Msgr. John F. Meyers begins Mass June 8 at St. Jude Chapel in downtown Dallas. Msgr. Meyers celebrated the 60th anniversary of his priestly ordination on June 4. (BEN TORRES/Special Contributor)
By Jeff Miller
Special to the Texas Catholic
Retirement from priesthood can mean a to-do list featuring the likes of fishing, gardening and travel.
Msgr. John F. Meyers can indeed be found at D/FW International Airport most weekends 11 years since he retired at the mandatory age of 75. But he goes there to celebrate the airport’s Sunday Mass as part of a weekly schedule that’s still packed with pastoral activities.
“I’m technically retired,” Msgr. Meyers noted.
Msgr. Meyers recently celebrated the 60th anniversary of his ordination and was recognized with a reception on June 4 at St. Monica, where he served as pastor from 1994-2005.
“He’s a priest’s priest,” said Father Jonathan Austin, a parochial vicar at St. Monica under Msgr. Meyers and now chaplain at St. Jude Catholic Chapel. “He doesn’t do it because it’s work; he does it because it’s his life.”
Msgr. Meyers’ explanation for why he remains so active in ministry only weeks before his 86th birthday is succinct but heartfelt: “I enjoy it.”
His distinguished career has been split between the Diocese of Dallas, where he served as superintendent of Dallas Catholic School from 1962-1967, and 18 years in Washington D.C, at the National Catholic Educational Association, the last 14 as the organization’s president. The diocese and the NCEA both give out annual educational awards named for him.
Msgr. Meyers presided over the Saturday anticipatory Mass at St. Monica in advance of the recent reception in the cafeteria, both of which were packed. Said longtime parishioner Joe Ackels: “He was hitting on all cylinders. It was like he’s 56 instead of 86.”
“He still remembers everybody and everything,” parishioner Diane Dominguez said. “He’s so loved.”
As pastor of St. Monica, Msgr. Meyers founded San Juan Diego Catholic Church as a mission parish in 1997 as an outreach to the burgeoning Mexican immigrant community in northwest Dallas. San Juan Diego, now a full parish, has moved from tight quarters in a warehouse district to a multi-structure complex on a multi-acre parcel of land in northwest Dallas and is among the largest parishes with a predominantly Spanish-speaking congregation in the diocese.
Msgr. Meyers is greatly involved at St. Jude, which serves the downtown Dallas community as a “chapel of ease” without being a formal parish. He celebrates Masses on most Wednesdays and also hears confessions regularly.
Msgr. Meyers is greatly involved at St. Jude, which serves the downtown Dallas community as a “chapel of ease” without being a formal parish. He celebrates Masses on most Wednesdays and also hears confessions regularly.
“He’s a model for us all. And for priests, especially,” Father Austin said.
Msgr. Meyers was also pastor at St. Elizabeth of Hungary and at Immaculate Conception in Tyler back when the diocese extended all the way to the Texas-Louisiana line. His other assignments in the diocese included being the dean of students at the University of Dallas.
St. Elizabeth dedicated its first gala to Msgr. Meyers last year. The guest of honor turned the tables and handed out angel pins.
Msgr. Meyers was at the Oak Cliff parish 1987-94 and still occasionally helps out there.
“Whenever he’s needed, he seems to make it,” said Gail Hudgins, St. Elizabeth’s office manager.
Msgr. Meyers grew up in the central Pennsylvania city of Altoona and, as the youngest boy in his family, answered the prayers of his grandparents and parents in becoming a priest. He was ordained at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio in 1956. He was immediately recruited to the Dallas diocese by Auxiliary Bishop Augustine Danglmayr on behalf of Bishop Thomas Gorman.
Ackels, when speaking at Msgr. Meyers’ “official” retirement reception in 2005, said, “Do you ever wonder what Jesus Christ would have looked like at 75? I think I know.”
