Ministry evolves for Father Meinen

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
April 20, 2006

When Father Dennis Meinen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis just about one year after his ordination to the priesthood, he worried how that might impact his ministry.

Ordained on May 29, 1987, Father Meinen was serving as an associate pastor at Blessed Sacrament in Sioux City when health problems became apparent.

He recalled how Msgr. Michael D. Sernett, now chancellor of the diocese who was then serving as a pastor in Le Mars, had invited him to play the piano at a sing-along in his parish.

Father Meinen acknowledged that he didn't play very well that night and thought that he was just rusty. That wasn't the case.

"I woke up the next morning and I didn't have any feeling in my arm," he explained.

He pointed out that with multiple sclerosis, plaque forms on the nerves. The message from the brain is either delayed or stopped.

After that first episode, it did take numerous tests for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis to be made.

Once he did learn the news, he remembers that he went into Blessed Sacrament Church and prayed before the Blessed Sacrament.

"I said, 'What now Lord? You obviously are allowing this,'" said the priest. He couldn't help but wonder how the disease would affect his life and ministry.

Fortunately for him, he eventually gained most of the feeling back in his arm and the disease progressed relatively slowly for several years. That made it easier for him to try to hide it from parishioners.

From Blessed Sacrament, Father Meienen served as an associate pastor at Immaculate Conception Parish in Sioux City from 1990 to 1993. His first assignment as pastor came at St. Boniface in Charter Oak from 1993 to 1995.

"I still had the idea that I could hide it," he said. "I think they knew but they didn't want me to know that they knew."

Finally, one woman asked him about how he was dealing with the disease.

"I had never shared it with anyone and it felt so good to do that," said Father Meinen. "I decided that from then on, whatever assignment I was at, I would tell people."

That personal experience in seeing the value in talking about things, he noted, has helped him in one of his present ministries in his work with the Coalition for Ministry to Persons with Disabilities.

"When I meet with people who have disabilities, sometimes they are having difficulties with sharing," he noted. "Sometimes if I share about my own experiences, they get more comfortable."

His final parish assignment was from 1995 to 2000 when he served as pastor at St. Columbkille in Churdan. He also served St. Patrick Cedar from 1995 to 1996 and St. Paul Scranton from 1996 to 2000.

In time, he could no longer deny the progression of the disease.

"I loved visiting parishioners, especially those in the hospitals and nursing homes," said Father Meinen. "I always had apathy for them."

The small town where he served had no hospital, so sometimes his parishioners where in four or five different hospitals that were some distance from the parish. In addition, although he wasn't falling, he was walking more and more with a limp and often had an unsure feeling with his balance.

Father Meinen moved back to Sioux City in 2000 and began the process of trying to figure out his place in priestly ministry.

"My question to myself was, 'What is my ministry going to be? Is anyone going to need me?'" acknowledged Father Meinen.

It didn't take long for him to receive some direction. He happened to be visiting Trinity Heights when someone approached him for a blessing. That gave him a renewed sense of the importance of being available to people. It affirmed that even if he wasn't going to be a pastor, he could still be of use in ministry.

Shortly after that, he read an article in The Globe stating that the Coalition for Ministry to People with Disabilities was looking for members.

"I was thinking this is a message from God," he said.

He got involved in the coalition and eventually was named the contact person for persons with disabilities.

"The ministry has just exploded," noted Father Meinen, who now gets around on a scooter.

His love for pastoral work drew him to volunteer to serve as one of the Catholic experts on the Web site - allexperts.com. He began that ministry in the late 1990s and continues it today, limiting the intake of questions to five a day.

In addition to the coalition, he started to write a column in The Globe dubbed View From A Scooter. With a humorous and knowing flair, he addresses a variety of topics related to disabilities and pain and suffering.

Even though he was finding his niche in ministry, there was still a part of him that wondered if he was truly needed.

Not long after, upon the retirement of another diocesan priest, Father Meinen was named chaplain at Holy Spirit Retirement Home in 2003 and now serves as a part-time chaplain at Mercy Medical Center.

The fast-pace at the hospital and laid back atmosphere of the nursing home give him some balance.

He loves that work very much and now views his own affliction as a gift of sorts because it has enabled him to focus his ministry on pastoral concerns.

"It is exciting to see how the ministry grows and grows," he said. "All of the ministries seem to tie in well together."