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Friday, March 29, 2024

Ahead of diaconate ordination, Neisen says everything he has to give is Christ’s

LuAnn and Joel Neisen.
DAVE HRBACEK | THE CATHOLIC SPIRIT

A parishioner of St. John the Baptist in Savage and a software engineer, Joel Neisen said he was first interested in the diaconate 20 years ago, but needs in his family required him to wait to pursue formation. Neisen, 59, and his wife, LuAnn, have five adult children and two grandchildren. He is scheduled to be ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis Dec. 7 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul. The Catholic Spirit asked him via email about his vocation. His answers were edited for clarity.

Q. What inspired you to pursue the diaconate?

A. Looking back, having been an altar server from when I was in fourth grade throughout college had a big impact. I was fortunate to be at a parish with a deacon in college (Deacon Paul Carlson at St. Lawrence) and having a deacon at our home parish (Deacon Tom Michaud Sr.), I got to know about the diaconate more than 30 years ago. Watching them serve in the sanctuary and around the parish, I thought this might be something for me. I did my first inquiry in 1995, but because of health issues with my daughter I had to postpone my application for almost 20 years.

Q. What made you certain this was your call?

A. Waiting those 20 years, the call seemed to grow stronger. When I met with Deacon Russ Kocemba in the winter of 2014, I told him that it would be easiest if he could just tell me that I didn’t really have a call, and I could put all of this behind me. However, at the first inquiry class, when 20 men, along with several deacons, prayed evening prayer together I knew this was something that I had been called to.

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Q. What aspect of diaconate ministry are you most looking forward to?

A. During formation we have had several different internships, and each of them turned out to be a wonderful opportunity. It has taught me to look forward to whatever God calls me to.

Q. What areas of ministry are you especially interested in?

A. Having spent 20 years helping out with the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and 10 years in prison ministry prior to formation, I would be very interested in returning to these as a deacon.

Q. What role will your family plan in your new ministry?

A. LuAnn and I are empty-nesters, I enjoy discussing the faith with most anyone, but LuAnn is a bit more reserved. Throughout formation, LuAnn put her baking skills to use by providing cookies and bars for Tuesday night classes. She supports me by helping out with “behind the scenes” activities.

Q. Where do you see the greatest needs in the local Church?

A. I think that Pope St. John Paul II had it right when he called for a new evangelization, a sort of re-evangelization of people in a culture that don’t see the need for religion, and reject the notion of God and spirituality, at least in the traditional sense.

Q. What part of your formation has been the most rewarding?

A. Being with a great group of guys! All of the men in formation have been wonderful, especially those in my class — they are like brothers to me.

Q. Who has been a model for your ministry?

A. Archbishop Fulton Sheen. I was too young to remember the things he said, but I do remember that we had to watch his show when I was very young. In more recent years, with the advent of Catholic TV and YouTube, I have been able to watch and re-watch his shows. He had a down-to-earth style that combined wit, intelligence and an understanding of current happenings viewed through the lens of the eternal.

More immediately, I would say that my spiritual director, Father Gerald Dvorak, has demonstrated a different kind of priesthood to me. He pours out his own life, almost inconspicuously, for his parish and the candidates that he directs. My pastor, Fr. Donald DeGrood, has been a great mentor, allowing me to serve as an acolyte so that I might better learn how to serve at the altar. He is a man who loves God and his faith and desires that others fall in love as well. Finally, my wife, LuAnn. I have come to realize over 36 years of marriage that she easily outgives me by a measure of at least two-to-one.

Q. What do you most hope to offer the Church through this vocation?

A. Four years ago, I would given an entirely different answer; today my answer would be “Christ”, I have little of value to offer the Church that is my own; everything of value that I have is gift from God — my wife, my family, my faith, and the story of my journey that has brought me to recognize this.

Q. What has been the most challenging part of pursuing this vocation?

A. The matter of time. All of my classmates, until recently, had been working full time and had the demands of work, family and of course, formation. Keeping up with all of the deadlines and scheduled events has been hard. Last year, I left a job of 12 years as I came to the realization that the environment was not conducive to the peace of my soul or the demands of formation. My hobbies, sailing and bicycling, had to be put aside, although in my current work position, a group of employees have an informal “knot of the week” club, that keeps me involved as least peripherally, with sailing knowledge.

Q. What can the Church do to inspire other men to answer the diaconate calling?

A. By forming good deacons and letting other men see their service. The formation process keeps improving (which means the class following behind will be better formed that we have been). I think men are inspired by the service of other good men. If we serve God and his Church well as deacons, that witness will draw other men as well.

Q. What advice would you give another man discerning the diaconate?

A. The life a deacon begins long before ordination; start serving in your parish, begin daily prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, learn your faith by reading good books, listening to Catholic Radio and TV and most importantly, prayerfully listen to what God is asking of you. Talk with a deacon, if you don’t know any, call the Institute for Diaconate Formation at the St. Paul Seminary.

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