Mass Time
Saturday: 4p
Sunday: 7:30a, 9:30a,11:30a
Monday: 6:30a Communion Service
Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday: 6:30a
Thursday: 8a
Misa en Espanol
Sunday 1:30p
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Saturday: 2:45p-3:30p
Parish App
Stay connected and Online Giving with WeConnect Parish Moblie App:
Office Hours
Friday: 8:30a-noon
Office Address:
1022 North Burnside Ave.
Gonzales, La 70737
Phone: 225-647-6588
Fax: 225-647-2223
Parish Updates
SCHEDULE FOR HOLY WEEK
HOLY THURSDAY
7:00 pm Mass of the Lord’s Supper...
8:00 - 9:00 pm Solemn Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament
GOOD FRIDAY
12:00 noon Stations of the Cross w/ Deacon Steven
3:00 pm Celebration of the Passion of the Lord
w/ veneration of the Cross
EASTER VIGIL MASS
8:00 pm Mass celebrating the Resurrection of the Lord
(All of our Holy Week liturgies will be live streamed on the St Theresa of Avila facebook page. After the Holy Thursday Mass we will keep the live video going in silence for everyone to be able to spend some quiet time alone with Our Lord in the Most Blessed Sacrament until 9:00 pm.)
To our St. Theresa Community:
Fr. Eric and I are very excited to introduce Deacon Steven Gonzales. Many of you already know Deacon Steven as he is from the St. Amant area. Bishop Duca has assigned Deacon Steven to our parish beginning tomorrow, April 1, 2020.
We asked Deacon to introduce himself and here is his personal introduction:
Deacons have been described as “Servants of God and his People.” It is my honor to be your new servant.
Hi there. My name is Deacon Steven Gonzales. I’m married to my ninth-grade sweetheart, Gina, and we have two daughters: Dr. Regan (soon-to-be) Naquin, DVM… and Hannah, the artist of our family. We also have a bluff-colored tabby cat, Doddie.
I’ve been a computer systems engineer at LSU’s College of Engineering for the past 20 years and have owned a voiceover business for the past seven years.
On June 12, 2010, Bishop Robert Muench ordained me and 12 of my brothers into the ministry of the Permanent Deacon. Since then, I’ve been involved with the RCIA process, Confirmation catechesis, music ministry, and spiritual direction, among other ministries.
Prior to becoming a deacon – for almost four decades – I was a music minister, specifically piano and trumpet. I keep that skill sharp since I still use it occasionally. Also, I was a Confirmation catechist for 25 years and still teach certain sessions when requested.
Following Fr. Eric’s leadership and Deacon Jodi’s guidance, I am so looking forward to getting to know you all, to serve you, and to minister with you.
God’s blessing to you all.
Deacon Steven
PARISH UPDATES FROM THE PASTOR #1
- Please contact the Parish Office by phone (225-647-6588) or Fr. Eric’s emergency contact (225-405-3383) rather than coming to the parish office. We are trying to comply with the civil authorities requests to severely limit social contact in order to protect you and our staff and knock this virus on its can.
- At this time, we are not closing the Adoration Chapel or the Church to private prayer. Please observe the safety precautions posted on the doors and abide by the number of occupants and social distancing guideline
- Present circumstances are going to force me to come into the 21st century as far as social media and streaming technology. I am hoping to record St. Theresa’s private weekend Mass and post it on our Facebook page each weekend. There are also numerous Masses on the Catholic Channel and EWTN as well as the Internet that you can tune into. Please read the article I have posted on Spiritual Communion when the celebration of the Eucharist is not available.
- Our Food Pantry will remain open with substantial changes to the procedure for both applying for assistance and for receiving it. All requests should be made through the Parish Office (225-647-6588) by contacting Ms. Anna Sparacino, NOT through face to face contact either at the office or the food pantry. For the safety of our staff and volunteers and those seeking assistance, all screening of requests will be done by phone.
- We know we will be seeing a substantial uptick in our requests for food and other emergency assistance. Please continue to support our Food Pantry with your donations of food and money. If you would like to donate food, please bring it to the Church and leave it in the vestibule.
- St. Theresa Church has both a spiritual as well as an institutional reality. In this time, we are facing challenges both spiritually and institutionally. My wonderfully dedicated staff and I are continually looking at valuable and creative ways that we can help all of our parishioners continue to grow spiritually through these trials. Keep watching our Facebook page and the St. Theresa website. In addition, we are facing the institutional issue of continuing to support St. Theresa Church financially. Your support through these difficult days is deeply appreciated. One way of making this easier for you and the parish is to sign up for online giving at our website. I did this for the first time a couple of years ago and it is a real blessing. Even as pastor I would forget at times to write those checks and need to catch up. Now, each month I am notified that an automatic withdrawal for St. Theresa has gone through on the day each month that I have chosen. To sign up yourself, simply go to our website and click the tab for online giving. The choices are really easy to follow.
Thanks
PARISH UPDATES FROM THE PASTOR #2
✓ With Bishop Duca’s letter yesterday, March 17th, we have to make a few adjustments in our practices here at St. Theresa. First, we will need to close the Adoration Chapel. The Church will continue to be open for prayer. Please enter through the side door on the office side. Please also continue to observe the guidelines on social distancing while in the Church.
✓ No Funeral Masses are permitted at this time. No funeral services of any kind can be held in the Church. I believe our best option is to celebrate a brief graveside service with the immediate family at this time. Once we are through the danger period, I would love to schedule a Memorial Mass celebration with your loved one’s family to honor their life and their entrance into Eternal Life.
✓ No Wedding Masses can be celebrated at this time. The Wedding Rite can be celebrated in the Church but only with “the bride, groom, celebrant, two witnesses and immediate family (parents, siblings, and children) present. I am sorry for the disruption this causes for our newly to be weds.
✓ As best we can according to the regulations of health care facilities, priests are permitted to administer the anointing of the sick and viaticum. In a number of cases, for the safety of all the patients and residents, priests are not permitted at this time into certain facilities.
✓ You will notice that there is no Holy Water in the Church at this time. This will be restored once we are through the danger period.
✓ In addition to the cancellation of all public Masses at this time, the Bishop has asked us to cancel all Penance Services and all regularly scheduled confessions. Because we are trying to limit social contact in order to drastically reduce the possible transmission of this virus, I ask you to be very prudent in requesting personal confession at this time.
Events Calendar
News
Dear St Theresa Parish,
This is a little different post from the spiritual reflections that our staff has been posting. Thank you for taking the time to prayerfully read them and for your own comments. Social media has taken on a new importance for me as a priest and pastor as it is one of the few means that I have to continue to feel a connection with you. I appreciate your kind and supportive comments. But more importantly, I cherish this light of connectedness that flickers in the darkness. This must be like what our servicemen and women felt before social media when they awaited any word by mail from home, any little sign that they were not forgotten but still connected to those they loved. In the absence of our being able to gather together, I appreciate still this glimmering sense of connectedness.
I also wanted to take a moment to thank you for doing the best you can with continuing to financially support St Theresa parish. I understand that these are uncertain times for many. Everyone is in my prayers. Let me share with you a little bit of what is going on as far as maintaining the parish. Most of the staff works from home each day. If they need to come by the office to pick up some work, we make sure that we maintain all of the social distancing protocols for everyone’s protection. One of the things our staff is working on from home is going through our census and contacting as many of you as we can reach. This is first to express our love and prayers and to see if there is anything that we can help you with. Secondly, we are trying to update our records with correct addresses and contact information. We are finding that a number of the telephone numbers that we have on file are no longer working. So, we hope to have much better contact information after this, better preparing us for any future outreach efforts.
Lessie, our bookkeeper, and Deacon Jodi, our business manager, have been coming in more regularly because of the need to continue to pay bills and handle other office matters. We also keep our distance! Angela has been maintaining our website, facebook page and digital bulletin, along with tutoring the the often confused pastor on electronic and social media information. DJ has been continuing to maintain our grounds and buildings so that we don’t get to looking like a jungle. Alice has been going through her files for PSR, child protection, and even experimenting with Zoom meetings with the RCIA. When no one else needs to be in the office, Jovita has been coming by to keep our buildings clean and disinfected. Anna, along with others on our staff, have been responding to emergency assistance needs the best we safely can. Finally, the sweet, angelic voice who answers your calls to the office is Marita. Through one of those miracles of modern technology, she is doing this from home. She is also our most prolific caller. So, please give her, along with the rest of us, a cheerful response when you are contacted. You can also see how Deacon Steven, even in these difficult times, in jumping into St Theresa parish with both feet.
We are trying to do everything we can to keep on top of the necessary work of the parish, in new fangled ways in these extraordinary times. The parish, along with so many families and businesses through this pandemic, is going to take a major financial hit. Again, I am deeply humbled by and appreciative of the support that those who have been able have continued to give to our parish. It has enabled us to keep our staff on board. We are actively exploring the Payroll Protection Plan that the Federal Government has passed for small businesses, including nonprofits and churches. Through this plan the government is trying to encourage and incentivize small businesses to retain their employees. That would be an enormous help. Keep your prayers going.
All of our staff of St Theresa miss you and are praying for you. Please call the parish office number 225-647-6588 if we can do something for you, answer any questions we can, or point you in the right direction. We are happy to hear from you. That’s what we’re here for — even if here means from home, right now.
God Bless You this Holy Week,
Fr Eric
Hola a todos. Padre Eric aquí,
La proclamación de la Orden del Gobernador de quedarse en casa el domingo por la tarde y la Carta del Obispo Duca a sus pastores en respuesta a la orden del Gobernador requieren que hagamos algunos ajustes adicionales en nuestras vidas y nuestros procedimientos.
Esta mañana me reuní con todo nuestro personal aquí en Santa Teresa (teniendo en cuenta el distanciamiento social necesario) para analizar cómo vamos a operar de acuerdo con las directivas urgentes del gobernador.
# 1 A partir de hoy, nuestro personal trabajará desde su casa y estará disponible para preguntas urgentes a través de nuestra oficina parroquial número 225-647-6588. He ajustado ligeramente las horas de 9 a 2 de lunes a viernes. Durante esas horas, Marita, que administra la oficina principal, podrá transmitir información a cualquiera de nuestro personal que necesite ser contactado desde su casa.
# 2 Después de horas, en caso de preguntas urgentes, puede comunicarse con el Padre Eric al 225-405-3383.
# 3 El funcionamiento normal de nuestra despensa de alimentos se suspende durante las próximas dos semanas para proteger a nuestro personal y voluntarios y minimizar el riesgo de enviar materiales contaminados a los hogares de las personas. Anna, el diácono Jodi y yo manejaremos situaciones verdaderamente de emergencia de manera individual.
# 4 Todas las instalaciones de St Theresa están cerradas al acceso público.
# 5 Vamos a cerrar completamente el edificio de la Iglesia, incluso para la oración privada, para alentar a todos a orar desde casa y quedarse en casa.
# 6 El obispo Duca nos ha pedido que no reprogramemos cosas en este momento, como la 1ª Eucaristía, hasta que tengamos noticias de él. Simplemente no sabemos en este momento cuánto tiempo estos procedimientos deberán permanecer en su lugar.
# 7 Durante las próximas semanas, mi personal se comunicará por teléfono desde su casa con todos los feligreses que podamos contactar para comunicarnos con usted, expresar nuestras oraciones continuas por usted y sus familias, y para actualizar nuestra parroquia. censo mientras estamos en eso.
Estos son simplemente tiempos extraordinarios. Seguir las instrucciones de nuestros funcionarios cívicos, médicos y religiosos tan concienzudamente como podamos nos ayudará a superarlo. Nuestra fe nos permite vivir sin miedo y sin pánico, sino simplemente usar esa gran virtud de la prudencia para vivir nuestras vidas.
Permítanme ofrecer esta oración para todos desde San Columba
"Solo con nadie más que tú, Dios míoYo camino en mi camino.A qué necesidad temo, cuando estás cerca,Oh rey de noche y día?Más seguro estoy en tu manoque si un anfitrión me rodeara de pie.Sé una llama brillante delante de míuna estrella guía sobre míun camino suave debajo de míun pastor amable detrás de míhoy, esta noche, y para siempre. Amén.
En la misericordia de Cristo,
Padre Eric
Staff
- Reverend Eric V. Gyan, Pastor
- Deacon Jodi Moscona, Business Manager
- Alice Blair, Christian Formation Director
- Angela Tovar, Servicios en Español/Religious Education Assistant
- Anna Sparacino, Community Services Director
- Marita DeCuir, Parish Data Facilitator
- Lessie Gautreau, Bookkeeper
- D.J. Marchand, Maintenance
