Seminarians
A graduate from LSU Law School, 32-year-old Matthew Long is now in his final year of theological study at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. A convert to the Catholic faith, Matthew was raised as a Southern Baptist in Plain Dealing, Louisiana where he enjoyed a safe and active childhood with two older siblings and a large extended family in the rural surroundings of a town of 1,200 people that emulates the environs of our diocese. After completing his undergraduate studies at Northwestern State University, Matthew went on to law school in where he became interested in Catholicism through both his friends and the Catholic surroundings of Baton Rouge.
After coming into the Church during the 2000 Easter season in Baton Rouge, Matthew completed his law studies, sat for his Bar Exam and returned to Shreveport to work in the field of law. Involvement in his home Shreveport parish of St. Joseph Church was heavy, and a lifelong desire to serve others within the Church began to blossom within Matthew and he started seriously contemplating the priesthood in 2001, resulting in his acceptance as a diocesan seminarian in 2004. He is completing his priestly training at St. Meinrad, having received his Clinical Pastoral Studies (CPE) and is awaiting his ordination to the Transitional Diaconate on October 25th of 2008, and God willing, Matthew will be ordained to the priesthood on May 16th 2009.
Our second diocesan seminarian at St. Meinrad is Mr. Michael Petty, a 49-year-old convert to Catholicism who brings a wealth of personal experience and abilities to his seminary training as a man who followed a long call in his life to follow our Lord. A native of Visalia, California, Michael was brought up in a close-knit family that worked in the gaming industry, which eventually enabled him to live on both coasts after gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
He came to know Catholicism through a 1984 choir trip to Austria where he was befriended by several of the faithful and eventually received his first communion in Salzburg. Growing up in the anti-Catholic environment, it is truly a miracle that Michael is where he is today, but he never wavered in his exploration of all things Catholic, grasping the evident truths of our faith and growing more and more in the Lord. “I was taught as a child of the evils of Catholicism,” comments Michael, “but in my own research into the faith, I never found that evil, only good.” Prior to coming to Centenary College in Shreveport to receive his undergraduate degree in voice.Michael possesses a beautiful tenor singing voice, and also owns a Culinary Arts Degree so he is as much as home in the kitchen as he is singing in front of large congregations. He is currently entering his third year of theological study at St. Meinrad and is scheduled to be ordained in May 2011.
Keith Meshell is another homegrown product of our region and a Cathedral parishioner. He grew up Catholic in an extended and loving family in the Shreveport area and was an honor graduate of Huntington High School in 2001. Keith spent his summers working at fire stations and the events of September 11, 2001 inspired him to become a paramedic and devote his life to helping others. During this time he sensed that although he loved his job, his true calling was elsewhere and the priesthood weighed heavy on his mind.
After being accepted into the diocesan seminarian program, Keith was assigned to attend college seminary at St. Joseph Seminary in St. Benedict, Louisiana. Keith also is willing to fill his summers by working at a variety of our diocesan parishes, including St. Mary of the Pines in Shreveport, St. Joseph Church in Zwolle and St. Jude Church in Bossier City.
After devoting his summer to St. Jude Church in Bossier City, 25-year-old Keith Meshell will return for his final year of study at St. Joseph College Seminary in St. Benedict, Louisiana. Active in virtually all aspects of seminary life and a trusted volunteer who is unafraid of hard work, Keith will certainly be missed by the people of St. Ben’s upon his graduation in May of 2009, before he enters a theologate to complete his training for ordained priesthood.
A native of Songea, Tanzania, 31-year-old John Bosco Nyirenda grew up as one of eight children in a devoted Catholic family with several members choosing life as a religious. He started thinking about the priesthood around the age of 10, and this young vocation flourished within John Bosco through the remainder of his years following his 2004 graduation from St. Augustine College along the shores of Lake Victoria with an advanced degree in Journalism and Public Relations.
John Bosco used his education to serve St. Teresa’s Orphanage in his home town, where he quickly became a valuable member of their ministry team. “The priesthood was never far from my mind,” comments John Bosco. “I knew that I wanted to serve God in a mission area of the world.” That vocation finally came to fruition when John Bosco developed a relationship with our diocese through his sister Atukuzwe who belonged to a religious community in Florida. After many months of communication, he traveled to our diocese last September, to begin acclimating himself to American culture. During that time he has been residing with the brothers of the Lyke Community and attending school at Southern University.
We are excited to have John Bosco begin his theological studies at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans this fall.
Joshua Sanders is a 28-year-old native of Shreveport and a graduate of Woodlawn High School. The youngest of four boys, Joshua joined St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Shreveport during the Easter Week of 2005, after being invited to come to Mass by a friend one year earlier. “When I started attending Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church,” comments Joshua, “suddenly my ears opened up and I could hear God inviting me into life with Him.” Since his conversion, Joshua has been active in all phases of Church activity and has also become a member of the Knights of Columbus.
It wasn’t long before people began suggesting the priesthood to Joshua and after several months of discernment, he applied and was accepted to the Seminarian program for the Diocese of Shreveport. This fall, he will be joining Keith Meshell at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana.
2008 Diocese of Shreveport