I first want to express our sorrow for the family of Msgr. Hayes. His sudden death is a great loss for them. They are filled with great sorrow, but they know the Lord is with them, and also we, their family in Christ, are with them bringing to them the comfort and strength of the Lord. And they are also comforted by those words from the Book of Wisdom: The souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them. God has taken Wayne back to himself.
I also wish to express our sorrow for his friends and parishioners. He has served the people entrusted to his care with real love and dedication. He served God’s people in all the parishes in which he served simply as a good, loving and pastoral priest. Many have come to love him a great deal. Especially here at St. Joseph’s where he has served for over nine years, and also at Our Lady of Victory, whose people he served for 23 years. He had a special love for Catholic Education, because he had a special love for children, and countless children of both parishes have come to know the love of the Lord through his dedication to them and to the parochial school, as well as to the Religious Education programs in his parishes. Wayne also served as parochial vicar at St. Helen’s Church from 1960 through 1968. He was Administrator of St. Paul Newman Center 1968 to 1970 and then was appointed pastor of St. Lucy in Fowler and Administrator of St. Katherine in Del Rey in 1970 until he went to Our Lady of Victory in 1974.
I also wish to express our sorrow for all of us, his fellow priests. We have lost a real friend, a giant of a man in our church. He had a special love for his fellow priests, was always hospitable, and ever ready to help a fellow priest whenever he could, and we will all miss him a great deal.
Wayne truly was a man of the Church. He served five bishops and was always loyal and supportive in all his roles. He had a great love for the church, knowing it is the Church that makes Christ present in our lives. He had a great love for the Eucharist and for the people of God in his parishes. He spoke very meaningfully those words: “This is my body, this is my blood”, as he offered himself, his own body and his own blood and sweat and tears, one with Christ, in giving himself to God’s people. How many countless persons came to know God’s love and mercy through his speaking those words in confession: “through the ministry of the Church, may God give you pardon and peace.” God truly chose Wayne from among men to be one with his Divine Son to make His Son present to his people through his ministry as priest.
During most of his priestly life in his parishes, he was also called to help on the Diocesan level. Soon after being ordained he worked in the Matrimonial Tribunal. In 1970 he was appointed as vice officialis of the Tribunal, and in 1974 he was appointed a Pro Synodal Judge for the Diocesan Tribunal. He worked in the Tribunal under four Bishops. On the occasion of his appointment as Pro Synodal Judge, I found a letter from Msgr. Denis Doherty who was in charge of the Tribunal at the time and he wrote Wayne: “Knowing your experience and expertise, I am looking forward to bombarding you with the more difficult cases.” And you can be sure he did that.
As I looked at his file I could not believe how many times Wayne made and signed a profession of faith. In fact without a doubt I can say that he made more professions of faith, both in Latin and in English, than any other priest in the history of the Diocese of Fresno and of the Diocese of Monterey Fresno. Every time there is an official appointment, as pastor or in a special office in the Chancery, one must make and sign a profession of faith. Besides making that profession on his appointments as pastor three times, and for three of his assignments in the Tribunal, he made it as vice chancellor or chancellor under three Bishops, as Vicar General under two Bishops, once as the delegate of the Apostolic Administrator, and as Consultor under three Bishops. He also served in many other positions on the Diocesan level at one time or another under one or more bishops: a number of times he was a member of the Personnel Board and the Priests Council, trustee of the Priest’s Retirement Fund, a member of the Diocesan Finance Council and Deposit and Loan Fund, Director of Propagation of the Faith and the Holy Childhood Association, member of the Board of Directors of the Bishops’ Ordinary Mutual Insurance Fund, as well as being involved with Vocations, and Lord only knows how many other things he did without us knowing.
And he was involved in all this, mainly while he was a full time pastor in very large parishes with a school. He also served at various time as Chaplain, in both local and state positions, for the Knights of Columbus, the Italian Catholic Federation, the National Council of Catholic Women and the Young Ladies Institute, as well as part time chaplain for many years for the Veterans Hospital in Fresno. Wayne is the model of that saying: “if you want something done, give it to a busy person.” How did he do this? He was truly a man of faith and a man of love, love for God, love for God’s people, love for his fellow priests, love for his priesthood, and love for the Church. And besides this he was a good cook and a good bridge player as well: truly a multi talented man.
But for me the most beautiful thing about Wayne was his simplicity and his humility. He received his theological studies at the North American College in Rome, ordained there on December 20, 1959, and received a licentiate in theology before returning to the Diocese. Yet because of his humility, he always perceived his role as one of service in imitation of our Lord. On the occasion of being presented with the honor of Protonotary Apostolic in 1994 by Pope John Paul II, which is a very rare honor, Wayne wrote me words that truly spoke of his attitude of being a man of the Church and a servant of the Lord: “As with all honors in the Church, this one too is an invitation to further ministry which I accept and place myself at your service and that of the Diocese.”
But Wayne as all of us in life, also experienced suffering and hurt, in following the way of the Lord. He suffered misunderstandings and conflicts that come into the life of every leader. He was also beset with medical problems and physical pain. Yet through it all, he never complained, but offered it all with the Lord. He made present to us both the loving Christ and the suffering Christ.
Lord, Thank you for Wayne. How blest we are: his family, his parishioners, his fellow priests, myself and all the Bishops he served. We in our lives, this Diocese, the whole church and the world are a little better because of him. May that be said of all of us when God calls us to our heavenly home. Wayne showed the Way to Christ and through him to eternal life to thousands upon thousands in his ministry as priest. He knew well Christ as the Way, the Truth and the Life. And Our Lord has now returned to take Wayne to be one with him for all eternity. We now give him back to you, Lord, who first gave him to us as gift. We now entrust him to your loving and merciful care.