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"Let us remember that Catholic schools are a mission of our Church, and we are called to protect those under our care."

By JoAnna Wahlund 10 June AD 2015 Personal reflection and experiences with a 4th miscarriage. (Updated 11/14/15)

Several weeks ago after giving a lecture at a religious conference, the first question from the audience was this one: How can you continue to stay in a church that played such a pivotal part in setting up and maintaining residential schools for the indigenous people of Canada? How can you stay in a church that did that?

Are you ready for the “piece de resistance” of tiny rascal prayer focus techniques???

Are you ready for the “piece de resistance” of tiny rascal prayer focus techniques???

On behalf of St. John the Evangelist Church in Prairieville, I would like to thank you for The Catholic Commentator article on our July 17-18 clothing drive for the St. Vincent de Paul Society. 

St. Mark’s Gospel for the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, which we heard the weekend of July 10-11, spoke of Jesus sending out his chosen Twelve Apostles on a mission of preaching repentance or “metanoia,” a Greek word meaning not only to have sorrow for sin but also to see our lives as a gift from God and a calling to serve others. 

The Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Diocese of Baton Rouge will host “Return to Love: Red Stick Catholic Fest 2021” on Saturday, Aug. 21, from 1-9 p.m., at St. John the Evangelist Church in Prairieville. 

As they learned, prayed, played and served together, rising high school juniors and seniors looked more deeply at their vocational calling during The Franciscan Experience Summer Institute (TFE). The event was held July 12-16 at the Bishop Robert E. Tracy Center in Baton Rouge.

Jesus waits in adoration chapels across the Diocese of Baton Rouge for people to come to him with everything that is on their hearts and minds and in their souls. 

With some COVID restrictions now lifted, I am now able to use holy water and sign myself when I enter our church.  Why do we do this?

Catholic school students in the Diocese of Baton Rouge will be able to receive free breakfast and lunch, courtesy of a federal program initially launched a year ago and extended for the 2021-22 school year.

Once considered a best kept secret in Baton Rouge, Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady University is on the verge of taking its rightful place as an educational giant. 

In the July 16 issue we focused on how the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd, thus they follow him. Here we continue the thread of the Good Shepherd, turning now to the most basic need of life … food. Food for the body; food for the soul; food for eternal life. God provides.

Using the image of “heart of a father” or “patris corde,” Pope Francis describes St. Joseph as “an accepting father.”  

Bishop Stanley J. Ott is shown sharing  a special moment with St. Teresa of Kolkata during her visit to Baton Rouge in 1985. St. Mother Teresa visited Baton Rouge several times from 1985-1987 when she sought to establish her order, the Missionaries of Charity, in the city. Answering a request from Bishop Ott, St. Mother Teresa sent four women religious to open a house of ministry to serve unwed mothers and their babies in Baton Rouge. Photo by Marie Constantin | Courtesy of Archives Department, Diocese of Baton Rouge

On Oct. 4, the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, a national campaign will kick off to encourage and inspire participation in the Vatican’s global action platform based on Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si’” (“On Care for Our Common Home”). 

Mask wearing for Catholic school students in the Diocese of Baton Rouge will be optional for the 2021-22 school year.  Additionally, students will not be required to provide vaccination status, according to protocols announced by Bishop Michael G. Duca in a letter released to July 15. 

August 7-8, 2021

Weather has taken a toll on what was once majestic beauty, a beacon of faith that soothed generations of faithful for more than a century. Beneath the sun-induced wrinkles and-rain-pelted blotches, her elegance remains, crying for a dab of makeup and perhaps even a hint of gloss. St. Mary’s Chapel stands proudly on River Road in Union, shuttered but with the voices and images of 150 years of memories etched in her charming interior. The chapel, originally built in 1875, continues to hold a special place for those who grew up attending Mass in the church that calls the Sunshine Bridge in Donaldsonville its neighbor.