“Through Baptism, God enables us to participate in his life in Jesus Christ and makes us his children. It is through this sacrament that we receive the Holy Spirit and become members of the People of God, of the Body of Christ, which is the Church. Baptism becomes our commitment to grow in this new life and to strive to acquire spiritual maturity. By baptism, God purifies us from sin.”
– The Sanctifying Role of the Church
Code of Canon Law, c. 842, 849; Catechism of the Catholic Church 1213, 1263, 1265, 1267-1270
If you would like your child baptized at Holy Cross, please fill out the Baptismal Information Form and bring the form to the church office. Once the form is submitted you will be contacted by the pastor.
Once children who have been baptized Catholic reach the age of reason, 7 years old, they may receive the sacrament of Holy Communion. Catechism classes to prepare for First Holy Communion start at the beginning of the school year. The celebration of First Communion mass will take place after Easter. To receive the sacrament of Holy Communion at Holy Cross please register for catechism classes at the beginning of the school year.
To receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at Holy Cross High School students are asked to attend catechism their sophomore and junior years on Sundays evenings after the 5 pm mass in conjunction with our Life Teen Life Nights.
The requirements for reception of confirmation at Holy Cross are found below, along with the class schedule and registration forms.
Reconciliation
Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture of communion with him. At the same time, it damages communion with the Church. For this reason, conversion entails both God’s forgiveness and reconciliation with the Church, which is expressed and accomplished liturgically by the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation. CCC 1440
The formula of absolution used in the Roman Catholic Church expresses the essential elements of this sacrament: the Father of mercies is the source of all forgiveness. He affects the reconciliation of sinners through the Passover of his Son and the gift of his Spirit, through the prayer and ministry of the Church: CCC 1449
The Sacrament of Confession is offered at Holy Cross in church on Saturdays from 3:00 – 3:50 pm, during adoration for First Friday devotion or by appointment with the priest.
Anointing of the Sick
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 a 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 is 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.
– from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
” The anointing of the sick, by which the Church commends the faithful who are dangerously ill to the suffering and glorified Lord in order that he relieve and save them, is conferred by anointing them with oil and pronouncing the words prescribed in the liturgical books.”
– The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick: Can. 998
If anyone would like to receive the sacrament of the anointing of the sick, please contact the office at 318-352-2615 to schedule a time with the priest.
Marriage
“The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.” CCC 1601
“The intimate community of life and love which constitutes the married state has been established by the Creator and endowed by him with its own proper laws. . . . God himself is the author of marriage.”87 The vocation to marriage is written in the very nature of man and woman as they came from the hand of the Creator. Marriage is not a purely human institution despite the many variations it may have undergone through the centuries in different cultures, social structures, and spiritual attitudes. These differences should not cause us to forget its common and permanent characteristics. Although the dignity of this institution is not transparent everywhere with the same clarity,88 some sense of the greatness of the matrimonial union exists in all cultures. “The well-being of the individual person and of both human and Christian society is closely bound up with the healthy state of conjugal and family life.” CCC 1603
Anyone interested in receiving the sacrament of marriage at Holy Cross, please call the parish office to reserve a date and make an appointment with the Pastor.
Holy Orders
At the Last Supper our Lord Jesus instituted the Holy Mass and the Priesthood, then he said to his Apostles: "Do this in memory of me." Before ascending into heaven Jesus commissioned his Apostles to continue his mission on earth: "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, teaching them all that I have commanded you, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."