Story by Reagan Scott
LINCOLN (SNR) - For more than 10 years, Bill Stull has been a familiar face for the homebound who watch Mass on Lincoln-area television every Sunday. After being asked to fill in for the task a few times, he became a regular when the man who formerly held the position couldn’t do it anymore.
To date, Stull has served as an acolyte for more than 600 television Masses filmed at the John XXIII Diocesan Center in Lincoln.
Following the diocese’s suspension of all public Masses in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Catholics are encouraged to observe Mass on television, the internet or the radio, making Stull now a familiar face for many in the area.
“It’s very edifying,” Stull said of serving as an acolyte. “It’s just such an honor to be that close to Jesus in the Eucharist.” 
Stull is married and has six grown children. He is a member of St. Joseph Parish in Lincoln and converted to Catholicism 25 years ago.
“The Catholic faith means everything to me,” he said. “I retired 15 years ago or so, and it’s just great giving back to the Church.”
On the second Tuesday of each month, the Masses to be aired the following five Sundays are filmed between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the chapel in the diocesan center. The first Mass will begin at 8:30 a.m., and a new priest will come in every 45 minutes to celebrate Mass for the following Sunday on the list.
The Masses are televised in the Lincoln area every Sunday at 9 a.m. on KLKN. In the Diocese of Lincoln, a televised Mass is also provided by the Knights of Columbus in the Hastings area, broadcast at 9:30 a.m. on KSNB.
The taping of the diocesan Masses is coordinated by Father Andrew Heaslip, the director of the TV Mass for the homebound. He is assisted by Terry St. Hilaire, who serves as cameraman, and each month, Father Heaslip calls upon a group of faithful volunteers. Each day of taping includes an average of three lectors, two organists, two cantors, and sometimes even a student choir for a special Mass. More than a dozen priests rotate through celebrating the Masses. Stull, however, Father Heaslip called “a staple” of each month’s endeavor.
“I’m very grateful to Bill; he is a stable constant in this apostolate and makes the recordings go smoothly,” he said.
That constancy has been a blessing during this time of uncertainty due to the global pandemic.
“I never would have thought that the TV Masses for the homebound would have taken on this unique character,” Father Heaslip said. “Until public Masses are reinstated, I’m grateful that we have this alternative already in place as it is an opportunity to pray, hear the Word of God, and even make a spiritual communion.”
Stull said, “It’s a sad time. None of us has ever gone through anything like this, but I feel like it’s God talking to us right now. We’ll get through this and we’ll probably be better people for it.”
In addition to serving as an acolyte for television Masses, Stull is the parish sacristan at St. Joseph Parish, as well as an acolyte and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist for the parish. He also serves as an acolyte at Saint Elizabeth Hospital and Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln.
He said that he has spent so much time serving as an acolyte at different locations that he now has two or three albs at St. Joseph Church, one at Saint Elizabeth Medical Center, one at the John XXIII Center and one at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
Stull is also a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus, the district governor for the Serra Club which supports seminarians, and is a member of the Knights and Ladies of the Holy Eucharist, which supports Christians in the Holy Land.
Of all of his involvement Stull said, “I’m just trying to be the best Catholic I can be. As a convert I’m just trying to learn and catch up with all these cradle Catholics. I just love being a part of all of it.”
