Priesthood ordinands share their vocation stories

Six men will be ordained by Archbishop Gregory Aymond to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on June 4 at 10 a.m. at  St. Louis Cathedral. Here is the vocation story of Deacon Lennin Arroyo Martinez.

Age: 41

First assignment: St. Jerome, Kenner

First Mass: June 5, noon, St. Jerome, Kenner

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

At every Mass since becoming a transitional deacon, Lennin Arroyo Martinez has noticed the overwhelming sense of awe that washes over him as he kneels in such close proximity to Jesus during the consecration.

“I feel love from God; I look at the altar and I say, ‘Wow, I love you and I know you love me a lot,’” said Deacon Arroyo Martinez, a native of Colombia who is eagerly anticipating his June 4 ordination as a priest for the Archdiocese of New Orleans.

“When I am holding the ciborium to go back to the tabernacle after Communion, I feel unworthy and the love doesn’t leave my heart,” Deacon Arroyo Martinez said. “This is the Lord! I am holding the Lord! In my prayers, I ask God, ‘Please don’t (ever) take me off this feeling. It’s amazing!”

Deacon Arroyo Martinez, who spent his diaconate internship at St. Jerome Church in Kenner, will return there upon his ordination to serve as its parochial vicar. One of his biggest learning curves as a deacon has been navigating language challenges as he ministered to the needs of St. Jerome’s bilingual parish family: the church celebrates two weekend Masses in Spanish – Sunday at 8 a.m. and noon; and two in English – Saturday 4 p.m. and Sunday at 10 a.m.

As a newly minted deacon, Deacon Arroyo Martinez sought out a handful of English-speaking parishioners to help him hone his vocabulary and pronunciation skills. The weekly help, which has continued past Deacon Arroyo Martinez’s formal internship period, includes volunteers who listen to him as he practices Mass readings for the coming weekend. Another group meets with him to read books for pleasure and spiritual enhancement, the most recent being “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

“They read (a passage), and I repeat after them – that helps me a lot,” Deacon Arroyo Martinez said. “We speak not only to practice; we speak about our lives, I get to know their families and we have built a spiritual friendship. They are happy about my ordination. They have seen me growing in my goals.”

Deacon Arroyo Martinez’s hard work is paying off. A parishioner recently told him that his recitation of the Novena of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, prayed in church every Tuesday, is read “in a special way that makes me feel the Holy Spirit.”

Also hailed as “a great tutor” by Deacon Arroyo Martinez is St. Jerome’s pastor, Father David Dufour, who gave his deacon a deadline of last November to discontinue reading out his homilies. To prepare, Deacon Arroyo Martinez goes to church a couple of hours before Mass to practice in front of the empty pews.

Father Dufour’s wisdom also was sought when Deacon Arroyo Martinez asked the priest how he was able to juggle the numerous sacramental needs of St. Jerome’s Spanish-speaking community. For example, Deacon Arroyo Martinez presided at a dozen baptisms during his diaconate internship, was anticipating another six in May alone and is currently preparing four couples for marriage.

“The Spanish (speaking) community is very huge and demanding – that gave me that dynamic of always being in movement, working with them and for them,” he said. “So I asked Father (Dufour): ‘How do I know what my capacity is?’ He told me only with experience as a priest can you learn what your limits are.”

A native of Monteria, Colombia, Deacon Arroyo Martinez said his family did not regularly practice any religion when he and his two sisters were growing up, but because his father was a teacher, he recognized the value of sending them to Catholic school.

When Deacon Arroyo Martinez was a high school senior, one of his friends invited him to a prayer meeting and the teenager began praying at home with his mother, the only one in his family who had been attending Mass. He later became youth director of a group that helped the homeless.

Deacon Arroyo Martinez studied for five years in the seminary in Medellin, Colombia, before leaving for a year, and then returning after attending the 2011 World Youth Day in Madrid. When Dominican Father Sergio Serrano, director of the archdiocesan Hispanic Apostolate, visited Medellin and asked if there might be seminarians who felt called to minister in New Orleans, Arroyo Martinez’s rector pointed to “Lenny.” That former rector, Father Rodolfo Londoño, will vest Arroyo Martinez at the ordination Mass.

“I have never felt homesick once – that’s a sign God gave me. I feel very good here,” said Deacon Arroyo Martinez, who loves Louisiana’s oak trees and its cuisine – everything from chicken gumbo to Cane’s.

More than three years ago, he began lifting weights in the seminary gym after realizing going up three stories of stairs left him winded. One of his favorite spiritual exercises is to go to the Kenner lakefront to watch the sunset and pray the Liturgy of the Hours.

He said the priestly role he is most looking forward to is “celebrating the Eucharist with passion and with love, to encourage the people to have a great experience at every Mass.” The pinnacle of his faith continues to be the moment the priest holds up the consecrated gifts of bread and wine and echoes the words of St. John the Baptist: “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold him who takes away the sins of the world.”

“For me, this is the best phrase,” Deacon Arroyo Martinez said, “because St. John the Baptist is saying these words and pointing to Jesus.”