Over 10 years, I felt invitations in prayer to discern the priesthood. But like many of my brother priests, it was an invitation I did not originally want to receive. I was the guy who wanted a big family. I played sports, dated girls, traveled around the world, studied business, and I was the president of a college fraternity.
Originally our pilgrimage to Italy was scheduled for September 2017, the month of our 50th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately, the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and the flooding at St. Ignatius of Loyola Catholic Church forced us to postpone the trip to January 2018. When we arrived in Rome, the weather was cold, rainy and windy, but it did not faze any of us. We were determined to move on with our pilgrimage, for God’s plan through the Holy Spirit was for it to be a trip never to be forgotten.
Our very first footsteps were taken in the context of our Christian families. Bible stories, often illustrated in Sunday school with flannelgraphs, are among the most vivid memories my husband and I have from childhood.
During the Centennial Year of the Diocese of Lafayette, we traveled to the land of the Acadians and visited Montréal, Québec City and Nova Scotia.
Dear Pilgrim Family,
As we reflect on the last year, words cannot express the gratitude and blessings we have experienced in the last 12 months.
Joan and Carl Broussard embarked on a pilgrimage cruise of the Mediterranean Sea in October 2016 with heavy hearts. Family issues were weighing on them, but as they learned, no problem is too big for our good and merciful God.
My friends, I am here to tell you Jesus is not dead, but alive. We have seen him with our own eyes. We have touched him with our own hands and tongue. We have consumed him into our bodies. Jesus has risen and we are witnesses to these things.
When Fr. Herb Bennerfield visited EWTN Studios and the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama, during a retreat in 2015, he knew he wanted to bring his parishioners there. In 2016, Magnificat Travel led a group from St. Joseph’s Church during Memorial Day weekend.
In the weeks before our mission trip to Puerto Rico, I felt I was not prepared emotionally, mentally or spiritually. During our stay at the retreat center, I felt that my heart came to know God just a little bit more.