Deacon Thaddeus Wislinski

Deacon Thaddeus Wislinski, who has served at St. Magdalen de Pazzi Parish, Flemington, since ordination in 1994, was born in Perth Amboy. He and his wife, Vicki, are the parents of two sons, Ted and Michael.

Deacon Wislinski is the son of the late Mary Pankiewicz and Thaddeus Wislinski. He has a brother, Martin.

He was ordained May 21, 1994, by Bishop Edward T. Hughes at St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral, Metuchen. Vesting clergy was Father Henry L. Hemmerling. His diaconal study was at the College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown.

Deacon Wislinski attended St. Stephen School, Perth Amboy, and Perth Amboy High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y.

Deacon Wislinski served as assistant director of continuing education for the Diaconate from 1999-2003. He volunteered as a coach for youth baseball, basketball and soccer for many years.

Most enjoyable about being a deacon are preaching and Baptisms.  It is still amazing to hear someone say “I needed to hear that today” or “It touched me when you said …” and you realize that the Holy Spirit was the motivator in making that all happen.  Baptisms are such a joyful time for the child and the family that rarely there are difficulties or issues or drama like there can be with other sacraments when people are not very receptive to, or don’t want to understand why, the church rules are the way they are. 

The challenges are a lack of time to do everything you want to do, and balancing family, work and the deaconate.  Spousal support is critical to being able to devote time to the parish, and part of the balancing act is knowing when time with the spouse and family is the highest priority. 

Anyone considering becoming a deacon would be best served by praying daily for God's will and to listen to what God is telling them, and to have a discussion with their spouse and family.  If it is meant to be, the pieces will fall into place, and God will make it happen.  In my case, my wife Vicki and I would go to church and on seeing a Deacon on the altar a thought would come to me “you should be there on the altar” and I would have no idea where that thought came from.  It happened over and over, even though I never went into church thinking about the diaconate or anything about any deacon being there or not being there.  One day in August (1989?), I picked up a copy of the Diocesan newspaper and there was an article about a new class of deacons forming with an information night in two weeks.  It was rare that I ever read the diocesan newspaper so soon after picking it up. But shortly thereafter Vicki and I spoke with our pastor and he was eager to support me for the class.  We went to the information night, applied, passed all the testing and interviews, and finally was accepted.  And the rest, as they say, is history.