Comedy and Cuisine

Cathedral Chimes, March 1973

On June 24, 1973, eighteen men in the Archdiocese of Omaha will be ordained as deacons of the Catholic church, the 1st in our area since Vatican II renewed the program. Four of the 18 men are from the Cathedral parish.

Pictured here is one of Cathedral's first candidates, S. J. (Jim) Watson, 807 N. 48 Ave., with his wife, Jean and their three children.

"We asked Jim to tell us how he became involved in the deacon program. Jim said, "I used to follow the development of the permanent Deaconate closely after its revival by Vatican II. I thought - what a great idea - having married men as ministers in the church. It fit right in with the modernization of Catholicism that the Council had introduced."

"Talk about being in the right place at the right time, that's how I felt when I read in the True Voice that the Permanent Deacon program would be starting in Omaha. I came to the decision that God wanted me to do more than I was."