By: By Jennifer Willems

It is said that the only perfect Mass is in heaven. While that may be true, it hasn’t stopped Deacon Toby Tyler from doing what he can to lift liturgies at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Peoria a little closer to it.

“We try to make it the best we can,” he said as he sat in the cathedral sacristy on a recent weekday. “The bishop sets the mark and we meet it.”
Those long days as full-time sacristan and assistant to the diocesan Office of Divine Worship are drawing to a close, however. Deacon Tyler is preparing to retire — for the second time — on June 30.

Succeeding him will be Phil Lee, assistant director of the St. Joseph Newman Center at Bradley University in Peoria. Lee will begin his new duties as sacristan and assistant master of ceremonies in the Office of Divine Worship on July 1.

“Phil Lee will be a good addition,” Deacon Tyler told The Catholic Post. “He’s young. He’s experienced. I’ve tried to transition him in the way I would want somebody to transition me.”

“Deacon Toby has generously served our cathedral church and our bishop. I am personally very grateful for his hard work,” said Msgr. Stanley Deptula, director of the Office of Divine Worship, in announcing the changes.

“Deacon Toby will continue to serve as the parish deacon at the cathedral and I am sure that you will see him around the sanctuary for Sunday Masses and other pontifical events,” Msgr. Deptula added.

Deacon Tyler has become a familiar face at St. Mary’s Cathedral over the last six years, helping to coordinate everything in his calm, competent manner. A craftsman with Illinois Bell for more than 20 years — the last 11 of them as a manager — he has a way of anticipating needs and preparing for what comes next.

“I’d like to think that my organizational skills have made us more efficient,” he said. “And I’d like to think that I’ve set an example for the young people that work with us from Bradley, the high schools and even the grade schools to someday be clergy.”

GRABBED BY THE SPIRIT
Deacon Tyler came to that point in his own life after a great deal of prayer and a reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Born in Chicago Heights in western Indiana, he attended Western Illinois University in Macomb before joining the U.S. Air Force for four years. He was trained as a radar technician and then was stationed in Hanna City.

He married his wife, Sally, a native of Peoria, on Nov. 18, 1967, at St. Bernard’s Church. The couple moved back to northwest Indiana for a time, but eventually settled in Peoria and raised two daughters, Kristine and Amy, and a son, Michael. Their extended family now includes five grandchildren as well.

In 1998, Deacon Tyler retired from Illinois Bell. At age 52 he wasn’t really ready for a rocking chair, however.

“In 1984 I was asked by a good friend of mine and a co-worker to attend Cursillo. On that weekend the Holy Spirit just grabbed me,” he recalled. “From that day on, he guided me toward the diaconate.”

Deacon Tyler and his wife prayed about it until his retirement and then applied for the deacon formation program. He was ordained on May 18, 2002, as part of the first permanent diaconate class to be ordained by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC.

Ministering full time at St. Philomena’s and then Holy Family, both in Peoria, Deacon Tyler was invited to serve at St. Mary’s Cathedral in 2005 by Bishop Jenky and Msgr. Deptula. Before long he was also assisting in the Office of Divine Worship.

His duties have included training and scheduling the pontifical deacons for cathedral liturgies, serving as an emcee to the bishop and traveling with him to different events, and coordinating seating, lectors, petitions, the Knights of Columbus and security for cathedral confirmations, among other things.

As the sacristan, Deacon Tyler has been responsible for everything from ordering candles to making sure the vestments are cleaned to polishing the brass.

GONE FISHING
While all of that has brought him a great deal of satisfaction, Deacon Tyler said he looks forward to “just being there” for people.

“In the position I’m in now you’re so busy doing everything and you don’t always have that opportunity,” he told The Post. “I’m looking forward, in my retirement, to being able to have more free time for that part of my ministry.”

Among the people he wants to spend time with are his family.

“My wife loves to fish and I do, too. We have not done that in awhile,” Deacon Tyler said, adding that they will have more time to spend with his mother, who lives at St. Augustine Manor in Peoria.

And he’s open to helping out at St. Mary’s Cathedral as he’s able.

“They always have that option to call me. That door’s not closed,” Deacon Tyler said. “Because I want my family commitment to be my priority in my retirement, I’ve told them that if I’m available and they need an emcee or they need something on the spur of the moment, I’m happy to help.”