April 19- April 25
Saturday 4:00 p.m. Carolyn Hardy & John Vickrey
Sunday 8:30 a.m. Robert Lee & Junius Edwards Sr.
Tuesday 8:00 a.m. No Mass
Wed. 8:00 a.m. No Mass
Thurs 8:00 a.m. No Mass
Friday 8:00 a.m. No Mass
​
​
17 April Holy Thur. 6:00 p.m. Lector : Ward Lowe Cup: Ward Lowe & Kaye Leon Altar Server: Myah Leger, Kassidy Lewis, Gina Perez
18 April Good Fri.- Lector & Speaker: Liz Gallier
Narrator: Tara Cook
Altar Servers: Thad Cook & Kassidy Lewis
19 April Holy Sat. 8:00 p.m.- Lectors: Karen Halsell
Bread: Deacon & Bonnie Trahan
Cup: Karen Halsell & Bonnie Trahan
Altar Servers: Myah Leger, Kassidy Lewis, Gina Perez
20 April Easter Sun. 8:30 a.m.-Lector: Camille Briggs
Bread: Deacon Cup: Diana & Kim McCullough
Altar Server: Weston Bain
Money Counters: Rachal Jordan & Rhonda Ducote
​​​​​​​​ HOLY WEEK - EASTER MASS SCHEDULE
OLOS STATIONS OF THE CROSS- Good Friday 12:00 Noon
Holy Thursday- 6:00 p.m. Good Friday 6:00 p.m. Holy Saturday Easter Vigil- 8:00 p.m.
Easter Sunday-8:30 a.m. Sunrise Svc. 6:30 a.m. with breakfast furnished by our Knights
We should never forget our Savior’s last and most difficult days on earth. He freely laid down His life for us, the life of the only Son of God in the flesh. He allowed His pure Heart, the Heart of Incarnate Love, to be pierced and poured out for us. Now, he wants us to focus on the love and joy! The end result of all that has been sacrificed. Live each day with a focus on what is above! Elevate our minds and hearts, to honor Christs' sacrifice, living each day for our eternal life.
PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK: Barry Adams, William Anderson, Gladys Ainsworth, Henderson Arrington, Ajibola Batiste, Michelle Blaisdell, Kade Coleman, Illya Coleman, Lisa Enderle, Donna Foreman, Mary Golden, Rosie Guidry, Elizabeth Harris, Barbara Hawkins, Lawson Helms, Gloria Jacobs, Bill Jannise, Harrison Johnson, Georgia Johnson, Mary Kibodeaux, Lexi Jones, Amelia Lee, Magon Loring, Liz Medlin, Amanda Mitchell, Raphael Ochieng, Edgar Onyango, Sherry Paschal, Mike Phelan, Castle Phelps, Darlene Presley, Jim Ryan , Julie Shields, Irby Thibodeaux, Lulabelle White & Delta Wright.
​​
​​ ​BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS-: Edgar Rodriguez 4/24, Juan Barrera 4/23, Lila Crossland 4/25,
Michael Faraci 4/22, Rachal Jordan 4/23, Allison Leger 4/25, Molly May 4/25, Lawrence Riley Blaze Roberts 4/25, Wilbert Sonnier 4/25, & Jon Willey 4/22. Happy Birthday! God Bless You!
​​​​
​
​ACM- Appeal for Catholic Missions is underway for 2025! It is only through your prayers and donations that we meet our goal. All that you prayerfully donate goes to fund many important missions in Southeast Texas. Also, any funds over our goal comes back to us tax free. Thank you for all you do to support our Church.
​
FINANCE COUNCIL- The Finance Council will meet on Tuesday April 29th at 6:00 p.m. in the Church Hall. That is not this week, but the next week.
APRIL 27th-Next Sunday, April 27th carries many celebratory titles, such as national Gummi Bear Day, Babe Ruth Day, Pet Parent Day, the list goes on. But for the Church it is of the utmost importance, as we celebrate the Octave of Easter and Divine Mercy Sunday. In addition, Blessed Carlo Acutis will be Cannonized as the first Millennial Saint. St. Carlo will serve as an inspiration to adults and youth, to love the Blessed Sacrament, &cherish the gift of Jesus in the Eucharist. Much is published about the miracles attributed to his name for cannonization. A movie is to be released for 3 showings at Tinseltown on April 27th-29th about his life. God is calling us through his Saints, will we answer?
HAPPY EASTER-The Easter flowers were donated in memory of Weldon Leger, Pete Shelton, Junius Edwards Sr., Robert Lee and Robbie Wells. We wish you and your family a blessed Easter.
Please pray for those recieving sacraments this Easter Vigil: Justice Jordan and Faith Jordan.
​​​​​
​​​​​RELIGIOUS EDUCATION-CCD-Classes - Our Religious Education School year ends at the end of April. The last class for the year will be next Sunday April 27th. Thank you, have a great summer! Classes will resume September 14th.
​ROSARY PRAYER GROUP- A group of parishioners gather to pray the Rosary every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the Church. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!
​
FISH FRY KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS- Lent Fish Fry is Friday April 18
5 p.m. to sell out. Fried or grilled fish or shrimp, includes hushpuppies, potato
casserole and coleslaw. Support our Knights, dine in or carry out.
​
​
​​​​ CHILDRENS MASS- We have a children’s/youth Mass the second Sunday of each month. The children will walk in with Father, sitting together, and participate in the parts of the
Mass. They will be lectors, collections, gift bearers, ect. Please join us , and be part of this
ministry.
​​​
​​​​​OCIA CLASSES- Are you or someone you know interested in joining the Church or learning more about your Catholic faith? Formerly RCIA, OCIA is the “Order of Christian Initiation for Adults”. If you are interested in joining please call the Church office. Classes are on Sunday p.m. noon at Our Lady of Victory . After the 11:00 Mass 409-752-3571.
​
WHATS HAPPENING AT OLOS- If you want to be up on the latest things going on at Our lady of Sorrows, you can check out our Facebook www.facebook.com/oloscatholicchurch and on Instagram: ourladyofsorrowscatholicchurch or the website ourladyofsorrowschina.org
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
Old Testament Roots of the Sacrament of Penance – The Consequences of Sin
As we mentioned in our previous study, sin separates us from God, as demonstrated in the Old Testament. This story of exile from God as the consequence of sin is seen with stark clarity in the story of Israel's Babylonian captivity. Having entered into a covenant with God at Mount Sinai, Israel enters into the Promised Land (as detailed in the Book of Exodus). For a while, Israel is faithful to this covenant relationship, but eventually Israel, in her pride, commits idolatry and sins against God, breaking the covenant oath she had sworn. As a result, God allows Israel to be taken into exile as a punishment for her sins and her refusal to repent (as seen in 2nd Kings and in Jeremiah). The physical exile is to be a lesson for Israel. Being exiled far from her homeland and Jerusalem is to be a sign of Israel’s deeper exile from God. The distance between Babylon and Zion is an indication of the distance that Israel had put between herself and Yahweh by her sins. The fact that Israel's sins lead to the Babylonian captivity and exile from the Promised Land illustrates the destructive nature of sin. Sin enslaves us and separates us from God. The exile was the result of sin, and the return from exile would come about only through the forgiveness of sins, a fact that the prophets often foretold (e.g., Is. 40:1-3; Dan. 9). But Israel required not only freedom from exile but, more importantly; she needed freedom from the death sentence to which her sins have convicted her. When Israel broke her covenant oath, she brought upon herself the curses proclaimed by Moses in the last chapters of Deuteronomy (See Deut. Chapter 32). Many of these, such as sickness, enslavement, and captivity, Israel had already suffered as a result of her exile, but one curse, that of death, still loomed ominously over Israel. Likewise, our sins harm or break our communion with God. They often bring immediate consequences that we suffer through. Left unforgiven, sin's ultimate consequence is death and permanent separation from God. Like Israel, we need God's gift of the forgiveness of sins to restore us from our exile and death sentence. The Old Testament not only attests to the consequences of sin, but also addresses the very root of the problem of sin, that is, our willful disobedience against God. The Old Testament writers often called this "hardness of hearts". In Exodus, God's people had hearts of stone - so much so that God writes His law on tablets of stone to make this point. Moses had called Israel to "circumcise their hearts," but the grace for such a complete conversion was to come only with the New Covenant. Jeremiah holds out this new heart as a sign of the New Covenant. The promise of the prophets is that Yahweh will replace the people's hearts of stone with new hearts so that they will fear the Lord and follow in His ways.
​
​