By Alison Bradish
Deacon David Hagel is living, working, and serving in the heart of Saskatchewan’s ranching country, an area the 58-year-old has always called home.
He balances working on his cattle farm in Southwest Saskatchewan with pastoral visits to the sick, shut-ins and those living in care homes. Every two weeks he leads liturgical services at the parishes of St. Anne’s in Gull Lake and St. Joseph’s in Cabri.
The person he credits the most in his faith is his late father, Tony Hagel. “In our house we prayed, went to Church and served when we were called to,” says Hagel about his upbringing that included eight siblings and a community steeped in faith.
“At that time, we had a large Catholic community in Lancer. It was nothing to see about 100 people in the church every weekend and in small town that is amazing,” says Hagel. “I was really very lucky to grow up in a small town with a very large Catholic identity.”
He remembers a visiting priest asking him if he ever thought of the priesthood. “I said to him, as if I was talking about the weather, ‘no not really. I think I’d like to have a wife and some kids,” Hagel laughs as he recalls the priest (a young Fr. Ron Rolheiser) saying “ok”, and then they started talking about hockey and hunting gophers.
Hagel married Leone Karwandy in 1993. Together they enjoyed their time farming and serving at their local parish. During this time Hagel continued to be involved in youth ministry, particularly SEARCH for Christian maturity retreats.
“My commitment never wavered to my wife and to the married state. My commitment to the church was strong, and yet I remember so often Leonne would say to me, ‘It’s really interesting how you love the Church almost more than you love me.’ And that used to kind of upset me in my heart but maybe it also gave me a slight foreknowledge of what maybe was to come,” says Hagel.
He eventually moved onto other ministries within the Church, however in 1997 he wrote to then Archbishop Peter Mallon about his desire to serve the church more fully and what opportunities there were for married men in this regard. Hagel only knew only one Deacon, Bob Williston, who was with the Redemptorist order. The Archbishop informed him there were programs for the diaconate in other jurisdictions but not the Archdiocese of Regina.
In 2012 Leone was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She completed chemotherapy and as the year progressed things looked promising. But February 2013 her condition deteriorated, and less than five months later she died, and Hagel found himself suddenly alone and questioning his future.
Hagel describes the weeks following her death as a dark time where he went through the motions of keeping the farm running. That summer he had a profound experience he attributes to God’s intervention and protection “It was a transformation that moved me from despair and grief right to relief and it happened within hours” says Hagel.
This life changing moment helped him reconcile with his wife’s death. In September 2013 he received a phone call from a friend informing him the Archdiocese of Regina was in the process of beginning a permanent diaconate program. In October he was filling out the application form realizing the providential timing of all of it.
He was accepted into the program noting it has not been without struggles. The academic demands were difficult for him as he had no post secondary experience. These challenges were met with the great support and encouragement from those within and running the program says Hagel. He was ordained to the permanent diaconate in June 2018.
As a Deacon he is at the service of the Church, but he also acknowledges he is at the service of the broader community and offers a stable presence when called upon. “I take great joy in my ministry because it keeps me humble. I witness great strength and courage. These are great lessons for me.”
Hagel says he is not afraid to remind people God is alive in their life and his connection to farming has impacted his ministry because people know they can relate to finding God in the glories of nature, be it a sunrise or a thunderstorm on the horizon. “For me it’s sort of providing that permission to know God and to know he is part of your life. I think that is what every community desires, what every family desires and every one of us as an individual; we just want to know it is okay to believe in God.”
Hagel admits there are challenges as a single Deacon. He does not have someone else to bounce ideas off, and he sometimes worries he cannot connect with families in the same way married deacons can. He says the permanent diaconate has shown him he is capable of love, compassion, and witness.
