From med school to the seminary: Jeffrey Merritt anticipates his ordination

Five men will be ordained to the transtional diaconate May 22 at St. Louis Cathedral by Archbishop Gregory Aymond. Today, we profile Jeffrey Merritt.

JEFFREY MERRITT

► Age: 31

► Home parish: St. Andrew the Apostle, Algiers

► Diaconate internship: St. Catherine of Siena, Metairie

By BETH DONZE
Clarion Herald

A love for science, coupled with an appreciation for the miraculous intricacies of the natural world, nourished Jeffrey Merritt’s faith during family vacations spent hiking, camping and skiing.

Far from being mutually exclusive, Merritt has always seen faith and science as going beautifully hand in hand.

“The grandeur of the open ocean and the night sky, so big and so beautiful, leads me toward the creator, toward God’s greatness and beauty – how big God is and how small I am, but also how important we are in God’s eyes,” Merritt said.

“One of the things that I like about the Catholic Church is that it recognizes ignorance – it doesn’t have all the answers – (it embraces) that idea of mystery, wonderment, beauty and power beyond all understanding.”

The eldest of four boys in a “musically inclined” family, Merritt was in St. Andrew the Apostle’s choir, swam on two West Bank swim teams and attained the rank of Eagle scout. At Jesuit High School, he was involved in Kairos retreats and took the “vocations” elective but didn’t feel tugged in any particular direction.

“As a kid, I wanted to be a priest and married and a firefighter and a marine biologist studying dolphins, all at the same time,” Merritt said.

As a biology (pre-med) major at Spring Hill College, Merritt joined the Knights of Columbus and got involved in campus ministry, acting in the annual Passion play and singing in the praise and worship choir. Nearly two years into his studies at Tulane Medical School, he felt “something was off,” so his dean advised him to take a year to discern his next move.

“One year became two years,” said Merritt, who spent the period volunteering at a hospice, an after-school program and teaching religion at The Good Shepherd School. He also became a daily communicant, attending Mass at his then-parish of St. Dominic and the lunchtime liturgies of Immaculate Conception Church, down the street from his CBD workplace.

“The more I prayed and went to Mass, the more the idea of being a priest resonated,” he said. “I went to talk to (St. Andrew’s) pastor, Father John Talamo, really hoping he would convince me that I was wrong, that I wasn’t (being) called.”

Clarity came during the Feast of the Archangels Mass at Immaculate Conception.

“There’s a point during the Eucharistic Prayer (when the priest says), ‘Blessed are they who are called to the supper of the Lamb,’” Merritt said. “ I felt something resonating about being part of that supper, that feast, but specifically as a priest behind the altar.”

As a deacon, Merritt looks forward to presiding at baptisms, funerals and ministering to the sick. The latter group holds a special place in his heart after his 10-week chaplaincy at a Missouri hospital last summer. Merritt recalls being asked to play guitar by a man whose wife was about to be taken off life-support. The song request was “I Want to Stroll Over Heaven with You.” 

“As I started to play it, he went to his wife’s bedside and started to sing it softly to her,” Merritt said. “It is really beautiful just being with people and walking with them in those moments.”