Reeling in fishers of men

With priests being in the news for alleged wrongdoings, many are turned away from the church because of seeing the priesthood in a negative light.
One recent Internet video; however, had the end result of shedding new light on the humanity of those men called to be “fishers of men.”
This video was created and filmed by Ville Platte native Taylor McCaulley, who is the communications director for St. Bernard Catholic Church in Breaux Bridge and was the last in a series of videos featuring two priests with Ville Platte connections in Fr. Garrett McIntyre and Fr. Stephen Pellessier.
Fr. McIntyre was previously parochial vicar at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Ville Platte and is currently pastor at St. Bernard, while Fr. Pellessier is the son of a Ville Platte native and parochial vicar at St. Bernard. Fr. Pellessier was also ordained to the priesthood last year as part of the “Centennial Seven” during the Diocese of Lafayette’s centennial celebration.
According to McCaulley, the videos were designed to promote another aspect of the diocese’s centennial. “We were promoting the centennial gala celebration hosted by St. Bernard to celebrate that significance in the diocese’s history.”
“What we wanted to do was try to get people excited and enthused about this event and to get them to buy tickets and come have a great time. We had a band and an auction, and (Basile native) Bishop Douglas Deshotel was going to be there. All kind of things were going on, and it was going to be a really fun night.”
To accomplish this, McCaulley thought of shooting videos to highlight the personalities of the priests at St. Bernard. “I wanted to capitalize on their personalities because everybody loves these priests, and I thought some videos of them just being ridiculous was going to stir up a lot of attention on social media and really pique the interest of a lot of people. I decided to use these videos to promote our silent auction items.”
One of the items auctioned at the gala was a pew from the original St. Bernard Church. As McCaulley said, “We decided to have Fr. McIntyre and Fr. Stephen sit on the pew and pretend to reenact the scene from Forrest Gump where he says ‘life is like a box of chocolates.’ Fr. Stephen absolutely nailed the impersonation of Forrest Gump, and it was just hilarious.”
Another video promoted a catered dinner at the rectory with the priests that was to also be auctioned at the gala. “We wanted to be ironic with that video,” said McCaulley, “so I said let’s get some McDonald’s and pretend like we’re in 1800s England at this fancy dinner. Fr. Stephen and Fr. Mac went at it for the video. They got white table cloths and fancy silverware and had McDonald’s on the table.”
The video that got all the buzz was the black and white silent film. “For that video, we were promoting the raffle tickets,” McCaulley stated. “People could buy raffle tickets, and there was a series of prizes.”
The third place prize was a fire pit; the second place prize was a package including dinner at Cafe Sydnie Mae in Breaux Bridge, a night sleeping at a bed and breakfast, and breakfast the next morning at Buck & Johnny’s; and the first place prize was, as McCaulley said, “a weekend trip to Toledo Bend with all expenses paid for a fishing excursion.”
The priests and McCaulley came up with the idea of the silent film showing the priests ride around town on their tandem bicycle. “The tandem bike has just been an icon in Breaux Bridge, in Lafayette, and throughout the diocese,” said McCaulley. “Somebody bought the priests a tandem bike whenever Fr. Stephen got assigned to Breaux Bridge, and they literally ride this bike around the church premises and to St. Bernard School.”
She continued, “They’ll visit the kids on the bike and just roll up on it. It’s hilarious because you don’t expect two young priests to show up on a bright yellow tandem bike.”
The silent film was a series of scenes showing the priests ride their tandem bike to different locations around Breaux Bridge.
“The first scene was them silently cooking marshmallows over the fire pit,” explained McCaulley. “The second scene was them riding their tandem bike to Cafe Sydnie Mae. They were sitting at the bar doing cheers and basically acting like a mime. The next scene is them on their tandem bike again as it slowly goes across the screen.”
“Then they end up at the bed and breakfast,” continued McCaulley, “and they’re playing washer boards and acting the fool. Then they ride their tandem bike up to Buck & Johnny’s to have a little breakfast.”
The ending of the silent film is what garnered all the attention for the video and was filmed against the backdrop of Bayou Teche which flows behind St. Bernard Church.
“It hit me where one of the priests was going in the Bayou Teche to be the fish, and one of them was going to be the fisherman,” McCaulley stated. “They both looked at me like I was crazy, but I said I wasn’t taking no for an answer and y’all are fishers of men so y’all have to live this out in this video.”
“Fr. Stephen is a little more rambunctious, so he volunteered first,” she continued. “Fr. McIntyre had a little competition come out of him and said he would do it for his parish. Fr. Stephen suited up in a fishing shirt and a fishing hat. Neither one of them had a fishing pole, so I brought mine. Fr. McIntyre went and changed into an old cleric he doesn’t care about to jump in the brown muddy Bayou Teche.”
The scene starts with Fr. Stephen fishing in the bayou and catching something on the end of his hook. As McCaulley said, “You then see Fr. McIntyre emerge from the water flailing around like a fish coming out of the water. He’s then on his side flopping around on the deck, and Fr. Stephen is jumping up and down going hooray, hooray, hooray. The very last scene is Fr. Stephen holding Fr. McIntyre like he’s the trophy fish.”
After the silent film appeared online, the response went off the proverbial charts. “It had over 35 thousand views,” McCaulley acknowledged. “That’s big for a Catholic video to get that much attention on social media. EWTN picked up on the video and shared it on their Facebook page. People from all over the world were seeing this film made by podunk me in Breaux Bridge, so it took me by surprise.”
She added, “Prior to posting this video, we still had over half of our gala tickets to sell. When this video posted, we sold out within 48-hours. Needless to say, we had a very successful gala. It was packed, and everyone had a great time. We showed the video at the gala, and the room was filled with laughter.”
McCaulley’s path to being communications director at St. Bernard started after she graduated from Sacred Heart here in Ville Platte in 2011. She then attended University of Louisiana at Lafayatte where she finished in 2014 with a degree in writing.
“I worked for three years at John Paul the Great Academy as assistant director of admissions and advancement,” she said. “In that three year time is where I jumped into this whole communication, marketing, and graphic design world.”
“Now,” she continued, “I’m actually back in school getting my master’s in clinical mental health counseling. I also own and operate my own business called McCaulley Media that deals with graphic design, communications, marketing, and all things creative.”
The creative aspect of the silent film, for McCaulley, is what led to the most special part about it. “A lot of times, we have this idea that priests are unapproachable, not relatable, inhuman, and not being able to participate and have fun in the world,” she said.
She concluded, “If you hang around Fr. McIntyre and Fr. Pellessier, you just instantly feel like they’re your friends. They’re totally normal, down to earth, hilarious, funny guys. I think the most special part was just showing people the joy of the priesthood. These are two men who are just fulfilled in their vocations and so good at what they do. They are two great priests, and to see them cutting up and acting the fool and being human, I think, is a real witness to vocations in general.”