cost to fund a single seminarian is $45,000, and this total is one of the largest budgetary items in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Please continue to pray for these men and those who work with them on their priestly formation. Please give generously to this very important fund that will provide monetary support to those men who will minister to the people of God in New Orleans for many years to come.

St Joseph Church has the 3:00 slots on Sundays and Mondays at the Gretna Bingo Palace. Please come out to play BINGO and support our Church.

As you examine your life, you might find yourself reflecting on plans to care for your family should the unexpected happen. A Will allows you to choose how to distribute the assets that you have accumulated during your lifetime, and a charitable bequest in your Will provides the flexibility to use part of these assets for the charities that mean the most to you. You can have it both ways: Ensure the financial well-being of your family and provide for the nonprofits, just like St Joseph Church & Shrine and St Anthony Church-Gretna, that you love. If you’re interested in helping sustain our Catholic heritage for future generations, the Catholic Community Foundation (CCF) can help. Please contact CCF Executive Director Cory J. Howat at [email protected] or 504.527.5778 for more information about how to remember St Joseph Church & Shrine and St Anthony-Gretna in your Will.

Please join us on Monday April 3rd for our Annual Seder Supper in the SJ Auditorium

The Office of Marriage and Family Life is pleased to announce the annual Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Philip Neri Church, Metairie. This prayer service will honor couples who are celebrating or have recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The celebration is open to couples married in 1973 or before. (To register, please contact your parish office before Tuesday, March 7, 2023). Please Note: The Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration is a prayer service, not a Mass and will not fulfill the couple’s Sunday obligation. Couples should plan to attend Mass at their home parishes.

Please come and join us at St Anthony Church -- Gretna -- on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM before Mass to pray the Rosary. Let us pray together for: the end of COVD; the sick, the dying, the abused, those suffering from abortion, the aborted, souls in purgatory, the conversion of sinners; those caught in human trafficking; peace in the world; compassion, understanding; and your special intentions.

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! Come join us for Mass and Novena.

The St. Anthony Ladies Club will meet on on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 6pm in the St. Anthony School cafeteria. All ladies are invited. Looking forward to seeing you there. Please note that future meetings will be held on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.

Come Lord Jesus! Bible Study -- In St Anthony Parish Office/Hall -- Thursdays at 9:30 in St Anthony Rectory ++ Also at 1 pm St Joseph has their CLJ in the St Joseph Social Room ++There is another group for Young Adults that meets on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at 31 Derbes Drive, Gretna LA +++ Please join us for one, two, or all three ++ It’s a program that was developed in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA in the late sixties and early seventies by Father Conley Bertrand, a parish priest. Graced with a love for prayer and Scripture and an ardent zeal, he sought to communicate these qualities to his parishioners. Come, Lord Jesus! is the fruit of many years of prayer, reflection on Sacred Scripture, and experimentation. This inspiring program is a complete study of the Sunday Readings, including Gospels (Be My Witness), Epistles(Love One Another) and the Old Testament(Give Glory to God) in three separate volumes. Following the Liturgical Calendar and utilizing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, members grow in sanctification through prayer, Scripture, Eucharist, and Christian community.

The City Council Meeting is every second Wednesday of the month at 5:30pm at City Hall.

The Westbank Charismatic Prayer Group will be meeting at St. Anthony Church on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month. Rosary at 7:00pm, Praise & Worship at 7:30pm, and Mass at 8:00pm.

"An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints". To gain indulgences, whether plenary or partial, it is necessary that the faithful be in the state of grace at least at the time the indulgenced work is completed. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day. In order to obtain it, the faithful must, in addition to being in the state of grace: — have the interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin; — have sacramentally confessed their sins; — receive the Holy Eucharist (it is certainly better to receive it while participating in Holy Mass, but for the indulgence only Holy Communion is required); — pray for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff. It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental Confession and especially Holy Communion and the prayer for the Pope's intentions take place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed; but it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the Pope's intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an "Our Father" and a "Hail Mary" are suggested. One sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the Holy Father's intentions are required for each plenary indulgence. For the sake of those legitimately impeded, confessors can commute both the work prescribed and the conditions required (except, obviously, detachment from even venial sin). Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.

Fr. Gary will again this year be offering classes on our Catholic Faith for those interested in becoming Catholics or wanting to enrich their Faith. Classes will resume September 8th at 6:30 pm in the St Joseph Rectory and will run throughout the year on most Thursday nights until Holy Week. Call Parish Office for details. We are also looking for those who would like to assist Fr. Gary in presenting the classes. Sometimes the best way to learn our Faith is to teach our Faith. All are welcome!

This one night seminar will answer everything you always wanted to know about Annulments but were afraid to ask. The Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry, a ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Marriage and Family Life, will be hosting a one-night seminar on Annulments on Thursday, March, 30 2023, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church (155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, LA 70070.) The Seminar, which will offer an overview of the process, is FREE & open to those seeking more information on having their previous marriages annulled. Deacon Drea Capaci is the speaker for the Presentation. Members of the Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry will be available to answer your personal case questions on a one-on-one basis at the end of the session. If you have questions about the seminar, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life 504-861-6243.

Due to Archdiocese of New Orleans Lenten Day Of Reflection For Priests, the normal Thursday March 16 12:10pm Mass has been moved to 9:00am. Thank you for your understanding.

If you have lost a child from miscarriage, stillborn, infancy, young child or adult child please join us at Our Lady of the Lake Church, Mandeville, La at 6:30pm on the second Thursday of every month in the cafeteria. The next support group will be Thursday, July 14 and then on Aug. 11th. Grandparents are also welcome. For more information contact Jewell Bayhi at 504-330-5975.

The Gretna Historical Society was founded in Gretna, Louisiana in 1969 by Lloyd E. Gomez (insurance man, volunteer firefighter, and community activist), who descended from Gretna pioneers, German immigrants Claudius and Catherine Nuss Strehle. The articles of incorporation for the GHS were drafted by Gretna attorney Everette F. Gauthreaux and signed in his law office on October 26, 1969. Today the GHS operates the Gretna Historical Society Museum Complex at the corner of Lafayette Street at 2nd. It consists of three 19th century Creole cottages, a blacksmith shop, and the Louisiana Fire Museum. The GHS also owns and maintains the caboose and train depot on Huey P. Long Avenue at 4th Street. There are no requirements for membership in the GHS, other than the timely payment of annual membership dues of $20 per person. Monthly meetings are held at the St Joseph's complex at the corner of Newton and 7th Streets, on the second Thursday of every month at 7:00 pm. Guests and prospective members are always welcome to attend the meetings. The society newsletter, Gretna Chronicles, is published monthly and mailed to its members.

Please join us this Friday for That Man Is You! We have Breakfast at 5:45am, followed by 6:15am Video Presentation, 7:00am Small Group Discussions, then dismissal at 7:30am so that you can put into practice what you have learned. Week 21: Evolution and Faith: Going Deeper than Darwin

Be A Part Of Our History -- ST JOSEPH CHURCH is offering you an opportunity to purchase custom bricks that cross the grounds and forge the walkways of our HOLY FAMILY MEMORIAL GARDEN. Guidelines For Brick Order: Bricks can be inscribed with your family's name, or in memory of a departed loved one, or any inscription of your choice (subject to approval). A contribution of $50.00 for each brick will enable you and your loved ones to be remembered. + Bricks are engraved with one, two, or three lines of text. + There are 17 characters on each line; this includes the blank spaces between words. + Alumni Bricks have "Class of 19__" on a line below the name (St Joseph graduates only). + Memorial Bricks have "In Memory of" on a line above the name. + Name Bricks have the name engraved as you designate. + Family Bricks have "Family" on a line below the name. [Bricks are installed after they have been paid in full and received from the manufacturer.] Click this article for order form to fill out and drop it off with your payment to the Parish Office.

Each Lent, Catholic families across the country unite to put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through CRS Rice Bowl, families learn about how our sisters and brothers across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. Please remember to turn in your CRS Rice Bowl with your generous contributions to help the needy. Bowls can be dropped off to Parish Office, collection put into the CRS second collection, brought to the Lenten Mission, and/or use CRS website to donate on line. What ever way you give, thank you for your gift.

St. Joseph Church Gym Seventh & Newton Streets 5:00 – 7:00pm Friday, March 24, 2023 Hosted by St. Joseph St. Vincent de Paul Choice of: Fish Dinner – includes fried catfish, baked macaroni, salad, and bread - $15.00 Shrimp & Grits Dinner – includes shrimp & grits, salad, and bread - $15.00 Drinks & desserts available for purchase Dine in or take out

For Those Hurting from Abortion or Miscarriage, There is forgiveness, hope and peace after abortion. If you or someone you love is hurting from abortion or miscarriage, we can help. Please consider attending this faith-based, healing retreat. All faiths are welcome! Open to women and men. Date: April 21-23, 2023 Price: $195/person (Financial Assistance Available) Facilitators: Pam Richard and Donna Scheuermann Priest Facilitator: Fr. Robert Cavalier To register or for more information, contact the retreat facilitators: Pam Richard – (504) 460-9360 or [email protected] Donna Scheuermann – (504) 258-9183 or [email protected]

NET - National Evangelization Team- will lead a retreat at Academy of Our Lady on Holy Thursday from 2-8 p.m. It is open to youth in grades 8-12. Its primary focus will be on the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and will end with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. There will be a $10 fee for attendance. Dinner will be provided. We are asking students to register by March 31st so that we can plan how much food to provide.

The Westbank Catholic Youth Unitedwill be having an evening of fun on April 14 from 6 – 9 p.m. at Archbishop Shaw. There is no entrance fee, but students should bring money for food, drinks, and snacks. A QR code is on each of the posters for sign up, or students and adults can contact Elizabeth Thaibinh to sign up at [email protected] We welcome youth directors or chaperones to come to these events with youth of your parish, or to sign up to help. We would also welcome food and drink donations and would appreciate any help from men’s or ladies club of a parish to help with cooking for the NET Retreat. If this is a possibility, again please email or call Mrs Thaibinh at 504-478-5585.

Beginning February 24th Each Friday during Lent at 6:30 p.m. St. Joseph – Mass & Stations St. Anthony – Stations only

Married Couples Retreats are a wonderful way for couples to break away from daily struggles and tasks and spend time rejuvenating and enriching their marriage. St Joseph and St Anthony Parishes are promoting a Marriage Retreat for her married parishioners at the Christian Life Center on the weekend of January 13 /14, 2024. Details will follow as we get closer to the date. Willwoods Married Couples Retreats are a great opportunity for couples to break away from the daily struggles and tasks and spend time rejuvenating and enriching their marriage. Spouses will spend time growing closer through inspiring talks, private couple time, individual prayer time, Reconciliation, Eucharistic Adoration and the celebration of the Mass. Through God’s grace, each couple will walk away with a renewed strength and a deeper commitment to each other and God. You and your spouse will spend time growing closer in your marriage through inspiring talks, private couple time, individual prayer time, Reconciliation, Eucharistic Adoration and the celebration of the Mass. Through God’s grace, each couple may walk away with a renewed strength and a deeper commitment to each other and God. This retreat is not intended for deeply struggling marriages. If you need assistance in finding help in this area, please contact the Family Life Apostolate or please call Willwoods and they can help you in your search.

Woman’s New Life Clinic’s Born to Run – New Orleans 5K & 1/2-mile Fun Run! Saturday, March 25, 2023 New Orleans Lakefront PLACE 7546 Lakeshore Dr. New Orleans, LA US 70124 DESCRIPTION Saturday, March 25, 2023 | Lakefront Shelter #1, New Orleans 7:00 am — Mass of Solemnity of the Annunciation of our Lord 7:30 am — Runner sign-in, on-site registration available 8:30 am — 1/2-mile Fun Run/Walk begins 9:00 am — 5K begins Post-race “Birth”day Party to follow Event includes t-shirt*, race prizes, and post-race party featuring free food, music, and fun for the whole family. *Register by Wednesday, March 1, to receive a race t-shirt.

Widowed? Separated? Divorced? Listen. Accompany. Heal. Beginning Experience is an international ministry founded by a Catholic religious sister and her divorced friend offering hope and healing for those who have lost their marriage through death, separation or divorce. The Beginning Experience weekend transforms lives and has helped thousands navigate the road through grief. Visit www.beginningexperience.org to learn more about the program. Please consider including the following announcement in your bulletin. One weekend … All the difference. Join us for the Beginning Experience of New Orleans Weekend Retreat April 28-30, 2023 at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center located at 5500 St. Mary Street in Metairie. For more information including registration and fees, contact Registrar, Liz Reis at (504) 858-1813 or email [email protected] Weekend program includes materials, two nights’ lodging and five meals.

The St Joseph Women's Club will be hosting a Womens Day Of Reflection on Saturday May 27th with presenter Noel Delery from the Archdiocese Of New Orleans Spirituality Center. This is an all day event culminating in Mass and is open to all women. This is a free event, so please encourage other women to come to this Day Of Reflection. More details to follow.

Join us for a free event to explore Lent, the Eucharist, and your own call to discover how men rise from the ashes. Lent begins with ashes, reminding us of mortality, and the call to penance. But it is also a call to rise, rise to greatness. Dr. Edward Sri, Bishop Andrew Cozzens, and John Michael Lucida are coming together to challenge our thoughts on the Eucharist. How we can see it as a source of transformation and power. Join thousands of men and watch this free event. Never look at Lent the same again. It's time to rise. TOPIC Rise from the Ashes WHEN Saturday, March 11, 11am CT WHAT Free, 2-hour online event

The Office of Marriage and Family Life is pleased to announce that the annual Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Church, New Orleans. This prayer service will honor couples who are celebrating or have recently celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The celebration is open to couples married between 1993 - 1998. To register, please contact your parish office before Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Please Note: The Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration is a prayer service, not a Mass and will not fulfil the couple’s Sunday obligation. Couples should plan to attend Mass at their home parishes.

On March 18 and 19, the Archdiocese of New Orleans will host a very important second collection to raise funds to offset the costs of educating seminarians at Notre Dame Seminary and St. Joseph Seminary College. All funds collected will go directly to supporting the education and formation of the 22 men currently studying to be priests in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The annual cost to fund a single seminarian is $45,000, and this total is one of the largest budgetary items in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Please continue to pray for these men and those who work with them on their priestly formation. Please give generously to this very important fund that will provide monetary support to those men who will minister to the people of God in New Orleans for many years to come.

St Joseph Church has the 3:00 slots on Sundays and Mondays at the Gretna Bingo Palace. Please come out to play BINGO and support our Church.

Please join us on Monday April 3rd for our Annual Seder Supper in the SJ Auditorium

The Office of Marriage and Family Life is pleased to announce the annual Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sunday, June 25, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Philip Neri Church, Metairie. This prayer service will honor couples who are celebrating or have recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The celebration is open to couples married in 1973 or before. (To register, please contact your parish office before Tuesday, March 7, 2023). Please Note: The Golden Wedding Anniversary Celebration is a prayer service, not a Mass and will not fulfill the couple’s Sunday obligation. Couples should plan to attend Mass at their home parishes.

Please come and join us at St Anthony Church -- Gretna -- on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM before Mass to pray the Rosary. Let us pray together for: the end of COVD; the sick, the dying, the abused, those suffering from abortion, the aborted, souls in purgatory, the conversion of sinners; those caught in human trafficking; peace in the world; compassion, understanding; and your special intentions.

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! Come join us for Mass and Novena.

Come Lord Jesus! Bible Study -- In St Anthony Parish Office/Hall -- Thursdays at 9:30 in St Anthony Rectory ++ Also at 1 pm St Joseph has their CLJ in the St Joseph Social Room ++There is another group for Young Adults that meets on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at 31 Derbes Drive, Gretna LA +++ Please join us for one, two, or all three ++ It’s a program that was developed in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA in the late sixties and early seventies by Father Conley Bertrand, a parish priest. Graced with a love for prayer and Scripture and an ardent zeal, he sought to communicate these qualities to his parishioners. Come, Lord Jesus! is the fruit of many years of prayer, reflection on Sacred Scripture, and experimentation. This inspiring program is a complete study of the Sunday Readings, including Gospels (Be My Witness), Epistles(Love One Another) and the Old Testament(Give Glory to God) in three separate volumes. Following the Liturgical Calendar and utilizing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, members grow in sanctification through prayer, Scripture, Eucharist, and Christian community.

Fr. Gary will again this year be offering classes on our Catholic Faith for those interested in becoming Catholics or wanting to enrich their Faith. Classes will resume September 8th at 6:30 pm in the St Joseph Rectory and will run throughout the year on most Thursday nights until Holy Week. Call Parish Office for details. We are also looking for those who would like to assist Fr. Gary in presenting the classes. Sometimes the best way to learn our Faith is to teach our Faith. All are welcome!

This one night seminar will answer everything you always wanted to know about Annulments but were afraid to ask. The Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry, a ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Marriage and Family Life, will be hosting a one-night seminar on Annulments on Thursday, March, 30 2023, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church (155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, LA 70070.) The Seminar, which will offer an overview of the process, is FREE & open to those seeking more information on having their previous marriages annulled. Deacon Drea Capaci is the speaker for the Presentation. Members of the Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry will be available to answer your personal case questions on a one-on-one basis at the end of the session. If you have questions about the seminar, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life 504-861-6243.

Due to Archdiocese of New Orleans Lenten Day Of Reflection For Priests, the normal Thursday March 16 12:10pm Mass has been moved to 9:00am. Thank you for your understanding.

Please join us this Friday for That Man Is You! We have Breakfast at 5:45am, followed by 6:15am Video Presentation, 7:00am Small Group Discussions, then dismissal at 7:30am so that you can put into practice what you have learned. Week 22: A Limitless Love

Each Lent, Catholic families across the country unite to put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through CRS Rice Bowl, families learn about how our sisters and brothers across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. Please remember to turn in your CRS Rice Bowl with your generous contributions to help the needy. Bowls can be dropped off to Parish Office, collection put into the CRS second collection, brought to the Lenten Mission, and/or use CRS website to donate on line. What ever way you give, thank you for your gift.

St. Joseph Church Gym Seventh & Newton Streets 5:00 – 7:00pm Friday, March 24, 2023 Hosted by St. Joseph St. Vincent de Paul Choice of: Fish Dinner – includes fried catfish, baked macaroni, salad, and bread - $15.00 Shrimp & Grits Dinner – includes shrimp & grits, salad, and bread - $15.00 Drinks & desserts available for purchase Dine in or take out

For Those Hurting from Abortion or Miscarriage, There is forgiveness, hope and peace after abortion. If you or someone you love is hurting from abortion or miscarriage, we can help. Please consider attending this faith-based, healing retreat. All faiths are welcome! Open to women and men. Date: April 21-23, 2023 Price: $195/person (Financial Assistance Available) Facilitators: Pam Richard and Donna Scheuermann Priest Facilitator: Fr. Robert Cavalier To register or for more information, contact the retreat facilitators: Pam Richard – (504) 460-9360 or [email protected] Donna Scheuermann – (504) 258-9183 or do[email protected]

NET - National Evangelization Team- will lead a retreat at Academy of Our Lady on Holy Thursday from 2-8 p.m. It is open to youth in grades 8-12. Its primary focus will be on the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and will end with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. There will be a $10 fee for attendance. Dinner will be provided. We are asking students to register by March 31st so that we can plan how much food to provide.

The Westbank Catholic Youth Unitedwill be having an evening of fun on April 14 from 6 – 9 p.m. at Archbishop Shaw. There is no entrance fee, but students should bring money for food, drinks, and snacks. A QR code is on each of the posters for sign up, or students and adults can contact Elizabeth Thaibinh to sign up at [email protected] We welcome youth directors or chaperones to come to these events with youth of your parish, or to sign up to help. We would also welcome food and drink donations and would appreciate any help from men’s or ladies club of a parish to help with cooking for the NET Retreat. If this is a possibility, again please email or call Mrs Thaibinh at 504-478-5585.

Beginning February 24th Each Friday during Lent at 6:30 p.m. St. Joseph – Mass & Stations St. Anthony – Stations only

The Archdiocesan Commission for Persons with Disabilities sponsors a Fellowship Meal with games, activities and socializing on the third Saturday of every month at the Piccadilly at 2222 Clearview Parkway, Metairie, LA, at 12:00 noon.

Woman’s New Life Clinic’s Born to Run – New Orleans 5K & 1/2-mile Fun Run! Saturday, March 25, 2023 New Orleans Lakefront PLACE 7546 Lakeshore Dr. New Orleans, LA US 70124 DESCRIPTION Saturday, March 25, 2023 | Lakefront Shelter #1, New Orleans 7:00 am — Mass of Solemnity of the Annunciation of our Lord 7:30 am — Runner sign-in, on-site registration available 8:30 am — 1/2-mile Fun Run/Walk begins 9:00 am — 5K begins Post-race “Birth”day Party to follow Event includes t-shirt*, race prizes, and post-race party featuring free food, music, and fun for the whole family. *Register by Wednesday, March 1, to receive a race t-shirt.

Widowed? Separated? Divorced? Listen. Accompany. Heal. Beginning Experience is an international ministry founded by a Catholic religious sister and her divorced friend offering hope and healing for those who have lost their marriage through death, separation or divorce. The Beginning Experience weekend transforms lives and has helped thousands navigate the road through grief. Visit www.beginningexperience.org to learn more about the program. Please consider including the following announcement in your bulletin. One weekend … All the difference. Join us for the Beginning Experience of New Orleans Weekend Retreat April 28-30, 2023 at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center located at 5500 St. Mary Street in Metairie. For more information including registration and fees, contact Registrar, Liz Reis at (504) 858-1813 or email [email protected] Weekend program includes materials, two nights’ lodging and five meals.

The St Joseph Women's Club will be hosting a Womens Day Of Reflection on Saturday May 27th with presenter Noel Delery from the Archdiocese Of New Orleans Spirituality Center. This is an all day event culminating in Mass and is open to all women. This is a free event, so please encourage other women to come to this Day Of Reflection. More details to follow.

The delegation for all Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, with the exception of those who completed the Basic Workshop after January 1, 2023, will expire at the end of November 2023. In order to be delegated for a new five-year term, each EMHC must participate in either a redelegation session in their parish or in the live redelegation session conducted by the Office of Worship. Please note that new Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion must attend one of the basic formation workshops. Attendance at a redelegation session does not fulfill the formation requirement for new EMHC. The redelegation workshop materials for parish led sessions will be sent to each parish this summer and will consist of a video welcome by Archbishop Aymond, a video presentation, and time for pastors to address particular matters pertaining to his parish. In order to create the video presentation, one live archdiocesan led redelegation workshop has been scheduled. This presentation will be held on Saturday, April 22 from 1-3 pm at St. Dominic Church. Attendance at this recording will fulfill the archdiocesan requirements for redelegation.

All middle school aged young women and their mothers are invited to join St. Benilde Catholic Church (1901 Division Street, Metairie, 7001) for an afternoon tea celebrating the incredible gift of being a daughter of the King! The afternoon will include tea and treats, games, entertainment, and uplifting witnesses from female leaders in our community. Space is limited; register by April 10, 2023 to secure your spot. For more information, contact Audrey Huck at [[email protected]][email protected]

A Monthly Rosary For Peace for law enforcement, emergency personnel, firefighters, military, and peace in the world will be held at St Joseph Church. Everyone is invited to attend. For more information call Mary Grace at 504-367-7515.

Almighty God, whose great power and eternal wisdom embraces the universe. Watch over all police and law enforcement officers. Protect them from harm in the performance of their duty to stop crime, robbery, riots and violence. Help them keep our streets and homes safe, day and night. We commend them to Your loving care because their duty is dangerous. Grant them strength and courage in their daily assignments. Dear God, protect these brave men and women, grant them your almighty protection and unite them safely with their families after duty has ended.

The Office of Marriage and Family Life is pleased to announce that the annual Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Church, New Orleans. This prayer service will honor couples who are celebrating or have recently celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The celebration is open to couples married between 1993 - 1998. To register, please contact your parish office before Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Please Note: The Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration is a prayer service, not a Mass and will not fulfil the couple’s Sunday obligation. Couples should plan to attend Mass at their home parishes.

On March 18 and 19, the Archdiocese of New Orleans will host a very important second collection to raise funds to offset the costs of educating seminarians at Notre Dame Seminary and St. Joseph Seminary College. All funds collected will go directly to supporting the education and formation of the 22 men currently studying to be priests in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The annual cost to fund a single seminarian is $45,000, and this total is one of the largest budgetary items in the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Please continue to pray for these men and those who work with them on their priestly formation. Please give generously to this very important fund that will provide monetary support to those men who will minister to the people of God in New Orleans for many years to come.

On Sunday April 23, near the Feast Day Of St Gianna Beretta Molla (the Patron Saint of Doctors, Wives, and Unborn Children), Fr Gary Copping will celebrate the Rite For The Blessing Of A Child In The Womb at the 9:30am Sunday Mass. All Expectant Mothers, Fathers, Families, and Friends are invited to celebrate Human Life and the Human Person in the Womb. Please save the date and let everyone know about this special blessing. Hope to see you all there.

St Joseph Church has the 3:00 slots on Sundays and Mondays at the Gretna Bingo Palace. Please come out to play BINGO and support our Church.

Please join us on Monday April 3rd for our Annual Seder Supper in the SJ Auditorium

Please come and join us at St Anthony Church -- Gretna -- on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM before Mass to pray the Rosary. Let us pray together for: the end of COVD; the sick, the dying, the abused, those suffering from abortion, the aborted, souls in purgatory, the conversion of sinners; those caught in human trafficking; peace in the world; compassion, understanding; and your special intentions.

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! Come join us for Mass and Novena.

Heroic Men® is a 100% FREE Catholic streaming platform designed especially for men who want to discover (or re-discover) the truth, beauty and goodness of the Catholic faith. Offering more than 100 feature-length films, TV shows, documentaries and short films, Heroic Men® seeks to source the best Catholic media available and bring it all to you, all in one place.

Come Lord Jesus! Bible Study -- In St Anthony Parish Office/Hall -- Thursdays at 9:30 in St Anthony Rectory ++ Also at 1 pm St Joseph has their CLJ in the St Joseph Social Room ++There is another group for Young Adults that meets on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at 31 Derbes Drive, Gretna LA +++ Please join us for one, two, or all three ++ It’s a program that was developed in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA in the late sixties and early seventies by Father Conley Bertrand, a parish priest. Graced with a love for prayer and Scripture and an ardent zeal, he sought to communicate these qualities to his parishioners. Come, Lord Jesus! is the fruit of many years of prayer, reflection on Sacred Scripture, and experimentation. This inspiring program is a complete study of the Sunday Readings, including Gospels (Be My Witness), Epistles(Love One Another) and the Old Testament(Give Glory to God) in three separate volumes. Following the Liturgical Calendar and utilizing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, members grow in sanctification through prayer, Scripture, Eucharist, and Christian community.

This one night seminar will answer everything you always wanted to know about Annulments but were afraid to ask. The Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry, a ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Marriage and Family Life, will be hosting a one-night seminar on Annulments on Thursday, March, 30 2023, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church (155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, LA 70070.) The Seminar, which will offer an overview of the process, is FREE & open to those seeking more information on having their previous marriages annulled. Deacon Drea Capaci is the speaker for the Presentation. Members of the Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry will be available to answer your personal case questions on a one-on-one basis at the end of the session. If you have questions about the seminar, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life 504-861-6243.

Please join us this Friday for That Man Is You! We have Breakfast at 5:45am, followed by 6:15am Video Presentation, 7:00am Small Group Discussions, then dismissal at 7:30am so that you can put into practice what you have learned. Week 23: The Wild Goose

Each Lent, Catholic families across the country unite to put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through CRS Rice Bowl, families learn about how our sisters and brothers across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. Please remember to turn in your CRS Rice Bowl with your generous contributions to help the needy. Bowls can be dropped off to Parish Office, collection put into the CRS second collection, brought to the Lenten Mission, and/or use CRS website to donate on line. What ever way you give, thank you for your gift.

St. Joseph Church Gym Seventh & Newton Streets 5:00 – 7:00pm Friday, March 24, 2023 Hosted by St. Joseph St. Vincent de Paul Choice of: Fish Dinner – includes fried catfish, baked macaroni, salad, and bread - $15.00 Shrimp & Grits Dinner – includes shrimp & grits, salad, and bread - $15.00 Drinks & desserts available for purchase Dine in or take out

For Those Hurting from Abortion or Miscarriage, There is forgiveness, hope and peace after abortion. If you or someone you love is hurting from abortion or miscarriage, we can help. Please consider attending this faith-based, healing retreat. All faiths are welcome! Open to women and men. Date: April 21-23, 2023 Price: $195/person (Financial Assistance Available) Facilitators: Pam Richard and Donna Scheuermann Priest Facilitator: Fr. Robert Cavalier To register or for more information, contact the retreat facilitators: Pam Richard – (504) 460-9360 or [email protected] Donna Scheuermann – (504) 258-9183 or [email protected]

NET - National Evangelization Team- will lead a retreat at Academy of Our Lady on Holy Thursday from 2-8 p.m. It is open to youth in grades 8-12. Its primary focus will be on the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and will end with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. There will be a $10 fee for attendance. Dinner will be provided. We are asking students to register by March 31st so that we can plan how much food to provide.

The Westbank Catholic Youth Unitedwill be having an evening of fun on April 14 from 6 – 9 p.m. at Archbishop Shaw. There is no entrance fee, but students should bring money for food, drinks, and snacks. A QR code is on each of the posters for sign up, or students and adults can contact Elizabeth Thaibinh to sign up at [email protected] We welcome youth directors or chaperones to come to these events with youth of your parish, or to sign up to help. We would also welcome food and drink donations and would appreciate any help from men’s or ladies club of a parish to help with cooking for the NET Retreat. If this is a possibility, again please email or call Mrs Thaibinh at 504-478-5585.

Pope Francis has asked our parish to support the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, which helps Christians in the Holy Land. Your support helps the church minister in parishes, provide Catholic schools and offer religious education. The Pontifical Good Friday Collection also helps to preserve the sacred shrines. The pandemic hit particularly hard the Christians in the Holy Land. Most of them depend on pilgrimages to work. In these times of crisis, the Pontifical Good Friday Collection is also necessary to meet the basic needs of the People of God still living in this Land where the Church was born. When you contribute to the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, you become an instrument of peace and join with Catholics around the world in solidarity with the Church in the Holy Land. PLEASE BE GENEROUS! For more information about Christians in the Holy Land, visit www.myfranciscan.org/good-friday.

Beginning February 24th Each Friday during Lent at 6:30 p.m. St. Joseph – Mass & Stations St. Anthony – Stations only

The Community Center For Life (on the corner of 6th and Lafayette -- 1 block from St Joseph Church) is in need year-round of baby items for new and young mothers. Items needed are: Similac Advance/Similac ProAdvance Formula, baby wipes, Head-to-Toe Baby Wash, Baby lotion and other Baby Care products, Onesies (gender neutral), bottles (Dr. Brown, Tommee Tippee). swaddles/blankets (gender neutral), gift cards (Target, Walmart, Amazon), and pretty much anything that a baby can use and/or wear. The CCL is also registered at Target as: First Name - Community Center For Life and Last Name: CCL. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

Couples preparing for the Sacrament of Marriage can now register for the 2023 calendar of Catholic Engaged Encounter weekends, as well as Days for the Engaged and Special Marriage Preparation sessions! To learn which options are right for you and sign up, visit nolacatholic.org/getting-married-1. For any additional questions, please call 504-861-6243 or e-mail at [email protected]

Woman’s New Life Clinic’s Born to Run – New Orleans 5K & 1/2-mile Fun Run! Saturday, March 25, 2023 New Orleans Lakefront PLACE 7546 Lakeshore Dr. New Orleans, LA US 70124 DESCRIPTION Saturday, March 25, 2023 | Lakefront Shelter #1, New Orleans 7:00 am — Mass of Solemnity of the Annunciation of our Lord 7:30 am — Runner sign-in, on-site registration available 8:30 am — 1/2-mile Fun Run/Walk begins 9:00 am — 5K begins Post-race “Birth”day Party to follow Event includes t-shirt*, race prizes, and post-race party featuring free food, music, and fun for the whole family. *Register by Wednesday, March 1, to receive a race t-shirt.

Widowed? Separated? Divorced? Listen. Accompany. Heal. Beginning Experience is an international ministry founded by a Catholic religious sister and her divorced friend offering hope and healing for those who have lost their marriage through death, separation or divorce. The Beginning Experience weekend transforms lives and has helped thousands navigate the road through grief. Visit www.beginningexperience.org to learn more about the program. Please consider including the following announcement in your bulletin. One weekend … All the difference. Join us for the Beginning Experience of New Orleans Weekend Retreat April 28-30, 2023 at the Archdiocese of New Orleans Retreat Center located at 5500 St. Mary Street in Metairie. For more information including registration and fees, contact Registrar, Liz Reis at (504) 858-1813 or email [email protected] Weekend program includes materials, two nights’ lodging and five meals.

The St Joseph Women's Club will be hosting a Womens Day Of Reflection on Saturday May 27th with presenter Noel Delery from the Archdiocese Of New Orleans Spirituality Center. This is an all day event culminating in Mass and is open to all women. This is a free event, so please encourage other women to come to this Day Of Reflection. More details to follow.

The delegation for all Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, with the exception of those who completed the Basic Workshop after January 1, 2023, will expire at the end of November 2023. In order to be delegated for a new five-year term, each EMHC must participate in either a redelegation session in their parish or in the live redelegation session conducted by the Office of Worship. Please note that new Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion must attend one of the basic formation workshops. Attendance at a redelegation session does not fulfill the formation requirement for new EMHC. The redelegation workshop materials for parish led sessions will be sent to each parish this summer and will consist of a video welcome by Archbishop Aymond, a video presentation, and time for pastors to address particular matters pertaining to his parish. In order to create the video presentation, one live archdiocesan led redelegation workshop has been scheduled. This presentation will be held on Saturday, April 22 from 1-3 pm at St. Dominic Church. Attendance at this recording will fulfill the archdiocesan requirements for redelegation.

All middle school aged young women and their mothers are invited to join St. Benilde Catholic Church (1901 Division Street, Metairie, 7001) for an afternoon tea celebrating the incredible gift of being a daughter of the King! The afternoon will include tea and treats, games, entertainment, and uplifting witnesses from female leaders in our community. Space is limited; register by April 10, 2023 to secure your spot. For more information, contact Audrey Huck at [[email protected]][email protected]

The Office of Marriage and Family Life is pleased to announce that the annual Silver Wedding Anniversary Celebration will be held on Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 3:00 p.m. at St. Joseph Church, New Orleans. This prayer service will honor couples who are celebrating or have recently celebrated their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. The celebration is open to couples married between 1993 - 1998. To register, please contact your parish office before Tuesday, January 17, 2023. Please Note: The Silver Wedding Anniversary celebration is a prayer service, not a Mass and will not fulfil the couple’s Sunday obligation. Couples should plan to attend Mass at their home parishes.

On Sunday April 23, near the Feast Day Of St Gianna Beretta Molla (the Patron Saint of Doctors, Wives, and Unborn Children), Fr Gary Copping will celebrate the Rite For The Blessing Of A Child In The Womb at the 9:30am Sunday Mass. All Expectant Mothers, Fathers, Families, and Friends are invited to celebrate Human Life and the Human Person in the Womb. Please save the date and let everyone know about this special blessing. Hope to see you all there.

On the weekend of April 29/30, our second collection will be for Catholic Home Missions. “Home Missions” is the name for dioceses and parishes in the United States, including its territories and former territories, which cannot provide basic pastoral services to Catholics without outside help. Basic pastoral services include Mass and sacraments, religious education, and ministry training for priests, deacons, religious sisters and lay people. For many decades, the Church in the United States has sent missionaries overseas to serve the people of Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The home missions are dioceses and parishes here in the United States that need the same kind of support. Where are the home missions? Surprisingly, the Catholic Church is poorly established in many parts of our country, especially Appalachia, the South, the Southwest along the Mexican border, the Rocky Mountain States, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and remote island chains like the Marshalls and the Carolines in the Pacific. Generally speaking, the home missions are everywhere that Catholics are few and the Church is fragile.

St Joseph Church has the 3:00 slots on Sundays and Mondays at the Gretna Bingo Palace. Please come out to play BINGO and support our Church.

CCRNO (Catholic Charismatic Renewal Of New Orleans) sponsors a Weekly Prayer Meeting for Teens and Young Adults every Sunday at Archbishop Rummel High School, in the Rummel Raider Room, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. For updates go to Instagram: @ccrnoyouth

Please come and join us at St Anthony Church -- Gretna -- on Tuesday mornings at 8:00 AM before Mass to pray the Rosary. Let us pray together for: the end of COVD; the sick, the dying, the abused, those suffering from abortion, the aborted, souls in purgatory, the conversion of sinners; those caught in human trafficking; peace in the world; compassion, understanding; and your special intentions.

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! Come join us for Mass and Novena.

Do you want to be a volunteer fire fighter or belong to a company of dedicated first responders? Consider becoming a Volunteer Firefighter or an Honorary Member. Meetings are held once a month on Fourth Tuesday of the Month. Click on links on St Joseph Website for application.

Come Lord Jesus! Bible Study -- In St Anthony Parish Office/Hall -- Thursdays at 9:30 in St Anthony Rectory ++ Also at 1 pm St Joseph has their CLJ in the St Joseph Social Room ++There is another group for Young Adults that meets on Tuesdays at 6:30pm at 31 Derbes Drive, Gretna LA +++ Please join us for one, two, or all three ++ It’s a program that was developed in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, USA in the late sixties and early seventies by Father Conley Bertrand, a parish priest. Graced with a love for prayer and Scripture and an ardent zeal, he sought to communicate these qualities to his parishioners. Come, Lord Jesus! is the fruit of many years of prayer, reflection on Sacred Scripture, and experimentation. This inspiring program is a complete study of the Sunday Readings, including Gospels (Be My Witness), Epistles(Love One Another) and the Old Testament(Give Glory to God) in three separate volumes. Following the Liturgical Calendar and utilizing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, members grow in sanctification through prayer, Scripture, Eucharist, and Christian community.

This one night seminar will answer everything you always wanted to know about Annulments but were afraid to ask. The Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry, a ministry of the Archdiocese of New Orleans Office of Marriage and Family Life, will be hosting a one-night seminar on Annulments on Thursday, March, 30 2023, from 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. at Holy Family Catholic Church (155 Holy Family Lane, Luling, LA 70070.) The Seminar, which will offer an overview of the process, is FREE & open to those seeking more information on having their previous marriages annulled. Deacon Drea Capaci is the speaker for the Presentation. Members of the Annulment Writing Workshop Ministry will be available to answer your personal case questions on a one-on-one basis at the end of the session. If you have questions about the seminar, please call the Office of Marriage and Family Life 504-861-6243.

Please join us this Friday for That Man Is You! We have Breakfast at 5:45am, followed by 6:15am Video Presentation, 7:00am Small Group Discussions, then dismissal at 7:30am so that you can put into practice what you have learned. Week 24: Life in the Spirit

Each Lent, Catholic families across the country unite to put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through CRS Rice Bowl, families learn about how our sisters and brothers across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. Please remember to turn in your CRS Rice Bowl with your generous contributions to help the needy. Bowls can be dropped off to Parish Office, collection put into the CRS second collection, brought to the Lenten Mission, and/or use CRS website to donate on line. What ever way you give, thank you for your gift.

For Those Hurting from Abortion or Miscarriage, There is forgiveness, hope and peace after abortion. If you or someone you love is hurting from abortion or miscarriage, we can help. Please consider attending this faith-based, healing retreat. All faiths are welcome! Open to women and men. Date: April 21-23, 2023 Price: $195/person (Financial Assistance Available) Facilitators: Pam Richard and Donna Scheuermann Priest Facilitator: Fr. Robert Cavalier To register or for more information, contact the retreat facilitators: Pam Richard – (504) 460-9360 or [email protected] Donna Scheuermann – (504) 258-9183 or [email protected]

NET - National Evangelization Team- will lead a retreat at Academy of Our Lady on Holy Thursday from 2-8 p.m. It is open to youth in grades 8-12. Its primary focus will be on the True Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and will end with the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. There will be a $10 fee for attendance. Dinner will be provided. We are asking students to register by March 31st so that we can plan how much food to provide.

The Westbank Catholic Youth Unitedwill be having an evening of fun on April 14 from 6 – 9 p.m. at Archbishop Shaw. There is no entrance fee, but students should bring money for food, drinks, and snacks. A QR code is on each of the posters for sign up, or students and adults can contact Elizabeth Thaibinh to sign up at [email protected] We welcome youth directors or chaperones to come to these events with youth of your parish, or to sign up to help. We would also welcome food and drink donations and would appreciate any help from men’s or ladies club of a parish to help with cooking for the NET Retreat. If this is a possibility, again please email or call Mrs Thaibinh at 504-478-5585.

Pope Francis has asked our parish to support the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, which helps Christians in the Holy Land. Your support helps the church minister in parishes, provide Catholic schools and offer religious education. The Pontifical Good Friday Collection also helps to preserve the sacred shrines. The pandemic hit particularly hard the Christians in the Holy Land. Most of them depend on pilgrimages to work. In these times of crisis, the Pontifical Good Friday Collection is also necessary to meet the basic needs of the People of God still living in this Land where the Church was born. When you contribute to the Pontifical Good Friday Collection, you become an instrument of peace and join with Catholics around the world in solidarity with the Church in the Holy Land. PLEASE BE GENEROUS! For more information about Christians in the Holy Land, visit www.myfranciscan.org/good-friday.

Beginning February 24th Each Friday during Lent at 6:30 p.m. St. Joseph – Mass & Stations St. Anthony – Stations only