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.

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.

I knew very little about Pope Francis when I saw him for the first time on a pilgrimage to Rome in April 2013. This was my first trip to Rome and surely my first experience seeing a pope.

Sunday brought us to St. Peter’s Basilica. The magnificence of St. Peter’s is a powerful, palpable thing. Here, 25 years previous, on Trinity Sunday, our pastor was ordained. When Father Tom joined us to celebrate Mass, he was radiant. We could feel his joy and were witness to his serenity. Mass was said in the Chapel of St. Sebastian at the tomb of St. John Paul II, who had ordained Father Tom. We all felt especially blessed. A year of hoping, planning, anticipating had come to fruition.