Father William J. Axe, O.SS.T.
Our Trinitarian Biography for January 2023 is Father William J. Axe, O.SS.T. from Our Lady of the Holy Rosary – St. Richard parish in Palmetto Bay, Florida.
***Please pray for him during this month as you enjoy his replies.***
Date and place of Ordination: October 12, 1974, at Blessed Sacrament Church in Kansas City, Kansas, ordained by Archbishop Ignatius J. Strecker, who was one of the bishops who participated in the Second Vatican Council.
Favorite aspect of priesthood: My humorous side says that my favorite aspect of priesthood is vacation. My serious side tends to agree, but would add that I love doing sacramental ministry of any kind—Baptisms, Confirmations, Eucharists, Confessions, Marriages, and Anointings. (Not being a Bishop, thank God for small mercies, I cannot do Ordinations, though I’ve enjoyed participating in many and laying my hands on the ordinands.) CAVEAT: AS LONG AS THE SACRAMENTAL SERVICE IS SHORT! And, I very much enjoy leading adults in the discussion of biblical texts.
If not a priest, what? If not a priest, I just might have been a spy—in fact, that’s what I had wanted to be until I realized I couldn’t take pain—though probably, I would have been a teacher in order to inflict pain!
Most memorable moment: I think the Trinitarians might say my most memorable moment was when I fell flat on my face in front of all of Paris at a Mass in the iconic church of Sacre Coeur de Montmartre! But for me, personally, I think my most memorable moment as a priest was sitting at my mother’s bedside as she died and realizing that there was absolutely nothing I could do. All was in Greater Hands than mine. Total powerlessness is something we never forget.
Favorite food: I’ve never met a food I didn’t like enough to not eat it—which makes dieting difficult. Nonetheless, I’m tempted to say “seafood,” for I love all of it, but that sounds like a betrayal of my Kansas roots—maybe rack of lamb? Steak Diane? Beef Wellington? Roast pig? Peanut chicken or goat? But, then I fear I’m ignoring all the vegetables—I could easily be a vegetarian—and I can load a plate high at an Indian buffet, or at a salad bar. I love all kinds of cheeses—and have a cousin in the Holy Land who owns and operates a dairy product establishment called “Cheeses of Nazareth!” (joke) And we dare not enter the kingdom of desserts! Gooseberry pie, rhubarb pie, cobblers of all stripes and cakes and puddings! When is lunch, anyway?
Free time activity: In my free time I read murder mysteries, and I highly recommend putting a missal cover over your murder mystery so that when the sermon is dry as dust (and I’ve, personally, given my fair share of those) all will not be lost!
Thank you, Father Axe! GLORY TO THE TRINITY.