A SILICON VALLEY PRIEST GOES TO THE RESERVATION

BY: FR. DAVE MERCER

How did a priest in Silicon Valley end up on the Mescalero Apache Reservation?

That’s a question frequently asked of me. The simple answer is: I asked. I grew up in Sunnyvale, next to San José, California. After high school, I spent three and a half years in the Air Force, serving in New Hampshire and Germany. Then, with a degree in Marketing from San Jose State University I

The historic St. Joseph Apache Mission in Mescalero, NM

worked three years in Silicon Valley, first in computer sales and later as a buyer for a semiconductor maker. At age 28, I heard our Lord Jesus calling me to the priesthood and was ordained after five years.

I remain grateful for the privilege to serve people as a priest. For nearly thirty-three years, I served in Silicon Valley parishes and in campus ministry at San Jose State. Through the years, I always felt attracted to serving a missionary assignment. Priestfriends had served in Jamaica, Brazil, Tanzania, at the Navajo Nation, and as military chaplains in Iraq and Afghanistan, but I never pursued the idea.

Then, a year ago, I realized that I would turn 66 in June and thought, “It’s now or never.” I put the idea to my Bishop, Oscar Cantú (formerly of the Diocese of Las Cruces), and he gave me a green light to pursue a mission assignment. After conversations with the Most Rev. Peter Baldacchino, Bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces, he asked me to serve at Saint Joseph Apache Mission in Mescalero, and at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Bent. I immediately said, “Yes!,” and arrived here last July.

When I tell people that my goal was to do something different from what I had known during 33 years of parish ministry in Silicon Valley, they often laugh. Even the wonderful folks on the Mescalero Reservation laugh, because it is so obvious that I met my goal. I have always enjoyed being a parish priest, knowing it to be a privilege to be invited into people’s lives where I can speak the name of Jesus and speak of God’s love. And now, I have the privilege of doing the same for the people of Mescalero and Bent. My regular prayer is that am worthy to be their priest

I came here to serve, and have found that the people of the Mescalero Reservation enrich my life in many ways. Here are two examples that have inspired my faith:

A Focus for Lent

Making gratitude and family the focus for Lent can only foster a deeper relationship with our Lord Jesus. Our Lenten practices of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving can keep before you the importance of growing an attitude of gratitude for all that God gives you, which is everything. Also, your family need prayers so to surround all members with the love of God.

Know, too, that wherever you find yourself is your mission assignment where you can speak the name of Jesus and speak of God’s love.

Gratitude. Traditional Apache religion had much in common with Catholic Christianity, including a clear spirituality of gratitude. They understood that the Creator put them in this land and provided everything they would need to live. All the plants and animals were a gift from the Creator. A typical Apache would wake up in the morning, walk outside, and offer a prayer of gratitude for what surrounds their family. Before a hunt, they would pray that the Creator would lead them to the food they need to survive. And when they came to the Christian faith and were baptized, they brought this attitude of prayer and gratitude with them, because it fit perfectly with their new Catholic faith.

A father told me about taking his son hunting for the first time. When his son had his first elk, the father was proud when his son knelt next to the elk, looked heaven-ward, and prayed in gratitude to God for the gift of an elk.

Family. The Mescalero Apaches have an expanded sense of family. They refer to their cousins as their sisters and brothers, and aunts and uncle speak with the authority of parents. If a father needs to work elsewhere so to support the family, the mother’s brothers step up to teach the children what fathers are expected to teach.

I missed having an extended family when I was growing up in California. All my relatives were in New Orleans and Chicago. In Mescalero, I clearly see the importance of surrounding a child with larger family.

The interior of the St. Joseph Apache Mission Fr. Dave Mercer is a priest of the Diocese of San José, California, serving a Fidei Donum mission assignment at St. Joseph Apache Mission, on the Mescalero Apache Reservation, in New Mexico. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.

I came here to serve, and have found that the people of Mescalero Reservation enrich my life in many ways.