It is yet another anniversary of my Diaconate Ordination; this one is #9. I remember while in formation my fellow candidates and I would wonder how much longer would it be before we became Deacons of the Church. Now we begin the 10th year of service to the people of God in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, already looking forward to our 10th anniversary in 2018. For me personally my diaconate journey has included the joy of serving two Catholic parishes. Immediately after ordination I was assigned to my home parish of St. Jane de Chantal where I served from December 2008 through December 2010. In January 2011 I was sent to the people of Most Holy Trinity Parish where I remained until July of 2015. Since that time I have returned home to St. Jane's. Throughout all of my diaconate I have also proudly served as Catholic Pastoral Care Chaplain for the men at Rayburn Correctional Center, a major state penitentiary about 40 miles north of Abita Springs in the tiny town of Angie. Let me state here that the ministries assigned to me have been nothing short of great joy. I love serving the people of my home parish and especially relish my role in facilitating Bible Study, offering weekly Benediction and just working with the Priests, staff and laity of this faith-filled place. I am also so thankful for my time at Most Holy Trinity where I learned a lot about serving people and stretching myself to be an effective minister of God's gifts. And my ministry at Rayburn, once something I thought would intimidate me, has been one of the greatest sources of joy. The men are both sincere in their faith and so genuinely happy to have someone come to them; they seem to enjoy the gift of presence. If left to me, I hope I always can handle this ministry at Rayburn until my active diaconate days are over, a long time from now!
I have served the Archdiocese of New Orleans under two Archbishops, first under Archbishop Alfred Hughes who is my ordaining Bishop. A kind and humble man of great prayer, we are blessed that he remains active now into his eighties. Archbishop Gregory Aymond is our current Archbishop and is extremely Deacon-friendly, supporting us in the ministries assigned to us and now meeting with us annually to discuss all things Deacon. We are truly blessed here in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
9 years ago there were 23 of us ordained, the Class of 2008. We had been together in formation for almost six years. Hurricane Katrina pushed our ordination back from the original date of December 2007 to the actual date of December 13, 2008. There were 23 of us for New Orleans; one of our classmates withdrew before ordination and one man, previously in formation, joined us to complete his formation; he was ordained with us. Since the day Archbishop Hughes laid hands on us, we all have gone about the business of doing God's work, in parishes and archdiocesan ministries, each to our best abilities. During these nine years we have lost two wives, Bernadette Walker and Nora St. Pierre. And just recently, memories still very fresh, we lost our first brother, Michael Ziaontz. May Bernadette, Nora and Michael(Mike) all rest in peace and remain forever in our memories.
So this very day, the 9th anniversary of my Ordination, I rejoice in the start of another year of ministry and so looking forward to my Wednesday night trip to Rayburn!
May God, who has begun this good work in us bring it to completion. And may we, the Permanent Deacons of the Ordination Class of December 13, 2008 always remember to be a herald of Christ, believing what we read, teaching what we believe and practicing what we teach!
Ad Multos Annos!!
No comments:
Post a Comment