Clergy Corner

January 19, 2025

Did you know that in the Vatican II document, Unitatis redintegratio (Restoration of unity), it refers to Non-Catholics as "Separated Brothers & Sisters"? The Council affirms that “all men form but one community”. This is so because they “all stem from the one stock which God created to people the entire earth” and they “all share a common destiny, namely God”, whose “providence, evident goodness, and saving designs extend to all men”.

This entire week is devoted to praying for Unity among all Christians, so that we see the goodness of working together, even amongst our differences. Over the last few decades, the one area that has unified the different Denominations is the work to end abortion and to meet the needs of women who need assistance prior to, during, and after their pregnancies. So right in the middle of this week of praying for Christian Unity is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn. 

On Wednesday, January 22 we are called to pray for the Legal Protection of the Unborn. As you are aware this is a hotly debated topic in our culture, even among Catholics; yet the Church stands strong on this issue. We as a Church respect life from the moment of conception until natural death, so we are called to stand up for the rights of the unborn, as well as, every life. Please take time this week to pray for Unity among all Christians, especially pray for the Rights of the Unborn. As you all know the Adoration Chapel is open 24-7 to stop by and voice a short prayer, pray a Chaplet of Divine Mercy or Meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary, or just sit in silence with our Lord in solidarity with others. If you are able please consider making Jan 22th a day of fasting or a day of almsgiving. Together we can continue to make a difference by being the people who strive for unity and peace. 

-Father Lamar


January 12, 2025

I hit the trifecta this week! A baptism, a wedding, and a funeral! The cycle of life... 
Did you know that an average of 10,000 babies are born every day in the United States and approximately 7,708 deaths occur each day! Catholic churches in the U.S. baptize approximately 595,000 babies a year (2019 stat), compared to over a million 50 years ago.

We all know that churches in the United States have experienced a diminishment over the last decade, even though the Catholic Church has seen a rise in adults coming into the Church at Easter. It is also well known that one of the reasons for this is the poor catechesis of the faith over the last 50+ years, both in homes and in parish religious education programs. It seems the tide has turned in terms of education over the last several years with the number of online programs such as The Catechism in a Year, The Bible in a Year, Formed, and numerous podcasts like Catholic Answers.

Here at St John's and Our Lady we are trying to address this as well. Over the past year we tried implementing the Family of Faith program without much success, so we will be shifting gears and relying on a program that did work in the past, the tried and true, Baltimore Catechism. As many of you remember, this Catechism used a question/answer format, like "Why did God create you?" Many people, older than 60, will remember the answer, "God created me to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this life and be eternally happy with him in heaven". Hopefully constantly teaching the faith, presenting more biblical instruction, and quizzing the youth will help them learn the faith and grow in their understanding of the faith. But we need your assistance as well. Please talk about the Faith with your children and grandchildren, quiz them on the 7 lively virtues & 7 deadly sins, the 10 Commandments, their Prayers, the Precepts of the Church, and Biblical Text. 

Together we can turn the tide here at SJB/OLA! Together we can make our Church stronger! Together we can all grow in our relationship with the One True God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit! Together we can help one another live our Baptism!                                          

 -Father Lamar


January 5, 2025

Abraham Lincoln once said, "In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years." 
As we begin this New Year, may each and every day be filled with life, laughter, and love for you and your loved ones; make the most of each day! 

Today we celebrate the Wise Men arriving to pay homage to the "newborn king"! Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar presenting Jesus with gold, frankincense, and myrrh - gold, the gift for a king; frankincense, the gift for a priest to use in worship; and myrrh, the gift for a dead man.; all costly, all prophetic of what this child will be and do; a sign of what we are to be and do as well!

We are all baptized into the Kingship of Christ to rule along with him! We are a people who act with justice, who protect what has been given and to build up the kingdom we rule with Christ! We are all baptized to worship! To offer our lives like incense, to constantly offer back to God what God has given 3, 4, 10-fold, to offer our song of Thanksgiving!

This is our day as Gentiles to celebrate, this is the day we recognize that Christ did not just come for the lost children of Israel, but he came for all people!
May we make sure to share our light so that others will know the goodness of the Lord! 
Don't forget to mark your entry to your home today to celebrate the Epiphany with, 20 + C + M + B + 25 to invite the Maji to visit you! and to ask the Lord to bless your home, Christus mansionem benedicat! 
- May Christ Bless the House"! 

Happy New Year and Blessed Epiphany!

-Father Lamar


December 29, 2024

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. We celebrate our own families. We celebrate the family unit, the classroom of love. And the Church places before us the trio of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, the model of family life! How would you feel if you had to raise the Son of God? All I can imagine is it would be like catching a fly ball and making sure you don't drop it! Poor Mary and Joseph, I have great compassion for the pressure they must have felt and great admiration for them for the wonderful love they showered Jesus with!
They model for us how to stand together, how to support one another, how to deal with tribulations, and how to comfort one another. In our culture today we are consistently told to cut off toxic people from our lives, to cancel those who do not agree with our view of life, to root out anyone that makes us uncomfortable. I ask you, is this the mind of God?

Jesus' greatest prayer was that we may be one as he and his Father are one! That is what the Father longs for, for us to be one, and it begins in our families. May we forgive one another as Jesus forgives, may we have compassion for one another as Jesus did, and may we reach out especially to those who are disconnected from the family unit just as Jesus did in his ministry going after those who were disconnected from the nation of Israel.

John tells us in his Gospel, Jesus does not lose anyone the Father has given him. May we have the same attitude in our own families! It may not be easy, but it is worth the struggle! 
Have a blessed, Happy New Year!

-Father Lamar


December 22, 2024

We all know the Beatles hit, "All you need is Love"; "All you need is love, love, love is all you need". That is the candle we light this week, the candle of Love! St Alphonsus Liguori said, "God is crazy in Love with us!" God loves us so much that he became one of us; to walk with us in this world just like he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden; God loves us so much that he took on our sins to set us free. And God loves us so much he continues to stay with us in the Blessed Sacrament! Oh, what wonderous Love!

All of Jesus' teaching is summed up in this one word. It's an action word that leads us to unity! Isaiah tells us that on God's Holy Mountain, the veil that veils all peoples, will be removed! It's the action of Love that removes that veil, for love, sees what God sees, God's wonderous creation that He calls "Very Good". 
Love is an action for it "Wills the good of the other" as the CCC tells us; commanding us to respect one another even in our differences, to honor one another even in tribulation, to build up the other, to encourage the other, to help the other to grow in Love itself. 

What a wonderous world this would be if we all consistently do this! But alas, we don't.  We can and are able too, but it takes prayer, patience, and understanding to stand before one another in Humility, not allowing Pride to have its way. 
As we move into this Christmas Week, may we all allow this Season of Love to prevail and make this a time of great peace and goodwill toward all!

May you all have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!                                                          

-Father Lamar


December 15, 2024

We all know the Beatles hit, "All you need is Love"; "All you need is love, love, love is all you need". That is the candle we light this week, the candle of Love! St Alphonsus Liguori said, "God is crazy in Love with us!" God loves us so much that he became one of us; to walk with us in this world just like he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden; God loves us so much that he took on our sins to set us free. And God loves us so much he continues to stay with us in the Blessed Sacrament! Oh, what wonderous Love!

All of Jesus' teaching is summed up in this one word. It's an action word that leads us to unity! Isaiah tells us that on God's Holy Mountain, the veil that veils all peoples, will be removed! It's the action of Love that removes that veil, for love, sees what God sees, God's wonderous creation that He calls "Very Good". 
Love is an action for it "Wills the good of the other" as the CCC tells us; commanding us to respect one another even in our differences, to honor one another even in tribulation, to build up the other, to encourage the other, to help the other to grow in Love itself. 

What a wonderous world this would be if we all consistently do this! But alas, we don't.  We can and are able too, but it takes prayer, patience, and understanding to stand before one another in Humility, not allowing Pride to have its way. 

As we move into this Christmas Week, may we all allow this Season of Love to prevail and make this a time of great peace and goodwill toward all!

May you all have a Blessed and Merry Christmas!                                                             

 -Father Lamar


December 8, 2024

The Candle of Hope is lit today!

Of all people, we are a people of great Hope! Our number one hope is that one day we will live for eternity in the Kingdom of God, perfectly united with the Trinity!
Our other hopes are those that we have in this life; hope for good health for ourselves and our families and friends, our hope for world peace, our hope that our country can unite for the common good, and our hope that our children and grandchildren will be the best they can be and live peaceful, happy and joyful lives; but mainly that our children and grandchildren may know the Lord and stay close to him, especially through the Sacraments!

Throughout the process of fighting to keep Sr Ceilo with us here at SJB/OLA, I have continued to stay hopeful that our voices were heard and that a way will be possible for her to remain with us. So, so many people have helped keep my hope alive, mostly those in our parish who have "friends" in Homeland Security. Many eyes are watching her case and we hope and pray that she will receive a favorable response. 

Please continue to lift up this intention in your prayers as we wait in expectant hope, and please pray in thanksgiving for all the help Senator Bill Cassidy's office has provided us.

Keep your candles lit this Advent as we grow in Faith, Hope, Joy and Love!                                   

-Father Lamar


December 1, 2024

Have you ever just been blown away when you learn an interesting tidbit?

The tidbit I learned Sunday night with the Parish School of Religion was many of the kids have no clue what the season of Advent is about! So just a refresher for everyone!

Advent is the Liturgical Season that kicks off the New Liturgical Year! Advent is the 4 Sundays prior to
Christmas! It is the time of expectant waiting, hopeful anticipation and joyful preparation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, the coming of God into our lives and hearts, the past, present and future! 
In this season of Hope, we recall how our Christ came from Heaven to Earth, and how Christ will come again at the End. Also, we recall how Christ comes to us presently, especially at Mass in Word and in Sacrament! We display the Advent Wreath and weekly light the Candles of Hope, Faith, Joy and Peace! 
We decorate the church with purple and pink/rose reminding us that this is a season of waiting and 
longing for the coming of Christ!

Advent is also a time for us to gather as a family and pray, to have an Advent Wreath at home and daily
light the candle of the week and say an Advent Prayer, maybe even have a Jesse Tree.
It's also a time to share the Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace with others by serving others: serving at a food
kitchen, visiting elderly neighbors or those in Care Facilities, volunteering at the church, helping at the food
pantry, even the Cajun Navy has ways to serve! 

So let us prepare ourselves to always welcome Christ into our lives making him our Welcome Guest!
Do This in memory of Him, the love who loves you!          
                                
-Father Lamar

November 24, 2024

Have you ever just been blown away when you learn an interesting tidbit?
The tidbit I learned Sunday night with the Parish School of Religion was many of the kids have no clue what the season of Advent is about! So just a refresher for everyone!

Advent is the Liturgical Season that kicks off the New Liturgical Year! Advent is the 4 Sundays prior to Christmas! It is the time of expectant waiting, hopeful anticipation and joyful preparation of Our Lord, Jesus Christ; the coming of God into our lives and hearts, the past, present and future! 
In this season of Hope we recall how our Christ came from Heaven to Earth, and how Christ will come again at the End. Also, we recall how Christ comes to us presently, especially at Mass in Word and in Sacrament!

We display the Advent Wreath and weekly light the Candles of Hope, Faith, Joy and Peace! 
We decorate the church with purple and pink/rose reminding us that this is a season of waiting and longing for the coming of Christ!

Advent is also a time for us to gather as a family and pray, to have an Advent Wreath at home and daily light the candle of the week and say an Advent Prayer, maybe even have a Jesse Tree.
It's also a time to share the Hope, Faith, Joy, and Peace with others by serving others: serving at a food kitchen, visiting elderly neighbors or those in Care Facilities, volunteering at the church, helping at the food pantry, even the Cajun Navy has ways to serve! 

So let us prepare ourselves to always welcome Christ into our lives making him our Welcome Guest!
Do This in memory of Him, the love who loves you!                                          

-Father Lamar


November 17, 2024



November 10, 2024

It has been a busy week/month already, to say the least...
Beginning with great All Saints Day Masses, a simple All Souls Day Mass, Confirmation Students retreat day at St Vincent De Paul warehouse, Garage Sale, All Saints Afternoon of fun and games and spending time giving thanks for the great souls who shared the faith with me! JUST AMAZING!

Did you know that all throughout the month we are to pray especially for the Poor Souls in Purgatory? There are several traditions that we continue to practice during this month. 1. Stopping at a cemetery where our loved ones are buried and cleaning the headstones and praying for the repose of their souls or stopping off at the church or chapel to pray an Our Father & the Creed for our loved one’s souls. 
2. Making a good confession and receiving communion. 3. Praying an Our Father and a Hail Mary for the Pope's intentions.

Pray for the Poor Souls now, so that you will be assured that your soul will be prayed for after you enter eternal life.

All of this reminds us to be thankful for the people who have been in our lives, especially those who have made a difference. May we continue to build a grateful heart, a Eucharistic heart during this month! May we make a difference in someone's life just as someone made in ours!    

-Father Lamar

November 3, 2024

Greetings SJB-OLA. We have entered into the month of Thanksgiving! We started off by giving thanks to God for the witness of the Saints and the Souls who have gone before us, the ones who passed the faith they had received on to us. Isn't it amazing how even though they lived in different generations and maybe cultures, the faith is still the same. We still profess One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic church. We still line up at the confessional to have Christ shrive our sins. And even now we continue to approach the altar to receive the risen Christ in the Eucharist and in that moment after communion, no matter our differences, we are one, united in HIS body. 

We are to bow our heads and meditate on this unity after we receive the Risen Christ in the Eucharist, the Oneness and give Thanks! This is what we are to carry with us when we leave the liturgy and strive to maintain this unity and thanks as we interact with others. As we prepare to go to the polls this week may we pray and strive even more to be people of peace and unity. Just as Jesus always took the higher road so may we! Gratitude is an Attitude!

 -Father Lamar

October 27, 2024

October 20, 2024

 - Father Lamar

October 13, 2024

Liturgically October is a month with many great feasts! St Therese of the Little Flower, Guardian Angels, St Francis of Assisi, Blessed Francis Seelos, St Gerard Majella, St Teresa of Avila, St Ignatius, St Luke, North American Martyrs and Saints Simon & Jude and they all culminate with All Saints Day November 1st! 

Many lives to give thanks for, many people to learn from, and many people who witness God’s grace at work in our world when we say Yes!

As we reflect upon their Yes, hopefully, it will help us say Yes to the needs we have here in the parish. As you are well aware we need your hands, your voice, your strength, and your talent to be doers of the Word! 

That is one of my favorite expressions in the Scriptures, Doers of the Word! It has always been an expression that has motivated me to ask, "What needs to be done?", and "What can I do?" Please consider being a Doer of the Word here at St John’s and Our Lady as we gear up for Ministry Sunday on October 20th!

 -Father Lamar

October 6, 2024

The Month of the Rosary is here! 

This month commemorates Pope Pius V appeal to all Catholics to pray the Rosary on    October 07, 1571, to defeat the Ottoman (Muslim) forces who were invading Europe. Though the Ottoman forces were larger than the Christian army, the battle was won by the Christians all because a strong wind swept in and caused confusion and destruction among the Ottoman ships. With the loss of so many ships this battled stopped the advance of the Ottoman Empire and safeguarded Europe from Muslim control. 

A great story to remind us of what can happen when we come together to pray the Rosary.     So instead of rattling swords this month as we move into the November Elections, rattle those beads. Pray for our country. Pray for Unity. Pray for the end of Communism and Socialism in our world and in our country. Pray for the end of the culture of death that continues to grow. Pray for an end of the sex industry that traffics innocent lives and perverts the minds of our young people. Pray for an end of EVIL! 

We all know how bad evil is growing in our world, we all know how powerful the Rosary is in conquering evil!  NOW IS THE TIME TO RATTLE THE BEADS!  

- Father Lamar

September 15, 2024

Do you ever just want to scream?! 

That is how I usually feel before I leave for a trip! Making sure I get this or that done before I leave, making sure I pack this and that! I feel the stress of leaving things not finished, some of them with a time crunch! Pressure, Pressure, Pressure! Yet, we all know that pressure can be a good thing. The right pressure in our tires keeps our vehicle going in the right direction, the right amount of pressure seals the canning jars, the right amount of pressure keeps us focused! 

One of the main things I hear when people are talking about their prayer life is distractions, not being able to keep their focus! It's amazing when pressure is running high in our lives, the distractions are few, especially in our prayer; yet when the pressure in life is low our minds tend to run all over the place, especially when we are at prayer. 

Please pray for me this week while I am in the desert that I may be able to stay focused on the pressure of SJB-OLA and keep you all in my prayers. The beauty of SJB-OLA and my chronic anxiety about yall's salvation will be in my heart, mind and soul as I enter into the quiet of the Sonoran Desert. Peace!

 -Father Lamar

September 8, 2024

Because of the Labor Day Holiday, I am doing my note to you almost two weeks early! 

Just before writing this, I sent out a request for the parish to help us with Sr. Cielo’s immigration issue. I am hoping that you all were able to reach out to our government representatives! 

This week has been a week of attacks from the Evil one, trying to make me focus my attention on external issues instead of turning to the Living God who dwells within. One of the things that is helping me stay tuned into God's presence is the 33 days Eucharistic Consecration. The prayers, the reflections, and the talks have been keeping me on track with my relationship with God. I am so glad I am participating! 

I will be out of town September 14-19 for the Redemptorist Chapter Meetings in Tucson, AZ. While I am away Fr. Jeff and Fr. Chuck will be covering Masses and confessions for me, please give them a big Welcome Back! 

Please pray for the parish, Sr. Cielo and for those I depend upon for support! 

-Father Lamar

September 1, 2024

Brené Brown an American professor, social worker, author, and podcast host is known for her work on shame, vulnerability and leadership. She says, “In many ways, September feels like the busiest time of the year. The kids go back to school, work piles up after the summer’s dog days, and Thanksgiving is suddenly upon us.” 

She is so right, and with the days getting shorter it really seems like there is not enough time to complete the "To Do" list! Yet, there is that small quiet voice that tells us, Be Still! 

I saw this on a hat at the Our Lady of Assumption Feast Day Celebration and it made me pause long enough and stare at the hat until someone asked me if I wanted it. 

That is the message that I am beginning this month with; Be Still! To intentionally pause and be still for every task, be still and pause as I lock a door, be still and pause before I shift the car into drive, be still and pause as I walk into a room, be still and pause before I enter into the Mass; be still and pause to give thanks! 

There are many things to give thanks for here, the great people of God, the great faith the people of God witness to, and the great response to that faith in humble Service, but mostly the great hunger for more faith, for more unity with the living God. Over the last month there have been so many hands that have been raised in service to the community, and I am ever grateful! 

As I pause, I give Thanks for the Beauty of the Body of Christ in Zachary and Clinton

-THANK YOU!

-Father Lamar

August 25, 2024

Many of us remember it being called CCD (Confraternity of Christian Doctrine) or PSR (Parish School of Religion) and now it is Rel Ed (Religious Education). It has gone through several name changes and the program has gone through many changes as well. In the early 70's after Vatican II, we went from repetition and memorization of doctrine (Baltimore Catechism), to the late 70's, 80's & 90's focusing on having a relationship with our God, and the last twenty years has been a mix of relationship and doctrine. Like ole Brother Benedict used to say, lots of changes, few improvements! 

As many of you know, just by looking at Mass attendance the faith is not being passed on. What we are doing to transmit the faith in our homes and in our church classrooms ain't working! We are losing to the culture! Of course, there's lots of finger pointing and excuses, you know, "if the priest would do that" or "if the parents would do this" or "if we had nuns to teach like we used to"! Wouldn't it be nice if we had only one cause of this crisis and then we would know how to deal with it! 

This past Saturday we had the Catechist Morning Retreat and one of the Catechist shared how troubling it is to see the number of students who simply do not want to be there; yet this Catechist continues to come back year after year and attempts to pass on the faith. This Catechist is a shining example of Hope! 

Being an example of a major Virtue is what her students will one day remember. This is one of the major ways that our faith is passed on, by each of us witnessing living the Virtues. That is one of the things I am enjoying most about 33 Days to Eucharistic Consecration, the focus of living a Virtue Driven Life, knowing the meaning of the Virtues, living the Virtues and how that affects our lives.

 It takes more than the Catechist and the Parents to pass on the Faith. It takes all of us stepping forth to be examples of Virtue Driven lives! Let us show our youth that it is indeed worth the effort to live as Christ calls us to live! Hopefully by the end of this week we will have a new Director of Religious Education in place, please pray for us! 

- Father Lamar

August 18, 2024

We have started the 33 Days to Eucharistic Consecration! 

The Children are back in school. And we are ready to roll out Parish School of Religion next weekend. 

The new roof is on the gym. No more leaks! 

We have three HVAC units out - one in the Gym kitchen, the main one for the Parish Activity Center, and a small one here at the office. 

We are still looking for a New Director for Parish School of Religion, we have a couple of applicants. 

Life here at the parish is like everyone else's life, it has its ups and downs, but every day we gather around the Altar to give thanks for the blessings found in all the ups and downs. We gather around the Altar recognizing the beauty of our Faith and in humility we sit back and see how God is present in each and every moment, walking with us, revealing his presence to us, giving us every grace we need to continue doing the good or to make necessary corrections, all so we can confidently move forward manifesting the Kingdom of God. Thanks be to God we are Eucharistic People, people of the Resurrection! 

-Father Lamar

August 11, 2024

I stopped in to see an old friend and when I walked into the family room his wife quickly turned off the Olympics then quickly started making excuses of why they were watching the men's swim team. She thought I would be offended with them watching it because of the controversial opening ceremonies. We had a brief discussion about all the different takes on the opening ceremonies and like most people they were not happy with what was portrayed, but they still wanted to watch the games. I still have not seen the opening, I have only heard what happened. I have seen the spin the media put on it. I have listened to different podcast about it, but what I read this morning really got my attention. The Vatican is weighing in. Catholic News Agency stated, "the Holy See said it 'was saddened by certain scenes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games and cannot but join the voices raised in recent days to deplore the offense done to many Christians and believers of other religions.” The scene that has gained so much attention features drag queens portraying the apostles and a lDJ as Jesus doing a fashion show "apparently mocking" Leonardo de Vinci's famous painting of the Last Supper. A letter from bishops and cardinals around the world is calling on the Internation Olympic Committee to "repudiate" and "apologize" for the "hateful Mockery" of the Last Supper and intentionally blaspheming the faith of billions of people. The letter also calls for all the faithful to fast and pray in reparation of this blasphemy. FYI...Reparation is an old theological concept of making atonement and satisfaction for insults given to God through sin. Yes, we do believe that Jesus made the one true sacrifice for atonement and satisfaction, but we too can unite our prayers to his sacrifice and make atonement and satisfaction for blasphemies committed against God, or like Paul said to the Colossians, "and fill up those things that are wanting of the suffering of Christ, in my flesh, for his body, which is the church. (Colossians 1:24) I hope and pray you will join me in offering prayers of reparations for the offenses committed by the International Olympic Committee, by offering prayers, making a holy hour in the Adoration Chapel, fasting or having a Mass offered. Jesus said we will be mocked, but he always said we need to be united and continue proclaiming his message of repentance and mercy! 

-Father Lamar

August 4, 2024

In the midst of the storm clouds of life God’s light always breaks through! Over the weekend I received in the mail, a bulletin from another parish that was signed by the pastor of that parish. It was sent from one of our young adults who left for college and was letting me know that he was going to Mass! It's the little things in life that bring joy!  

With the summer heat the storm clouds have rolled into Zachary! The A/C unit for the old church/parish activity center, a 40-ton unit has run its life span! It is not working and it cannot be repaired because of its age. We are currently waiting on quotes. This was bad news. 

But the news beyond bad is our Director of the Parish School of Religion, Mrs. Katie Hamilton, has given her notice and taken a job at Mt. Carmel in St Francisville, which is much closer to her home. Katie will be missed here at SJB, but we wish her well in her new position in St. Francisville.  

When I think the news could not get any worse, Mrs. Nita Poole our Office Administrator, has decided to retire.  She too will be dearly missed here in the office, but she will still be serving in the parish!

Of course, the parish news is not good, but the news from the opening of the Olympics is worse, or is it? Our Christian Faith was openly mocked by the French Olympic Organizers. Many people are screaming to boycott the Olympics, some people are screaming Christians should do what the Muslims would do if Muhammad was blasphemed. Jesus clearly tells us in the scriptures that we will face persecutions, that they will say all kinds of things against us, but we are to rejoice for our reward will be great in heaven. It sounds crazy but Rejoice, for we have been found worthy to suffer for Christ! 

-Father Lamar

July 28, 2024

In a few weeks we will begin our 33 Days to Eucharistic Glory! "33 Days is the first ever Eucharistic Consecration. This journey of faith is a great spiritual resource! It presents profound truths, astonishing historical facts, powerful practical examples, a daily virtue to adopt, extraordinary prayers, and inspiring stories—all in an easy-to-follow daily format either through Matthew Kelly's book or through the daily videos. 

We all know that life is a journey and it's a richer journey when we walk with faith toward our eternal home with God. Over these 33 days we will be challenged to learn what it means to be a person who walks by faith in a world that is full of distractions. Journey with Mother Teresa, John Paul II, Thérèse of Lisieux, Maximilian Kolbe, Thomas Aquinas, Sister Faustina, the Children of Fatima, and Mary the Mother of God to experience Jesus in the Eucharist like never before, an experience that will sharpen your focus and fill your life with the 
Grace to do Good as together we build God's Kingdom or rather Eucharistic Glory. I hope you consider taking the 33day challenge to grow in your faith and learn more of how to enliven it! 

For me Gazing upon the Eucharist is the one thing that helps me stay focused on what's important. I have learned that sitting in His presence daily sustains me and helps me to walk by faith, to maintain hope and grow in love. I hope and pray that this will help you do the same.

-Father Lamar

July 21, 2024

How do you find peace in a chaotic world? It's an age-old question. Even in Jesus' time there was chaos, yet in the midst of that chaos he tells his disciples "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid." He tells them this at the last supper as he prepared for his passion. We will have hurricanes that will bring chaos. We will have social issues that prompt people to protest. We will have wars and rumors of wars. We will have death constantly invading, and we will always have hatred bubbling up which leads to senseless acts of violence. 

Yet, we are to be at Peace. And still, we constantly allow other people's sin to cause chaos within ourselves or cause us to sin. We as Catholics know the Gospel message, and we as Catholics know we are to cultivate Peace within ourselves and in the world! We know we are to keep things in God's perspective and focus on doing the good! The only way this can be done is by devoting ourselves to PRAYER; of spending time with God, focusing on how God expects us to live. God calls us to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with Him. 

As the heat of the Summer causes us to slow down, may we challenge ourselves to see how we are manifesting God's will in our lives, in our conduct! Please take some time to visit the Adoration Chapel and spend some quality time with our Lord! Please continue to pray for Sr Cielo as we await word from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on her status! -
-Father Lamar

July 14, 2024

July 4th has past, that means we are in the heat of the summer with no relief in sight until Christmas! We have many expressions to describe the heat; "It's not the heat—it's the humidity!", "Man, it's hot as all get-out!", "It must be 90 in the shade!", "This one's gonna be a scorcher!", "You could fry an egg on the sidewalk!" 

We do everything we can to stay cool like keep the AC running, wear cool, comfortable clothing, find a swimming pool to jump in and pray that nothing causes a power outage! Then we slowly go about our business, always remembering the oppressive heat that awaits us. 

Have you ever noticed how we can allow situations to monopolize our thoughts? Like when it is hot, or a hurricane is approaching, or someone wrongs us! These things can be like a constant loop in our heads, they are all we can focus on! I get so mad at myself when I find myself in a loop like this, because I know that entertaining these thoughts only causes tension in my life, only leads to anxiety over things I have no control over. 

So often during Mass we hear but don't listen to responses that are said, like “Peace Be With You!” because we bring with us these thoughts that constantly bombard us! Throughout the Mass we hear this expression of Peace, but do we allow it to sink into our being, do we allow it to transcend the negative? The Lord longs for us to live Peace, with Him, with one another and within ourselves. May we constantly, obsessively focus on the Lord's peace!

 - Father Lamar

July 7, 2024

I hope you all are not too full from the 4th of July celebrations! 

We are told in the Gospel this weekend that Jesus comes up against his hometown's lack of faith! And He could not perform many miracles.

 We daily come up against this lack of faith in our own lives! We too find it hard to consistently do good because we too face backlash. Yet the message continues to be consistent from Jesus, Be not Afraid! Have Faith! Press on doing what you know is right. Press on doing what brings comfort to others, what brings joy to others’ lives. Press on being who God created you to be! 

As the heat of the summer increases, I hope you all are finding some shade and slowing down to conserve your energy! While you rest from the heat, please pray for someone who needs some relief in their lives! 

- Father Lamar

June 30, 2024

Again this weekend we hear the words in the Gospel, "Do not be afraid; just have faith." This one phrase is what Ordinary Time helps us deal with! "Ordinary" means "Ordered", not blah or boring, but rather order helps all of us stay on track. Everyone has order in their lives or rather routines, even people who seem not to have routines. 

If I do not follow my morning routine my entire day is thrown off! It's this "order" that provides a firm foundation for our days and for our lives. Ordinary Time serves the same purpose, it provides a firm foundation for our days, our lives and for eternity. It is from this foundation that we can say we are not afraid, because we are ready for anything that comes our way! Order up! Be Ready! You will bump into Jesus today! 

Have a Blessed Fourth of July celebration this weekend! Let Freedom Ring! Remember the bravery of those who won our freedom and those who sustain our freedom! 

-Father Lamar

June 16, 2024
Happy Father’s Day! This weekend we celebrate Fatherhood and part of that celebration is giving thanks for the gifts of our own fathers as well as recognizing the irreplaceable role of fathers!

Bishop Fabre wrote, “We Christians must support men who, in following the example of St. Joseph, choose to embrace their role as a father in all circumstances, but especially in challenging situations. St. Joseph was unexpectedly called to fatherhood amid extremely confusing and difficult circumstances. However, despite many obstacles, St. Joseph chose to be faithful. St. Joseph chose life by listening to God’s will and consciously deciding to be a father to Jesus, the Son of God. Like St. Joseph, all fathers are uniquely entrusted with the protection and defense of both mother and child and in this way, safeguard the sanctity of human life. But fatherhood extends beyond simple procreation and biology. Fatherhood is first a spiritual reality, because fatherhood has its origins in God who chose to reveal himself to us as Our Father, sending his only Son for the sake of our salvation.

Fathers have a vital, unique, and important role to play in the personal and spiritual development of their children, and in reflecting the love of God the Father. Fathers are called to show the world the virtues of a tender protector, while living out the virtues of humility and courage.”

In all circumstances, but especially in difficult circumstances, a father needs to be encouraged to faithfully accept the role entrusted to him by God and support the mother of his children. Through our prayers and through the intercession of St. Joseph, patron of fathers, may fathers come to know the irreplaceable role they hold in the lives of their children, and the responsibility they share in welcoming God’s gift of new life!”
-Father Lamar


June 9, 2024

Welcome Deacon Ronnie LeGrange! As some of you already know, the Diocese of Baton Rouge has appointed Deacon Ronnie LeGrange to St John the Baptist and Our Lady of the Assumption. I am looking forward to working with Dc Ronnie.

As a deacon he will be assisting during Mass by reading the Gospel, preaching the Word, and Serving at the Altar, as well as leading other liturgical services like baptisms, funerals, burials, weddings and Ash Wednesday Services. And he will be assisting with various teaching opportunities. As a deacon he will be visiting the sick at Lane Memorial Hospital weekly. So please welcome Dc Ronnie!

It is with sadness that I announce the person we hired to lead the music ministry here at St. John’s has resigned. After several weeks, Erin Trent decided that SJB was not the right ft for her. Thank you Erin for your service!

As the Summer continues to heat up, please remember to hydrate, wear your sunscreen and be conscious of working in the heat – take plenty of breaks! When you take a break remember to take that time to Pray!

Father Lamar

June 2, 2024
I am looking forward to our Eucharistic Procession after the 11am Mass. I hope and pray that all goes well.

After the final blessing at the Saturday 4:30pm Mass and Sunday 9am Mass (Clinton) we will process around the inside of the Church as we celebrate Corpus Christi (The Body of Christ).

Over the past year we have been trying to highlight our belief in the Eucharist. We have had Monthly Benediction, Eucharist Encounter Nights, Classes on the Eucharist, Praying our Eucharistic Revival Prayer, and the displays on Eucharistic Miracles; now we move into the last phase of the Revival – Sharing What We have!

Do you know that every church that was founded by an Apostle not only has the Sacraments, but they all have the belief in the true presence of the Eucharist – the Resurrected Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ. This is why we hold the Eucharistic in such high esteem. Christ not only dwells in our churches in the tabernacle but also in each of us when we receive the Eucharist at Mass. This is what we carry with us when we return to our homes and communities; this is root of the joy we are to live; this is what we are to share, God dwelling within us, Us becoming what we receive.

When asked if we have been saved our response should be, “I am not only saved by Christ, I have been washed clean in Baptism, I have been sealed by the Holy Spirit in Confirmation and I have been feed at the Eucharistic Table to be his love in the world, What About You?” Be Proud, Be Strong, Be Unafraid to do all things in Remembrance of Him who loves us!
-Father Lamar


May 26, 2024
The last week of May! I am not sure if I want to jump for joy or cry. Jump for joy, since all the big celebrations have come to an end – First Communions, Confirmation, Parish School of Religion ending; or cry – the heat is here, which means an increased anxiety that the HVAC systems will run smoothly all Summer.

But, like Job, I give thanks to God for the Good and the Bad and everything in between. This weekend as you are aware a member of the finance council will be speaking at all the Masses, giving a mini-State of the Union of our parish church’s finances. I believe that it is good that you know the parish’s financial health, how we are using your donations, basically the bottom line. I appreciate you being patient.

The month of June we will have two historic events – the Eucharistic Procession on the streets of Baton Rouge on June 7th, and the Procession on the streets here in Zachary. Not only do I hope many people will participate in Both events, but also pray for the success and safety of the events. The Eucharist is the Source and Summit of our Faith, may we do all we can to show how important this is to our Children! Last weekend we concluded our Eucharistic Revival Prayer, this weekend we will resume our Prayer for the Nation as we prepare for the Fall Elections. May we live as the Body of Christ!
- Father Lamar

May 19, 2024
Happy Birthday Church!
Today we celebrate the birth of our Church. It has only been 1991 years since the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and the Blessed Mother in the upper room where they had locked themselves up! 1991 years of a people who have been filled with the gifts of the Spirit - filled with Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Right Counsel, Fortitude, Piety, and Fear of the Lord! 1991 years of producing the fruits of the Spirit - Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness,
Goodness, Generosity and Gentleness!

1991 years of proclaiming Jesus' resurrection from the dead and the promise of being with us always! 1991 years of generously sharing what has been shared with us!

Our message may be old, but it's a message that makes us young; it's a message that puts a spring in our step and a bounce in our voice! May we never tire of manifesting the Spirit in our lives like the apostles did. They entrusted that message to us; now may we entrust it to others!

Come Holy Spirit, Fill the Hearts of your faithful and enkindle in them the fire of your love! Come!

-Father Lamar


May 12, 2024
Happy Mother's Day! I wish I could be here to tell you myself how much I honor and appreciate all the mothers at our parish, but I am spending it with my own mother.

While in New Orleans a couple of weeks ago I noticed a quote from Blessed Francis Seelos about motherhood, "A Christian mother, in particular, has a very beautiful field to cultivate, and a very sweet duty to fulfill. The children are attached to their mother with special love. She is the first to hear and understand the inarticulate speech of the child. To her it puts its first questions. How beautiful can the mother here implant the faith in the soft and tender heart of her child."

I have been told by several people over the years, children always remember the priest who buries their mothers, love her in their funeral homily, like her children loved her in life and I have tried to do that every time I bury someone's mother. I always attempt to honor the woman who choose to nurture life, I always strive to respect the mother who selfishly gave of herself, I always attempt to love the woman who tried to plant that seed of faith in their children.

This is the day that we stop to say thanks to those women who gave us life, a time to stop and give a token of our affection for them, but most of all to stop and lift them up in praise for doing the best they could; remember some of them really had their hands full! Like Mary the Mother of Jesus, she was faced with an almost impossible task of raising the Son of God, but she said yes!

May we all say Yes to life, service, and love!
-Father Lamar


May 5, 2024
This is always a great time in the life of the church. We celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus from the tomb, smashing death and restoring life; we celebrate the many people coming into the Church at Easter; we celebrate our young adults receiving the sacrament of Confirmation; and we celebrate our little ones receiving First Holy Eucharist! All signs that there is new life in the church, that there is hope!

Not sure about you, but with all the doom and gloom in our world, the trouble in Ukraine and the Middle East, the protest here in our own country, the inflation that is affecting everyone, and just the regular daily problems we face which seem heightened by the stress of modern life, the good that we celebrate seems to be dashed away quickly, and hope seems to be out of our grasp so often, and it reminds me of that old Calgon Commercial..."Calgon, Take Me Away!"

That is why it is so important to step back and take a deep breath and relax; do something that diverts our attention even for a moment and refocus. For us as Catholic's, Prayer and attending Mass is our way to refocus our attention on the good, but as Catholics from South Louisiana we not only Pray and Worship, but we also like to gather with friends, laugh and have a good time. In my life I have found this to be true.

Spend time with God daily.
Spend time with family and friends.
Laugh at something silly, and Laissez les Bon Temps Rouler!

-Father Lamar

April 28, 2024
We are hitting that time of year when many people will be taking to the skies and roads for little and big getaways! Just this week we have several people from the parish that have gone on pilgrimage to Greece and Medjugorje, others to Italy, and still others to the coast and up to the Smoky Mountains.

As I write this, I am looking forward to the day trip we are taking to visit the Shrine of Blessed Francis Seelos in New Orleans and pray at the tomb of this holy man. It is always nice to take time from our normal day to day lives and see and experience something new or different.

I will be here 10 months at the end of this month and have only taken off one weekend, so next month I will be taking Saturday May 11 - Friday May 17 off for a week to get away and relax. Saturday May 11, Fr. Tim Watson will celebrate the Vigil Mass and Sunday May 12, Fr. Jamin David will celebrate the Sunday Masses; Frs. Jeff and Chuck will celebrate the weekday Mass May 14-17.

Though many of us will be getting away, just remember we never get away from our relationship with Jesus. As Catholics we continue to daily pray, and worship/attend Mass every weekend. As we continue to celebrate the Easter Season, hopefully we all are growing more and more confident in our relationship with the risen Lord of all! Keep Praying!

-Father Lamar

April 21, 2024
Oh, what a night! The 10,000 Dollar Raffle/Dinner/Dance was a blast! Many thanks for everyone who made this parish event possible. It takes many hands to make lite work! Thank the Lord for the many hands that came together to sell tickets, to decorate, to set up, to prepare food, to serve, to organize, to clean up; what a great parish we have!

Special Thanks to Rhonda Boatner and Randy Albarez. Our winner this year was Mr. Tommy Daigle, congrats on the win!

We are almost mid-point to the Easter Season! Once again hearing how the apostles and disciples experienced the Risen Jesus, how the early church was formed, and how Jesus' mission from the Father continued to grow. We are the heirs of that mission, this is what we pass on to the younger generation.

Tomorrow, Monday, April 22 @ 7pm Bishop Duca will visit and Confirm our Confirmation students. These are the young men and women that the faith is being passed on to, please pray for them as they receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit and manifest the gifts of the Spirit in their lives.

Not just pray for them, but also encourage them to keep the light of the faith shining brightly in their lives by continuing to pray, to worship at Mass, and to give of themselves to others in agape love! As we prepare for the celebration of Pentecost hopefully, we are examining how we each are engaging the gifts of the Holy Spirt in our lives, and how we are manifesting the fruits of the Holy Spirit! Pentecost will be here Soon and Very Soon! May our New Easter Fire we lit at the Easter Vigil Mass be turned into a Bon Fire of God's love!

-Father Lamar

April 14, 2024

After the great high Feast of Easter, things are slowly getting back to normal. Holy Week, Easter Weekend, and Divine Mercy Weekend was wonderful here at St John's and Our Lady. The church was beautifully decorated, the music was well done, the liturgical ministers were on point, and the worship of these holy days was phenomenal.

I was overly impressed with the number of people who made the commitment to celebrate these days with hearts open to receive God's grace. Thanks to all of you for making these days beyond wonderful!

We have only just begun the Easter season. As you know it runs for 50 days and we conclude the Easter season with the celebration of Pentecost.

This is a great time in the Church's calendar for it emphasizes what happened at the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the birth of the Church. Over the next several weeks we will hear about the struggles and the joys the early Church experienced as it grew and spread. I am always in awe of how the Church began with such humble beginnings and grew and spread so quickly. I aways sit back and wonder how the early disciples did all they did in rising up to carry out the great commissioning.

I am aways filled with hope for the future of the church as I realize if we as a people could survive such humble beginnings, and live through the persecutions we have faced, we will continue to move forward; that the hand of God is indeed guiding us!

I think that is seen here at SJB-OLA, the faith that you possess and your commitment to the faith testifies to God's Love and Mercy at work in the here and now. Keep living the Alleluia!
-Father Lamar

March 31, 2024
Happy Easter! Alleluia! He has Risen from the Dead as He Said!

We have passed through the dark days of the Passion, and now we rejoice in the light of the Resurrection. This is OUR feast day! This is our time to raise our voices with creation and proclaim the name of Jesus, proclaim His triumph over death! As we gather with our Church community yell out “Happy Easter” or greet each other with “He has risen as He said, Alleluia!”

Joyful Easter to all of You! Thank You for expressing your faith over these Holy Days!
 -Father Lamar


March 24, 2024
Ready or not Passion Week is here. Today we celebrate Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, remembering how the crowds met Him with Hosannas and saying, He comes in the Lord’s name.

This week highlights what happens so often in our culture today when people are “cancelled”. One day Jesus is being praised, but by the end of the week they are saying “crucify Him”. Like Jesus, it only takes saying the wrong thing in front of the wrong person and BAM you are finished; but we know that was not so with Jesus.

He was in control every step of the way to the cross, He did everything with purpose. He was deliberate with His timing and words. The same way we are called to be, especially in prioritizing our walk with Him in our life. We know we are called to live a purpose driven life. We know we are to utilize our gifts and talents, and we know we are to constantly keep our focus on doing what He did, being there with God and with our neighbor.

This Thursday, Friday and Saturday night/Sunday Morning we don’t just remember THE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS of Jesus’ life, but we, like the Jewish people at Passover, memorialize these days.

We insert ourselves into the final days of Jesus. We eat with Him on Thursday evening. We watch and pray with Him on Thursday night in the garden and when He is arrested, we stand by His side while He is being judged by the Jewish leaders. We are with Him when Pilate orders Him to the scourged then crucified. We stand with Mary at the foot of His cross and we are with Mary Magdala when she finds the tomb empty. His final days are to be our entire focus at the end of the week, remembering what He suffered for us, how He gave of Himself for us, and how He died for us, so that we could rise with Him and be with Him for all eternity.

As His followers we really should want to be with the community of faith as we gather on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter to remember.
-Father Lamar

March 17, 2024
This will be a full week, but well worth it as we prepare to enter into Holy Week next Sunday, when we celebrate Jesus' entry into Jerusalem!

Monday evening we will begin our parish Preached Lenten Mission at 6:00pm. Fr Peter Hill, C.Ss.R. is a phenomenal preacher with the Redemptorist of the Baltimore Province. Peter professed vows as a Redemptorist in 2003 and was ordained a priest in 2008. In 2020 he completed a Doctor of Ministry in Preaching degree from the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St Louis, MO. Originally from the Caribbean Island of Dominica, he now resides at the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Brooklyn, NY. I am personally looking forward to seeing Fr Peter and hearing what he has to say! The theme of the Mission will be based upon Pope Francis' 2024 Lenten Message, "Lent, a Season of Conversion, a Time of Freedom!"

Monday evening Fr Peter will focus on God's love as a source of Conversion and Freedom; Tuesday he will talk about Forgiveness as a source of Conversion and Freedom; and Wednesday evening he will present to us how Mary is our model of Conversion and Freedom. It would be wonderful if we packed the church each evening of the Mission. Hopefully you can come all three nights, but if you can only come one, that would be great as well!

Don't forget we will have our Lenten Reconciliation Service on Thursday, March 21st at 6:00pm in the church. I have 5 priests signed up and I am looking for one more.

Lastly, if you have not looked up and noticed, the mold/mildew has been abated in the church! Now we are awaiting directions on how to proceed so that problem will not happen again!

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Mission!
-Father Lamar

March 10, 2024
  Lent seems to be flying by, we are already at the  fourth Sunday of Lent. Only three more Sundays and we will be celebrating the Pascal Feast, aka Easter! Before Easter arrives we do have 3 more weeks to devote ourselves to rending our hearts, not our garments, as the prophet says.

  To rend our hearts is to tear our hearts out of grief or violence, or in bible talk to  repent to tear up the old heart of stone and replace it with a new heart of love.

  We rend our hearts by Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Almsgiving is a rendering of something, a giving of something: rendering praise, rendering a sacrificial offering, rendering thanks, rendering to the poor. As followers of Jesus, we render to others, because we know what the Lord has rendered unto us, what the Lord has Given to us, EVERYTHING. Most importantly, he has given us Eternal Life and Unity with the Creator!

  Throughout these 40 days we are called to concentrate on giving whether in service to the church or the poor, or to give monetarily to the church or to the poor; sharing what we have!

  May we each continue to grow in Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving so that our hearts may continue to grow and reflect the Sacred Heart of Jesus!                                          
~  Fr. Lamar


Febraury 25, 2024
Did you know that St James, as in the Letter of James in the bible, was nicknamed Camel Knees, because the long hours he spent in prayer caused callouses to develop on his knees!

As we move forward into the Lenten season we are called to focus on Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving. Prayer is the first pillar of our Lenten Journey. The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that, “Prayer is the raising of one’s mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God,” But when we pray, do we speak from the height of our pride and will, or “out of the depths” of a humble and contrite heart? He who humbles himself will be exalted; humility is the foundation of prayer. Only when we humbly acknowledge that “we do not know how to pray as we ought, are we ready to receive freely the gift of prayer. “Man is a beggar before God.”

According to the CCC, when it comes to prayer our attitude is most important! How many of us sneer at the people who stand at intersections to beg from passing cars? Yet, this is the posture we are to take when we pray. When I see people on those street corners I so often am filled with shame because I do not have the humility it takes to beg, even before God; their presence screams at me “this is how you are to be!”, a humble person with a contrite heart.

Pride is the first deadly sin for a reason, because it is the sin that tells us that we can do things on our own, that we do not need assistance, especially from God. As we double down on our prayer life this Lent, may we vanquish pride and grow in humility all so we can authentically go before our God in supplication, recognizing we are mere beggars, recognizing that we truly need God as part of our lives, mainly part of our daily life.
~ Fr. Lamar

February 18, 2024
Hopefully all the sugary sweet treats have been consumed and the fasting has begun! 40 days of sacrificing what we love the most to prepare us for the Great Feast of Easter!

Mass will be sober throughout these days and hopefully our lives as well. I began entering in the silence while on retreat, and I once again found solace. No TV, No Phone, No Internet, No distractions, Only the silence, Only the Prayer, Only the time to reflect on the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus the Christ. 

I am always filled with Awe  when I once again reflect upon his life, what he did, what he said, how he treated those who suffered, how he manifested the Kingdom of God. I am always filled with wonder on how courageously walked his passion from the Last Supper to the Crucifixation; constantly staying true to his mission, the sacrifice he was making for us.

Yet it is his Resurrection that blows my mind. Rising to new life, revealing his new reality to the disciples, making himself know in the breaking of the bread. It is these marvels that help me embrace these 40 days of Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving, it is these marvels that help let go of help me refocus on the things in this life that are important, it is these marvels that help me rebuild a grateful heart throughout these forty days!

May this be a season that all of us may fill our hearts with gratitude for the goodness of the Lord!
~Father Lamar

February 11, 2024
 Happy Mardi Gras! This is the last weekend before we enter our time of Prayer, Fasting and      Almsgiving!

Many of you will remember the times past when Lent was a truly a penance with lots of no’s…no public celebrations like weddings or baptisms, no going out unless it was to church – especially on Friday’s to pray the Stations of the Cross, no sweets in the house, basically no nothing for 40 days and nights, especially on Good Friday when from noon to 3pm you could do nothing but commemorate Jesus crucifixion and death on the cross!

I once read an article from a Catholic Paper from 1910 stating the rules of fasting; at that time Catholics were required to Fast all 40 days, nothing to eat from sun rise to sun set, unless you did hard manual labor.

Our Lenten tradition has changed a bit. The United States Conference of Bishops say: “Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. It's a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord in prayer by reading Sacred Scripture; we serve by giving alms; and we practice self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries during Lent, but to a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ's will more faithfully. We recall the waters of baptism in which we were also  baptized into Christ's death, died to sin and evil, and began new life in Christ.”

The guidelines for Lent are now: Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics.  In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence(no meat). For members of the Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59.

When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. We also honor the tradition of “giving something up” during these 40 days as a sacrifice.

Hopefully during this time, we all will pick up the bible and daily read, especially the passion narratives, and discipline ourselves to daily pray, maybe spend one hour a week at the Adoration Chapel or weekly pray the rosary as a family!

Lastly, we are called to give alms, to offer our time and talents as a sacrifice, like giving of our time to serve the poor at a feeding center, volunteering at the food bank, making blankets or food baskets for those who are sick or in need, or utilizing a Rice Bowl to collect money to feed to the poor.

Lent is an amazing time for us, a time to reset our walk with Christ as we prepare for the most important feast of the Liturgical year – Easter!

Enjoy the festivities of Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday is soon and very soon!
~Father Lamar

February 4, 2024
As you are reading this, I am taking some time off. This week the priest in the Diocese of Baton Rouge will be on retreat. This is an important week in the year for the clergy to come together for prayer, for fellowship and to be spiritually fed. Please keep us in your prayers this week as we recharge and come back to our parishes with renewed mind, hearts, and bodies!

As a Redemptorist, our rule of life stipulates that we should take not just a week retreat, but to monthly take a day of retreat. Honestly, I have failed in following this rule of life. Between the parish and assisting my mother it is often difficult to even take a day off to just unwind, though I know this is important. I lack the disciple and the organization to do this, as well as the ability to just say No! Yet it is important to take this time to disconnect from daily life and to enter into the silence.

The first time I took a 7 day silent retreat, the first day and a half all I wanted to do was sleep. I realized that my body, mind, and spirit needed to detox from all the noise of daily life. The silence is so hard to enter into. When all the external noise is stripped away, we are left with the internal noise of our mind, body, and spirit. It took almost 5 days before the internal noise abated and by that time the retreat was over!

The lesson I learned from that retreat, was the importance of daily experiencing silence, both internally and externally. Now I long for those quiet times of the day to just be, and I long for those weeklong experiences of prayer.

As Lent approaches I hope and pray that you all will find time to enter the silence with the Lord, and there is no better place than in the Adoration Chapel.
Happy Praying!
~Father Lamar


January 28, 2024
The days are getting longer, minute by minute! We know the grayness of Winter is ebbing away! This was a very gray and wet week, what is referred to as a “Soft” day/week. But we are called to have a sunny day today, I hope the forecast is correct.

The weather can be likened to life, there are bright periods and gray periods. We all have our ups and downs, tribulations and celebrations, and St Paul calls us to Rejoice through it all! Rejoicing in knowing that our God is with us through it all. This is what I keep reminding myself as good news and distressing news comes to my desk. 

Good news in the form of people coming forward wanting to serve and the Bad news of maintenance issues.

When the artic blast came through, the heat in the gym started off good but puttered out, and the heat in the PAC and Parish Hall, though working, struggled to keep up. Unfortunately, we had a pipe burst in the gym.

Once upon a time there was a water fountain outside the gym door going out to the parking lot, that was the pipe that burst. There is no telling when the plumber will be able to come out and repair it, but until then the water has been turned off to the gym!

The HVAC guys came out this week and are figuring out the poor performance of the PAC and Hall AC’s and why the gym quit working. We also realized that the restroom in the New Adoration Chapel does not have any heating or cooling, unless the door is left open. We will have to remedy this so we will not have any issues in the future.

This coming week we will have the building committee meeting to start a Master Plan of the Zachary Campus, looking at the usage of the buildings, the planned and needed maintenance; any input is appreciated, please send me an email.

Just to let you know all the priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge will be on retreat February 5 -8 th, so I will be in Manresa for the retreat, and I will also be taking off the 3rd and 4th of February; during this time Fr Jeff Bayhi and Fr Chuck Swanson will be covering all the Masses.

Please keep me in your prayers that this may be a prayerful time of rest with the Lord.
~Fr. Lamar

January 21, 2024


  January 14, 2024

We are back in Ordinary Time on the Church calendar! In days long gone this time was referred to as the time after the Epiphany until Ash Wednesday. It was time to continue to celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany, which Louisiana still does with the Mardi Gras season. As we gather around our King Cakes over the next several weeks may we  always remember the significance of those cakes – Christ is King!

Many things are happening here at SJB! We have a company coming in to remediate the mold/mildew on the ceiling of the church and we are working with the architects to come up with a solution so this does not happen again! Unfortunately, the insurance company denied our claim so we will have to absorb the cost, but thanks be to God it is less than $4000.00! Not the best scenario but it could have been worse.

The Audio-Visual project for the Activity Center and the Parish Hall is underway and hopefully will be completed by the time this bulletin is published. Thank you all for helping us to accomplish this project.

We have a Building Committee scheduled to start preparing a Master Plan for the Church Campus, please pray that our planning will be fruitful. I will be sharing this plan with the parish after we compile it and hopefully you all can give some input.

The OLA campus is coming together. The Religious Education building rehab has been completed and we are happy with the results! If maintained, we should be able to get another 40-50 years out of the building.

The building committee has been hard at work in moving forward with the plan to enlarge the parish hall and add additional classrooms and new kitchen. Those plans will be presented to the church membership by the end of this month.

Many maintenance projects have been completed as you noticed at Mass all the lights in the church have been updated to LED and has definitely brightened our church. The entry door to the cry room has been repainted and a coded lock has been installed to allow access to the parishioners to come and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. If you notice any maintenance issues at the church please contact me so they can be corrected.

Thanks to everyone for all they did to make our Christmas season beautiful and meaningful! Happy New Year to you all and please be safe as you celebrate Mardi Gras!                                     

 ~Fr. Lamar

January 8, 2024
We have come to the end of our calendar year as we are entering the middle of the Christmas season. As many people are taking down their Christmas decorations, we are still going strong celebrating the birth of the Son of God, Emmanuel – God is with us!

Our celebrations will continue for yet another week as we celebrate the Feast of the Epiphany and then Jesus’  baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordon river; it is then that we conclude our Christmas celebrations.  

In the heart of our Christmas celebrations lies our grateful hearts; that is what we carry into the new calendar year. Grateful for Christ coming at his birth to walk with us, grateful for Christ coming to us in the Eucharist to walk with us, grateful for knowing that Christ will come again to walk with us for all eternity.

This is what fills me with hope as I move into the upcoming year, that Christ is always with me, knowing that Christ is always with you as well. We will face trials and tribulations this coming year, but we know we will not face them alone; we will face joys and blessings and we know the Lord will be with us! As we continue to grow in our knowledge that the Lord is with us, especially in the Eucharist, may we rejoice and lift our voices in thanksgiving!

Happy New Year, and many blessings in 2024!        
 ~Fr. Lamar

December 24, 2023



  December 17, 2023

Today we light the Shepherd’s Candle, the pink candle of our Advent wreath, which symbolizes Joy. This Sunday is known as “Gaudete Sunday”, the day we are called to reflect on the joy the shepherd’s felt at the birth of Jesus.

The newborn king’s birth was announced first to the poor Shepherd’s, to those on the margin of society. What joy they must have felt to be the first to receive the news of this newborn king, but more so the joy they must have felt when they found this newborn king just as poor as they were, he was one of them!

Jesus could have chosen to be born in the royal palace, he could have been born in a lavish environment, but he chose to be born in abject poverty, in a town that was insignificant. Jesus’ birth gave Joy to the first ones who announced the Good News of what they had seen, what they had experienced. That my friends, is Evangelization; sharing the Joy that we experience in our relationship with Jesus!

May we like the Shepherds eagerly share the Joy of our experience with the God, who comes to us in prayer, in sacrament and in others.

~Father Lamar

December 10, 2024
Today we light the 2nd candle of our Advent wreath further pushing back the darkness with the Light of Christ! Traditionally the second candle symbolizes Faith and the journey of Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.

As we light this candle may it remind us that we are to prepare the way of the Lord, in our own heart and in the heart of the world. Of course, we know to prepare the way of the Lord in our own heart takes setting time daily to pray and reflect upon the scriptures, the daily examine our conscious to see how we are growing in the virtues, and to challenge ourselves in devoting ourselves to corporal works of mercy.

The virtue we are called to look at this week is Faith. As you know, Faith is a gift from God, yet we are called to nurture that gift in our lives through prayer, reflection on scripture and studying the teaching of the faith.

Over the last 50 years since the Vatican II Council the laity was challenged to be more involved in the church. Since that time many different ministries led by the people of God have flourished and many of those ministries use modern technology to help us grow in our faith. Now there are countless podcasts, apps, YouTube channels and websites that make studying the faith so readily available.

I personally use the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops websiteto access the daily scripture readings and the bible, and I use Formed, which is available through the SJB-OLA website for daily reflections and other educational content. So many opportunities to grow our Faith, I hope you are using them all!

This weekend we will have the Second collection for retired religious. These monies go toward supporting the woman and men who did devote their entire lives to Christ and the Church. As many of you remember, many of those religious received very little in terms of a salary, and what little was given to them was held by their orders to support the elderly members of their communities. As a Redemptorist priest we usually only draw one salary from a parish and that salary is used to support 4 or 5 men in the house. From that one salary we pay our insurance, our food and board; not much, if any, is left to put aside for retirement. The collection next weekend helps the sisters, nuns, brothers, monks and priests not only retire with dignity, but to continue to minister as they can in their later years.

Thank you for all the support you give to the women and men who have given their all in service to Christ and the church!

December 3, 2024
Advent sets the beat for the rest of the liturgical year,                                          “Come, Lord Jesus, Come!”

That’s the beat of every Mass! That’s the beat of every prayer! That’s the beat of our lives! Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus, Come Lord Jesus!

For the next four weeks leading up the celebration of Christmas we will focus on that beat in anticipation of the Incarnation of Jesus, God made man. 

As you know the Advent Wreath will be displayed and the first candle will be lit; the candle that represents Hope and is called the Prophecy Candle! Just as the  Israelites lived in anticipation of the coming of the Messiah, so do we! Our eyes are always set on the three comings of Christ – His first coming in the  Incarnation, His coming in the here and now, especially in the Eucharist, and his  Second Coming at the end of time.  

Even though there is the hustle and bustle throughout the month of December, I hope you make the time to slow down enough to reflect on the Three Comings of Christ. 
May we all keep the beat!
 ~Father Lamar


November 26, 2023
I guess the holiday season has officially begun! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and scored big on all the Black Friday sales! We had a great response for the Stewardship of Ministry, thank you for your willingness to commit to the different ministries of the parish, as you know many hands make light work!

Next week we begin the Advent Season. The sanctuary will be more simply decorated, the advent wreath will be displayed, and music will be reflective of the season. It’s a time of expectation as we await the celebration of the Incarnation of God, God becoming man out of love.

Even though it is a busy month with all the shopping, the parties, the family gatherings, it is also a time for us as Catholics to take some time to sit back and reflect upon the knowledge that our God is a God that knows us personally, that loves us each individually, and that is daily present to us. 

Please consider setting up an Advent Wreath to gather round in your home to daily do a short prayer, or do the traditional Jesse Tree, or another Advent prayer to help you reflect on God being present in your life; there are many Advent Activities that can now be found On-Line. Over the next four weeks focus on what each candle of the Advent Wreath  symbolizes; the first candle symbolizes hope, it is called the Prophecy Candle; the second candle symbolizes love, it is called the Bethlehem Candle; the third candle symbolizes joy, it is known as the Shepherd Candle or the Gaudete Candle; and the fourth candle symbolizes peace, it is the Angel Candle.

As we move into a new liturgical year, may this new year be a time of great Faith, Hope and

Love for each of you!
~Father Lamar

November 19, 2023
We are told in the Gospel of Luke, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” This is a constant cry of the Church! We need laborers in the Priesthood, the Deaconate, and in Religious Life; but we also need laborers for the harvest HERE!

As we look around our community and our culture you know as well as I do the presence of the Risen Christ needs to be manifested! His presence is manifested by us, the members of his body.

St Paul tells us we are all members of his body each with a particular gift or talent; some teachers, some preachers, some servers, etc.…. We each have a particular talent.

The number one talent is that of prayer. We all pray, but there are those that PRAY! Those are the ones we need in the forefront, especially in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the Adoration Chapel!

After that we need teachers and preachers; those who are willing to stand in the front of the saints of God (You) and proclaim Jesus’ message through bible studies, classes and paraliturgical events where lay people can preach!

But the largest area are the servers; those who are usually behind the scenes providing much needed assistance. Helping comfort those who grieve, visiting the homebound and care facilities, providing warm meals to the homeless at the local shelter, and assisting with day-by-day maintenance of our parish churches.

Then there servers who are seen, the ministers of the Word, the ministers of Holy Communion, altar servers (not just for the young ones) ushers, greeters and sacristans (those who set up for Mass).

Here at St John’s and Our Lady we have plenty areas that your can serve individually or as a family. Please take the time to review the Stewardship of Ministry commitment card and commit to being the hands of Christ!

Your yes, like Mary’s yes, make all the difference in our world!

~Father Lamar

November 12, 2023
The weather is almost perfect, cool mornings and comfortable days! God is blessing us after a brutal summer. All of November we remember in a special way all the Souls that have passed from this life to eternal life. Not just remember them, but to give thanks for their lives and the blessings they were in our lives.

November is also a month that we recognize the blessings we have in our lives and give thanks. As Catholics we know that the Mass is our number one way to give thanks! Eucharist is from the Greek word, Eucharistia, which means to give thanks.

We not only give thanks in our worship but also in giving back. We have all seen or heard of stories of people paying it forward – paying for someone’s groceries, giving a generous tip to the server, giving to St Vincent de Paul to help the needy; but what is our story? How are we giving?

This month we are focusing on the Stewardship of Ministry, our way as a Catholic to give back with our time and talent; whether it be an hour a month or15 minutes a week. We have many ways here at St John the Baptist to serve, to help build God’s Kingdom. Please take some time to read the list of ministries on our website and prayerfully discern how God is calling you to serve. Next weekend we will have Stewardship Sunday where we will invite you to fill out a commitment card and then bring it to the Altar. Just remember we are all on team Jesus and there is a place on his team for everyone!
~Father Lamar


November 5, 2023
The undercurrent of the entire month of November is Thanksgiving. We start it off by giving thanks for the role of the Saints in our lives, thanks that they constantly intercede for us and walk with us.

It’s also a time of the year in the Liturgical calendar that we give thanks for the person of Jesus Christ. As we move into these final weeks of Ordinary Time we will focus more on who He is, what He has done and what He continues to do for us as we move toward the great feast of Christ the King of the Universe.

t’s also a month that we focus on giving thanks for all the blessings we have, especially the blessings of our faith, our family and ourselves.

Amid all the thanksgiving we are called to assess how we are responding to all these blessings. Remember that Thanksgiving is a verb, an action word! How are we living out our Thanksgiving, or rather, how are we serving?

Usually during this time of the year many Catholic parishes focus on the Stewardship of Ministry. It’s a call that challenges all the parishioners to reflect on how they can serve. Here at St John’s and Our Lady we have many women and men who generously say yes to serving in various ministries in the church, but there is always room for more.

is God calling you to do to live Thanksgiving here? Is it serving as a Catholic Daughter, or in the Altar Society, or as a Knight of Columbus or in the Men’s Club? Maybe it is helping in the Faith Formation office in working with the youth or adult formation. Outreach to the poor is always an area that help is needed; St Vincent de Paul could use more hands on deck. Then, there is the help that is always needed as liturgical ministers; Altar servers, Lectors, Ushers, Greeters, Communion Ministers.

Please consider where the Lord is calling you to live your Thanksgiving!
~Father Lamar


October 29, 2023

Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew, “‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’. He is not the God of the dead but of the living.” and in the funeral mass the Preface says, “Life has changed, not ended”! Our belief that through the power of Baptism we are reborn at that moment into eternal life, this is the hope we live in as followers of Christ Jesus .

When we pass through the Veil from this life into eternal life we will join the great Crowd of Witnesses that Hebrew 12:1 refers, a Crowd of Witnesses that surrounds us and helps us “persevere in running the race that lies before us”. That is what we celebrate over the next several days, All Saints Day and All Souls Day.

Both days that calls us to pause and remember those who have gone before us, those who have witnessed the Faith to us, es pecially those who personally passed the Faith to us. Not to just remember, but to also rekin dle our relationship with them, our friends and companions that help us run the race to eternal life, who lift us up in the Heavenly Kingdom.

Nothing makes me laugh more than to hear someone say we do not need the saints; that we just have to go to Jesus! I know I can go to Jesus, but I also know the Saints of God help me keep my focus on Jesus and they intercede for me. Just as we ask our earthy friends to pray for us, I also ask the Saints of God to pray as well.

Please check the bulletin for Mass times to come and honor the Saints that have walked with you throughout your life.

Over the next several weeks our readings will focus on the King dom of God, the Law of Love, and using our Gifts and Talents; all so we can focus on the use of our Gifts and Talents in Serving God, especially through the ministries of the Church.

Be Ready as the Gospels tell us to step up to grow God’s Kingdom and grow ourselves into a Kingdom Person!

~Father Lamar

October 22, 2023

Many refer to the rosary as a “bible on a string” because of how the Mysteries of the Rosary so eloquently share the Gospel.

So many shy away from the Rosary because it is so boring, others because it just too much time, still others because it is the prayer for old people. Yet, those beads are exciting when praying each mystery, reflecting on Jesus’ life; 20 minutes is not so long, considering we spend hours on our phones per day; and it’s a prayer for all ages not just the old.

Those beads teach us discipline, they teach us how to sit still, and they teach us how to focus. Mary’s beads teach us important life lessons! Most importantly how to be her son’s disciple.

Next weekend, join us for the Fall Fest @ SJB on Saturday, October 28 from 5:30-7:30pm. There will be food, games, face painting, trick-or-treating and especially a chance to meet members from various parish ministries, hopefully you all will find a way to live your faith in service via one of our organizations.

Sadly, we will have a going away reception for Sr. Ping. Join us for Sr. Ping’s farewell reception following 11 am mass @ SJB on Sunday, October 22 in the PAC. Let’s thank her for her years of service to SJB-OLA and wish her well as she undertakes a new mission with her sisters.

Though we are getting ready to slide into a busy time of year, please heed your Mother Mary’s voice and pray for peace in our world. Many people are hurting in the war-torn areas of the world, especially the poor. As we sit in our security, may we remember them in their vulnerability and offer Prayers, Fasting and Almsgiving to bring them comfort.

~Father Lamar

---

October 15, 2023

“Everyone must take time to sit and watch the leaves turn.” - Elizabeth Lawrence

We are moving into the busy part of the year, but creation is reminding us that we still need to maintain the slow pace of summer. It’s easy to get wrapped up in all the activities of All Hollows Eve, All Saints day, Thanksgiving and then the Christmas, school plays, football and the list goes on. The schedule can fill up fast, but we need to remember to keep the balance of Mind, Body and Spirit.

Take the time to daily sit and do word/ number puzzle, daily to at least go for a walk, and daily to sit with the Lord of Creation and give thanks. When we keep ourselves balanced it is easier to stay focused and keep things in perspective, but it takes slowing down and taking the time to care for ourselves so we can care for each other.

That is one of the greatest aspects of SJB-OLA, you all strive to care for each other. I often hear of how you are helping each other, listening to each other, and being there for each other, especially encouraging one another to stay strong in the Lord! So, keep up the good work!

We are hanging on in the office and keeping the boat afloat. We are doing some cross training so that not just one person knows how to do a particular task. I am learning more and more about the inner working of the office and the many tasks and so is everyone else. The team here in the parish office is great, we are blessed!

As we move deeper into October may our love of the Rosary increase and may all the saints of God continue to intercede for us!

~Father Lamar

October 8th, 2023

On October 5th, the Church celebrated the Feast day of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos! I am hoping that many of you recognize the name.

He died October 4th, 1867 in New Orleans during the Yellow Fever Epidemic. He was only in New Orleans for a short period of time, but in that time, he touch many people through his preaching, his accessibility, and his cheerfulness.

The day of his funeral it is reported that over 10,000 people came to pay their respects even though the epidemic was raging, as well as a tropical storm; they all wanted to be in the presence of this holy man one last time.

I was always amazed when I would help at his Shrine in New Orleans how the local people speak of him as if he is still alive, the phrase I would so often hear was, “I came to talk to Fr. Seelos”, and so often amazing things happened through those conversations with Fr Seelos. We don’t have to go to Fr Seelos’ shrine to experience amazing things, we don’t have to go far at all.

This past weekend it was amazing the number of people that came out to help with the “Fill-the-Truck” for St Vincent de Paul. Many thanks for all the blessed hands that made light the work! Also, many thanks for all the blessed hands that made light the work of moving our pile of bricks this week; at a moment’s notice the Knights of Columbus showed up to help move the brick pile over to the Adoration Chapel’s courtyard. Just Amazing!

I give thanks to God daily for the many hands of this parish that are willing to serve so readily, you all make St John the Baptist – Our Lady of the Assumption a taste of heaven on earth! May our saints here always be united with the heavenly Saints!

~Father Lamar
 

---

October 1, 2023
Several years ago, Carrie Underwood sang, “Jesus, Take the Wheel”! A song about things being out of control and turning it all over to the capable one! That’s my theme song this week! With Melany, our beloved bookkeeper, being out with a broken shoulder; Ms. Nita, our Pastoral Administrator, limited with her hip injury; fighting with the insurance company, trying to get two projects off the ground (rehabbing the RE building in Clinton and the courtyard at the new adoration chapel); and just the normal day in and day out of the parish, it sure feels like things are spinning out of control! 

Yet, I know that our Lord, the capable one, is driving the bus, and all is well!

As we slide into October there is the hope of cooler temps and maybe some rain! There is also the hope that this Month of Mary, the month of the Rosary, will deepen our love and knowledge of the one who faithfully said yes to what God asked of her. My day in not complete, in fact it is empty, unless I take the time to sit back and pray the Rosary, meditating on the mysteries of the Capable One, then follow it up with the Rosary of Our Mother of Perpetual Help to cement in my mind that she, the Faithful One is with me and I am to call out to her for perpetual help in all things. I know she is with me by little miracles that manifest daily: the smell of flowers when none are present, someone out of the blue approaching me to say Yes to serve the Lord and relieving a burden from me, and her name just popping up in my head out of the blue reminding me all is well.

But also, in big ways! We have some prayerful people in the parish and this week alone two people have come up to me with what they have seen. One telling me that at Mass she looked up and saw the Red Chasuble I was wearing turn royal blue and another telling me that in her rosary the Blessed Mother told her to help finance the nun’s newer vehicle. Both comforting messages that give me the strength to move forward in confidence.

As a person grows stronger in their relationship with Mary and her son Jesus, the more prone they are to be a person who encourages others, serves others, and comforts others. May the fruits of the Rosary continue to manifest themselves in our parish churches, so that more people may see the Risen Christ, the Capable One, alive and manifesting His love in our little area of God’s Kingdom, our heaven on earth!       ~Father Lamar

---

September 24, 2023
Finally, some cool mornings to wake up to, perfect to sit outside with a cup coffee and do my morning prayer, just wish I could move the tabernacle out to the back porch!

Headway is being made on the Mold/Mildew in the Zachary church. Now the ball is in the hands of the insurance company, pray we resolve this issue soon!

The building saga in Clinton continues. After meeting with the diocese and following their directions, we have determined that it is worth fixing up the Religious Education building. I am just waiting to get one more quote for the HVAC system, then we will schedule the work. Hopefully in the next 3 weeks we can start the process.

At the last OLA building committee meeting we agreed that we need to complete a 5 – 10 year plan for the church. Other parishes in the diocese have completed such plans prior to building new structures to adequately plan appropriately. This will set us back on fund raising and starting a new building project, but I think it will give us a better idea of what we need so we can move forward.

I was able to clear another thing off the desk this week. As many of you know the sisters in Clinton are driving a rather old vehicle which has left them stranded. We had a parishioner who spearheaded raising funds and finding them a new vehicle. We were able to purchase a Chevy Trac this week. It’s a three-year-old vehicle, but only has 17,000 miles. Hopefully, it will serve them well as they drive the back roads of our parish.

The Eucharistic Revival has kicked off. Thanks to the families who have signed up for the Traveling Eucharistic Revival Chalice and are dedicating time to pray for our parish during this time of Grace.

~Father Lamar
 

---

September 17, 2023

The Eucharistic Revival Kick Off went well. A special thanks to the core group that has worked so hard in such a short time!

One of the main comments I have received is: “What is Benediction?”. Benediction is a prayer of blessings, like the priestly blessing found in the Book of Numbers, “The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make his face to shine upon you And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up his countenance upon you And give you peace.”

In the Catholic Church, Benediction is a Ritual, a Rite, where the Blessed Sacrament is exposed in the monstrance on the Altar. The faithful then have a period of Silence, Prayer, Reading from Scripture, and Song after which the faithful are then blessed with the Blessed Sacrament and it is then returned to the Tabernacle, at which time the divine praises are recited. It is a beautiful Rite that focuses our attention on our Eucharistic Lord. I hope that the Eucharistic Adoration Parish Web page is helpful.

I am hoping that our A/C issues are resolved. The Gym, PAC, and Church units are holding up. The Parish Hall unit was replaced, and the new unit is working as it should. We have some A/C issues in the classrooms, but hopefully it will be only a minor adjustment.

Our new “crisis” is the mildew in the new Church! We have contacted the Insurance Company; they will be sending out engineers to assess the situation and recommend repairs. Thankfully with the help of the Finance Council, the Ministry Council and the Building committee up and running it makes decision making much easier. Please keep us in your prayers!

~Fr. Lamar
 

---

September 10, 2023

Flannery O’Connor, an American writer, once at a dinner party heard someone say that the Eucharist was a mere symbol, her reply was classic, ‘Well, if it’s a symbol, to hell with it.’ Oh, if we all had that faith and that courage. Unfortunately, not all do!

The shocking result of the PEW study on Catholic’s belief on the Eucharist left the leaders of the Church stunned, ONLY 30% OF CATHOLICS BELIEVE THAT THE EUCHARIST IS THE BODY, BLOOD, SOUL, AND DIVINITY OF THE RISEN CHRIST! A later study clarified this. For those who attend Mass on a regular basis 70% believe it is the Body and Blood of Christ, while only 30% believe it’s merely a symbol.

From the time of the breaking of the bread at Emmaus the Apostles believed what Jesus said and commanded them to do regarding the Breaking of the Bread – that it is his body, that it is his blood and he commanded us to do “this” in memory of him. Every Church founded by an Apostle has this central belief, only churches founded later have deviated from this belief.

In June of 2022 the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops rolled out the Eucharistic Revival. The first year challenged the church leaders to grow in their relationship with the Eucharistic Lord, and now this year all the people of God are being challenged to grow in their relationship with the Eucharistic Lord.

We here at SJB-OLA will be rolling out a program to call our attention to our Lord’s Eucharistic presence. We will offer mornings of reflection, scripture study, encourage Adoration, displaying different Eucharistic Miracles in the church, together praying after Communion a prayer to remind us of what we have received and lastly reinstate a long-standing tradition in the Church – Benediction after the close of Mass one weekend a month.

September 3, 2023
C.S. Lewis wrote, “Christ wants a child's heart, but a grown-up's head." He wants us to be simple, single-minded, affectionate, and teachable, as good children are; but He also wants every bit of intelligence we have to be alert at its job, and in first-class fighting trim.” For us to achieve such a noble idea, we must constantly Spiritually Workout!

This past weekend the Diocese of Baton Rouge’s Religious Education Convocation featured Dr. Brant Pitre, a Louisiana native and professor of Sacred Scripture. He gave an insightful talk on “Jesus, the Model of Prayer”. He highlighted the importance of Meditation on Scripture, the Catholic belief in the Real Presence of Jesus, Contemplative Prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and keeping Christ as our Model in living our lives. Now that we have a New Adoration Chapel, I hope and pray that each of us will find the time to use this space to grow in these areas more! It’s time to spiritually workout!

Next month the parish will kick off our Eucharistic Revival, to join with parishes throughout the U.S in strengthening our belief in the Lord’s true presence in the Eucharist. Please pray for the Parish Eucharistic Revival’s steering committee as they plan a fruitful year!

I was very happy to see all the students back at Religious Education this past weekend. Katie, Melissa, Heidi and Wanda have once again done wonders in organizing the new school year here at St John’s and Our Lady! Please pray for our students that their minds and hearts may be open to instruction and grow in their relationship with God!

Just as the recent rains have brought us much relief and watered our thirsty land, may God’s grace do the same for our thirsty souls! 

Fr. Lamar


August 6, 2023
Greetings SJB-OLA
It is said that the Lord will not give you more than you can handle.  All I got to say is enough already!  It seems like the landslide is gaining momentum! I know why SJB & OLA has Temporary Classroom Buildings for CCD, I just don’t know why after 40 years these temporary buildings are still in use; they were supposed to be TEMPORARY!
Over the last 5 years the Temp buildings have had damage to them by falling trees and limbs during storms. The roof damage in Zachary was repaired, but in Clinton the roof damage was not; now both buildings have Mold which will have to be remediated before they can be used again. The T-Building in Zachary is in bad need of leveling; the rear door (an Emergency Exit) will not open at all, the main entrance opens with difficulty; and one of the four HVAC units is completely down. We are currently reaching out for bids to see if it is feasible to make the necessary repairs. The T-Building in Clinton, though older, is in great structural shape, we are currently entertaining bids from two contractors to make the necessary repairs. 
The decay of the earthly things are a given, yet even in the midst of decay the spiritual well-being of the parish is phenomenal! I am constantly awed by the number of people attending Mass, even daily Masses, I am constantly awed by the number of people who stay to pray the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on Thursdays and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy on Fridays. Because of your witness, we already have people calling to enquire about entering the Church! I find the Faith strong in Clinton and Zachary! Because of your faith, your prayers and support, I know I will be able to handle what the Lord places on me! Keep up the good work, good and faithful servants of the Lord!     ~Father Lamar
 

July 2, 2023

Greetings SJB and OLA! It is wonderful to be here with you! 

I have always enjoyed visiting over the last 11 years when Fr Jeff was called away, so I know I will enjoy being able to stay with you now.

As many of you know I was raised in Baton Rouge, then my family moved to Walker, so I am familiar with South Louisiana and all the beauty it holds, mainly the beauty of its people; which I have come to appreciate more deeply after being away since I joined the Redemptorist.  I have been a Redemptorist for going on 27 years; 15 years as a Redemptorist Brother and 12 years as a Redemptorist Priest.

Throughout those years I have been assigned to Crowley, LA; Baton Rouge, LA; Grand Rapids, MI; Liguori, MO; San Antonio, TX and Tucson, AZ. Many years ministering as a Jr High Religion Teacher, Psych Nurse, Associate Pastor, Vocation Director and lastly a Pastor.

I came home to Louisiana a year ago to be with my family when my father was placed on Hospice. We lost him in February so at that time I decided to stay in this area to stay close to my family. So I come with some experience, but there is always more and more to learn and I am looking forward to learning along with you. 

The parish has grown and its faith has only deepened over the years. One of the defining virtues of SJB-OLA is the love that is evident and the hospitality that overflows; it’s a sign that the Spirit of the Living God is alive in this place. I am blessed to experience both and I am looking forward to experiencing more, and sharing the power of the Holy Spirit with you.

May our faith be as hot as a Louisiana Summer and powerful as Hurricane! Together let us build God’s Kingdom here and now!

Fr Lamar