Meet the Louisiana priest behind a 100-gallon town blessing. Ep.130

It is a beautiful thing when the sacred and the quirky come
together in such a way that only Catholicism can arrange. Filling a
crop duster plane with holy water and blessing an entire small town
definitely qualifies as sacred and quirky in the best way. This
week we chat with Father Matthew Barzare, the pastor of St. Anne
Church in Cow Island, La., who gave the blessing. We get the full
story from Father Matt: Where did the idea come from? Were there
logistical issues? Canonical issues? What buildings got blessed?
(Sneak peak: The town bar is among them.) In Signs of the Times, we
unpack Pope Francis’ Lenten message and get a special Lenten
penance from our friends Stephanie Butnick and Liel Leibovitz from
Unorthodox, the world’s leading Jewish podcast. We also discuss the
devastating revelations of the sexual misconduct by the late
founder of L’Arche, Jean Vanier.  Tell us what you think about
the episode on our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and help
other listeners find Jesuitical by leaving us a review on Apple
Podcasts. Please consider supporting the show by becoming a member
of our Patreon community. Patrons get access to an exclusive
newsletter written by one of your hosts each week!   Links
from the show Internal report finds that L’Arche founder Jean
Vanier engaged in decades of sexual misconduct Pope Francis
delivers annual message for Lent Pope Francis recognizes the
martyrdom of Jesuit Rutilio Grande and two lay companions in El
Salvador Why does it take so long for the Catholic Church to
recognize martyrs of justice? Louisiana parish uses plane to bless
town with 100 gallons of holy water What’s on tap?Everything but
the liquor cabinet (before we start our dry Lent) Learn more about
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