He sets an example as pastor, mentor and teacher

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By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger

Sr. Susan

DELPHOS, Ohio — Sister Susan Faist, SND, recalls her first appointment with then-Father Dennis Walsh, shortly after he became pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish, which led to her taking a “field trip” to Baltimore. Sister Susan was serving as the parish’s religious education coordinator at the time.

 As she explained what previous pastors had done, Father Walsh asked if she had read a book titled “Rebuilt: The Story of a Catholic Parish: Awakening the Faithful, Reaching the Lost, and Making Church Matter” about a parish in Baltimore. She had not.

“He reached behind him and handed the book to me. After reading it, I met with him again and told him what I would like to incorporate. He then told me he would like to fund a ‘field trip’ to Baltimore so I could see the parish in operation. He let me take three others along,” Sister Susan said. They returned with ideas. One that the parish incorporated provides a unified activity for religious education students in grades K-8 to participate in together before the start of each class.

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In the four to five years she served as religious education coordinator, Sister Susan was part of the administration team that met Wednesday mornings with Father Walsh. One such meeting made a lasting impression. He had proposed adding a monthly Spanish Mass, which met with initial resistance. Someone protested that adding a Mass would be too much too handle. “Father Dennis Walsh’s response was that he did not mind how many Masses he would be presiding over on a weekend. He said that was what he had been ordained to do!”

Another lasting impression: “One year, he taught the high school Spanish classes (at the parish school, Delphos St. John’s) because we did not have a teacher for that class,” Sister Susan said. She now works as a teacher aide at the school, where she has had the opportunity to see him preside at Mass.

“His homilies at the Mass for elementary students on Thursdays are meaningful,” she said. “He delivers the homily while walking in the middle aisle, between the classes in the pews. His comradery with the altar servers during Mass is very good.  I often see him saying something that brings smiles to their faces during the drying of his hands.”

Sister Susan describes now-Bishop Walsh as friendly, with a quick sense of humor, religious, and said he has solid values. “He has a wide knowledge of various fields — doctrine, finance, law and development.”

Finally, “We have had seminarians during their intern year here because he is such a good mentor for them, same for newly ordained priests!”


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