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Have stole, will travel'
'Retired' Fr. Phillips offers gifts locally and overseas
OGALLALA--The Rev. Walt Phillips of Ogallala has adopted a philosophy
since his retirement 10 years ago.
"Have stole, will travel," Father Phillips said.
The priest has spent much of his retirement filling in for Catholic priests who need anywhere from a weekend to a week or longer off.
"If I'm free, I'll go," Father Phillips said. "I love being a priest."
Having the freedom to choose where and when to serve has been great, Father Phillips said. "Now, I have the best of both worlds. I get to do parish work without all the paperwork."
Father Phillips, who retired in 1994, looks to the future and his continued service. In addition to relieving parish priests, Father Phillips has worked with the Marriage Encounter program, traveling extensively throughout the United States.
"I'm busy," he said.
In May, Father Phillips extended his relief work overseas, or more accurately, onto the seas. Several months earlier, a letter had arrived from a Celebrity Cruise line official.
"They were looking for priests, ministers and rabbis to have services on their ship," he said.
Intrigued, the priest responded to the letter and learned that the company would pay his airfare to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and cover the cost of the cruise. In return, they asked Father Phillips to provide daily and weekend Masses.
The correspondence included a brochure about Infinity, the ship on which he would cruise. Built in France in 2001, Infinity is one of the company's newest ships and has a guest capacity of 1,950 people and a crew of nearly 1,000.
In preparation, Father Phillips had to renew his passport, and get a letter from Bishop Lawrence McNamara stating he was a priest in good standing. He also became a member of the Apostleship of the Sea, an organization dedicated to administering the spiritual needs of seafarers.
In mid-April, with paperwork in hand, Father Phillips boarded a plane in North Platte for Denver, Colo., then another to Fort Lauderdale. At that point, he boarded Infinity to begin the cruise. The first stop was Aruba.
"That was an important stop for me," he said, "because when I unpacked I had no trousers."
Armed only with his black suit, Father Phillips trudged through the port of Aruba looking for pants.
"I went to seven different stores," he said, "because it wasn't the season for long trousers."
After walking nearly a mile, a major challenge for a man that has Muscular Dystrophy and arthritis, he finally found pants. And they were on sale, too, he quipped.
Father Phillips said the ship was impressive, with 11 floors and 10 elevators. The only challenge aboard the huge ship was getting from one end to the other.
"It's the length of three football fields," he said.
During the 26-day cruise, Father Phillips celebrated a 4 p.m. Mass in Cinema 3. The room seated 300, and people were standing in the aisle. "They moved me to a ballroom and bar the next Saturday," he said. On Sunday mornings, Father Phillips celebrated Mass, followed by a non-denominational service.
On three Sundays, Father Phillips had a special Mass for the crew at 10:30 p.m.
"A big part of the crew was Catholic," he said.
Most of the crew was off work by 10 p.m. and the late Mass drew a crowd of more than 150 each time.
"They provided their own music and lectors," Father Phillips said. "They did a marvelous job."
One Sunday, Father Phillips hosted a service for couples to renew their wedding vows.
Phillips said while the ship's church may have been makeshift, the cruise line had invested in all the necessary equipment, from candlestick holders, chalices, worship books, wine and hosts to garments.
"They even had special vestments made with the Apostleship of the Sea logo," he said.
In addition to celebrating Mass, Father Phillips celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He also spent time with people who just wanted to talk.
"One couple, who was celebrating their 30th anniversary, called me because they had bought new wedding rings and wanted them blessed," he said.
The priest had brought along 500 booklets, "Pillars of Fire, Pillars of Truth," a booklet that that has the basic beliefs of Catholics in an easy-to-read format. "I think one of the main needs in the Catholic religion is adult religious education," Father Phillips said.
He gave them to crew members and also laid them on a table for those attending Mass.
"I didn't bring any of them home," he said.
Father Phillips said while he went off the ship a couple of times, everything he needed for entertainment was available right on the ship.
Wonderful food was abundant and live shows and movies played daily. The ship had a well-stocked library, as well as class offerings. Father Phillips said he took several computer classes and also took advantage of the jacuzzi.
"That heat was a big help for my arthritis," he said.
But it was the people he met and visited with that made his trip special.
The cruise brought Father Phillips to Aruba, then to the Panama Canal.
The ship traveled up the west coast of Mexico before coming into the port at San Diego, where many of the passengers got off the ship. The cruise continued on to Hawaii, stopping at the five major islands. From Honolulu, Father Phillips flew home.
Once home, the priest quickly resumed his retirement schedule of filling in for vacationing priests. He has also had an opportunity several times to partake in one his favorite hobbies -- fishing at Lake McConaughy.
Yet it is mail time that quickly brings back memories of Father Phillips' time at sea.
"I don't know how many letters I've gotten from people saying they appreciated having Mass," he said.
Father Phillips was ordained a priest as a Benedictine monk for Conception Abbey in 1949. As a monk after ordination, he performed many duties, including a semester as a college algebra teacher.
"Father Jack (Schlaf of St. Luke's Church in Ogallala) was one of my students,' he said.
In addition, Father Phillips was a foundation business manager, helping to start schools on an Indian mission in North Dakota, and was chaplain for the juvenile delinquents of the state of Missouri as well as a chaplain of a 100-bed hospital run by Benedictine nuns.
Because he wanted to do parish work, Father Phillips was dispensed of his vows as a monk, and joined the Grand Island diocese in 1968. He was a parish priest at churches in Sidney, Chappell, Lodgepole, Hay Springs, Mirage Flats, Gordon, Lexington, Hemingford, Oshkosh and Lisco.
In 1994, he moved to Ogallala to retire.
[ This story was reprinted with the permission of the Keith County News in Ogallala.]