News - December 2021 RSS Feed

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge ushered in a new era of health care when it began seeing patients at its new Cancer Institute on Dec. 20. Four days earlier, OLOL chaplain Father Donatus Ajoko blessed the 19,500-square-foot building that will serve patients for imaging, non-oncology infusion, palliative care, oncology infusion and OLOL Physician Group Medical Oncology. Patients previously received that care in the Mary Bird Perkins building although it was administered by Our Lady of the Lake.

Because COVID-19 and the Omicron variant is now surging across the country with increased community transmission and hospitalizations, now is the time to begin taking action to protect our healthcare workforce and prepare as a community for what we anticipate to come.  To protect our workforce and ensure the continuity of care for our community, Our Lady of the Lake is reinstituting several mitigation measures effective immediately: Masks will be required for all patients, team members and guests inside ALL of our locations, clinical and non-clinical

The fear of God’s anger or disappointment is one we know well, because our fallen human nature inclines us to think God will react the way we as humans do. My dear friends, the beauty of the Incarnation we are celebrating this season allows us to realize that this idea of God being disappointed in us couldn’t be anywhere further from the truth. In our weakness, anxiety and loss of focus, it is God who ushers us in closer and shows us the way to grow in holiness and return our focus to Him.

Pro-life leaders praised the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling Dec. 10 that Texas abortions providers can legally challenge the state’s ban on most abortions but the justices did not issue a stay, thus allowing the current law to remain in effect.

Children and families at Immaculate Conception Church in Denham Springs enjoyed a pancake and sausage breakfast with St. Nick on Dec. 5 with proceeds going toward sending youth to the Vigil for Life that will take place in the Diocese of Baton Rouge in January. Greg Oivanki, an ever-popular choice to portray St. Nick, heard the wish list of many children that day. Photo provided by Rosalyn Duplantis

For the past 16 years, Elf on the Shelf has become a tradition, both hated and loved, for families in the days leading up to Christmas.

Why are so many people leaving their churches? There is no one answer to that question. People are complex. Faith is complex. The issues are complex.

As the infancy Gospel of St. Luke tells us, St. Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary had to go to the place  of Joseph’s birth, Bethlehem, which had also been the city of King David’s birth.

Embracing her Catholic heritage has always come naturally for Baton Rouge native Monique Scott-Spaulding.

St. Michael the Archangel Diocesan High School chemistry teacher Lorenzo Foster was recently chosen as the High School Chemistry Teacher of the Year by the American Chemical Society.

Helping families at Thanksgiving is an annual project for the St. Rose de Lima Catholic Daughters in St. Amant. Forty-one families requested help this past Thanksgiving from the Food Pantry at Holy Rosary Church in St. Amant. Student organizations at St. Amant High School, Lakeside Primary and St. Amant Primary and Middle Schools all held canned food drives in November to help the Catholic Daughters fill up their baskets with non-perishable items to go with turkey, sides and dessert fixings. The Youth Ministry at Holy Rosary also collected canned goods, decorated large boxes to hold all the food, helped with sorting cans, and helped out on the day the food was distributed. Alice Aymond, Wes Keller and Ava King work together to load up a wagon with bread, milk, eggs and of course, turkey. Photo submitted by Debi Graham | St. Rose de Lima Catholic Daughters

In this Year of St. Joseph, students at St. Alphonsus Liguori School in Greenwell Springs are participating in a monthly activity to honor the foster father of Jesus.  In October, the church celebrated Respect Life month.  St. Joseph protected the baby Jesus when he was most vulnerable.  Students combined the two events into their project for the month of October.  Second-graders asked students to bring in baby items for the Women’s New Life Clinic in Baton Rouge.  Diapers, wipes, bibs, blankets, and other baby items were collected along with cash donations to help this clinic which supports life.  Photo submitted by Nicole Husser | St. Alphonsus

The community comes together in an outpouring of love and support by collecting toys that Bishop Michael G. Duca will distribute to children in need at the St. Vincent de Paul Society Dining Room on Dec. 18. 

Longtime ESPN college basketball analyst Dick Vitale is relying on his Catholic faith and the power of prayer to help him through his battle with cancer.

The wait has begun for a decision from the U.S. Supreme Court that ultimately would overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that legalized abortions nationwide.