Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

For five years I have had the privledge of calling Baton Rouge home. There are many aspects of South Louisiana I have come to love, but the greatest thing I have come to admire in my time here is a people unwavering in faith and boldly living the Gospel.

In considering this year's appeal, I was inspired by the Eucharistic Revival taking place in our national and local church. The deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament running through our land has motivated me, and I have been drawn to Christ's actions of taking, blessing, breaking and giving on multiple occasions in the Gospel. Like the ordinary bread taken and transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper, God invites us to be transformed by the Gospel to play a unique role in His story of salvation. 

In opening ourselves to conversion, we can see the ways God has blessed us and begin to share these blessings with those entrusted to our care. Oftentimes in the process, we realize we are broken - in health, in our relationships, and in our vocations. It is then that Jesus invites us to take up our crosses and unite them to our blessings and burdens for us to experience new life. Through this death to new life, we are given the grace to serve those around us and those we might never know in our community. 

As we begin this new giving season for the Bishop's Annual Appeal, I ask you to prayerfully consider how the Lord is inviting you to be recognized in the taking, blessing, breaking and giving of your resources in our local diocesan community.

Hope in the Lord,