Fr. Schemm laid to rest
As Bishop Carl A. Kemme prepared to offer his final commendation and farewell to Fr. Michael J. Schemm at his funeral Mass, the bishop reflected on the physical proximity the two had shared in recent years. Fr. Schemm’s most recent parish assignment had been Church of the Resurrection in north Wichita, near the bishop’s residence, he said. The two came even closer together when Fr. Schemm was assigned chaplain of the Priest Retirement Center.
“His apartment was right next to my house, so I could see him through my bedroom window and he could see me through his living room window,” Bishop Kemme said.
That proximity provided numerous occasions for encounters during Fr. Schemm’s final years, Bishop Kemme said, which were characterized by the cross. “I had the opportunity on numerous occasions to talk with him about this mystery that had been placed on his shoulders, the mystery of suffering that came in various forms,” Bishop Kemme said. “He always met that with great courage and resiliency and hope. I think that, among many other things, is a great legacy he leaves with us.”
The funeral Mass, which Bishop Kemme offered with Bishop John B. Brungardt of Dodge City and dozens of other priests on Monday, Dec. 23, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita, was a farewell to a priest of 31 years.
Fr. James Billinger, who served as pastor during Fr. Schemm’s first priestly assignment as an assistant at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Wichita, was the homilist. Among Fr. Schemm’s attributes that Fr. Billinger mentioned were Fr. Schemm’s enthusiasm, devotion to the Blessed Mother, and love for the Eucharist. Fr. Billinger also said Fr. Schemm spent much of his time waiting.
“In one form of waiting, we wait for things that we are certain will take place,” Fr. Billinger said. “In the second form of waiting, we are not certain what will happen. In the first kind of waiting, we practice patience. In the second kind of waiting, we practice great trust.”
Such trust is necessary in those instances because the goal is less clear and certain, he said, and cited examples of scriptural figures who exhibited it, such as Zechariah, Elizabeth, Simeon, Anna, Joseph and Mary.
“Fr. Schemm practiced the second kind of trust in his experience of priestly ministry and in his struggle and complications with pancreatic cancer,” Fr. Billinger said. “When each door in his treatment closed, he had to practice greater trust, a letting go, a leap of deep faith and the theological virtue of hope.”
Fr. Schemm died on Saturday, Dec. 14, at age 59. He was born on June 23, 1965, in Lyons. He studied at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, and was ordained on June 5, 1993, in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita.
His first assignment was as an assistant at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Wichita. On July 10, 1996, he was named pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Parsons where he served for five years.
In June of 2001, Fr. Schemm was named pastor of Christ the King Parish in Wichita, serving there for six years. In July of 2007 he was named pastor of St. James the Greater Parish in Augusta. He served there for 11 years. In June of 2018, he was named pastor of Church of the Resurrection in Wichita.
Fr. Schemm also served as a moderator for the diocesan Natural Family Planning Office, was a chaplain for the Daughters of Isabella, and a Faithful Friar for the Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus.
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”