Bishop Glen John Provost on Sunday led a Eucharistic Procession along a nearly 1.5 mile route from St. Louis Catholic High School through the streets of Lake Charles to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. The procession, which had hundreds of participants, followed an hour of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Louis, which included silent prayer and songs.

Bishop Provost led an Act of Consecration entrusting the Diocese to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus Christ. Father Mitch Pacwa, S.J. gave a homily.

Father Pacwa asked those in attendance to reflect on the different aspects of faith.

The events marked the conclusion in the Diocese of Lake Charles of the Year of Faith, called for by Pope Benedict XVI in October 2012.

He said many Catholics recognize faith when they see it, but often don’t know how to put their faith into words and “how to express what they believe and why they believe it.”

“Certainly for us Catholics — that is a tremendous, lifelong challenge,” Father Pacwa told those at the Cathedral. “It does not matter how long you live, how many times you read the Bible or how much you go back to study. There is always more. As Pope Benedict brought up, faith is faith in the infinite God because God is infinite. You are not going to run out of reflection and depth.”

Father Pacwa is Founder and President of Ignatius Productions, a Catholic media production apostolate. For the last three decades, he has led pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

“You can accept full responsibility for what you do and bring it to Jesus Christ because he accepts your responsibility and reconciles you for the Father,” he said. “That’s the meaning of the cross above the heart of Jesus.”

He also said the heart has flames that come from it — flames of the intensity of God’s infinite love.

“This consecration today is making, again, that commitment to follow all the way to the death,” he said.

Locals continue to travel with and participate in The Diocese of Lake Charles Eucharistic Procession in downtown Lake Charles on Sunday. (Rick Hickman / Special to the American Press)