Can I Getta Amen

How do families find hope after losing a loved one to suicide? This week on Can I Getta Amen, Deacon Barney Lejeune and his wife, Paula, join Kristi to remember their daughter Andrea and share how their grief led them to help other families facing suicide loss.

Barney and Paula talk about Andrea’s life, the challenges their family faced, and the faith and community that have helped them carry their grief. They also share how the Diocese of Lafayette’s Mass of Remembrance began—and why it matters for families to know they are not alone.

The Mass of Remembrance is Saturday, November 21, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette.  For Mass details or to submit a loved one’s name, visit:
https://diolaf.org/remembrance-mass-registration

If you or someone you love needs support, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.

Support the show: If conversations like this have encouraged you, consider supporting Can I Getta Amen and The Light Project’s mission to share faith and hope.

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Six years after her first appearance on Can I Getta Amen, licensed Christian counselor Kristy Suire returns to share what God has done through some of the most difficult years of her life.

Kristy speaks honestly about codependency, family addiction, recovery, grief, trauma, and the painful process of releasing the people we love into God’s hands. She and Kristi reflect on the faith required when life doesn’t unfold as expected—and when following God doesn’t protect us from suffering.

Through it all, Kristy returns to the question that anchors this conversation: “Where else would I be but at the feet of Jesus?”

Her journey has now brought her into a new season of redemption as CEO of Bienvenu Counseling Services, where she helps individuals and families find healing, support, and hope. This is a raw and deeply human conversation about remaining with Jesus through the suffering and discovering that He is still faithful on the other side.

Learn more about Kristy Suire:
https://bienvenucounseling.org/kristy-suire/

Bienvenu Counseling Services and Better Acadiana:
https://bienvenucounseling.org/

Listen to Kristy’s first appearance on Episode 23:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/593689/2720350

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What does it mean to let Mary walk with us through suffering?

Kristi is joined by Candice Saltzman and Tonia Cormier for a beautiful conversation about Our Lady of Sorrows and the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows. They share how this centuries-old devotion became deeply personal through experiences of infertility, adoption, grief, family struggles, addiction, unanswered prayer, and surrender.

Together, they walk through the Seven Sorrows of Mary and reflect on the very human experiences found within them: worrying about our children, feeling lost, watching someone we love suffer, grieving someone we’ve lost, and trusting God when His answer looks different from the one we prayed for.

Through it all, the conversation keeps returning to one beautiful truth: Mary understands sorrow, she walks with us through it, and she always leads us back to Jesus.

If you’ve ever felt alone in suffering or struggled to understand where God is in the middle of it, this episode is for you.

Can I getta Amen?

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Recorded in front of a live studio audience!

This week on Can I Getta Amen, artist Candice Alexander joins us for a conversation about creativity, faith, and what happens when your work begins to feel like more than just a career.

Candice shares how her journey as an artist began long before the religious work she’s known for today, how the Fleur-de-lis became part of her story, and how an unexpected connection to Mary eventually opened the door to something deeper. She also talks about beginning OCIA and the way her faith journey has continued to unfold alongside her art.

Candice also shares how her newest body of work feels different from those of the past, how she’s using music and technology to create deeper encounters with her art, and why she now believes this may be the work she was always meant to create.

It’s a joyful conversation about listening, creating, trusting the unexpected, and allowing God to use the gifts He’s given you.

Follow Candice Alexander:
Instagram: @candicealexander
Facebook: Candice Alexander Art Studio
Website: CandiceAlexander.com

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What does it look like to make your faith your own when you're still figuring out who you are?

This week, Kristi sits down with 17-year-old Ryleigh Oestriecher for a conversation about faith, friendship, suffering, and growing up Catholic in a culture that often makes it easier to simply fit in.

Ryleigh shares openly about the health struggles that began early in high school—and the anger and questions she brought to God because of them. She talks about the experience at Steubenville that helped her recognize that Jesus had never left her, the importance of surrounding herself with friends who bring her closer to God, and what she's learning as she prepares for life after high school.

But what we love most about Ryleigh's story is that she doesn't pretend to have it all figured out. She's still learning, still growing, and still choosing her faith—and she wants other young people to know they don't have to walk that journey alone.

In this episode:
• Being angry with God when life doesn't make sense
• Finding friends who bring you closer to God
• Social media and the pressure to fit in
• Making your faith your own as you grow up
• Why Ryleigh hopes to bring Christ into her future career
• The message she wants other young people to hear
• The deeply personal story behind Philippians 4:13

We hope you find something in Ryleigh's story that makes you say, “Amen!”

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In this episode of Can I Getta Amen, Kristi sits down with Connie LeBlanc for a conversation about healing, faith, forgiveness, suffering, and redemption.

Connie shares honestly about the difficult experiences that shaped her childhood and the ways those experiences affected how she saw herself, her family, and even her relationship with God. But her story doesn't end there.

Through Jesus Christ, prayer, community, and a deeper Catholic faith, Connie discovered that the things she once saw only as wounds could become part of something much greater.

From learning to forgive, to recognizing the Holy Spirit's promptings, to discovering a deeper purpose for her life, Connie's testimony is ultimately a story about what God can do when we surrender our past to Him.

She describes it as going from a cocoon to a butterfly.

If you've ever struggled to understand your past, wondered where God was in the middle of your suffering, or questioned whether He can really bring something good from painful experiences, this conversation is for you.

There is always hope in Jesus Christ.

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This week on Can I Getta Amen, Faith, music, and truth come together in this special conversation with Ted Broussard.

Ted is a Catholic, a member of the St. Albert the Great Chapter of the Lay Dominican Order, and a lifelong student of theology, history, and the relationship between faith and reason. He's also spent decades immersed in music, studying Theory and Composition at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and performing professionally, including as a member of the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame group The Boogie Kings.

In this episode, Kristi and her special co-host Tonia sit down to talk about Ted's journey of faith, his return to a deeper relationship with the Catholic Church, his experience with Cursillo and the Holy Spirit, Catholic apologetics, faith and science, and his love of music—from rhythm and blues to Gregorian chant.

You won't want to miss this conversation about faith, music, family, reason, and the search for truth—and what it means to keep following where God leads.

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In this episode of Can I Getta Amen, Kristi sits down with Margaret Trahan, Executive Director of the Catholic Legacy Foundation of Acadiana, to discuss faith-filled estate planning, Catholic investing, stewardship, and how Catholics can support the Church for generations to come.
 
Together they explore:
 
 • What it means to leave a Catholic legacy
 • The difference between endowments and donor-advised funds
 • How Catholic investing aligns financial decisions with Church teaching
 • Supporting parishes, schools, pro-life ministries, and Catholic outreach long after you're gone
 • Practical ways to steward the gifts God has entrusted to you
 
Whether you're in your 30s, 50s, or beyond, this conversation will challenge you to think differently about faith, finances, and the impact your life can have on future generations.
 
Learn more about the Catholic Legacy Foundation of Acadiana: CatholicLegacyFoundation.org
 
If this episode encouraged you, be sure to like and share it with someone who wants to leave a lasting impact for Christ.

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Father Michael Champagne joins us for a powerful conversation about faith, family, vocation, the Eucharist, and the incredible story behind Louisiana's beloved Fête Dieu du Teche.

Raised in a deeply Catholic Cajun family, Father Michael shares how daily prayer, the Rosary, and Eucharistic devotion shaped his life and eventually led him to the priesthood and the Community of Jesus Crucified. He discusses the influence of Father James Fry, the meaning of redemptive suffering, the beauty of Eucharistic adoration, and why the Cross remains at the center of the Christian life.

We also dive into the origins of Fête-Dieu du Teche, the annual Eucharistic procession along Bayou Teche that has become a powerful witness of faith throughout Acadiana. Father Michael shares stories from the early years, the inspiration behind the historic Mississippi River Eucharistic procession, and the countless conversions, healings, and moments of grace that have emerged through these events.

Show Highlights

• Fête Dieu du Teche
• Father Michael Champagne's vocation story
• Community of Jesus Crucified
• Catholic faith in Cajun culture
• Redemptive suffering and the Cross
• Eucharistic adoration and devotion
• Catholic evangelization in Louisiana

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What happens when your identity is stripped away? For speaker and youth minister Tim Jara, that question became the doorway to encountering Jesus in a life-changing way.

After an injury ended his gymnastics career, Tim found himself searching for purpose and belonging. What began as a Confirmation retreat became the moment Christ transformed his life through Confession, Eucharistic Adoration, and the simple hospitality of youth ministers who saw him, welcomed him, and reminded him that he was loved.

In this episode:

• Tim's powerful conversion story through a Confirmation retreat
• Finding identity after losing the thing that defined you
• Why every teen needs to know they are seen and loved
• Parenting, ministry, and keeping Christ at the center
• Social media, authentic community, and helping young people flourish

Whether you're a parent, youth minister, or simply someone longing to remember your first love for Christ, this conversation is a beautiful reminder that our true identity is found in being sons and daughters of God. 

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