Veritas 2026: Father Champagne Says Suffering is Transformative

By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles

LAKE CHARLES — Father Michael Champagne, Religious Superior for the Community of Jesus Crucified, still recalls two words spoken to him by Pope John Paul II in Rome four decades ago that he said saved his life from darkness and remain with him to this day.

“Take courage!” the Holy Father exclaimed to then-seminarian Brother Michael.

“Something happened in me upon hearing those words,” said Father Champagne, keynote speaker for the 2026 Veritas Conference on Saturday, September 19.

“Pope John Paul II was a man of hope. He saw something in me, and he came forward,” recalled Champagne, who was ordained a priest in 1994. “We are all men and women of hope. If we can rejoice in suffering, then you can tell a kid, hey, tomorrow is a better day.”

The 15^th annual Veritas, hosted by the Office of Religious Education for the Diocese of Lake Charles, took place in Our Lady Queen of Heaven Family Life Community Center.

Father Champagne serves as retreat master at Our Lady of Sorrows Retreat Center in the Diocese of Lafayette. His talks focused on the “Christian Meaning of Suffering,” and the “Joy and Hope of Suffering.”

Champagne reminded the nearly 300 attendees gathered of Jesus’ words: “Unless you take up your cross daily, deny yourself and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”

For those who ask why there is suffering in the world, Father Champagne explained that it is necessary and transformative.

“Suffering in our lives is an essential element of a means to holiness. It is not just something that we have to tolerate or something that we just have to get through, and it is certainly not something to avoid,” he remarked. “Suffering is something we have to embrace because it is the means that Jesus chose to redeem us.”

Father Champagne said that suffering in this life is essential, and we need to enter into it and participate in it because the cross is our only hope.

“What is your greatest suffering right now in your life?” he asked. “You want it to be redemptive. You want to love it, to embrace it.”

Champagne emphasized that how we suffer determines our sanctity.

“Jesus wants us to be co-redeemers with him,” he said. “If we don’t participate in suffering, we can lose our soul.”

Father Champagne also spoke on the importance of suffering with charity in our hearts.

“When we suffer with love, it brings joy. The first fruit of charity is joy,” he said. “Joy is a magnet. People are attracted to joy.”

Summarizing Saint John Paul II, Champagne said that joy is possible in suffering, but for the mature.

“We must exercise faith again and again. We have to live by faith, not by sight,” he remarked, “asking ourselves: Where is God in this? What is God saying? What is God asking of me?”

Conference Reaction

It was Layni Carlucci’s first time attending Veritas. She and her husband Pedro are parishioners of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Layni was fully received into the Catholic Church earlier this year at Easter. She was excited to be a part of the conference and hear Father Champagne’s message on suffering.

“He makes it sound so easy, but I hope to take what he shared and put it into practice in my life,” said Layni. “We should not dwell on our sufferings but instead find the joy in them.”

Layni said that she enjoyed the opportunity to hear a variety of speakers during the breakout sessions.

“My husband and I have only been married eight months. I never grew up in a Catholic family, so it was interesting to hear the Wyningers explain the importance of daily prayer together,” she said. “That is new for me, but how special is that to pray as a family. It really hit me that hopefully one day we will have our own children and be able to pray together.”

Blaine and Denise Wyninger spoke on “Living in the World but Not of the World: Helping Kids Embrace a Culture of Life in a Culture of Death.”

Tiffany Thomas and Cheryl Lantron traveled from Kinder to attend the conference. They are both parishioners of St. Philp Neri Catholic Church and catechists for second graders.

It was Tiffany’s first time at Veritas and said it was worth the 40-minute drive to Lake Charles.

“I will definitely come again,” she said. “The talks offered good information that I can share with friends who are going through some trials.”

Tiffany said Father Champagne put suffering into perspective for her.

“A lot of times I think of big things when it comes to suffering, but after hearing Father Champagne speak, it made me think about the suffering that goes on with day-to-day living and offering it up to God,” she said.

Cheryl said that she enjoyed the breakout session with Father Jeffrey Starkovich who spoke on “Love bears all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:7)

“It was good for me to be reminded that it is important for us to embrace suffering and participate in it,” she said. “Father Starkovich said that our suffering is a gift to God and from God.”

Marlie Martin was one of 11 vendors who displayed her business, Beyond Blessed. A parishioner of St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church in Big Lake, Marlie is married to Adam and the mother of four children.

This year was her first time as a vendor at Veritas and said it was a “gift and a joy” to see so many people show up to the diocesan event. She recognized that there was a message the Holy Spirit wanted her to hear.

“Everything that Father Champagne said about loving and sacrifice is brutally beautiful,” said Marlie. “It is brutal to hurt and have the crucifixion, but the beauty is in the love you unite to it and the sacrifice that comes with it. The more kids I have, the deeper I push into the daily sacrifices of washing the dishes as if Christ is going to eat on them or sweeping the floors as if he is going to enter the house.”

Marlie realizes the importance of taking the mindset of sacrifice and suffering and turning it into stewardship and caretaker. “Someone intentionally doing these acts makes the difference,” she remarked.

Elaine Abshire and Tebble Robertson both decided to attend Veritas for the first time since before Hurricane Laura (2020). They are parishioners of St. Theodore Catholic Church in Moss Bluff.

Elaine, who has been a catechist for 20 years teaching third graders, said she heard that Father Champagne is a fantastic speaker and wanted to listen for herself.

“From what I heard today, he is very relatable. His talk reminded me that I need to put myself aside, and everything is not about me,” she remarked. “He told us to love, even with the suffering, but love for the right reasons and don’t complain.”

It caught Tebble’s attention when Father Champagne spoke about original sin.

 “His talk impressed upon me that our tendency to do things we are not supposed to do is because of original sin,” she shared. “We are always going to have that struggle within ourselves.”

Other breakout sessions were:

• Called to Holiness: Using Virtue to Combat Vice by Father Levi Thompson
• The family name of Christian: Building a Culture of Support for Priestly and Religious Vocations by Sister Marie Josepha Kluczny, RSM
• Why Unity in Marriage Matters: How to See your Family as a Domestic Church by Drs. Clifford and Caroline Courville and Matthew and Addie Johnson
• Lord, Can You Write That Down? by Ann Vincent

Veritas extras

A delicious jambalaya lunch was cooked by the St. Joseph Catholic Church (Vinton) Knights of Columbus Council 6103, and cookies were provided by Pronia’s Deli and Bakery.

Vendors included: Nichole Lanthier Art, Little Flower Gift Shop, Peace of Mind, LaFamille Tallow, Cowboy Catholics, Lake Charles Vocations, Charli’s Candle Company, Swampy Hollow Candle Co., Southwest Louisiana Pro-Life Billboards, Beyond Blessed, and St. Louis FBLA Coffee.