SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION

When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together.  And suddenly there came from the sky a noise like a strong driving wind, and it filled the entire house in which they were.  Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.
-Acts 2:1-4

In the Sacrament of Confirmation, the baptized person is “sealed with the gift of the Holy spirit” and is strengthened for service to the Body of Christ.”

Confirmation deepens our baptismal life that calls us to be missionary witnesses of Jesus Christ in our families, neighborhoods, society, and the world. We receive the message of faith in a deeper and more intensive manner with great emphasis given to the person of Jesus Christ, who asked the Father to give the Holy Spirit to the Church for building up the community in loving service.

In the Diocese of Memphis, the Sacrament of Confirmation is celebrated in the Easter season when a child is in the eighth grade or above. Children are required to attend P.R.E. classes for the full year prior to beginning preparation to receive the sacrament. In other words, they must attend religion classes (Parish Religious Education). Please contact the Mr. Jon Stang our Director of Parish Religious Education at 731-925-4852 for information about these classes.

SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS

“It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.” John 15:6

From the moment of Jesus’ conception in the womb of Mary until his Resurrection, he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In biblical language, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit and thus established by God the Father as our high priest. As Risen Lord, he remains our high priest. . . . While all the baptized share in Christ’s priesthood, the ministerial priesthood shares this through the Sacrament of Holy Orders in a special way.

Ordination to the priesthood is always a call and a gift from God. Christ reminded his Apostles that they needed to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest.  Those who seek priesthood respond generously to God’s call using the words of the prophet, “Here I am, send me” (Is 6:8).  This call from God can be recognized and understood from the daily signs that disclose his will to those in charge of discerning the vocation of the candidate.

If you or someone you know is interested in discerning a vocation to the Priesthood, Permanent Deaconate, Religious or Consecrated Life, let them know that they are not alone and that we are here to help them and walk with them on this very special journey.

To begin your discernment process, or to request further information, please contact the Parish office at 731-925-4852 or visit the Catholic Diocese of Memphis in West Tennessee’s Vocations Office’s website by going to http://cdom.org/CatholicDiocese.php?op=Vocations or contact Fr. Patrick Gallagher, our Diocesan Vocation Director at 901-323-3817.

SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY

Jesus said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.”
– Mt. 19:4-6

Sacred Scripture begins with the creation and union of man and woman and ends with “the wedding feast of the Lamb” (Rev 19:7, 9). Scripture often refers to marriage, its origin and purpose, the meaning God gave to it, and its renewal in the covenant made by Jesus with his Church.

By their marriage, the couple witnesses Christ’s spousal love for the Church. One of the Nuptial Blessings in the liturgical celebration of marriage refers to this in saying, “Father, you have made the union of man and wife so holy a mystery that it symbolizes the marriage of Christ and his Church.”

The Sacrament of Marriage is a covenant, which is more than a contract. Covenant always expresses a relationship between persons. The marriage covenant refers to the relationship between the husband and wife, a permanent union of persons capable of knowing and loving each other and God. The celebration of marriage is also a liturgical act, appropriately held in a public liturgy at church. Catholics are urged to celebrate their marriage within the Eucharistic Liturgy.

If you want to get married at St. Mary’s or Our Lady of the Lake, please contact the parish office at 731-925-4852 before you plan your wedding date.

SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” … Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”
– Jn. 20:21-23

Jesus entrusted the ministry of reconciliation to the Church.  The Sacrament of Reconciliation is God’s gift to us so that any sin committed after Baptism can be forgiven.  In confession we have the opportunity to repent and recover the grace of friendship with God. It is a holy moment in which we place ourselves in his presence and honestly acknowledge our sins, especially mortal sins.  With absolution, we are reconciled to God and the Church. The Sacrament helps us stay close to the truth that we cannot live without God. “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Reconciliation is an experience of the gift of God’s boundless mercy.

For children, six and under, First Reconciliation is coupled with First Communion. Children in the 2nd Grade attending Catholic Schools and those enrolled in our Parish Religious Education program are being prepared for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and for First Communion. Diocesan norms require that preparing for First Reconciliation and First Communion be a two year process. Children who are not attending Catholic schools should be attending Parish Religious Education classes for two years prior to First Communion.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is celebrated every Saturday afternoon from 3:15- 3:45 p.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and 15 minutes before each Mass (St. Mary’s and Our Lady of the Lake) and by appointment with Fr. Dexter Noblefranca at 731-925-4852.

SACRAMENT OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone in good spirits? He should sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? He should summon the presbyters of the church, and they should pray over him and anoint [him] with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.
– James 5:13-15

In the Church’s Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, through the ministry of the priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes even from physical ailment. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and death by his dying and rising.

The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious nature of the illness is sufficient.

When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God’s will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is offered to all who are seriously ill or prior to surgery. Please contact the Parish Office at 731-925-4852 when you or a family member is ill.  Federal law does not allow hospitals to notify churches when a parishioner has been admitted, so we ask a family member to notify us if a loved one is in need of a priest or wants the sacraments while hospitalized.

SACRAMENT OF THE EUCHARIST

While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.”  Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins.
– Mt. 26:26-28

The Eucharist is a real sacrifice, instituted by Christ at the Last Supper. It is “the source and summit of the Christian life” (Lumen Gentium, #11). In the Eucharistic liturgy and our prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, we encounter God’s presence in personal and profound ways.  But the Eucharist is also social, as Pope Benedict XVI reminds us in Deus Caritas Est: “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented.”

The Eucharist, celebrated as a community, teaches us about human dignity, calls us to right relationship with God, ourselves and others, invites us to community and solidarity, and sends us on mission to help transform our communities, neighborhoods and world. Church teaching, rooted in both Scripture and Tradition, emphasizes both the personal and social natures of the Eucharist.

Mass Schedule:

Saturday
4:00pm – Vigil Mass at St. Mary’s
5:30pm – Vigil Mass at Our Lady of the Lake

Sunday
8:00am – Mass at Our Lady of the Lake
10:00am – Mass at St. Mary’s
12:30pm – Spanish Mass at St. Mary’s

Monday
6:00pm

Tuesday 
8:30am (Communion Service)

Wednesday
6:00pm

Thursday
12:00pm

Friday
12:00pm