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This spring the Ragin’ Cajun Catholics were running as to win (1 Cor. 9:24)! After a jam-packed fall semester of fun, fellowship, and the introduction of FOCUS bible studies, the Catholic Student Center experienced a level of growth and excitement like never before. We can see the fruits of our efforts in the faces of our UL students.
Evyn Perry, Center for the Ragin’ Cajun Football team, has participated in a weekly bible study since the fall of 2011 and was inspired to grow in his faith through the sacraments. He expressed his new found knowledge of scripture this way: “Every week, every single [verse] we cover opens up a whole universe that I didn’t
even know existed.” The men in this unique football player bible study learn about the difficulty in going against the grain of popular culture and standing firm in their values as they come to recognize the importance of being true leaders on the team and on campus.
Kyle White, already an active member of the Ragin’ Cajun Catholics Student Ministry, received new inspiration from the FOCUS missionary team to courageously spread the gospel across campus. Kyle now leads a weekly bible study for his peers. This fall, Our Lady of Wisdom Church will sponsor Kyle as he enters St. Ben’s Seminary in Covington, LA. Kyle will join six others who will also study for the priesthood for Our Lady of Wisdom!Renee Stafford (pictured middle), a sophomore in Tri Delta sorority, participates in a weekly bible study about courageous women of the Old
Testament. The group of young women discusses significant issues such as dating, drinking, self worth and the meaning of life. Renee shares that, “When things get stressful, [bible study] gives me a fresh perspective and helps me to realize that everything in my life is there for a reason and that God has a plan for me.”
We are reaching, challenging, and inspiring students in their walk with Christ thanks to the prayers and support of benefactors like you!
Serving the community at theUniversity of Louisiana at Lafayette
Ragin’ Cajun Catholics Geauxing Strong
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Chaplain’s Corner
“I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” John 15:5
Fruitful. There is no better word that I can think of to describe the past year here at Our Lady Wisdom Church and Catholic Student Center. Between the numerous opportunities for authentic Catholic formation and the great work the FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionary team has done, we have much to rejoice about this summer. The Lord has blessed our ministry to the students here at UL with abundant fruit, particularly in the area of vocations! In the fall of this year we will have seven men studying for the priesthood for Our Lady of Wisdom. One other young man will join a monastery, and three others will study for the priesthood in their own parishes. In May, Andre Metrejean, one of our seminarians was ordained to the transitional diaconate in preparation for his priestly ordination next summer. This August, both Juan Pagán and Keith Duhon will be ordained to the permanent diaconate for the parish and will spend their time ministering to the students and parishioners.
In addition to an increase in vocations, your support has allowed us to have a spring semester of unparalleled fruitfulness:• Daily Mass averaged about 100 students in attendance, and I heard at least an hour of confessions every day of the week.• Nearly 180 students regularly attended weekly FOCUS bible studies, along with 35 students in discipleship training. • Five students committed to giving two years of their lives after they finish college to serve as FOCUS missionaries.• At the Easter Vigil four were baptized as new Catholics and three others were brought into full communion with the Church.
But none of this fruitfulness would be possible without your prayerful support. I want to thank everyone who supports our ministry to the students here at UL – we can’t do it without you.
I pray you have a blessed summer! Thanks for being a Ragin’ Cajun Catholic!
In the Risen Lord,
Rev. Bryce Sibley, S.T.L.
FR. BRYCE SIBLEY
PASTOR & CHAPLAINRev. Bryce Sibley, S.T.L.
PASTORAL ASSISTANTJeane Moya
CAMPUS MINISTERSPaul George
[email protected] Pagán
FOCUS TEAM DIRECTORJohn Merkle
DEVELOPMENT TEAMKatie Austin
[email protected] Langley Hernandez
DIRECTOR OF LITURGICAL MUSIC
Duston [email protected]
AQUINAS INSTITUTEAmy Stout
MARRIAGE & FAMILY MINISTRYRobin Hebert
OFFICE STAFFColette LeBlanc, Receptionist
Wayne Angelle, Facility Maintenance Manager
SISTERS OF OUR LADYOF SORROWS
Sr. Fatima Aphiri, OLSSr. Delnise Silva, OLS
OFFICE: (337) 232-8742FAX: (337) 236-6737
www.ragincajuncatholics.org
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This spring, the Ragin’ Cajun Catholics reached out
beyond the campus, bringing Christian artists Matt Maher and Audry Assad in concert to the Heymann Performing Arts Center. Matt’s album Empty and Beautiful won the 2008 Catholic album of the year! Over 1,300 people, including hundreds of new college stu-dents, attended this spirit-filled event. What a witness to the vi-brant faith life in our Catholic community!
Ragin’ Cajun CatholicsEvangelize theDigital Continent
“Students are interacting, net-working, and sharing through social media and we are able to bring a higher purpose to that virtual terrain by engaging stu-dents spiritually, intellectually, and morally.” --Father Sibley
The Ragin’ Cajun CATHOLIC
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Parks, LAUL Junior
French Major
“Through my experiences at the Catholic Student Center over the past few years, God has subtly re-vealed His will for me. While I have had numer-
ous leadership and service opportunities, I am most appreciative of the Sacra-ments that are readily available. God’s grace has molded me on each occasion where I am blessed to celebrate Mass, receive the Eucharist, and go to Confession! Our Lady of Wisdom Church is filled with good-hearted people who care about one another and who have been instrumental in keeping me disciplined with my prayer-life, studies and time management. During my time at the Catholic Student Center, my peers and the Campus Min-isters have given me guidance and encouragement to be brave, give everything to God, and to actively discern God’s call to religious life. My discernment has led me to join the Norbertine Order in Orange County, California, in the fall of 2012. The Norbertines are an ancient order founded in France that follows the Augustinian rule. They live a life style similar to monks, but they are priests, so they are active within the lay community. I am attracted to the Norbertines’ strong prayer life, which includes Mass, Adoration, Liturgy of the Hours and a devotion to Our Lady and the Rosary, in addition to the personal time they spend in prayer and fasting. I am truly blessed by my formation journey and for the staff and benefactors who helped to make my journey possible! Being involved at Our Lady of Wisdom Church and the Catholic Student Center has prepared me to grow in holiness each day and in my future vocation.”
Alex AlbertKenner, LA
Quinn HebertSt. Martinville, LA
Kyle WhiteLafayette, LA
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“During my years as a UL Lafayette stu-dent, I have grown in my faith journey through my involvement with the Ragin’ Cajun Catholics. My involvement be-gan with social events like Friday Lunch With the Lord, and eventually deepened to include daily Mass and serving as an extraordinary minister, altar server, and Catholic Campus Ministry Leadership Team member.
During my senior year, Fr. Sibley an-nounced that the church was initiating an e-Giving program. Initially, I was reluctant to use e-Giving because I was familiar with the envelope system. I re-ally liked physically giving my wrapped gift as an offering at Sunday Mass. My
mind-set changed when my class (2011) set up a class gift fund for Wisdom. When I found out that I could contrib-ute to the class fund and offer my weekly tithe through e-Giving, I went for it!
Recently, I moved to Florida to become a missionary for the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). Thankfully, e-Giving has enabled me to continue my support for the Church and Catholic Student Center because my gifts are automatically transferred every month. I even receive an email to re-mind me of the transaction!
Just this May, my wife Kristen and I were married at Our Lady of Wisdom Church.
Fr. Sibley and Easton and Robin Hebert blessed us with their guidance through the marriage preparation process. Along with the support and example of many wonderful Catholic families who are pa-rishioners here, the formation we’ve re-ceived is invaluable and immeasurable. We hope to return home to Lafayette someday, and we want to make sure that the place that gave us so much continues to grow and has even more to offer our family when we return.”
Rev. Mr. Andre Metrejean
Transitional Deacon
Blake DubrocMarksville, LA
Brent SmithLafayette, LA
Ben FrederickHouma, LA
BenefactorSpotlight
Trey Johnson’s path to becoming a faithful benefactor high-lights how anyone, from anywhere, and at any stage in life can support the vital
mission of the Ragin’ Cajun Catholic Student Center.
Trey JohnsonB.S. in Mechanical Engineering ‘11
Trey and his wife Kristen
The Ragin’ Cajun Catholics were featured in the May 6th issue of the National Catholic Register!
Cajun Catholics Find Home at University of Louisiana at Lafayette“Like gumbo, Catholic campus ministry gets served six ways to Sunday, depending on who is doing the cooking and what goes into
the pot...” Read the complete article at www.ncregister.com.
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The association that Our Lady of Wisdom shares in her service to the community at the University
of Louisiana at Lafayette offers distinct intellectual formation opportunities for students and a path for Wisdom’s in-volvement in the academic life of the University.
In the 1950s, that association took shape in the form of a “Catholic Culture Lec-ture Series” initiated by UL Faculty and Staff. The purpose of the series was to bring well-known speakers to the campus to discuss issues relevant to the Church, which were also of interest to the campus community. This series expanded into two additional series: the “Newman Fo-rum” and the “Cardinal Lecture” series.
Despite the impressive track record of the lecture series during the 1950s-60s, the Newman Lecture Series was eventu-ally discontinued. Since his appointment as Pastor and Chaplain in 2010, Father Sibley has been working to restore the Newman Lecture Series as the central event for students’ intellectual forma-tion. Dr. Brant Pitre, professor of sacred scripture at Notre Dame Seminary, Dr. Joseph Pearce, Catholic literary scholar
and professor at Ave Maria University, and Bishop Glen Provost helped to initi-ate the rebirth of the lecture series.
Most recently, the Newman Lecture Se-ries featured Bishop James Conley from the Archdiocese of Denver. Bishop Con-ley’s timely lecture recounted how cur-rent atheistic trends radically alter our concept of democracy, thus resulting in a restriction of religious freedom. Andrew Chauvin, a senior at UL Lafayette and an involved campus ministry member, said he was thankful to attend the lecture and appreciated Bishop Conley’s perspective when he shared, “The poor will always be with us, and because of that, indi-vidual charity must prevail. We cannot depend on external agencies or govern-ment agencies to solve our world’s social problems.”
During the next academic year, with continued support from Ragin’ Cajun Catholic Alumni and friends, Our Lady of Wisdom hopes to further expand The Newman Lecture Series by offering four lectures per year. We strive to keep at the forefront of our ministerial efforts our students’ intellectual formation during this pivotal time in their academic career.
Rebirth of the
Bishop James Conley
Dr. Joseph Pearce
Bishop Glen John Provost
Dr. Brant Pitre
For more information or to join the Newman Club Alumni Chapter at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, email [email protected]. Go to www.ragincajuncatholics.org andclick on “Alumni” for alumni news and upcoming alumni events.
Newman Club Alumni Chapter
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This semester, because of your support, we have been able to reach more students with the Gospel of Jesus Christ than ever before! Your financial support enables us to create program-ming that is life giving, challenging, and that inspires our young Church to go forth and become the men and women God created them to be.
As Trey Johnson shared in our Benefactor Spotlight, your finan-cial gifts can be given electronically. Here are a few reasons to consider enrolling in RAGIN’ CAJUN CATHOLIC DIRECT:
•E-Giving is easy, as you do not need to keep track of ap-peal envelopes or pledge forms. •E-Giving is helpful because you can set your budget for charitable contributions and simplify your bookkeeping. •E-Giving is rewarding because you directly affect the experience of the students we serve at UL Lafayette!•E-Giving helps to create seamless financial planning as we budget based on the generous support of Ragin’ Cajun Catholic alumni and friends, as well as parents and the local community. •E-Giving is efficient and enables our staff to be more available to serve our students.
To enroll in RAGIN’ CAJUN CATHOLIC DIRECT just go to www.RaginCajunCatholics.org and click “Donate Now.” You have total control over your monthly contributions. Gifts may be in-creased, stopped, or modified at any time. Questions? Contact us at (337) 232-8742.
Thank you for your continued support and prayers for the Ragin’ Cajun Catholic Student Ministry. We could not be successful in building the kingdom of God here at UL Lafayette without you!
Yours in Christ,
The Development Team
Katie Austin Mary Langley Hernandez
Help Us Greaux
Catholic Student CenterOur Lady of Wisdom Catholic ChurchUniversity of Louisiana at LafayetteP.O. Box 42371Lafayette, LA 70504
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Serving the community at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette
...and make disciples of all CAJUNS!
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Introducing the “Ragin’ Cajun Catholic Dome”This spring, Lafayette’s own Cajundome auctioned off temporary naming rights to aid families affected by cancer. The “Ragin’ Cajun Catholic Dome” raised awareness about our unique mission to serve the community of UL.
