Director of catechetical ministry retires at 65

By Sylvia L. White
The Catholic Sun

Deacon John Meyer, director of catechetical ministry for the Diocese of Phoenix for the past 25 years, will retire June 30.

Deacon Meyer will open a new chapter in his life after 32 years in the diaconate. The diocese recognized his work at an appreciation luncheon for catechetical leaders and youth ministers May 11.

In his remarks, Deacon Meyer reflected on the five times he answered a major call in his life —– to God, to his wife, to ministry of the Word, to the diaconate and to ecumenism and interdenominational dialogue, which he has been involved with for the last 10 years.

Deacon Meyer spoke of the hope and “power we have when we know the Lord Jesus.”

“We need to attach ourselves to the Lord in ever deeper ways,” he said, adding that his relationship with Christ is what sustained him over the years.

Deacon Meyer also said many Catholics in the diocese need catechetical instruction.

“We’ve been blessed with wonderful insights,” he said. Deacon Meyer added that the faithful can  use those insights to dispel ignorance about the Catholic faith.

Mary Mirrione, a representative from the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program, presented Deacon Meyer with a statue of King David, who embodied the shepherd.

“When the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program came to this country, many closed doors and people thought we were strange,” Mirrione said to Deacon Meyer. “You welcomed us.”

Deacon Meyer was ordained a permanent deacon under Bishop Edward A. McCarthy in 1973. He was director of religious education at both St. Maria Goretti Parish in Scottsdale and St. Joseph Parish in Phoenix from 1971 to 1981.

In 1981 Deacon Meyer became the director of religious education for the diocese, his title later changing to director of catechetical ministry.

The deacon has been involved in national catechetical ministry organizations as well. He was treasurer for the National Conference of Diocesan Directors of Religious Education. 

He also was involved with the National Conference for Catechetical Leadership and worked on annual meeting committees for this group. He served as the first deacon on the bishop’s committee for the National Advisory Committee on Adult Religious Education from 1994 to 2001 and was chairperson in 2000.

“I never met a man more faithful and diligent in a job than John Meyer. Fidelity is his outstanding virtue,” said Bobbie Hixon, a catechist from St. Henry Parish in Buckeye. “He has always done whatever it took to get the job done.”

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted also thanked Deacon Meyer for his faithful service to the diocese.

“John, you make all the rest of us look better,” the bishop said.

Although Deacon Meyer is retiring from his full-time position in the catechetical ministry office, he will continue serving at St. Bernadette Parish in Scottsdale.

Deacon Meyer, who is recovering from cancer, will also continue to work with Fr. Michael Diskin, the vice chancellor of the Phoenix Diocese and ecumenical officer.