Pastor's Spring Update

Dear Ragin' Cajun Catholics,

I pray that your Lent is off to a good start. We have had so many wonderful things happening, and I wanted to share a few with you in case you missed them. The most exciting news is that construction is officially underway for our new church and student center. Last week, the test pile program began. These test piles will help us understand the soil's load-bearing capacity so that the engineers can ensure we build on a strong foundation. This week, LEMOINE installed the windscreen on the fencing around the property, and it shares our mass times and mission! We look forward to seeing the work come "out of the ground" sometime this summer when we begin erecting the steel framing. Thank you for your incredible support, prayers, and perseverance over this last decade. May God, who has begun this good work, bring it to fulfillment!

As I write this, we are preparing to leave for our annual Greek Retreat. This year, we will have 180 people on-site for this transformative weekend. About 160 will be student retreatants involved in Greek life, and the other 20 will be priests, religious sisters, campus ministry staff, and students who serve over the weekend as the support staff. The retreat is a wonderful event for Greek students who are already involved to grow deeper in their relationship with the Lord. It also provides a great opportunity for them to invite and walk with their brothers and sisters on their journey towards the Lord.

We are also preparing for our annual Boilin' Bash! As many of you know, this event is a wonderful opportunity to see our thriving ministry at work and bring various local community members together. It is one of our three major fundraising events each year that support our annual operations. Being a college ministry, we rely heavily on the generosity of our alumni and faith community in the Diocese of Lafayette and beyond. Please make plans to join us at Blackham Coliseum at 6:00 PM on Saturday, March 29, 2025, for music and dancing, an always entertaining live auction, the best-boiled shrimp & fried catfish around, and much much more.

Great things are happening on our campus. We have had record numbers of students attending our FOCUS Bible Studies; Fr. Nick's discernment group has about 12 men actively involved, our weekly guys and girls groups are thriving, and most importantly, many students regularly take advantage of the sacraments. I often feel in my bones the Lord saying to His disciples, "The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." The harvest is certainly abundant on the UL campus. Thank you for providing us with the resources we need to be coworkers with the Lord and to go out and gather more laborers for the harvest!

In Christ,

Rev. Patrick S. Broussard

Pastor/Chaplain