Seminarian Mass Celebrated

West Feliciana, with its gardens and oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, provided a picturesque framework for seminarians of the Diocese of Baton Rouge as they delved more deeply into their vocational call to priesthood during a retreat Sept. 17–19.

Nine seminarians focused on their personal relationships with Christ through eucharistic adoration, Mass, prayer and bonding with each other. They spent time with Bishop Michael G. Duca; Father Joshua Johnson, director of vocations; and Father Andrew Merrick, director of seminarians.

“Throughout the weekend, our seminarians prayed together, encouraged one another and challenged each other to grow in holiness as disciples of Jesus Christ,” said Father Johnson.

The seminarians were introduced to the parishioners of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in St. Francisville at the parish’s vigil Mass, which also included the installation of Father Brad Doyle as pastor.

In his homily, Bishop Duca reflected on the beauty of two simple but profound ceremonies occurring that day in that they revealed the connection between the local church and universal church. 

The presence of the seminarians should remind people be open to inviting all whom God is calling to a priestly vocation, according to Bishop Duca.  

“We can also become better at calling people to vocation if we’re living a life of vocation,” said Bishop Duca.

Each day people should be calling out to the Lord and asking “What do you call me to do today?” and “Is there something you are calling me to?” 

 

Bishop Duca said it was a joy to be surrounded by the seminarians and that one day he wants to hand them a key to parishes in the diocese as he did with Father Doyle.

At the end of Mass, the seminarians and congregation joined together in prayer and singing of the “Salve Regina” also known as “Hail Holy Queen,” which is part of night vespers for the seminarians.

Attendees were also asked to pray for Phillip Gordy, a member of OLOMC, who was one of two men to take their first monastic vows at St. Joseph Abbey in Covington on Sept. 14.

Two seminarians, Huy Tran and Joshua Zelden, who are both in their first year of theology at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, received the Rite of Admission to Candidacy Holy Orders during the Mass.  During the rite, the bishop asked each candidate two questions about their resolve about completing preparations for the priesthood. After each candidate answered affirmatively, he was accepted as a candidate for Holy Orders.

The rite externally represents a more intentional stage of formation and configuration into Christ the priest.

Though Tran was raised Catholic, it wasn’t until his sophomore year at LSU in the fall of 2015 that he “had a true encounter with Jesus Christ and truly began to be in a living relationship with him.”

“I spent the rest of my time in college growing in love, prayer and discipleship through Christ the King parish at LSU,” Tran said. “During the summer of 2018, I perceived a deep invitation and desire to discern the priesthood. I had thoughts about the priesthood here and there before, but they were fleeting for the most part. What separated this from previous thoughts was a deep and abiding sense of being in love with God as a saint in the vocation of the priesthood. I tiptoed back and forth for a bit, but I realized that the ultimate desire of my heart was to be wherever Jesus was, and where he was for me was the seminary.”

“Seminary is definitely a unique place, and if formation is doing its job, seminary should be both a place of joy and struggle,” he added. “Joy in that you’re with other men who are desiring the same means for holiness as you are, and you can share in each other’s journeys in discernment and formation. It should also be a struggle because you are being stripped of the old man to be formed into the priest, and some things are more difficult to let go of than others. 

“In my own experience, when I keep my eyes on the Lord, asking him to be the light of my body and being confident in his merciful love for me, the pruning becomes easier to bear because the one who I love is the one who is present in all the trials. It is by this pruning that he will bear great fruit. It is for him and his church that I want to give my life away.”

Zelden became conscious of a possible call to the priesthood in college when a theology professor asked him if he considered a vocation to the priesthood because he thought he would make a good priest. Zelden courteously thanked him but did not give it proper thought or prayer. It sat dormant for years. He married and had a “beautiful little girl,” divorced and the marriage was later annulled. He remained single for several years, dating seriously off and on and became an attorney.

Yet the call to priesthood persisted. He met Father David Dawson, who at the time was in a similar life situation. Being around Father Dawson, a consistent prayer life and “powerful experience” with the Acts Retreat Team at St. Aloysius Church in Baton Rouge led him to leave his career as an attorney and apply with the Diocese of Baton Rouge as a seminarian.

“I hesitated for years to accept the call for a vague fear of losing my freedom. But now that I have been a seminarian here at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans for over a year, my life feels right, in balance. I have a tremendous sense of peace and joy and especially a sense of liberation, because I am confident I am where I belong and where the good Lord wants me,” said Zelden.

He and Tran prayed for the grace to be humble and continue their formation process with fortitude and joy. 

“I am honored and humbled to be in seminary formation and look forward, with great joy and healthy fear and respect, to the day that I may be ordained as a priest of the Baton Rouge Diocese. The world can be daunting and overwhelming, but there is cause for hope here,” said Zelden.