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Dear Friends in Christ:
The Office of Vocations offers its sincere congratulations to our newly ordained
priests, Frs. Brad Doyle, Rueben Dykes, and Matthew Graham. The Rite of Ordi-
nation is always a joyful moment as we watch these men who have worked, stud-
ied, prayed and discerned so well to be called forward by the Church to the Sa-
cred Order of the Priesthood. We keep Fr. Doyle, Fr. Dykes, and Fr. Graham in
our prayers as they transition into their new assignments.
We say goodbye to David Albano, a parishioner of Most Blessed Sacrament, and
to Aaron LaGrone, a parishioner of St. Mary’s New Roads, who have discerned
out of the seminary and priesthood formation. David and Aaron took seriously
their time in the seminary and they discovered that the Lord was leading them in
a different direction than priesthood, but wherever the Lord calls them, I trust
their desire to serve the Church will be fulfilled in an effective manner.
We welcome six new men as seminarians for the Diocese of Baton Rouge. Deacon
Patrick Broussard, Jr., age 54, is a parishioner of Holy Family, Port Allen. Deacon
Pat was born in New Iberia. His wife, Aminthe, died suddenly in January 2014.
He has a son and a daughter. He was ordained to the permanent diaconate for
the Diocese of Baton Rouge in 2010. Pat is currently a Sr. Executive Sales man-
ager for Thomas Tools. Taylor Sanford, age 24, is a parishioner of St. George Par-
ish, Baton Rouge. Taylor graduated from Catholic High in 2010 and from LSU in
2014 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. Christian Landry, age 22, is a parish-
ioner of St. Jules, Belle Rose. Christian graduated from Assumption High School
in Napoleonville in 2011. He attended ULL in Lafayette and River Parish Com-
munity College. Alex Ruch, age 20, is a parishioner of Most Blessed Sacrament,
Baton Rouge. Alex graduated from St. Michael the Archangel High School gradu-
ated in 2013. Alex attended both Millsaps College and LSU. Last year Alex
worked as a leader with NET Ministries at St. Hubert’s Catholic Church in
Chanhassen, Minnesota. Andrew Hotstream, age 18, is a parishioner of St. John
the Evangelist, Prairieville. Andrew graduated from St. Michael the Archangel
High School this year. James Vu, age 17, is a parishioner of St. Thomas More, Ba-
ton Rouge. James graduated from St. Michael the Archangel High School this
year.
We also welcome two new faces to the Office of Vocations. Mrs. Lisette Borne’
and Fr. Andrew Merrick have been named as Associate Directors of Seminarians.
Both Lisette and Fr. Andrew will help in screening candidates for the seminary,
participate in faculty evaluations of seminarians, and enable the ongoing discern-
ment of seminarians toward priesthood. We welcome them and I look forward to
working with them.
In Christ,
Fr. Matt Dupre
Seminarian Mass and
Lunch with Bishop
Muench – August 9, 2015,
11:30, St. Patrick Church,
Baton Rouge
“Andrew Dinner with Bish-
op Muench and Fr. Matt
Dupre – August 30,
5:30pm, Catholic Life Cen-
ter
Vocations Newsletter July 2015
Please keep all of our priests, religious, and seminarians in your prayers.
BIRTHDAY WISHES
July 21
Nick Lyons
July 24
Tim Grimes
August 21
John Vu
August 29
Ryan Hallford
September 4
James Vu
September 27
Mathew Dunn
September 28
Joseph Bergan
Our three “rookie” priests” have been assigned
by Bishop Robert Muench to full-time parochial
ministry:
Father Brad Doyle is appointed parochial
vicar of St. George Church in Baton Rouge;
Father Reuben Dykes is appointed parochial
vicar of Holy Family Church in Port Allen;
Father Matthew Graham is appointed paro-
chial vicar of Christ the King Church and
Catholic Center on the L.S.U. campus in Ba-
ton Rouge.
FIRST PARISH ASSIGNMENTS
The Discalced Carmelite Nuns in-
vite single women ages 16-35 to
“Come and See the Beauty of Car-
mel” on Saturday, July 18th, from
10:30 am to 2:30 pm at the Car-
melite Monastery, 73530 River
Road, Covington, Louisiana. The
day will begin with 10:30 am Mass
with Fr. Joshua Rodrigue, fol-
lowed by lunch, vocation talks
from sisters and prayer. There is
no cost for the day, but anyone
interested is asked to contact in
advance, Sr Grace,
[email protected] or by tele-
phone at 985-898-0923.
CARMELITE “COME AND SEE”
MRS. LISETTE BORNÉ
Mrs. Lisette Borné grew up in
Thibodaux Louisiana. She is a gradu-
ate of Mt. Carmel Academy and
Nicholls State University. She is
married to Deacon Dan Borné they
have four grown children and six
grandchildren. She and her husband
are dual members of St. Aloysius Par-
ish for the past 40 years and also St.
Jean Vianney for the past five where
her husband serves as a deacon.
Mrs. Borné is a former English teach-
er. She completed certification in
spiritual direction in 2004 at the
Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Provi-
dence in Clearwater, Florida, in affili-
ation with Franciscan University at
Steubenville.
Mrs. Borné is a Marian Servant of the
Eucharist, a public association of the
Catholic faithful whose primary ser-
vice to the Baton Rouge diocese is
spiritual direction with an emphasis
on Ignatian spirituality. A member
of Come, Lord Jesus! for 30 years
and for 20 years coordinated Come,
Lord Jesus! Adult and youth groups
in the diocese.
“Becoming a priest or a man or woman religious is not primarily our own decision.... Rather it is the response to a call and to a call of love.”
—Pope Francis
FR. ANDREW MERRICK
Fr. Andrew Merrick is originally from
New Roads where he grew up in St.
Mary of False River parish and attend-
ed Catholic of Pointe Coupee, graduat-
ing in 1999. From there Fr. Andrew
attended LSU for three years before
entering St. Joseph's Seminary College
in the fall of 2002. Upon graduation
from SJSC in the spring of 2004 he
entered Notre Dame Seminary in New
Orleans. He was ordained a deacon on
December 29th, 2007 and a priest on
May 31st, 2008 along with Frs. Paul Yi
and Jamin David.
Growing up Fr. Andrew never even
entertained the idea of becoming a
priest. In a family of three brothers, of
which Fr. Andrew is the middle son,
he was the only one not to become an
altar server. It was not until what he
describes as a "spiritual conversion" in
the fall of his sophomore year at LSU
that the idea ever entered his mind.
He is convinced that the Lord had
mercy on Him and allowed him to
both experience his conversion, as
well as hear and respond to the call to
seminary and priesthood, through the
intercession of all the dedicated peo-
ple who pray for vocations, especially
those who do so in the presence of the
Blessed Sacrament. He is eternally
grateful for the prayers of all these
"humble intercessors" and knows that
they are an essential source of
strength for him in the fulfillment of
his priestly vocation.
Fr. Andrew spent the first three years
of his priesthood fulfilling one year
assignments as an associate pastor:
2008-09 Immaculate Conception in
Denham Springs, 2009-10 Christ the
King at LSU, and 2010-11 St. Thomas
More. Since 2011 Fr. Andrew has been
pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary in
Paincourtville and St. Jules in Belle
Rose. He is happy to be a bayou
priest.
Fishers of Men
Parts. 1 and 2
Produced by the USCCB and
Grassroots Films, this featured
film is meant to encourage men
to consider the priesthood and
to edify all of the faithful with
regards to our spiritual fathers.
http://bcove.me/fgpno343
http://bcove.me/ipxqqpgk
Also check out a Parental Per-
spective on Discernment: How
parents can foster Godly char-
acter and habits of prayer in
order to help their children dis-
cern the will of God for their
lives.
http://bcove.me/4f4ygyn1
This summer I have been assigned to
the newly renovated Holy Family
Catholic Church in Port Allen. In my
short time here, I have seen quite
clearly, the generosity of this hospi-
table community. Being allowed by
both the pastor, Fr. David Allen, and
several accommodating parishion-
ers, I have had the opportunity to sit
-in on several appointments ranging
from pest control to post-tragedy
counseling. Being present for these
meetings has allowed me a unique
perspective of the role of the priest.
A small town, similar in some ways
to the one that I’m from, the loving
community here is very welcoming,
showing their love in warm smiles
and hot dishes. As Holy Family looks
forward to receiving their new paro-
chial vicar, Fr. Ruben Dykes, I, my-
self, am looking forward to the fel-
lowship that all of us will share. Hav-
ing an experienced pastor, newly or-
dained priest, and Deacon Pat
Broussard, a present and active per-
manent deacon will prove, I think, to
be very beneficial for my formation.
As I look forward to the next few
months and final semester of college
seminary, I pray that I may be atten-
tive to the Lord in order to serve His
people to the best of my ability.
CHASE RODRIGUE
In their own words....
Hola! ¿Qué onda? Joseph and I
have been taking 6 hours of espa-
ñol every day at the UPAEP, the
Autonomous and Popular Univer-
sity of the State of Puebla, and we
are living a few blocks away in the
residential hall. In total our group
is made up of two priests, one tran-
sitional deacon, and eight seminar-
ians. We hail from dioceses of San
Antonio, Rockford Illinois, New
Jersey, Tyler Texas, San Fran, and
BR.
All in all it’s been quite an experi-
ence. This is my first time living in
a big city, 5 million people, and my
first time traveling abroad for more
than a few days. It took a little
while to get used to living here, but
after a month I've gotten to know
part of the city and the university.
JAMES WALLBILLICH
CONTACT US
OFFICE OF VOCATIONS
Diocese of Baton Rouge
PO Box 2028
Baton Rouge, LA 70821-2028
TELEPHONE
225-336-8778
WEBSITE
www/diobr.org/vocations
Baton Rouge Vocations
NOTRE DAME SEMINARY
2901 South Carrollton Ave
New Orleans, LA 70118-4391
504-866-7426
www.nds.edu
ST. JOSEPH SEMINARY COL-
LEGE
75376 River Road
St. Benedict, LA 70457-9900
985-867-2232
www.sjasc.edu
MUNDELEIN SEMINARY
1000 East Maple Avenue
Mundelein, Illinois 60060
847-566-6401
www.mundeleinseminary.org
I've gotten used to living in a for-
eign place, and I've made some
friends.
I've been most impressed by two
things mainly. How warm and
friendly people tend to be, and how
vibrantly the Faith is celebrated
here. In the states it often takes
time for people to warm up to ac-
quaintances, but here it's more
common to exchange information
and make friends fast. Here there
seems to be less an emphasis on
being in a hurry to get things done,
which I think is healthy. In Ameri-
ca I think it's bad how much em-
phasis we out on doing to the detri-
ment of enjoying life and being
kind to those you meet.
Our first week here we went to a
Corpus Christi celebration at the
Basilica. There people everywhere,
seminarians serving, religious, high
school students dressed formally,
various little religious guilds or as-
sociation representing the diocese,
people in traditional attire, etc.
there were bands and music and it
all was so beautiful. The same thing
happened the following Sunday,
but with fireworks. Here those who
are Catholic seem to be more proud
to be Catholic. They're not afraid to
bring the faith into the streets and
celebrate all the various feats of our
celebration in order to honor Mary
and the Saints and ultimately God.
So all in in all its been a good expe-
rience, not without some difficul-
ties. But after being here for a little
over a month I feel comfortable
and would love to stay longer to
soak more of the language and the
culture in.
