Josef Otmar’s Work at Roger Bacon Chapel

by Kary Ellen Berger

When master carpenter Josef Otmar steps into his workshop, he does so with an unusual posture for a craftsman, one of listening. Silence, he says, is not empty. It is where God speaks and the work of Otmar’s hands begins.

For Otmar, woodworking is not simply a trade, it is a vocation shaped by prayer, attentiveness, and trust. That calling is taking tangible form at the new Roger Bacon High School chapel, where he is crafting the altar furnishings with the care he believes is owed to sacred space. These pieces, he says, are meant to not only serve a purpose, but also reflect reverence.

“This isn’t for the head of Ohio State’s house or the president’s house. It’s God’s house,” said Otmar. “And the tabernacle is God’s house within God’s house.”

Creating liturgical furnishings requires both skill and surrender, he said. Designs may begin with a plan, but he remains open to guidance in unexpected directions.

“Liturgical furnishings don’t always turn out the way you think they will,” Otmar said. “You think you know what you’re going to do when you start, but then the Holy Spirit intervenes and says, ‘No, you’re going to do this.’”

That openness led him to the Roger Bacon Chapel project, which he sees as clearly providential—God directing the work of his hands. A simple introduction unfolded into an invitation to shape the chapel’s most sacred elements. 

“That’s not happenstance,” Otmar said. “That’s God saying, ‘Get up early and go help out your buddy,’ and then watch everything else fall into place.”

For the chapel, Otmar crafted the tabernacle, altar, ambo, presider’s chairs, and credence table. Each piece was intentionally designed with simplicity in mind, reflecting the Franciscan spirit that guides the space. He chose quartersawn white oak, wood known for its subtle shimmer that enables beauty to emerge quietly rather than through ornamentation.

“You have God’s glory and God’s beauty, but also the simplicity of the Franciscan order,” Otmar said. “That balance matters.”

Otmar approaches each task with prayerful awareness. He speaks of designs forming in his mind before he ever picks up a tool and of being drawn back to the workshop with a sense of purpose and peace.

“You’re called to a higher level of spirituality when you’re doing this kind of work,” Otmar said. “You ask yourself, ‘Am I worthy to be the one whose hands touch this?’ Because it is sacred.”

For Otmar, the work of his hands is ultimately an act of trust. In the quiet of the shop, he creates space for God to lead, believing that when hands are open in service, they become instruments of something far greater.

“Silence is where you hear God,” he said. “You just have to be willing to listen.”

Within the walls of Roger Bacon Chapel, that listening has taken shape in wood and form, offering a lasting reminder that when work is entrusted to God, it becomes prayer itself.

This article appeared in the March 2026 edition of The Catholic Telegraph Magazine. For your complimentary subscription, click here.