Welcome to Our Parish Family!

Fr. Joe, Fr. Jody, and the entire St. Clement of Rome Parish community would like to welcome you to our parish family. Pope St. John Paul II once said in his Apostolic Exhortation on the Laity that "the parish is not principally a structure, a territory, or a building, but rather, 'the family of God, a fellowship afire with a unifying spirit,' 'a familial and welcoming community'" (Christifideles Laici 26). It is our prayer that you will truly find a home with us. In order to make your presence official, we ask that you fill out a new parishioner registration form. You can email Alma Cartagena your form at [email protected],  mail, or bring it to the Parish Center at your convenience. Please come introduce yourself to us at your next visit so we can welcome you in person. For more information, please contact the Parish Center at 504-887-7821.

New Parishioner Registration Form 

Registración para nuevos feligreses

How to be an Active Parishioner
Of course, we do not simply want you to be a parishioner in name only. We want you to be a truly integrated and contributing member of the parish community. It is through the gifts that God has given to each of us that we build up the Kingdom of God on earth expressed locally in the parish. As with any community, there are certain expectations of its members. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the members of the early Christian community "devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers" (Acts 2:42). In a similar way, modern-day members of a local parish community are expected to participate in the communal life of the parish.  We do this in three ways.

The first way you can help build up the St. Clement of Rome Parish community is through your prayers. Prayer is indispensable. This is done primarily by participating in the weekly Eucharist since the parish is first and foremost a Eucharistic community. It is the Eucharist as "the source and the summit of the Christian life" (Lumen Gentium 11) that binds us together as one Body of Christ, not only with one another but with the whole Church throughout the world and for all time. For this reason, we desire to see all of our parishioners each weekend to join us in the celebration of Mass. But we also ask you to keep the needs of our parish and our parishioners in your personal daily prayers. We also invite you to pray in our perpetual adoration chapel and join us for the other regularly scheduled and other devotions offered at St. Clement of Rome.

The second way you can give back to our parish is by giving your time. We have a very vibrant and active community here at St. Clement with numerous opportunities to serve. We ask you to prayerfully consider how God might be calling you to use your talents in our community by visiting the Parish Life section of our website.

Finally, you can contribute to the mission of St. Clement of Rome by giving of your finances. St. Clement of Rome has traditionally been a very generous community and we are thankful for the generosity of all our parishioners. Without their contributions, we could not fulfill the mission God has given us to serve the people of Metairie. We ask you to prayerfully consider how much you may be able to contribute financially to our parish in order to ensure that this mission will continue for years to come.

How to be a Practicing Catholic
People often ask what it means to be a practicing Catholic. Through the years, the Church has formulated five criteria that we can use to determine whether or not we are truly practicing our faith. Traditionally these are called the five Precepts of the Church and they express "the indispensable minimum in the spirit of prayer and moral effort, in the growth in love of God and neighbor" (CCC 2041). These minimum requirements are:

First Precept: "You shall attend Mass on Sundays and on holy days of obligation."

• You can find our Mass schedule here.  

Second Precept: "You shall confess your sins at least once a year."

• You can find our Reconciliation schedule here.

Third Precept: "You shall receive the Eucharist at least once during the Easter season."

Fourth Precept: "You shall observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church."

• Catholics are obliged to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday and to abstain from meat on all Fridays during the Lenten season as well as to perform some form of penance on all Fridays of the year. The law pertaining to fasting is binding on all between the age of 18 and 60 except for health reasons and abstinence from meat is required of all those above the age of 18. Even those who are not bound to observe the fasting and abstinence practices are still encouraged to do so insofar as they are able to. For more information on these requirements, check out the bishops' Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence.

Fifth Precept: "You shall help to provide for the needs of the Church" according to your abilities.