Tuesday, June 3: Communion & Healing

MASS READINGS  TODAY
Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions, Martyrs

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 20:17-27
•  Psalm 68
•  John 17:1-11

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 9 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians in the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation
•   56 priest spiritual directors serving as spiritual directors during the seminarians' 8-day silent retreat
•   9 seminary professors in the Retreat for Seminary Faculty

Today is the fourth full day of the seminarian's eight-day silent retreat. Let's keep seminarians in prayer, as well as the spiritual directors. It's been a great retreat thus far. Tonight's conference will offer encouragements in regards to the importance of letting the Lord into the places of our heart that most need His love.

"Healing is an essential dimension of the apostolic mission and of Christianity. When understood at a sufficiently deep level, this expresses the entire content of redemption."
— Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth

"Whoever truly wishes to heal man must see him in his wholeness and must know that his ultimate healing can only be God’s love."

— Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

1st John 4:7-18 and Psalm 139:1-16 ... ask God to reveal His desire for complete communion with you, especially in the places of your heart where you most resist communion.

7 QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER  QUESTION 5

Monday, June 2: Everything

MASS READINGS  TODAY
Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 19:1-8
•  Psalm 68
•  John 16:29-33

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 8 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians in the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation
•   56 priest spiritual directors serving as spiritual directors during the seminarians' 8-day silent retreat
•   9 seminary professors in the Retreat for Seminary Faculty

Today is the third full day of the seminarian's eight-day silent retreat. Lots happening here; however, it's all being painted on the canvas of silence and one on one spiritual direction. Tonight's conference will offer encouragements in regards to the importance of bringing everything into the light when the seminarians are speaking with God or their spiritual director.

"[The enemy] conducts himself as a false lover in wishing to remain secret and not be revealed. For a dissolute man who, speaking with evil intention, makes dishonorable advances to a daughter of a good father or a wife of a good husband, wishes his words and persuasions to be secret, and the contrary displeases him very much, when the daughter reveals to her father or the wife to her husband his false words and depraved intention, because he easily perceives that he will not be able to succeed with the undertaking begun. In the same way, when the enemy of human nature brings his wiles and persuasions to the just soul, he wishes and desires that they be received and kept in secret; but when one reveals them to one’s good confessor or to another spiritual person, who knows his deceits and malicious designs, it weighs on him very much, because he perceives that he will not be able to succeed with the malicious undertaking he has begun, since his manifest deceits have been revealed."
— Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, no. 326

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Psalm 139:1-16 ... ask God to show you what needs to be brought to the light.

7 QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER  QUESTION 4
  

Sunday, June 1: Silence & Within

MASS READINGS  ASCENSION OF THE LORD

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 1:1-11
•  Psalm 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9
•  Ephesians 1:17-23
•  Matthew 28:16-20

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 7 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation
•   56 priest spiritual directors serving as spiritual directors during the seminarians' 8-day silent retreat

Today is the second full day of the seminarian's eight-day silent retreat. Tonight's conference will offer encouragements in regards to the importance of trusting in God's generosity, especially if the seminarians are struggling a bit with the silence.

"[Today many] seem to want to fill every empty moment with music and images, out of fear of feeling this very emptiness. This is a trend that has always existed, especially among the young and in the more developed urban contexts but today it has reached a level such as to give rise to talk about anthropological mutation. Some people are no longer able to remain for long periods in silence and solitude."
— Pope Benedict XVI, October 9, 2011

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you!  You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you.  In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created.  You were with me, but I was not with you.  Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.  You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness.  You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.  You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you.  I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.  You touched me, and I burned for your peace."
— Saint Augustine, Confessions

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Psalm 131, Jeremiah 29:11-14 ... ask God to help you settle yourself and grow more comfortable with silence.

7 QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER  QUESTION 3
   

Saturday, May 31: How See Us

MASS READINGS  TODAY
Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

•  All the readings together
•  Zephaniah 3:14-18
•  Isaiah 12:2-3, 4, 5-6
•  Luke 1:39-56

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 6 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation
•   56 priest spiritual directors serving as spiritual directors during the seminarians' 8-day silent retreat

Today is the first full day of the seminarian's eight-day silent retreat. Tonight's conference will offer encouragements in regards to God's looking at us differently than how we look at ourselves.

"Love of neighbor is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. ... Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave."
— Pope Benedict XVI, Deus Caritas Est, no. 18

"A step or two before the place where I have to contemplate or meditate, I will pause for the space of an Our Father, with my consciousness raised on high, considering how God our Lord is looking at me, and will make an act of reverence or humility."
— Saint Ignatius, Spiritual Exercises

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Isaiah 43:1-7 ... ask the Lord to show what He sees when He see you.

7 QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER  QUESTION 2
   

LET'S GET READY FOR MASS THIS WEEKEND



FR. ROBERT BARRON  ASCENSION SUNDAY
Click here to listen to Fr. Robert Barron's homily for this weekend.

Friday, May 30: There

MASS READINGS  TODAY
Friday of the Sixth Week of Easter

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 18:9-18
•  Psalm 47
•  John 16:20-23

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 5 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation
•   56 priest spiritual directors serving as spiritual directors during the seminarians' 8-day silent retreat

Today marks day five at the Institute for Priestly Formation 2014 summer programs. Today the seminarians conclude their first course, "Christian Prayer and Virtue," a course designed to teach the men how to pray. Today the men will unpack the following quote: "If our wanting is to be wholehearted it must be connected to the rest of reality.” (Robert Johann, Wanting What We Want) In this morning's class conversation, the men will learn more about the connection between prayer and virtue. Essentially we'll discuss how our experience of God during prayer has to impact the rest of our lives outside of prayer.

In addition, tonight the men will enter into silence and begin their 8-day silent retreat. During the eight days, the men will pray four times a day. Each prayer experience, lasting a full hour, begins with a specific Bible passage, centers on conversation with God, and ends with review of what happened during the hour. In addition to the four hours of prayer, the men will meet with their priest spiritual director for an hour of spiritual direction daily. Finally, each night at 6:30 PM there is a brief conference for all 169 seminarians, special guests, and spiritual directors. The conference offers encouragement around basics of the spiritual life relative to where the men may find themselves at this stage of the retreat.

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Pray with the following passage from the Catechism:

"God calls man first. Man may forget his Creator or hide far from his face; he may run after idols or accuse God of having abandoned him; yet the living and true God tirelessly calls each person to that mysterious encounter known as prayer. In prayer, God's initiative of love always comes first; our own first step is always a response. As God gradually reveals himself and reveals man to himself, prayer appears as a reciprocal call, a covenant drama. Through words and actions, this drama engages the heart. It unfolds throughout the whole history of salvation."
— Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2567

Psalm 37:1-7 ... ask God to reveal the desires of your heart for Him and the desires of His heart for you.

PRAYER: PART 4  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

7 QUESTIONS ABOUT PRAYER  QUESTION 1
   

Thursday, May 29: Choosing to Choose

MASS READINGS  TODAY
Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 18:1-8
•  Psalm 98
•  John 16:16-20

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 4 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation

Today marks day #4 at the Institute for Priestly Formation 2014 summer programs. Today the seminarians have their third full day of class in their first course, "Christian Prayer and Virtue," a course designed to teach the men how to pray. Today the men unpacked the following quote from Pope Benedict XVI:

"In the words ‘I do,’ spoken at our priestly ordination, we made this fundamental renunciation of our desire to be independent, ‘self-made.’ But day by day this great ‘yes’ has to be lived out in the many little ‘yeses’ and small sacrifices. This ‘yes’ made up of tiny steps which together make up the great ‘yes’ can be lived out without bitterness and self-pity only if Christ is truly the center of our lives. If we enter into true closeness to him.”
— Pope Benedict XVI, 2009 Chrism Mass

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and 2nd Samuel, chapter 11 ... ask God to strengthen your desire to choose Him, especially when you don't desire to choose Him.

PRAYER: PART 2  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

PRAYER: PART 3  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

Wednesday, May 28: Living Deeper

MASS READINGS TODAY
Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 17:15, 22-18:1
•  Psalm 148
•  John 16:12-15

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014 DAY 3 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation

Today marks day #3 at the Institute for Priestly Formation 2014 summer programs. Today the seminarians have their second full day of class in their first course, "Christian Prayer and Virtue," a course designed to teach the men how to pray. Today the men went deeper into the "geography" of the soul, learning more about how one can experience consolation or desolation at both distinctly spiritual and non-spiritual (psychological or "human") levels of the heart.

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Mark 10:17-22 ... ask God to strengthen your desire to live "deeper" with eyes focused on Heaven.

PRAYER: PART 1  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

Tuesday, May 27: Aware

MASS READINGS TODAY
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 16:22-34
•  Psalm 138
•  John 16:5-11

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014 DAY 2 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation

Today marks day #2 at the Institute for Priestly Formation 2014 summer programs. Today the seminarians have their first full day of class in their first course, "Christian Prayer and Virtue," a course designed to teach the men how to pray. Today the men will learn about the "geography" of the soul, learning more about the heart and how to pray with the things in their heart.

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Psalm 131 ... ask God to help you become more aware of your interior life.

THREE HEARTS  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

HOW TO PRAY  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

THE INSTITUTE FOR PRIESTLY FORMATION WHAT DO WE DO?

Monday, May 26: Desire

MASS READINGS  TODAY

Memorial of Saint Philip Neri, Priest

•  All the readings together
•  Acts 16:11-15
•  Psalm 149
•  John 15:26-16:4A

IF YOU WERE HERE THIS SUMMER  FR. MARK'S HOMILY

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SUMMER 2014  DAY 1 AT IPF

Who is at IPF today:
•   169 seminarians for the 10-week Summer Program of Spiritual Formation

Today marks day #1 at the Institute for Priestly Formation 2014 summer programs. Today IPF welcomes 169 seminarians from 65 dioceses from across the country. Today the seminarians begin orientation, introducing the men to the general context of the summer. This afternoon the men will begin their first course, "Christian Prayer and Virtue," a course designed to teach the men how to pray.

Click here for learn more about the Institute for Priestly Formation

IF YOU WERE THIS SUMMER  TODAY YOU WOULD PRAY WITH ...

Psalm 63 ... ask God to elicit the deepest desires from your heart. If you could ask the Lord for anything, what would you ask for?

THE INSTITUTE FOR PRIESTLY FORMATION  WHAT DO WE DO?

AN INTRODUCTION TO PRAYER  FR. SCOTT TRAYNOR

May 1, 2014: Everything

MASS READINGS TODAY
Thursday of the Second Week of Easter
•  All the readings together
•  Acts 5:27-33
•  Psalm 34
•  John 3:31-36

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

POPE FRANCIS QUOTE FOR THE DAY
"I ask everyone with political responsibility to remember two things: human dignity and the common good."

POPE FRANCIS' HOMILY TODAY
•   Click here to read text from Pope Francis' homily

April 30, 2014: Listen

MASS READINGS TODAY
Wednesday of the Second Week of Easter
•  All the readings together
•  Acts 5:17-26
•  Psalm 34
•  John 3:16-31

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

POPE FRANCIS QUOTE FOR THE DAY
"Who among us can presume to be free of sin?  No one. Let us ask God to forgive our sins."

POPE FRANCIS' HOMILY TODAY
•   Click here to read text from Pope Francis' homily

April 29, 2014: Forget

MASS READINGS TODAY
Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena
Virgin and Doctor of the Church
•  All the readings together
•  Acts 4:32-37
•  Psalm 93
•  John 3:7-15

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

POPE FRANCIS QUOTE FOR THE DAY

"Who among us can presume to be free of sin?  No one. Let us ask God to forgive our sins."

POPE FRANCIS' HOMILY TODAY
•   Click here to read text from Pope Francis' homily

Good Friday: What happened?

GOOD FRIDAY TIMELINE

7:00 — 11:30 PM
Last supper with Apostles, the Passover meal

11:30 PM —1:00 AM
Garden of Gethsemane

1:00 — 1:30 AM
Confrontation in Garden and Jesus' Arrest

1:30 — 3:00 AM
Annas, former Jewish High Priest for 16 years, receives Jesus ... Jesus beaten. Jesus then taken to the current Jewish High Priest, Caiaphas, and the Sanhedrin Court

3:00 — 5:00 AM
Jesus' imprisoned at Caiaphas' palace

5:00 — 6:00 AM
Trial before the Jewish elders, including the High Priest, scribes and whole Sanhedrin

6:00 — 7:00 AM
Hearing before Roman governor Pilate, who declares, "I find no guilt in this man"

7:00 — 7:30 AM
Hearing before Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, who had jurisdiction over Galilee ... Jesus refused to answer any questions so Herod returned him quickly to Pilate

7:30 — 8:30 AM
Pilate repeatedly tries to release Jesus but the Jewish leaders object. Pilate physically tortures and beat Jesus beyond recognition seeking to satisfy the Jewish leaders. However, the Jews demand that Jesus be crucified. Pilate resists and eventually gives the order to execute Jesus.

8:30 — 9:00 AM
Roman soldiers take Jesus into the court ("Praetorium") and enjoy mockery and continue torture, including driving thorns into his skull

9:00 AM — 12:00 Noon
Jesus forced to carry his own cross, nailed to the Cross

12:00 Noon — 3:00 PM
Momentous final 3 hours on the cross

3:00 PM
"consummatum est"

Holy Thursday: April 17, 2014

FR. MARK'S HOMILY HOLY THURSDAY

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Message for Sunday, April 13, 2014: Palm Sunday

MASS READINGS PALM SUNDAY

•  All the readings together
•  Isaiah 50: 4-7
•  Psalm 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24
•  Philippians 2:6-11
•  Matthew 26:14-27:66

FR. MARK'S HOMILY PALM SUNDAY

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Thursday, April 3, 2014: Everything

MASS READINGS TODAY
•  All the readings together
•  Exodus 32:7-14
•  Psalm 106
•  John 5:31-47

MASS READINGS THIS SUNDAY
•  All the readings together
•  Ezekiel 37:12-14
•  Psalm 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8
•  Romans 8:8-11
•  John 11:1-45

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

Wednesday, April 2, 2014: Hear

MASS READINGS TODAY
•  All the readings together
•  Isaiah 49:8-15
•  Psalm 145
•  John 5:17-30

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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Homily: Sunday, March 23, 2014

MASS READINGS TODAY
•  All the readings together
•  Exodus 17:3-7
•  Psalm 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9
•  Romans 5:1-2, 5-8
•  John 4:5-42

FR. MARK'S HOMILY 3RD SUNDAY OF LENT

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•  OPENING IMAGE

•   How are you doing with Lent?
•   Do you still have the fervor of Ash Wednesday?
•   How's your commitment to your Lenten penance?

•  TRANSITION TO CORE MESSAGE

•   It's easy for us to loose steam.
•   It's easy to loose our "passion" in our relationship with Jesus.

•  CORE MESSAGE: THE HOMILY IN ONE SENTENCE

>  It's easy for our hearts to grow hardened.

•  WHAT DO TODAY'S SCRIPTURES SAY?

In Exodus 17: "In those days, in their thirst for water, the people grumbled against Moses, saying, 'Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Was it just to have us die here of thirst with our children and our livestock?"

In Exodus 14: "Moses answered the people, 'Do not fear! Stand your ground and see the victory the LORD will win for you today. For these Egyptians whom you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you have only to keep still.' ... The Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I receive glory through Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen. ... Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD drove back the sea with a strong east wind all night long and turned the sea into dry ground. The waters were split, so that the Israelites entered into the midst of the sea on dry land, with the water as a wall to their right and to their left. ... Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal flow. The Egyptians were fleeing head on toward it when the LORD cast the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. As the water flowed back, it covered the chariots and the horsemen. Of all Pharaoh’s army which had followed the Israelites into the sea, not even one escaped. ... When Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the seashore and saw the great power that the LORD had shown against Egypt, the people feared the LORD. They believed in the LORDe and in Moses his servant."

Today's Responsorial Psalm: "If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

•  WHY IS ISRAEL'S HEART HARDENED?

1.  It's harder than they expected.
2.  They're looking at the destination, not the journey.
3.  They're looking at the "world" not God.

•  WHY DO OUR HEARTS HARDEN?

1.  Life is harder than we expect.
2.  We looking at the destination, not the journey.
3.  We look at the "world" not God.

•  CORE MESSAGE: THE HOMILY IN ONE SENTENCE

>  It's easy for our hearts to grow hardened.

•  CONCLUSION

•   Turn your heart back to God.

Recorded Sunday, March 23, 2014 at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Thibodaux, Louisiana. © Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

March 21, 2014: Remember

MASS READINGS TODAY
•  All the readings together
•  Genesis 37:3-4, 12-13A, 17B-28A
•  Psalm 105
•  Matthew 21:33-43, 45-46

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

March 20, 2014: Do you believe?

MASS READINGS TODAY
•  All the readings together
•  Jeremiah 17:5-10
•  Psalm 1
•  Luke 16:19-31

FR. MARK'S HOMILY TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014

JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM TODAY

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© Fr. Mark Toups, 2014