Deacon Mike Talbot has the scoop:

10 men today were ordained as Permanent Deacons for the Archdiocese of New Orleans. This group of men was formally selected on the day the evacuation of New Orleans began as Hurricane Katrina approached. The immediate aftermath of the storm for this class would be a one year delay in their formation and the inability of about half those selected to continue in formation. All of that seems like ancient history today as Archbishop Gregory Aymond exhorted them to be the class of perseverance and hope!

One by on the men promised obedience to the Archbishop and his successors as the Archbishop told them: May God, who has begun this good work in you, bring it to fulfillment. And then each has hands laid upon them by the Archbishop. The men are vested in stole and dalmatic for the first time and then receive the Book of the Gospels as the Archbishop reminds them: Believe what you read, teach what you believe, practice what you teach. After a moment with the Archbishop and the opportunity to be greeted by their fellow Deacons, Mass continues and the 10 men leave the Cathedral as Ordained Permanent Deacons.

For me it was the opportunity to view the same exact ordination rite that I experienced just 2 short years ago. It was very moving to experience ordination as an ordained minister.

May God bless the ministry of our 10 new Permanent Deacons as we congratulate Deacons David Aaron, Dennis Adams, Norbert Billiot, Jerry Clark, Joe Dardis, Jay Frantz, Lawrence Houston, Lloyd Huck, Jeff Tully and Jay Weil.

Ad multos annos, brothers!

Visit Mike’s blog for a link to the local paper, which has more on the new deacons.