Boost A Month April 2019

April 2019

Glenmary Home Missioners

A Parish That Dances

Starting With a Little

There’s a bit of a backstory on the cover of the most recent Glenmary Challenge. You’ll notice Father Steve Pawelk posed in front of his new church with two young parishioners who are dressed in exotic costume, including ceremonial headgear with peacock plumes flowing from the top.

St. Teresa of Kolkata The young ones are Scarlett and Humberto; the outfits are from Mexico, costumes for the Matichines dance. The dance has become a staple of St. Teresa of Kolkata parish. Says Father Steve, “everyone’s culture blesses the community.”

Several interviews we conducted at the St. Teresa dedication didn’t make the Challenge article for lack of space. One was an interview with the husband-and-wife couple who started the Matachines dance at St. Teresa’s, Santiago Soto and Maria Betanco.

Three years ago they decided to form a troupe—they were the first two dancers. “This is part of a tradition from Mexico, from the Aztecs,” says Maria. Actually, before the Aztecs danced the Matachines, the Spanish had brought it from Europe. No doubt the Aztecs enhanced costumes by local color, including the gold that the Spaniards sought.

St. Teresa’s, in Union County, Tenn., has a large and growing, percentage of Latino Catholics. These families moved to the region many years ago and work in skilled trades and manufacturing. “We decided to start the dance because we had nothing,” that expressed Mexican culture at the parish she says. “So there were just two of us, and we kept adding.”

There were about 15 who danced that day at the St. Teresa dedication.

The elaborate costumes didn’t start that way. “The first ones were made by hand,” explains Maria. They were blue.

“It was a lot of work!” she confesses. They decided to order

So...How’s Lent going? By now, a few weeks into Lent, many have kind of lost track of their best-laid Ash Wednesday intentions.

But it’s not too late—Easter’s not till April 21st! Here at Glenmary, we’re preparing for Easter, too, of course. In addition to perhaps giving up candy, praying more, perhaps being a little less grumpy, maybe even more joyful, finding some new way to serve, we’re also celebrating the newness happening around us.

Two of our men, Charles Aketch and Richard Toboso, are in the final weeks before their April 27 ordinations to the priesthood. Three men, Antonio Marchi, Willy Kyagulanyi, and Erick Orandi, are in Novitiate, learning, praying, listening as God calls them forward, hopefully toward First Oath.

Our missioners, from Mississippi to North Carolina; South Georgia to Appalachian Kentucky, are helping their local congregations prepare for the celebration of Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. Or they’re actively ministering in the community, operating food pantries, after-school programs, doing prison visitations, outreach to migrant workers, justice education, renovation and construction.

In other words, we’re working to make things new. That’s the spirit of the missioner; that’s the spirit of Easter, to start where we’re at and develop. We’re happy to be doing that this Lent. God bless you for being part of it.

Thank you!

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F C AT H O L I C M I S S I O N E R S T O R U R A L A M E R I C A

WISE MISSIONER

Father Dave on Spirituality

G L E N M A R Y. O R G

cover story

FROM STOREFRONT TO PERMANENT CHURCH

SIGNS OF EASTER

New Life for Paschal Candles

SPRING 2019

(continued on reverse side)

Yours in Christ,

Father Chet Artysiewicz President

“We want to bring our traditions to everybody!”

--Maria Betanco, St. Teresa of Kolkata parishioner

Maria Betanco and Santiago Soto

the more authentic gold costumes from Mexico. “They were about $200 apiece,” she says. The headpieces, which would have cost an additional $150 each, she made by hand.

“It took two months to finish them all,” she says. The ones they couldn’t afford include ostrich feathers; hers include feathers from roosters and parrots. Then there are the feathers everyone notices, from peacocks—acquired by Father Steve himself, from his brother’s farm back in Minnesota.

The troupe financed its costumes the old-fashioned way: bake sales, and from a dinner/dance featuring Mexican foods and music, at the former storefront location of the church. “This is just to help the Church.

We didn’t ask for donations.” People, of course, donated

Pray with us to Our Lady of Fields Patronness of Glenmary

BAM Inspiration

anyway—everyone wanted to lift up the Latino dimension of their community worship.

The dancers call themselves the Soldiers of the Virgin Mary, dancing steps to stamp out the devil, Maria says.

“That dance means a lot to us; we don’t want to lose it.”

After trying and not being able to find anyone who could play drums, Santiago himself took the job. That meant one fewer dancer. But the drummer is essential to help the dancers keep their rhythm together. The troupe practices for about two hours each evening. starting about two weeks before any event.

Santiago and Maria are constantly on the watch for new dancers, she says. Many try to beg off because they are too shy. But she’s not hearing any of it. Says Maria, “We all were shy when we started!”

In the soil of sorrow, help us sow fields of comfort.

In the dry ground of discrimination, help us sow fields of rich harmony.

In the hard clay of doubt and despair, Help us sow abundant fields of hope and care.

This newsletter is published monthly by Glenmary Home Missioners, P.O. Box 465618, Cincinnati, OH 45246-5618 • www.glenmary.org For more information about the Boost-A-Month Club, contact Father Don Tranel, dtranel@glenmary.org, 800-935-0975