Preparing for Easter

Local churches offer more service times, opportunities for parishioners to get closer to Christ during Lent

The weeks leading up to Easter are a time for all Christians to remember their baptismal promises and do good for themselves and their community.

Many people associate the Lenten season with Catholicism, but other denominations also take this time to prepare for the Easter holidays.

The St. Charles United Methodist Church will offer weekday services until Easter on March 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29 at 6:30 p.m. They will also have a special Good Friday service on April 5 with a special musical presentation to begin the Easter weekend.

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church will also offer more opportunities for church-goers in the coming weeks. The church will have Way of the Cross at 6:30 p.m. each Friday in Lent, 6 p.m. Eucharist on April 5 for Maundy Thursday, a noon liturgy on Good Friday and a Festival Eucharist at 10 a.m. on Easter day followed by an egg hunt.

Catholic services will be in full gear starting this week. Starting tomorrow, abstinence from meat is observed by all Catholics 14 years or older on every Friday during Lent, but residents will still have happy taste buds when the Knights of Columbus begin their Lenten Friday fish fries tomorrow.

The KC Council 2409 in Luling will host fish fries every Friday during Lent at the St. Anthony Community Building, 234 Angus Drive. Entrée choices include fried catfish or seafood gumbo for $8. The KC Council 3634 in Norco will also have cookouts on Fridays from 4:30-7 p.m. in their hall at the corner of 4th and Spruce streets. Fried catfish with French fries, hush puppies, cole slaw and cake will be served for $8 and their famous onion mums will be $6.

St. Charles Borromeo School in Destrehan will also have its annual Fountain of Youth Fish Fry in the cafeteria on March 9 and 23 from 5-8 p.m.

Catholics are also called to be penitent and reflect during Lent.

Participating in food drives, donating unwanted clothes or goods and prayer are all good ways to better oneself and the community leading up to Easter.

Many churches, like St. Charles Borromeo in Destrehan, will hold their own food or monetary drives for the poor, but everyone can donate to local food banks and second-hand stores, such as Cajun Village Thrift Store, Social Concerns Thrift Shop or Second Harvest Food Bank.

And like the Episcopal and Methodist churches, Catholics will also have more opportunities to become closer to Christ before Easter arrives.

Holy Family Catholic Church in Luling will have its Lenten Mission on Feb. 28-March 1. The theme is “The Serious Season” and confession will be held from 6:20-6:50 p.m. each of those days followed by Mass at 7 p.m. Weekday services will be offered at 8:30 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, and an 8:30 a.m. Communion service will be held Wednesdays. Way of the Cross will be available on Fridays after the 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Mass times and reconciliation will be available on Saturdays from 2:45-3:30 p.m.

Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Hahnville will have Way of the Cross and Benediction of the Sacrament every Wednesday during Lent at 6 p.m. The church will also have a penance service which will be announced.

Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Norco is offering Way of the Cross every Friday during Lent following the 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Mass.

St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Luling will have Way of the Cross each Friday at 6 p.m. during Lent and its Lenten Mission on March 25-28.

St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Destrehan had a plethora of events going on during Lent to help parishioners prepare for Easter. The Eucharist will be celebrated at 8:15 a.m. Monday through Friday and on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. The church also has a Eucharistic Adoration Chapel that will be open constantly. Reconciliation services will be offered on Saturdays from 5:30-6 p.m. or any time by request and Stations of the Cross will be held every Friday at 7 p.m. followed by Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

Fr. Joe Palermo will present the Lenten Mission during all Masses on March 24-25 and on March 26-28 at 7 p.m.

St. Gertrude Catholic Church of Des Allemands will have Stations of the Cross at 6 p.m. each Friday and a Lenten penance service on March 29 with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration at 6 p.m.

St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Paradis will have Stations of the Cross at 6 p.m. every Friday and Lenten penance service on March 22 with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Adoration at 6 p.m. The church’s Lenten Mission will be themed “What is Lent really all about?” and will take place March 5-7 with Rev. Louis Arceneaux.