The Official Newspaper of the Diocese of Little Rock
This summer, seven men will and have been ordained to the diaconate at the Diocese of Little Rock, with six of them making this final step toward the priesthood. They include: Martin Siebold, Luke Womack, Ramses Mendieta, Michael Johns, Stephen Hart, Matt Glover and William Burmester.
JONESBORO — At age 8, Mike Johns began imagining himself as a priest.
“That was when I first became aware that the Lord was calling me,” said Johns, 27, who is the oldest of Michael and Julie Johns’ eight children. “My parents never pushed me one way or another, but they created a space in our home where I was free to imagine myself being a priest.
“The other big thing was we were always inviting our More... 
Catholics attending the diaconate ordination of Matthew Glover and Stephen Hart at Christ the King Church in Little Rock May 25 got a new insight into who deacons are and what they do.
Glover was ordained to the permanent diaconate while Hart was ordained a transitional deacon who is scheduled to be ordained a priest next year.
The ordination rite for both men was the same, except for one promise. Glover and Hart agreed to the promises More...
CONWAY — Lying prostrate on the floor of St. Joseph Church in Conway, which had been his home parish since 1996, William Burmester could hear the voices of his family, friends and fellow parishioners swirling around him singing the litany of the saints.
When he arose, the full weight of his ordination to the transitional diaconate settled upon him.
“It was very surreal feeling laying prostrate on the ground and just hearing the voices of the different More...
At 15 years old, Ramsés Mendieta attended a retreat and found the words in Jeremiah 1:6 to take on a very personal meaning: “‘Ah, Lord God!’ I said, ‘I know not how to speak; I am too young.”
“I saw myself with a question to God, ‘Why are you calling me? I don’t have this talent; I’m terrified to speak in public,’” Mendieta said. “I felt God was calling me to serve him in the Church More...
HOT SPRINGS — From the time seminarian Luke Womack was little, his grandmother made a bold prediction: if any of her grandchildren would join religious life, it’d be him.
“So at different points in time growing up I’d have family members say when are you going into seminary?” Womack said. “ … I thought no, I’m not going to do any of that.”
Womack was holding out for the only one who could really tell him to More...
Lisa Siebold had no idea her son Martin would choose the life of a priest. To be fair, neither did his dad, Larry. Or little sister Lauren, for that matter.
In fact, the only one who had any inkling at all was the late Lucille Kordsmeier, Siebold’s great-aunt. And she was only playing the numbers.
“The Kordsmeiers have been a pretty Catholic family,” Lisa said. “My Aunt Lucille always prayed every day that one of her nieces More...
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