Messages from the Pastor - Archive

July 5, 2009

Father Paul Counce is a priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on June 11, 1953, the oldest of the ten children of Mrs. Lettie Deas Counce and the late Mr. Harold Counce. Most of his family still lives in the Baton Rouge area. Father Counce was educated at Our Lady of Mercy and St. Joseph Cathedral Prep Schools here in Baton Rouge, graduating from high school in 1971. He attended St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, Louisiana, receiving a B.A. in History in 1975. His graduate seminary study was at The American College of Louvain in Belgium: he obtained an M.A. in Sacred Theology in 1978 from the Catholic University of Louvain there. (In 1986-1988 Bishop Stanley Joseph Ott assigned him to further graduate study at St. Paul University and the University of Ottawa in Canada, obtaining Master’s and Licentiate degrees in canon law.)

After twelve years of seminary study, he was ordained a priest by Bishop Joseph Sullivan on August 24, 1979. This year he celebrates his 30th anniversary of priestly ordination.

As a priest Father Counce has served as parochial vicar, administrator and pastor in various Catholic parishes in Gonzales, Pierre Part, Grosse Tête, Port Allen, St. Gabriel and Baton Rouge. He was in residence here at St. Joseph Cathedral from 1996 to 2002. He has taught in the accredited diocesan Religious Studies Institute and its deacon formation programs, and as a part-time faculty member of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. He is a member and former Chair of the Council of Priests of the Diocese of Baton Rouge; he also serves on the College of Consultors, the bishop’s administrative cabinet, the priests’ Continuing Formation committee, the diocesan Liturgy, Art and Music Board, and as one of the diocesan Masters of Ceremonies. He has served on the New Orleans Provincial Council of priests as well.

Father Counce’s principal ministry since 1988 has been in the field of canon law: he has served since then as Judicial Vicar, heading the local Church’s court system as its Presiding Judge. He has also been one of the Chancellors assisting with diocesan central administration. He is our bishop’s and priests’ principal counsel in the field of canon law. He is an active member of the Canon Law Society of America and its Board of Governors, and in 2007-2008 served as its President.

Since 2001 he has served on the Board of Trustees of Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge. In 2004 he was inducted as a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. In what little spare time he has Father Counce enjoys reading and cooking, with computers and stamp collecting as other hobbies.

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Father Paul became the new Pastor of St. Joseph Cathedral effective July 1, 2009. We invite you all to take the time and welcome him after Mass this weekend. We will have receptions after each Mass in the Parish Hall.

And, please mark your calendars for Sunday, July 19th. Bishop Muench will install Father Paul as Pastor at the 10:00 a.m. televised Mass. Following this liturgy, we will host a reception in the Parish Hall.

June 28, 2009

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

In Psalm 24:12, the sacred writer yearns to see the face of God. All of us with faith must have that need if it means only a little glimpse, and all our cares, pursuits and yearnings will pass away, so fulfilling would that be. Yet, I know spiritually, God’s face is written on so many faces, and, if open to his spirit, in many of our cares for others and good pursuits. I saw and recognized that vividly this past week in the ordination to the Sacred Priesthood, of two young men for our Diocese, Paul Gros and Mark Beard. It took very little to look beyond their handsome faces to see the face of God. It was most evident as the Bishop imposed hands on them silently invoked the Holy Spirit and then amply anointed their palms with the sacred oil of chrism. In my day, a decorated cloth was used to wipe the oil from the hands of the new priests, and that cloth was later presented to the mother of a priest who had the privilege of having this cloth laid across her eyes at burial. (No doubt to give a little reminder to St. Peter as she stands before him [you know how mothers are!!]). Our Diocese is proud of Paul and Mark.

Since the Bishop celebrated Sunday the 10 a.m. and 12 noon masses, I was able to attend Paul Gros’s first Mass at Most Blessed Sacrament Church. This gave me special joy because I knew Paul and his parents as active parishioners when I was pastor there. Again, I could see the face of God, and I looked at Him in all grateful people that packed the new church to celebrate their special son, the new priest. After, at the reception, I thanked him for taking my place as I go into semi-retirement and received his first priestly blessing. This is always a special moment, and I could not forget to thank God for my gift of His priesthood and remember flashbacks to my own ordination. I remember giving Bishop Tracy my blessing, but even more remember my own first solemn Mass in St. Agnes Church with my mother, father, family (especially two uncles who were priests), and my priest friends. Msgr. Patrick Gillespi hovered over me lest I forget one gesture or word of the Latin Rite Mass. Yes, the face of God is seen, and I’m grateful!

We need all be grateful in Baton Rouge for our two new priests who want to serve and bring you the face of our Creator in their homilies, liturgies, service, and special personalities that spread the multi dimensions of God’s love and face. I say thank you, Paul and Mark, for accepting God’s call. It’s a great life, and serve God’s people with gentleness and pastoral care.

The sacraments we receive, sometimes daily by many, are extravagant realities of how God touches our own lives and becomes real and present when seen in the sacred rites like confirmation, marriage, and ordination. For the one who can see beyond in faith, they are exuberant moments of God’s revelation, strength, and love.

Fred Heroman was not exactly exuberant on his 90th birthday last month, but he looked great, still bright and his old creative self. He grew up in St. Joseph Parish, served this cathedral, and put on so many creative fundraisers with Fr. Uter and me, to enhance and bring back this community and this jewel of a Cathedral. This was at a time when Downtown was sleeping in a cocoon. At his party he came up to me and proposed a fund-raiser! I told him to save it for Fr. Paul Counce! He is still full of creative life. To Fred, your Community of St. Joseph thanks you! Your hard work and many successful projects like Bishop’s Day, cooking, and artful way in bringing this community with Fr. Uter back to life are remembered with enthusiasm! May you have many more years of creative and productive service as well as continued good health. I hope I’ll make your 100th!! My prayers and blessings!

On a final note, our great church organ named “Providence† celebrates its 15th anniversary this year with a concert on June 9. Our concert committee, along with Robbie Giroir, has been working to make it a musical delight with the presence and performance of Dr. Peter Latona, the organist for the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. You may want to call the rectory for details. May I invite, especially all who over the years contributed to the installation of this organ in Fr. Uter’s time. Please make your names known, for I would like to recognize you.

Fr. Jerry Young

June 7, 2009

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

For you who don’t know exactly where I live in the rectory, it is on the second floor, where at one time there were as many as seven bedrooms. Actually, they were like monk cells, and over the years with the shortage of priests and the new Prep School (now closed), pastors and priests have broken down walls to make larger room for themselves. I live in the far east room that overlooks the back garden and lovely large marble statue of Mary that used to be in the Cathedral. It is very nice on clement days to sit on the balcony, read, and occasionally notice who is passing by. Recently, I have had the honor of enjoying a weekly delivery of beautiful flowers that someone places at the feet of Mary during this month of May. I have not been able to catch the one who places them in her honor, but I wish to praise them, because the old pastor enjoys them too!

We must admire the courage and witness for peace our Holy Father carried with him from Rome to the Holy Land. He had a delicate dance welcoming interfaith debate while affirming his beliefs in the one true church, and what a minefield he navigated! There were a few minor skirmishes, but on a whole he always spoke calmly, but firm, with charity and concern for peace in the area. As a young priest (gosh, how long ago was that?), I was in Illinois visiting priest friends when the Bishop recommended to his parishes a list of “do’s†to help bridge distrust and racial prejudice, which in those days mirrored the unrest of the Holy Land. I remembered recommending a few, for I lived in the South and could make good use of them. I was proven correct, for years later I had the front door of my rectory blown off as I attempted to welcome black parishioners to the church fair – (now this was years ago and another story). The Bishop in Illinois wrote: “Seek opportunities to know and learn from persons of different race, nationalities and creeds. Pray for the end of racism and identify prejudice in your communities, and a simple thing like…refuse to use bias language and the telling of jokes tinged with offensive language. Elect public officials who will work for racial justice.† In our enlightened society of today, you can look about, and I’m sure think of, some remedies yourself. We must continue to expand our hearts and minds to see God in each other and practice, in sacrifice sometimes, the virtues of love and justice. One last note on this subject, old Pope John XXIII did a “trick† on the church in his time by changing one little word in the liturgy of Holy Week. In that liturgy we prayed for many causes as we do in our Prayers of the Faithful today at Mass. There was in the Liturgy of Holy Week a prayer petition for the Jews, and it prayed for them as “Perfidious† Jews. It always struck me with a “twitch† – Well, old Pope John XXIII ordered the word removed, and in a quiet way began the church on a new journey and our own; one that continues to heal and reach out in peace to others as in the latest journey of Pope Benedict!

A word of sincere congratulations to all our graduates from Fr. Hill, myself, and the staff of St. Joseph. You are prayed for at St. Joseph this week in all the liturgies! The world counts on you to spread Christ’s Word in example and good deeds.

Father Jerry Young