Bayou Catholic | January 2015 Issue by Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

Bayou

Catholic

Catholic Schools Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service HOUMA, LA ~ JANUARY 2015 ~ COMPLIMENTARY

Fixed 136,400 Broken Hearts

That’s a lot of fresh starts. In 1986, we performed the first open-heart surgery in Southeast Louisiana, thereby filling a critical need for patients in this region. And all along, our dedication to your wellbeing has never wavered. We’ve been here to share in the worry of uncertain moments, along with the elation of recovery. It’s a true calling for all the doctors, nurses, and staff that are proud to call this community home. Visit TGMC.com.

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HONORI NG OUR PAST SHAPI NG THE FUT URE

7/29/14 9:55 AM www.bayoucatholic.com

Contents

FEATURES

36 Year of Consecrated Life Special Mass Feb. 2

46 Youth Rally March 28 at NSU

COLUMNS

Comfort For My People

By Bishop Shelton J. Fabre

12 Pope Speaks By Pope Francis I

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13 Question Corner By Father Kenneth Doyle

14 Readings Between The Lines By Father Glenn LeCompte

30 Seeing Clairely By Claire Joller

59 Overtime By Ed Daniels

IN EVERY ISSUE

Editor’s Corner

16 Scripture Readings 18 Diocesan Events 22 Heavenly Recipes 32 Our Churches GUEST COLUMNS

24 Seven deadly sins By Father Michael Bergeron

65 Fostering a community of learners By Suzanne Delaune Troxclair

ANNOUNCEMENTS

42 Food for the Journey Rev. Ronilo Villamor Speaks

43 Parish Social Ministries

28 Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Associate director named

45 Woman of God and Man of God Conference Feb. 27-28

On Our Covers Bayou Catholic Vol. 35, No. 7 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

Catholic Schools Week is Jan. 25-31. All of the Catholic schools of the Diocese of HoumaThibodaux are represented in our special section. Students from St. Genevieve Catholic Elementary School are all smiles on the cover of the Bayou Catholic magazine. Catholic schools superintendent Marian Fertitta says, “In the tradition of Catholic education, schools of the diocese have always set high academic expectations infused with the teachings of the church.” On our Catholic Schools Week cover Brother Patrick McGinity, S.C., civics and civics honors teacher at E.D. White Catholic High School in Thibodaux, and Tessa LaFleur discuss classes during a break at school. Cover Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

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.

Louis G. Aguirre

Index to Advertisers Advanced Eye Institute .................................... 47 Bella Cosa Fine Gifts ....................................... 37 Bishop’s Stewardship Appeal .......................... 84 Cannata’s .......................................................... 2 Cardinal Place ................................................. 55 Catholic School Sponsors ............................... 83 Catholic Schools of the Diocese ...................... 63 Central Catholic High School ........................... 71 Channel 10 ...................................................... 23 Collection for the Church in Latin America ....... 11 Conference Office ........................................... 52 Diocesan Outreach Line .................................. 53 Diocesan Website ........................................... 27 E.D. White Catholic High School ................66-67 Haydel Memorial Hospice ............................... 50 Haydel Spine Pain & Wellness ......................... 31 Headache & Pain Center ................................. 35 Holy Cross Elementary School ........................ 74 Holy Rosary Catholic School ........................... 73 Holy Savior Catholic School ............................ 72 Houma Digestive Health Specialists ................ 49 Houma Travel .................................................. 25

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.

HTeNews ......................................................... 41 Knights of Columbus-Daniel A. Cabric ............ 19 LeBlanc & Associates, LLC ............................. 58 Maison Jardin ................................................. 58 Maria Immacolata Catholic School .................. 75 Re-Bath ........................................................... 34 Rod’s Superstore ............................................ 43 Seminarian Education Burses .......................... 60 Spotlight .......................................................... 48 St. Bernadette Catholic School ........................ 76 St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School ............. 77 St. Genevieve Catholic School ......................... 78 St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic School ............ 79 St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School ........... 80 St. Joseph Manor ............................................ 29 St. Mary’s Nativity School ............................... 81 Synergy Bank .................................................. 15 Terminix .......................................................... 45 Terrebonne General Medical Center ................... 3 Vandebilt Catholic High School ...................68-69 Youth Ministry ................................................. 39

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

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

Welcome

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

78 percent Pope Francis continues to take “the world by storm.” That is the headline of an article by Carol Zimmermann of Catholic News Service. She attributes the quote to Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, who just completed his first year as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The archbishop says 2014 brought worldwide attention to almost everything Pope Francis said and did – which “in so many ways” made the U.S. bishops’ work easier. And the bishops were not the only ones to recognize the pope’s appeal. A Pew Research Center study released Dec. 11 showed that the pope has broad support across much of the world. Americans, in particular, have shown their fondness for the pope, often

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

extolling his simplistic style. According to the Pew study, 78 percent of Americans view the pope favorably. That is huge. Compare that with the approval ratings of our presidents in the past few decades. The pontiff, who was on the cover of many magazines in 2013, still had the coveted cover spot – not usually reserved for religious leaders – on Rolling Stone magazine last February. Some observers have said the pope’s impact shouldn’t be measured in returning Catholics, but in the restored image of the Catholic Church and the number of Catholics who feel proud of their faith again thanks to Francis. Plans call for the pope to attend the Festival of Families Sept. 26 – a cultural celebration expected to draw up to 800,000 participants – and to celebrate Sunday Mass the afternoon of Sept. 27 on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art for an expected crowd of about one million people, which organizers say could actually reach two million. Beyond the Catholic Church, Francis seems to be a uniting force for the world. His messages of peace, love for all and the upholding of human dignity seem to resonate with people of any religion. Let us thank the Holy Spirit for sending us Pope Francis. Let us also continue to pray for our Holy Father, that his example serves to revitalize us, for the good of all humanity.

Bayou Spirit

SHAWLS OF LOVE For the past two years roughly 30 women from the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales have been making prayer shawls for the sick. Parishioners give monetary donations to buy the yarn used to make the shawls and for the St. Francis medal that is attached. Those who make the shawls pray for the sick while making them. Very Rev. Joshua Rodrigue, pastor, blesses the shawls during Mass on the first weekend of each month.

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier www.bayoucatholic.com

Comment Comfort For My People Bishop Shelton J. Fabre

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I hope that this issue of the Bayou Catholic magazine finds you continuing to rejoice in the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ at Bethlehem. The beginning weeks of the month of January find us still in the Christmas season, and we continue to rejoice with the choirs of angels that our God has come to us, that Emmanuel is with us. There are many joyous celebrations that are a part of the Christmas season that fall during early January. The Feast of Mary, Mother of God, is marked on Jan. 1. Let us pray that through the intercession of Mary, Mother of God, the Lord will abundantly bless us all as we enter into 2015, this New Year of God’s grace. The celebration of the Epiphany declares God’s great love for all people, and this love is made manifest in the arrival of the Magi to worship the child born at Bethlehem. The Christmas season in the church concludes with the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. The celebration of the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord can provide us an opportune time to reflect upon the dignity of our own Christian baptism. One of the focal points of the Second Vatican Council was a fuller appreciation for the dignity of and responsibilities that flow from the sacrament of baptism. In the sacrament of baptism, we are each: called by name by a God who loves us; born of water and the Holy Spirit; initiated into

the life of the church; washed clean of original sin; and offered the opportunity through Jesus Christ to rise above our sinfulness into the life of grace. Rising from the waters of baptism as a Catholic Christian, in living faithfully the challenge and call of our baptism we will need the support and help of not only our immediate family, but also of our family that is the church, the community of the faithful who gather weekly in the name of Jesus Christ. It is therefore appropriate that the sacrament of baptism be

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

celebrated in the presence of the community of the faithful, such as during a celebration of Mass, or in a communal celebration of baptism where more than one child or candidate is baptized. However, it is equally true that baptism may also take place in a smaller ceremony where family and friends gather with the priest or deacon for the baptism of one person. Most of us mark our birthday each year with great celebration and in special ways. (This is true at least

while all people are young. There are those who have by God’s grace amassed what they understand to be a large number of birthdays, and tend to prefer at some point in later life to allow them to slip quietly by!) As we come again this year to this Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, I wonder how many of us: a.) know the date on which we were baptized; and b.) keep this day with the same celebration that we keep our birthday? Also, I wonder how many parents and godparents inform their children and godchildren of the special significance of the annual occurrence of the anniversary of their baptism, and in some special way mark this day? It is quite understandable that we get caught up in the celebrations of birthdays, but the day of our baptism is a birth unto a new life in the Holy Spirit of God, and this also deserves celebration and recollection. During this month of January as we again reflect on the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry and celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, if you don’t know your baptismal date, pull out your own baptismal certificate and find out the date of your own baptism. Mark the dates of your baptismal anniversary and the baptismal anniversary of your spouse and children on your family calendar and celebrate these days with great joy as well. As we go forth into this New Year, let us never forget that we go forth as those forgiven, called and chosen by God in the sacrament of baptism. I hope that we will all seek to live each day of this New Year as those who are born of water and the Holy Spirit. Please pray during this month for the youth and adults of our diocese who will make the pilgrimage to the March for Life in Washington D.C., and for an end to the evil of abortion in our country and world. Please know that I also pray that all the blessings of this New Year be yours in great abundance!

Forgiven, called and chosen by God in the sacrament of baptism

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Comentario

Perdonado, llamado y elegido por Dios en el sacramento del bautismo

En esta publicación de la revista Bayou Catholic mi deseo es que se encuentren regocijando el nacimiento del Señor Jesucristo en Belén. Durante las semanas iniciales del mes de enero todavía nos encontramos celebrando la navidad y continuamos nuestro regocijo junto a los coros de ángeles porque nuestro Dios ha venido a estar con nosotros, que Emanuel está con nosotros. Hay varias celebraciones festivas que componen la temporada de navidad y que caen durante los primeros días de enero. La Festividad de María, Madre de Dios, se celebra el primero de enero. Roguemos para que por medio de la intercesión de María, Madre de Dios, el Señor nos colme de bendiciones en este año nuevo 2015, el Año Nuevo de la Gracia de Dios. La celebración de la Epifanía declara el gran amor de Dios por su pueblo y este amor se manifiesta con la venida de los Reyes Magos para adorar al niño que nació en Belén. La temporada de navidad en la Iglesia acaba con la celebración del Bautismo del Señor. La celebración de la Festividad del Bautismo del Señor nos puede proveer el momento oportuno para reflexionar sobre la dignidad de nuestro propio bautismo cristiano. Uno de los temas centrales del Concilio Vaticano II fue apreciar la dignidad y las responsabilidades que fluyen del sacramento del bautismo. En el sacramento del bautismo, cada uno de nosotros somos: «llamados por nuestros propio nombre por un Dios que nos ama; nacidos de agua y el Espíritu Santo; iniciados en la vida de la Iglesia; lavados y limpiados del pecado original y otorgados la oportunidad por medio de Jesucristo de vencer nuestros pecados para llegar a la vida de gracia.» Surgiendo católico cristiano de las aguas bautismales y viviendo fielmente

el desafío y el llamado de nuestro bautismo, necesitaremos el apoyo y la asistencia de nuestra familia inmediata, de nuestra familia que es la Iglesia, de la comunidad de fieles que se congregan cada semana en el nombre de Jesucristo. Es por eso apropiado que el sacramento del bautismo se celebre en la presencia de la comunidad de fieles, como por ejemplo durante la celebración de la Misa o durante una celebración comunal de bautismo en el que más de un niño o candidato es bautizado. Sin embargo, es igualmente verdadero que el bautismo puede celebrarse

día de alguna manera especial? Es razonable que nos concentremos en las celebraciones de cumpleaños, pero el día de nuestro bautismo es el nacimiento de una vida nueva en el Espíritu Santo de Dios que también merece celebrarse y conmemorarse. En el mes de enero también reflexionamos sobre el comienzo del ministerio de Jesús y celebramos la Festividad del Bautismo del Señor. Si usted no sabe cuál es la fecha de su bautismo, entonces obtenga su propio certificado de bautismo y descubra la fecha de su propio bautismo. Anote en su calendario las fechas

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

en una ceremonia más pequeña donde la familia y las amistades se reúnen con el sacerdote o diácono para el bautismo de una persona. La mayoría de nosotros celebramos nuestro día de cumpleaños cada año con una gran fiesta y de otras maneras especiales (Esto es cierto por lo menos con los jóvenes. ¡Hay quienes que con la gracia de Dios han tenido muchos cumpleaños y prefieren en una etapa de sus vidas dejar que estos días de cumpleaños transcurran silenciosamente!) Ahora que estamos acercándonos este año a esta Festividad de Bautismo del Señor, me pregunto ¿cuántos de nosotros: a) saben la fecha que fuimos bautizados?; y b) ¿celebran este día con la misma intensidad que celebramos nuestro cumpleaños? También, me pregunto ¿cuántos padres de familia y padrinos les explican a sus hijos y ahijados el significado especial de este día anual del aniversario del bautismo? y, ¿celebran este

de su aniversario bautismal y los aniversarios bautismales de su esposo(a) e hijos y celebre estos días con mucha alegría. En nuestro camino hacia el Año Nuevo, nunca olvidemos que caminamos como los que han sido perdonados, llamados y elegidos por Dios en el sacramento del bautismo. Espero que nos esforcemos por vivir cada día de este Año Nuevo cómo los que han nacido del agua y el Espíritu Santo. Les pido que hagan sus oraciones este mes por la juventud y los adultos de nuestra diócesis que harán el peregrinaje en la Marcha por la Vida en Washington D.C. y para darle fin al mal del aborto en nuestro país y el mundo. Sepan también que ¡ruego para que todas las bendiciones de este Año Nuevo sean derramadas sobre ustedes en abundancia! Traducido por Julio Contreras, feligrés de la iglesia católica Annunziata en Houma www.bayoucatholic.com

Binh luan bang loi

Qua Bí Tích Thánh Tẩy Chúng Ta Được Thiên Chúa Tha Thứ, Kêu Gọi Và Lựa Chọn

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Tôi hy vọng rằng tờ báo Công Giáo Đầm Lầy tháng này vẫn tìm thấy trong anh chị em sự hân hoan mà ngày lễ Sinh Nhật của Chúa Giêsu Kitô tại Belem còn đọng lại. Những tuần đầu của tháng một vẫn còn trong mùa Giáng Sinh, và chúng ta tiếp tục vui mừng với ca đoàn thiên thần rằng Chúa đã đến với chúng ta, và Ngài ở với chúng ta luôn mãi. Có rất nhiều lễ nghi vui tươi thuộc về mùa Giáng Sinh xảy ra vào đầu tháng một. Ngày Lễ Đức Maria, Mẹ Thiên Chúa, được cử hành vào ngày mồng một. Chúng ta cùng nguyện rằng qua lời chuyển cầu của Đức Maria, Mẹ Thiên Chúa, Ngài luôn tuôn đổ hồng ân trên chúng ta khi chúng ta bước vào năm 2015, năm mới trong ân sủng Ngài. Ngày Lễ Chúa Hiển Linh đánh dấu ngày mà Thiên Chúa đã tỏ bày tình yêu Ngài cho mọi người, và tình yêu này được thể hiện qua ba nhà đạo sĩ khi họ đến thăm viếng và thờ lạy Hài Nhi tại Belem. Mùa Giáng Sinh trong Giáo Hội kết thúc bằng ngày Lễ Chúa chịu phép rửa. Cử hành ngày Lễ Chúa chịu phép rửa cho chúng ta cơ hội suy tư về căn tính Bí Tích Thánh Tẩy của chúng ta. Một trong những tựu điểm của Công Đồng Vatican II là hoàn toàn cảm nghiệm được căn tính của bí tích Thanh Tẩy và trách nhiệm phát nguồn từ đó. Trong Bí Tích Thánh Tẩy, mỗi người được Thiên Chúa Tình Yêu gọi bằng tên riêng; được tái sinh bởi nước và Thánh Thần; được tha thứ tội nguyên tổ; và được ban cho cơ hội qua Chúa Giêsu Kitô để lướt thắng tội lỗi bước vào đời sống ân sủng. Được sống lại từ nước của Bí Tích Thánh Tẩy và có thể sống trunh thành với thử thách và những mời gọi mà Bí Tích đã đề ra, người Công Giáo chúng ta không chỉ cần sự nâng đỡ và giúp đỡ từ gia đình mình, mà còn cả gia đình Giáo Hội, cộng đồng đức tin mà họ tụ họp mỗi tuần nhân danh Chúa Giêsu Kitô. Bởi vậy nó rất hợp lý rằng Bí Tích Thanh Tẩy cần được cử hành trong sự hiện diện của cộng đồng như trong Thánh Lễ, hay nghi thức Thanh Tẩy mà trên

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

một em hay một người được rửa tội. Tuy nhiên, đều có giá trí như nhau nếu Bí Tích Thanh Tẩy được cử hành trong phạm vi nho nhỏ mà chỉ có sự hiện diện của gia đình và bạn bè do một linh hay thầy sáu chủ sự cho một ứng viên. Rất nhiều người đánh dấu ngày sinh nhật của mình mỗi năm bằng tổ chức lễ sinh nhật và nhiều cách đặc biệt khác. (Ít nhất điều này đúng trong khi họ còn đang tuổi thanh xuân. Còn những người khác do ân sủng của Chúa và những lần tổ chức sinh nhật mà họ đã cảm nhận được rồi, và thường có khuynh hướng đến một thời điểm nào đó sau này lại để cho ngày sinh nhật của mình lặng lẽ trôi qua!) Một lần nữa khi cử hành Lễ Chúa chịu phép rửa, tôi tự hỏi không biết bao nhiêu người: a.) còn nhớ ngày rửa tội của mình; và b) có coi trọng ngày này như ngày sinh nhật của mình không? Tôi cũng tự hỏi có bao nhiêu cha mẹ và người đỡ đầu cho đứa trẻ biết cái giá trị đặc biệt xảy ra hàng năm vào ngày rửa tội của chúng, và có cách nào đặc biệt đánh dấu ngày đó? Cũng có thể thông cảm được rằng chúng ta bị chi phối lo tổ chức ngày sinh nhật, tuy nhiên, ngày rửa tội chính là ngày chúng ta được tái sinh trong sự sống của Chúa Thánh Thần, và vì thế nó

cũng được chúc mừng và suy tư. Trong tháng 1 này một lần nữa khi suy tư về ngày mà Chúa hành trình công khai rao giảng và cử hành Lễ Chúa chịu phép rửa, nếu anh chị em không biết ngày rửa tội của mình thì mang tờ giấy chứng nhận rửa tội ra xem. Ghi chú ngày rửa tội của mình và bạn đời của mình và con của mình nữa trên cuốn lịch gia đình và kỷ niệm những ngày lễ đó trong hân hoan. Bước vào thềm năm mới, anh chị em đừng quên rằng những bước đi của chúng ta là thuộc về những người đã được Thiên Chúa thứ tha, kêu gọi và lựa chọn trong Bí Tích Thánh Tẩy. Tôi hy vọng rằng chúng ta sẽ cùng tìm cách sống mỗi ngày trong năm mới này như là những người được tái sinh trong nước và Thánh Thần. Trong tháng này xin anh chị em cầu nguyện cho các bạn trẻ cùng những người lớn trong giáo phận, họ là những người sẽ hành hương đến Thủ Đô Washington, với mục đích biểu tình chống lại sự dữ của phá thai tại quốc gia mà chúng ta đang sống cũng như toàn thế giới. Xin anh chị em hiểu cho là tôi cũng cầu nguyện để tất cả anh chị em được tràn đầy ân sủng trong năm mới. Dòch thuaät: Linh Muïc Pheâroâ Leâ Taøi, Chaùnh sôû nhaø thôø Our Lady of the Isle.

The collection will be held January 24 and 25, 2015 Thank you for your generosity

www.bayoucatholic.com

Comment The Pope Speaks

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Never condemn others, but if temptation strikes, then condemn yourself because there is bound to be something deserving judgment, Pope Francis said. May “our hearts be simple, bright with the truth that (the Lord) gives us and that way we can be loving, forgiving, understanding toward others, with a heart wide open to others and merciful,” the pope said Dec. 15 at his morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae where he lives. “Never condemn. If you feel like condemning, condemn yourself, there’s got to be something there, huh?” he said, according to Vatican Radio. In his homily, the pope talked about hypocrites rigidly adhering to rules while letting their weak hearts be swayed by shifting and selfish interests. Looking at the day’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew (21:2327), the pope said the chief priests and elders who questioned Jesus’ authority were hypocrites. Their outer appearance made them seem “strong,” he said, but on the inside, their “hearts are very weak, they didn’t know what to believe in and that is why their life was so regulated on the outside,” he said. They focused only on slavishly following rules and rituals, and criticized those who did not. “They weren’t interested in the

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Pope Francis uses incense to venerate an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe during her feast day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Dec. 12.

truth,” he said, they vacillated here and there, seeking only their best interests, letting “the wind” decide which way to go, like “weather vanes.” Jesus is the exact opposite: He teaches us that the Christian must have a strong heart, a firm heart, a heart rooted on the rock, who is Christ.” With Christ as the guide, one can move forward, but with prudence, deciding how to act according to each situation, but without compromising the heart, the pope said; “you don’t negotiate the rock.

The rock is Christ, you do not bargain.” Jesus never compromised his heart as son of the Father, “but he was so open to the people, looking for ways to help,” while the elders complained “’our doctrine says that cannot be done.’” They insisted “the discipline is untouchable, it is sacred.” Pope Francis compared their attitude to the situation when he was a boy and it was forbidden for anyone to have anything to eat or drink before receiving Communion. “You couldn’t even have a drop of water. Not at all. And you had to make sure you didn’t swallow any water when brushing your teeth. I myself as a boy went to confess that I had received Communion even though I thought a drop of water had gone down” that morning. “Pope Pius XII freed us from that heavy cross of eucharistic fasting,” he said. But when the pope changed the rules, there were people who exclaimed, “’Ah heresy! No! He touched the discipline of the church.’ Many Pharisees were scandalized. Many.” But Pope Pius had done only what Jesus would have, he said. He said Pope Pius saw the people suffering, especially when it was hot, and the priests had to say as many as three Masses all in a row well past noon while fasting. Pope Francis said that sometimes when he sees a Christian who has a weak heart that is not built on Christ, but they are “so rigid on the outside, I have asked the Lord, ‘Lord, throw a banana peel down in front of them so that they’ll take a nice fall. By feeling the shame of being a sinner they will encounter you, you who are the savior.’” He said it is only by recognizing ourselves as sinners and feeling that shame of sin that people open their eyes to God, “who forgives us, like the sick who went to the Lord to be healed.”

Hypocrites stick to rules, harsh judgement, ignore God’s mercy Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Question Corner Father Kenneth Doyle

Christ, king of the universe?

Q. In the past, we celebrated every fall the feast of Christ the King. But I notice that now this feast is called “Christ, King of the Universe,” and that prompts my question. The Nicene Creed says, “I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” It seems to me that this makes God the Father the King of the universe, not Jesus Christ. We know very little of what’s out there beyond ourselves in the entire universe. Are there other solar systems with living beings created by God? Did those planets and cultures need to be saved also, as Christ did for the earth’s inhabitants? What is the basis for expanding the title of this feast? (Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin)

A. You are correct as to the current title of the feast. In 1925, as a response to growing nationalism and secularism, Pope Pius XI instituted the feast of Christ the King. He wanted to highlight the fact that the kingdom of Jesus was one not of pomp and power but of love and service. It was then celebrated on the last Sunday of October. In 1969 Pope Paul VI gave the feast a new title and a new date. It is now called formally the solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe and is marked on the last Sunday of

the liturgical year, one week before the first Sunday of Advent. If you read further down in the Nicene Creed, it is said of Jesus that “through him all things were made,” which I would take as a warrant for calling Christ the king of the universe itself, not just the sovereign of our small planet. But your question raises an interesting topic: the possibility of intelligent life in other parts of the universe. On this matter, the church has no fixed position, and the current name for the feast makes no declaration. The matter of extraterrestrial life is a scientific question, not a theological one. Nothing in the Scriptures confirms or contradicts the possibility. The part that fascinates me is whether such beings would be fallen or unfallen? Would they need redemption? Would the Son of God have visited them as he came to live with us? We don’t know. What we know is that Jesus showed us how to live and offers to us a path to heaven.

Clapping at Mass

Q. I have noticed that when the choir does a piece of music differently or performs a song especially well, someone inevitably starts to applaud and the rest of the congregation follows suit. I think that this detracts from the mood that the music has just created and interferes with the solemnity of the Mass. Is it just me, or should applause be reserved for musical performances outside of Mass? (Lilburn, Georgia)

A. The church has no specific “rules” for or against applause at Mass, so we are left to reason for ourselves according to what comports with the purpose and spirit of the liturgy. Fundamentally, I agree with your observation. Music during Mass, whether sung by the choir or by the congregation, is not a

performance. It is meant to glorify God and sanctify the faithful. It is a form of prayer and should draw those present into deeper contact with the Lord. All of which inclines me in the direction of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later to become Pope Benedict XVI), who in the year 2000 wrote in “The Spirit of the Liturgy” that “whenever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of some human achievement, it is a sure sign that the essence of the liturgy has totally disappeared and been replaced by a kind of religious entertainment.” There are moments in certain liturgical celebrations when applause is welcomed, although not explicitly called for. For example, in the ordination of a priest, there is a point at which the congregation is invited to give its approval to the candidate “according to local custom,” which in the United States usually results in applause. Apart from such instances, it seems inappropriate during Mass to break the flow of the liturgy and spirit of prayer by clapping. Having said that, we are properly 13 grateful to musicians and singers for adding beauty and reverence to the celebration of the Mass. Perhaps that gratitude could best be expressed once the closing hymn is completed -- either by applause or by taking the time to compliment members of the choir personally. 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

In midst of cosmic struggle

What’s My Line was a popular U.S. television game show which ran from 1950-1975. Four panelists had to question an unknown guest on the program to determine his or her “line” or occupation. On one segment of the program a mystery guest, a well-known person, was the contestant. The panelists were blindfolded and questioned the mystery guest to venture a guess

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

at who he or she was. The first two parts of Mark’s story of Jesus (1:1-13, 1:14—8:26) leads the reader to an understanding of the identity of his main character, Jesus. The very first verse of the Gospel identifies the man Jesus, whom Mark’s intended readers may have known, but more likely they were introduced to him by word of mouth as the Messiah (= Christ) and Son of God. Apparently, however, Mark has to show his reader why he makes this assertion by narrating a story comprised of a series of brief episodes. Throughout these two sections Mark continues to have characters raise the question regarding Jesus’ true identity. In addition, Mark says that this is the beginning of the Gospel. The beginning will conclude with Jesus’ resurrection. Mark’s narrative, however, is part of a larger story which extends beyond the confines of the ministry of Jesus. The larger story looks toward Jesus’ return in splendor at the close of the age. Mark’s story is “gospel,” that is, good news that God’s end-time rule has, through Jesus, drawn near to offer all people salvation. Mark begins, not as Matthew and Luke do, with a narrative

of Jesus’ birth and youth, but with a quote attributed solely to the prophet Isaiah, but which is really a composite of Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 40:3 and Exodus 23:20. The purpose of this quote is to condition the reader to see that the following story will bring about a fulfillment of prophecy. The events in which both John the Baptist and Jesus will be involved are under God’s governance. As Mark introduces John the Baptist he describes his clothing, a significant detail for it associates him with the great prophet Elijah who, according to Malachi 4:5-6 (Revised Standard Version) would return in the time of fulfillment. Assuming the role of the great endtime prophet, John also serves as Jesus’ forerunner. John’s baptism of Jesus makes the way for the revelation of Jesus’ divine Sonship, which had been mentioned at the very beginning of Mark’s story. Mark then goes on to introduce the figure of Jesus, Mark’s main character. In Jesus’ baptism, the declaration that Jesus is God’s beloved Son is heard only by Jesus and not by other characters in the Gospel. This is the first indication that the discernment of Jesus’ identity will be a

major issue for the characters in Mark’s story. But there is more. In the baptism scene, Jesus’ mission is divinely inaugurated. The Spirit’s hovering over Jesus in a dove-like form depicts Jesus’ empowerment to become the agent of baptism with the Holy Spirit that John prophesied he would be in 1:8. Described as having a unique filial relationship with God, Jesus can be portrayed as God’s supreme agent of salvation. Jesus’ role as the Son who represents the Father is confirmed later in the parable of the Wicked Tenant Farmers (12:18). Behind any story is the author’s “point-of-view,” the author’s agenda comprised of the values he espouses. Jesus is presented to the reader by God, and since God is supreme ruler of the universe and all history, the reader is lead to recognize that what Jesus will say and do reflects not only Mark’s point-of-view, but, more importantly, God’s! Consequently, the extent to which any character’s understanding of Jesus’ identity

coincides with or diverges from God’s understanding will reflect the extent to which it is right or wrong, true or false. The same Spirit that descended upon Jesus at his baptism thrusts him out into the desert to be tested. The spatial setting is important. Whereas the Spirit descended upon Jesus from the heavens, in the desert Jesus encounters Satan. Jesus’ temptation (1:1213) indicates that Jesus will be in the middle of a cosmic struggle for power. Jesus’ resistance of

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temptation here foreshadows Jesus’ coming encounters with hostile forces over whom he will emerge victorious. As Christians we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and declared adopted children of God. Like Jesus, however, we often find ourselves in the midst of a cosmic struggle between the gradual emergence of God’s Kingdom and the resistance posed by the kingdom of evil. We need to draw constantly on the strength of the Spirit.

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on or d ng a “s i e wn b s e your o t do a n i h W m s n bapti ance of c to you? fi i n g i s the t is the idst of m n Wha e God h t ign of e self in r r g u o n life? i y find emerg do you een the w t e b n How e ? struggl of evil cosmic stance i s e r e and th 15

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Scripture Readings

and a listing of Feast days and saints

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

1 January 2

Saturday

Sunday

Christmas Weekday Solemnity of the 1 John 2:29-3:6 Epiphany of the John 1:29—34 Lord Isaiah 60:1-6 Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6 Matthew 2:1-12

Memorial of John Neumann, bishop 1 John 3:22—4:6 Matthew 4:12-17, 23-25

Christmas Weekday Christmas Weekday Christmas Weekday Christmas Weekday Christmas Weekday Feast of the Baptism 1 John 5:14-21 of the Lord 1 John 4:7-10 1 John 4:11-18 1 John 4:19—5:4 1 John 5:5-13 Luke 5:12-16 John 3:22-30 Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7 Mark 6:34-44 Mark 6:45-52 Luke 4:14-22a Acts 10:34-38 Mark 1:7-11

Weekday Hebrews 1:1-6 Mark 1:14-20

Weekday Hebrews 2:5-12 Mark 1:21-28

Weekday Hebrews 2:14-18 Mark 1:29-39

Weekday Hebrews 3:7-14 Mark 1:40-45

Weekday Hebrews 4:1-5, 11 Mark 2:1-12

Memorial of Anthony, abbot Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 2:13-17

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time 1 Samuel 3:3b-10, 19 1 Corinthians 6:13c-15a, 17-20 John 1:35-42

Weekday Hebrews 5:1-10 Mark 2:18-22

Weekday Hebrews 6:10-20 Mark 2:23-28

Memorial of Agnes, Weekday Weekday virgin and martyr Hebrews 7:25—8:6 Hebrews 8:6-13 Hebrews 7:1-3, Mark 3:7-12 Mark 3:13-19 15-17 Mark 3:1-6

Memorial of Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the church Hebrews 9:2-3, 11-14 Mark 3:20-21

Third Sunday in Ordinary time Jonah 3:1-5, 10 1 Corinthians 7:2931 Mark 1:14-20

1 February

Memorial of Timothy and Titus, bishops 2 Timothy 1:1-8 Mark 3:22-30

Weekday Hebrews 10:1-10 Mark 3:31-35

Weekday Memorial of Thomas Weekday Hebrews 10:19-25 Hebrews 10:32-39 Aquinas, Mark 4:26-34 priest and doctor of Mark 4:21-25 the church Hebrews 10:11-18 Mark 4:1-20

Memorial of John Bosco, priest Hebrews 11:1-2, 8-19 Mark 4:35-41

Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time Deuteronomy 18:15-20 1 Corinthians 7:3235 Mark 1:21-28

Weekday Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15 Mark 6:1-6

Memorial of Agatha, virgin and martyr Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24 Mark 6:7-13

Memorial of Paul Miki, martyr, and his companions, martyrs Hebrews 13:1-8 Mark 6:14-29

Weekday Feast of the Presentation of Hebrews 12:1-4 Mark 5:21-43 the Lord Malachi 3:1-4 Hebrews 2:14-18 Luke 2:22-40

January

Holy Fatherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s prayer intentions

Saints Sulpice

died c. 647 feast - January 17 Google, public domain

Also called Sulpicius and Pius, Sulpice was born to wealthy parents in France and began aiding the poor in his youth. When he became bishop of Bourges in Aquitaine in 624, he defended the rights of his people against the tyrannical Merovingian kings. Known for his austerity and holiness, Sulpice was beloved in Bourges for his generosity and was said to have converted everyone there to Christianity through his personal witness. He attended the Council of Clichy in 627, and resigned as bishop of Bourges late in life to serve the poor. The enormous Church of Saint-Sulpice, near the Luxembourg gardens in Paris, and a famous French seminary are named for this holy bishop.

Saints

Sebastian died c. 288 feast - January 20 Google, public domain

Universal Peace That those from diverse religious traditions and all people of good will may work together for peace.

According to the many legends surrounding Sebastian, he was born in Gaul and raised in Milan. Though a Christian, he joined the imperial army at Rome about 283. He made converts of officials and jailers, effected cures and urged Christian prisoners to stay strong in their faith. He was named captain of the praetorian guards, but the emperor, upon finding out that he was a Christian, ordered his execution. Shot with arrows and left for dead, Sebastian survived and was nursed back to life. Later, he denounced the emperor for his cruelty to Christians, and the emperor had him beaten to death. A favorite subject of Renaissance artists, Sebastian is the patron saint of archers, soldiers and athletes.

Saints

Angela Merici 1470 - 1540 feast - January 27 Google, public domain

Evangelization Consecrated life That in this year dedicated to consecrated life, religious men and women may rediscover the joy of following Christ and strive to serve the poor with zeal.

See www.apostleshipofprayer.net

By age 26, Angela had lost most of her wealthy Italian family to death. As a Franciscan tertiary, she performed good works and taught catechism to girls in her home in Desenzano del Garda. Two visions inspired her to found a congregation dedicated to the religious training of young women; she began this mission with a school in Brescia. Earlier she had endured an episode of blindness while on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and had rejected a papal request to run all charities in Rome. In 1535, she founded the Ursulines and served as superior until her death. This mystic, a patron of catechists, reportedly was fascinated from childhood by the legend of St. Ursula, an early virgin-martyr.

Saints

CNS www.bayoucatholic.com

january

february

n Food for the Journey, Tuesday, Feb. 3, Quality Hotel, Houma, 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Speaker, Father Ronilo Villamor. n Catholic Charities will offer Free Income Tax Preparation and E-Filing on the second floor of the Terrebonne Parish Main Library every Tuesday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. beginning Feb. 2 and ending April 14. n Church History, Wednesday, Feb. 4, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Father Danny Poche’. n Pastoral Council meeting for all pastoral council members of the church parishes in the Upper Lafourche deanery, Thursday, Feb. 5, St. Genevieve Family Center, Thibodaux. Meal served

march

n Food for the Journey, Tuesday, March 3, Quality Hotel, Houma, 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Speaker, Father Mitchel Semar. n Young Adult Gathering, consisting of Mass, adoration and a social, Friday, March 6, St. Lucy Church in Houma, 6:30 p.m. n Catholic Social Teaching, Wednesdays, March 11 and 25, diocesan Pastoral Center

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 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 Matrimony and Holy Orders, Thursday, Jan. 22, Diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Very Rev. Robert Rogers, V.F. n Martin Luther King Jr. Mass, Sunday, Jan. 25, St. Lucy Church, Houma, 8:15 a.m.; St. Luke Church, Thibodaux, 10:45 a.m. n Man of God Gathering, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 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 Pastoral Council meeting for all pastoral council members of the church parishes in the Terrebonne Deanery, Wednesday, Jan. 28, St. Ann Parish Center, Bourg. Meal served at 6 p.m.; meeting begins at 6:45 p.m. Topic: Understanding Stewardship. Speaker, Cory Howat, Archdiocese of New Orleans.

at 6 p.m.; meeting begins at 6:45 p.m. Topic: Understanding Stewardship. Speaker, Father Rodney Bourg, Archdiocese of New Orleans. n The Blessed Virgin Mary and the Church, Thursday, Feb. 5, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Father Jules Brunet. n Young Adult Gathering, consisting of Mass, Adoration and a social, Friday, Feb. 6, St. Lucy Church in Houma, 6:30 p.m. n Pastoral Council meeting for all pastoral council members of the church parishes in the South Lafourche deanery, Wednesday, Feb. 11, St. Hilary Multi-Purpose building, Mathews. Meal served at 6 p.m.; meeting begins at

6:45 p.m. Topic: Understanding Stewardship. Speaker, Cory Howat, Archdiocese of New Orleans. n Rite of Election, Sunday, Feb. 22, Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales, 3 p.m. n Adore, Wednesday, Feb. 25, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 7 p.m. n Woman of God/Man of God Conference, Friday, Feb. 27-28, Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. Doors open at 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 27. Pre-registration is $65 per person. Open to men and women over 18 years of age. Visit www.HTConferences.org for more information.

Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Rob Gorman. n Freedom, Law and the Beatitudes, Thursday, March 12, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Deacon Vic Bonnaffee. n Adore, Wednesday, March 18, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 7 p.m. n The Commandments 1-3,

Thursday, March 19, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Deacon Vic Bonnaffee. n The Commandments 4-10, Thursday, March 26, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Deacon Vic Bonnaffee.

DIOCESAN

n Church History, Wednesdays, Jan. 7, 14, 21 and 28, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Rev. Danny Poche’. n Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Thursday, Jan. 8, diocesan Pastoral Center Conference Hall, 6-8:15 p.m. Speaker, Very Rev. Robert Rogers, V.F. n Food for the Journey, Tuesday, Jan. 13, Quality Hotel, Houma, 10:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. Speaker, Very Rev. Vicente DeLa Cruz, J.V. n Woman of God Gathering,

www.bayoucatholic@htdiocese.org

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

EVENTS

Daniel A. Cabirac

Field Agent (985) 696-2119 Dan.Cabirac@KofC.org

Pastoral Letter on the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop Shelton J. Fabre

The baptized follow the path of Christian Initiation through the Sacrament of Confirmation, by which they receive the outpouring of the Holy Spirit who was sent by the Lord upon the Apostles on the Day of Pentecost. By this gift of the Holy Spirit the faithful are more perfectly conformed to Christ and are strengthened with courage to bear witness to Christ for the building up of his Body in faith and charity (Rite of Confirmation, Introduction, Nos. 1 & 2). The Sacrament of Confirmation strengthens the baptized and obliges them more firmly to be witnesses of Christ by word and deed and to spread and defend the faith. It imprints a character, enriches by the gift of the Holy Spirit the baptized continuing on the path of 20 Christian initiation, and binds them more perfectly to the Church (Code of Canon Law, Canon No. 879). My dear People of God in the Diocese of HoumaThibodaux: Greetings in the Lord! One of the concerns stated to me on many different occasions since my arrival here in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux was about the diocesan policy on the process of preparation for reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation. In the above texts from the Rite of Confirmation and the Code of Canon Law, the church expresses some essential beliefs regarding the Sacrament of Confirmation. Because of the sacramental character and grace that is bestowed in this sacrament, as well as the challenge to live what the sacrament calls the recipient to undertake, candidates should prepare for and approach the Sacrament of Confirmation with reverence and joy. After much prayer, reflection and consultation, I wish to now share my own thoughts about our diocesan policy regarding preparation for reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation, and also convey some revisions to our current diocesan policy. I hope that this effort to explain our policy and these revisions to the policy which begin with the 2015–2016 year will lead to greater understanding. In addition, I pray that it will enable our Confirmation candidates, their sponsors, their parents, and the wider community of the faithful to approach and to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with peace, reverence and joy. A. Necessity and Location of Preparation for Sacrament – The church makes it very clear that Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

those who seek to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation are to be properly instructed and prepared to receive the sacrament (CCC Canon 890). The preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation, as with all the sacraments, most appropriately takes place in a church parish setting, and not in a Catholic school setting. I want to clearly state that I am deeply grateful for our Catholic schools. Catholic schools are great gifts to us, and they are powerful tools of evangelization and faith formation. However, our Catholic schools are not themselves church parish communities. It is clearly the role of a church parish community to prepare and initiate its members into the sacraments of the church. In the same manner that we would not refer to one of our Catholic schools a family wishing to prepare for the Sacrament of Baptism for a child, or a couple wishing to be prepared for the Sacrament of Marriage, or our candidates for First Communion, we should also not refer our candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation to a Catholic school to be prepared for the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Sacraments are most properly rooted and celebrated in a church parish community, and church parish communities properly prepare their members to receive the sacraments. It is for this reason that preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation is not provided in our Catholic high schools, and candidates must be prepared for the sacrament in their home church parish. B. Age of Candidates for Confirmation - Within certain parameters it is the decision of the local bishop to decide the age of Confirmation in the diocese entrusted to his pastoral care. I know that there are many very valid reasons for celebrating Confirmation at an early age, and indeed there are some bishops in the United States who have made the decision to celebrate Confirmation at an early age. However, along with most bishops here in the State of Louisiana as well as others across the country, I am in agreement with our current diocesan policy that the most opportune time for reception of the Sacrament of Confirmation is as a junior in high school. I am very much aware that teenagers have much going on in their lives at this time. However, in all honesty, I think we can all agree that we are all always busy in life. The reason that I think it is more opportune to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation as a junior in high school is NOT because I want to overly burden the already full lives of our youth, but because I want to utilize the opportunity as a teachable moment. With due regard and respect for the sacramental grace that is conferred, I believe that the preparation for Confirmation that takes place amidst the busyness of the lives of our young people also practically reminds them that they will always have to make time for God in their lives. A full, lived relationship with God is not something that simply happens, but is something that requires an ongoing effort on our part. How wonderful it would be to believe that after Confirmation our young people will no longer have to make an effort to choose God or to create a space in their lives for worship and service to God. We are all aware that the contrary is true. We all know that in the busyness of our lives, consciously and actively creating a space and time for God is an ongoing challenge. Along with the grace of the sacrament conferred, receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation in their junior year also hopefully engenders in our young candidates an understanding, ability and respect for the fact that they will always have to actively create a space for God in their lives, and will always in an ongoing manner need to choose Jesus Christ over other enticements in life. C. Confirmation Preparation will Remain a Two Year Program – I believe that a two year program provides another opportunity in a church parish for all of the teenage youth of a church parish to come to know one another better. In coming to know one another better over the course of this two year preparation time, I hope that parish life will be enhanced as these young people continue to advance to the level of parish lay leadership. Their knowledge of one another as members of a parish faith community will enhance parish life as they serve the Lord and the parish in ministry as adults. D. Adjustments to the Two Year Program While the Confirmation program will remain a two

year process, there will be some adjustments to the program: 10th Grade Program n In the 10th grade program, the number of ‘class’ or session hours will be decreased from 30 hours to 20 hours, and will remain age appropriate sessions on the Theology of the Body; n A 10th grade retreat of 8–10 hours will continue to be a required part of the program. At the discretion of the pastor, the retreat may be overnight or during the day. 11th Grade Program: n In the 11th grade program, the number of session hours will be decreased from 30 hours to 20 hours. A retreat of 8–10 hours will continue to be a required part of the 11th grade program. At the discretion of the pastor, the retreat may be overnight or during the day. n The one day Bishop’s Retreats will no longer be a part of the 11th grade program. However, as bishop, I nonetheless welcome the opportunity to be invited and scheduled to be a part of some parish event in the parish process of Confirmation preparation. E. Request that Appropriate Accommodations Be Built into the Parish Program - I would encourage those in the parishes who will structure the parish Confirmation program according to the guidelines listed above to build into the program appropriate accommodations. While we certainly want to hold our youth who are in Confirmation prep accountable to the program as scheduled to manifest responsible 21 behavior and also because they must show a willingness to accept the challenge to always create a space for God in their lives, we are all also aware that there are circumstances in life that are beyond our control. I would hope that, as necessary, efforts will be made to work with our youth to appropriately accommodate these unforeseen and unexpected occurrences in their lives. While I know there is no perfect or universally acceptable program, I do believe that the adaptations to the program will serve to prudently address the concerns expressed to me while also respecting a good program. I hope that this explanation of the program of preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation and these adaptations will be received in an amicable way by all involved. We will continue to monitor this program, and in the future assess where we are and address any future changes if necessary. The Sacrament of Confirmation is a grace-filled and significant moment in the faith life of our youth. After the reception of Confirmation, there are many diocesan and parish opportunities and programs for youth, as well as for adults, to enrich their faith. With my great gratitude for your enduring faith and support, and with a promise of prayers for all of those involved in our Confirmation Programs, I remain, Sincerely in the Lord,

Most Reverend Shelton J. Fabre Bishop of Houma-Thibodaux www.bayoucatholic.com

Heavenly Recipes

n a e B n e Gre

Artichoke Casserole Green Bean Artichoke Casserole

2 (15.5 oz) cans French cut beans, drained 2 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts, drained 1 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs 4 oz grated Parmesan cheese 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese salt and pepper to taste 1/4 cup olive oil Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour the green beans, artichoke hearts, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese into a large bowl; season with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir to blend everything thoroughly. (I added the liquid from the artichokes for a bit more moisture.) Put in a 9X13 inch baking dish. Drizzle olive oil over top, then cover the dish with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, then remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes to brown the top slightly.

Story and Photo by Lawrence Chatagnier This month’s heavenly recipe, Green Bean Artichoke Casserole, comes from Sister Carmelita Centanni, M.S.C., Ph.D., victims assistance coordinator for the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. Sister Carmelita, a native of New Orleans who grew up in the Carrolton area, says the Marianite Sisters were a major influence on her becoming a religious sister. “I loved being with the sisters. They were very happy as well as being holy. There was a lot of emphasis on religion, spirituality and neighborhood. I grew up in a contained Italian neighborhood. There were mom and pop stores. Everything was contained within the Incarnate Word Church parish, even a restaurant,” she says. Sister Carmelita also attributes her vocation to her mother. “My mother always prayed the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Novena. Both my parents were supportive but mostly my mother.” She says she learned to cook from her mother who was a very good cook. “My mother was not Italian, but she learned to cook from my Italian grandparents who lived next door. I always say that she learned to cook what my dad liked. I love to cook. My favorite thing to cook is stuffed manicotti. It is a bit involved. I tend to cook more Italian dishes. I have an array of recipes. I like to go online and experiment with recipes. My signature dish is Chinese cabbage salad. I usually Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

bring that dish to covered dish meals.” Sister Carmelita was a teacher for 19 years before going into campus ministry on the Nicholls State University Campus in Thibodaux. Sister Carmelita then went to Biscayne College in Florida and set up a counseling center which specialized in personal and career counseling. After leaving Florida, she attended the California School of Professional Psychology at Berkeley/Alameda, CA, where she obtained her doctorate in clinical psychology. “I love education and continue to do that in different contexts with workshops covering a variety of subjects.” She feels that her people skills are her strong suit. “I believe in being present to people. My communication skills are pretty good. I have come to realize that I can’t do it all. I am realistic about my time and ability. I want to be faithful to the context in which I am currently involved.” After working in the Archdiocese of New Orleans for 12 years as a victims assistance coordinator, Sister Carmelita says she is very happy to be in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. “I am very happy here in HoumaThibodaux. I enjoy the people and the interaction. I always enjoyed counseling. It grew out of my teaching. I have always been open to transition. I’m not sure what I will transition to next. I will wait for what the Lord wants from me. For now it is good to be back in this diocese.”

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, ALLENâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TV CABLE of Morgan City

6:30 A.M. 9:00 A.M. 9:30 A.M.

6:30 9:00 9:30 8:30

SUNDAY

Proclaim the Good News/The Rosary Closer Walk Comfort For My People

MONDAY Proclaim the Good News/The Rosary Focus Spotlight

TUESDAY

Proclaim the Good News/The Rosary Live with Passion Proclaim the Good News/The Rosary

WEDNESDAY Proclaim the Good News/The Rosary

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Special

Seven deadly sins Guest Columnist

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Father Michael Bergeron

Any visit to St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict, LA, will include a visit to the chapel. Behind the sanctuary, on the ceiling, is depicted seven grim figures representing the “seven deadly sins.” Also known as the “capital vices” or “cardinal sins,” these sins are pride, envy, gluttony (avarice), lust, anger (wrath), greed and sloth (acedia) (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1866). In each one, the person idolizes themselves and allows their subjective interest to override the objective reality. In the 15th and 16th century, scholars paired up each sin with a particular demon who tempts the sinner. Those demons are painted on the ceiling of the seminary chapel. While the demons’ names differ on various lists, the sin of pride is always depicted by Lucifer. (The seminary actually added an eighth demon which represents murmuring or gossip.) In the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1440) it states that, “Sin is before all else an offense against God, a rupture in communication with him. At the same time it damages communion with the church (the people of God).” The concept of seven deadly sins draws its origins from the Greek work of a 4th century monk, Evagrius Ponticus (345-399 A.D.), who in 375, wrote a book which listed eight evil thoughts. He did not create the list from scratch, but refined it from other sources. This was translated into Latin

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Part One:

Pride

in the writings of John Cassian. In 590 A.D., Pope Gregory I, “Pope Gregory the Great,” revised the list to the more common “Seven Deadly Sins.” Seven has always been a significant number in religion. They are called “deadly” because they drive us away from God, who is the source of love and life. The seven deadly sins lead us to the path of hell, which is a state of eternal separation from God’s love and life. Anyone possessing some of the deadly sins was considered evil. Anyone who possesses all of them was doomed. These sins contrast the seven virtues of humility, kindness, temperance, chastity, patience, charity and diligence.

The number seven had significance to ancient writers. The world was created in seven days. Jews considered it to be the perfect number. The root word for the number seven in Hebrew means “to be full” or “to be complete,” meaning nothing can be added to it or taken away. There is also the belief that seven is the limit of the number of things a person can hold in their short-term memory at one time. The seven deadly sins have been the inspiration for writers and painters for centuries. Perhaps the most well-known is Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy and the most recent being a 1967 movie Bedazzled or the 2014 TV

series 7 Deadly Sins. In a 2009 study done by a Jesuit scholar, the most common deadly sin confessed by men is lust. The most common sin by women is pride. Pride Pride is the unwillingness to look at one’s faults honestly, or of greatly esteeming oneself based on an excessive consciousness of abilities or worth. In Proverbs 16:18, it reads, “Pride goes before disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Pride is considered the most original and the most serious of the seven deadly sins. It is the most original because it dates back to before creation when the beautiful angel Lucifer desired to compete with God, the result being his fall from heaven. Pride is an exaggerated opinion of one’s worth in comparison to God and to others, as well as a willful oblivion to one’s own flaws. It is the root of many other sins. There are positive aspects of pride. You can have pride in completing difficult work or doing something with excellence. It can be unifying in sports competition, patriotism or manufacturing an outstanding product. However, when we compare ourselves to God or to others, it becomes like William Henley wrote in Invictus, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” Pride can poison us to think, as Lucifer did, that we

can be better than God. When we realize that we are limited and our earthly lives are only temporary, we can have an eternal perspective and humbly adore the One who created us. C.S. Lewis claimed that pride is a competitive sin. We don’t take pride in just being intelligent, attractive, strong or wealthy, we take pride in being more intelligent, attractive, stronger and wealthier than someone else, or better yet,

‘

Pride goes before disaster, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

everyone else. Pride is basically self-love. In the end, we become our own god and that leads us to deny the Holy Spirit which dwells within us. And that, of course, is the unforgivable sin. When someone speaks or writes about pride, we immediately think of someone we know who needs to hear it or read it. We need to hear and read it. Pride is about us,

and we don’t need to be pointing fingers. Like all the deadly sins, our pride indicator is how much are we bothered by pride in others. We hate the things in other people that we hate in ourselves. In business, sports, and life in general, our pride indicator is competitiveness. While there is nothing wrong with playing to win, there must be joy in the playing itself. But if happiness depends on defeating others, we walk a slippery slope. We should experience joy when we win, but we should also delight in the success of others. They too, are the Body of Christ. Liking ourselves isn’t sinful. It’s necessary and healthy. But when our self-perception no longer conforms to reality and we begin to think we are more important than we really are, then we are being prideful. St. Augustine tells us that “Pride is the beginning of all sin, and the beginning of man’s revolt from God.” But he gives us the cure as well. He says, “As the devil had offered himself to man as a pattern of pride to be imitated, so 25 the Lord, who promises us eternal life, offered himself as a pattern of humility for our imitation.” To combat pride, we must develop humility and gratitude. “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6). On a regular basis, do a random act of kindness for another person and don’t tell anyone.

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Church Alive

Native Americans honored A Mass honoring Native Americans was celebrated recently at St. Charles Borromeo Church parish in Pointe-auxChenes. Bishop Shelton J. Fabre was the main celebrant of the Mass which was concelebrated by priests of the diocese.

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

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Church Life

Friar Antonio ordained

The Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma was filled with well-wishers for the priesthood ordination of Friar Antonio Maria Speedy. Bishop Shelton J. Fabre was the ordaining prelate.

Bayou Catholic â&#x20AC;˘ Houma, LA â&#x20AC;˘ January 2015

29 Priests and deacons from across the diocese were in attendance for the priesthood ordination of Friar Antonio Maria Speedy. In the photo below Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs, Friar Volantino Verde, Father Antonio and Bishop Shelton J. Fabre pose for a photo after the ordination.

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Entertainment

Seeing Clairely Claire Joller

S 30

So it’s January. Let’s review. Named for the pagan god Janus in Roman mythology, the month signifies Janus’ association with doorways and gates, beginnings and endings. Janus is often depicted with two faces pointed in opposite directions, past and future. So it was apt that Janus was chosen to be the namesake for a year just ending and another beginning, given the namers’ non-Christian references. The month did not always have that name. In the past, other names for it have been Wulfmonath (wolf month), which I’m glad fell by the wayside, the original Roman name lanuarious, and Wintarmonth, so designated by Early Medieval emperor Charlemagne. Regardless, January it is. And it’s astounding to me the number of “official” designations the month was chosen to observe. A few are National Hobby Month, Hot Tea Month, Oatmeal Month, Soup Month, Fiber Focus Month, Gourmet Coffee Month, Egg Month, Candy Month. Can we detect a theme here? You’re probably indoors instead of out in the cold, so food is beckoning from the kitchen. Brew breakfast gourmet coffee and eat eggs, toast and fortifying oatmeal; stir up a tasty soup for lunch, and have an afternoon cup of tea with a bit of candy chaser. (You’re on your own for Fiber Focus.) It’s cold (at least in most states). You can’t go outside if the snow drifts are too high or the weather too inclement. So indoor hobbyists can have a high old time inside. Get out those model airplanes and cars, fill out that stamp collection, work in your stained glass room or art studio,

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

January

Wolf month observances pull out the huge jigsaw puzzles, stitch on that quilt. Since so many of us choose the beginning of the calendar year to positively revamp our habits and ourselves, it’s apt that January is the go-to month for selfimprovement projects’ beginnings. National Be On-Purpose Month, Clean Up Your Computer Month, Family Fit Lifestyle Month, Image Improvement Month, and Reaching Your Potential Month are all observed after the turn of the year. Clean Up Your Computer Month resonates with me, but the others are a bit too broad-spectrum. I can clean up my computer, although I admit it will be a chore. But how do I even begin to “be on-purpose” or improve my image, or reach my potential in the space of a month? Does doing one or two crunches satisfy family fitness lifestyle goals? Probably not. Other designations are more altruistic in nature, and can remind us to do some healthcare checks for ourselves (National Eye Health Care Month, Glaucoma Awareness Month), and some charitable good for others, too. We can assist people by the focus that is placed in January through National Blood Donor Month, Clinical Trial Awareness Month, National Mentoring Month, Poverty in America Awareness Month. Oh, and one January observance is of National Senior Women’s Travel Month. That one defies categorization. What about Senior Men? Do they get a Travel Month, too? Why older ladies would

concentrate their travel dollars and time during such a cold month is a mystery to me, unless they are heading to Fiji or Bora Bora. Within January, it’s not surprising that the first week is Diet Resolution Week, one that I observe with implausible determination each year. To be further shamed, we are badgered a few weeks later to recognize National Healthy Weight Week and Lose Weight/Feel Great Week. The more intriguing titles for January rest in the weekly observances. We do see the practical and purposeful National Book Week (third week), National Catholic Schools Week (fourth week), Special Education Week, Christian Unity Week, Creative Frugality Week, Nurse Anesthetists Week, Graves Disease Awareness Week, and Thank Your Customers Week. But January also bears the burden of Cuckoo Dancing Week (Did they name that one for me?), Man Watchers Week (seriously?), Hunt for Happiness Week (how? where?), Intimate Apparel Market Week (sorry, but Victoria’s Secret has that one covered, for better or for worse). My favorite is “Someday We’ll Laugh About This” Week, which I assume means promotion (prevention?) of faux pas, public pratfalls, failed pranks, unsuccessful attempts at gracefulness and shameful misspeaks during those seven days. We absolutely need more weeks for that one.

A special school-wide celebration was held recently at E.D. White Catholic High School in Thibodaux to recognize the Mothers’ Club for reaching the goal of raising $1 million. The organization was established to raise funds to supplement the school’s budget providing educational needs benefitting as many of the students as possible. Through membership dues and money made from sales at the Gym Dandy thrift store, the Mothers’ Club donated gifts to the school that are utilized on a daily basis. A few of the items donated by the club are Edline, two school buses, new computer labs, sewing machines, religious statues, Bibles, library flags, classroom desks, lab equipment, academic letterman jackets, chapel renovations, and a portion of funds for the school’s prayer garden.

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Our Churches

Story by Janet Marcel Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

St. Andrew in Amelia 50 years as a close-knit community with very strong faith

St. Andrew Church parish in Amelia, located along the banks of Bayou Boeuf, has its origins as far back as 1859 when Father Justin Claris came to minister to the people of Brashear (Morgan City), Chacahoula and Bayou Beouf (Amelia). At that time most of the people traveled by boat to attend Mass in the old wooden structure that served the people. Priests from Sacred Heart Church parish in Morgan City served St. Andrew Mission until the end of 1964. In January 1965, Archbishop John Cody of New Orleans, officially established St. Andrew as a church parish with Father Adrian Caillouet as its first pastor. In the fall of that year, Hurricane Betsy damaged the old church making it unsafe. However, land had already been purchased before the hurricane struck for a new church that was being planned. On Nov. 20, 1966, Archbishop Philip M. Hannan of New Orleans dedicated the new church, a contemporary brick structure which features mosaic stained glass windows, depicting the mysteries of the rosary. The bell which hung in the tower of the old church was dedicated in memory of Father Andrew Souby who ministered to the people of the area for 40 years. It was placed in a tower in front of the new church where it still stands today. Located two miles down the road from the present church on the site of the original church building is the parish’s cemetery and mausoleum that was built in 1973. Father Joseph Chacko, I.M.S., pastor since June 2012, says events and activities for the parish’s 50th anniversary are still in the planning stages.

St. Andrew There are currently about 250 families in the parish. Most of the parishioners, notes the pastor, are older people who have lived in the area most of their lives. Like its neighboring church parishes in Morgan City, St. Andrew is made up of many different ethnicities including Cajuns, African Americans, Vietnamese, Hispanics and Indians who primarily make their living as fishermen, shipyard and oilfield industry workers. The church parish offers a variety of organizations and ministries for its parishioners. It has one of the most active Knights of Columbus groups in the diocese, a Come, Lord Jesus! group; a youth group that is becoming more and more involved with the parish, a Ladies Altar Society, a homebound ministry and a music ministry. There are currently about 100 students in the CCD/RCIC program. The parish also has an annual Family Day which is celebrated in a different way each year. This year it was celebrated on the Feast of St. Andrew with a potluck supper that Father Chacko says was very wellattended. “The people of St. Andrew parish are a close knit community with a very strong faith,” says the pastor. 34 “The parishioners are very active. Whenever something needs to happen, people always come forward to help. We can count on our people.” Father Chacko also says everyone who comes to the parish feels very welcome. “This is a welcoming community. There is great fellowship among the people – that is the strength of the community.” Kathy Acosta, pastoral council president, sums up the feelings of the people about their parish in this way, “We are so much more than graphs and statistics. We are the quiet church, the smell of candles, the rustling of rosary beads, the praying of the Memorare, the choir singing from our hearts, not always on key, but always for the right reason. We are so thankful for our family, St. Andrew, imperfect, but, oh so close to our hearts.”

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Special

Special Mass at Cathedral Feb. 2 Story by Janet Marcel Pope Francis has declared 2015 the Year of Consecrated Life with the theme “Wake up the World!” The first Sunday of Advent, Nov. 30, 2014, marked the beginning of the observance which will conclude on the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Feb. 2, 2016. The purpose of the celebration, according to a statement from the Vatican, is to “make a grateful remembrance of the recent past” while embracing “the future with hope.” “In response to requests from many of you and from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life, I decided to proclaim a Year of Consecrated Life on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium, which speaks of religious in its sixth chapter, and of the Decree Perfectae Caritatis on the renewal of religious life,” says Pope Francis in a letter to all religious throughout the world. “I am counting on you ‘to wake up the world,’ since the distinctive sign of consecrated life is prophecy. This is the priority that is needed right now.” Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Bishop Fabre will celebrate a special Mass to mark the Universal Church’s celebration of the Year of Consecrated Life on the feast of the Presentation of the Lord, Feb. 2 at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of St. Francis de Sales in Houma. A special invitation will go out to the consecrated religious men and women serving in the diocese. There will be a simple reception following Mass for those attending in the Youth Center. Bishop Fabre will then host a meal in honor of the religious priests, brothers and sisters at the Knights of Columbus Hall. “The Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and the universal church have benefitted and continue to benefit in tremendous ways from the ministry of consecrated men and women religious,” says Bishop Fabre. “The ministry of consecrated men and women religious, especially in parish ministry and in the fields of education and health care, has enriched me personally and enriched the lives of many others in our local community. Consecrated men and women religious have strengthened the faith of those whom they have so tirelessly served, and inspired vocations to the priesthood and religious life by their faith, service and example. This Year of Consecrated Life serves as one way for the church and for all of us to again say ‘Thank You’ to them for their service,

and to also lift up this vocation before all people, especially before our young men and women who may feel called to a religious vocation by God.” According to a Catholic News Service article (Church launches Year of Consecrated Life) written by Laura Ieraci, a number of international meetings have been planned in Rome over the course of the year. There will be a three-day ecumenical conference of religious Jan 22-25; a seminar for formation directors April 8-11; and a workshop for young consecrated men and women Sept. 23-25. A weeklong international conference is scheduled for Jan. 26 until Feb. 2, 2016. The theme of the conference will be “Reproduce in yourself, as far as possible, ‘that form of life which he, as the Son of God, accepted in entering this world” (St. John Paul II’s 1996 apostolic exhortation “Vita Consecrata” or “Consecrated Life”). A papal Mass on the Day for Consecrated Life, Feb. 2, 2016, will conclude the year. Religious priests, brothers and sisters currently serving in the diocese are as follows: Father Joseph Chacko, I.M.S.; Father Noas Kerketta, I.M.S.; Father

Michael Manase, O.C.D.; Father Antonio Maria Speedy, The Little Friars and Nuns of Jesus and Mary; Brother Carl Evans, S.C.; Brother John Hotstream, S.C.; Brother Patrick McGinity, S.C.; Sister Mary Elizabeth Dupree, O.P.; Sister Mary Imelda Sona, O.P.; Sister Lauren Lindee, O.P.; Sister Miriam Therese Mire, C.S.J.; Sister Diane Poynot, C.S.J.; Sister Anna Schellhaas, C.S.J.; Sister Rosario O’Connell, S.H.Sp.; Sister Eufemia Santiago, M.C.S.H.; Sister Silvia Serrano, M.C.S.H.; Sister Catherine Siracusa, O.S.B.; Sister Mary Benedict Son Thi Vu, F.M.S.R.; Sister Mary Florentia Hue Thi Pham, F.M.S.R.; Sister Mary John of the Cross Trang Thi Luu, F.M.S.R.; Sister Mary Immaculata Man Thi Nguyen, F.M.S.R.; Sister Mary Bernadette Trang-Tien Nguyen, F.M.S.R.; Sister Mary Gemma Thu Mai Thi Nguyen, F.M.S.R.; Sister Marie Rose ThuVan Thi Nguyen, F.M.S.R.; Sister Carmelita Centanni, M.S.C.; Sister Effata Maria Teresa, The Little Friars and Nuns of Jesus and Mary; Sister Letizia Maria V, The Little Friars and Nuns of Jesus and Mary.

Diocese has 27 consecrated men and women religious

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Special

A day in the life of a

Catholic school principal Story and Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

Since returning from the Thanksgiving break, principal Davis has been teaching sixth and seventh grade English and language arts. She says that she loves the classroom and feels it is where she should be. Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Geraldine “Prissy” Davis, principal of Maria Immacolata Elementary School in Houma, won’t be found sitting behind a desk in her office at the school. She’s usually in the classrooms, on the playground or wherever else the kids are. “I love the classroom. I love being in the classroom. I feel that’s where I should be,” says Davis. Since returning from the Thanksgiving break she has been teaching sixth and seventh grade English and language arts. “We had a teacher who did not return after Thanksgiving so I took on those classes as the teacher. The kids were learning about novels and I wanted them to have a good experience with that lesson.” Davis, who lives in Berwick, knew she wanted to be a teacher when she went to college. She thought of studying interior design but felt like teaching was the natural thing to do. She taught for 17 years in the St. Mary Parish school system; 13 of those years were spent at Bayou Vista Elementary. She retired from teaching but soon after received a call to interview for the position of a state department of education regional coordinator, one who trains teachers, principals and visits schools regularly. Davis was hired as the Region Three coordinator and held

Office OF Youth Ministry

Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux www.htdiocese.org/ym Advocacy for Young People Part of the mission of our office is to successfully guide young people to make Christian choices over their lifetime by instilling in them the values and vision of the Catholic Church. We do this through the following youth programs: During her day, principal Davis makes a special effort to be with the students, whether in the classroom or on the playground.

that position for almost four years. One aspect of the job meant that she spent much time traveling away from home. “It was during my time as a coordinator that I learned that St. Bernadette School needed a language arts teacher. I saw it as a sign and spent four years there teaching sixth and seventh grade English and language arts. I was very happy at St. Bernadette and had no desire to become an administrator again. I applied for the principal position at Maria Immacolata and now feel like there is a reason I am here,” she says. Her day begins at 4:30 a.m. She drives from Berwick and is at the school between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m. “I like to get here early and have a little quiet time to get myself together. The teachers begin to arrive shortly after and the students are here for 7:15 a.m. This time of year it’s dark when I arrive and dark when I leave the school, which is around 5 p.m. It’s my decision to stay late. That’s my office time for sure.” Davis says that the support from parents has helped make her first year a good experience at Maria Immacolata. “It’s a small school here; we have a great group of teachers. Most teachers have been here for a while. Most of them are adjusting well to a new administrator. We are working together well. Our work involves planning well, making schedules and finding better use of time in the classrooms. I don’t want us

• Diocesan Youth Rally • Christian Leadership Institute • Teens Encounter Christ • aNew Experiences • Junior High Faith Experience • NCYC - Team Conference • NCCYM - Adult Conference

Advocacy for Adults Retreat Gatherings that: • Assess parish youth ministry efforts • Teach Keys to successful youth programs • Explore, highlight and affirm programs • Recognize your gifts in ministry • Seek God in your life experiences • Enhance methods for teaching • Minister spiritually to young people • Offer relational ministry to young people • Have opportunities in certification programs

Special

In the photo at left, Maria Immacolata principal Davis chats with teachers Tonya Schouest and Claire Simmons during recess. In the photo below, Davis, bookkeeper Kathleen Streva (center) and secretary Donna Hill look over a schedule.

A day in the life of a

Catholic school principal wasting precious minutes. I also believe in teamwork,” says the principal. While the students and teachers are off during the summer months, administrators and principals are busy at school preparing for the upcoming year. “We usually have a few weeks off in July. Other than that the summer months are a good time for me to be in the office and plan for the upcoming year. It’s during Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

this time that we plan teacher and advisory council meetings and work toward being better the upcoming year,” says Davis. When August comes around and the students arrive for the new school year, Davis will be where the action is among the students knowing what’s going on and being involved with their daily activities.

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Special Events

Sacred Heart, Morgan City, music mission Feb. 23-24

Rev. Ronilo Villamor

Food for the Journey is Feb. 3 in Houma The diocesan Office of Religious Education sponsors a monthly lunchtime speaker series on the 42 first Tuesday of the month at the Quality Hotel on Hollywood Road in Houma across from Vandebilt Catholic High School. The speaker for Feb. 3 is Rev. Ronilo Villamor. Father Villamor, pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church parish in Larose, is a native of Mlang, Cotabato in the Philippines. He was ordained to the priesthood Aug. 13, 1983. Father Villamor has served as associate pastor of St. Bernadette Church parish in Houma; and as pastor of Our Lady of Prompt Succor Church parish in Golden Meadow. Those who plan to attend the Feb. 3rd event should RSVP with their name, phone number and church parish by Thursday, Jan. 29. 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 $13 and includes meal, drink and tip. Only cash or checks will be accepted. All are invited to come “eat and be fed.” Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

John Angotti

A music mission will be presented by John Angotti at Sacred Heart Church parish in Morgan City, Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 23 and 24, at 6:15 p.m. each day. Angotti’s collection of experiences as director of children’s, young adults, adults and contemporary music choirs, as well as his experiences in the secular world, have prepared him for his full time music ministry;

a ministry which sends him around the world as a speaker and presenter for conferences and events. He is a graduate of West Virginia University with a degree in marketing; a graduate of the Naval School of Music, where he majored in voice and minored in piano; and a graduate of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he holds a master’s degree in pastoral studies.

Rev. Rholando Grecia, pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Church parish in Houma, has been appointed the official representative for Region 4 of the National Association of Filipino Priests—U.S.A., for a period of three years. NAFP—USA is the national organization representing all Filipino priests serving the church in North America. Region 4 comprises the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi. Rev. Rholando Grecia

Associate director of Parish Social Ministries named for Charities office Margie Duplantis has been named the associate director of Parish Social Ministry for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of HoumaThibodaux (CCHT).

Margie Duplantis

Duplantis recently retired after teaching at Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma for 23 years. While there she served as head of the Religion Department, a senior religion teacher and the campus minister. “It’s great to have Margie on our staff.” says Robert Gorman, CCHT executive director. “She brings not only knowledge about Catholic social teaching, she also knows people throughout our diocese and has taught many of them!” The associate director for Parish Social Ministry teaches the social justice message of the Catholic Church; coordinates legislative advocacy, and directs the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and Catholic Relief Services. In her job, Duplantis will also work

with community organizations and organize the Matthew 25 parish based disaster preparedness plan. “Catholic Charities wants to work closely with each church parish in our diocese,” according to Gorman, “and Margie is the person on our staff to call for help in setting up a parish social ministry committee, a legislative advocacy network or a class about Catholic social teaching.” Duplantis is also a lector and eucharistic minister, CCD and confirmation teacher and pastoral council member at Holy Family Church parish in Grand Caillou. She is married to James “Jimmy” Duplantis and they have one child, Pam Duplantis Pitre, and two grandchildren, Taylor and Jude.

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Church Alive

Guadalupe honored Hundreds of Hispanic Catholics gathered at St. Andrew Church in Amelia for the annual Our Lady of Guadalupe diocesan celebration. Bishop Shelton J. Fabre was the main celebrant of the Mass. Music was provided by the Sacred Heart Hispanic Choir in Morgan City.

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier Bayou Catholic â&#x20AC;˘ Houma, LA â&#x20AC;˘ January 2015

The Woman of God and Man of God Conference sponsored by the diocesan Conference Office will be held Feb. 27-28. This year’s conferences will be held simultaneously at the Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center in Houma. Men and women will come together for the main keynote sessions, adoration and Mass in the main arena of the Civic Center. Three additional sessions will be held specifically for men and women, in separate areas of the Civic Center. The spirit-filled weekend will feature praise and worship music by More Than Sunday, a local Christian music band featuring Lonnie Lapeyrouse, Matt Bourgeois, Doug Hamilton, Mark Duplantis and Kayla LeBlanc. Speakers include: Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux; Paul George, director of Campus Ministries for the University of Louisiana/Our Lady of Wisdom in Lafayette, who serves as a professor of theology at the Aquinas Institute on campus; Debbie Herbeck, author and director of the Renewal Ministries School of Catholic Bible Study; and Al and Pearlette Carter, Catholic lay evangelists. Throughout the conference these men and women will delve into the true meaning of the Catholic faith. All men and women, ages 18 and over, are invited to attend. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the conference will begin at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, with a blessing of the conference by Bishop Shelton J. Fabre. Music, talks and sacraments will continue through the day Saturday, Feb. 28. The conference will conclude with Mass at 4:45 p.m., celebrated by Bishop Sam G. Jacobs, Families of those attending the conference are invited to attend the Mass. Pre-registration for the conference is $65 through 1p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24. On-site registration is $90 and will be accepted at the door Friday. Registration includes lunch on Saturday and refreshments throughout the weekend. There is also an optional meal on Friday for an additional $10 (must be pre-registered/ordered by 1 p.m. Feb. 24). Group rates are also available. For more information, visit www.htconferences.org, call (985) 850-3171, or email conferenceinfo@htdiocese.org. Hotel rooms have been blocked at discounted group rates: mention “Conference Office” at the following hotels: Courtyard by Marriott and Howard Johnson, both located in close proximity to the

Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center. Please note that if childcare could prevent you from attending the conference, contact the Conference Office by Feb. 13 to discuss possible assistance. There will also be a Family Fun Night at the conclusion of the conference. Registration for the Family Fun Night will include a BBQ dinner, bounce houses for little ones, photo booth, live music by The Groove, and dancing for all. Registration is open to all. For more information or to register, visit www. htconferences.org, call (985) 850-3171, or email conferenceinfo@htdiocese.org. 45

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Youth Rally March 28 at NSU Story by Janet Marcel “Infinite Majesty,” (Psalm 93) is the theme for this year’s 34th annual youth rally for eighth through 12th graders, which is sponsored by the Office of Youth Ministry in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. 46 The rally will take place Saturday, March 28, on the Nicholls State University campus in Thibodaux, from Noon to 10 p.m. According to Mike DiSalvo, diocesan director of the Office of Youth Ministry, the 2015 theme “will uncover the ‘crowns’ of majesty that we can experience if we are able to embrace the love that Jesus has for each one of us and can say ‘yes’ to living that love out each day.” Since its inception 34 years ago, says DiSalvo, the youth rally was intended to gather the young Catholic Church together in a special way to prepare for Holy Week – a week that leads into what is the pinnacle of our Catholic faith – Easter – the celebration of the life, death and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ. “By the way the youth rally is set up, it allows teens to strengthen their own relationship with Jesus Christ, to create a sense of comfort with a young community that will walk with them in their faith journey, to empower them with the knowledge of the Catholic faith, and to hear and give witness to how our Catholic faith can be lived out daily,” says DiSalvo. This is done in many ways throughout the rally. “Teens who attend will have the opportunity to hear powerful men and women of God speak about how they live out their faith, be involved in fun interactive games, experience healing and peace within themselves through prayer experiences, reconciliation, adoration, learn and sing high energy praise and worship music, and come together as one church to celebrate a beautiful liturgy with the Passion of Our Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Lord as the central theme,” explains DiSalvo. This year’s rally will have many changes to the schedule and format of the day. There will be two keynote presentations by Father Josh Johnson and Mary Bielski, and an outside concert by Ike Ndolo. DiSalvo says these speakers are motivated to share their own excitement and passion for the faith to get the youth excited about living out their own Catholic faith. Another change will be the addition of a master of ceremonies. This year it will be Father Andre’ Melancon, who will also share some of his life experiences with the youth throughout the day. Mary Bielski is a national speaker and Catholic youth minister. As the founder of ALL4HIM Ministries in 2006, she has spoken to over 75,000 teens around the nation at high school and young adult retreats and conferences, including Steubenville Youth Conferences, Life Teen-Inspiration, and parish and diocesan rallies. Using funny stories and engaging analogies, Bielski draws her audience to the beauty of our Catholic faith, a deeper love for Christ, the Eucharist, and the call to holiness. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree in theology at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans. For more information about her ministry, go to www. marybielski.com. Father Josh Johnson is a priest for the Diocese of Baton Rouge where he currently serves as associate pastor of Christ the King Church parish on the campus of LSU. Throughout his teenage years, he was completely engaged in a life of sin. He sought to fill the emptiness of his heart in every way that the world offered him happiness. He wrestled deep within his heart and came to know Jesus as the fulfillment of the restlessness of his heart. Prior to his ordination to the priesthood, he attended Southern University and graduated from St. Joseph Seminary College and Notre Dame Seminary. Father Johnson has led many retreats and workshops throughout his diocese and has traveled the country sharing his witness on the healing power of Christ.

Father Andre’ Melancon is a 2002 graduate of Vandebilt Catholic High School in Houma. He credits his strong Catholic formation to his parents and his sister. Throughout his high school career he was very involved with his parish youth group and the many diocesan events. In 2003, he attended Nicholls State University and reflects on that year being “one of the best years of his life.” Being a part of St. Thomas Aquinas Church parish on the Nicholls State University campus allowed him to seek out direction for his life and discern his life’s vocation. Currently Father Melancon is the pastor at St. Thomas Aquinas and the newly appointed diocesan director of the Office of Vocations. Father Melancon brings a passion to the priesthood and has a desire to bring the love of Jesus Christ to the teens and meet them where they are as they too discern God’s will in their lives. Ike Ndolo was born in Missouri after his parents moved to the United States from Nigeria. Inside Ndolo’s home rang hymns from his mother and songs of struggle and freedom from Bob Marley and the Wailers, and everything in between. This is where Ndolo’s love of music started to grow. In 2009, Ndolo released his first record; We are the Beggars was produced by songwriter and producer Robbie Seay. We are the Beggars climbed to No. 4 on Christian iTunes charts. Now Ndolo is back with his second studio album Rivers, which was recorded in Nashville and produced by Paul Mabury. His sophomore record is a grittier collection of soulful music, which showcases his

growth as a songwriter as well as his unique voice and delivery. Ndolo will share his songs of sin, doubt, hope and redemption at this year’s rally. Also new to youth rally this year will be an outdoor adoration experience and a blessing of the palms with a procession into the gym as the Passion of the Lord liturgy begins. “The Office of Youth Ministry staff has worked hard and is responding to the passion that the young church has for Jesus and the Catholic faith. A young person coming to this year’s youth rally will receive what he or she needs to understand our Catholic faith, the depth of God’s love for us, and will come to realize that within them lies what it takes to live like Christ daily,” says DiSalvo. The closing Mass, which will be celebrated by Bishop Shelton J. Fabre and concelebrated by priests of the diocese, will begin at 7:45 p.m. in Stopher Gym. Cost to attend the youth rally is $40 per person which includes all rally materials, event T-shirt, meals and transportation to and from the event. Youth can register online with their parish groups by linking to the sign-up page at www.htdiocese.org/ym. Early registration is strongly encouraged. After March 2, all registrations will take place at the door of Stopher Gym beginning at Noon the day of the rally. Cost will be $50 per person; participants will not receive a T-shirt and only hamburgers will be available for dinner. For more information about youth rally, call (985) 850-3151. 47

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Parish Life

Sacred Heart, Montegut, is 150 years young Sacred Heart Church parish in Montegut recently celebrated its 150th anniversary with a special Mass. Bishop Shelton J. Fabre was the main celebrant of the Mass which was concelebrated by Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs and Very Rev. Joshua Rodrigue, Father Thankachan “John” Nambusseril, Father Roger “Jerry” Villarrubia Jr. and Father Roch Naquin. Assisting were Deacons Dennis Dupre and Stephen Brunet. Father Nambusseril, pastor of Sacred Heart, thanked all who were in attendance for being a part of the celebration. Bishop Fabre greeted parishioners after the Mass.

Diocesan Programs This Month “Spotlight on the Diocese” Host: Louis Aguirre With Guest: Michael DiSalvo

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Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

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Celebration

Charismatic Renewal

Bishop Emeritus Sam G. Jacobs celebrated a charismatic Mass at the Lumen Christi Retreat Center in Schriever recently. Prayer groups, Bible study groups and rosary groups from across the diocese were in attendance. Paul Maclean led the group in praise and worship before the Mass.

Photos by Lawrence Chatagnier

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World

SPECIAL REPORT

Vatican report calls U.S. women religious to continued dialogue By Cindy Wooden

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY -- A massive, detailed Vatican-ordered investigation of U.S. communities of women religious ended with a call to the women themselves to continue discerning how best to live the Gospel in fidelity to their orders’ founding ideals while facing steeply declining numbers and a rapidly aging membership. Although initially seen by many religious and lay Catholics as a punitive measure, the apostolic visitation concluded with the publication Dec. 16 of a 5,000-word final report summarizing the problems and challenges the women themselves see in their communities and thanking them for their service to the church and to society, especially the poor. The visitation process, carried out between 2009 and 2012 with detailed questionnaires and on-site visits, mainly by other women religious, “sought to convey the caring support of the church in respectful, sister-to-sister dialogue,” says the final report by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The process attempted to help the Vatican “and the sisters themselves to be more cognizant of their current situation and challenges in order to formulate realistic, effective plans for the future,” said the report, signed by Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the congregation for religious, and Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, secretary. In summarizing the results, the congregation called for special attention in several areas, including: formation programs for new members; the personal, liturgical and common prayer life of members; ensuring their spiritual practices and ministries are fully in harmony with church teaching “about

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Brazilian Cardinal Joao Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, holds the final report of a Vaticanordered investigation of U.S. communities of women religious at the conclusion of a Dec. 16 Vatican press conference. The 5,000 word report summarizes problems and challenges the women see in their communities and thanks them for their service. The visitation was carried out between 2009 and 2012.

God, creation, the Incarnation and redemption” in Christ; strengthening community life, especially for members living on their own or with just one other sister; living their vow of poverty while wisely administering financial resources; and strengthening communion within the church, especially with the bishops and Vatican officials. The Vatican, the report says, “is well aware that the apostolic visitation was met with apprehension and suspicion by some women religious. This resulted in a refusal, on the part of some institutes, to collaborate fully in the process.” “While the lack of full cooperation was a painful disappointment for us,” the congregation writes,

“we use this present opportunity to invite all religious institutes to accept our willingness to engage in respectful and fruitful dialogue with them.” “A number of sisters conveyed to the apostolic visitator a desire for greater recognition and support of the contribution of women religious to the church on the part of its pastors,” the report says. “They noted the ongoing need for honest dialogue with bishops and clergy as a means of clarifying their role in the church and strengthening their witness and effectiveness as women faithful to the church’s teaching and mission.” In addition, it says, “some spoke of their perception of not

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World

Vatican report

having enough input into pastoral decisions which affect them or about which they have considerable experience and expertise.” The current Year of Consecrated Life, the congregation says, should be “a graced opportunity for all of us within the church -- religious, clergy and laity -- to take those steps toward forgiveness and reconciliation, which will offer a radiant and attractive witness of fraternal communion to all.” The former prefect of the congregation, Cardinal Franc Rode, ordered the visitation in 2008, saying its aim would be to study the community, prayer and apostolic life of the orders to learn why the number of religious women in the United States had declined so sharply since the 1960s. Almost a year into the study, Cardinal Rode told Vatican Radio that the investigation was a response to concerns -- including some expressed by an unnamed “important

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

representative of the U.S. church” -- regarding “some irregularities or omissions in American religious life. Most of all, you could say, it involves a certain secular mentality that has spread in these religious families and, perhaps, also a certain ‘feminist’ spirit.” As the process began, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, which represents about 80 percent of U.S. women religious, questioned what its officials considered a lack of full disclosure about what motivated the visitation. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s investigation of the LCWR, begun in 2008, was a separate process; in 2011, the congregation ordered a reform of the organization, saying “the current doctrinal and pastoral situation of LCWR is grave and a matter of serious concern, also given the influence the LCWR exercises on religious congregations in other parts of the world.”

At a news conference presenting the report Dec. 16, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life invited both the president of the LCWR and the chairwoman of the smaller U.S. Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious to address the media. They were joined by Mother Mary Clare Millea, superior general of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the apostolic visitor appointed by the Vatican. The congregation’s final report says that while apostolic visits are “a normal instrument of governance” designed to “assist the group in question to improve the way in which it carries out its mission in the life of the church,” the visitation of U.S. women religious “was unprecedented” in many ways. “It involved 341 religious institutes of both diocesan and pontifical right, to which approximately 50,000 women religious throughout the United States belong,” the report says. Only communities of cloistered nuns were excluded.

While not news, the report presents striking statistics: “Today, the median age of apostolic women religious in the United States is in the mid- to late-70s. The current number of approximately 50,000 apostolic women religious is a decline of about 125,000 since the mid-1960s, when the numbers of religious in the United States had reached their peak.” “It is important to note, however, that the very large numbers of religious in the 1960s was a relatively short-term phenomenon that was not typical of the experience of religious life through most of the nation’s history,” the report says. “The steady growth in the number of women religious peaked dramatically from the late 1940s through the early 1960s, after which it began to decline as many of the sisters who had entered during the peak years left religious life, the remaining sisters aged and considerably fewer women joined religious institutes.” Citing a wide variety of founding principles, ministries and community sizes, the congregation’s final report notes an overall trend of “aging and diminishment” in the number of members. Most religious communities, it says, “are expending considerable spiritual and material energies in the area of vocation promotion,” but many of them are obtaining results “not commensurate with the expectations and efforts.” “Vocation and formation personnel interviewed noted that candidates often desire the experience of living in formative communities, and many wish to be externally recognizable as consecrated women,” it says, in an apparent reference to the wearing of traditional habits. “This is a particular challenge in institutes whose current lifestyle does not emphasize these aspects of religious life.” The congregation’s report does not make specific recommendations other than urging the entire church “to offer fervent prayer for religious vocations” and to ask religious communities to ensure they provide “a solid, theological, human, cultural, spiritual and pastoral preparation” for religious life.

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.

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.

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Nation

SPECIAL REPORT

U.S. women religious find Vatican report affirms their ministry By Dennis Sadowski

Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON -- U.S. women religious welcomed the conciliatory tone of a Vatican report on religious life and appreciated acknowledgement of the important ministry that they practice day in and day out in the life of the church. They also said the report, released Dec. 16, opens a new beginning for women religious, who have continued their work despite the questions about the status of religious life in the U.S. that were raised by the apostolic visitation process that ran from 2009 to 2012. “The positive tone and the clear affirmation found in the document 54 gives us new energy to move on in our critical role for the sake of the mission of the church in the United States,” said Sister Mary Johnson, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who is professor of sociology and religious studies at Trinity Washington University. “I see great good coming out of this in that through the media, the laity and clergy and bishops will now have heightened understanding of our way of life in the church and hopefully will help us respond to the yearnings of women who are interested in religious life,” she told Catholic News Service. Sister Nancy Conway, president of the Congregation of St. Joseph, said she found the report offered “without negative judgment” and called it a “welcome ending” to the visitation. “Look at the use of the verbs in the report: We ask, we invite, we encourage, we urge,” she said from Cleveland. “I perceive this as a great shift in tone, for which I am very grateful. “I’m heartened by the tone. That’s how colleagues work; we recognize each other’s gifts,” Sister Nancy added. Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

CNS PHOTO/PAUL HARING

Sister Agnes Mary Donovan, coordinator of the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious, speaks as Sister Sharon Holland, president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, listens during a Dec. 16 Vatican press conference for release of the final report of a Vatican-ordered investigation of U.S. communities of women religious. The 5,000 word report summarizes problems and challenges the women see in their communities and thanks them for their service. The visitation was carried out between 2009 and 2012.

Two organizations representing women religious in the U.S. also welcomed the report, both saying that it reflected positively on the different roles their members have assumed in the church. A statement from the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious cited the words of Pope Francis in saying that the apostolic visitation “offered us a tangible opportunity to ‘feel’ along with the church,” in ministry to others as well as in unity with the magiste-

rium. “The final report acknowledges the fact of the ‘widely diversified expressions of apostolic religious life’ in the United States,” and shows that “apostolic religious life is not dying in the United States,” said the council, which represents about 20 percent of the 51,000 U.S. women religious. “There is reason for hope. The same voice of love which called women to courageously and selflessly tend the poor, weak

and young in the past is still calling young women today. It is the voice of Jesus, and the experience of his personal love continues to lead young women to our doors.” The Leadership Conference of Women Religious said in a statement that the organization was “pleased that the data, as well as the experiences, hopes and dreams shared during the onsite visits resulted in an accurate report of both the blessings of U.S. women’s religious life as well as its challenges.” The statement said the report conveys “a good understanding of the transitions that have occurred in religious life since the Second Vatican Council” and was offered “without negative judgment or any facile solutions. Instead, the synthesis of data resulted in a realistic and appreciative account of women’s religious life.” The report from the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life did not reference the findings of the doctrinal assessment of LWCR. After that assessment, the Vatican announced in 2012 a major reform of that organization to ensure its fidelity to Catholic teaching in areas including abortion, euthanasia, women’s ordination and homosexuality. The Vatican also appointed Seattle Archbishop J. Peter Sartain to implement the assessment, by providing “review, guidance and approval, where necessary, of the work” of the LCWR. Cardinal Franc Rode, former prefect of the congregation for religious, ordered the visitation in December 2008, saying its aim would be to study the community, prayer and apostolic life of the orders to learn why the number of religious women in the United States had declined so sharply since the 1960s. A year into the study, Cardinal Rode told Vatican Radio that the investigation was a response to concerns -- including some expressed by an unnamed “important representative of the U.S. church” -- regarding “some irregularities or omissions in American religious life. Most of all, you could say, it involves a certain secular mentality that has spread in these religious families and, perhaps, also a certain ‘feminist’ spirit.” The visitation involved hundreds of visits with individual religious communities and offered them the opportunity to explain various facets of religious life -- including prayer, community, service and ministry. For U.S. religious congregations, the visitation process allowed members to examine prayer life, community life, ministry, vocation recruitment, formation practices and finances. The process, though, also caused many congregations to wonder what prompted the visitation, especially because many felt they were living up to the vision of Vatican II. “At the onset of the visitation, there was a great level of pain and frustration,” Sister Barb Smith, a U.S. member of the general council of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ, told CNS in Rome. “We found ourselves questioning why religious life would be at this threshold with the church when we believed that we were faithful to our congregational history and the call of Vatican II.” Sister Barb said the wounded feelings remain. “I believe that we as religious women were willing to face the struggles and the unknown path we

www.bayoucatholic.com

Nation

Women religious

were walking. We were and are convinced that through it all we would not be diminished by this time of darkness but would remain credible witnesses of the Gospel,” she said. “At the end of the visitation, as we reflected on our lived reality, it became clearer for us that we have responded to our charisms, to the signs of the times and to the many needs of God’s ‘anawim’ who live in the periphery of much of society’s awareness. This is the grace that has come forth from these dark and painful times.” Sister Mary Angela, vicaress general for the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, said the visitation offered her congregation a chance to learn from others who participated in the visitation process. “People have really gone back to their founders and foundress56 es. They’ve taken that seriously. They’re looking at what to do to move into the future,” she told CNS. “I don’t know if it will affect (the congregation) in terms of radically changing something we are doing. But it is a chance to step back and see overall what did the visitation reveal,” Sister Mary Angela added. “We all have different charisms and out of that we’ve approached things in different ways or haven’t approached things. So you get broadened by watching and talking to the other communities.” Sister Maria Cimperman is a member of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and director of the newly established Center for the Study of Consecrated Life at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. She said the report affirms contemporary religious life in all its forms. “I appreciated the line of how we are recognizable in the world today and where we need to put our bodies and how,” she said. “I appreciated the invitation to greater dialogue in a world and in a country that struggles with meaningful dialogue.” Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

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Catholic Magazine

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Immigrants must be treated with mercy, justice, says Archbishop Chaput PHILADELPHIA (CNS) -- Americans must treat all those in this country illegally “with the mercy and justice we expect for ourselves,” said Philadelphia Archbishop Charles J. Chaput. “On this day that we honor Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of all of us who share this continent, we need to remember that the Holy Family too was once a family of immigrants and refugees,” he wrote in a Dec. 12 column for the archdiocese’s news website, Catholic Philly.com. He was among several prelates who took the occasion of the feast day to connect the image of Mary with immigrants. Archbishop Chaput said Mary’s special place in the heart of the church, as “theotokos, the ‘Godbearer,” and a “witness of courage, humility and grace” has rightfully led to her being honored in many ways and by many titles, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, “patroness of America, one continent north and south.” In Mexico, as Our Lady of Guadalupe, “Mary appeared not to the rich or powerful, or even to the local bishop, but to the poor peasant Juan Diego,” Archbishop Chaput said. “Her tenderness to the poor is something we need to remember this Advent, because our Christian faith is more than a set of ideas or beautiful words. It’s meant to be lived. It’s meant to transform our thinking and our actions.” While he was critical of actions taken by President Barack Obama in the past six years “that a great many faithful Catholics regard as damaging -- harmful not just for people of religious faith, but for the nation at large,” he also praised Obama for doing “the right thing” with executive actions on immigration. The deferral of deportation for many immigrants, Archbishop Chaput said, will prevent “the breakup of families with mixed immigration status.” Obama’s actions, he said, also protect “individuals who were brought to the United States as

children, and have grown up knowing only American life and nothing of their parents’ native land.” On Nov. 20, Obama announced several steps he is taking administratively, exercising prosecutorial discretion to -- at least temporarily -- protect potentially millions of people from deportation and give them documents allowing them to work legally. One change will expand the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, by end-

Archbishop Charles Chaput

ing an upper age limit and rolling forward the date by which an applicant must have arrived in the United States as a minor. The bigger change will create a similar program for potentially about 4 million people who lack legal status, but whose children are U.S. citizens or legal residents. It will apply only to people who’ve been in the country for five years or longer and who pass background checks, register with the government and pay probably hundreds of dollars in fees. “For more than a decade the U.S. Catholic bishops have pressed repeatedly for just and sensible immigration policy reform,” Archbishop Chaput said in his column, “Each of our major political parties has faulted the other for inaction, and each -- despite its posturing and alibis -- bears a generous portion of the blame. “Whatever the timing and mo-

tives of the current executive action might mean, deferring deportations serves the survival and human dignity of the families involved. And it may, finally, force the White House and Congress to cooperate fruitfully,” he said. In Yakima, Washington, Bishop Joseph J. Tyson echoed similar themes in his homily Dec. 12, tying the feast day to the needs, rights and dignity of immigrants and the important work they do to meet the needs of the nation. “You -- the people of this Catholic Diocese of Yakima in Central Washington -- you are God’s chosen ones. You have a nobility and a greatness that comes -- not from a passport, a visa, a green card, or an I-9 work permit -- but from being created and fashioned from the very image and likeness of God,” 57 Bishop Tyson said. “Certainly, I am keenly aware that you receive the very opposite message from various sectors of our North American society,” he continued. “This comes from the fact -- and I will not mince words -that we have become a nation built on half-truths. “We fail to tell truth that without undocumented immigrant labor we would have very little food on our nation’s table. We fail to tell the truth about the human cost this takes on our nation’s agricultural workers: the fear of deportation and the constant threat of family separation.” Catholics’ devotion to their faith “means that we do not allow the failed political debates to dominate our lives -- publicly or privately,” Bishop Tyson said. He added, “When we live the truth of our deepest human identity that comes -- uniquely from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ -then maybe one day our civil leaders will catch up and imitate in just legislation the human dignity and the transcendent citizenship we all possess right now.” www.bayoucatholic.com

Bicentennial Mass

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

The National Shrine of Our Lady of Prompt Succor in uptown New Orleans is expected to draw crowds from around the nation on Jan. 8 as Catholics and nonCatholics alike gather to celebrate the Bicentennial Mass of Thanksgiving for victory at the Battle of New Orleans. On Jan. 8, 1815, General Andrew Jackson led a hastily thrown together ‘army’ of shopkeepers, Kentucky and Tennessee long riflemen, regular army and pirates led by the infamous Jean Lafitte against a battle hardened army of some 15,000 British troops attacking at Chalmette, seven miles down river from New Orleans. At New Orleans, the Ursuline nuns and a group of citizens from around the French Quarter prayed all night to Our Lady of Prompt Succor for a victory for Gen. Jackson and his troops. The nuns promised that if Jackson was victorious and the city of New Orleans was spared, the Archbishop of New Orleans would celebrate a “te deum,” a Mass of Thanksgiving each year on Jan. 8. Early on the cold, blustery morning of Jan. 8, the doors of the little church in the French Quarter burst open and a runner yelled, “Victory is ours!” The Bicentennial Mass of Thanksgiving will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 8 and will be followed by a reception next door to the Shrine. The Shrine is located at 2635 State Street. The public is invited.

Sports

Overtime

Ed Daniels

Would the Saints be better off if they didn’t win the NFC South? Regardless of what happens in the worst division in football, few teams in the NFL are more in need of an infusion of young talent. And, the Saints haven’t had a top 10 pick since defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis was chosen No. 7 in the 2008 NFL draft. As the Saints head to 2015, they could be anywhere from $15 to $20 million over the cap. Several veterans could be casualties. In 2015, the Saints two starting guards Jahri Evans and Ben Grubbs will eat $20.6 million of cap space. The Saints have other high cap numbers including outside linebacker Junior Galette ($15.4 million), wide receiver Marques Colston ($9.7 million), defensive tackle Broderick Bunkley ($6.1 million), and linebacker David Hawthorne ($6.0 million). Drew Brees’ cap number is a whopping $26.4 million. Will he restructure his deal to give the Saints more cap space? With the Saints top 51 players eating up more than $160 million in cap space, and the cap projected to be somewhere in the $140 million range, the Saints will not be big players in free agency. A draft with an emphasis on playmakers is the infusion the Saints need. In one year, the Saints have gone from fourth in total defense to near the bottom of the league. On offense, thru 13 games, the Saints had 39 pass plays of 20 yards or more. In 2013, the Saints had 67 such plays.

Would Saints be better off if they didn’t win NFC South?

And, the return game has been anemic at best. In the meantime, the notion is being floated that the Saints are a talented roster that is beset by internal issues. Lack of maturity and professionalism are suddenly the causes of the Saints precipitous dip in their won loss record. That notion makes for good copy. Junior Galette’s comments critical of former Saints Jonathan Vilma and Will Smith were ill advised, at best. Galette made headlines nationally when he said that Curtis Lofton “was putting up better numbers” than Vilma, and that Smith has never been “a better player than me.” Galette made those comments days before the Saints were routed at home by Carolina 41-10. In 2008, the Saints sputtered to an 8-8 mark.

But, they signed safety Darren Sharper and cornerback Jabari Greer in unrestricted free agency, and drafted Malcolm Jenkins in the first round. One year later, defensive coordinator Gregg Williams got tons of credit as the Saints won the Super Bowl. Williams is a good football coach, but he also benefitted from a huge roster upgrade on defense. Which is what the Saints need now. And, drafting higher would certainly increase their chances of doing just that. The 2015 draft will be top heavy with quarterbacks Marcus Mariota of Oregon and Jameis Winston of Florida State. So, a pick near the top 10 would likely net the Saints what they desperately need: young, impact players, that don’t break the bank. www.bayoucatholic.com

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 (2) - 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

November 2014 Burse Contributions Brides of the Most Blessed Trinity .................... $230.00 Anne Veron Aguirre ........................................... $180.00 Mr. Eledier Broussard ........................................ $150.00 Joseph “Jay” Fertitta ............................................ $50.00

Open Burses with Balance as of 11/30/14 Mr. Eledier Broussard ................. $14,750.00 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 .............................. $8,400.00 Mr. & Mrs. George C. Fakier ................. $8,000.00 Rev. Victor Toth ..................................... $7,000.00 Brides of the Most Blessed Trinity ......... $6,165.00 Rev. Peter Nies ..................................... $5,810.00 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 Msgr. William Koninkx ........................... $5,000.00 Rev. Kasimir Chmielewski ..................... $4,839.00 Rev. Gerard Hayes ................................ $4,786.00 Rev. Henry Naquin ................................. $4,251.00 Harry Booker #2 .................................... $4,138.00 Catholic Daughters ................................ $4,080.00

Joseph “Jay” Fertitta .............................. $4,050.00 Mrs. Shirley Conrad ............................... $4,000.00 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 ......................... $1,800.00 James J. Buquet, Jr. ............................... $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 Alfrances P. Martin ................................. $1,400.00 Msgr. John L. Newfield .......................... $1,200.00 Rev. John Gallen .................................... $1,100.00 Rev. Hubert C. Broussard ...................... $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 Rev. Anthony Rousso ............................. $1,000.00 Deacon Willie Orgeron ............................. $800.00 Jacob Marcello .......................................... $800.00 Ruby Pierce .............................................. $800.00 Deacon Roland Dufrene ........................... $750.00 Juliette & Eugene Wallace ......................... $700.00 Deacon Edward J. Blanchard ................... $660.00 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 Connely Duplantis ........................ $125.00 Deacon Pedro Pujals ................................ $100.00 Joseph Waitz, Sr. ...................................... $100.00 Deacon Eldon Frazier .............................. $ 50.00 Deacon Nick Messina .............................. $ 50.00 Rev. Warren Chassaniol ........................... $ 50.00

Overall Seminarian Burse Totals: $1,455,723.39 Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Bayou

Catholic

Catholic Schools Week 2015 January 25-31

Catholic Schools Week

Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

Catholic School Administrators

Marissa Bagala

St. Mary’s Nativity

Deacon Vic Bonnaffee Central Catholic

President, Vandebilt

David Boudreaux

Scott Bouzigard

Prissy Davis

Tonia Guidry

Chris Knobloch

Tim Robichaux

Gerard Rodrigue Jr.

Amanda Talbot

Yvonne Weimer

Major funding for this Catholic Schools Week special section provided by the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux

Holy Rosary

Michelle Chiasson E.D. White

Joan LeBouef St Bernadette

Brenda Tanner St. Francis

Maria Immacolata

President, E.D. White

Tricia Thibodaux

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Holy Savior

St. Gregory

St. Joseph

Vandebilt

St. Genevieve

Holy Cross

Registration: March 9-13, 2015 Holy Cross Elementary 2100 Cedar St. Morgan City, LA 70380 Grades PK-6 Amanda Talbot, Principal Phyllis Jensen, Secretary 384-1933 • Fax 384-3270 holycrosselm@htdiocese.org www.holycrosselementary.org Holy Rosary Elementary P.O. Box 40 Larose, LA 70373 Grades PK-8 Scott Bouzigard, Principal Angie Loupe, Secretary 693-3342 • Fax 693-3348 holyroselm@htdiocese.org www.holyrosary.org St. Gregory Elementary 441 Sixth St. Houma, LA 70364 Grades PS-7 Tonia Guidry, Principal Jennifer Torres, Admin. Asst. 876-2038 • Fax 879-2789 stgregelm@htdiocese.org www.stgregorycatholic.org Maria Immacolata Elementary 324 Estate Dr. Houma, LA 70364 Grades PK-7 Prissy Davis, Principal Donna Hill, Secretary 876-1631 • Fax 876-1608 mariaimmacoelm@htdiocese.org www.mariaimmacolata.org St. Bernadette Elementary 309 Funderburk Ave. Houma, LA 70364 Grades PK-7 Joan LeBouef, Principal Susan Chauvin, Secretary 872-3854 • Fax 872-5780 stbernelm@htdiocese.org www.saintbernadettepandas.com

St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School 300 Verret St. Houma, LA 70360 Grades PS-7 Brenda Tanner, Principal Kim Landry, Secretary 868-6646 • Fax 851-5896 stfranciselm@htdiocese.org www.stfrancishouma.org St. Genevieve Elementary 807 Barbier Ave. Thibodaux, LA 70301 Grades PK-7 Chris Knobloch, Principal Stacie Trosclair, Secretary 447-9291 • Fax 447-9883 stgenelm@htdiocese.org www.stgenevieveschool.us Holy Savior Elementary 201 Church St. Lockport, LA 70374 Grades PK-8 Tricia Thibodaux, Principal Terri Vedros, Secretary 532-2536 • Fax 532-2269 holysavelm@htdiocese.org www.holysaviorschool.org St. Joseph Elementary 501 Cardinal Dr. Thibodaux, LA 70301 Grades PK-7 Gerard Rodrigue Jr., Principal Barbara Kliebert, Secretary 446-1346 • Fax 449-0760 stjoeelm@htdiocese.org www.edline.net St. Mary’s Nativity Elementary 3492 Nies Street Raceland, LA 70394 Grades PK-8 Marissa Bagala, Principal Judy Watts, Secretary 537-7544 • Fax 537-4020 stmarelm@htdiocese.org

Central Catholic High School 2100 Cedar St. Morgan City, LA 70380 Grades 7-12 Vic Bonnaffee, Principal Sandy Daigle, Secretary 385-5372 • Fax 385-3444 centcathi@htdiocese.org www.cchseagles.com Vandebilt Catholic High School 209 S. Hollywood Rd. Houma, LA 70360 Grades 8-12 Yvonne Weimer, Principal Shirley Cunningham, Secretary David Boudreaux, President 876-2551 • Fax 868-9774 vandebilthi@htdiocese.org www.vandebiltcatholic.org E.D. White Catholic High School 555 Cardinal Dr. Thibodaux, LA 70301 Grades 8-12 Michelle Chiasson, Principal Cathy Hebert, Secretary Tim Robichaux, President 446-8486 • Fax 448-1275 edwhitehi@htdiocese.org www.edwhite.org Catholic Schools Office Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux Marian Fertitta Superintendent of Schools mfertitta@htdiocese.org Suzanne Troxclair Curriculum Specialist Janet Marcel Administrative Assistant 850-3114 • Fax 850-3214

www.edline.net/pages/St_Marys_Nativity_School

Our Catholic schools do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex or national origin.

Catholic Schools Week

‘Catholic Schools:

Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service’ A Message from the Superintendent

T 64

The National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) proclaims the last week of January as National Catholic Schools Week. The theme of this year’s celebration is a continuation of last year’s, “Catholic Schools: Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” I would like to share with you some of the accomplishments in our Catholic schools in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. In Catholic schools our children learn faith, not just the basics of Christianity, but developing a personal relationship with Christ. Accomplishing this in today’s culture is very difficult because so much of our culture presents ideas that are contrary to the teachings of Christ. It is for this reason that we have made improving Catholic Identity our first priority. Students, faculty and staff are provided many opportunities for spiritual growth, including individual and communal prayer, weekly Masses, eucharistic adoration, the sacrament of reconciliation, and retreats to name a few. At many schools teachers gather before school to pray together and offer intentions for specific personal, family, student and parent needs. This practice has truly helped to develop familial bonds amongst the faculty and administration. Recently conducted AdvancED Survey results of all stakeholders

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

indicate that the schools are a community that prays together, make Jesus and the teachings of the Catholic Church known to all students, and students are encouraged through all aspects of their school experience to develop a closer relationship with Christ. Administrators and faculties work together to plan activities that build faith communities amongst themselves, students and parents. Ideas are shared between the schools. Learning and living the Gospel is having a positive impact on the faith experiences of everyone involved in our schools. In the tradition of Catholic education, the schools of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux have always set high academic expectations infused with the teachings of the church. This is reflected in the vision, mission and belief statements of the diocese and the schools. Yearly evidence of our academic achievements are the standardized test scores of our elementary and high school students, the ACT scores of our graduating seniors, the number of graduates who enter college, the millions of scholarship dollars received and the successes of our alumni. Preparing students academically has always been a hallmark of Catholic schools and still is today. However, how and what students are taught has changed drastically and quickly over the last two decades and continues to do so each year. The introduction of technology in the classroom began a new era in education. College courses and the job market require our students to have a different set of skills than those required 10 years ago. Our Catholic schools continue to address these needs to ensure that our students are well-prepared for the next level of their education. Since the three high schools have initiated one-to-one iPad programs, the elementary schools are realizing the importance of

technology enhanced instruction and are working to purchase sets of iPads with carts so these can be shared between classrooms. This will allow for an easier transition into high school instruction. Our schools offer a variety of co-curricular and extracurricular activities. All elementary schools have a band program. Some elementary schools offer choir, art and foreign language, and all have a variety of clubs and other activities for their students. Many of the elementary schools have begun after school sports programs to address a need as expressed by students and parents in the recent survey results. Catholic school students are taught that service is both an expression of faith and a manifestation of good citizenship. Service to others is the true manifestation of the living Christ which our students learn and participate in throughout their years in Catholic schools. Each year our students provide tens of thousands of service hours inside and outside of their communities, their church and the school. As a witness to the importance of service to others, administrators and faculties also take part in service. They teach their students by example. Our communities are blessed to have many wonderful examples of high quality Catholic education in our diocese. It is our promise that we will continue to improve our schools to ensure that your children are receiving an excellence education with opportunities to grow in their faith and commitment to the church and their communities. You are invited to visit our schools any time during the year, but especially during Catholic Schools Week. Come and celebrate with us! May God continue to bless you, your families, and our schools. Marian Fertitta

Fostering a community of learners Guest Columnist Suzanne Delaune Troxclair

The Times They Are A-Changin. This title of singer and songwriter Bob Dylan’s 1964 chart-topping hit still holds true today, even in our education system. As technology, industry and our global world continue to advance at lightning speed, so, too, must teaching and learning in the classroom to meet the everchanging needs of our students. In an effort to provide the most effective instruction for our students, the Diocese of HoumaThibodaux Catholic schools have been diligent in working to provide a high quality of education in a Christ-centered environment. This task, however, does not happen haphazardly. It involves significant research, time and energy from dedicated staff who embrace their roles as ministers to the children they serve. Time and time again, research has shown the single most important factor in student success is the effectiveness of the teacher. As such, it is imperative our school communities work to stay abreast of the ongoing changes and best practices in teaching and learning. Each year in the diocese, professional development to meet these changes is focused on specific areas of need in our school communities. Throughout the 2014-2015 school year, the focus has been on utilizing effective

assessment practices to improve student achievement. Assessment is the gathering of evidence of student learning. When most think of assessment, the idea of written tests comes to mind. However, assessment encompasses so much more. This process of collecting information appears in different forms. Formative assessment, or assessment for learning, is part of the instructional process that keeps both the student and the teacher informed so as to drive instruction in the classroom. These types of assessments are “practice” for the students. To use the analogy of learning to ride a bicycle, all of the steps from first mounting, moving forward with an adult holding onto the seat, and even the inevitable falls are part of the formative assessment practice of the skill. If a child was given a grade on each attempt, the average would not accurately reflect his final mastery of riding unassisted. Likewise, students are given the opportunity to practice without the attachment of a grade during the learning process through formative assessment practices. At the point in learning in which mastery is taking place, summative assessments, or assessments of learning, are administered. These assessments include graded tests, authentic assessment projects, nine-week exams, and even school-wide and district-wide assessments. In the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, the new ACT Aspire assessment series will be administered to all students in grades three through 10 in the spring of 2015. ACT Aspire, anchored by the capstone college readiness assessment, the ACT, is linked to ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks and aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The assessment serves as a predictor of student success now and in the future. It is imperative

to assess student performance as it relates to college and career readiness to be able to provide the instructional support necessary to ensure success in college and careers. This new assessment of mathematics, reading, English, writing and science is designed to help students reach their full potential, connecting their growth and progress from the elementary grades through high school. The revolutionary system provides more in-depth understanding of a student’s abilities to problemsolve and apply skills learned to real-life applications. In order to best prepare students for success, diocesan teachers and administrators have participated in professional learning activities 65 to best utilize the information gained from ACT Aspire to help students succeed. Just as students are challenged to apply the skills they have learned in the classroom in real-life situations, so too will students demonstrate their understanding of skills on the ACT Aspire through multiple choice, constructed response and selected response items. The Diocese of HoumaThibodaux is charged with the task of working diligently to improve teaching and learning in our school communities. By staying abreast of the most up-to-date advances in education, the students of the diocese will be afforded the highest quality education in a Christcentered environment, ensuring a successful educational experience for all. As stated so eloquently by educational reformer John Dewey, “What the best and wisest parent wants for his own child, that must the community want for all of its children.” Suzanne Troxclair is the curriculum specialist for the Catholic schools in the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux. www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

E. D. White Catholic - Com E. D. White Catholic High School

Edward Douglas White Catholic High School’s legacy can be traced back to 1855 when Father Charles Menard, assisted by the Sisters of Mount Carmel, opened Mount Carmel Academy for girls. In 1861, St. Joseph Parish acquired the all-boys Thibodaux College and later contacted the Brothers of the Sacred Heart to run the school. The two schools were merged in 1965. For 159 years, E. D. White Catholic and its predecessor schools have been building communities of faith, knowledge, and service by offering a holistic education, rooted in Christian values, structured through friendly discipline, nurtured by personal attention and dedicated to academic excellence.

How We Build Community: • Daily Mass offered in the school’s chapel • Active campus ministry program • Weekly adoration of the Blessed Sacrament • ACT scores consistently above the state and national averages • Renowned music program • Outstanding athletic program with 40 state championships • Over 20 clubs and organizations • Students contribute over 14,000 hours of community service annually • 85% of graduates qualify for the TOPS program • An academic enhancement program for students with dyslexia and other learning differences

“The faith, knowledge, and services that E. D. White students exhibit is one like no other. Our teachers and coaches serve as role models. Not only do they teach us academics, but also, they educate us using their words and examples, making known that having faith is the key to life. Attending E. D. White is truly a privilege. Although everyone endures his own individual struggles in life, those struggles cease to exist when we step onto campus as a family, each student wanting the best for one another. The strength and support of the E. D. White family is ever present through good times and bad. Personally, I am most thankful for the lessons of faith, hope, and family that I have learned as a true E. D. White cardinal.” Catherine Daigle ‘16

“I have seen this school grow so much in faith and love for Jesus Christ since I have been here. I truly have a faith community at school that is always there for me and praying for me. We grow by being together, learning together, and serving together as Christ did.” Joseph Schonacher ‘16

“‘Where two are gathered in my name, there I shall be.’ The students and faculty at E. D. White respond to tragedy and victory in the same way; we pray together. We put faith into action by praying for our E. D. White family members who are undergoing troubles. Our knowledge has brought us to a point where we can educate others with our God given talents. And above all we serve; by praying and acting on our love with the bereaved, sick, and hurt, we have given the gift of charity to many.” - Shelby Ellis ‘16

2015-2016 Registratio

E. D. White Catholic High School is open to all students and Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

mmunity of Faith, Knowledge and Service

“E. D. White Catholic has helped me build a community of faith, knowledge, and service. E. D. White has laid a foundation for my faith by granting me the privilege to attend religion class daily, participate in clubs such as campus and music ministry, and celebrate mass as a school community. At E. D. White, a wide variety of courses are offered that meet the needs of every student. I have gained much knowledge in my core subjects as well as in extracurricular activities such as band. Being a part of the E. D. White Band has enhanced my clarinet playing ability and allowed me to grow as a musician. I am very thankful that E. D. White grants me many service opportunities to serve the Lord and others.” - Jessica Galey ‘17

“E. D. White Catholic High School does a tremendous job of incorporating faith into the school life of our students. By having prayers before the start of each class, saying a daily rosary during the month of October in honor of the Blessed Virgin and daily Mass attended by various groups and teams are only a few ways that this is accomplished. Our students are involved in nearly 15,000 hours of community service annually. This is in addition to the annual mission drive and Christmas project to serve underprivileged children. Traditionally, our students score above the national and state averages on the ACT and other standardized tests that are given. I don’t know of another school that prepares a child better in faith formation, service to others and imparting the knowledge that prepares him for life after high school.” - Advancement Director Preston LeJeune

“E. D. White teaches us that we are disciples of God by their intense teaching and leadership of the Christian faith. We have ACT scores to prove that we have the best teachers who are giving us the knowledge we need to excel on the college level. Also, EDW gives us the opportunity to serve the community while making it a part of the educational process.” - Michae Jones‘17

67 “A student of E. D. White is held to a high standard. I am challenged by my teachers and administrators to be a witness of my faith, servant in my community, and scholar in the classroom; however they are true role models because they lead by example and hold themselves to these same expectations. It’s hard to ignore their message when you see the principal attending daily Mass in the school’s chapel, the president working in the concession stand at a football game, or the energy that a teacher brings to her classroom in hopes of inspiring her students. These men and women are most influential in building the community of faith, service, and knowledge at E. D. White, and they are responsible for passing it on to their students through their example.” Taylor Foret ‘16

on: March 2-13, 2015

does not discriminate on the basis of race or national origin. www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

Vandebilt Catholic High School

Faith  Vandebilt Catholic is a safe haven for spiritual formation.  Emphasizing the importance of prayer, each school day and class period commences with students and faculty praying together.  Daily morning Mass is offered in the school’s chapel before school.  School-wide liturgies are celebrated at least once a month; additionally, seasonal religious rituals are observed.  Eucharistic Adoration is practiced and the rosary is prayed weekly.  Additional opportunities for students to grow in faith are provided by campus ministry, Men of Christ, Sisters in Christ, and the Mission 13 team.  Service to others, one method of putting the Gospel into practice, is stressed at every level. Consequently, service hours are a required part of the religion program.

The mission of Vandebilt Catholic High School is to provide students with a holistic education that is rooted in religious values, structured through friendly discipline, nurtured by personal attention, and committed to academic excellence.

 The campus ministry program at Vandebilt Catholic is based on the belief that each person has his or her own gift from God and that each gift is to be used for the common good.  The program also recognizes that it is through the Catholic school’s special charism that students gain an experience of the teaching of the Church in a faith community that complements the family and is directed toward the local parish.

The Vandebilt Catholic community was created by the Marianites of Holy Cross in 1870 and is continued by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart. Guided by the charism of these religious communities, Vandebilt Catholic fosters intellectual growth while challenging students to actualize individual potential. Vandebilt Catholic High School cultivates a family atmosphere in which administrators, teachers, students, and parents work together harmoniously to promote love of neighbor, love of God, and good citizenship.

PLACEMENT TEST: January 24, 2015 Vandebilt Catholic High School  209 South Hollywood Road Vandebilt Catholic High School admits students of any religion or ethnic origin.

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Knowledge

Service

 Vandebilt Catholic offers a college-preparatory curriculum in the education of the whole student through diverse academic, athletic, and co-curricular programs.  As a pioneer in the implementation of a One-to-One iPad Program, Vandebilt Catholic High School is fostering improved accountability, organization, and communication in a safe, secure, and protected learning environment.  Students are trained as active participants in problem resolution and are involved daily in interactive, visual, and aural learning.  All students meet and exceed the Louisiana Core 4 requirements, providing needed TOPS courses as well.

 The Religion Department seeks to bring a strong academic program of religious formation and experiential faith.  Each Vandebilt Catholic student receives approximately one hundred fifty hours of faith instruction per year through daily religion classes.  In turn, this faith instruction is practiced by Vandebilt Catholic students contributing some twenty thousand service hours per year to the school, the Church, and the community.  Among the school’s notable undertakings, the annual Christmas Project permits Vandebilt Catholic students to assist the needy in the area by providing them with necessities and gifts.  Vandebilt Catholic forms its students to respond to Jesus’ directive to love one another.

 Vandebilt Catholic High School enjoys a tradition of consistent academic success. Composite ACT scores invariably rank well above local, state, and national averages.

 Vandebilt Catholic expects its graduates to use their intellectual gifts to serve others more effectively and generously.

 Resource classes using a multi-sensory approach are available to students with learning differences.

 Vandebilt Catholic considers clubs, organizations, and activities an important part in the development of the whole person.

 Vandebilt Catholic’s approach to education incorporates twenty-first century skills into the curriculum so that students learn to integrate technology into their educational endeavors.

 The co-curricular program at Vandebilt Catholic is designed to develop talents and skills as well as qualities of scholarship, leadership, service, and character.

 Vandebilt Catholic’s academic program continues to address the changing needs of its students to prepare them for their future college careers.

 Students and faculty formed the Mission 13 team to physically and spiritually serve communities on the local and national levels.

REGISTRATION: February 1-27, 2015 Houma, LA 70360  (985) 876-2551  www.vandebiltcatholic.org Vandebilt Catholic does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, color, or nationality.

www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

Central Catholic High School God is good all the time ... all the time God is good

his theme for Central Catholic High School is at the heart of our “Community of Faith, Knowledge and Service.” It is the theme for 2014-2015. Approaching National Catholic Schools Week, I wanted students to reflect on this theme. From the voice of a child, God’s goodness means … n “God is good all the time, all the time God is good” is 100 percent true. God blessed me with the opportunity to attend Central Catholic. I get to go to Mass every Thursday to profess my faith in Christ. I am allowed and encouraged to say Jesus and God all day without being judged. As Deacon Vic always says, “I love this place!” – Alyssa Landry Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

n The saying “God is good all the time, and all the time God is good” means more to me as a Central Catholic student than any other saying, I recognize that God is good because I am blessed enough to attend such a wonderful school with amazing classmates. Looking at the blessings given to me by God through Central Catholic makes me truly realize how good God is, and it inspires me to spread my viewpoint among others so that they may feel the same way. – John Parker n To me, as a student of Central Catholic this saying is a simple truth that I have come to most willingly acknowledge. I am constantly reminded by my teachers and classmates that I

am an irreplaceable child of a God, who loves me wholly and unconditionally. I know that if all else goes wrong in my world, that my good and loving God will endure and bring peace to me and my loved ones. – Rebecca David n Here at Central Catholic, we hear this phrase so many times throughout the day that we really need to take the time to let the words resonate within us. To me this phrase means to love and praise God throughout every situation, good or bad, that God places in our lives. God has a plan for us and we should continue to have faith in him and praise him continuously even if we don’t fully understand that plan. – Tyrus Anderson

Central Catholic High School 2100 Cedar Street, Unit 1 Morgan City, LA 70380 985-385-5372

Eagle Pride! Registration

Re-Registration is March 1 through March 6, 2015 New Students March 15 through March 20, 2015 For information call (985) 385-5372 Central Catholic High School does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, national or ethnic origins. Tuition Assistance Available

www.cchseagles.com

www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

Holy Savior Catholic School Lighting the way as a community of faith, knowledge and service

entrally located in Lafourche Parish, Holy Savior Catholic School in Lockport has been providing generations of families with quality Catholic education since 1879. Nursery three through eighth 72 grade students from Lockport and the surrounding areas are provided a caring and nurturing environment where they are encouraged to develop their God-given talents and abilities. Holy Savior promotes living the Gospel values daily and challenges each student to achieve academic excellence. These Gospel values are taught in daily religion lessons, prayer, service projects and weekly Mass attendance. While our faculty and staff are committed to offering opportunities for students to succeed academically, we also work together to ensure that each child’s spiritual, social and physical needs are met. Our teachers use various teaching techniques and integrate technology with the use of state-of-the-art interactive Promethean Boards to develop a student’s critical thinking skills and increase student engagement. Besides the major subjects, we offer French classes, music, choir, computer, library, physical education, and a variety of clubs, such as 4-H, Caritas, student council and Beta. Students who enjoy sports can join the school’s cross country, softball, soccer or basketball teams. Holy Savior Catholic School emphasizes the importance of service and charity. Our students are encouraged to live out their values and make a positive impact in their community and the world at large. Through various service activities, such as participating in community service projects and support of missions, we have come together to understand the importance of ‘lighting the way with Jesus’ this school year. We have completed service projects that have helped the PACT Place, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center and the Lockport Knights of Columbus. Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

Holy Savior Catholic School strives to create students who excel in the core curriculum, are prepared to enter high school, and are ready to make a lasting difference in the world around them through community service.

HOLY SAVIOR CATHOLIC SCHOOL 201 Church Street ~ Lockport, Louisiana 70374 Phone: (985) 532-2536 ~ Fax: (985)532-2269 http://www.edline.net/pages/Holy_Savior_Elementary_School

Established in 1879

State Approved Curriculum ~ Grades K-8 State Certified Teachers ~ Grades K-8 Full and Part-Time Structured State Approved Nursery Program Strong Family Orientation Daily Religious Instruction & Weekly School Masses SACS Accredited Academically Orientated Kindergarten Band, Choir & Computer Program Weekly Library Class Instruction with Certified Librarian Academic Enhancement, DIBELS Program & Tutoring Before & After School Care Program Reasonable Tuition Rates Gym Facilities, Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Cheerleading, Cross Country Caritas, 4-H, Beta & Student Council Clubs Parent/Teacher Activities Committee For more information or to request a tour of our facility, please contact Tricia Thibodaux, Principal ~ tthibodaux@htdiocese.org Terri Vedros, Bookkeeper ~ tvedros@htdiocese.org Holy Savior does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national or ethnic origin

Excellence in Academics + a God-Loving CATHOLIC Environment = Success

Holy Rosary Catholic School

Ready and willing to make a difference in the community and world the teaching of values, academic excellence, a safe and caring environment and the support of parents for Catholic education is the school’s proven formula for success. Together the school family prepares students who are ready and willing to make a difference in the community and world; and to succeed in their future endeavors through their faith, knowledge and service experiences at Holy Rosary Catholic School.

Holy Rosary Catholic School

n teaching the Gospel message of Christ, Holy Rosary Catholic School in Larose recognizes students’ talents and abilities and strives to develop their highest potential. HRCS offers quality academics in a nurturing, Christ-centered environment to students three years old through the eighth grade. In 1963, Holy Rosary Catholic School began offering Catholic education to the South Lafourche community under the leadership of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. Current administration holds fast to the traditions of Catholic education while ensuring high standards to meet today’s challenges. The religious and secular curriculum is periodically evaluated and enhanced to enrich faith experiences and improve students’ learning skills. Enrichment programs are selective and include those that instill community service, academic and social development, but most importantly our Catholic faith. Programs include: DARE, social studies fair, geography bee, Math-a-Thon, an award-winning 4-H club, Beta, HAWKS club, big buddies, altar servers’, apostles of the month, school choir, Book It!, Reading Counts, Literary Rally, passion play, nativity play, cross country track, volleyball, basketball, cheering squad, essay/art contests and the school’s edible garden. Holy Rosary recognizes Christ as the heart of its mission. Traditions of an active and exemplary religious program are professed through weekly liturgies, monthly adoration, and daily instruction in the Catholic faith, service clubs, and service projects for families, faculty and students. Through its mission work, HRCS is recognized as an instrumental contributor and supporter of Veterans, the Holy Childhood Association, Knights of Columbus and St Vincent DePaul Society, to name a few. The school expands its faith experiences in the school chapel, Jesus Prayer Garden and newly implemented pilgrimage to Washington, D.C. All HRCS teachers are certified and qualified for their role as dedicated instructors. The majority are certified catechists. The combination of instruction in the Catholic faith, dedicated and experienced educators,

Experience 50 Year Traditions of Christ-Centered Challenging Academics PK3-8th grades www.holyrosary.org 985-693-3342 12925 E 4th St • Larose, LA 70373 HRCS adheres to the non-discriminatory policy set by the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

Holy Cross Elementary School Striving to succeed, live and love as Jesus does

oly Cross Elementary School in Morgan City has entered a new era in the school’s history as principal of 40 years Mamie Bergeron has retired and Amanda Talbot has assumed the role of principal. Father Clyde Mahler is also new to Holy Cross Church parish, as he replaces pastor of eight years Father Danny Poche’. Holy Cross Elementary School is dedicated to faith formation, academic excellence and service to others. While living and imparting the Catholic faith is the mission of Holy Cross Elementary, the school offers an excellent academic curriculum, grades Pre-K3 through six, which has God’s Word, community building, worship and social service integrated throughout. At Holy Cross, we are called to model Jesus as we encourage self-respect, recognize the uniqueness of each child, and enable an academic and spiritually enriching atmosphere permeated with God’s message of love. Faith formation is an important component of each child’s education at Holy Cross Elementary School. Prayer throughout each school day; reflection time to communicate with God; administering of the sacraments; and all-school Masses mold students into caring, Christian adults. The Christian message is integrated into all phases of the school’s activities. Weekly classes in computer, art and music broaden students’ cultural perspectives while at the same time, teaching problem solving, communication, observation and group cooperation. The learning potential of a Holy Cross student is maximized through a technologyrich environment with a 3-to-1 student-to-computer ratio including interactive Promethean Boards and electronic tablets, multi-media projectors and teacher laptops. The interactive student response system, Expressions, encourages students to interact from anywhere in the classroom contributing to lessons and resulting in high impact instruction. Students’ education is further enhanced through E-books and online enrichment activities. Edline delivers grades and homework directly to parents’ home computers encouraging collaboration between parents, students and the classroom teacher. Service to others and an atmosphere of social concern, broaden and strengthen the environment at Holy Cross Elementary. The entire Holy Cross community - students, faculty, staff and families - participates in outreach and support to the elderly in assisted living facilities and nursing homes; environmental Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

conservation through recycling of cans and water bottles; collection of food for local food banks and Thanksgiving baskets. Additional projects include the collection of money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, and in the collection of baked goods for the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Department and other local community helpers. Teachers at Holy Cross Elementary encourage students to expand their horizons; channel their energy; strive to succeed; and live and love as Jesus does!

Maria Immacolata Catholic School ‘We make a difference’

aria Immacolata Catholic School in Houma has as its mission to continuously strive for “academic excellence within a Christian setting.” Nestled at the end of a quiet neighborhood on Estate Drive, this little school houses roughly 200 students throughout the school day. Despite its humble appearance, however, MICS has constructed a method that works. For years, this school has combined effective educators, rigorous coursework, and high expectations, resulting in generations of talented, lifelong learners. Under the direction of Prissy Davis, principal, Maria Immacolata is committed to maintaining its success. Immersed in Catholic tradition, Maria Immacolata emphasizes a strong faith base within its educational community. Every Wednesday morning, students, faculty and community members gather to celebrate the Eucharist together. Classes are given the opportunity to host a school Mass each week in which students recite Scripture, sing and praise the Word of God. In addition to this, students begin and end each day with prayer. The theme for this school year, “We Make a Difference,” provides students the opportunity to become more aligned with their faith, while modeling the true workings of Christ. MICS focuses on a virtue each month: Good Manners, Helping Others, Responsibility, Good Citizenship, Caring, Christian Attitude, Fairness, Respect, Trustworthiness and School Pride. Students of the Month are chosen from each class to represent each month’s virtue. Students of Maria Immacolata Catholic School have access to computers and iPads in every classroom, a fully-equipped computer lab, a mobile iPad lab, music, library and extracurricular programs. Extra-curricular programs include 4-H club, Beta Club, cross country kids, the Big Blue Newspaper, the big buddy program, and the VCHS band program. Throughout the year, students also participate in a wide variety of contests and competitions, such as Literary Rally and the social studies fair. Teachers use multi-sensory teaching strategies and guide students into activities that require critical thinking skills and a deeper understanding of concepts, making them college and career ready to become our future leaders. Maria Immacolata students are learning academic excellence in a Catholic environment. They are being prepared academically and spiritually to meet the challenges of today’s morally challenging and ever-changing society.

LAWRENCE CHATAGNIER/BAYOU CATHOLIC

All faculty, students, parents, grandparents and friends of Maria Immacolata are also part of the spirit of the school when it comes to faith and service. Everyone is encouraged to participate in service activities throughout the year, including: Change for Change (Missionaries of the Poor), local food bank drive, Coats for Kids, Toys for Tots, and the LA State Police stuffed animal project. Though almost 50 years old, Maria Immacolata Catholic School is certainly keeping up with the times. Through the incorporation of interactive whiteboards, wireless functionality, and a mobile iPad lab, entwined with a strong Catholic tradition, the formula that has always made this school a success is simply getting better. With this in mind, there is no question that Maria Immacolata will continue to produce talented, life-long learners for years to come. MICS can, and will, make a difference!

Maria Immacolata Catholic School 324 Estate Drive, Houma • 985.876.1631

Come Join Our Family! MICS welcomes new families to tour our school. Please call the office for a convenient time to visit! Preschool - 7th grade Strong Emphasis on Academic Excellence Challenging Curriculum with Hands-On Activities Interactive Technology Computer and IPad Labs Optional After-School Care Weekly School Liturgies and Daily Prayers Large Playground Establishing a new 3-year-old Program for 2015-2016

Maria Immacolata Catholic School is open to all students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, nationality or ethnicity. www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

St. Bernadette Catholic School Knowing God’s love and rejoicing in the gifts of his Spirit

o understand how St. Bernadette School is creating communities of faith, knowledge and service, one needs only to read the school’s mission statement, “St. Bernadette School is a Christ centered faith community, fostering spiritual growth and academic excellence. We strive to instill in our students a lifelong commitment to the learning of Christian values and to community service.” How does St. Bernadette school impart this statement? It offers a variety of progressive programs and activities that promote academic excellence, spiritual growth and service to the community, in a 76 safe, disciplined and nurturing environment. Dedicated faculty and staff seek to make successful learners of their students. In keeping with the Catholic School Week’s theme of creating communities of faith, knowledge and service, the school is heavily involved in year round activities that are fully committed to the spiritual formation of its students. To instill a community of faith, St. Bernadette is committed to the teaching of daily religion classes, the presentation of a traditional live Nativity and participation in the living rosary. Students attend weekly school liturgies, adoration and penance services. Events such as the blessing of animals, kindergarten rite of beginning and the Seder Meal are all celebrated annually. To instill a community of service, the school is committed to working with our local food bank and the St. Louis Infant’s Crisis Center. School families support parish shut-ins during the Christmas season and partner with the Kiwanis Club as they contribute to the annual coat drive. St. Bernadette families generously donate to all mission collections. Spiritual bouquets are prepared for neighbors during the Easter season and students accumulate service hours by participating in many service-oriented projects. To instill a community of knowledge St. Bernadette is committed to enhancing the curriculum with several enrichment programs: physical education, Spanish, computer, library and music. In addition there is a school-wide reading incentive program. Students have the opportunity to participate in a variety of clubs and other extracurricular programs such as an awardBayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

winning 4-H program, a Junior Beta Club, the Literary Rally, the Duke University Talent Program, student jobs, library helpers and the annual social studies fair and geography bee. There is also an ongoing commitment to updating technology. Today St. Bernadette continues to live the vision of the founding Dominican Sisters. Our children flourish in a spirit where Gospel values are infused into their school experience and where they know God’s love and can rejoice in the gifts of his spirit.

GREATER THINGS HAVE YET TO COME! Open House for New Families Thursday, February 5, 2015

Registration for New Families begins Monday, March 9, 2015

St. Bernadette Catholic School 985-872-3854 309 Funderburk Avenue • Houma, LA 70364 www.saintbernadettepandas.com St. Bernadette School does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex or religion

St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School Becoming future leaders of our church and community

t. Francis de Sales Cathedral School in Houma has as its mission to teach the students to not only learn the foundations of their faith, but to live their lives daily emulating the teachings of Jesus. Students at St. Francis attend religion class daily, and Mass weekly. Each class has the responsibility to plan their own class Masses and actively lead the school in prayer. The older students model the teachings of their faith for the younger students to witness and follow. This school year, both the student council and the Caritas Club at St. Francis have led the school in projects that have benefited the community through service. The student council sponsored a Geaux Pink Day to raise awareness of cancer and to raise funds to donate to the Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center at Terrebonne General Medical Center. St. Francis School raised $2171.97 in one day to help support cancer patients in our area. Through the generosity of many, the school was able to serve others within our community. The Caritas Club also led the school in a service project. The moderator and officers looked within the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux and chose to give back to and honor the seminarians. These young men, who are in training to one day lead our church, were the focus of the project. During Vocations Awareness Week, each class learned about vocations, prayed for the seminarians and all religious, and donated specific items for those men studying to become a priest. In addition, the students wrote cards of encouragement and made prayer cards for the men. All items, donated by the students, were then compiled into a care package for each seminarian. The students were witness to the amazing outpouring of support for this vocation. These two service projects, in addition to others to come this school year, are combinations of faith, knowledge and service. They represent our Catholic teachings and model how our faith can be put into action in our daily lives. At St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School, children of faith, knowledge and service are being developed to become the leaders of our church and our community in the future.

St. FranciS de SaleS cathedral School a tradition oF excellence

oPen hoUSe FOR PARENTS OF NEW STUDENTS FOR 2015-2016 SCHOOL YEAR WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015 9:00 A.M. PRE-SCHOOL & KINDERGARTEN AGE STUDENTS (TOUR WILL BE INCLUDED)

10:30 A.M. PARENTS OF 1 -7 GRADE STUDENTS ST

(TOUR WILL BE INCLUDED)

Open House will provide an opportunity for parents to tour the school and learn about the academic and extracurricular programs offered.

300 VERRET STREET V HOUMA, LA 70360 V PHONE 868-6646 V FAx 851-5896

www.stfrancishouma.org St. Francis de Sales Cathedral School is open to all students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, national, or ethnic origin.

www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

St. Genevieve Catholic School ‘We want to be all that we can be’

t. Genevieve Catholic School in Thibodaux strives to create an atmosphere that promotes a community of faith, knowledge and service. Our primary mission is the teaching of the Catholic faith. We offer a quality Catholic education for families in our area. We seek to know Christ in our daily school experiences and honor him in each individual. Our students are nurtured in all developmental areas – spiritually, intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally. Christ is the center of our school as evidenced by the deep spirituality that is developed here. The traditions that promote our faith and nurture our children are easily recognized when you walk through our doors. Our students know that they are loved and 78 share that love as they greet visitors in a warm and caring way. So many of the traditions at St. Genevieve Catholic School enrich our faith including Advent wreath lightings, the Epiphany Mass, and student responsibility for the ministries at our weekly school Masses. “Children of Mary” are very active on the campus, leading a decade of the rosary every first Friday of the month and during the recitation of the rosary during the month of October. Our students attend adoration twice a year during the school day, and are encouraged to attend an evening youth adoration monthly. The faculty works diligently to prepare our students for weekly Mass, always striving to help them attain a deeper understanding of Scripture. Our faith is woven into the entire school day and in all areas of academic instruction. We are particularly proud that our day begins with faculty prayer and special intentions. We are often asked to pray for students and graduates long after they have left our school and for others in our community who know us as “prayer warriors.” We are a family and take care of one another, in times of need and in times of celebration. At St. Genevieve School we strive to keep abreast of current teaching strategies by providing opportunities for professional development for our faculty. As a learning community, we set high standards for our students and ourselves. We know that we are held to a higher degree of responsibility and accountability, and accept the challenge. We have added 30 iPads and Microsoft tablets for student use, and an additional 10 iPads for the library to facilitate Accelerated Reading Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

testing. Our teachers have iPads for classroom use and are given many opportunities for professional growth though workshop and seminar attendance. Important to our mission is to instill in our students a sense of service to others. They first learn to take care of one another. Our seventh graders are “big buddies” to our kindergarten students. Students “pair off” at other grade levels, giving older students an opportunity to mentor and model good behavior for younger students. Through our student job program, students are given responsibility for the operation of their school. We have recess secretaries, teacher aides, P.E. helpers, a maintenance team, computer and library helpers, a sign team and flag bearers. We know that when students are included in the daily operation of their school, they have a sense of pride and ownership. They know that they are stakeholders. Our student service organization, “Patriots,” participate in several projects yearly to help raise funds for nonprofit organizations such as Hope for Animals, Crossroads Pregnancy Resource Center, and the Missionary Childhood Association. We have been recognized at a diocesan level as the top contributor to the Missionary Childhood Association for the past seven years. Our Patriots also visit and make holiday cards for the elderly and send cards to men and women in the military. We believe in ourselves and in our community. We want to be all that we can be. We are thankful for and grateful to all those who will help us on our journey, most especially, our Lord.

ST. GENEVIEVE CATHOLIC SCHOOL 2015-2016 Registration March 9 - March 13 9:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. Before-Bell Program (7:00-7:45 a.m.) After-Bell Program (3:15-5:30 p.m.) “My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.” - Charles F. Kettering Ponder a moment that quote from an elementary student’s point of view. How seriously we must take our role in their future! We are here to touch that future, dramatically. We hope that you see our school as an investment in the future.

807 Barbier Avenue • Thibodaux, LA

(985) 447-9291 stgenevieveschool.us

St. Genevieve School invites and encourages members of all races, nationalities, and faiths that support our values and traditions to apply.

St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic School Celebrating 51 years of academic excellence and Catholic values scavenger hunt where students go out into the community and gather food items for needy families, nursing home activities, an annual production of the passion play, and a baby shower for Jesus where students donate items to the Louis Infant’s Crisis Center. Our school collaborates with our parish and our families to develop our children into future church leaders and citizens. Faith development, academic excellence, and dedication to service are the elements that make Catholic schools special, what sets them apart from other educational opportunities. Here at St. Gregory, we are building God’s kingdom, one child at a time.

t. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic School in Houma takes its role in building communities of faith, knowledge and service very seriously. We believe that our school is a community in itself, but that we are also part of larger communities of home, church, city and nation. This year’s theme of the NCEA’s Catholic Schools Week, “Catholic Schools, Communities of Faith, Knowledge and Service,” identifies integral components of a Catholic education. Each day at St. Gregory begins with a prayer assembly that includes all faculty and students. We pray together as a school family. This special time together has allowed us time to pray for each other, pray for special intentions, to learn about the saint of the day and how each saint’s life can help us to learn how to live a life of Christ. We also recognize our disciples of the month, which are students who manifest the life of Christ. St. Gregory students sponsor a parish Mass on the third Sunday of every month. The children proclaim the readings, read the prayers of the faithful and present the offertory gifts. This is the school’s way of reaching out to and getting to know our parishioners, as many of our students are members of other parishes. At the Louisiana State Junior Beta Convention in May 2013, St. Gregory’s Beta Club placed first in state and fourth at the national level for Outstanding Service. In a state with over 282 active clubs, some with memberships in the hundreds, St. Gregory’s 30 members were able to come out on top in the service they provide for others. In May 2014, St. Gregory’s club placed fourth in the state. St. Gregory’s Beta and 4-H clubs participate in 28 service projects for the school and 30 service projects that benefit the community. Community service projects that the clubs participate in include a Thanksgiving

St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic School strives to ensure the spiritual formation and academic success of all its students in a Christ centered environment.

Registration for current students: February 23 - 27 New student registration: March 9 - 13 ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥

Positive, Nurturing, Family Environment Commitment to Academic Excellence Accredited by AdvancED Active, Award Winning 4-H and BETA Club State-of-the-Art Computer Lab/Weekly Instruction on use of Microsoft Office Components Chords and Canvases Music and Art Program Active Parent/Grandparent/Teacher Organization Large Fenced in Playground Live Nativity and Passion Play Daily Religious Instruction Weekly Masses Disciples of the Month Smart Boards in All Classrooms and Lab iPad Technology for Students’ Use Before and After School Care with Homework Assistance Vandebilt Elementary Band Program in Grades 5th – 7th Title I Reading and Math Lab Speech Therapy Accelerated Reader Program

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St. Gregory Barbarigo Catholic School does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, or national origin.

www.bayoucatholic.com

Catholic Schools Week

St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School

A faith-filled, family oriented community

n keeping with our mission, St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School in Thibodaux embraces the idea of faith, knowledge and service born out of a school-based, family-centered community where the ultimate goal is to educate the total child. Our instructional goals focus on the spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional and physical development of each child; just as in a family. Our family value is evident in the everyday faith based activities that exist in our school. We center our instructional day around faith in God and the teachings and examples of Jesus by starting and ending each day in prayer. Daily morning and afternoon prayers include dedications to positive character traits, teachings of the lives of Saints, and recitation of the traditional prayers of our Catholic faith. A decade of the rosary is recited 80 as a school on Monday mornings over our intercom system. School Mass is celebrated each Friday led by different grade levels of the student body with many of our students sharing their gift of voice and music in the school choir. On Tuesday and Thursday mornings before school, our faculty takes time to pray as a group in our meditation garden, setting an example of nurturing faith even in the busiest of times. We foster our connection to St. Joseph Co-Cathedral Church by participating monthly in school led parish liturgies and being a part of the living rosary during the month of October. We promote the teaching of positive behaviors, empowering and educating students to use pro-social tools to work through relationships and interactions on a daily basis through our Open Your Heart program and Paws-i-tive Prints recognition whereby kind acts from the heart are acknowledged and the student is pictured on a wall to be recognized for their good deeds. Our outreach to community is evident through various service projects completed by our students and school family. The student council sponsors a Thanksgiving food drive each year, donating food to our local Good Samaritan Food Bank. Students and parents donate gifts at Christmastime for needy families through The Giving Tree project at St. Joseph Church. Our school families annually participate in the Missionary Childhood Association, donating money to feed and clothe the neediest children throughout the world. By participating in numerous sports activities with other schools in our larger civil parish and diocesan communities, we demonstrate pride in our school by exhibiting good sportsmanship and development of body and mind. Our school recently established a Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

chapter of Builders Club, the youth organization linked with Key Club International, dedicated to community service projects. Here at St. Joseph, we are a vibrant, living school, striving daily to continue living our lives as a faithfilled, family-oriented community that imparts knowledge of God, academics and social relations by interactive service and community participation. Go Jaguars!

OPEN HOUSE FOR NEW FAMILIES FEBRUARY 5th - 6:00 P.M.

Catholic Education Rooted in Faith

Continuing the Tradition of Providing a Quality Catholic Education since 1855

A Values-Oriented Curriculum Fostering Individual Growth Spiritually, Morally, Academically & Socially • Nationally Accredited by AdvancED • Committed to Academic Rigor and Technology Integration • Dedicated, caring, certified Faculty & Staff • State of the Art Library, Computer Lab & Promethean Classrooms • A.C.T./Aspire Testing Program • Full-Day Pre-K for Four-Year-Olds • Daily Prayer & Weekly School Liturgies • Student Clubs, Sports Teams, Music/Band/Art Programs • Attention to Special Academic Needs • Optional Before & After School Care

St. Joseph Catholic Elementary School 501 Cardinal Drive • Thibodaux, LA 70301 (985) 446-1346 • FAX (985) 449-0760 stjoeelm@htdiocese.org • www.edline.net

St. Joseph C.E.S. does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion, national, or ethnic origin and is open to students who share our values and traditions.

St. Mary’s Nativity School A community of faith through service

St. James said that “faith without works is dead,” and because of its dedication to service—to each other, to the community, and to the world—St. Mary’s Nativity School proves that its faith is fervent. St. Mary’s Nativity School in Raceland is a tightknit community of students, teachers, staff, parents and grandparents. The tie that binds these separate entities together is service. Teachers have only to express a need to have students jump at the chance to help. Faculty and staff are there for each other through troubles and trials. And when larger projects loom, parents and grandparents volunteer countless hours. From the moment the student arrives at St. Mary’s, faith is emphasized. This year each family received a rosary as the children were dropped off at school on the first day. Morning prayers begin with a remembrance of those who have asked for our help. So many of our organizations at St. Mary’s offer service. The Pre-K 4 classroom helps Hope for Animals. Caritas does a coat drive for the Good Samaritan Thrift Store. Beta Club is responsible for a heart-warming program for veterans every November and for tutoring. Several activities lend aid to Chez Hope. Once a month a “family” from St. Mary’s, a group of students of differing classes and ages, cheer seniors at the nursing home by singing at Mass and holding lively conversations. The student choir sings at all school Masses and for a Christmas concert at the Lafourche Central Market. Members of 4-H and their parents keep the gardens around school beautiful. And students from St. Mary’s are altar servers for parish funerals. At Easter the middle school students arrange Easter baskets for the Louis Infant’s Crisis Center and the orphanage. At Christmas they adopt a family to ensure a warmer Christmas than they could have afforded. Our PTA and Grandparents Club raise money for the school through various activities, including a gala/ auction, a huge garage sale, and two book fairs a year. This year the annual Christmas pageant, a gift the school gives free to the community, will center on the virtues the students are learning about through the Virtue-Based Discipline program. Yes, faith is alive at St. Mary’s, and our good works prove it.

St. Mary’s Nativity School “Believe in Christ, Succeed with Christ and Achieve with Christ”

985-537-7544

2015 - 2016 In House Registration February 23-27, 2015 New Student Registration March 9-13, 2015

St. Mary’s school is open to all students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion or ethnic origin.

3492 Nies Street • Raceland, Louisiana 70394 www.bayoucatholic.com

Young Voices Service is a huge part of my educational experience at E.D. White Catholic High School. As a member of Key Club, I enjoy volunteering at nursing homes and visiting with the elderly. As a member of Right to Life, I help to spread the message of “respect for all life” in my school and community. Serving others in this beautiful community helps me to grow closer to Christ, the true model of service.

James “Winston” Ardoin II, 10th grade E.D. White Catholic High School

How do you demonstrate your faith through service to others?

82 Working with kids in the St. Anthony of Gheens Community is a fun way I get to demonstrate my faith through service. These kids want to be involved, which is such a blessing. One of the best things about helping kids is learning from them. Children have a happiness that sometimes gets lost in the business of life. Having fun with them is a way of keeping the childlike happiness in my faith and everyday life.

Samantha Clark, 11th grade Vandebilt Catholic High School

By attending Central Catholic High School, I am given the opportunity to profess my faith in service to others in different ways. One way I profess my faith is helping with Children’s Church. When I help at church, I am able to read and discuss Scripture readings with the children. Another way to profess my faith is volunteering to read at a school Mass. Reading at Mass gives me a chance to stand in front of the people while they sit with Jesus and listen to his word.

Tyler Longman, 9th grade Central Catholic High School

Bayou Catholic • Houma, LA • January 2015

One way I demonstrate my faith to others is by being a student volunteer at St. Mary Outreach. I am able to help the less fortunate members of our community. It is very rewarding to volunteer my time and be the light of Christ to those who need it most. I am also a member of the retreat team. One of my responsibilities, as a retreat team leader, is to help plan class retreats that help me and other students grow in their faith. I feel service, to others, strengthens my faith and allows others to see Christ.

Paige Thomas, 12th grade Central Catholic High School

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Catholic Schools

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JANUARY 2015