Three new priests eager to serve

By Peter Finney Jr.
Clarion Herald

They are humbled. They are on fire. And, yes, they are anxious.

The three young men ordained by Archbishop Gregory Aymond to the priesthood June 1 at St. Louis Cathedral said they hope to serve the people of God faithfully as spiritual fathers, something that no amount of seminary training has allowed them to truly practice.

For newly ordained Father Austin Barr, 27, who grew up in St. Anselm Parish in Mandeville, actually serving as a priest is a reality about which he is still praying.

“We can practice all we want, but until you’re really doing it …” he said. “I hope that the Lord allows me and gives me the graces – and I know he will – to keep me faithful in service to him.”

Joining Father Barr as the newest members of the presbyterate of the Archdiocese of New Orleans are Father Cuong Minh Tran, 25, whose mentor as a young altar server was the late Father Joseph Tue of St. Agnes Le Thi Thanh Parish in Marrero; and Father Jorge Gomez, 28, a native of Miami who gave his first two blessings as a priest to his twin brother Miguel and his younger brother Elbertt.

It was actually a traumatic accident in which Miguel was struck by a car and nearly died at the age of 12 that triggered Jorge to begin discerning a call to the priesthood. Now he hopes to share his love for Christ with others who might be going through difficult challenges.

“I pray that I’m faithful, that I strive to be a good, holy priest, and that I also develop a good disposition as being a spiritual father for the people of God,” Father Gomez said. “I know we definitely need them more. I pray that the Lord will use me as an instrument to transmit his love and mercy as being a spiritual father to them.”


Pastor, uncle as role models
Father Tran, a graduate of Archbishop Shaw High School, has had many models of the priesthood in his life. In addition to his former pastor, his uncle, Father John Tran, would always playfully ask during visits to New Orleans who would be the next priest in the family.

“I was like, ‘Well, maybe, that doesn’t sound like a bad deal,’” Father Tran said. “He was very instrumental in planting that seed. I was very happy to have him vest me. He vested me as a deacon, and now I (am) a brother priest. It’s a very beautiful feeling.”

First assignments begin July 1
The three new priests will take up their first priestly assignments on July 1. Father Barr will be assigned to Divine Mercy Parish in Kenner; Father Gomez will serve at St. Margaret Mary Parish in Slidell, where he did his transitional diaconate internship; and Father Tran will be stationed at Mary Queen of Peace Parish in Mandeville.

In his homily before the ordination rite, Archbishop Aymond asked the three men to pray “without tiring” for the grace to carry out their ministry.

 “You can only be fishers of others if you first realize that you have been caught by God's tenderness, and because you have been caught by God's tenderness, you want to share that with others,” Archbishop Aymond said.

We need joyful priests, Christians
Father Barr said he knows how the priesthood has come under attack over the last two decades, but he likened the journey he and his two seminary brothers are about to take to the real-life struggles everyone faces in life.

“You can look at the saints, who were just constantly bombarded by attacks by the government or whatever was happening – natural disasters, famines, plagues – that they realized that they kept their eyes fixed on the Lord,” Father Barr said. “Whether you are doing a ministry that is very life-giving or whether you’re doing a ministry that takes a lot out of you, just to have that joy. The world needs joyful priests. It needs joyful Christians, more than anything else today. A joyful Christian life is the best witness that we can give.”

Hopes to be a good confessor
Father Gomez said he is excited that his ordination now allows him to be able to celebrate the sacraments and minister to all people.

“There’s an efficacious grace that comes from that, and when it comes to dispensing sacramental grace to those who are in need of it, it’s exciting,” he said. “What I do on the altar, what I do in ministry, is serve the people of God in a different capacity.

“It’s very humbling. I pray that as a spiritual father I may be compassionate and just, but merciful.”

Ready for action
The new priests know they will be serving in a big way from the outset. Father Tran said Mary Queen of Peace already has prepared a calendar for the next few months that has him assigned to Masses in the parish and at area nursing homes.

“I’m looking forward to helping with all the Masses and confessions,” he said. “I think it’s just trusting more in that invitation because after going through seminary for eight years, we’ve had a lot of training. But now the day has come to put that training into practice.”

Father Tran receives spiritual inspiration in the example of St. John Vianney, a 19th-century French priest renowned for his kindness in the confessional.

“He’s a model of the priesthood – just spending long hours in the confessional, spending time in prayer, interceding for the people in the parish,” Father Tran said. “That’s the model of what it means to be a priest of Jesus Christ.”

Archbishop Aymond told the new priests it was a day of joy and thanksgiving.

“Today it is our privilege to witness that you are ordained for the priesthood of Jesus Christ,” he said. “It's not your ministry, but his, and you will be able to share in the ministry of Jesus. We thank you, my brothers, for saying yes.”

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