Abp. Aymond to new priests: Walk with your people like Jesus the Good Shepherd

(Photos by Frank J. Methe and Cheryl Dejoie-LaCabe, Clarion Herald)

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

Taking to heart St. Peter’s priestly advice to “clothe yourselves with humility” in order to become exemplary servant-leaders of their flocks, six men were ordained to the priesthood June 5 at a Mass inside a packed St. Louis Cathedral.

Deacons Dan Dashner, Ajani Gibson, Michael Lamy, Truong “Peter” Pham and Andrew Sanchez were ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

Also ordained was Deacon Thomas Bamoah, who will serve the Diocese of Yendi in his home country of Ghana.



Helping people to refocus their lives on Christ amid the distractions and “busyness” of life is the ongoing task  – and privilege – of Catholic priests, said Archbishop Gregory Aymond, directly addressing the six ordinands during the homily.

“God uses you to get the attention of others, and to reassure you that they are loved and that they are forgiven,” said the archbishop, urging the soon-to-be-priests to be humble men of prayer.

“Your voice will speak God’s word and not your own or others,” he pointed out. “Whenever you say ‘I,’ it’s not you; it’s Jesus, the person of Christ,” he told them. “God will use your hands to lead, to bless and to consecrate.”

Needed: Fishers of men

Before calling down the gifts of the Holy Spirit upon the six and sending them forth as priests of Jesus Christ, Archbishop Aymond detailed the New Testament roots of the priesthood. Because the number of Jesus’ followers had grown to a point at which the apostles needed helpers, they began seeking other men who knew Jesus well, who were wise in the ways of faith and who were proven leaders. These men would assume a three-fold ministry:

First, the priest must make “Christ the Teacher” present in the world by being “dynamic” preachers of God’s word in a world “hungry for direction,” the archbishop said.

Secondly, the priest makes God present through the celebration of the sacraments and as leaders of prayer. 

Finally, priests must walk with the people – and teach them how to love – using Christ the Good Shepherd as their example.

“You will hold (the people’s) hands and you will cry with them,” said the archbishop, telling the ordinands that they would have the “privilege” to accompany people in their most brokenhearted moments as well as in their most joyful ones.

“You will be able to say to them, in those dark moments: ‘You are not alone! Be not afraid!’ My brothers, I beg you to seek the lost and the wounded. There are many in our world.”

With so much asked of them, the archbishop admitted it would be difficult, at times, to be “good and effective shepherds.” To steel themselves for their chosen vocation, he advised them to spend “quality time in prayer” each day and to regularly avail themselves of confession.

“Know your gifts, know your strengths, (but also know your) sinfulness and your weaknesses,” the archbishop told them. “We (priests), too, must embrace the mercy of Christ in the sacrament of reconciliation.”

Finally, the archbishop reminded the soon-to-be-ordained priests to lean on their brother priests – and to let their brother priests lean on them – during times in which they might be questioning their calling.

“We cannot be a Catholic priest by ourselves,” Archbishop Aymond said. “We belong to the presbyterate, the fraternity of priests, and we are very blessed in the Archdiocese of New Orleans because we have a strong fraternity of priests.” 

Humble, dynamic, dedicated shepherds

After Father Colm Cahill, director of the archdiocesan Vocation Office, testified that each man was a worthy candidate for the Order of the Priesthood, the Rite of Ordination commenced, with the six ordinands making a series of promises before the archbishop, attending clergy and congregants: to exercise the ministry of the word “worthily and wisely” as they preached the Gospel and taught the Catholic faith; to faithfully and reverently celebrate the sacrifice of the Eucharist and the sacrament of reconciliation; to “pray without ceasing;” and to continually strive to be united more closely to “Christ the High Priest” and consecrate themselves to God for the purpose of the the salvation of all.

The men promised their respect and obedience to the archbishop (and in Ordinand Bamoah’s case, to his bishop in Ghana), before prostrating themselves for the Litany of Saints, in which congregants ask for the prayers of the universal church.

When the ordinands rose to their feet, Archbishop Aymond laid  his hands upon the head of each, praying for him in silence and inviting his brother priests to do the same. The subsequent Prayer of Ordination alluded to the manifold duties of a priest, asking God to make the men “faithful stewards of your mysteries, so that your people may be renewed in the waters of rebirth and nourished from your altar; so that sinners may be reconciled and the sick raised up.”

As an outward sign of their new priestly status, the six men, with the help of their selected vesting clergyman, removed their deacon’s stole and donned their priest’s stole and white chasuble.

The rite concluded with Archbishop Aymond anointing the hands of each new priest with holy chrism – a sign of their new role as sanctifiers of the Christian people – and handed the gifts of bread and wine to them, giving each his chalice and paten. Archbishop Aymond told them, “Understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.”

Joy in the air

A Michigan native who served for 30 years in active duty for the Marine Corps – including a year in Vietnam from 1970-71 – Father Dashner, 71, was the group’s elder statesman. His first assignment will be as parochial vicar of St. Peter Church in Covington and part-time chaplain at St. Tammany Hospital, where he now will be able to hear the confessions of and anoint the sick himself – free of the deacon’s need to locate a priest.

“I’m feeling elated!” Father Dashner said. “God has given me the strength and courage to finish my formation and to be a priest of Christ in this holy church. I am so anxious to offer my first Mass tomorrow at St. Genevieve (Church in Slidell) at 11 a.m., where all my brothers and sisters will be with me!”

Father Gibson, 27, was anticipating his first priestly assignment as parochial vicar of his beloved childhood parish of St. Peter Claver in New Orleans. A small jazz band was awaiting Father Gibson outside the cathedral, giving him an opportunity to celebrate, New Orleans style.

“I am overwhelmed. I am so grateful to almighty God for bringing me to this moment,” said Father Gibson, who had his first thoughts of becoming a priest at age 5. An alumnus of St. Augustine High School, who was deeply influenced by the Josephite priests, Father Gibson said the full impact of the morning hit him as Archbishop Aymond was reading the Prayer of Ordination.

“That moment, I said (to myself), ‘Wow! I’m a priest forever! I’m a priest forever!’” he said.

Father Lamy, 35, was close to earning a college degree when he entered the seminary and obtained permission to dual-enroll at the University of Holy Cross while studying for the priesthood. Although he had stopped attending Mass in young adulthood to pursue careers in physical therapy, house raising and as a CrossFit trainer, his baptismal foundation and education at St. Francis Xavier Elementary and Archbishop Rummel High stuck with him. The thought of becoming a priest came to him during adoration, and led to a reversion to his Catholic faith.

“I’m humbled and very thankful that God would call me to be a priest to serve his people,” said Father Lamy, whose first priestly assignment will be as parochial vicar of  St. Ann Church in Metairie. “After standing up from being prostrated, when I knew the archbishop was about to lay his hands on us, it was a particularly powerful moment.”

Father Pham, 33, was marveling at how he had arrived at such a milestone after having emigrated from Vietnam to the United States in 1994 as a 7-year-old. Raised in St. Agnes Le Thi Thanh Church in Marrero, Father Pham’s faith exploded in his mid-20s through more frequent reception of the Eucharist and the sacrament reconciliation, while discerning his vocation in the pews at Assumption of Mary Church in Avondale. His first assignment will be at St. Angela Merici Church in Metairie.

“I was trying not to fall down, trying not to cry, trying to keep it together,” Father Pham said, laughing about the stresses of the day. “It’s been a long journey, but by the grace of God, here we are!”

Chalmette-born Father Sanchez, 35, said he was feeling “the joy and the peace of God” and looking forward to bringing those very same gifts to the people of God at his first assignment at St. Francis Xavier Church in Metairie. 

“Before Mass, I was looking at a portrait of the Blessed Mother, and I just felt cradled and held in her arms throughout the Mass,” said Father Sanchez, a 2003 graduate of Brother Martin who felt a tug to the priesthood while serving as an army dentist in Alaska.

Father Bamoah, 45, was looking forward to serving as a priest for the Diocese of Yendi in his native Ghana. Raised in a non-Christian family and village, he said the seeds of his conversion were planted when he was invited to attend a Catholic school at age 15 and was baptized five years later.

“I’m feeling so great,” Father Bamoah said. “The most powerful part was lying prostrate (during) the prayers of the saints, including (those to) my patron saint of St. Thomas!”

For more in-depth profiles and details on the first Masses of the six new priests, go to https://clarionherald.org/news?page=478334.

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