Comedy and Cuisine

No one knew exactly what to expect in the early 1970s when the Archdiocese of Omaha started a program of ordaining married men as permanent deacons. Vatican II had recently revived the permanent diaconate, and dioceses around the world were figuring out how married men would serve as ministers in local churches.

Joked Father Pat McCaslin, the Omaha Archdiocese’s original director of the program, “We weren’t even sure if you spelled deaconate with a d-i or a d-e.”

The archdiocese’s first deacon class of 16 included four men from St. Cecilia Cathedral – Rev. Mr. Joe Archibald, Rev. Mr. Dave Gurney, Rev. Mr. Fred Sommer, and Rev. Mr. Jim Watson. They already were involved in the life of the Church. All were extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist. Archibald, Gurney and Sommer were very active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society.

They soon showed parishioners what to expect: men who would devote much of their lives to service in the Church. They played important roles on the altar on weekends. And they took that spiritual energy with them to “be Christ in the world” all week.

Rev. Mr. Gurney and his wife, Helga, had eight children. Rev. Mr. Sommer and his wife, Virginia, had six children. Rev. Mr. Watson and his wife, Jean, had three children. Rev. Mr. Archibald was single, and very involved in the Knights of Columbus, Big Brothers and social justice work.

After a three-year formation, they were ordained June 24, 1973. Fr. Paul Peter, who was then pastor at St. Cecilia, gave the deacons tasks of leading baptism classes and preparing the prayers of the faithful. Fr. Peter also had the deacons organize a list of Cathedral parishioners in nursing homes, assisted living centers or otherwise homebound, and regularly visit them. “This became then a deacon thing,” said Fr. Michael Gutgsell, St. Cecilia pastor. To this day, Gurney “has a tremendous hospital and assisted living network, visiting people every week or two weeks,” Fr. Gutgsell said. The deacons also worked in marriage preparation.

Rev. Mr. Jim and Jean Watson were part of the archdiocese’s “Evenings for the Engaged.” In 1972, Watson told the Catholic Voice that deacons were called to be “men of commitment and faith . . . men attempting to meet the needs of the people of God in the 20th century.”

And the 21st century too, as it turns out. They have served for more than three decades. Rev. Mr. Sommer moved to St. Philip Neri in the 1980s and continued to serve as a deacon there, but always has maintained contact with St. Cecilia’s. Rev. Mr. Watson and Rev. Mr. Archibald served at Cathedral as deacons well into this decade, until injuries from accidents made it tough for them to get around. Rev. Mr. Gurney remains active as a deacon at the Cathedral.

“These guys really did set a pattern of what deacon would mean in the archdiocese,” Fr. McCaslin said. It was, he said, a pattern of “good, holy men with lots of empathy and accommodation of other people’s needs.” Cathedral’s first class of deacons, whom we honor tonight, quietly made their whole lives reflections of the service to which they were called.