The VIRTUS Protecting God’s Children Online Awareness Training may be used to complete required yearly Continuing Education for Safe Environment.

This is for volunteers who are in need of Continuing Education. Initial Trainings must still be attended in a live session. Live sessions are held periodically at St. Peter Church and are announced.

For step by step instructions on how to access the 2010 online recertification training print from the link below:

Step by step instructions on how to access VIRTUS

Click the button below to begin the VIRTUS Online Training Session.

The Gospels of Mark and Luke include the story where Jesus reprimands his disciples for not allowing little children to come to Him. Jesus asserts that His Father’s Kingdom belongs to little children.

Our Lord was emphasizing the openness, trust, and sheer wide-eyed wonder with which children approach life. He wanted his followers to contemplate the possibilities of God’s Kingdom for them with the same childlike wonder.

It is extremely sad, therefore, to contemplate the terrible effects that the crime of child sexual abuse has on children and young people and their families, and sadder still to consider that this has occurred within our Church.

The mission of the Diocese of Lafayette’s program, “A Safe Environment for the Protection of Children and Young People” is to insure the safety of children and young people who have been entrusted to our care in our parishes, schools, religious education classes, and other programs.

This mission is pursued in three ways:

1. By thoroughly screening and supervising all members of the clergy (priests and deacons), as well as all employees and volunteers who work with children and young people as part of their ministry.
2. By providing appropriate training in recognizing and reporting child abuse to appropriate civil and Church authorities.
3. By holding all members of the clergy, employees and volunteers who work with children and young people to Christ-centered and professional codes of conduct.

The Diocese of Lafayette gives interested person an opportunity to explore its programs further or just get in touch with them. The Safe Environment staff is also pleased to offer you whatever assistance or information you may need. Please feel free to contact them:

Carmer Falgout

Victim Assistance Coordinator

337-237-003

Lisa Frederick

337.735.9434

lfrederick@diolaf.org

Visit the newly launched website for St. Peter School: www.spsgueydan.org. There you will find information about our school, see recent news, and view recent photos.

St. Peter Church will again be blessed with the presence of a seminarian this summer.  Dustin Dought is a native of Lafayette, sponsored by St. Genevieve Church. He is a graduate of St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, LA and just completed his first year of Theology and Priestly formation at Theological College of the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. He is excited to serve St. Peter Church for the summer, and I am sure that you will warmly welcome him.

As we continue to try to establish a culture of vocations in our parish, where the call God gives to men and women is nurtured and supported, there is a great new website that the US Bishops have created to help us- www.foryourvocation.org. I encourage all who are discerning a vocation to the Priesthood, Diaconate, or Religious Life to check out the site for great information about discernment.

Before the beginning of Hurricane Season on June 1, 2010, the West Region of the Diocese of Lafayette is sponsoring a Mass for the protection against storms here at St. Peter Church on Thursday, May 27 at 6:30pm.  A light reception will follow in St. Peter cafeteria. Please make plans to join us in asking God for His blessing during this year’s Hurricane Season.

As more sexual abuse cases by Priests come to light around the world,  although proportionately small in number, the Church affirms that we must condemn these deeds in an absolute and uncompromising manner.  These Priests have committed a horrible and most serious crime of sexual abuse of minors, and they must answer for their actions before God and before tribunals, including the civil courts. At the same time, we pray that they may experience spiritual conversion and receive God’s mercy. The Church, for her part, is determined neither to hide nor to minimize such crimes. Above all, we are on the side of the victims and want to support their recovery and their offended rights.

To see what the Catholic Church in the United States has done to effectively respond to sexual abuse, click here.

To read our Holy Father, Pope Benedict’s Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland regarding sexual abuse by Priests, click here.

To see how the Holy See is addressing the Church’s response to the abuse of minors, click here.

To understand how proportionately low the number of Priests who abuse is, click here.

St. Peter School’s Annual Dinner Dance will be held this Saturday April 17. There will be a drawing for $3000, $2000, & $1000. Crawfish ettoufee will be served beginning at 5pm. There will be a live auction. A comedy hour by Jonathan Perry from 7-8 and DJ Buffy from 9-1. Tickets are $100. Cash Bar. It promises to be a fun night…so come out and support SPS! Contact Brandy Broussard if you would like a ticket.

Many people think that Christmas is the most important day in the Catholic liturgical Calendar. However, from the earliest days of the Church, Easter has been considered the most important and central Christian feast. As St Paul teaches, “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:14) Without Easter—without the Resurrection of Christ—there would be no Christian Faith. While Christ’s Christ’s incarnation is proof of His humanity, the Resurrection is the proof of His Divinity! The Church is a wise mother. Because Easter is so important, she has the 40-day season of Lent to prepare. But afterwards, she sets aside a seven-week season (50 days!) to rejoice in Christ’s victory over sin and death! So, as Catholics, we should take advantage of this great season of Easter! Here are some ways that you as an individual or family can “tap into” the power of Christ’s Resurrection during this space of 50 days:

-   Prepare well for Holy Mass on each Sunday of Easter by reading beforehand the passages of Sacred Scripture that will be proclaimed.

-   Recover the tradition of celebrating the Lord’s Day by gathering with the extended family around great food and fellowship each Sunday of Easter.

-   Gather as a family on Sunday evenings of the Easter season (or any other day of the week) to read and discuss the passages of the Resurrection found at the end of each Gospel account.

-   Redouble your efforts to keep the Lord’s Day holy…a day of prayer and relaxation. Think about ways that you may celebrate it together by family games, movies, discussions, etc.

Happy Easter! Let’s live this great season of joy!