Bayou Catholic | April 2015 Issue

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Bayou

Catholic

He is Risen!

HOUMA, LA ~ APRIL 2015 ~ COMPLIMENTARY

2 0 1 5 Together in the Work of the Lord

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Contents

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22

FEATURES

30 Our Churches Thanh Gia, Amelia

COLUMNS

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Comfort For My People

By Bishop Shelton J. Fabre

14 Pope Speaks

By Pope Francis I

15 Question Corner

By Father Kenneth Doyle

16 Readings Between The Lines

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By Father Glenn LeCompte

26 Seeing Clairely

By Claire Joller

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56 Overtime

By Ed Daniels

IN EVERY ISSUE

6 Editor’s Corner 18 Scripture Readings 22 Heavenly Recipes 24 Young Voices 36 Diocesan Events

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GUEST COLUMNS FLIP THIS ISS

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Bayou

UE!

20 Seven deadly sins: Part IV

Catholic

By Father Michael Bergeron

28 Book Reviews

By Raymond Saadi

54 Vandebilt boys soccer wins state

By Wil Touchet

ANNOUNCEMENTS

38 Priesthood Ordination Ba ou

Two men to be ordained May 30

wellness HOUMA, LA

ENTARY

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~ APRIL 201

40-41 Transitional/Permanent

Deacon Ordination

Six men to be ordained May 23

50 Food for the Journey Rev. Carlos Talavera speaks

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

On Our Cover This painting from a local artist depicting two disciples in Jesus’ tomb after his resurrection hangs at the Pastoral Center in Schriever. In his monthly column, Bishop Shelton J. Fabre says that our celebration of Easter Sunday and the Easter season are the central celebrations of our faith because they focus on the most important reality of our faith: the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which opened for us the way to heaven.

Bayou Catholic Vol. 35, No. 10 How to reach us:

BY PHONE: (985) 850-3132

BY MAIL: P.O. Box 505, Schriever, LA 70395

BY FAX: (985) 850-3232

BY E-MAIL: bayoucatholic@htdiocese.org The Bayou Catholic is published monthly, for the people of the Roman Catholic Diocese of HoumaThibodaux by the H-T Publishing Co., P.O. Box 505, Schriever, LA 70395. Subscription rate is $35 per year.

The Bayou Catholic is a member of the Catholic Press Association, the National Newspaper Association and an associate member of the Louisiana Press Association. National and world-wide news service and photos by National Catholic News Service.

Where to find your Bayou Catholic Bayou Catholic magazine can be found at all Catholic churches in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, at the three Catholic high schools in Houma, Morgan City and Thibodaux, as well as the ten elementary schools throughout the diocese. You may also visit the merchants listed in the Advertisers’ Index to pick up your copy. Those wishing to receive the magazine by mail can call Pat Keese at (985) 850-3132 or write to Bayou Catholic, P.O. Box 505, Schriever, LA 70395. Subscription price is $35 annually. For the online edition, go to www.bayoucatholic.com

Louis G. Aguirre

editor and general manager

Lawrence Chatagnier managing editor

Glenn J. Landry, C.P.A. business manager

Peggy Adams

advertising manager

Anna C. Givens

advertising accounts executive

Janet Marcel staff writer

Pat Keese

secretary and circulation

Index to Advertisers Acadian Total Security ...........................45 Bishop’s Stewardship Appeal ..................2 Bueche’s Jewelry ...................................53 Camp Stanislaus ....................................44 Cannata’s ...............................................23 Catholic Home Missions Appeal ...........29 Century 21- Melanie Pitre ......................44 Channel 10 .............................................27 Conference Office .............................34-35 Diocesan Outreach Line ........................47 Diocesan Website ..................................57 Education to Ministry Collection ............21

God’s Promises Books & Gifts ..............17 Good Friday Collection ..........................37 HTeNews ................................................25 LeBlanc & Associates, LLC ....................53 Re-Bath ..................................................40 Rod’s Superstore ...................................55 Seminarian Education Burses ...............39 Spotlight .................................................33 St. Bernadette Day Camp ......................46 Synergy Bank .........................................49 Terminix ...................................................33 Vision Communications ...........................3

Lisa Schobel Hebert graphic designer

Janet B. Eschete

accounts payable assistant

Meridy Liner

accounts receivable assistant

First Place Winner 2013-2014 General Excellence www.bayoucatholic.com

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Welcome

St. Vincent de Paul

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Editor’s Corner Louis G. Aguirre Editor & General Manager

Volunteers

Spring has sprung and all the signs of new life are around us, including right here in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

Take a look at our April issue and see … our celebration honoring consecrated life, those men and women who devote their lives to helping others … the upcoming ordinations of two priests, one transitional deacon and five permanent deacons … the entrance into the church by 38 catechumens and 33 candidates … and so much more!

The Easter season is a time to rejoice and to be grateful for all the good things God bestows upon us. It is also a time to consider how we can bestow our gifts to others.

Those of us who attended the Chrism Mass and witnessed our priests rededicating themselves to their vocation of service felt deep feelings of pride and joy. We can add to that the continued dedication of our religious and laity. Beyond the 1,100 full and part-time employees of the diocese, there are thousands and thousands more Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

who volunteer to serve others as well.

April is designated as National Volunteer Month, which is celebrated this year during the week of April 12-18.

What would the church do, where would it be, without volunteers? Think of so many who devote countless hours volunteering at our parishes, schools and organizations. They are there, giving of themselves, from daily routines to extraordinary service during disasters.

Volunteers are good stewards. They give of their time and talent to serve others. They do this selflessly as individuals or in groups … visiting the sick and the homebound; bringing Communion, cleaning the church; serving as ushers, readers, choir members; teaching CCD students, serving as teachers’ aides; being members of our many organizations; providing service through Catholic Charities Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux; praying for others, etc.

There is one saint in particular whom we recognize as a patron of charitable volunteers.

St. Vincent de Paul devoted his life to serving others and to establishing organizations to carry out the works of mercy.

To him we pray: Dear Saint Vincent, the mere mention of your name suggests a litany of your virtues: humility, zeal, mercy, self-sacrifice. It also recalls your many foundations: works of mercy, congregations and societies. And the church gratefully remembers your promotion of the priesthood. Inspire all charitable workers, especially those who minister to the poor – both the spiritually and the materially poor. Amen.

Bayou Spirit

Celebrating consecrated life Bishop Shelton J. Fabre celebrated a special Mass marking the celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma. The Mass honored the 27 consecrated men and women serving in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

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Comment Comfort For My People Bishop Shelton J. Fabre

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The Lord is Risen! It is true! Alleluia!! Alleluia!! Our celebration of Easter Sunday and the Easter season are the central celebrations of our faith because they focus on the most important reality of our faith: the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which opened for us the way to heaven. As we now rejoice and celebrate our way through the Easter season, the large Easter (or Paschal) Candle will stand prominently in our churches as a bright reminder and symbol of Jesus Christ and the power of his death and resurrection. The Easter Candle receives special emphasis during the Easter season, and is used throughout the remainder of the year at baptisms, funerals and other celebrations when we need to remember the power of Jesus’ resurrection.

As we welcome anew the celebration of Easter and the Easter season at this time, I thought it might be a good idea to provide below for our reflection the entire text of the Exsultet, which is an ancient and very moving text sung only once a year near the beginning of the celebration of the solemn Easter Vigil. The Exsultet is actually sung in praise of what the Easter candle symbolizes, the Light of the Risen Jesus Christ. However, the Exsultet also gives us great insight into other faith realities.

The Exsultet can provide a great source of reflection for our prayer during the Easter season. Happy Easter to all!! May the power of

Jesus’ resurrection always be our light and joy!

Exsultet Exult, let them exult, the hosts of heaven, exult, let Angel ministers of God exult, let the trumpet of salvation sound aloud our mighty King’s triumph! Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness. Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of his glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples. Therefore, dearest friends, standing in the awesome glory of this holy light, invoke with me, I ask you, the mercy of God almighty, that he, who has been pleased to number me, though unworthy, among the Levites, may pour into me his light unshadowed, that I may sing this candle’s perfect praises.

Deacon: The Lord be with you.

People: And with your spirit.

Deacon: Lift up your hearts.

People: We lift them up to the Lord.

Deacon: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. People: It is right and just.

It is truly right and just, with ardent love of mind and heart and with devoted service of our voice, to acclaim our God invisible, the almighty Father, and Jesus Christ, our Lord, his Son, his Only Begotten. Who for our sake paid Adam’s debt to the eternal Father, and, pouring out his own dear Blood, wiped clean the record of our ancient sinfulness. These, then, are the feasts of Passover, in which is slain the Lamb, the one true Lamb, whose Blood anoints the doorposts of believers. This is the night, when once you led our forebears, Israel’s children, from slavery in Egypt and made them pass dry-shod through the Red Sea. This is the night that with a pillar of fire banished the darkness of sin. This is the night that even now throughout the world, sets Christian believers apart from

worldly vices and from the gloom of sin, leading them to grace and joining them to his holy ones. This is the night when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the underworld.

Our birth would have been no gain, had we not been redeemed. O wonder of your humble care for us!

O love, O charity beyond all telling, to ransom a slave you gave away your Son! O truly necessary sin of Adam, destroyed completely by the Death of Christ! O happy fault that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer! O truly blessed night, worthy alone to know the time and hour when Christ rose from the underworld! This is the night of which it is written: The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me, and full of gladness.

The sanctifying power of this night dispels wickedness, washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners, drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty. On this, your night of grace, O Holy Father, accept this candle, a solemn offering, the work of bees and of your servants’ hands, an evening sacrifice of praise, this gift from your most holy church. But now we know the praises of this pillar, a flame divided but undimmed, which glowing fire ignites for God’s honor, a fire into many flames divided, yet never dimmed by sharing of its light, for it is fed by melting wax, drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious. O truly blessed night, when things of heaven are wed to those of earth, and divine to the human. Therefore, O Lord, we pray that this candle, hallowed to the honor of your name, may persevere undimmed, to overcome the darkness of this night. Receive it as a pleasing fragrance, and let it mingle with the lights of heaven.

May this flame be found still burning by the Morning Star: the one Morning Star who never sets, Christ your Son, who, coming back from death’s domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity, and lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

The Lord is Risen! It is true!

Alleluia!! Alleluia!!

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

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Comentario

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¡El Señor ha resucitado! ¡Aleluya! ¡Aleluya!

¡El Señor ha resucitado! ¡Aleluya! ¡Aleluya! Nuestra celebración del Domingo de Resurrección y la Pascua son las celebraciones centrales de nuestra fe porque enfocan la realidad más importante de nuestra fe: el sufrimiento, muerte y resurrección de Jesucristo que ha abierto para nosotros el camino al cielo. Ahora que regocijamos y celebramos nuestra jornada a través de la Pascua, el Cirio Pascual predominará alzado en nuestras iglesias como un recordatorio brillante, símbolo de Jesucristo y del poder de su muerte y resurrección.

El Cirio Pascual recibe énfasis especial durante la temporada de la Pascua y es usado durante el resto del año en bautismos, funerales y otras celebraciones cuando necesitamos recordar el poder de la resurrección de Jesús.

Ahora que recibimos con regocijo nuevamente la celebración de la Pascua, pienso que es buena idea reflexionar sobre la lectura entera de Exsultet, un cántico antiguo y conmovedor cantado solamente una vez al año cerca del comienzo de la celebración de la Solemne Vigilia Pascual. El Exsultet canta alabanzas a la Luz de Jesucristo Resucitado, lo mismo que simboliza el Cirio Pascual. Sin embargo, el Exsultet también nos da claridad a las otras realidades de la fe. El Exsultet es un gran recurso de reflexión para nuestra oración durante la Pascua. ¡Felices Pascuas para todos! ¡Qué el poder de la resurrección de Jesús siempre sea nuestra luz y felicidad!

Exsultet Exulten por fin los coros de los ángeles, Exulten las jerarquías del cielo, y por la victoria de rey tan poderoso que las trompetas anuncien la salvación. Goce

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

también la tierra, inundada de tanta claridad, y que, radiante con el fulgor del Rey eterno, se sienta libre de la tiniebla, que cubría el orbe entero. Alégrese también nuestra madre la Iglesia, revestida de luz tan brillante; resuene este templo con las aclamaciones del pueblo.

Por eso, queridos hermanos, que asistís a la admirable claridad de esta luz santa, invocad conmigo la misericordia de Dios omnipotente, para que aquel que, sin mérito mío, me agregó al número de los Diáconos, completen mi alabanza a este cirio, infundiendo el resplandor de su luz.

Diácono: El Señor esté con ustedes.

Pueblo: Y con tu espíritu.

Diácono: Levantemos el corazón.

Pueblo: Lo tenemos levantado hacia el Señor.

Diácono: Demos gracias al Señor, nuestro Dios.

Pueblo: Es justo y necesario Realmente es justo y necesario aclamar con nuestras voces y con todo el afecto del corazón a Dios invisible, el Padre todopoderoso, y a su único Hijo, nuestro Señor Jesucristo. Porque Él ha pagado por nosotros al eterno Padre la deuda de Adán y, derramando su Sangre, canceló el recibo, del antiguo pecado.

Porque éstas son las fiestas de Pascua en las que se inmola el verdadero Cordero, cuya Sangre consagra las puertas de los fieles.

Esta es la noche en que sacaste de Egipto, a los israelitas, nuestros padres, y los hiciste pasar a pie el mar Rojo. Esta es la noche en que la columna de fuego esclareció las tinieblas del pecado. Esta es la noche en la que por toda la tierra, los que confiesan su fe en Cristo, son arrancados de los vicios del mundo y de la oscuridad del pecado, son restituidos a la gracia y son agregados a los santos. Esta es la noche en que, rotas las cadenas de la muerte, Cristo asciende victorioso

del abismo. ¿De qué nos serviría haber nacido si no hubiéramos sido rescatados? ¡Qué asombroso beneficio de tu amor por nosotros! ¡Qué incomparable ternura y caridad! ¡Para rescatar al esclavo, entregaste al Hijo! Necesario fue el pecado de Adán, que ha sido borrado por la muerte de Cristo. ¡Feliz la culpa que mereció tal Redentor! ¡Qué noche tan dichosa!

Sólo ella conoció el momento en que Cristo resucitó del abismo. Esta es la noche de que estaba escrito: «Será la noche clara como el día, la noche iluminada por mi gozo.»

Y así, esta noche santa ahuyenta los pecados, lava las culpas, devuelve la inocencia a los caídos, la alegría a los tristes, expulsa el odio, trae la concordia, doblega a los potentes. En esta noche de gracia, acepta, Padre Santo, el sacrificio vespertino de esta llama, que la santa Iglesia te ofrece en la solemne ofrenda de este cirio, obra de las abejas. Sabemos ya lo que anuncia esta columna de fuego, ardiendo en llama viva para gloria de Dios. Y aunque distribuye su luz, no mengua al repartirla, porque se alimenta de cera fundida, que elaboró la abeja fecunda para hacer esta lámpara preciosa. ¡Qué noche tan dichosa en que se une el cielo con la tierra, lo humano con lo divino!

Te rogamos, Señor, que este cirio, consagrado a tu nombre, para destruir la oscuridad de esta noche, arda sin apagarse y, aceptado como perfume, se asocie a las lumbreras del cielo. Que el lucero matinal lo encuentre ardiendo, ese lucero que no conoce ocaso Jesucristo, tu Hijo, que, volviendo del abismo, brilla sereno para el linaje humano, y vive y reina por los siglos de los siglos. Amén.

Traducido por Julio Contreras, feligrés de la iglesia católica Annunziata en Houma

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Binh luan bang loi

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Chúa đã sống lại! Đó là sự thật!

Alleluia!! Alleluia!!

Chúa đã sống lại! Đó là sự thật!

Alleluia!! Alleluia!! Mừng lễ Chúa Nhật Phục Sinh và mùa Phục Sinh của chúng ta là những cử hành trọng tâm đức tin của chúng ta, bởi vì chúng đề cập đến những thực tại quan trọng nhất về đức tin: Sự đau khổ, sự chết, và sự sống lại của Chúa Giêsu Kitô đã mở ra cho chúng ta đường về quê Trời. Trong khi chúng ta hân hoan và cử hành đường hướng của chúng ta qua mùa Phục Sinh, thì Cây Nến Phục Sinh (Vượt Qua) lớn sẽ đứng nổi bật trong các nhà thờ như là một nhắc nhở và biểu tượng sáng ngời của Chúa Giêsu Kitô và là quyền năng của sự chết và phục sinh của Ngài.

Nến Phục Sinh nhận được sự chú ý đặc biệt trong mùa Phục Sinh, và được thắp sáng trong suốt thời gian còn lại trong năm vào các dịp rửa tội, an táng và các dịp cử hành khác khi chúng ta cần nhớ đến quyền năng Phục Sinh của Chúa Giêsu.

Một lần nữa vào thời điểm này khi chúng ta mừng lễ Phục Sinh và Mùa Phục Sinh, tôi thiết nghĩ đây là một ý tưởng tốt để cống hiến toàn bộ bản văn của bài công bố Tin mừng Phục Sinh (Exsultet) dưới đây cho sự suy niệm của chúng ta. Đây là một bản văn cổ xưa và rất uyển chuyển chỉ được hát một lần trong năm lúc sắp bắt đầu cử hành trọng thể Lễ Vọng Phục Sinh. Bài Exsultet thật sự được hát để ca ngợi điều mà cây nến Phục Sinh tượng trưng, ​​là Ánh Sáng Chúa Giêsu Kitô Phục Sinh. Tuy nhiên, bài Exsultet cũng cho chúng ta một cái nhìn rất sâu sắc vào những thực tại đức tin khác. Bài công bố Tin mừng Phục Sinh có thể đem lại một nguồn cảm hứng suy gẫm tuyệt vời cho việc cầu nguyện của chúng ta trong suốt mùa Phục Sinh. Chúc Mừng Phục Sinh đến tất cả quý ông bà và anh chị em!! Xin quyền năng của Chúa Giêsu Phục sinh luôn luôn là ánh sáng và là niềm vui của chúng ta!

Bài Exsultet Mừng vui lên! Hỡi muôn lớp cơ binh thiên thần trên trời! Mừng vui

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

lên! Hỡi những nhiệm mầu Thánh này!

Tiếng loa cứu độ hãy vang rền không gian. Mừng reo chiến công khải hoàn Vua nhân trần! Và vui lên! Hỡi Trái Đất vui lên, rực rỡ trong ánh huy hoàng chiếu soi, và trong ánh quang vinh Vua muôn đời chói ngời. Tất cả vũ trụ hãy vui mừng hân hoan, được ơn thoát ly xa miền tối u sầu. Mừng vui lên! Ôi Mẹ Hội Thánh vui lên, uy nghiêm trong muôn ngàn ánh quang, khắp nơi trong cung điện này hòa vang lên, ngàn muôn tiếng ca reo mừng của nhân trần. Hợp nhau đây, tôi xin anh chị em rất thân yêu, đang hân hoan tham dự nguồn sáng này, hết tâm kêu xin cùng Chúa uy linh, tha thiết khấn xin lòng Chúa nhân từ Người đã thương ban, tôi dù không có công chi, cho tôi gia nhập hàng tư tế Người. Khấn xin Chúa đổ tràn ánh sáng người, để tôi hân hoan ca tụng nến sáng huy hoàng.

Phó tế: Chúa ở cùng anh chị em.

Giáo dân: và ở cùng Cha. Phó tế: Hãy nâng tâm hồn lên.

Giáo dân: Chúng con đang hướng về Chúa.

Phó tế: Hãy tạ ơn Chúa là Thiên Chúa chúng ta.

Giáo dân: Thật là chính đáng.

Thật chính đáng, việc dâng lên tâm tư ca tụng Thiên Chúa Cha Đấng thiêng liêng toàn năng, và Đức Giêsu Kitô, Con Một người, Chúa chúng tôi. Người đã thay thế chúng tôi trả nợ Ađam với Chúa Cha muôn thuở, và đã lấy máu hồng quý giá rửa sạch án tổ tông xưa.

Vì đây là lễ Vượt Qua, lễ mà chiên thật bị sát tế, trong máu chiên môi miệng tín hữu được thánh hiến đêm nay. Này là đêm, mà cha ông chúng tôi: là con cháu Ít-ra-en thoát ly Ai Cập xưa, Chúa đã cho tiến qua Biển Đỏ vẫn khô chân.

Chính đây là đêm nhờ ánh sáng cột lửa thiêng xóa tan mọi bóng tối nhân gian!

Này là đêm, mà hết những ai có lòng tin Chúa Kitô khắp trên trần gian, được cứu thoát hết các vết nhơ và tối tăm tội khiên, được ơn thiêng đưa về hợp đoàn cùng các thánh nhân. Đây là đêm, xiềng xích bị bẻ tung, Đức Kitô khải hoàn chiến thắng vinh quang. Vì chưng

nếu không được ơn cứu chuộc khỏi tội khiên, chúng ta sinh ra nào có ích chi? Ôi nhiệm mầu thay! lòng yêu thương của Chúa không ai hiểu thấu. Để cứu chuộc đầy tớ, Chúa đã nộp chính con yêu! Ôi cần thiết thay, tội Ađam, tội đã được tẩy xóa, chính nhờ sự chết Chúa Kitô! Ôi tội hồng phúc, đã ban cho chúng ta Đấng cứu chuộc rất cao sang. Ôi đêm hồng phúc, đêm nối kết trời đất, chỉ mình Người biết giờ Đức Kitô từ cõi chết đã vinh thăng! Này là đêm mà sách thánh đã ghi: “Là đêm rực rỡ sáng như bình minh: đêm mà ánh sáng soi cho ta biết bao cảm mến sướng vui.”

Vì thế sự thánh thiện của đêm nay xua đuổi hết tội khiên, tẩy sạch vết nhơ, người có tội được sạch trong, kẻ ưu phiền được sướng vui hân hoan. Này là đêm, phá tan hận thù oán ghét, mang lại hòa thuận, yêu thương khuất phục mọi quyền bính thế gian. Kính lạy Cha Chí Thánh, nguyện xin muôn ngàn ơn thánh đêm nay nhận lấy như hương lễ chiều hôm, là lễ nghi dâng cây nến làm bởi sáp ong tinh tuyền đây, do tay thừa tác viên giáo hội cùng tiến dâng lên. Giờ đây tôi hiểu thấu ý nghĩa của ngọn nến thắp ngọn lửa lung linh để Thiên Chúa được ngợi chúc tôn vinh. Dù phân chia ở khắp thế gian cũng không hao mòn chi, vì ánh lửa soi sáng đêm nay làm bởi sáp ong do Mẹ đã gây nên. Ôi đêm hồng phúc, này đêm nối kết trời đất phối hợp Thiên Chúa với muôn người thế chúng tôi. Kính Lạy Cha chí thánh, nguyện xin cho cây nến này đâng Chúa đây luôn luôn được ngời sáng, phá tan mọi bóng tối đêm nay. Nguyện cho ngọn nến này dâng Chúa đêm nay, thơm tho như lễ dâng chiều hôm hòa hợp với muôn ngàn ánh sáng thiên cung. Ước chi ngôi sao mai không bao giờ lặn đi, chính là con Chúa Đức Kitô, Người đã từ ngục tối tăm, huy hoàng chiếu sáng nhân gian. Người là đấng thống trị hằng sống đến muôn đời muôn kiếp vinh quang. Amen.

Dịch thuật do Lm. Francis Bui, SDD và Thầy Paul Vu, SDD. Tu Đoàn Tông Đồ Giáo Sĩ Nhà Chúa.

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LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

www.bayoucatholic.com

Comment The Pope Speaks

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis announced an extraordinary jubilee, a Holy Year of Mercy, to highlight the Catholic Church’s “mission to be a witness of mercy.”

“No one can be excluded from God’s mercy,” the pope said March 13, marking the second anniversary of his pontificate by leading a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica.

“I frequently have thought about how the church can make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy,” he said during his homily; that is why he decided to call a special Holy Year, which will be celebrated from Dec. 8, 2015, until Nov. 20, 2016.

The biblical theme of the year, he said, will be “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful,” an admonition that applies “especially to confessors,” the pope said with a smile.

Traditionally, every 25 years the popes proclaim a holy year, which features special celebrations and pilgrimages, strong calls for conversion and repentance, and the offer of special opportunities to experience God’s grace through the sacraments, especially confession. Extraordinary holy years, like the Holy Year of Mercy, are less frequent, but offer the same opportunities for spiritual growth.

The doors of the church “are wide open so that all those who are touched by grace can find the certainty of forgiveness,” Pope Francis said at the penance service, which featured individual confessions. It was part of a worldwide celebration of “24

Hours for the Lord,” in which Catholic churches were staying open for prayer, eucharistic adoration and confession.

At each of the dozens of confessionals in St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as in simple chairs scattered along the walls, priests welcomed people to the sacrament. The pope removed his liturgical vestments and went to confession before putting on a purple stole and hearing

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis preaches during a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 13.

the confessions of others.

“God never ceases to demonstrate the richness of his mercy over the course of centuries,” the pope said in his homily, which preceded the confessions. God touches people’s hearts with his grace, filling them with repentance and a desire to “experience his love.”

“Being touched by the tenderness of his hand,” people should not be afraid to approach a priest and confess their sins, he said. In the confessional, one has “the certainty of being welcomed in the name of God and understood, despite our misery.”

“The greater the sin, the greater the love, which the church must express toward those who convert,” Pope Francis said.

The Gospel reading at the penance service was the story of the sinful woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. Every time one goes to confession, the pope said, “we feel the same compassionate gaze of Jesus” that she did.

Jesus’ love, he said, allowed her to draw near, to demonstrate her repentance and to show her love for him. “Every gesture of this woman speaks of love and expresses her desire to have an unshakable certainty in her life, that of having been forgiven.”

“Love and forgiveness are simultaneous” in the story of each person, just as in the story of the sinful woman, he said. “God forgave her for much -- for everything -- because he loved her much.”

Through Jesus, the pope said, God took the woman’s sins and “threw them over his shoulder, he no longer remembers them.”

Jesus’ encounter with the woman took place in the home of a Pharisee named Simon. Unlike the woman, the pope said, Simon “isn’t able to find the path of love. He remains stopped at the threshold of formality. He is not able to take the next step to encounter Jesus, who brings salvation.”

The Pharisee is concerned only with following God’s law, with justice, which is a mistake, the pope said. “His judgment of the woman distances him from the truth and prevents him from understanding who his guest is.”

Jesus scolds Simon, pointing out how the “sinful woman” has shown nothing but love and repentance, the pope said. “Jesus’ rebuke pushes each of us to never stop at the surface of things, especially when dealing with a person. We are called to look deeper, to focus on the heart in order to see how much generosity the person is capable of.”

Pope Francis said he asked the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization to coordinate preparations for the Holy Year so that it would be “a new stage in the church’s journey in fulfilling its mission of bringing the Gospel of mercy to each person.”

Pope announces Year of Mercy

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Question Corner

the action of ISIS “a profoundly grave sin against God” and invited Muslim leaders to issue a global condemnation of terrorism to help dispel the stereotype.

Father Kenneth Doyle

Catholic view on Islam

Q

Q. My “good Catholic” neighbor -- a devoted congregant entrusted with a key to her parish church, a nursing home volunteer, a member of Bible study classes (and a helpful neighbor to me) -- insists that all Muslims are jihadists.

When I tried to tell her that the only two Muslims I’ve known were good people (and that not all Muslims are terrorists, anymore than all priests are pedophiles), she was vehemently dismissive.

I would like you to tell me if her belief is that of the Catholic Church or if she more likely developed it from watching Fox News. (City of origin withheld)

A

A. You should introduce your “good Catholic” neighbor to the insights of Pope Francis. In his 2013 apostolic exhortation “The Joy of the Gospel,” he very clearly stated the following in No. 253: “Faced with disconcerting episodes of violent fundamentalism, our respect for true followers of Islam should lead us to avoid hateful generalizations, for authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Quran are opposed to every form of violence.”

In November 2014, Pope Francis was asked by reporters about the violence against Shiite Muslims and Christians in Syria and Iraq at the hands of the Islamic State. He said once more that it was wrong to equate Islam itself with violence, called

Stem-cell research and cures

Q A

Q. I have a child with Type 1 diabetes. Currently there is some research being done toward a cure for this disease, but it involves embryonic stem cells.

Should I refuse to hope for a cure that comes through this method?

And if a cure does happen to come from this research, am I barred from using it for my child?

(Yorktown, Virginia) A. I certainly understand your deep concern for your child’s health and your strong desire to do everything morally permissible to help.

The Catholic Church is sometimes portrayed as opposing all stemcell research. That is incorrect.

What the church opposes is the particular type of research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

As the Vatican indicated in No. 32 of “Dignitas Personae,” a 2008 document “On the Dignity of the Human Person,” the destruction of even one human life can never

be justified in terms of the benefit that it might conceivably bring to another.

The church, on the other hand, does strongly support research using adult stem cells. In fact, the Vatican in 2013 hosted a conference of medical experts to promote that research.

I have seen no reports to date of any lasting and verifiable cures from the use of embryonic cells.

However, stem cells from adult tissue and from umbilical cord blood are already providing healing treatment, particularly for victims of strokes and vascular disease.

So I would think that your stronger hope for a cure for diabetes might lie in the type of research that is morally permitted and encouraged by the church.

As for your hypothetical question, whether you might morally use a cure discovered from embryonic research, I have not yet seen a definitive answer to that from Catholic moralists, but I think that I can deduce one.

In 2005, the Pontifical Academy for Life released a study regarding the use of vaccines derived from aborted human fetuses. The 15 academy felt that the use of such vaccines was permissible but only in the absence of ethical alternatives. However -- and this is probably a telling difference -- the academy noted that those particular fetuses had been killed for reasons entirely unrelated to the production of vaccines, and so the nexus is remote.

By contrast, embryonic stemcell research involves the ongoing destruction of human embryos for the very purpose of medical research. So it seems to me that the use of the fruits of such research would not be morally permissible, since it would offer tacit support to such harmful experimentation.

2015 Catholic News Service

Questions may be sent to Father Kenneth Doyle at askfatherdoyle@ gmail.com and 40 Hopewell St., Albany, N.Y. 12208 www.bayoucatholic.com

Reflections Readings Between The Lines Father Glenn LeCompte

New Testament Women as Role Models of Faith

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During April of this year we celebrate Easter and begin the 50-day Easter Season. Each of the four evangelists has an account of the finding of Jesus’ tomb empty in the early hours of the Sunday following Jesus’ crucifixion (Matthew 28:1-8; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:1-10). In each account female disciples of Jesus, not his closest male disciples, discover the empty tomb. However, in Matthew’s, Luke’s and John’s Gospels the apostles soon encounter the risen Lord. That women would play a prominent role in the process of the revelation of the Lord’s resurrection is surprising in a world in which men predominated.

Yet, not only in the empty tomb episode do New Testament writers depict women as positive role-models of faith. In this article I intend to show how some other female characters in the Gospels are depicted as role models of faith.

Luke 10:38-42 recounts an encounter between Jesus and two sisters named Martha and Mary. Martha implores Jesus to exhort her sister, who is sitting and listening to Jesus, to help her with the customary tasks of hospitality, with which she is busying herself. Jesus, however, observes that Martha is troubled and consumed with anxiety, while her sister, by listening to his words has chosen the better

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Christ in the house of Martha and Mary by Johannes Vermeer.

part.

The most common explanation offered concerning this passage, that Jesus rebukes Martha for being so busy and not listening to his word as her sister is doing, is probably not accurate. Martha describes her busyness with the verb “to serve.” In Luke and Acts this verb has a positive connotation, so what Martha is doing is not bad.

Acts 6:1-6 might help us understand the Martha and Mary episode better. In this passage from Acts, the needs of Greek-speaking widows are being neglected by the leaders of the communities. These needs require attention, but the act of attending to them should not eclipse the proclamation of the word. Therefore the apostles appoint seven men to serve the needs of the widows while they continue to proclaim the word.

Additionally, in Acts 16:14 a

woman named Lydia listens to Paul’s proclamation of the Lord’s word before offering hospitality to him in her home. The point of the Martha and Mary story, then, may be that while Martha’s service is not a bad thing, such activity should not overshadow the proclamation of the word. Mary is cast as a rolemodel of faith for listening to the word before engaging in service.

Another female role-model of faith appears in Mark 5:25-34. The story of the healing of a woman with a hemorrhage is actually sandwiched between two parts of an episode about Jesus healing the daughter of a synagogue official named Jairus (5:21-24, 35-43). The woman is never given a name, but is only described by her illness, a persistent discharge of blood. A woman in such a condition was a truly disenfranchised person, for an ongoing blood flow

a

rendered a woman ritually unclean (Leviticus 15:25).

The woman is healed in the course of the story, but how her cure is effected is interesting. Jesus does not willfully reach out to her and heal her. She is healed when in desperation she reaches out to touch Jesus’ garment; she does not even consider a need to ask for his healing. This detail highlights the strength of her faith. Once Jesus, who senses that healing power has flowed from him, learns who has touched his clothing he acknowledges that her faith in him has brought about her healing.

Note that the emphasis is placed on her act of faith, not on any action by Jesus. In fact, Jesus tells her that her faith has “saved” her.

There is more than physical healing that has occurred in this episode.

This woman, who already had a strong faith in Jesus, experiences salvation through him in addition to the healing of her condition.

The woman healed of a hemorrhage, therefore, exemplifies the deep faith needed to experience salvation, a faith in which people

acknowledge their need for healing

by Jesus. We can experience the need for healing not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually as well. Any of these kinds of “illness” can cause us to distance ourselves from God through despair or doubt about God’s ability and desire to heal us.

The woman with the hemorrhage shows us how our faith can be salvaged during any experience of sickness.

A number of other women, such as the Canaanite woman who asks

Jesus to heal her daughter, Prisca, a disciple of Paul, and, of course, Mary, Jesus’ mother, are portrayed as possessing the gift of faith.

Their character suggests we can obtain this gift as well if we learn from their example. I invite you to avail yourself of the opportunity to learn how to grow in faith from the example of such female New Testament characters at a day of prayer entitled New Testament Women as Role Models of Faith for All, Saturday, April 11 at Lumen Christi Retreat Center.

th the estions u ord wi w Q ’ s u n s Je tio ning to Reflec ce liste hat balan r life t ice? v do you u r o e w y s o n n H i n g ristia healin g of Ch nce of a t s n offerin i emale an ith . itive f a s ect on f o fl p e of R t of n n at ac r lives entatio d a gre enge ou l el pres l p a s o require h c G e tament does th ew Tes N n How e h t ters in ay? charac rld tod o w r u and o

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Scripture Readings Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

1 April

Thursday

2

and a listing of Feast days and saints Friday

3

Saturday

Sunday

4

5

Holy Saturday Genesis 1:1—2:2 Genesis 22:1-18 Exodus 14:15-15:1 Mark 16:1-7

Solemnity of Easter Sunday: Resurrection of the Lord Acts 10:34a, 37-43 Colossians 3:1-4 John 20:1-9

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Solemnity of Easter Monday Acts 2:14, 22-33 Matthew 28:8-15

Solemnity of Easter Tuesday Acts 2:36-41 John 20:11-18

Solemnity of Easter Wednesday Acts 3:1-10 Luke 24:13-35

Solemnity of Easter Thursday Acts 3:11-26 Luke 24:35-48

Solemnity of Easter Friday Acts 4:1-12 John 21:1-14

Solemnity of Easter Saturday Acts 4:13-21 Mark 16:9-15

Solemnity of the Second Sunday of Easter, or Sunday of Divine Mercy Acts 4:32-35 1 John 5:1-6 John 20:19-31

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

Easter Weekday Acts 4:23-31 John 3:1-8

Easter Weekday Acts 4:32-37 John 3:7b-15

Easter Weekday Acts 5:17-26 John 3:16-21

Easter Weekday Acts 5:27-33 John 3:31-36

Easter Weekday Acts 5:34-42 John 6:1-15

Easter Weekday Acts 6:1-7 John 6:16-21

Third Sunday of Easter Acts 3:13-15, 17-19 1 John 2:1-5a Luke 24:35-48

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

Easter Weekday Acts 6:8-15 John 6:22-29

Easter Weekday Acts 7:51—8:1a John 6:30-35

Easter Weekday Acts 8:1b-8 John 6:35-40

Easter Weekday Acts 8:26-40 John 6:44-51

Easter Weekday Acts 9:1-20 John 6:52-59

Feast of Mark, Evangelist 1 Peter 5:5b-14 Mark 16:15-20

Fourth Sunday of Easter Acts 4:8-12 1 John 3:1-2 John 10:11-18

27

28

29

30

1 May

2

3

Easter Weekday Acts 11:19-26 John 10:22-30

Easter Weekday Memorial of Catherine of Siena, Acts 13:13-25 virgin and doctor of John 13:16-20 the church Acts 12:24—13:5a John 12:44-50

Easter Weekday Acts 11:1-18 John 10:1-10

Easter Weekday Acts 13:26-33 John 14:1-6

April

Saints

Holy Father’s prayer intentions

Magdalen Canossa Image © Wikimedia Commons

1774 -1835 feast – April 10

This foundress, born to a noble family in Verona, Italy, lost her father at age 5 and was abandoned by her mother when she remarried.

Choosing religious life over an advantageous marriage, Magdalen first joined the Carmelites, but left when she saw that their strict rules of enclosure would prohibit her charitable works. She began a new community, the Canossian Daughters of Charity, in 1799 by bringing two poor girls into her own home. The institute spread throughout Italy, and Magdalen helped found an order of priests and a third order for laypeople. Canossians minister today in Italy, Latin America and the Philippines. Magdalen, who was canonized in 1988, famously said, “Those who love are never tired, since love knows no burden.”

Saints

Fidelis of Sigmaringen Wikipedia, public domain

Universal Creation. That people may learn to respect creation and care for it as a gift of God.

1577 - 1622 feast – April 24

Born in Sigmaringen, Germany, Mark Roy studied philosophy and law at the University of Freiburg in Breisgau. After tutoring young aristocrats and traveling Europe with them, he began practicing law in Alsace, where he quickly became “the poor person’s lawyer.” But, disillusioned over other lawyers’ behavior, he gave up the law to follow a vocation in religious life. As an ordained Capuchin named Fidelis, he was renowned for his holiness, preaching and leadership.

He was superior at several houses before being invited to eastern Switzerland to call Protestants back to Catholicism. This mission, complicated by the politics of the time and hatred of the Catholic Habsburgs, became increasingly dangerous and led to his murder by opponents. He was canonized in 1746.

Saints

Simeon of Jerusalem Wikipedia, public domain

Evangelization Persecuted Christians. That persecuted Christians may feel the consoling presence of the Risen Lord and the solidarity of all the church.

See www.apostleshipofprayer.net

died circa 107 feast – April 27

The son of Clopas, who is mentioned in the Gospels of Luke and John, and a cousin of Jesus, Simeon became bishop of Jerusalem after the martyrdom of St. James about 62. During his episcopate, Christians fled Jerusalem for Pella, on the far side of the Jordan River.

Arrested during the reign of Emperor Trajan, Simeon was tortured “for being a descendant of David and a Christian,” according to the historian St. Hegesippus, who witnessed Simeon’s crucifixion at the age of 120. Another early Christian writer, Eusebius, said Simeon’s advanced age probably meant that he “saw and heard the Lord”; he considered Simeon an important figure in the early church. Several European cities claim to hold his relics.

Saints

CNS www.bayoucatholic.com

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Special

Seven deadly sins Guest Columnist

L 20

Father Michael Bergeron

Lust can be defined as an extreme desire for sexual and sensual gratification. Its sister sin is gluttony. We can also lust after money, food, fame and power, to name a few. Today’s society tries to play down this sin by saying that lust does not hurt anyone. Lust is a popular sin that blinds the mind. Venerable Fulton Sheen once said, “Sex has become the most discussed subject of modern times. The Victorians pretended it did not exist; the moderns pretend that nothing else exists.”

When we are young, the first stirrings present themselves as a physical desire for another human being. Perhaps this is something ingrained in us for the sake of reproducing the species.

But some people take that lust and forge it into a lifelong habit.

In time, any pleasure it brought diminishes and we wonder what attracted us to it in the first place.

When we look at pornography, we are being lustful. We say it doesn’t hurt anyone. However, we are no longer seeing the person as a child of God, but instead, as an object – an object to serve our own sexual pleasures. At the same time, we are supporting an industry that uses people. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus said, “But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

When we indulge in lust, all life’s problems seem to disappear,

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Part Four:

Lust

only to reappear again unchanged.

Lust is often manifested in a selfdestructive drive for some pleasure regardless of the consequences, value, merit or even legality. In the First Letter of John 2:16, it states, “For all that is in the world, the lust of flesh and the lust of eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” Lust wars against Christian self-control.

“The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:31).

Lust enslaves us to our passions and leads to many of the ills in our society which demean our own dignity and the dignity of others.

While we can limit lust to sexuality, we might want to consider the larger area of sensuality – that is, the craving for physical pleasure of all kinds. It could be a desire to avoid any pain, for physical and emotional comfort at all times,

for the best food, car, house and everything else. Lust denies our spiritual growth.

No one ever grew at Disney World. We grow through our pain and suffering, or challenges and roadblocks. Without those things, we would be moral and spiritual dwarfs.

People believe that the church is obsessed with lust, but that is not true. All things must be in harmony to the will of God. Unfortunately, the object of our lust can become our god. Lust is not limited to sex; it also includes money, power, reputation, honor, individualism, and a host of other things. Lust for these things enslaves us and prevents us from being all God calls us to be.

Lust can be countered by chastity and self-control.

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Many are Called

Few Are Chosen

This Easter Season Please Remember A Special Diocesan Collection For Education To Ministry.

The collection will be held the weekend of April 4 and 5.

Your generosity is greatly appreciated.

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Heavenly Recipes

ed’s r f l A d n a Linda

t n a l p g Eg h t i w d e stuff d n a p m i shr t a e m b cra Story and Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

This month’s heavenly recipe comes from Linda and Alfred 22 Arceneaux. The Arceneauxs live in Morgan City and are parishioners of Holy Cross Church. They are sharing their favorite recipe eggplant stuffed with shrimp and crabmeat. Although Linda and Alfred have been married for only seven years, they have known each other for over 35 years. Eight and a half years ago their spouses died.

The couples were very good friends who visited each other regularly and the women were members of the same carnival krewe.

Linda is from Arkansas. Alfred has lived in Morgan City all of his life. “I learned to cook Cajun food when I lived in Franklin for five years,” says Linda. “My next door neighbor taught me how to cook the traditional Cajun dishes.

I have always loved to cook. Alfred grows the vegetables and I cook them.”

Linda and Alfred have a group of friends that they socialize with and cooking meals is one of the things the couples do regularly.

“Our group of friends takes turns cooking for each other. When we get together we cook for everyone.

In fact, when we are home alone I usually cook big meals and give Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

away about half of what I cook,” says Linda.

Many times the benefactors of those meals have been the parish priest at Holy Cross Church. “We love to cook for the priests. Father Danny Poche’ was the first priest we cooked for. We also cooked for Father Joshua Rodrigue when he was at Holy Cross. Now we cook for Father Clyde Mahler. They are all appreciative of the meals we prepare,” she says.

It was Father Poche’ who married the couple. On their wedding day they were surprised that Father Josh showed up and took part in the ceremony.

Linda says that Alfred is the type who stays busy. “He loves his gardening. He is always planting either vegetables or some type of ornamental plant. Alfred grows the vegetables, picks them and cleans them before I begin cooking. He enjoys being outdoors either working in the garden or on a project.

Linda converted to the Catholic faith in 1997. She is a lector and eucharistic minister who brings the Eucharist to patients in the hospital every Monday. Alfred has been singing in the choir at church for the past 27 years.

Eggplant stuffed with shrimp and crabmeat 4 medium eggplants 1 stick butter 2 cups onion chopped 1/2 cup celery chopped 1/2 cup green onion chopped 1/4 cup parsley chopped 4 toes garlic chopped 1 tbsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1/4 tsp red pepper 1lb peeled shrimp 1lb crab meat Parmesan cheese Seasoned bread crumbs Cut eggplants in half (lengthwise). Place in microwave safe dish with 1/2 cup of water.

Cover with plastic wrap. Cook approximately 8 minutes until soft. Let cool. Scoop eggplant from shell. In a large pot, melt butter.

Saute onions and celery until soft, stir in green onions, parsley and garlic, and cook until soft. Add eggplant that is scooped from shell.

Stir to combine well. Add enough bread crumbs to thicken and hold together. Stir in salt, pepper and red pepper. Add 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shrimp and crab meat.

Stuff eggplant shells with mixture.

Top lightly with seasoned bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Bake approximately 15-20 minutes in 350 degree oven until heated.

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Young Voices

In what ways can young people rise with Christ at Easter and show his love to the world today?

At Easter, we truly rise with Christ when we share the joy of his ultimate victory with everyone we encounter. Through his resurrection, Jesus has thrust the gates of heaven wide open for us and claimed victory over sin and death. When we are unafraid to live out our Catholic faith no matter what others may think, we accept his call to live as his children and show we are risen to new life with him.

Hayden Cagle, 15 years old St. Thomas Aquinas Church parish Vandebilt Catholic High School

The new generation of the church depends on us teens to participate in our Catholic faith and spread the light of Christ in the world. Easter is a great time to participate in your church community, because everyone is excited for Christ being risen from the dead. As teens we can help out with anything the church has to prepare for at this time. Something that I personally love to do is invite others to come to church. It’s a great feeling to be able to see new faces with a smile and interest to want to learn more about their faith. Easter is one of my most favorite times of year that should be filled with love and excitement.

Quinlan Duffy, 17 years old Holy Cross Church parish Central Catholic High School

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I think one way we can rise to a new life at Easter is to stop thinking only of ourselves and instead, be present to those around us who are lonely or hurting in some way, by visiting them, sending them a card, etc. We can stop saying hurtful things to get a laugh or spreading rumors. Lent gives us the opportunity to start fresh and show God’s love to others.

Emily Jensen, 19 years old Holy Cross Church parish Central Catholic High School

There are many ways to rise with Christ at Easter and show his love to our brothers and sisters today. We can rise with Christ by praying morning and night prayers and going to reconciliation. There are also a lot of people who are in need of a hand.

We could help them by volunteering our time toward things like service work and retreats.

Logan LeBoeuf, 18 years old St. Joseph Church parish, Chauvin South Terrebonne High School

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

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Entertainment

Seeing Clairely Claire Joller

Y 26

You can’t go home again, novelist Thomas Wolfe wrote.

When I was young, I did not agree with that thought or that statement. Maybe it was because, when I read those words as a young adult, I was still so rooted in close family ties and familiar, comfortable places.

Who would not want, when they have been away months or years, to return to the homesteads that gave them security and solace?

To the faces on Main Street sidewalks they recognized and either esteemed or knew to avoid? Who would not want to be among dear people who nurtured, taught, and encouraged them in their young days, those who knew them best?

My attitude then was from a mistaken foundation of absolutes that became maybes and what ifs as I grew older.

Change, I began to experience, is a constant of our experience. I now realize that the homesteads and the loved ones to whom we return are not necessarily the home and people we may have left years before.

People change. Places, even though they may undergo few physical alterations, are not the same in the eyes of a returning college graduate or a native son or daughter who has spent decades away in a faraway city.

Home is seen by the returner from a new perspective, hewn in comparisons to another city’s or state’s or country’s landscapes and attractions and opportunities.

Hometown people cannot help but be assessed by the returner through the filter of his or her maturity and distant experiences. Sometimes this can endear family and friends even more, but sometimes it can make

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

The return

reentering the fold awkward, alien.

The one who returns has had experiences that have altered viewpoints and sometimes even values. This can result in clarity of insight as T.S. Eliot expressed it: And the end of all our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.

Or it can result in a skewed viewpoint of the reality.

The people to whom he or she returns also had growing space and decades of encounters and shifts of being, regardless that it was in longtime familiar surroundings.

We are different. They are different.

The home to which we return is unavoidably different from the one we left.

I suppose that’s what the novelist meant.

e n Tu To...

In

Quality Family Programming for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux ~ Channel 10* on Comcast of Houma and CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS of Terrebonne Parish ~ Channel 10* on CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS in Thibodaux ~ Channel 10* on VISION COMMUNICATIONS of South and Central Lafourche ~ Channel 10* AT&T U-Verse *Channel 10 is provided by and in cooperation with HTV of Houma. ~ Channel 71, ALLEN’S TV CABLE of Morgan City

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Programs produced by the Diocesan Office of TV Communications. We reserve the right to make program changes. www.bayoucatholic.com

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Book Reviews

Guest Columnist Raymond Saadi

Jesus, A Pilgrimage

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Jesus, A Pilgrimage

By James Martin, S.J. Harper One $27.99 Imagine walking where Jesus walked and visiting the places where he taught, preached, prayed and died. That was the itinerary Father Martin and a Jesuit friend set out to do. Over two weeks they traveled to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Nazareth, visited the mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus peached the Sermon on the Mount, and the beach at the Sea of Galilee where he called the fishermen to follow him and become his first disciples.

Father Martin has written more than a tour guide but a personal and new appreciation of the Gospels, which he shares with us with warmth and frequent humorous Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

The Irish in New Orleans

The Irish in New Orleans

By Laura D. Kelley UL Press $24.95 Dr. Kelly was born in New York and lived in several foreign countries before arriving in New Orleans where she found a home teaching history at Tulane.

Finding little information on the early Irish immigrants and their achievements she determined to search and document their history, the results of which are found in this remarkable book. What a treasure trove of fascinating stories she shares with us: The arrival of Lieutenant General Alejandro “Bloody” O’Reilly in New Orleans to quell a rebellion; the Irish Channel and the surprising story of the Redemptorists Fathers who acted as a “bank” for parishioners; the magnificent St. Patrick’s, “Ole St. Pat’s” Church on Camp St. and the many other Churches catering to the Irish and their burial customs and cemeteries. Of course no history of the Irish in New Orleans would be complete without a chapter on Power and Politics with familiar names like Burke and Comiskey.

More physical power was evident in the boxing ring or when necessary,

in the streets. Irish organizations and their numerous pubs are not ignored either. And then, there are the restaurants; does Brennan’s ring a bell? The family owns more than a dozen famous dining places.

Well known pubs include Parasol’s, The Irish House, Finn McCool’s and a host of others. Co-author and Singer, Betsy McGovern covers music of and by the Irish, and Kelly wraps it up with an album of shining Irish faces. Beautifully photographed by Carrie Lee Pierson Schwartz and archival illustrations make this a warm and welcome history.

(Raymond Saadi, longtime broadcast owner of KHOM FM & KTIB AM, is now retired and in his 15th year as book editor of the Lafayette-New Iberia monthly magazine, Acadiana Lifestyle. He lives in Houma with his wife, Jere.)

details about their trip. Arriving in extremely hot weather they were overjoyed at finding rooms at a hotel with air conditioning. Driving their tiny rental car over very rough roads, they travelled the villages and towns. In Bethlehem, they squeezed through the small entrance to the Church of the Nativity where it’s believed Jesus was born. Then to Nazareth and the Annunciation Grotto where Mary

learned she would be the mother of Jesus. They visited the site where he preached the Sermon on the Mount, prayed at Gethsemane and mourned at Golgotha. In addition to the graphic descriptions of these holy places, Father Martin makes the Bible stories come alive, giving readers a fresher, new and fuller understanding of Jesus’ parables and miracles.

THE

CATHOLIC HOME MISSIONS APPEAL

STRENGTHENING THE CHURCH AT HOME

Copyright © 2014, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, DC. All rights reserved. Photo credits: © 123RF, Stocksy United, Veer, Lightstock.

The collection will be held April 25 and 26 Thank you for your generosity www.bayoucatholic.com

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Our Churches

Story by Janet Marcel Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

Thanh Gia Personal parish serves Vietnamese Thanh Gia (Holy Family) Church parish in Amelia, the only “personal parish” in the Diocese of HoumaThibodaux, was established in 1981. Thanh Gia is non-territorial, meaning the parish has no boundaries; it was established to serve the Vietnamese Catholics in Amelia, Houma, Larose and Schriever/Thibodaux.

According to the parish’s history, after the fall of Saigon, Vietnam, in 1975, many Vietnamese families fled their country and found religious freedom in several different parts of the United States. Near the end of 1975, Catholic Vietnamese families began settling in Morgan City and Amelia. In 1979, a group of Vietnamese Catholics wrote a letter to (the late) Bishop Warren L. Boudreaux asking him for a place 31 to worship and for a Vietnamese priest to provide pastoral care for them. Bishop Boudreaux accepted the proposal and the plans for the new church parish were put into action.

Many generous donations were received and two lots were purchased in Amelia for the new church, which was completed in January 1981. The parish was named Thanh Gia, with Father Joseph Luu Nguyen as its founding pastor.

Father James Nguyen Van Thien, pastor since July 1, 2014, celebrates the Masses in Amelia and at the Worship Center in Schriever. Father Basil Doan, associate pastor since July 1, 2014, celebrates the Masses at the Worship Centers in Houma and Larose.

Father Doan, who has been in the United States for 36 years, says there are currently 210 Vietnamese families in the “non-territorial” parish – 85 in Amelia; 15 in Schriever; 60 in Houma; and 50 in Larose.

Parishioners in the four areas of the diocese are categorized into three groups: 68 percent employed; 7 percent retired; and 25 percent students. For the most part, he says that the Vietnamese population remains the same, but more and more young people are going to college, then moving away to find jobs in big cities like Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The church parish office in Amelia is the base parish. All of the financial records, sacramental records, etc., are kept there. However, each of the Worship Centers has its own pastoral council.

The parish has a eucharistic youth group, a Catholic Woman group, a Sacred Heart group for men, CCD and confirmation programs, and choirs.

The Vietnamese Catholics have many rich

a

www.bayoucatholic.com

Our Churches

32

Thanh Gia

traditions that are being kept alive in the parish including the May Crowning and Palm Sunday procession. The parish also stages an elaborate outdoor Way of the Cross on Good Friday that is followed by a luncheon in the parish hall. The Vietnamese people wear white on Good Friday afternoon to show that they are mourning for Christ.

These different celebrations bring people in the community out to experience a different culture.

Each of the Worship Centers has their own feast days that are celebrated in the Vietnamese tradition: the Holy Family in Amelia, Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in Houma, St. Peter in Larose, and the Vietnamese Martyrs in Schriever.

Even though the Catholic Church, as a whole and across the country, is experiencing a decrease in the number of people attending Mass, Father Doan says just the opposite is true among the Vietnamese Catholics. “Our Catholic faith is very important to us. We have about 90 percent of our parishioners attending Mass every week.”

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Father Thien feels it is very important to have a separate parish for the Vietnamese Catholics in the diocese because it enables them to keep their faith, language and culture alive. All of the Masses in the personal parishes are spoken in Vietnamese.

“In our own parish we feel like (we are) at home. We can speak our own language and keep our faith and culture alive with our own Lunar New Year celebration, Christmas, Holy Week, Easter Vigil Mass, and of course Sunday and weekly Masses. We feel we can be independent, take care of ourselves and set up our own Mass schedules without having to depend on local parishes for Mass schedules. If we don’t have a separate parish for us we find obstacles and inconveniences to keep our faith and culture alive. We would have to depend on what the local parishes give us.

If our community is emerged into local churches, we cannot enjoy all of our feast days together in our own language, and we feel as though our faith, language and culture would be threatened,” says the pastor.

Staff Thanh Gia staff members are from left, Janine Hoang, volunteer church secretary; Father James Nguyen Van Thien, pastor; Father Basil Doan, associate pastor; and Ba Hoang, pastoral council president.

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Diocesan Programs This Month “Spotlight on the Diocese” Host: Louis Aguirre With Guest: Robert Gorman, L.C.S.W., A.C.S.W. Executive Director, Catholic Charities HTV/VISION COMMUNICATIONS, CHARTER COMM. & COMCAST CHANNEL 10 ALLEN’S TV CABLE MORGAN CITY CHANNEL 71

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Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

www.bayoucatholic.com

APRIL n Woman of God Gathering, Tuesday, April 14, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, Meal served at 6 p.m.; events begin at 6:30 p.m. Free event, all women over 18 years of age are invited. n Adult Faith Formation: Catholic Social Teaching, Wednesday, April 15, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Rob Gorman. n Love + Life, Learn Natural Methods of Family Planning, Friday, April 17, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6:30-8 p.m. Speaker, Dr. Susan Caldwell.

n Married Couple’s Date Night, Saturday, April 18, Courtyard Marriott Ballroom, Houma, 6 p.m. Full service dinner including appetizer, salad, main course and dessert. Registration is available online and will be taken until space is full. n Man of God Gathering, Tuesday, April 21, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall.

Meal served at 6 p.m.; events begin at 6:30 p.m. Free event, all men over 18 years of age are invited. n Adore, Wednesday, April 22, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 7 p.m.

n Food for the Journey, Tuesday, May 12, Quality Hotel, Houma, 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.

Speaker, Father Carlos Talavera. n Diaconate ordination, Saturday, May 23, St. Joseph CoCathedral, Thibodaux, 10 a.m.

n Adult Confirmation Mass, Sunday, May 24, Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, Houma, 3 p.m. n Priesthood ordination of Alex Gaudet and Jacob Lipari, Saturday, May 30, Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, Houma, 10 a.m.

3, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 7 p.m. n Steubenville on the Bayou, June 26-28, Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center, Houma, 6 p.m.

Registration now open. Visit www.

SteubenvilleOnTheBayou.com for more information.

MAY n Young Adult Gathering, consisting of Mass, adoration and a social, Friday, May 1, St. Lucy Church in Houma, 6:30 p.m. n Easter Season Day of Prayer for all priests, Tuesday, May 5, Lumen Christi Retreat Center, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

36

JUNE n Young Adult Gathering, consisting of Mass, adoration and a social, Friday, June 5, St. Lucy Church, Houma, 6:30 p.m. n Adore, Wednesday, June

www.bayoucatholic@htdiocese.org

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

DIOCESAN

n Fisherman Mass, Saturday, April 11, 4:30 p.m., Holy Family Church, Dulac, followed by a Cultural Gathering at Grand Caillou Gym on Badou Rd., 6-10 p.m. n Boat Blessing, Sunday, April 12, 2 p.m., across from Holy Family Church in Dulac. n Marriage Preparation Day for pre-registered couples, Sunday, April 12, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Contact your church parish or call the Office of Family Ministries at (985)850-3129 for registration details. Additional information is available online at www.htdiocese. org/fm.

EVENTS

GIVE to your parish on

Good Friday

37

Pope Francis asks you to be generous during the pontifical collection at your parish.

Support Christians in the Holy Land The collection will be held April 3, 2015

An annual collection uniting Christians around the World.

For more information about the Good Friday Collection or the work of the Holy Land Franciscans, visit: www.MyFranciscan.org

Franciscan Monastery of the Holy Land

1400 Quincy Street N.E., Washington, D.C. 20017 | www.MyFranciscan.org | 202-526-6800 www.bayoucatholic.com

Church Alive

Two to be ordained to priesthood May 30 at Cathedral in Houma Story by Janet Marcel The Rev. Mr. Alex Gaudet and the Rev. Mr. Jacob Lipari III will be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Saturday, May 30, at 10 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma. Bishop Shelton J. Fabre will be the ordaining prelate.

The Rev. Mr. Alex Gaudet is a 27 year old native of Thibodaux. He is the son of Don and Cindy Gaudet, and has one brother, Eric; and one sister, Sarah. He graduated from Thibodaux High School, attended the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, St. Joseph Seminary College in St. Benedict, and will graduate from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans May 6.

As part of his priestly formation he spent the summer of 2009 at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux, where he did door-to-door evangelization.

In the summer of 2010 he attended the Summer Program for Seminarians at the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, NE. In the fall of 2010 he 38 served at St. Anthony of Padua Church parish in Bayou Black where he participated in homebound ministry and liturgical ministry. At Christ the Redeemer Church parish in Thibodaux in the spring of 2011, he also participated in homebound ministry and liturgical ministry. In the summer of 2012 he worked in youth-young adult ministry at St. Louis Church parish in Bayou Blue.

He was a CCD teacher and confirmation instructor at St. Clement of Rome in Metairie from the fall of 2012 until spring 2013. In the summer and fall of 2014, he was assigned to St. Bernadette Church parish in Houma where he visited sick parishioners at TGMC, worked with the youth in the Summer Camp and alongside the junior high and high school youth programs, prepared people for and celebrated baptisms, served as a deacon for Mass and preached several times.

“I look forward to being able to journey with the people of the bayous. Since my first experience of Jesus 11 years ago, I have had the desire to share what Christ has done for me with others. I really look forward to being able to help people experience Christ for the first time. My conversion was greatly aided by a powerful experience of repentance and having a good priest to hear my confession. Thus I equally look forward to celebrating the sacrament of reconciliation,” says Rev. Mr. Gaudet.

“The two main virtues of Catholics are that they are faithful and courageous. Through countless generations we have endured great trials and overcome great obstacles. I see these two great virtues alive in the people of the bayous. I am very excited Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Rev. Mr. Alex Gaudet

Rev. Mr. Jacob Lipari

about having the opportunity to tap into that ancient faithfulness and working with that innate courage. I look forward to the great things we can accomplish in witnessing to the modern culture,” he adds.

Father Gaudet will celebrate his first Mass at Christ the Redeemer Church Sunday, May 31, at 2 p.m.

The Rev. Mr. Jacob Lipari III is a 35 year old native of Houma. He is the son of Jake and Paulette Lipari, and has one brother, Nicholas. He graduated from Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma, received a bachelor’s of science degree from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux and will graduate from Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans May 6. He spent time at St. Hilary of Poitiers Church parish in Mathews during the summer of 2008 in discernment before entering the seminary.

As part of his priestly formation he spent the summer of 2009 at St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux, where he did door-to-door evangelization.

During the summers of 2010 and 2011, he attended the Summer Program for Seminarians at the Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, NE. He had his Year of Spiritual Formation at St. Rita Church parish in New Orleans where he concentrated on his prayer life, spirituality and went on a 30 day silent retreat.

In the summer of 2012 he served at Holy Cross Church parish in Morgan City in the areas of pastoral care of the sick, youth ministry, baptismal seminars and liturgical ministry. He spent the summer of 2013 working in hospital ministry at Florida Hospital in Orlando, FL. In the summer of 2014, he served as a deacon at St. Genevieve Church parish in Thibodaux.

“Hearing confessions to absolve sins, being the celebrant at daily Masses, anointing of the sick visits to the hospitals, and being a Father to all people,” is what the Rev. Mr. Lipari is most looking forward to doing after he is ordained to the priesthood.

Father Lipari will celebrate his first Mass at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma, Sunday, May 31, at 11 a.m.

Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Seminarian Education Burses

What is a seminarian burse fund?

A seminarian burse fund is an invested sum of money where the interest is used in perpetuity to help fund the education of men to the priesthood in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

How does someone establish a seminarian burse fund?

Very simply, a burse may be established and named for anyone you choose, be it family, friend, bishop, priest, deacon, religious, etc.

When is a seminarian burse complete?

A seminarian burse fund is complete once it reaches $15,000.

If you choose to continue to contribute, a new burse will be created for you.

Who do I contact to contribute to or establish a burse fund?

To contribute or establish a burse, send funds to Pastoral Center, Attn: Seminarian Burse, P. O. Box 505, Schriever, LA 70395 or call Jeremy Becker, Director of Stewardship and Development, at 985-850-3155 for more information.

Completed Burses of $15,000 each

Note: those wtih a number stipulates the number of completed burses* - Anonymous - Mr. & Mrs. C. Thomas Bienvenu - Harry Booker - Bishop Warren L. Boudreaux (3)* - Rev. Adrian J. Caillouet - Rev. James Louis Caillouet - Bishop L. Abel Caillouet - Judge/Mrs L. P. Caillouet - Msgr. Lucien J. Caillouet - Abdon J. & Ada B. Callais - Harold & Gloria Callais Family - Paul A. Callais - Peter W. Callais - Vincent & Fannie Cannata - Minor Sr. & Lou Ella Cheramie - Maude & Edith Daspit - Mr. & Mrs. Caliste Duplantis family (3)* - Clay Sr. & Evelida Duplantis

- C. Remie Duplantis - Marie Elise Duplantis - Warren J. Harang, Jr. - Msgr. Raphael C. Labit - Msgr. Francis J. Legendre - Rev. Charles Menard - Dr. & Mrs. M.V. Marmande & Fly - Donald Peltier, Sr. (3)* - Harvey Peltier (30)* - Richard Peltier - The Peltier Foundation (3) - Orleans & Louella Pitre - Msgr. Joseph Wester - Robert R. Wright, Jr. - Rev. Kermit Trahan - St. Bernadette Men’s Club - Diocesan K of C - Endowment Fund - $119,136.90

February 2015 Burse Contributions Alfrances P. Martin ............................................ $250.00 Mr. & Mrs. George C. Fakier ............................. $100.00 Mr. Eldier Broussard ......................................... $100.00 Msgr. William Koninkx ..................................... $100.00 39

Open Burses with Balance as of 2/28/15 Mr. Eledier Broussard ................. $14,850.00 Sidney J. & Lydie C. Duplantis ........... $13,000.00 Donald Peltier, Sr. #4 ............................ $13,000.00 Msgr. Raphael C. Labit #2 .................. $10,960.00 Harvey Peltier #31 .............................. $10,486.91 Clay Sr. & Evelida Duplantis #2 .......... $10,000.00 C. Remie Duplantis #2 ........................ $10,000.00 Marie Elise Duplantis #2 ..................... $10,000.00 Maude & Edith Daspit #2 .................... $10,000.00 Msgr. George A. Landry ...................... $10,000.00 Elie & Dot Klingman .............................. $8,520.00 Mr. & Mrs. George C. Fakier ................. $8,200.00 Rev. Victor Toth ..................................... $7,000.00 Mrs. Shirley Conrad ............................... $7,000.00 Brides of the Most Blessed Trinity ......... $6,165.00 Rev. Peter Nies ..................................... $5,810.00 Msgr. William Koninkx ........................... $5,200.00 Mr. & Mrs. Love W. Pellegrin ................. $5,000.00 Anonymous #2 ...................................... $5,000.00 Mr. & Mrs. Caliste Duplantis Fmly.#4..... $5,000.00 Rev. William M. Fleming ........................ $5,000.00 Mrs. Ayres A. Champagne ..................... $5,000.00 Rev. Kasimir Chmielewski ..................... $4,839.00 Rev. Gerard Hayes ................................ $4,786.00 Rev. Henry Naquin ................................. $4,251.00 Joseph “Jay” Fertitta .............................. $4,150.00 Harry Booker #2 .................................... $4,138.00

Catholic Daughters ................................ $4,080.00 Kelly Curole Frazier ............................... $3,610.96 J. R. Occhipinti ...................................... $3,400.00 Rev. Guy Zeringue ................................ $3,200.00 Msgr. James Songy ............................... $3,075.00 Mr. & Mrs. Galip Jacobs ........................ $3,060.00 St. Jude ................................................. $3,000.00 Diocesan K of C #2 ............................... $2,894.62 Anawin Community ............................... $2,700.00 Rev. Peter H. Brewerton ........................ $2,600.00 Willie & Emelda St. Pierre ...................... $2,000.00 Rev. H. C. Paul Daigle ........................... $1,900.00 Warren J. Harang, Jr. #2 ......................... $1,900.00 James J. Buquet, Jr. ............................... $1,650.00 Alfrances P. Martin ................................. $1,650.00 Msgr. Francis J. Legendre #2 ................ $1,645.00 Rev. Robert J. Sevigny .......................... $1,600.00 Msgr. Emile J. Fossier ........................... $1,545.00 Dr. William Barlette, Sr........................... $1,525.00 Msgr. Stanislaus Manikowski ................ $1,525.00 Mr. & Mrs. John Marmande .................... $1,500.00 Deacon Robert Dusse’ ........................... $1,450.00 Msgr. John L. Newfield .......................... $1,200.00 Rev. John Gallen .................................... $1,100.00 Rev. Hubert C. Broussard ...................... $1,050.00 Rev. Anthony Rousso ............................. $1,050.00 Rev. Clemens Schneider ....................... $1,000.00

St. Joseph Italian Society ...................... $1,000.00 Bishop Warren L. Boudreaux #4 ........... $1,000.00 Msgr. John G. Keller .............................. $1,000.00 Preston & Gladys Webre ........................ $1,000.00 Jacob Marcello .......................................... $900.00 Deacon Willie Orgeron ............................. $800.00 Ruby Pierce .............................................. $800.00 Deacon Roland Dufrene ........................... $750.00 Juliette & Eugene Wallace ......................... $700.00 Deacon Edward J. Blanchard ................... $660.00 Deacon Connely Duplantis ........................ $625.00 Judge Louis & Shirley R. Watkins .............. $600.00 Deacon Raymond LeBouef ...................... $550.00 Mr. & Mrs. Anthony Cannata .................... $500.00 Ronnie Haydel .......................................... $485.00 Deacon Harold Kurtz ................................ $300.00 Richard Peltier #2 ..................................... $300.00 Anne Veron Aguirre ................................... $280.00 Claude Bergeron ...................................... $250.00 Mr. & Mrs. Arthur Naquin .......................... $150.00 Deacon Pedro Pujals ................................ $100.00 Joseph Waitz, Sr. ...................................... $100.00 Bernice Harang ......................................... $100.00 Deacon Eldon Frazier .............................. $ 50.00 Deacon Nick Messina .............................. $ 50.00 Rev. Warren Chassaniol ........................... $ 50.00

Overall Seminarian Burse Totals: $1,476,543.39 www.bayoucatholic.com

Church Alive

Transitional deacon ordination May 23 Rosary he served at the Masses, gave

By JANET MARCEL reflections after daily Mass, visited The Rev. Mr. Cody Chatagnier will parishioners in the hospital, and helped be ordained to the transitional diaconate update the baptismal register. At St. Saturday, May 23, at 10 a.m. at St. Thomas, he helped organize the Safe Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux. The Environment records and plan the Pere’ transitional diaconate is the final step Menard Canoe Trip. leading to ordination to the priesthood.

He was assigned to Annunziata Church Bishop Shelton J. Fabre will be the parish in 2010-2011 and the summer of ordaining prelate.

2012, where he taught a CCD class for The Rev. Mr. Cody Chatagnier is a Hispanic children, worked with the youth 31-year-old native of Chauvin. He is the group, served as a lector, eucharistic son of Wade C. Chatagnier and Patty minister, gave reflections during daily Luke Chatagnier (deceased), and has one Rev. Mr. Cody Masses, and held Communion services sister, Kattie C. Brown, and two nieces.

Chatagnier when there was no priest. He also updated He graduated from Terrebonne the parish network by installing new High School in Houma, and received a routers and running Ethernet cables to bachelor’s degree in history from Nicholls every computer.

State University in Thibodaux. He attended St. After his second year of theology, he spent a Joseph Seminary College where he graduated with a year at St. John the Evangelist Church parish in bachelor’s degree in philosophy & theological studies, Thibodaux serving Masses, helping the altar servers and is scheduled to graduate from Notre Dame in the parish, compiling the parish directory, visiting Seminary in 2016 with a master’s of divinity degree. nursing homes, updating the parish’s network, and Before entering the seminary, the Rev. Mr. designing a portable multimedia system in the church Chatagnier volunteered at his home parish, St. for the Capital Campaign.

Anthony of Padua Church in Bayou Black, for eight “After being ordained to the transitional diaconate, I years where he was a member of their youth ministry am looking forward to serving the parish where I will group, Kepha.

While volunteering at St. Anthony he 40 be assigned and serving my pastor and the parish in was part of their retreat team, gave talks, acted in any way I can,” says the Rev. Mr. Chatagnier. skits, lead small groups, played bass and acoustic “I am really looking forward to teaching and guitar in the music ministry and was the sound man preaching the Word of God, and finally being able to at retreats and parish Masses. He was also a lector, unleash that pricey education the people of HoumaCCD teacher and helped with fundraising activities.

Thibodaux have so graciously paid for. But most of After graduating from Nicholls, he moved to all, I am looking forward to being with the people.

Golden Meadow and worked at Our Lady of Prompt While in the seminary, a man can forget why he is Succor Church parish in various capacities. He also studying to be a priest and forget the people of God taught fifth grade CCD and confirmation, organized in the diocese. We learn lots of concepts and theology, the confirmation retreat and led a group of teens to but truthfully our learning is not just for our own Steubenville on the Bayou, and served at Masses benefit but for the benefit of the diocese. I long to regularly. show the people of our diocese Christ, and hopefully As part of his priestly formation he was assigned my seminary formation will help me to do that.” to Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church parish His ordination to the priesthood is scheduled for in Houma and the diocesan Vocations Office at St. 2016.

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Five to be ordained to permanent diaconate May 23 in Thibodaux Story by Janet Marcel Five men will be ordained to the permanent diaconate for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux during a Mass Saturday, May 23, at 10 a.m. at St. Joseph CoCathedral in Thibodaux. Bishop Shelton J. Fabre will be the principal celebrant, with priests of the diocese concelebrating.

The deacon candidates are as follows: Daniel Blake is a parishioner of St. Joseph CoCathedral in Thibodaux. He and his wife Barbara have been married for 24 years. They have three children, Matthew, Joseph and Teresa. Blake graduated from A.C. Jones High School in Beeville, TX. He received a bachelor’s degree in professional studies from the University of Oklahoma in 1986; a bachelor’s of science degree in nursing from Nicholls State University in Thibodaux in 1995; and a master’s degree in nursing from Loyola University of New Orleans in 2009. He is currently a Nursing Instructor at Nicholls State University.

Blake serves his church parish as an acolyte and reader, is involved with the diocesan prison ministry and Nicholls Students for Life.

Joseph Bourgeois is a parishioner of St. Joseph Co-Cathedral in Thibodaux. He and his wife Jody Ann Boudreaux Bourgeois have been married for 41 years and they have two children, Trudy B. Tastet, and Joseph Jr., and seven grandchildren. Bourgeois graduated from Thibodaux High School and earned an associate’s degree in criminal justice from Nicholls State University. He is currently employed with the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office as a court section/ bailiff.

Bourgeois is a eucharistic minister and acolyte in his church parish, and works with the diocesan hospital ministry.

Lee Anthony Crochet is a parishioner of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Bayou Black. He and his wife Beulah have been married for 38 years and they

have one child, Wendy Hirsch, and two grandchildren.

Crochet graduated from Terrebonne High School in Houma and earned a bachelor of arts degree in elementary education and a master’s of education degree in administration and supervision from Nicholls State University. He is currently employed 41 by the Terrebonne Parish School District as the assistant principal at Lisa Park Elementary School in Houma.

Bourgeois serves his church parish as an acolyte, eucharistic minister, lector, commentator, cantor, is a member of the fourth degree Knights of Columbus and several music ministries (New Creation, Singing Knights, Saturday Trio, etc.).

Joey Thomas Lirette is a parishioner of St. Ann Church in Bourg. He has two children, Keli Boudreaux and Lori Lirette, and two grandchildren, Jaryan and Jaydi. Lirette graduated from South Terrebonne High School and attended Nicholls State University. He is currently employed as a sales and service coordinator at Marine Systems Inc. Lirette serves his church parish as a eucharistic minister, lector, commentator, acolyte, and is involved with the RCIA program and CCD. He works with the diocesan prison ministry, homeless ministry, and is an annulment advocate.

Jeff Paul Pitre is a parishioner of Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church in Golden Meadow. He and his wife Gail have been married for 31 years, and they have one child, Angelia. Pitre graduated from South Lafourche High School. He is currently employed as an AC/heating tech at Reliable Service Inc. He also owns Jeff Pitre’s Martial Arts Academy and is a 4th Degree Black Belt.

Pitre has been serving his church parish as an acolyte for the past seven years, and was the first acolyte instituted in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. www.bayoucatholic.com

Special

A day in the life of a ...

42 Sister Miriam Mire, C.S.J., checks on St. Anthony parishioner Marguerite Schexnayder during a recent home visit.

Parish home health nurse

Sister Miriam Mire, C.S.J., a parish home health nurse at St. Anthony of Padua Church in Bayou Black and native of New Orleans, has been ministering to the sick and elderly in Houma for the past 48 years.

Sister Miriam grew up with nuns as teachers when she was in school.

She also had an aunt who was a nun.

“My mother’s youngest sister was a nun so I was exposed to the lifestyle of a religious at an early age. When I was 10 or 11 years old I read My Beloved, a book about a Carmelite Nun. The book had an influence on me. The Sisters of St. Joseph were my teachers in high school so naturally I was attracted to that order.”

Sister Miriam was also exposed to the medical profession because her father worked at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. “I remember my Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

mother telling me that I used to like the smell of a hospital. In those days you could smell the ether throughout the hospital.”

Although she wanted to study nursing she received a degree in education. Her first ministry was as a teacher for approximately five years in Cincinnati, OH. “Shortly after I began teaching there were changes within our community and I was asked if I was still interested in nursing. It wasn’t but a week later after being asked that I started my nursing classes.

I was so excited. After I completed a three-year program which was heavy on clinical, I received my diploma,” she says.

Story and Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

Her day begins around 5 a.m.

The first thing she does is pray and ask God to put her where she is needed most.

“I typically go to Terrebonne General early because we always have patients there. I make my rounds visiting the patients and usually finish there around 9 a.m.,” says the sister.

From there, Sister Miriam hits the road visiting patients all along Bayou Black from Houma to Gibson. “I visit our patients at their homes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I check up on the shut-ins of the parish, those who have been discharged from the hospital, and some of our elderly parishioners who need tending to. I check their needs, their vital signs, find out how things are going with them and offer assistance in regards to resources available within the community.”

a

In the photo above, Sister Miriam Mire, C.S.J., checks the vitals of patient W.L. Trahan at his home in Houma. In the photo below, Sister Miriam consoles Kaye LeBlanc who lost her husband after a lengthy illness.

Her ministry goes beyond the patient. She also ministers to the caregivers, checks on the needs of the families involved and even the neighbors. Sister Miriam also visits the nursing homes in the area. After a lunch break she is usually back on the road and visits patients until around 4:30 p.m.

Sister Miriam says her ministry is one of presence. “I strive to bring the people an element of compassion. I enjoy working with the families of the patients. The patients are very dear to me. My ministry involves a lot of listening. I try to help them on their journey through their illnesses even if it’s to their death.

I attend many patients’ funerals. It’s important for me to be there for the families. Every day I ask God to place me where I have to go. He directs me. 43 I ask to not let me get in the way, but simply to put me where I am needed.”

www.bayoucatholic.com

Church Life

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

Bishop Shelton J. Fabre prays as the candidates and their sponsors stand at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales during the act of recognition at the Rite of Election held on the first Sunday of Lent.

44

Bishop Shelton Fabre greets

38 catechumens, 33 candidates Bishop Shelton J. Fabre greeted 38 catechumens and 33 candidates of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux at the Rite of Election ceremony on the first Sunday of Lent at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma.

At the Rite of Election of Catechumens and the Rite of the Call to Continuing Conversion of Candidates, the catechumens and candidates gather with others from

throughout the diocese and have a sense of being part of the larger church community.

The catechumens, those who have not been baptized, are called forth by name. Their godparents are questioned with regard to their readiness. The catechumens are then invited to sign their name in the Book of the Elect. Next they are greeted by the celebrant and officially declared to be members of

the “elect” or chosen by God to be initiated at the Easter Vigil. n Catechumens from the church parishes of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux are: Lysia Smith, Kafui Sobo, Nashalie Dominguez, Christ the Redeemer, Thibodaux; Kobi Billiot, Bayli Scully, Michelle Topham, Holy Cross, Morgan City; Michele Ducos, St. Genevieve, Thibodaux; Brooke Baker, Gracie Dardar,

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Lauri Dardar, Randy Dardar, Taylor Dardar, Mary Gillespie, St. John the Evangelist, Thibodaux; Joshua Boudreaux, Dallas Domangue, Nicholas Landry, John McCoy, Kaitlin Vernon, Jeffrey Zanner, St. Thomas Aquinas, Thibodaux; Debra Foret, Angie Garcia, Annunziata, Houma; Lauren Self, Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, Houma; Michelle Frederick, Holy Family, Grand Caillou; Andrew Cunningham, Hailey Fox, Jordan Fox, Maria Immacolata, Houma; Kaylee Foret, Mason Rodrigue, St. Ann, Bourg; Courtney LeBlanc, St. Anthony of Padua, Bayou Black; Breanna Cheramie, Angel Rodriguez, St. Bernadette Soubirous, Houma; Trista LeBoeuf, St. Joseph, Chauvin; Dylan Chauvin, St. Louis, Bayou Blue; Alisa Dardar, St. Lucy, Houma; Kade Bergeron, Community of St. Anthony, Gheens; Tyler Griffin, David Harrelson, Our Lady of the Rosary, Larose; and Tanya Bernard, St. Joseph, Galliano. n Candidates from the church parishes of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux are: Terese Beamon, Rafael Ventura, Christ the Redeemer, Thibodaux; Dwayne Dupuy, Jacklyn Picou, Holy Cross, Morgan City; Nancy Boudreaux, Sacred Heart, Morgan City; Trish Chaisson, Monica Schneider, St. Bridget, Schriever; John Stennett, St. John the Evangelist, Thibodaux; Sherryl Freeman, Martha Myles, Craig Sparks, St. Luke, Thibodaux; Kevin Risinger, Brooke Theriot, Kayla Pellegrin, St. Thomas Aquinas, Thibodaux; Laurie Billiot, Lori Pennison, Annunziata, Houma; Mario Armendanz, Vianey Armendanz, Brock Belanger, Brody Belanger, Myles Breaux, Elizabeth Breerwood, Katherine Cruz, Sabrina Santas, Kelly Duplantis, Jake Loupe, Kevin Reynolds, Carlos Zacanas, St. Bernadette Soubirous, Houma; Dei’Jon Scoby, St. Lucy, Houma; Kent Fagen, Our Lady of the Rosary, Larose; Dean Griffin, Our Lady of Prompt Succor, Golden Meadow; Michael Cary and Lexie Dedon, St. Joseph, Galliano.

Those who participated in the ceremony were Very Rev. Joshua Rodrigue, master of ceremonies; Deacon Linwood Liner and

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45

Church Life

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

Bishop Shelton J. Fabre greets candidate Trish Chaisson of St. Bridget Church parish in Schriever during the Rite of Election ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma.

Catechumen Nashalie Dominguez of Christ the Redeemer Church in Thibodaux signs the Book of the Elect as diocesan co-coordinator Lillie Brunet assists during the Rite of Election ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma.

46

Registration in Gym (youth room) Ages 5 to 13 or 4 & starting Preschool 2nd registration - April 18th 9:00 a.m. -1:00 p.m. (if any openings)

Camp Dates:

June 1st - July 31st 9 weeks • Monday - Friday Non-Refundable Fees:

$50 registration fee & 1st week of camp due @ registration (Includes 2 camp shirts) Additional shirts $10 each

Parishioner rates as follows: $95 per week for one child $180 per week for 2 children

Non-parishioner rates as follows: $115 per week for one child $220 per week for 2 children

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

St. Bernadett Day Camp 20 e 15 Camp Hours:

9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

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Late registration - $10 additional charge (if any openings)

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Diocesan Outreach Line

In response to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux is offering an Outreach Line (formerly known as the Child Protection Contact Line). The Outreach Line is an effort to continue the diocesan commitment to support healing for people who have been hurt or sexually abused recently or in the past by clergy, religious or other employees of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Outreach Line operates from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. A trained mental health professional responds to the line. Individuals are offered additional assistance if requested.

The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Outreach Line Telephone number is (985) 873-0026.

For detailed reporting procedures see: www.htdiocese.org.

Click on the Safe Environment tab, then on S.E. Forms and Links.

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

Bishop Shelton J. Fabre greets catechumen Breanna Cheramie of St. Bernadette Church parish in Houma during the Rite of Election at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma.

Catechumens, candidates

Deacon Stephen Brunet, assisting masters of ceremonies; Deacon Brent Bergeron, deacon of the Gospel; Raymond Solito, cross bearer; Lee Crochet, book bearer, Lillie Brunet, book of the elect, commentator; Barbara Ficaro, Christine Rodrigue, readers; Deacon Chris Prestenback, psalmist, music ministry; deacons’ wives, diocesan staff, Marie Alsabrook, Betty Olivier, Melva Fournier, hospitality/reception ministers; Rev. Glenn LeCompte, Rev. Joseph Pilola, Amy Adams, Zachary Barker, Kim Champagne, Ellen Heidenreich, music ministry; Mark Atzenhoffer, Upper Lafourche Deanery; Greg Terrebonne, South Lafourche Deanery; Carmen Chauff, Terrebonne Deanery; calling of the names.

Línea de Comunicación Diocesana

Con el fin de cumplir con las Políticas de Protección de Niños y Jóvenes de la Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de Los Estados Unidos, la Diócesis de Houma-Thibodaux ofrece una Línea de Comunicación (antes Línea de Contacto para la Protección de los Niños). La Línea de Comunicación es parte del esfuerzo diocesano de comprometerse con el mejoramiento de aquéllos que han sido lastimados o abusados sexualmente recientemente o en el pasado por miembros del clero, religiosos u otros empleados de la Diócesis de Houma-Thibodaux.

El horario de la Línea de Comunicación de la Diócesis de Houma-Thibodaux es de 8:30 a.m. a 4:30 p.m., de lunes a viernes. El encargado de esta línea es un profesional capacitado en salud mental. Se ofrece asistencia adicional al ser solicitada.

Línea de Comunicación de la Diócesis de Houma-Thibodaux Número de teléfono (985) 873-0026.

Vea el detallado procedimiento de informes en: www.htdiocese.org.

Haga clic en Safe Environment y luego S.E. Forms and Links.

Ñöôøng daây ñieän thoaïi Cöùu giuùp Giaùo phaän Ñeå höôûng öùng Hieán chöông Baûo veä Treû em vaø Giôùi treû töø Hoäi ñoàng Giaùm muïc Hoa kyø, Giaùo phaän Houma-Thibodaux ñang chuaån bò ñöôøng daây ñieän thoaïi Cöùu giuùp (luùc tröôùc laø ñöôøng daây lieân laïc baûo veä treû em). Ñöôøng daây ñieän thoaïi Cöùu giuùp laø moät söï coá gaéng cuûa giaùo phaän nhaèm cam keát haøn gaén naâng ñôõ nhöõng ai ñaõ bò toån thöông hoaëc bò laïm duïng tính duïc hoaëc gaàn ñaây hoaëc trong quaù khöù bôûi giaùo só, tu só hoaëc caùc coâng nhaân vieân cuûa Giaùo phaän Houma-Thibodaux. Ñöôøng daây ñieän thoaïi Cöùu giuùp Giaùo phaän hoaït ñoäng töø 8:30 saùng ñeán 4:30 chieàu, thöù hai ñeán thöù saùu. Moät nhaân vieân chuyeân nghieäp veà söùc khoûe taâm thaàn traû lôøi treân ñöôøng daây ñieän thoaïi. Nhöõng caù nhaân seõ ñöôïc trôï giuùp naâng ñôõ theâm neáu caàn. Ñöôøng daây ñieän thoaïi Cöùu giuùp Giaùo phaän Soá ñieän thoaïi: (985) 873-0026.

Caàn bieát theâm chi tieát veà caùch baùo caùo xin vaøo trang web cuûa ñòa phaän laø www.htdiocese.org.

Baám vaøo muïc Safe Environment, sau ñoù tôùi muïc S.E. Forms vaø Links.

www.bayoucatholic.com

47

Special

Bishop Shelton J. Fabre

48

Woman of God, Man of God conference attracts hundreds

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs

Paul George

Elaine Beyer

Pearlette Carter

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier The annual Man of God and Woman of God Conference was held recently at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. The event featured many speakers who inspired those in attendance. In the photo above, Al Carter presented a workshop for the men attending the conference. His wife Pearlette was a presenter for the women in attendance.

49

www.bayoucatholic.com

Special Events

Food for the Journey is May 12

Rev. Carlos Talavera

The diocesan Office of Religious Education sponsors a monthly lunchtime speaker series on the first Tuesday of the month at the Quality Hotel on Hollywood Road in Houma across from Vandebilt Catholic High School.

The speaker for May 12 is Father Carlos Talavera.

Father Talavera, pastor of St. Louis Church parish in Bayou Blue, is a native of Iriga City in the Philippines. He was ordained to the priesthood May 31, 1997.

Father Talavera has served as associate pastor at St. Genevieve, Christ the Redeemer and St. John the Evangelist Church parishes in Thibodaux; and St. Hilary of Poitiers Church parish in Mathews.

He served as pastor at St. Charles Borromeo Church parish in the St. Charles community; and Holy Savior Church parish in Lockport.

Those who plan to attend the May 12th event should RSVP with their name, phone number and church parish by Thursday, May 7. To RSVP, email FoodForTheJourney@ htdiocese.org or call (985) 8503178.

Doors open at 10:45 a.m. Lunch begins at 11:30 a.m. The program begins at Noon with the speaker’s presentation from 12:10-12:45 p.m.

Cost is $17 and includes meal, drink and tip. Only cash or checks will be accepted.

All are invited to come “eat and be fed.”

Day of Prayer is set April 11 50

Jeanine Avila

Divine Mercy Divine Mercy Sunday will be observed at St. Genevieve Church in Thibodaux April 12, beginning with confession at 2 p.m. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed at 3 p.m. followed by Mass.

Ms. Jeanine Avila will share her reflections concerning Divine Mercy. Her reflection theme will be God’s mercy and how we are called to live in God’s mercy and be merciful in everyday life. There will be veneration of the Divine Mercy image. The novena of Divine Mercy begins Good Friday, April 3. Copies of the novena will be available in the church.

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

A Day of Prayer entitled “New Testament Women as Role Models of Faith for All” is being offered at the Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever, Saturday, April 11.

The day will begin at 8:30 a.m. and conclude with Mass. Father Glenn LeCompte will direct the day.

Topics that will be presented include: n The Faith of a Canaanite Woman: Determination in Faith n Martha and Mary: An Invitation to Listen to Jesus n A Woman with a Hemorrhage: Experiencing the Healing of Jesus n Prisca: The Female Evangelist For more information or to register, call Aimee Hebert at (985) 868-1523, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. or email lumenchristi@htdiocese.org.

Divine Mercy at Cathedral is April 12

Rev. Glenn LeCompte

Divine Mercy Sunday will be observed at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma April 12, beginning with praying the rosary at 2 p.m. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed at 3 p.m. followed by eucharistic adoration.

Confessions will be heard.

Nation

Catholic church continues - in new ways - to help immigrant population

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The Catholic Church in the United States has had a long history of being a voice for immigrants and it continues to do so but in new ways, said speakers at a March 12 conference at The Catholic University of America.

There has been so much church involvement on this issue that a few of the panelists at the conference: “American Catholics and Immigration: Past and Present” said their allotted time to speak wasn’t nearly enough to delve into the topic.

“It’s an incredibly complex issue.

I can’t do it justice in 15 minutes,” said William Dinges, a theology professor at Catholic University.

He said at best, he could present the church’s evolving role in a presentation “akin to speed dating” during the panel discussion on culture and religious life.

Dinges was one of several panelists in the daylong discussion sponsored by American Catholic History Research Center and University Archives, the Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies, and the Office of Migration and Refugee Services of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

At the turn of the last century, Dinges said the church “enabled immigrants to assimilate” and provided for their needs through church-sponsored charities, hospitals and schools. Catholic parishes for different ethnic groups also reinforced a strong religious culture.

“The parish loomed large in the vibrancy of Catholic Church,” Dinges said, noting that if someone asked where you were from they quickly followed it by asking what parish you belonged to.

Different immigrant groups brought their particular ways of praying and their devotions -- especially to Mary and the saints -- to their new churches. These practices continue today but now these traditions are often competing.

CNS PHOTO/TYLER ORSBURN

Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas, delivers a lecture on immigration Feb. 24 on the campus of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., urging the country to break out of social “paralysis” on the issue and approach it with faith.

“There can be clash of devotions at parishes,” because people want to keep their own ways of praying, said Father Aniedi Okure, executive director of Africa Faith and Justice Network in Washington.

He said the challenge today is to try not to give one group too much attention at a parish that would alienate another group. He also suggested that leaders from different ethnic groups be given pastoral council positions.

Jaime Hernandez, a parishioner at St. Camillus Parish in Silver Spring, Maryland, similarly noted that modern Catholic parishes should do more to accommodate immigrant populations and “build bridges of different cultures.”

Hernandez, a native of El Salvador, said churches need to do more than just clap for people attending the parish for the first time. At his parish -- where there are weekly

Masses and faith formation programs in English, Spanish and French -- he said parishioners look for newcomers and find out what they can do for them and they also try to get newcomers involved.

Another challenge for parishes, he said, is to reach out to second and third generations of immigrant communities who might not be as interested in cultural and faith traditions or even the native language of their parents and grandparents.

In another panel discussion focusing on labor, panelists stressed the church’s long-standing support of immigrant workers, citing Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum” with its call for just wages and the 1906 document “A Living Wage” by Msgr. John Ryan. They also mentioned Cesar Chavez, founder of the United Farm Workers and Dorothy Day, Catholic Worker co-founder.

51 The church continues to support workers, said Father Evilio Menjivar, pastor of Our Lady Queen of the Americas Parish in Washington and member of the Priests Labor Initiative which supports and advocates for workers’ rights.

He said he has recently attended rallies with hotel workers and airline kitchen workers seeking better treatment and compensation.

Workers do not want “big things” from the priests who join them at these rallies, he said. “They just want our presence ... to know the church is with them and what they are doing is good.”

Joseph McCartin, associate professor of history at Georgetown University and executive director of Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor, stressed that the church is poised to be a powerful voice for workers today by bringing a global vision and moral clarity to labor issues and economic questions.

The church can also continue to provide a “powerful language of solidarity,” he said, especially if it acts on the “vision that Pope Francis is clear on.” www.bayoucatholic.com

World

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CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis delivers his blessing during his election night appearance on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican March 13, 2013.

Anniversary interview

Pope talks about election, papacy and future

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- When Pope Francis went out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time, he said he did not prepare what he was going to say, but “I felt deeply that a minister needs the blessing of God, but also of his people.”

He did not know if it was right to explicitly ask the thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square to bless him, so instead he asked them to pray that God would bless him, he said. And he bowed for their prayers.

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

Marking the second anniversary of his election March 13, Pope Francis spoke about the conclave that elected him in 2013, about his life the last two years and about the future in an interview with Valentina Alazraki of Mexico’s Televisa.

The pope even joked about the reputation Argentines have for being proud or haughty. “You know how an Argentine commits suicide?” he asked Alazraki. “He climbs to the top of his ego and jumps!”

And, he said, while he doesn’t hate being pope, he is not a fan of the travel involved and he really

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would like to go out of the Vatican unrecognized, perhaps “to a pizzeria to eat a pizza.”

“I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief,” he said. “Four or five years. I do not know, or maybe two, three. Well, two have already passed. It’s just a vague feeling.”

Perhaps, the pope said, it is like the kind of trick a gambler plays on his mind by convincing himself -when he places a bet -- that he will lose; when he does, he is not disappointed. “I do not know what it is, but I have the feeling that the Lord put me here for a brief time.... But it is just a feeling. So I keep the possibility open.”

Pope Benedict XVI’s discernment that he no longer had the energy to carry out the office and his decision

God wants the church to focus on better serving families to resign to a life of prayer was courageous, Pope Francis said, and it opened the door for popes in the future to do so with greater ease.

But, the pope said, he is opposed to setting an age limit, for example, 80, for a pope’s ministry. While for some theologians “the papacy is a sacrament,” he said he would not go that far, but “it is something special.”

Asked about reports that he received about 40 votes during the 2005 conclave that elected Pope Benedict, Pope Francis refused to answer, “although I could tell because now I have the authority to speak.”

As for the 2013 conclave, he said he had no inkling until the lunch break March 13 “when something happened,” cardinals started coming up to him and asking about his health. “When we returned in the evening, the cake was cooked. Everything happened with just two ballots. It was a surprise for me as well.”

During the voting, he said, he was praying the rosary, which was his normal practice and brings him a

great sense of peace. “The same thing occurred then, which for me was a sign that it was God’s will. Peace.

And even today I have not lost that sense.”

The cardinals at the conclave interrupted his rosary when he had reached the two-thirds vote necessary to be elected. “They asked me if I accepted. I said yes. I don’t know if they made me take an oath, I don’t remember.”

Questioned about the 2014 extraordinary synod and the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family, particularly regarding the acceptance of homosexual persons and Communion for divorced and civilly remarried couples, Pope Francis said some people have “unrealistic expectations,” but he is convinced God wants the church to focus on better serving families.

“The family is in crisis,” he said, and it is not the ageold crisis of infidelity, but the future of marriage itself.

“I think the Lord wants us to face this,” Pope Francis said, including through improved “marriage preparation; accompanying cohabitating couples; accompanying those who do marry and are raising a family; supporting those whose marriages have failed and are in a new union; preparing them for the sacrament of marriage, (because) not everyone is ready.”

As for the reform of the Roman Curia, which Pope Francis said really was the “last (royal) court” existing in Europe, he said, “the appearance of a court can be maintained,” but the Curia must be a group of people and structures “at the service of the church, at the service of the bishops.”

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Sports

Vandebilt boys’ soccer wins STATE 54

Guest Columnist

F

Wil Touchet

First-year Vandebilt Catholic boys soccer coach Paul Shenton knew he was taking over a program not only rich in tradition, but rich in talent as well.

Shenton felt on talent alone they could be state champions for the 2014-2015 season.

But he also knew that it would take more than talent alone to have a successful season and make a run at a state championship with his young squad. It was going to take something special.

Although a very tough nondistrict schedule provided a bumpy start on their road to a title, the Terriers did find that something special along the way to achieve their goal of being crowned Division II state champions.

After 80 minutes of regulation,

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

two 10-minute overtime halves, and two five-minute sudden death halves, Vandebilt Catholic won their eighth state title in the school’s history with a 1-0 victory over the Ben Franklin Falcons by outscoring them 6-5 on penalty kicks.

The Terriers finished the season with an 18-7-7 record, including an 8-0 mark in district play. Not only did they roll through the district, the Terriers also rolled through their playoff opponents by outscoring them 17-1 to bring home their first state title since 2007.

This feat was accomplished by a young Vandebilt team with one senior and 11 freshmen on the 22man roster.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of experience there but a very talented group of boys. The question was how well we could grow and mature as a team,” Shenton said.

“The challenge was how would they come together and how would they figure out what we needed to be a successful team, not just a good team. We played some of the best teams around. I was a new coach there, we had new players, so it was a new team. It was a case of figuring it out and making sure that by the time playoffs rolled around everyone knew what their roles and responsibilities were. I think a lot of people saw our record

with seven losses in pre-district and kind of wrote us off. For me, it was always a case of how well do we end the season, not how we played in the start or middle of the season.”

Vandebilt entered the playoffs ranked No. 5 in Division II. According to Shenton, despite their ranking, the Terriers didn’t quite have that X-factor yet that makes a team successful. While Shenton can’t point out the exact moment that occurred, he credits the halftime scenario in their opening playoff match against No. 28 North DeSoto as having an impact on his team and could have been the turning point.

“We were only beating them 1-0 at halftime. I don’t know if it was a nervous performance or just a bit sloppy and lackadaisical, but at halftime I said ‘Boys, all that hard work can be undone if you don’t go all out. You’ve got five more games.’ We then scored seven goals in the second half,” recalled Shenton. “After that they didn’t look back. Then you knew that we could go all the way. Even in tough games against Beau Chene and Ben Franklin, I was absolutely 100 percent confident that we were going to be state champions because it clicked and that spark was there.

All that hard work that they had put in finally fell into place.

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They looked unbeatable.”

With the championship victory coming against Ben Franklin, the Terriers avenged both a 4-1 home loss to the Falcons earlier in the season and the heartbreaking 3-2 overtime defeat in last season’s title game.

“As soon as the regular season was over, we printed out the playoff bracket. We looked at it in the locker room and right away they knew if they made the finals there was a good chance it would be against Ben Franklin,” said Shenton. “I think that was definitely some motivation. It wasn’t a case though where we would take any team in our bracket lightly. There was a consideration that if we do this, we could make last year right.”

While Shenton credits the entire team for the successful season, the leadership of his two captains, first team all-district senior defender Mason Arnette and district defensive MVP sophomore goalkeeper Charlie Doskey, had a huge impact on the team’s success.

“Mason actually didn’t start

out as a captain. He matured an enormous amount over the course of the season,” said Shenton. “I told him if you’re going to be a leader, you have to lead by example.

And he did. He earned it and was rewarded with being captain.

Mason would be the one to get the team together and say the last few words to them after each game. He grew as a player and had a very successful season both on and off the field.”

Doskey was named MVP of the championship game after making several key saves throughout the contest, including the title clinching save during penalty kicks.

“Charlie is a fantastic human being and person to be around,” said Shenton. “I always had faith in Charlie as a player. He never allowed anything people said to faze him or affect what he did as a goalkeeper. He continued to improve and gain confidence. That was probably my favorite moment of winning the state championship.

The fact that he went from people not believing he should have been

the starting goalkeeper to making the game-winning save for the championship. He got the final laugh.”

Throughout the hard-fought championship match, Shenton never doubted his team would come out on top.

“The character they showed and the absolute will to win was just phenomenal,” Shenton said. “We came out after halftime and were the better team for the rest of the game. It was tough because we scored two goals and both were disallowed. The guys continued to keep working. At no point did they feel like they were going to lose. Our boys just kept their eye on the prize. They decided it was their year and they weren’t going to let anyone change that for them.

It was a pleasure to be a part of it because it’s not often you see a team realize its potential. They definitely did that this year.”

(Wil Touchet is a graduate of Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma. He has been a Bayou Catholic contributor since 2009.)

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Sports

Overtime

‘I 56

Ed Daniels

“It stinks losing. I hate it.”

Those words were uttered by Saints head coach Sean Payton on Monday, Dec. 29, 2014.

In the three months since, the Saints traded Pro Bowl tight end Jimmy Graham.

They cut veteran linebacker Curtis Lofton, who was fourth in the NFL in total tackles in 2014.

The Saints traded speedy wide receiver Kenny Stills to Miami.

As part of the deal, the Saints netted a third round draft choice.

They dismissed long time scouting director Rick Reiprish; and, hired former Dolphins general manager Jeff Ireland as his replacement.

And, the club terminated eight year veteran running back Pierre Thomas, one of the last remaining members of the 2009 Super Bowl champions.

As interesting as the Saints roster shake up is, it may not be more interesting than what is to follow.

And, that is the most intriguing Saints draft in years.

Not since 2011 have the Saints made two selections in the first round. Both of those choices, defensive end Cam Jordan and running back Mark Ingram have played in at least one Pro Bowl.

What will they do?

One take is that the Saints have accumulated draft picks to shore up the league’s 31st ranked defense. Besides picks number 13 and 31 in the first round, the Saints also own a second round selection, and a pair of third round picks.

Defense is certainly an option.

General Manager Mickey Loomis told Sirius XM NFL radio that with “some of the resources, hopefully we can improve our de-

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • April 2015

What will April 30 bring for Saints? fense.”

But, shortly thereafter Loomis added this nugget.

“We are not opposed to taking a player that helps our offense.”

The Saints could easily do what Atlanta did four years ago.

The Falcons traded from the 27th spot to the sixth to nab Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones.

Atlanta traded five picks to Cleveland, including two firstrounders and a second-rounder to move up 21 spots.

The Saints don’t have to go that far to go up.

Trading up eight spots would get the Saints in the top five. There, they could have an opportunity to select West Virginia wide receiver Kevin White or Alabama wide receiver Amari Cooper.

Both are outstanding talents, but it appears with a different approach.

The verbose White was asked by NFL network about how he per-

formed in his recent pro day?

“I did great,” said White. “I have a lot of confidence in my abilities. I can do it all.”

Meantime, Cooper may not be a good fit for New Orleans.

At a press conference before the Sugar Bowl game against Ohio State, Cooper was asked for his take on New Orleans.

“No disrespect to New Orleans,” said Cooper. “But, I really don’t like the place.”

Cooper added that the city smelled bad, and there was too much going on.

As Thursday night, April 30 approaches, several mock drafts have the Saints re-stocking the defense.

And, the Saints running the ball a lot more.

But, don’t buy it.

Sean Payton is an offensive coach. And, he’s coaching a future Hall of Fame quarterback.

Drew Brees’ best weapon was traded. Time to get another.

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