Deacon Michael Lamy: Never lose hope

► Age: 35

► First assignment: St. Ann, Metairie

► First Mass: June 6, 5:30 p.m., St. Catherine of Siena, Metairie

By Christine Bordelon
Clarion Herald

Deacon Michael Lamy has advice for parents worried about their children who have strayed from the Catholic faith: Keep inviting them, even if they attend Mass only at Easter and Christmas.

“That constant invitation from my mom really opened me up to my relationship with God now,” Deacon Lamy said. “It’s always an invitation to come back to him – even those moments where I have weaknesses and shortcomings. … I encourage parents to model that open invitation that God has toward each of us.

“As much as you love your kids, God loves them infinitely more. Never lose hope or underestimate the power of that invitation. For me, it took nine years, but for some, it could take a lifetime. I know what God helped me overcome, so I have hope for everyone.”

Every man’s path to the priesthood is different. Deacon Lamy was close to earning a college degree when he entered the seminary and obtained permission to dual-enroll at the University of Holy Cross to finish a liberal arts degree while simultaneously studying for the priesthood.

  “They really helped me achieve that goal,” he said.

  While Deacon Lamy drifted from the church as a young adult, his baptismal foundation and education at St. Francis Xavier School and Archbishop Rummel High School stuck with him.

“Looking back, they had a profound influence on us, on me,” he said about his high school religion teachers, even though he didn’t realize that a deep relationship with God was possible prior to his “reversion” to Catholicism over a seven-month period in his late 20s.

“I didn’t think I could turn to God for every need,” he said, and he stopped attending Mass in college to pursue careers in physical therapy, house raising and as a CrossFit trainer.

God had other plans.

“While in adoration, the thought of becoming a priest came into my mind, and I knew it was not from me,” he said. “God showed me in my time of reversion that he was trustworthy and he loved me, and I was able to accept the thought of becoming a priest.”

Deacon Lamy reconnected with his former high school religion teacher, Brian Butler, co-founder and president of the Catholic nonprofit Dumb Ox Ministries. Butler encouraged involvement in Catholic young adult activities such as Christ in the City.

“It was nice to have young people my age talk about the experiences I was having, my newfound love for the Lord and the faith again … and being open to whatever God was calling me to,” he said.

Deacon Lamy’s six years in the seminary around other men with consistent and active prayer lives confirmed his priesthood choice.

“The overall support of everyone has helped me want to strive to become a more virtuous man and more in love with the Lord for the sake of the people of God,” he said.

Deacon Lamy aspires to be a priest who walks with people as they have questions about the faith, different church teachings and why the church teaches what it teaches.

“I hope to continue understanding, for myself, why the church teaches what she teaches, so I can help people reach a deeper faith and fall in love with Christ in his church,” he said.