Falcon News, April 24, 2023

April 24, 2023

Dear St. Joseph Families,

I wanted to follow up from last week’s news with you. As you may have known, Msgr. Long has been assigned as pastor of St. Jude Catholic Church in Benton. Fr. Nicholas Duncan has also been assigned as parochial vicar to Jesus the Good Shepherd in Monroe. As expected, this is a surprise that not too many were excited about, but we also knew that the day would come. I wish to express my personal gratitude to Monsignor. It was due to a nudge from 2 ladies who love Catholic education that I was invited to take the position as the principal of St. Joseph Catholic School. Needless to say, I am grateful for the time I have been able to serve under his time as pastor.

Please do not look at this as a time where we say, “Well, we will always get another one.” Monsignor and I had many conversations about the present state and the future of SJS. You can imagine the anxiety he and I felt (and I am sure many of you did as well) during the COVID shutdown. Still, here we are, a beautiful school with wonderful families and fantastic teachers. We are all here for a common purpose- what is best for St. Joseph Catholic School. Knowing that is all he ever wanted for this place- what is best for SJS- he can pass that on to future generations of families and pastors who will see generations of young people formed and educated in the Catholic faith. I pray that we can share with Monsignor Long some token of our appreciation for everything that he has done, in doing what is best for St. Joseph School, the single largest ministry of this church parish.

On another note, I pray that we may all welcome with open arms and open hearts, our new pastor, Fr. Jerry Daigle. He comes to us with many years of experience with Catholic education within the Diocese of Shreveport. May he have a smooth transition into this new role. St. Joseph, pray for us.