OREGON—In his final year of seminary formation, Father Joseph Weigman experienced symptoms he knew might indicate something wasn’t right.

He became dizzy riding his bike and had weak legs when getting up suddenly from a laying position.
Three months before his ordination to the priesthood in 1991, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system that attacks the brain and spine.

Fr. Joseph Weigman greets residents of the Little Sisters of the Poor Sacred Heart Home in Oregon after celebrating Mass Nov. 17. Diagnosed with MS in 1991, Fr. Weigman serves as chaplain to the sisters and the residents.

Since his ordination, he has faced a continual progression of physical limitations that now make it too difficult for him to serve in a parish.

Despite the limitations, he has come to see his MS as “my way of praising, reverencing and serving God,” says Fr. Weigman, 49, referencing the teaching of St. Ignatius of Loyola. 

He serves as chaplain at the Little Sisters of the Poor Sacred Heart Home where he also receives care and assistance as he lives there in residence.

In his electric wheelchair, Fr. Weigman visits with the elderly residents, consoles families of the dying and celebrates the sacraments.

“God calls each of us in different ways, Fr. Weigman says. “As I look at my classmates … they’re pastors of big parishes. Well, that is not how I am being called to live out my priesthood. Quite honestly, I think I would prefer that way, but it’s not an option for me.

“It’s a matter of kind of reconciling myself to that reality and to be able to say that, ‘OK, I’m not able to do that, but that doesn’t mean God has given up on me, it means God has called me to live out my priesthood this way.”

As his multiple sclerosis has progressed, Fr. Weigman has faced more limitations in his mobility.
When he first needed to use a cane two years after his diagnosis, he thought, “OK God, I can handle this, but no more,” he remembers.

“Each time I thought I couldn’t do anymore, I did it,” he says. “Really, I believe now that it was the grace of God at work in me that allowed me to realize the reality that you do what you have to do.”
He has also dealt with a growing dependence on others.

At a Teens Encounter Christ retreat in the mid-90s, his eye caught sight of a graphic just as he was about to give a talk to high school students. The picture showed a man bending down to give of flowers to a woman in a wheelchair.

“Wow, what has to die in me is that image of myself as the young man giving the flowers,” he remembers thinking at the time. “And what had to be born, what had to arise in me, was to be the woman in the wheelchair — to accept the flowers, the ministry, the gifts of other people.”

Fr. Weigman plays a vital role at the Sacred Heart home where some residents refer to him as “the wounded healer,” says William Cook, development director.

Catherine Neihoff, Sacred Heart Home resident and sacristan says Fr. Weigman is a source of inspiration to her and the residents.

“We all have aches and pains and we never hear him complain … He’s very supportive of the ones who are ill and have a lot of pain,” she says.

Fr. Joseph Weigman celebrates Mass in the chapel at the Little Sisters of the Poor Sacred Heart Home in Oregon Nov. 17.

Fr. Weigman tries to help residents keep a perspective on their own limitations.
He recalls one resident was very upset when she had to start using a walker and complained to him. He tried to be humorous in his response to her.

“I wish all I had to worry about was using a walker,” he remembers telling her. “Look at me — you’re doing really good.”

Father James Bacik, pastor of Toledo Corpus Christi, says he has great respect for Fr. Weigman and how he has handled his illness. While Fr. Bacik has known the virtue of acceptance on a theoretical basis, he says he sees it lived out in Fr. Weigman.

“The acceptance frees him up to do what is possible,” he says.

Father David Reinhart calls Fr. Weigman a great priest and a great friend.

The two priests worked together at Oregon Cardinal Stritch High School before Fr. Weigman retired to part-time ministry and Fr. Reinhart went into service with the Archdiocese for Military Services.

“The MS certainly causes him suffering, but he does it with grace because he has to ask for help — and that’s a hard thing because just about every common thing that you and I do he has to ask to be done … He’s a remarkable priest — he was without MS and he is with MS.”

How his MS will continue to progress isn’t certain as each case is different, Fr. Weigman says. He knows of a Sacred Heart Home resident about his age who has multiple sclerosis and is confined to her bed.

“That worries me a little. It scares me I guess, but I’m not going to spend a lot of time or energy worrying about it until it’s here,” he says. “I just have to believe that whatever happens, I’ll deal with it by the grace of God.”

While there are times he has felt sorry for himself or become angry, Fr. Weigman says he luckily has not dwelled on those feelings for too long. 

 At a physical therapy session in the mid-90s when he was learning to use a cane and crutch, he remembers seeing a little boy with greater physical challenges than himself. The boy was laughing and having a good time.

“I thought, ‘Oh man, look at him. He’s got it worse than me and he’s happy … We all have to deal with what’s dealt us,’ ” Fr. Weigman says.  “It was a great beginning to realize it’s a matter of perspective and we can feel good or we can feel bad. We’ve got to choose.”

To see more of Fr. Weigman’s ministry at the Little Sisters of the Poor Sacred Heart Home, view our video under the “Multimedia” or visit www.youtube.com/catholicchronicle.