Deacon ‘G’ appointed to Holy Family Parish

Deacon W. Gerard Gautrau, who prefers to be known as "G," has been canonically appointed as deacon of Holy Family Parish in Luling by Archbishop Gregory Aymond. He was ordained as a permanent deacon of the Catholic Church by the archbishop at St. Louis Cathedral on Dec. 6.

G is a family man as well as a church official. He and his wife, Laura, a retired pre-K teacher at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School in Destrehan, have three adult children - Preston and Douglas Gautrau and Meredith Gautrau Hebert. They also have one grandchild, Mila Gautrau.

Deacon G, a resident of St. Rose for the last 30 years, was born in New Orleans and lived in the Irish Channel where he attended St. Alphonsus Elementary and Redemptorist High School. He received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from UNO in 1975 and is a CPA. He is chief financial officer for multiple corporations at Fountain Park Centre in Harvey.

Some of his duties within the church parish will include assisting the priests at mass, particularly his pastor, Fr. John Perino; distributing Holy Communion at mass and to the sick and infirmed; proclaiming the Gospel and preaching homilies; conducting marriage ceremonies, wake and funeral services and administering sacramentals and ritual blessings.

In his usual humorous and entertaining manner, Father Perino pointed out during G’s introduction at mass Sunday that he has installed an alarm on his wrist watch to go off at 25 minutes so the new deacon would not overdo his homilies.

In addition to helping in church services, the diaconate was originally established to provide service to the poor and widows. To that extent, the ministry of charity is a big part of a deacon’s responsibilities. To foster this call to be Christ the Servant at Holy Family, Deacon G will be on the church’s Social Concerns Committee and will also be providing a spiritual presence at Ashton Manor Assisted Living Center in Luling in January.

When asked why he wanted to be a deacon, he said, "I want to be Christ’s presence to the people. I want them to know that the Church and God are always there for them. I want them to feel the peace and direction that Christ can bring to their lives."