By Dan Sherven
On the road to Jubilee Year 2025, which is themed “Pilgrims of Hope,” we think of our shared journey in Christ. Pope Francis has invited the Church to engage in prayerful preparation, such as noticing how we are all Pilgrims of Hope—longing for God’s Kingdom; and staying committed to charity. As Pope Francis says, these themes resonate deeply with his pontificate. These themes remind us of how prayer can sustain our hope in challenging times.
Greg Wensel is an executive coach, consultant, human resources expert, and former educator. He is a parishioner at Holy Rosary Cathedral and was recently diagnosed with leukemia. “You become a bleeder,” Wensel says. “You become vulnerable.” He notes that his white blood cell count has been going down for about a year. “The doctor made it very clear whenever he would talk to me, that if I get sick—go to the emergency [room] right away. Because my ability to fight off—like a cold or any infection, just is not there. It’s kind of a bit like a miracle; I haven’t been sick in about a year or two.”
Wensel adds: “You kind of say, ‘well what does that mean in terms of how long will I be here?’ The doctor says, ‘well you could be here for months to a couple years.’ And I said, ‘that’s quite a range.’ He said ‘we sort of have to see how it unfolds.’”
“It is all going to come to an end,” Wensel says. “But I tend to focus really, on the positive aspects of life. Rather than ‘oh heck why me?’ That doesn’t come into my mind at all. Because I just look around the world, I look around Regina; I look around and often I say ‘but for the grace of God, go I.’” Which is a proverb about being thankful, for how the good parts of one’s life are due to God’s grace.
Wensel speaks about the role his faith has played, while being sick. “What my faith tended to do was give me a level of tolerance—that I thought: ‘It will be what it will be.’ My whole life I’ve kind of been a person that—I’m responsible for my own destiny. When it gets to this stage, of whether you’re here or not here, that decision is out of my hands. I’m not going to suggest that it doesn’t bother me at all, but what I would suggest, is that my ability to cope is better than maybe somebody [who] didn’t have [faith].”
Wensel recalls some life events which he “really did attribute to faith. One time when our daughter Misty, she wasn’t even a year old, Penny [my wife said] ‘Greg, Greg, come here.’ She had been bathing Misty. And Misty was choking and kind of turning blue. She handed me Misty and she was going to die. She was going to choke to death. I just grabbed her, and I just paused a minute and said to myself ‘God help me, I don’t know what to do.’
“I swung her around and I gave her the Heimlich maneuver and out popped a little rubber elastic, [a] hair elastic, and she just sort of ‘whoosh’ and she was able to breathe and she was fine. She was fine. It’s just things like that, that along the way I’ve had affirmations. And maybe other people do, but their perspective on the affirmation is not one of faith. But mine is one of faith.”
“When I look to the afterlife,” Wensel says. “I am absolutely convinced there’s something. How you come out of [that] is another question. But I’m not motivated by fear. I’m motivated more by—I want to be part of the good stuff.”
Wensel used to recite rosaries for three hours, while walking in the water at the Lawson Aquatic Centre. He had to stop doing so because of his lower energy levels, due to the illness. “I’ve had a strong connection with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the family impact of that. And it seems that when I do something repetitive or in a state of semi-consciousness; when [I’m] out walking or meditating or that sort of thing—the vast majority of times, there’s a prayer element to it.”
His “prayer focuses around what I am thankful for, not for what I wish. I’m very appreciative.” Wensel says that he and his wife Penny have been able to “raise our family; had a relatively good life; a good family unit; now we have grandchildren. When I look back over what has occurred—I have nothing but gratitude and gratefulness.”
Dan Sherven is the author of four books, including the number one bestseller Classified: Off the Beat ‘N Path and Uncreated Light. Sherven is also an award-winning journalist, writing for several publications. Find Sherven’s work.
