Gusto of the New Ulm Diocesan Council of Catholic Women “Music Man”

by Betty Heymans

On December 1, 1971, "The Music Man" quietly arrived in our small town of Sleepy Eye, MN and became our new pastor. No, his name was not Professor Harold Hill (singing wasn’t really his strongest suit) and neither was he pursuing Marian the Librarian – he simply was a man pursuing Christ and a Marian Spirituality through Our Lady of Good Counsel, the patroness of the National Council of Catholic Women.

By early 1972, "The Music Man" pastor, like Professor Hill, started organizing his "instruments" into a "band" of all the parish women whom he asked to gather one evening in the parish school auditorium. The purpose…to renew the women’s involvement in the Council of Catholic Women (CCW) by thoroughly explaining how CCW is a perfect fit in an active parish - primarily an organization of spiritual growth and apostolic activity for Catholic women.

In one finely tuned evening, "The Music Man" priest and his band of parish women made instrumental changes together. Instead of one guild meeting a year, they would now have monthly Council of Catholic Women meetings. They elected officers and six commission chairpersons plus two special committee leaders and much more! The women left the meeting knowing that CCW was meant to be a God centered group with Mary, the Mother of God as our guide in the parish, the diocese, and the broader church and society.

The "Music Man" pastor of whom I speak is Fr. Robert Wyffels (now Monsignor Wyffels). He continues to "blow his horn" for the CCW at all levels in the New Ulm diocese - as so many other priests have done and continue to do for the almost 50 years since the Diocese of New Ulm was established.

Like the Music Man’s "Seventy-Six Trombones," we now have more than "Seventy Six [parishes] leading the Big Parade" followed by rows and rows of [CCW’s] finest virtuosos – The cream of every famous band.” Yes, our "Music Man" pastor is memorable in a way that few people ever are.

Betty Heymans is from Sleepy Eye and is a former Diocesan Council of Catholic Women board member.