On Holy Saturday The Diocese of Lafayette Brings Hope To the Whole Worldwide Church

We entered this Holy Week as Catholics come under the microscope of the world wide press .

Because of that , I suggest the Catholic World turn it's eyes to the little ole Diocese of Lafayette Louisiana. Tonight they along with the rest of the world celebrated Christians Most Holy Night. See the pics.

It was in this largely rural Diocese the scandal of Catholic Clergy sexual abuse first broke wide open. In fact there was a TV movie based on it that was in re runs way before the horrors of places like Boston was known.

Cajuns are an incredible great people. They have their faults (Yeah they do trust me) but it is hard to imagine a better people you would not want to have as your neighbors or in your family. They generally get the maxium that is the success to all life. That is WORK HARD ,PLAY HARD , AND PRAY HARD.

Though at times they need to be reminded that Pray hard should take precedence over play hard

For whatever reason in God's will after I became Catholic I became friends with many Catholics that were having to endure the aftermath of this evil in this Diocese. Well not so much aftermath but living it in full and living color.

There were make no mistake casualties including people that lost their faith in this Diocese because of this evil . But most held on and believed in the Risen Lord and his promise. Despite the hurt , the sense of betrayal we see a diocese that now has recovered.

In fact their vocations , which is a good sign of health, do seem to be great now . Even better than pre scandal numbers.

From this largely salt of the earth Dicoese , they were the first that felt the scandal that we Catholics have had to come to grips with. YET as we see in these photos the Easter Candle and Easter fire burned brightly tonight in Lafayette. There is hope and after purification there is grace.

I suppose people get annoyed at me why I am not more shocked. Why I am not more angry. Well I came into the Church eyes wide open and it was the GRACE of Christ working through these people in Lafayette that I now recall. Their faith given through the Risen Lord we celebrate tonight is what I recall and for one reason I know the outcome. A lot of everyday Jesus loving Catholics in the Diocese of Lafayette gave me a preview of the ultimate outcome years ago.

Happy Easter!!!