Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Christ the King Parish and Catholic Center�� �

Highland at Dalrymple, LSU Box 25131 �

Baton Rouge, LA 70803�

Phone: 225�344�8595 Fax: 225�344�1920�

www.ctklsu.org

November 19, 2017

OUR EMAIL IS RUNNING AGAIN!

If you haven’t had a response from us via email,

please email us again.

Our NEW EMAIL ADDRESSES are on the left.

CONFIRMATION

November 26th

6:00 p.m.

Bishop Muench

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sunday: Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31/Ps 128:1-5/

1 Thes 5:1-6/Mt 25:14-30 or

25:14-15, 19-21

Monday: 1 Mc 1:10-15, 41-43, 54-57, 62-63/

Ps 119:53, 61, 134, 150, 155, 158/

Lk 18:35-43

Tuesday: 2 Mc 6:18-31/Ps 3:2-7/Lk 19:1-10

Wednesday: 2 Mc 7:1, 20-31/Ps 17:1bcd, 5-6, 8b, 15/

Lk 19:11-28

Thursday: 1 Mc 2:15-29/Ps 50:1b-2, 5-6, 14-15/

Lk 19:41-44

Friday: 1 Mc 4:36-37, 52-59/1 Chr 29:10bcd-12/

Lk 19:45-48

Saturday: 1 Mc 6:1-13/Ps 9:2-4, 6, 16, 19/

Lk 20:27-40

Next Sunday: Ez 34:11-12, 15-17/Ps 23:1-3, 5-6/

1 Cor 15:20-26, 28/Mt 25:31-46

Presiders:

Fr. Andrew Merrick Or

Fr. Reuben Dykes

10:00 p.m. Fr. Pat Mascarella

NOON MINISTERS

Cross Bearer:

Vicente Jiménez

Lectors:

Juan Lorenzo, Francia Gutiérrez

Hospitality:

César Escalante, Vicente Jiménez, Katheryn Párraga,

Jennifer H. Moore

Eucharistic:

Jennifer H. Moore, Juan Lorenzo, Tonya Armas

Liturgical Ministers

November 26, 2017

Readings for the Week

November 19, 2017

"A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them." In

today's Gospel parable, this man represents God, and the servants represent us. The story

makes a clear point about the importance of putting the gifts God has given us to good use.

Unlike the first two servants, the third servant chose not to make a return on his "talent."

Thus we can understand the frustration of the master. He trusted this servant, and the fellow

let him down. Remember, this all began with an act of trust when the master handed over

care of his things. The fact is that the third servant did not take good care of what he was

given.

What have we been given? Some gifts from God we all share in common: life and salva-

tion. But others differ from person to person. We each have our own set of "talents": our

personal skills, our material blessings, our education, family background, and so on. Some

have more, and some have fewer. But the point is that we are called to make the most of

what we have, whatever that may be.

Perhaps the starting point for making a return on God's investment in us is to recognize that what we have is really his!

In a sense, our gifts and skills, even our lives, are all "on loan" from God. He is generous in sharing his life and his bless-

ings with us. And, like the parable's master, he is quick to praise and reward our efforts. But when we choose to be

"wicked, lazy" servants, taking everything for granted and not using our gifts for God's glory, then "even what [we have]

will be taken away." What we bury underground is as good as gone. So let's bring our gifts into the light of day by

sharing them with others and making the best possible use of all we've received.

©2014 Liturgical Publications Inc

LSU Catholic Page 3

On Belonging: How Adoption Is Like a SacramentBY KELLEY NIKONDEHA

People assume birth into a family secures belonging. We believe birth within a country’s border makes you a

citizen, a card-carrying member of one national identity or another. At the sight of shared skin color, we imag-

ine we’re born into a similar experience of the world, belonging to the same ethnic group. And because birth is a

natural occurrence, by default, we think belonging is not only ordinary but naturally determined.

My story is different. Relinquished by one mother and received by another, I entered into family by adoption.

My mom scooped me up out of a white bassinet at Holy Family Adoption Agency and took me home – and just

like that, I belonged.

Growing up around my mother’s table, I learned that anyone could be your family if you let them. Over days

that turned into years, her welcome never ended. With each morning came new mercies, new graces that demon-

strated I belonged to her as daughters do. Family chores on Saturday mornings, homework help on many an af-

ternoon, and nightly dinners simmered in a crock-pot and served over rice all communicated that I belonged.

Her durable hospitality, amid my teenage heartbreaks and academic successes and despite her own wrestling

with chronic illness, made visible the truth of my belonging.

Every April, we’d celebrate my Adoption Day, the very day my parents brought me home. Mom made a minty

green grasshopper pie and served it up alongside gifts wrapped with a perfect bow, a hallmark for any florist.

We celebrated the way God formed our family through the sacrament of adoption. No biological connection

between the three of us, but we knew bone deep the mystery of belonging to one another by God’s divine grace.

Sacraments work that way, revealing deep truths in a moment.

Adoption makes visible the mystery of belonging to one another. My family incarnates a truth: We don’t need

biology to belong; we need fidelity. Our adopted life is a counter-narrative to all those who think differences

separate us and prevent us from connection. Adoption is the sacrament that reveals our family is deeper than

blood and more like the waters of baptism that bind us to Christ and one another.

Twelve years ago, my husband and I adopted two babies from Burundi, a small country in East Africa. People

look at us seeing our different skin color and the variation in the texture of our hair. They think we are an oddity

or maybe benevolent people willing to take in orphans from a beleaguered country. Then they often ask, “But do

you have children of your own?” unable to taste the irony in their mouth.

However, those with sacramental vision see deeper than skin. Penetrating the surface, they recognize the work

of the Holy Spirit. We stand like Jesus amid the crowd in Galilee, declaring that anyone can be our true family.

It is a work of the Spirit, a sign of God’s generous Kingdom and wide kinship. We are not limited by biology or

ethnicity or nationality. My own experience of family, as a child and as a mother, testifies to this truth through

and through.

So, adoption is a sacrament that shows us something about the reality of how we belong to one another despite

apparent differences. According to St. Paul, we are all adopted ones. It remains a mystery that we are part of

God’s family – but adoption helps us see the truth and glorious possibility.

JOIN US WEDNESDAY FOR 11:45 A.M. MASS

Office & Complex Closed

On Thursday and Friday

(No Mass. No Confessions)

SUNDAY COLLECTIONS

Will be reported at a later date

Due to early bulletin deadline.

Thank you for your continued generosity!

THANKSGIVING DAY

Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts

with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name.

On this Thanksgiving Day, Americans are encouraged to

pause and give thanks to God. In his Thanksgiving Proc-

lamation of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln wrote:

“The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled

with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To

these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we

are prone to forget the source from which they come,

others have been added which are of so extraordinary a

nature that they can not fail to penetrate and soften even

the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-

watchful providence of Almighty God.”

As you may recall, in 1863, the United States was in the

Civil War, a terribly brutal and emotionally horrifying

experience. Thousands of young Americans had died,

while others faced the prospect of imminent death. Yet,

in the midst of such a challenging time, President Lincoln

called upon Americans to remember the richness of

God’s blessings and to be thankful.

When we give thanks, we bring to mind God’s gifts to us.

This, in turn, reminds us of God’s gracious nature. We

think, not just of what God has done, but also of who

God is. Thus, thanks is a point of entry to praise. In the

language of Psalm 100, we enter God’s gates with

thanksgiving, so that we might go into his courts with

praise. There’s no biblical rule that states that thanks

must always come before praise. But, for many of us,

thanksgiving for what God has done leads us to praise

God for who he is.

So, may you enter God’s gates with thanksgiving today,

so that you might celebrate in his courts with praise! May

God give you a rich and blessed Thanksgiving Day!

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER REFLECTION:

How is it possible to give thanks even in hard times?

Does thanking God lead to praising God in your life? For what are you most grateful today?

All praise to you, O God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen!

Week of November 12

MONDAY

6:30 p.m. Adoration—Chapel

TUESDAY

6:30 p.m. Adoration—Chapel

8:00 p.m. ALIVE! - Chapel

WEDNESDAY

11:45 a.m. Mass

FALL BREAK BEGINS!

Week of November 19, 2017

SUNDAY

6:00 p.m. Parishioners of Christ the King

8:00 p.m. Edwin & Glenn Aromy,

Holy Souls, Aromy Family

Living & Deceased

TUESDAY

6:00 p.m. Lula Guillbeau

WEDNESDAY

11:45 a.m. Florentine Lemoine