Remember him, please, in your prayers:
On May 28, 2024, two days after he was ordained a Permanent Deacon, Paul Wheeler died at St. Paul’s Hospital at the age of 66 years, after a short battle with cancer.
The Funeral Mass for Deacon Paul Wheeler will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 5, 2024, at the Cathedral of the Holy Family, 123 Nelson Road, Saskatoon.
For the past several years, Paul Wheeler has been one of the men discerning the call to the Permanent Diaconate in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon and was scheduled to be ordained to the Sacred Order of Deacons at the end of June with fellow candidate Nicholas Blom. However, as Wheeler’s health worsened and he entered palliative care at St. Paul’s Hospital, the decision was made to instead celebrate his ordination to the Sacred Order of Deacons at the hospital chapel on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, May 26, 2024.
Bishop Mark Hagemoen ordained Deacon Wheeler in the presence of a small group of family and friends, which included those from both the Saskatoon and Regina diaconate discernment programs who have been journeying together through formation as candidates, leaders, mentors, or retreat leaders.
Participants in the ordination celebration included Brett Salkeld of the Archdiocese of Regina and Diocesan Vicar-General Fr. Kevin McGee, who is also pastor at St. Mary Parish – both of whom were part of Wheeler’s diaconate discernment and formation — and Deacon Tran Luke Van Tam who was ordained to the transitional diaconate last month in the diocese of Saskatoon (a step on the journey toward priestly ordination).
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him…
Photos: Kiply Lukan Yaworski, Catholic Saskatoon News
