July 16, 2010

Dear Seminarians:

Greetings in the Lord wherever God has you ministering these days!  Today as we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, we commend ourselves and our ministries to the intercession of the one who is Jesus' mother and our mother!  May she continue to guide all of us to her Divine Son.

I wanted to share with you some updates as we continue to move forward during this summer, and thus keep you informed about many things happening on this end at NDS.

As you already know, we have hired a new librarian in the person of Mr. Thomas Bender, a new registrar in Ms. Cindy Garrity, and a financial officer in the person of Ms. Kathy Hebert to work together with Mickey Klein in the business office on a part time basis. They are all doing very well, and I believe you will enjoy getting to know them and work with them as well.

After many years as Director of Liturgy in the Seminary, Fr. Don Martin, S.J. has asked me to relieve him of the immediate duties of that position and to continue to work in things related to the liturgy and to liturgical and sacramental courses.  I have decided to appoint Fr. Deogratias Ekisa as the new Director of Liturgy of Notre Dame Seminary while Fr. Don will continue to assist him in this ministry.  We thank Fr. Don for his many years of service in this capacity, and look forward to his on-going assistance in this very important area of formation.  Please give Fr. Deo your support as he will work with you to prepare you liturgically to be priests of Jesus Christ.

Sr. Janet Bodin, MSC will continue to work in the Pre-Theology Department but on a part time basis, as she begins to prepare for possible retirement.  She will cut her work load to half time of what it used to be.  The new Director of the Pre Theology Program will be Dr. Jim Jacobs.  We thank Dr. Jacobs for his willingness to take this responsibility with our Pre-Theologian brothers, and we thank Sr. Janet for her many years of dedicated service and the time still to come.  Dr. Basil Davis will no longer be a fulltime faculty member, as he has asked to consider other ministerial possibilities in his life.  He will continue to teach as an adjunct, and we will be hiring a new fulltime Scripture professor in the near future.  We wish Dr. Davis well, and are happy that he will continue to be present with us at least the next two semesters.

I also would like to inform you that Fr.Vien The Nguyen has moved to NDS to be a resident priest while he works at the Ecclesiastical Tribunal fulltime. He will be involved in continuing to teach some Canon Law courses and also be available for spiritual direction.  Let's welcome Fr. Vien to our house!

On other news, the Faith and Reason Seminar, on promoting Catholic Liberal Arts, was a great success.  We had 27 people in attendance, and it was good to see some of you during that week.  The organizers have committed to come to New Orleans every two years, so the next scheduled seminar will be during the summer of 2012.

We have fixed the tennis courts nets, courtesy of Mr. Gary Gomes from the West Bank.  Gary is the organizer of the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans, the 10 K run, and related to Mark Thomas, one of our brothers.  We have also installed some boxing equipment in the gym, courtesy also of Mr. Gomes.

A new plaque has been placed by the Grotto with the inscription of the words of Our Lady in Lourdes, "I am the Immaculate Conception. Notre Dame Seminary prays for our benefactors."  She is the patroness of our country and our Seminary.

You will also find the Study Hall in the basement of the Library with some more decorations and plants in order to make it a more attractive place to study.  I know many of you use your own rooms for study, but this well-lit area should also provide a conducive place for all of you to study when you don't want to be in your rooms.

We are getting ready to welcome our new brothers coming for the fall.  Keep them in your prayers as you know how difficult the decision to leave everything and enter priestly formation can be.  They need all of our support and help, and I know I can count on each one of you to help our new brothers make a smooth transition.  Let us always remember who we are and what we have been called to do in life. 

 Also, be reminded that you are expected to return to the seminary on Sunday, August 22, for Mass at 11:00 am.  Orientation begins for returning students on Monday, August 23.

I am sure I could share much more with you, but I apologize for the length of this email already.  My prayers have been with you daily.  Please pray for me.  You can be assured that you have been remembered daily in prayer during the Holy Mass in our chapel.  Feel free to send me an email letting me know how you are doing.  It is always great to hear from you. 

I want to encourage you to persevere in the ministry the Lord has assigned to you this summer, and especially persevere in prayer since sometimes it is easy to place ministry before personal prayer, failing to see how important and crucial the latter one is.

With affectionate blessings in the Lord,

Fr. José I. Lavastida

July 31st, 2009
Dear Seminarians:

Peace and greetings in the Lord during this year dedicated to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ! By now summer time is almost complete and coming to an end, and you have been deeply engaged in ministry to the people of God in many, many places. First let me tell you how happy and proud I am of all your work and dedication to the Lord and to His people during this summer. I have heard great stories of all that you have done, and I myself have been able to share personally in some of those stories. May God continue to bless you in you ministry and discernment!

Just a few items that I am sure will be of interest to you. First of all, please check the Orientation schedule for this year which is posted on our website www.nds.edu. My expectation is that the members of the SA will be helping throughout the Orientation and they need to be back in the Seminary by August 17th. Orientation begins the next day.

As you all know by now, the Holy Father has named a new Archbishop for New Orleans in the person of Bishop Gregory M. Aymond. Archbishop Elect Aymond is no stranger to Notre Dame Seminary since he is a priest from New Orleans and served NDS for over 20 years in many capacities, including 14 years as President Rector. You may notice in the Orientation Schedule that the afternoon of his installation on August 20, 2009 is wide open so as to be able to attend. The installation will be at 2:00 PM at St. Louis Cathedral. They are already planning for an overflow crowd. Admission is by ticket only, and seminarians who can get a ticket from the Archdiocese of New Orleans or from any of their Dioceses, will be able to attend the ceremony. Otherwise I know that for many of you this has been a very intense summer, and you do well securing the time you need to rest and be with your families and friends. All returning seminarians must be back for Sunday, August 23, 2009, as we celebrate Holy Mass together at 11:00 AM in our Chapel of the Immaculate Conception.

We are getting ready to welcome all of you back, and I look forward to welcome you personally as you arrive in New Orleans. As you know, you can always reach me by writing me an email or by calling me. Let me know if there is anything I can do for you at this time as you prepare to begin a
new year of formation to the priesthood. We do well remembering the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose feast day is today, as we make his prayer our own:

"Receive, Lord, all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. You have given me all that I have, all that I am, and I surrender all to your divine will, that you dispose of me. Give me only your love and your grace. With this I am rich enough, and I have no more to ask."

With all my support and blessing to you,

Peace in the Lord!

Fr. José I. Lavastida

June 16, 2009
Dear Seminarians:

Peace and greetings in the Lord! I am sure by now you are pretty settled in your summer endeavors. I pray for you daily so that everything may be going well.

As you may be aware, we have a new Archbishop in New Orleans. Bishop Gregory Aymond will become our 14th Archbishop on August 20, 2009.  This will be in the midst of our orientation for the new students coming for the Fall semester 2009, so we will have to make some adjustments to our Orientation Schedule in order to make it possible for all of us to attend the installation at 2:00PM at St. Louis King of France Cathedral on August 20, 2009. I will keep you posted about this.

Archbishop Designate Aymond is no stranger to Notre Dame Seminary, since he served the Seminary for almost 20 years, fourteen of them as President Rector. Now he will become our Chancellor! He will also be our next door neighbor. Let us pray for him at this time of transition and for the people of Austin as they await a new shepherd.  I have written to him on behalf of our seminary community, and let him know that we are praying for him.

Make sure you keep checking the information posted on the web page www.nds.edu. Let's help the effort related to the Gala 2009. Continue to keep your daily commitment to prayer, and let's continue to pray for each other as we minister this summer in the name of the Lord.

Many blessings to all of you!

Fr. José I. Lavastida

Dear Seminarians:

As you settle into your summer assignments, ministries and duties, I would like to thank you and offer you my prayerful support for all the blessings you brought to this community this past year. I thank you also for the many ways you have helped me in my ministry to you and to the Church. I want to, in a special way, congratulate our graduates for this year 2009, and also celebrate with those to be ordained to the priesthood and the diaconate in the upcoming days, their great joy at being called to ordained ministry in the Church. I look forward, as well as those ministering with me, to be present with them at their ordinations and first masses.

In the next few days you will receive our complete Fall Calendar and Orientation schedule. These will go out as an email with the appropriate attachments, and also will be posted on our website. Those of you who graduated this year, be attentive to the new Alumni Page. There will be items of interest to you posted there.

Make sure you exercise self-care during the summer months, and I know you will represent us very well in the communities you will be participating in and serving. May Our Lord and Our Lady continue to bless you abundantly as you serve the Church.

With my blessing in Him who loves us all,

Fr. José I. Lavastida