By ANDREW HANSEN
Editor
How many people can say they locked eyes with a saint? The year was 1984, just two years after being ordained to the permanent diaconate. That’s when something happened to Deacon Benedict Hoefler that has stuck with him since. He was serving as a deacon during Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome with now Pope St. John Paul II. As the pope was about to elevate the Body and Blood of Christ, Deacon Hoefler says the pope’s eyes locked with his.
“When Pope John Paul II looked at you, he looked right into your soul,” Deacon Hoefler describes it. “To me, that moment in my mind translated to the pope ‘saying’ that ‘you’re here at the altar with me, but when he elevated the Body and Blood of Christ, you’re here at the altar with Jesus.’ I have never forgotten that.”
Another powerful moment then happened just minutes later. After distributing holy Communion, while purifying the vessels, Deacon Hoefler remembers looking up and seeing now St. Mother Teresa.
“I thought, ‘I am standing between two saints! Holy cow! What a privilege this is,’” Deacon Hoefler said.
Another powerful story that is engrained in Deacon Hoefler’s memory involves a man who had not been to confession in 50 years. Deacon Hoefler was visiting a nursing home when he met the man.
“I asked him if he would like to go to confession,” Deacon Hoefler said. “The man replied that he would ‘burn the priest’s ears off.’ I told him I know a priest who has served for more than 55 years who could hear his confession.”
After arranging the confession, the man went, seeking forgiveness from God. Deacon Hoefler later found out that just two days after the man confessed his sins for the first time in 50 years, he died.
“Those are the kinds of things you don’t forget that make a big impression on me,” Deacon Hoefler said.
While the permanent diaconate has made a “big impression” on Deacon Hoefler, on Feb. 13, Deacon Hoefler realized just how much of a big impression his ministerial work has had on people. At Holy Family Church in Athens, dozens of parishioners, friends, and family — some from hours away — came to Mass to celebrate the anniversary of his 40th year as a permanent deacon. His son, Msgr. David Hoefler, Vicar General for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, was the celebrant. The day was filled with emotion, laughter, and smiles as the first permanent deacon of our diocese looked back over 40 years.
“I thought about becoming a priest when I was younger as I had three uncles who were priests,” Deacon Hoefler said. “They made a big impression on me.”
But, after marriage and four children (three daughters and one son), priesthood was not going to happen. After moving from Iowa to Rockford in 1972, Deacon Hoefler met a man in their permanent diaconate program. Thinking you needed an advanced degree, but finding out that was not the case, he says he immediately became interested. Then, after talking about it with his family over the next couple of years, Deacon Hoefler remembers his family simply saying, “Go for it.”
Deacon Hoefler was ordained in 1982 in Rockford. The Hoeflers later moved to Springfield in 1993. Deacon Hoefler has served at St. Aloysius in Springfield, St. John Vianney in Sherman, on the Deacon Formation Team, and presently at Holy Family in Athens.
“I’d have to say being with the people is my favorite thing about being a deacon,” Deacon Hoefler said. “It’s the people that are in the parish that allow me to be who I am. They give me the privilege of serving them.”