Under the Acacia Tree

Time has a way of blindsiding us at times.  Wednesday morning I had just finished celebrating Mass for the children of St. Augustine School and had driven off to get a bite of breakfast.  My ordinary morning was broken into when the President of the Paulist Fathers very thoughtfully called me and told me that Father Jim Wiesner, CSP had died.   I was stunned.  How could a priest with whom I had lived for several years, and who is much younger than I, have died and so suddenly?  I thought of last Sunday’s
gospel, about which I’m sure Father Wiesner preached “…be ready, for you do not know when the master of the house will come.”  Father Wiesner is the former pastor of St. Patrick’s and welcomed me to Memphis when I first came to be pastor at St. Augustine.  Along with Father Nieli, Father Wiesner and I spent many hours at table in community, and together at other times in prayer. We often shared what was happening in our parishes with one another looking for what was common and what we could
discern that might help each other to be better at what we do.  We laughed a lot together; told stories; played golf together (he was a much better golfer than I ever was); enjoyed movies together; chatted about what was happening in the world politically and shared a common love of music.  He read incessantly and his books were always a part of our conversations with one another.  And he loved Memphis. 

Father Jim often celebrated Mass at St. Augustine when I would be off on various commitments or on vacation.   He came when we needed him for penance services.  So, he was a part of our community, too.  As a priest and pastor, Father Jim was special to his people.  He led St. Patrick’s during the refurbishing of their Church, presided over the building of St. Patrick’s School and the St. Patrick’s Center and worked his magic with the Gibson 5K race which fundamentally funds St. Patrick’s Center.  And through it all, with his almost movie like good looks and vacuum like mind that absorbed information without being overly intellectual, he let people know of his care and concern.  He had an amazing antenna for understanding a person’s pain and being able to identify with it.  

I only wish that he were here now to share the pain I feel because the Lord has called him home.  It is our shared faith that gives me the hope to journey on knowing that we have shared much as fellow Paulists, pastor priests, and caring friends.
 
 
Rev. John Geaney, CSP
Pastor
November 22, 2009