Dear St. Catherine of Siena Parishioners,

Two New Orleans seminarians will be serving at St. Catherine of Siena this summer.    (Deacon) Andrew Sanchez will be ordained a transitional deacon on May 16, 2020, at the Cathedral.  Due to the stay-at-home order in New Orleans, Deacon Andrew's ordination will take place during a private Mass that will be livestreamed on the Archdiocesan website. His diaconate internship will start at the end of May and conclude in mid-October.  Please pray for Andrew as he prepares for his diaconate ordination.  

Seminarian Andrew Fourcade just finished his second year of seminary formation.  Andrew 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 six 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.  

(Apparently, you must be named "Andrew" to serve at SCS! This summer we will have three Andrews: Fr. Andrew, Deacon Andrew, and seminarian Andrew!)

Fr. Tim

Deacon Andrew Sanchez Introduction

    My name is Andrew Sanchez, and I am looking forward to my internship as a deacon at St. Catherine of Siena. I have heard many great things about the wonderful people of this parish. I was born and raised in Chalmette, Louisiana. I attended St. Mark School from kindergarten to eighth grade, and I graduated from Brother Martin High School in 2003. I majored in Biology at LSU and it was there that I discovered the sport of Triathlon (swimming, biking, and running) which I still enjoy today. I attended LSU School of Dentistry on an Army scholarship, and upon graduation I spent four years as an active duty Army dentist.

    From 2012-2014 when I was in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the US Army it slowly became evident that God has always been calling me to consider serving as a priest for His Church. Being 4,000 miles away from home forced me to assess my relationship with Christ and His Church, and as a result I grew closer to our Lord and lived my life more fully according to Catholic teaching than at any other time in my life.  At the same time I grew close to a beautiful, loving, and caring young lady; however, as she and I began to discern marriage it slowly became evident to me that God was instead calling me to seminary to discern more thoroughly a life dedicated to Him as a priest.
 

Seminarian Andrew Fourcade Introduction

     Happy Easter, He is Risen! I would like to thank Fr. Tim, Fr. Andrew, and the St. Catherine of Siena staff for the opportunity to spend this summer here. I grew up in Metairie, where I went to St. Edward the Confessor for elementary and middle school, receiving a strong catechesis in the Faith. It was during this period that I first felt a call to do the Lord's work in a unique way, manifesting itself in thoughts about priesthood. However, I entered Haynes Academy in my 8th grade year, when my family and I left the Church and became nondenominational Protestant. Only after watching a PBS documentary about Benedictine monks in Newark, New Jersey, did I reconsider God's will for my life. 

     After a year and a half of reexamining the truths of Catholicism, I came back to the Church, and along with that, what I felt to be a stronger call to the priesthood! During my senior year, I would visit St. Catherine of Siena each day, praying (and asking Fr. Tim) for guidance as I applied for seminary. I am now a sophomore at St. Joseph Seminary College up in Covington, and I look forward to spending this summer here at a parish that is already so dear to me.