Dear St. Catherine of Siena Parishioners,
Two New Orleans seminarians will be serving at St. Catherine of Siena this summer.
Seminarian Jeffrey Merritt will be ordained a transitional deacon on May 22, 2021, at St. Louis Cathedral. After his ordination, Deacon Jeff will be assigned to serve at St. Catherine of Siena for his diaconate internship which will start at the beginning of June and conclude in mid-October. We are looking forward to having Jeff serve at SCS! Please pray for Jeff as he prepares for his diaconate ordination.
Seminarian Will Sigl just finished his first year of seminary formation. Will will be at SCS for an eight-week summer internship during June and July. To learn more about these seminarians, please see their letters of introduction below.
Having two seminarians assigned to SCS is a great testament to our parish community. The Archdiocese and the seminary have entrusted two men preparing for the priesthood to serve here and to be formed in preparation for future priestly ministry. St. Catherine of Siena is known for being an active, faith-filled community that welcomes and supports vocations. For the last seven years, SCS has been blessed to have a number of transitional deacons and seminary interns.
Thank you to Rich and Leslie Baudry and to the SCS vocations committee for their efforts in helping to create a culture of vocations at St. Catherine. Thank you to all who pray for vocations, particularly those who take part in our vocation cross program.
Fr. Tim
Jeffrey Merritt grew up in Algiers and graduated Jesuit High School in 2007. He then graduated from Spring Hill College and attended Tulane School of Medicine. About halfway through medical school, he felt that something was not quite right and took a year off to discern what God wanted him to do. Now he is in his third year of Theology at Notre Dame Seminary and will be ordained as a deacon for the Archdiocese of New Orleans on May 22nd, 2021. When not studying or praying, he enjoys singing and playing guitar. There are few genres that he does not enjoy. Jeffrey is eager to come to St. Catherine of Siena and to learn the joys of serving God's people with two exceptional priests.
My name is William “Will” Sigl. I am currently a Pre-Theology I seminarian for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. My journey to priesthood started in 1983 when I was 17 at Archbishop Rummel High School, but as we all know life happens. At the age of 54, I finally gave way to the persistent call to pledge my life, love and loyalty to our Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Mother Church, for my salvation and the salvation of others. My main interests are music (Classical to Prog. Rock) and spiritual reading on the saints and church fathers.