My brother, Ian, will be a priest for our archdiocese

It must be a tall order to be ordained a priest, practicing a life of spiritual devotion and caring for the thousands of souls within a parish. While we are all called to certain vocations, I imagine the priesthood or religious life to be, perhaps, the most difficult. Not only are they concerned with their own daily lives and those of their parish or order, but priests must withstand the ridicule and hatred directed against them as visible signs of the Catholic Church.

And this is the vocation that my brother and three other transitional deacons have been called to today – their ordination day.

I remember on my wedding day on the drive to St. Patrick Church, my dad noticed that I wasn’t as nervous as he would have thought. I didn’t feel that nervous – until I had to walk down the aisle, passing so many people! I was calm because I felt a certainty, or surety, in my choice. I hope that same certainty surrounds the four men today.

I know that my brother, Ian, has experienced that certainty in his vocation to the priesthood. Without any shadow of a doubt, he has followed the path where he belongs. At his diaconate ordination, I remember being pleasantly surprised to see so many of our grade school teachers from Our Lady of Prompt Succor in Chalmette. Even they, perhaps, saw what others will witness as he enters parish life: his profound love and devotion for God.

One of my favorite memories of Ian that I think displays his characteristic love and devotion started during grade school and continued in high school, and possibly through college and seminary. Ian has always carried around a plethora of saints’ medals. In addition, he would carry small statues of Mary, St. Joseph and St. Therese of Lisieux. Whenever he had a test, he would keep them in his pocket, praying that they would watch over him and guide him. For many of my math tests, Ian would offer his statues to me, telling me to pray for their intercession so that I could succeed. Oftentimes, it worked. I learned the importance of intercession and prayer from my brother and have often reflected back on his small instances of prayer during my own difficult times.

In a similar circumstance, again involving statuary, it was Ian’s firm belief in the power of prayer that urged my parents to evacuate for Hurricane Katrina. But we couldn’t leave before we had protected the house – not only with hurricane shutters but with statues and holy water. In most of the windows, Ian placed statues of the saints and Mary. The piano was moved to brace our front doors, and a large St. Joseph statue from my great-grandmother’s St. Joseph altars was placed atop the piano. A rosary was placed on the door handle, and Ian put holy water all around the house. Our home, we found out later, was spared the massive destruction that occurred in our neighborhood. Our neighbor had gone to check on our house and said the front doors had been pushed open, but the statue was standing, and the rosary had fallen to the floor, unharmed.

As the Archdiocese of New Orleans recognizes and celebrates the ordination of four priests, I will, of course, be pretty biased – thinking only of my brother as he takes his vows before God and his faithful church. I will certainly remember the many events that have called him on his journey and I will pray that God, as he has always done, continues to guide him on his path.