Voice of the Southwest, Summer 2015

Voice of the Southwest The Official Publication of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup | dioceseofgallup.org | Vol.54 No.2

Frs. Joshua Mayer and David Tate:

Two Men Ordained to Priesthood

Columns 4

Bishop James S. Wall

From the Bishop Balancing Justice & Mercy: The issue of the death penalty

22

Dr. Jean Lee

Saints for Today Mary Magdalene, 1st century

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Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Making Sense of Bioethics Changing my body to “Match” my “Identity”

News 5

Life and the environment in the Pope’s new encyclical

6

US Bishops Speak on Supreme Court Marriage Ruling

07 Cover Story 12 18

Decision called a “tragic error”

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Meet your two new diocesan priests Frs. Joshua Mayer and David Tate

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75 Years of History in the Diocese of Gallup

Features 16

Calendar and Classifieds

18

Tohatchi Youth Group Takes Mission to Ohio

19

Lumberton School Principal Nominated for Lumen Christi Award

20

Deacon Todd Church Hired as new Youth Ministry and Religious Education Director

21

Newest Priest Assignments

21

St. Michaels Museum Opens

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Voice

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From the Editor:

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They say that our sense of smell is the one closest connected to memory. I was reminded of this the other day when walking into one of our old churches - at a certain age, a building seems to take on a scent of its own, and aged churches in particular seem to always carry a unique signature.

Upon walking in the door, I was immediately transported back in memory to Sundays with my grandparents. They attended Mass at a very old yet striking stone church in a rundown part of Kansas City. The wood of the entrance doors and the narrow stairs leading up to the choir loft would creak in the same manner. The smoky aroma of the incense, used liberally throughout the service, would linger in the air for hours. Bells would ring, both from the towering church steeple and the hands of a small altar boy during the consecration.

Afterwards, the families would crowd downstairs to a basement which offered tables for sharing coffee and donuts, and visit with their fellow parishioners just as Catholics for decades before them had done.

It was a big time of adjustment in my life - I had always lived in New Mexico, and now I was attending college in Kansas, a state that I had visited many times but still, in many ways, took some getting used to. It helped to have family in the area, but I will

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About Us The Voice of the Southwest is the flagship publication for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup. Published by Bishop James S. Wall four times per year, the Voice covers news, events, and happenings throughout the Gallup diocese--which spans 55,000 square miles in northwest New Mexico and northeast Arizona.

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especially treasure the time I was given to grow closer to my grandparents.

Whatever else happened during the weekends I would visit, every Sunday morning held the same ritual: driving into the city, attending Mass in the stone church, and then a cup of hot coffee in the basement.

Another church in New Mexico, 1000 miles away from that old stone one in Kansas, brought back all these memories, simply by the fact that they both hold the same, subtle aroma.

It’s a smell of ancient rites; of people baptized, married, and buried; of both deep silence and echoing music; of multitudes of people who all come together for the worship of God. Each church, in its own way, is a reminder that despite distances and cultural differences, each of us as Catholics have our faith in common.

No matter the location, the ritual and the purpose - following Christ - is the same. And of course, we also share this purpose with people who lived the faith for thousands of years before us.

My grandpa has since died, but in my memory he still exists. Funny how a brief snatch of the smell of an old church brought him back to life for a bit. It’s a good reminder of the power of ritual, of wood and smoke and prayer and chant - all of the little things that serve to reinforce the power of love and faith.

- Suzanne Hammons

The eVoice Weekly is your resource for the latest stories, events, photos and updates about our Diocese. Delivered to your email inbox each week, the eVoice will keep you informed about Catholic life in the Diocese of Gallup. Just visit voiceofthesouthwest.org and look for the signup option on the right.

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From the Bishop:

Balancing Justice and Mercy Pope St. John Paul II gave the Church a great gift on April 30, 2000, when he made the Sunday after Easter the Feast of Divine Mercy.

In his 1980 encyclical Dives in Misericordia, he wrote, “Mercy differs from justice, but is not in opposition to it … Love, by its very nature, excludes hatred and ill-will” (#III, 4).

The struggle to harmonize justice and mercy is central to understanding the use of the death penalty, recently rekindled by Pope Francis. In his March 20, 2015, letter to the president of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty, he affirmed what his predecessors have taught.

Confusion enters in when the different principles are seen as irrelevant to each other, rather than what they really are — small pieces of a larger whole. We must hold fast to justice, but never twist justice into an excuse to cling to anger and hatred.

John Paul taught in Evangelium Vitae: “The Gospel of life is at the heart of Jesus’ message” (#1). Central to our Lord’s proclamation is the truth, “I have come that they might have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10). The dignity of the human person is neither earned nor awarded, but was given as a gift from God when he created us in his own image and likeness.

Because it’s given by God, no hu-

man being — not even by their sinfulness — can destroy human dignity and the accompanying right to being acknowledged and treated as human persons. This is why John Paul, when preaching on the sanctity of life in St. Louis in 1999, took the opportunity to address the use of the death penalty: “The dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.”

This teaching was confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006: “Every human life … deserves and demands always to be defended and promoted.”

The death penalty is, in principle, legitimate. However, a legitimate principle and its legitimate application are two distinct things. This is what Evangelium Vitae teaches us: The purpose of punishment is to redress a disorder, to defend public order, and hopefully to heal the criminal (#56). It is not permission for hatred. The Gospel teaches that we are called to love our enemies, not simply those who used to be our enemies. Thus, we read that the death penalty is a last resort “when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today, however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent” (Evangelium Vitae, #56).

Not only is the necessity, practically speaking, non-existent, but Pope

The Beheading of John the Baptist, Carvaggio

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Francis reminds us in his March 20 letter that with the death penalty comes the end of the chance to reform. “With the application of capital punishment, the person sentenced is denied the possibility to make amends or to repent of the harm done; the possibility of confession, with which man expresses his inner conversion; and of [the possibility] of contrition , the means of repentance and atonement, in order to reach the encounter with the merciful and healing love of God.” We need to love all of our brothers and sisters, and love them not simply for a brief moment of time, but aid them to eternal life.

This is why John Paul urged the complete cessation of the death penalty and lauded those working for the end of capital punishment. Pope Benedict taught the same, just as Francis continues to do.

In the Diocese of Gallup, Sr. Elizabeth Racko, DC, leads the ministry to those who are incarcerated. Her ministry is to prisoners in Arizona and New Mexico. In 2009, New Mexico abolished the use of the death penalty, while Arizona still has the use of it. “I am not only against the death penalty for the sake of the life of the inmate, but also for the sake of the moral life of our society in the United States,” she said.

When we consider the validity of the use of the death penalty, we must always call to mind those who have been affected by the crimes committed: the victims, their families and the perpetrators. As a people of faith, from a distinctively Catholic perspective, we must first turn to the Merciful Father, imploring him to shower us with his mercy. We pray for a transformation of our culture from one of death to one that seeks to promote the gifts and values of the Gospel of Life — the culture that our Lord came to offer to all people.

Bishop James S. Wall is the fourth Bishop of the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico and Arizona.

This article originally ran in the May issue of Legatus Magazine and online at legatusmagazine.org

Pope Francis: Respect for Creation & Human Dignity Go Hand-in-Hand Vatican City, June 18, 2015 / 04:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his new encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis slams attacks against human life such as abortion, embryonic experimentation and population control – saying that respect for creation and human dignity go hand in hand.

The Pope explained that “a sense of deep communion with the rest of nature cannot be real if our hearts lack tenderness, compassion and concern for our fellow human beings.”

“At times we see an obsession with denying any pre-eminence to the human person; more zeal is shown in protecting other species than in defending the dignity which all human beings share in equal measure,” he said.

The Pope’s encyclical Laudato Si, meaning “Praise be to You,” was published Thursday, June 18. Its name is taken from St. Francis of Assisi’s medieval Italian prayer “Canticle of the Sun,” which praises God through elements of creation like Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and “our sister Mother Earth.”

In early 2014, the Vatican announced the Pope’s plans to write on the theme of “human ecology” – a phrase that was previously used by retired pontiff Benedict XVI. While the 184-page encyclical wades into controversial topics such as climate change, it also aggressively argues that it is not possible to effectively care for the environment without first working to defend human life.

It is “clearly inconsistent” to combat the trafficking of endangered species while remaining indifferent toward the trafficking of persons, to the poor and to the decision of many “to destroy another human being deemed unwanted,” the Pope stated.

To have this attitude, he said, “compromises the very meaning of our struggle for the sake of the environment.”

Francis also highlighted that concern for the protection of nature is “incompatible with the justification of abortion.”

“How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties?” he asked.

Once the ability to welcome a new life is lost on the part of individuals and society, other forms of acceptance also “wither away,”

he said, warning against a “culture of relativism” that sees an absence of any objective truth outside of our own immediate wants and needs.

The Pope also addressed the highly-debated topic of population control, a proposed solution to problems stemming from poverty and maintaining a sustainable consumption of the earth’s resources.

“Instead of resolving the problems of the poor and thinking of how the world can be different, some can only propose a reduction in the birth rate,” Francis lamented.

He denounced the fact that developing countries often receive pressure from international organizations who make economic assistance “contingent on certain policies of ‘reproductive health.’”

Even though an unequal distribution of population and available resources presents obstacles to development and environmental sustainability, “it must nonetheless be recognized that demographic growth is fully compatible with an integral and shared development,” he stressed.

To blame a growing population for these problems rather than the “extreme and selective consumerism on the part of some, is one way of refusing to face the issues.”

Such scapegoating “is an attempt to legitimize the present model of distribution, where a minority believes that it has the right to consume in a way which can never be universalized, since the planet could not even contain the waste products of such consumption,” the Pope said, calling for an end to food waste.

Francis also rejected some ecological movements’ discontinuity in calling for limitations to be placed on environmental scientific research, while at the same time failing to apply the same principals to human life.

As an example, he noted that within science, there is “a tendency to justify transgressing all boundaries when experimentation is carried out on living human embryos.”

“We forget that the inalienable worth of a human being transcends his or her degree of development,” he said, adding that once technology disregards ethical principles, “it ends up considering any practice whatsoever as licit.”

“When we fail to acknowledge as part of reality the worth of a poor person, a human embryo, a person with disabilities – to offer

just a few examples – it becomes difficult to hear the cry of nature itself; everything is connected.”

Once the human being seeks absolute dominion, the foundations of our life “begin to crumble,” the Pope said, so that instead of cooperating with God, man puts himself in God’s place “and thus ends up provoking a rebellion on the part of nature.”

In the encyclical, Pope Francis also spoke of the importance of accepting and caring for one’s body, since it is through the body that man relates to the environment and to other living things.

He cautioned against seeking to exercise “absolute power” over our bodies as if they were something that we own, saying that “man too has a nature that he must respect and that he cannot manipulate at will.”

Accepting and caring for our bodies in their truest nature is essential for human ecology, he said, and stressed that this acceptance includes “valuing one’s own body in its femininity or masculinity.”

In acknowledging differences, “we can joyfully accept the specific gifts of another man or woman, the work of God the Creator, and find mutual enrichment,” the Pope observed.

An attitude which seeks “to cancel out sexual difference because it no longer knows how to confront it” is unhealthy, he said.

The pontiff also pointed to the important role families play in educating on a true integral human and environmental ecology since they are the place where life is welcomed and protected, and where human growth is developed.

“In the face of the so-called culture of death, the family is the heart of the culture of life,” he said.

Family life is where children first learn how “to show love and respect for life; we are taught the proper use of things, order and cleanliness, respect for the local ecosystem and care for all creatures,” as well as how to be grateful for what they’ve been given and to ask for forgiveness when they’ve caused harm, he explained.

“These simple gestures of heartfelt courtesy help to create a culture of shared life and respect for our surroundings.”

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Local and National Bishops: Supreme Court Ruling is a “Tragic Error” “Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Please find below the official statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops regarding today’s nationwide legalization of same-sex “marriage”. I stand in solidarity with my brother Bishops and the teaching of the Church on the true nature of marriage, that is – the unity of one man and one woman, who come together in a loving union to support one another and raise a family.

Please pray that we as Catholics continue to remain faithful to God and His plan for humanity.

In Christ, Bishop James S. Wall” The U.S. Supreme Court decision, June 26, interpreting the U.S. Constitution to require all states to license and recognize same-sex “marriage” “is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USC-

CB). The full statement follows: “Regardless of what a narrow majority of the Supreme Court may declare at this moment in history, the nature of the human person and marriage remains unchanged and unchangeable. Just as Roe v. Wade did not settle the question of abortion over forty years ago, Obergefell v. Hodges does not settle the question of marriage today. Neither decision is rooted in the truth, and as a result, both will eventually fail. Today the Court is wrong again. It is profoundly immoral and unjust for the government to declare that two people of the same sex can constitute a marriage.

The unique meaning of marriage as the union of one man and one woman is inscribed in our bodies as male and female. The protection of this meaning is a critical dimension of the “integral ecology” that Pope Francis has called us to promote. Mandating marriage redefinition across the country is a tragic error that harms the common good and most vulnerable among us, especially children. The law has a duty to support every child’s basic right to be raised, where possible, by his or her married mother

and father in a stable home.

Jesus Christ, with great love, taught unambiguously that from the beginning marriage is the lifelong union of one man and one woman. As Catholic bishops, we follow our Lord and will continue to teach and to act according to this truth.

I encourage Catholics to move forward with faith, hope, and love: faith in the unchanging truth about marriage, rooted in the immutable nature of the human person and confirmed by divine revelation; hope that these truths will once again prevail in our society, not only by their logic, but by their great beauty and manifest service to the common good; and love for all our neighbors, even those who hate us or would punish us for our faith and moral convictions.

Lastly, I call upon all people of good will to join us in proclaiming the goodness, truth, and beauty of marriage as rightly understood for millennia, and I ask all in positions of power and authority to respect the God-given freedom to seek, live by, and bear witness to the truth.”

“Marriage, then, is far from being the effect of chance or the result of the blind evolution of natural forces. It is in reality the wise and provident institution of God the Creator, whose purpose was to effect in man His loving design. As a consequence, husband and wife, through that mutual gift of themselves, which is specific and exclusive to them alone, develop that union of two persons in which they perfect one another, cooperating with God in the generation and rearing of new lives.” - Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae

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Ordained to the Priesthood

Two Diocesan Seminarians Ordained as Priests Father David Tate recalls the exact moment his new role as a priest was solidified. As his fellow priests, one-by-one, laid hands on his head in blessing, he knew he had finally found a place to which he belonged, body and soul.

Tate and fellow seminarian Joshua Mayer were ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, June 13 by Bishop James Wall. The moment of ordination comes when the Bishop lays his hands upon the heads of each man, and silently says the prayer of ordination. The two new priests then kneel before the altar, and each of the other priests in attendance walk by and lay hands on their heads.

“By the second priest, I was crying,” Fr. Tate said. “I really felt that this crowd of men was inviting me in and including me in their world,

and that they were passing on to me what they had.”

Fr. Mayer recalls the same moment. “I definitely got emotional at a couple of points. When all our brother priests were laying hands on us and welcoming us into the presbyterate, it was powerful.”

The Mass took place at Sacred Heart Cathedral in front of a congregation filled with friends, family, and Catholic laypeople excited to witness the ordination of their two newest priests.

For Tate, the path to this day was a long and winding one. A convert to Catholicism, he grew to love the faith and knew he wanted to serve as a missionary, among people with great need. The Navajo reservation in particular, with its dichotomy of beauty and poverty, attracted him. A Franciscan priest put him

Bishop Wall places the hands of Fr. Joshua Mayer between his own

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in contact with St. Michaels Indian School, where he was soon hired as a teacher.

“Once I got there I felt like I never wanted to go anywhere else,” Fr. Tate says. “But after four years, my position was downsized. When people started to hear that I wasn’t coming back, a Jewish teacher – not a Catholic, but someone with a lot of respect for the faith – told me I ought to become a priest.”

From there, Fr. Tate contacted Fr. Matthew Keller, vocations director for the Diocese of Gallup, and was accepted as a seminarian.

Fr. Mayer also came into the Diocese to teach, following after college friends who moved to Gallup. Halfway through his first year working at Sacred Heart School, he began to sense that God was calling him to the priesthood. He credits in-

Fr. Nathanael Block, kneeling, helps to vest the newly-ordained Fr. David Tate

creasing time with the Sacraments with helping him in discernment.

“I began to grow closer with the Lord through prayer, especially frequent Mass, Adoration, and the Rosary,” Fr. Mayer said. “Treating my relationship with God like a real relationship and not just a oneway call where I would tell him my problems and then hang up. After a while I began to figure out how he was responding to me.”

Meanwhile, Fr. Tate had noticed that his love of teaching and placement on the reservation went handin-hand with a priestly vocation.

“I think I noticed there was such a need around, and I kept hearing about how there aren’t enough priests. I knew I’d love to go where no one else wanted to go. When someone has no burning desire for a nice car or house, or desire to have a lot of kids, that means they’re looking for something else.

After I saw the need for priests, I realized: I’m willing to do that, if God wants to send me.”

Bishop Wall, in his homily, noted the close tie between the jobs the two men had and their vocations. “[Frs. Tate and Mayer] came to our Diocese to teach. Out of care for young people – teaching them – their own vocation to the priesthood was fostered. They used their gifts to evangelize and catechize, and in turn, had their vocation to the priesthood which was placed in their hearts by the Lord.”

He exhorted them – and the attending priests – to follow the example of particular saints, as well as Venerable Pope Pius XII, who visited the Southwest as a Cardinal. After becoming Pope, Pius XII established the Diocese of Gallup, with the particular mission of evangelization and service to local Na-

tive American peoples.

Bishop Wall also reminded the priests of their assumed roles as spiritual fathers.

“Brothers, get to know the people you serve. Immerse yourselves in their lives, and serve as Christ would serve them: with generosity, with compassion, and with a desire

to lead them closer to Heaven. God will entrust men and women and children to your spiritual care. Give them the care of a spiritual father.

Watch over them, protect them, guard them, and introduce them to Jesus Christ, the eternal High Priest. Show the faithful the way to Heaven.”

Meet Your New Priests

Fr. Joshua Mayer

Originally from: California. Attended Catholic High School and St. Thomas Aquinas College.

How did you discern your vocation? One step at a time! First, I just began to grow closer to the Lord through prayer, especially frequent Mass, Adoration, the Rosary, and just talking to him more, treating my relationship with God like a real relationship and not just a oneway phone call where I would tell him my problems and then hang up. After a while I began to figure out how he was responding to me.

Spiritual direction really helped.

If I sense that the Lord is leading in some direction, I try to have the courage to chase after him! That’s not always easy, and I need lots of help, lots of grace. That got me to Gallup, to seminary, and eventually sell the way to ordination. Thank you, Jesus!

What would you say to others who are discerning their vocation?

Don’t worry about the big picture.

Pope Francis said in Lumen Fidei, “Faith sees by journeying.” Stick close to the Lord, to the Church and the Sacraments. Jesus will take you step by step. We just need to have the courage to make each leap of faith, and the Lord will connect all

the dots. And have patience, with yourself and Jesus. We all have our own pace and so does He. Certitude will come at the right time.

Do you have a particular hope for those now under your pastoral care? A priest is someone who has been chosen to be a mediator between God and man, to share in Christ’s perfect mediation. Part of that is playing matchmaker! I want to help people get to know Jesus so that they can have their own crazy relationship with him.

What are some of your favorite books, artists, and hobbies? I’m a proud art snob! Besides the Bible I love Dostoevsky, Bernanos, Walker Percy, Flannery O’Connor, Cormac McCarthy, too many to name.

Since coming to Gallup I’ve really been taken by the religious art traditions of New Mexico, the Santero artists. I love depressing foreign films. I also like to play guitar!

Fr. David Tate Originally from: Sacramento, California. My Dad was sort of a declared Methodist – we went to church because it was obligatory.

For college I went off to the local state university because that was what everybody did, and I didn’t really know what to do. I didn’t have any idea of who I was or what Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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my life was and so I went four years and flunked out. (laughs) But that was the coolest thing that ever happened to me – it was like suddenly all of these things were taken out of my life. I hadn’t really known how to express that I didn’t want to go on. I worked odd jobs and then after a year I thought maybe I should go back. So I packed up the car and went off to Texas to a Christian engineering college.

While I was there, I did the Bible Camp and overseas Missionary life. I had always liked Catholics because the Bible study I went to in high school was at a Catholic Church. Then, while still in Texas working at Hewlett Packard I started going to the Vigil Mass, just because I really liked it, and then I learned that there was a seminary nearby. I wanted to continue my education, in physics or computers or engineering. But then, because of my time at the Christian college, I thought “well, you can never go wrong learning more about the Bible” so I started to consider a de-

gree in theology. So I went down the road to St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston. The lady told me that I could get signed up for a Master’s in Theology, but a lot of the other things there I couldn’t sign up for because I wasn’t Catholic. So I said “Oh, okay. How do I become Catholic?” She explained about RCIA. So I went down to my local parish in Houston. I still remember at Mass this one time, I was sitting next to a lady. I showed her my paper and asked “how do I go to this RCIA program?” And she said “Oh you were supposed to leave in the middle of Mass with the others!”

From that point on I was pretty much wanting a Catholic missionary life. I’d already lived the Protestant missionary life and thought it was great.

My parents would always drive through Arizona and New Mexico on the way to visit relatives in Dallas, and I always had this awareness of the Navajo reservation and wanted to help out there. So a priest in Houston told me about St. Mi-

Fr. Dale Jamison, standing left, and Fr. Jay Jung, standing right, lay hands on the ordinandi

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chael Indian School – I wrote to them and they were interested. I interviewed and got hired, and once I got there I felt like I never wanted to go anywhere ever again.

What would you say to others who are discerning their vocation?

Don’t put so much importance on the things that your community says are important, because so many times we find out the person next to us is as in want of something better as we are. So many people are still chaotically searching, especially nowadays when relativism is so widely practiced. Sometimes men don’t realize the opportunities they have to serve the Church, even as a married deacon or even a late vocation like myself.

Do you have a particular hope for those now under your pastoral care? I hope to give them the Catechism that maybe they didn’t get early in life. For example, I was talking with someone the other day who said “I grew up in the Catholic Church but I don’t really know how to go to Confession.” I asked them when was the last time they went and they said when they were 15. So I really want to try and teach in fundamental ways that are approachable to people, that make it exciting to be Catholic.

What are some of your favorite books, artists, and hobbies? I like travel – I used to spend weekends visiting places like Monument Valley and going camping. I also recently discovered Korean pop music, which is great, because I don’t understand a word, but they have this style of choreography that’s a lot of fun. And of course, I love to read. I need to find a way to move all of my books to my new home in Grants!

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1939 - 2015: Celebrating 75 Years as a Diocese Note: the excerpts taken here come from various histories collected in the Diocesan archives, as well as an excellent book written by Elizabeth Kelley for the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Diocese in 1989,

1. St. Joseph, Winslow Winslow was founded in 1882 as a railroad town and later developed a lumbering industry. In 1888, Mass was being offered once monthly in a private home.

Soon after, the first church was built of brick under the direction of Father Dolje. The building is now the church hall.

For many years the pastor lived in two small rooms in the back of the church until 1906 when a building was donated for the rectory.

The Catholic parish of Saint Joseph was established in 1896, by the Bishop of Arizona, Most Rev. Peter Bourgade of Tucson, with Father Thomas M. Connolly as the first pastor.

The early parish consisted of Winslow, Williams, Grand Canyon, Seligman and Kingman.

In 1923, a new church was constructed under the direction of Father Edward A. Albouy, then pastor. This was dedicated to Saint Joseph on April 8 by Archbishop Daeger of Santa Fe.

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2. Sacred Heart, Farmington Early settlers began coming into the fertile valley of the Animas and San Juan Rivers in 1876 and by 1901 Farmington was incorporated as a town. Religious services for the Catholic population were provided by priests from Parkview to the east.

In 1900, Father J.M. Garnier was appointed pastor to the newly established parish which included Farmington, Blanco and 16 other missions. He made his home in Blanco, traveling to Farmington and the other places to celebrate Mass. In the absence of a church building, early services were held in private homes.

In 1910, when the Franciscan priests took over the area Father Albert Daeger, OFM, and Father Finton Zumbahlen, OFM, were assigned to the sprawling parish with Father Finton residing as pastor and Father Albert traveling out to the other missions, frequently on foot.

During his 22 years as pastor, Father Finton built two churches in Farmington. Soon after his arrival, the parishioners began work on a small frame building on Pinon St. to be the first chapel, dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

In 1913 a one-room school was started with the classes held in the chapel. In 1919 the Ursuline Sisters arrived in Farmington to teach in the school, continuing until the present day.

The growing population rapidly outgrew the small chapel and in 1928, it was decided to build a complex of buildings - church, school and rectory - to replace the little chapel. Land was obtained on the north side of Farmington, and the project was begun.

The school was completed in 1928 and the church in 1929. The school was dedicated to Saint Thomas at the request of a benefactor and the church dedicated to the Sacred Heart as was the earlier chapel. In 1957, the parishioners raised enough money for a new school and the old school became the parish hall.

(see next page for more)

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(Continued from previous page - see map on pages 12 and 13 for placement of churches and missions throughout the Diocese of Gallup) 3. Santo Niño, Aragon Aragon was once the site of Fort Tularosa, built to help protect the residents from marauding Indians. Gradually, the area was settled with Spanish speaking ranchers and farmers.

Before Aragon became a parish in 1937, the Catholic people of this part of Catron County were served by a priest from Monticello, New Mexico, who visited the area two or three times a year, usually on horseback.

In the late 1930s, it was recognized that a parish would have to be established in the western part of the state to provide better religious care of the people. Aragon was selected as the site and Father Joseph Osca, a native of Spain, was named first pastor.

To establish the necessary buildings, he began by enlarging the existing church, constructed in the early years of the century and dedicated to Santo Nino del Atocha.

Next, a rectory was built and a convent for the sisters who were then teaching in the public school. When the sisters were no longer allowed to teach in the public school, Father Osca established a parochial school which was opened in 1951. The school lasted for many years but is now no longer in existence.

3a. San Isidro, Lower Frisco Original Spanish settlers to the area named the three villages along their creek Upper, Middle, and Lower Frisco. Middle Frisco is now known as the town of Reserve, and Upper was renamed Milligan’s plaza for the owner of a local store and saloon. Lower Frisco, however, still bears the original name.

Lower Frisco is noted as the site of the legendary gunfight of Elfego Baca, who, in 1884 over a three-day period, held off 80 cowboys.

The Catholic Church in Lower Frisco was established in 1880.

3b. St. Francis, Reserve First settled by Spanish families in the 1860s and used for livestock grazing before becoming the site of a sawmill, which is now closed.

Efforts to reintroduce the Mexican Gray Wolf are underway around this area, in the Gila National Forest.

The Catholic Church in Reserve was established in 1880.

3c. Santo Niño, Glenwood Glenwood was first established as a stagecoach stop on the White Water creek, about 39 miles south of Reserve. It was first called Glenwood springs, then shortened simply to “Glenwood”. The first powered airplane flight in New Mexico took place nearby in 1909. Today it is home to around 300 residents.

The Catholic Church in Glenwood was established in 1878.

Aragon, NM, truly fits the idea of the “Wild West”. One of the oldest active parishes in the Diocese, its many missions were founded in the late 1800s, and many are still active today.`

3d. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Datil This village, located 36 miles west of Magdalena, was named by the original inhabitants for yucca seedpods which look like dates, as the word “datil” means “date” in Spanish.

In 1885, a cattle driveway was established between Springerville, Arizona and the railroad at Magdalena, NM. In order to accommodate the needs of the local ranchers and cattle drivers, a post office and store were built.

Several cattle ranching families settled in the area, and today some 200 citizens, along with surrounding ranchers, call Datil their home.

The Catholic Church in Datil was established in 1884.

4. St. Peter, Springerville The mountain community of Springerville had its beginnings in 1869, when the snow forced a group of army personnel to stop there on the way to what is now Fort Apache.

They established a settlement, which was known then as Fort Milligan.

The following year, a group of Mexican settlers moved into the area founding what was then known as Valle Redondo, bringing with them the Catholic faith. Later, when the post office was established, it was known as Springerville, for a merchant named Springer.

Until 1880, no religious services were available in the area. In that year, Father Pedro Maria Badilla arrived in Saint Johns to serve the people. The Catholics of Springerville area made their way to Saint Johns to pay their respects to the new pastor.

He began traveling to Springerville to celebrate Mass, frequently walking the entire distance.

Springerville became a parish in 1890, and by the same year, Father Badilla had built the first church there, which was dedicated to Saint Peter.

This church served the people until 1928, when a new one, made of adobe, was constructed.

5. Santo Niño, La Jara La Jara is the closest mission to Cuba, NM, just six miles away, and the only one still in use today. It may have been founded as a stop along the Spanish Trail, an old trade route which ran from Santa Fe to Los Angeles. The patron and namesake of the church is Santo Niño de Atocha.

14

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

The old church at Springerville, AZ.

8. St. Patrick, Chichiltah In the early years of the century, Franciscan priests from Saint Michaels served in this area, and from 1941 it was under the care of the Franciscans from the Catholic Indian Center.

In 1971, a mobile home became the parish center and daily Mass was offered there.

In 1973, the parish was finally able to obtain a double-wide mobile trailer to be set up as a permanent chapel. It was dedicated to Saint Hubert on December 15. In 1980, the parish name was changed to Saint Patrick in response to the request of the family who donated the land to the church.

7. St. Jerome, Gallup 6. Good Shepherd, Pinehaven In the early years of the 20th century, the religious needs of the Navajo people South of Gallup were supplied by the Franciscan friars of St. Michaels.

Father Anselm Weber, OFM, promised the residents in the area that some day their needs would be met. From 1941, Franciscan priests from the Catholic Indian Center traveled throughout the area, serving the people, and saying Mass outdoors, in parishioner’s homes or other temporary facilities.

Finally in the 1970s, the diocese was able to realize the promise of Father Anselm.

On June 18, 1973, Pinehaven was established as a parish and Father Justin Klumbis was named administrator.

Father Klumbis, an American, had studied in Europe and during the Second World War was interned by the German Nazis because he was a priest.

The Russians also harassed him later for the same reason. He finally returned to the United States in 1946 to serve his priesthood.

Upon his “retirement� he offered his services to the diocese.

Upon his arrival in Pinehaven, Father Klumbis visited every home in the area, giving instructions and encouraging people to come to church.

In this endeavor he had the help of two devoted sisters.

On June 29, 1985, the hogan-shaped church was completed and dedicated by Bishop Hastrich.

The parish of Saint Jerome was established March 1, 1977 to serve the people of the rapidly growing southern part of Gallup and the Red Rock Chapter of the Navajo Tribe.

In 1974, Father Justin Klumbis was saying Mass in the homes of the Indian residents of Red Rock Chapter and recognized the need for a hogan church to serve the area.

At the same time, plans were being formulated for a Retreat Center in the area. As a result, the church was built two miles south of Gallup on a high ridge which overlooks Gallup with a magnificent view to the north and west.

It was dedicated on October 3, 1976 by Bishop Hastrich. Currently, it serves as a chapel for the Retreat Center.

9. San Lorenzo, Ramah

Good Shepherd, Pinehaven

As early as 1951, Tinaja was being visited once a month from Zuni. Later, in 1974, the Franciscan priests began looking for land in the area of Ramah that could be used for a church and rectory.

In 1976, a trailer was purchased for the sisters who began doing a census and teaching CCD to the children.

In 1977, a trailer was obtained for a chapel and rectory, and services were held more often in this remote area.

Finally, in 1979, a third trailer was brought in and remodeled by the parishioners to serve as a convent.

The previous convent became a rectory, providing more room for church activities in the chapel trailer.

The complex was dedicated to San Lorenzo in 1980 by Bishop Hastrich.

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

15

Calendar of Events/Classifieds August

October (continued)

29

Encounter Retreat 09 - Engaged Place: Sacred Heart Retreat 11 Center

Gallup, NM 87301

Bilingual General Diocesan Ultreya Place: St. Mary Parish Hall

2100 E. 20th St.

Farmington, NM Time: 9:30 am Contact: gallupcursillo.com All cursillistas are encouraged and invited to attend the 2015 diocesan ultreya! Anyone who is interested in the Cursillo movement is also invited.

September 05

24 27

Anniversary Mass for Fr. John Sauter Place: Our Lady of the Assumption Church

3048 Hwy 277

Overgaard, AZ 85933 Time: 4:30 pm Contact: 928-535-5329 Bishop Wall will celebrate a special Mass to mark 30 years of priestly service from Fr. John Sauter. A potluck dinner and reception will follow in the church hall.

Spanish Women’s Cursillo Place: Sacred Heart Family Center

414 E. Green

Gallup, NM 87301 Time: All Day Contact: gallupcursillo.com A cursillo weekend retreat conducted in Spanish. Rectoras: Elaine Hoolihan, Petra Velez

October & Catechists 02 - Teachers InService Day Sacred Heart Family 03 Place: Center

414 E. Green

Gallup, NM 87301 Time: All Day Contact: 505-863-4406 OR jsuter@dioceseofgallup.org

16 Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

Time: All Day Contact: 505-726-2707 engagedencountergallup.org A retreat for Catholic couples preparing for marriage.

Job Openings School Openings: St. Francis School in Gallup is in need of both a fourth grade teacher and Kindergarten teacher. Please contact Julie Weeks, Principal, at 505863-3145 for more information.

St. Anthony School in Zuni has teaching positions for Jr. High Math, Jr. High Science, Jr. High Religion, and Technology (all grades) available.

Please call 505-782-5255 for more information.

St. Bonaventure School in Thoreau is in need of a 1st Grade Teacher, 5th Grade Teacher, and a PE teacher/ coach. For more information, please call 505-862-7675.

St. Francis School in Lumberton is looking for a Title I Reading Teacher and 2 volunteer Kindergarten teachers. For more information, please call 575-759-3252.

Send us your classifieds!

Rates are $3/line - includes online posting at voiceofthesouthwest. org. To submit a classified, contact Suzanne at 505-863-4406 or email designoffice@dioceseofgallup.org Want to see your event here or online?

Send announcements and notices about upcoming events to designoffice@dioceseofgallup.org or call 505-863-4406

Activity Director Needed

The Little Sisters of the Poor nursing home has a full time position available for an Activity Director. The position is responsible for coordinating daily and monthly programs for our Residents. Applicants must apply in person at 1900 Mark Ave., Gallup, New Mexico.

Church Pews Available

Sacred Heart Church in Farmington, NM, has 29 pews to give away to a deserving parish or organization. Each pew is padded and includes kneelers.

Length of each is 12 ft. Interested inquiries can be directed to the parish secretary at 505-325-0287.

Promise to Protect If you or someone you know has been abused by a priest, deacon or other employee or minister of the Catholic Church, please report this to: Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

We will help.

Your confidentiality will be protected.

Si usted o alguien que usted conoce ha sido víctima de abuso por parte de un sacerdote, diácono u otro empleado o ministro de la Iglesia Católica, favor de reportar el incidente a: Elizabeth Terrill Coordinador de Asistencia para Víctimas 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

Nosotros le ayudaremos.

Su confidencialidad será protegida.

Do Háida’bił bee hodozįįł daíigi beeádee haho’dzíí’ Catholic Church dóó éé’ neishoodii yił ndaałnishi’ igíí dóó Baa ndaałah’ igíísh doo há’ atééh’ igoo da, nínįi’ yiyiiłaah’ Dóó’ oóshlí ła’ ísh ákóbí’ diiłyąą go nił beehoozin, Akohootįįngo nił beehoozin’go baahwíí’ diłníi’ Elizabeth Terrill Victim Assistance Coordinator 505-906-7357 victimsassistance@dioceseofgallup.org

d

Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul

Is God calling you to be a Sister?

e m o C and See!

Religious Vocation Discernment Retreat October 16-18, 2015 ~ Los Altos Hills, CA

Walk with us!

Talk with us! Pray with us!

Contact Sister Lisa Laguna, D.C.

call 650-949-8890 or 213-210-9903 email srllaguna@doc1633.org Learn more & Register ~ Daughters-Of-Charity.com for single catholic women ages 18-40.

Live Sunday Mass from Sacred Heart Cathedral Sundays at 11:00 AM MST

dioceseofgallup.org/watch (Watch live or archived)

5x7 Gallop August Issue 2015

Ad Space Available!

Need to raise awareness about your business or event?

Advertise with us! We offer a variety of spacing and placement options, both online and in print.

For more information, call 505-863-4406 or visit voiceofthesouthwest.org/advertising Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

17

Giving Back:

For years, mission groups have come into the Diocese to serve. This summer, a Tohatchi youth group traveled to Ohio to fulfill a mission

By Julie Ferraro trip of their own.

W

hen you anticipate a journey for months, the day can’t arrive too soon. For the Youth Group at St. Mary Mission, Tohatchi, Wednesday, June 24, proved the culmination of much hard work.

The teens – and many of their parents – held a raffle, and volunteered their time at St. Mary’s parish bingo over the course of four months to raise the funds for their mission trip to Saints Peter and Paul Church in Reading, Ohio, near Cincinnati. Where many college and high school groups – including Saints Peter and Paul - had visited St. Mary’s on their mission trips over the years, this was a chance to “return the favor” in a way, and for the Native American youngsters to get a taste of Midwest life.

Beth Pettigrew, Pastoral Associate at Saints Peter and Paul parish, noted, “Youth and adults from our parish have visited St. Mary’s eleven times over the past 16 years to help at their mission doing things like Summer Bible School, outreach, building, cleaning, hauling, and painting. You name it and we’ve done it. This time the people of St. Mary’s taught their youth that it was time for them to give back, that they too have gifts and talents to share, and that they do not always need to be the receivers of mission work.”

Beth understood, though, that fundraising could be an issue for the St. Mary’s group. “Having the youth and their families come to Saints Peter and Paul has been a dream of ours for years.

With the economic situation on the reservation, we honestly never thought it could happen. But, as you know, with God all things are possible. They got determined, and they did it!”

June 24 began with a special Mass for the Youth Group at St. Mary’s Church.

The pews were peppered with turquoise t-shirts, custom made for the trip, bearing the motto, “From the four sacred mountains to the cities…Serving God’s

18 Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

people together.” Sr. Pat Bietsch, OSF, coordinator of the Youth Group, explained the purpose of the trip: “It’s not our mission, it’s God’s. It’s not about us. “ At the conclusion of the liturgy, the seventeen travelers gathered at the edge of the sanctuary to be blessed by Emery Begay, Medicine Man, before hopping in two vans for the drive to the Albuquerque Sunport.

In Cincinnati, accommodations were provided by host families from Saints Peter and Paul for part of the trip, and at the parish school. Cornell Iyua, who traveled with his wife, Clara Kinsel, and three daughters, remarked, “The hospitality was great. Our host family kept wanting to give, give, give.”

On Thursday, the group had the opportunity to rake and mulch the church grounds, some seeing a lawn of green grass for the first time in their lives. “My girls, they miss the green,” said Clara Kinsel.

Ejay Lorenzo, who accompanied his wife, Sadie Yazzie, and two children on the trip, laughed as he recalled the task.

“Everybody enjoyed mulching. It was dirty work, but we enjoyed it.”

Other tasks the group assisted with were washing windows in the old school building, and rebuilding a rock wall.

The next day, thanks to Sr. Pat Bietsch’s sister, Peg Schuckman, the group went swimming, to beat a heat quite different from that in New Mexico.

Fr. Dale Jamison, OFM, pastor of St. Mary’s, joined the group for much of their trip, including an excursion to Oldenburg, Indiana, on Saturday. This visit to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of

St. Francis featured a tour of the buildings and Doll’s Apple Orchard. The Fireman’s Festival Parade passed along the street for them to watch while in town, too.

During the Youth Group’s interaction with elderly Sisters in the Oldenburg Franciscan retirement center, Fr. Jamison found himself impressed. “It was amazing. Here are these women, with canes and walkers, and the group spread out to the tables in twos, sitting and talking with them.”

This part of the trip, in fact, proved most memorable for many in the Youth Group. Sr. Millie Speed, OSF, had spent a number of years at St. Mary Mission, Tohatchi, and donated her Jeep for the raffle held by the Youth Group as a fundraiser.

While their visit surprised Sr. Millie, the Youth Group members were touched by their warm reception at the convent.

Rain threatened to ruin some of the events for the group, but alternatives presented themselves. The Newport Aquarium in Kentucky, substituted for a boat tour along the Ohio River Tuesday afternoon. A baseball game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Minnesota Twins ran late that evening, thanks to rain delays.

Janelle Buffalo, who went on the trip with her mother, Laverne Buffalo, found their visit to the Basilica in Kentucky memorable. “It was really beautiful,” she stated. She also enjoyed the chance to attend Mass or a communion service each morning, and having time for prayer.

Cornyra Iyua added, “What really inspired me was the Taft Museum. There’s a whole gallery of us, Native Americans

Left: The group visits Sr. Millie Speed, who spent many years at St. Mary Mission.

Right: The group gives a presentation of Navajo language and song to Ohio parishioners. of all tribes.” Meeting a lot of new friends also touched her heart.

Laverne saw the trip as an opportunity for growth. “It wasn’t just for us. It was for our parish, our community.”

“There was never a down day,” Sr. Pat Bietsch asserted.

“My son surprised me,” observed Ejay Lorenzo. “He came out of his shell.”

Many of the other parents noticed the same about their youngsters. Ejay concluded, “It brought joy to my heart.”

Thursday, July 2, the group prepared fry bread and blue corn mush for parishioners, and gave a presentation of Native language, song, dancing and stories. They presented a large ceramic pot - made by Agnes Woods, grandmother of Elijah Watson, Youth Group President - to Saints Peter and Paul’s new pastor, Fr. Matt Robben, who in turn presented

each of the Youth Group members a token of thanks for their visit.

Robert Bemmes, mayor of Reading, Ohio, issued a proclamation welcoming the Youth Group, which was read during the presentation. He thanked the “Ambassadors of the Navajo Nation” who “worked very hard and sacrificed much” to make the trip, “in order to give of themselves, share their talents, stories,

cultures and Traditions.”

When they arrived back in Tohatchi on Independence Day afternoon, the youth and their parents were tired, but inspired. “It increased our faith,” said Sadie Yazzie. “And we shared our faith with others.”

Laverne Buffalo summed up the journey well: “We know what’s out there for them now.”

Lumberton Principal Is a Finalist for Lumen Christi Award Madeline Lyon, principal of St. Francis School in Lumberton, NM, certainly has her work cut out. Lumberton is a small town nestled high in the mountains of northern New Mexico, rural and surrounded by Native American reservations. Although the school has been providing quality Catholic education to the remote communities here, every day seems to bring new challenges.

The housing for the teachers is in desperate need of repairs, and finding the resources to keep the doors open to students, many of whom live below the poverty line, is a constant concern. Despite the odds, however, Lyon loves the people and the community she serves. And now, this love and dedication has not gone

unnoticed, because Lyon has been nominated for C at h o l i c Extension’s Lumen Christi Award.

According to the Extension’s website: “The Lumen Christi Award is presented to an individual or group of people who have demonstrated how the power of faith can transform lives and society.”

Nominations and awards also come with a grant to help the nominees continue their work.

Currently, there are 10 finalists, each deserving of recognition for their labors. Lyon is one of those who was chosen as a finalist.

Visit bit.ly/lyon-lumberton to learn a little more about Lyon’s work, or visit the official voting page.

Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

19

New Religious & Youth Ministry Director Hopes to Share Love of Christ Some Catholics receive the cross and follow after Christ willingly. Others, however, may receive the cross, “throw it down, and sprint the other way.”

This latter option was the one chosen by Deacon Todd Church for some time. Deacon Church, the new director of religious education and youth ministry for the Diocese of Gallup, recalls that his path to conversion, taken with his wife, was often difficult.

“I grew up in the First Congregational Church of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but it didn’t really mean anything to me,” he recalls. “When I met my wife, Ann, she was a Catholic, but a non-practicing Catholic.”

The couple had two children, and eventually agreed that it would be a good idea to attend Church every Sunday. But which congregation? Eventually they settled on the Catholic church – Ann’s church – and Deacon Todd remembers he had no intention of converting.

“I did sign up for RCIA, thinking it was just a way to register for the parish. I didn’t think it was a program for becoming Catholic! I had a lot of misconceptions about the Catholic faith, and struggled through a number of things with Church doctrine.”

Eventually, Deacon Todd did come to accept Church teaching, and became Catholic in 2001. His wife, a medical doctor, had been attending classes alongside him. Much of what she had learned in medical school conflicted with Church teachings about contraception and human sexuality.

“Finally, one day, she told me she couldn’t do it anymore,” Deacon Todd says. “She couldn’t be involved with tying tubes or contraception.”

Then came the true test of faith, as following their newfound faith began to conflict with their previous lifestyle.

“I was managing three Quiznos at the time, and we had a bunch of land, two houses, and lots of toys. My wife ended up having to leave her job, because the other doctors didn’t like what she was doing. Suddenly everything was a struggle. We ended up losing pretty much everything we had.”

The family ended up moving to New Zealand, where Ann could find a job. Deacon Todd volunteered with the local St. Vincent dePaul Society, helping to deliver meals. It was here that he first felt the call to become a deacon. One day, while delivering meals, he knocked on the door of a man who wasn’t home. A woman came out of the next apartment to offer help, and Deacon Todd Church at his ordination in 2014.

agreed to give the package to the man when he returned.

“I said, ‘Oh, God bless you!’”, Deacon Todd recalls. “This woman started crying. She said ‘I’m 63 years old and no one has ever said that to me before.’

When that happened, I realized people aren’t just hungry for food – they’re spiritually hungry as well.”

The family eventually moved back to the United States, and needed a town with two requirements: a place where Ann could practice medicine without violating her faith, and a diaconate program for Todd. They ended up in Grants, New Mexico, where Ann now works as an OB/GYN, and Deacon Todd was ordained to the Diaconate in 2014.

It’s clear that his conversion, and continued zeal for the faith, give Deacon Todd a unique outlook on running the Religious Education and Youth Ministry offices.

“When you become a Catholic as an adult, it’s because you want to, not because you have to. So many Catholics have no idea of the gift they have here.

When you’ve never gone without it, sometimes you don’t realize the beauty of what you have – and of course what I’m talking about is the Eucharist.”

He has only been working at the Diocese for a month, but already he knows exactly what his ministry should accomplish.

“If we can build a foundation for young people, to grow into their faith as adults, that’s one goal,” he says.

“And for all the people of the Diocese of Gallup, the ultimate aim is to help them build a relationship with Christ.”

Having built a relationship with Christ from nearly nothing, and enduring hardship because of it, Deacon Church knows firsthand what it is to experience both suffering and joy in the Catholic Faith. The next chapter in his life will be to help others to live out their faith fearlessly as well.

Latest Priest Assignments Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I wanted to make you aware of a number of new assignments in the Diocese of Gallup. Each priest has agreed to his assignments. The assignments began on July 1, 2015 unless otherwise noted.

Please keep the priests and their respective communities in your prayers during this time of transition.

Sincerely yours in Christ, Bishop James S. Wall Father Matthew Keller, Rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral Parish in Gallup, New Mexico is appointed as Vicar General of the Diocese of Gallup. Father Keller will continue to serve as Rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral and Director of Priestly Vocations for the Diocese of Gallup.

Father Kevin Finnegan, Chancellor of the Diocese of Gallup is appointed as Judicial Vicar of the Diocese of Gallup.

Father Finnegan assumed duties as Pastor of Saint John Vianney Parish in Gal-

lup, New Mexico on May 18, 2015. Father Finnegan will continue to serve as Chancellor for the Diocese of Gallup.

Father James Walker, Pastor of Saint John Vianney Parish in Gallup is appointed Pastor of Saint Mary’s Parish in Bloomfield, New Mexico and Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Blanco, New Mexico.

Father Walker’s assignment began on May 18, 2015.

Father Peter Short, Parish Administrator of Our Lady of the Snows in Snowflake, Arizona is appointed Pastor of Saint Joseph Parish and Madre de Dios Parish in Winslow, Arizona.

Father Jeff King, Pastor of Saint Joseph Parish and Madre de Dios Parish in Winslow, Arizona is appointed as Parochial Vicar of Saint Mary’s Parish in Farmington, New Mexico.

Father Nathanael Block, Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, New Mexico is appointed as Parish Administrator of Our Lady of the Snows in Snowflake, Arizona. Father Joachim Blonski, Pastor of Saint John the Baptist Parish in Saint John’s, Arizona and Saint

Raphael Mission in Concho, Arizona has agreed to serve as Canonical Pastor of Our Lady of the Snows Parish.

Father Justin Okoro, Parochial Vicar of Saint Teresa Parish in Grants, New Mexico has been appointed Parish Administrator of Saint Paul’s Parish in Crownpoint, Risen Savior Parish in Bluewater and Chaplain of Saint Bonaventure Catholic School in Thoreau, New Mexico.

His assignment begins on June 8, 2015.

Father Kevin Finnegan has agreed to serve as Canonical Pastor of Saint Paul’s Parish and Risen Savior Mission.

Father Joshua Mayer is appointed as Parochial Vicar of Sacred Heart Cathedral and Associate Director of Priestly Vocations for the Diocese of Gallup.

Father David Tate is appointed as Parochial Vicar of Saint Teresa Parish in Grants.

Sacramental care of Saint John the Evangelist Parish in Houck, Arizona is to be attended by the priests of Sacred Heart Cathedral. Sister Josephine Goebel, CSA will continue to serve as Parish Life Coordinator.

further assisting Mother Katharine when she founded St. Michael Indian School.

The first post office in the area was housed in the Franciscans’ buildings, and they conducted the first comprehensive census of people living on Navajo lands – records available for research yet today!

The Franciscans service to the Navajo continues through present day, with many offering Masses at Chinle, Fort Defiance, Tohatchi, and other churches across the reservation.

St. Michaels Historical Museum opened for the summer on July 1, and will be open seven days a week through Labor Day. September through May, the museum is open by appointment.

Museum hours are: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM; Sundays, 12:00 Noon

-4:00 PM. The admission is free, and the building is handicap accessible.

The museum also has a new website, thanks to the new museum administrator, Julie Ferraro. The website offers a brief history of the Franciscans on the reservation, directions to the museum, and a list of select books, cards, and posters for sale. The website address is: www.stmichaelshm.org St. Michaels Historical Museum is located west of Window Rock, Arizona, on Route 264.

Turn south near mile marker 473, and you can’t miss it! It’s a fantastic chance to learn local history, without having to travel very far.

St. Michael’s Historical Museum Opens for Summer

By Julie Ferraro For those who may wonder how many of the Catholic churches came to be founded on the Navajo reservation, the answer lies close to home: St. Michaels Historical Museum.

During the last half of the 19th century, the Navajo people had been forcibly moved to southeastern New Mexico, then allowed to return to their native lands four years later.

They found themselves at odds with other tribes, with Mexicans, and American settlers fencing off their lands for their own use. Then came Mother Katharine Drexel, who started the first mission to the Navajo at what is now St. Michaels, Arizona.

She, in turn, invited Franciscan friars from Cincinnati, Ohio, to provide the sacraments to the Navajo. Their history can also be found at St. Michaels Historical Museum, which is housed in the very building where these original Franciscans lived. The chapel seen in the museum is an almost exact replica of where the friars held Mass, and displays recount how they lived and served the Navajo, traveling throughout the reservation, starting churches, studying the Navajo language, and

For more information, call St. Michaels Friary: 928-871-4171, or e-mail: office@stmichaelshm.org Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

21

Saints for Today:

for less stringent standards. His labors were codified in 1260 and proved so remarkable that he was given the title Second Founder.

In 1263, he wrote a new life of St. Francis.

This became the approved, official biography of the great saint and was declared to replace all previous biographies.

By Dr. Jean Lee

Blessed Pope Gregory X made Bonaventure a cardinal in 1273, sending several legates to him with the red hat. When they arrived with the symbol of great honor, they found him washing dishes. He asked them to hang the red hat on a nearby tree, since his hands were wet and dirty. The hat subsequently became his symbol.

Bonaventure: Bishop & Doctor of the Church (1221 - 1274)

A Franciscan theologian, St. Bonaventure was born Giovanno di Fidanza, in Bagnorea, Italy, the son of a physician of noble birth.

St. Francis cured him of an illness and reportedly renamed him Bonaventure. He became a Franciscan and studied in Paris, France, becoming the disciple of Alexander of Hales.

As a theologian, Bonaventure was more Augustinian and less Aristotelian than his contemporary Thomas Aquinas was; he stressed the importance of an affective, rather than a purely rational approach to the divine mysteries. Bonaventure taught theology and Scripture at Paris and was eventually granted his doctorate on the same day as Thomas Aquinas.

At a general chapter of the Franciscans in 1260, at Narbonne, France, Bonaventure promulgated the constitutions of the Franciscan Order and was made minister-general. Bonaventure proved a brilliant general, working tirelessly to restore the Franciscans to a united, dynamic order, by ending the factious controversies among members caused by the desires of some to adhere to strict poverty in keeping with the example of St. Francis and the call by others

St. Bonaventure Enters the Franciscan Order, by Spanish painter Francisco de Herrera, 1628.

Summoned to the Council of Lyons in 1274, Bonaventure took an active part in the negotiations with the Eastern Church on reunion. He died during the proceedings.

Called “the Seraphic Doctor,” Bonaventure is considered one of the great intellects of his era. He is remembered for treatises and theological tracts. He is also revered for his spiritual writings: “Perfection of Life,” “Soliloquy,” and the “Threefold Way.” Bonaventure wrote five hundred sermons and the biography of St. Francis of Assisi, which has been called beautiful and touching. He was canonized by Pope Sixtus IV in 1482 and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1588.

“No one can be made happy unless he rise above himself, not by an ascent of the body, but of the heart.

But we cannot rise above ourselves unless a higher power lifts us up.

And divine aid is available to those who seek it from their hearts, humbly and devoutly.”

— St. Bonaventure BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bunson, Matthew, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson. “Encyclopedia of SaintsRevised.” Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 2003.

Farmer, David. “Oxford Dictionary of Saints.” New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.

Ghezzi, Bert. “Voices of the Saints.” Chicago: Loyola Press, 2000.

22 Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

Making Sense Out of Bioethics:

With Fr. Tad Pacholczyk

Changing My Body to ‘Match’ My ‘Identity’ The famous Olympian Bruce Jenner made headlines recently when he told ABC News, “For all intents and purposes, I’m a woman...That female side is part of me. That’s who I am.”

He has been receiving hormonal treatments to acquire feminine traits and is not yet sure whether he will undergo surgery to “complete” the process.

His dramatic case raises important ethical and medical concerns about properly understanding our identity and respecting the given order of our bodies.

Bodily identity

“Body Integrity Identity Disorder,” or BIID, a rare disorder in which individuals lack a proper sense of bodily identity and reject their own limbs. Some experts believe it is caused by a neurological disorder in which the brain’s mapping system fails to recognize particular parts of the body.

If a surgeon were to sever her spine, even with her consent, broad condemnation would quickly follow from inside and outside the medical profession, given that her limbs are healthy and she is really battling a mental disorder.

Various commentators have reacted

psychological problems they experienced prior to their surgeries, problems with emotions, relationships, work, and selfidentity remained unchanged.

Dr. McHugh concluded that “to provide a surgical alteration to the body of these unfortunate people was to collaborate with a mental disorder rather than to treat it.”

Indeed, although some people may clamor to have their spine severed, to have a healthy limb removed, or to have sex-change operations, the recognition of the seriousness of the underlying psychiatric issues should only strengthen our resolve to protect the human dignity and authentic personal identity of these patients by declining their requests for any form of medical mutilation.

It doesn’t take much reflection to appreciate how the powers of medicine are meant for healing our bodies, not for harming and maiming them.

Suppose a man were to declare that his real identity, in his innermost self, was that of a pirate, and that he had always been aware of it from his earliest childhood.

If he were to decide, in order to more fully conform to that inner identity, to have his hand surgically removed so that he could have a hook installed in its place, this would surely indicate a serious mental condition on his part, and counseling, along with other psychiatric interventions, would be appropriate, rather than encouraging medical mutilation.

Or we might consider the strange case of Chloe Jennings-White, a 58- year-old woman from Salt Lake City, Utah, who, although perfectly healthy, has a deep-seated desire to become paralyzed, even to the point of being willing to pay a surgeon to sever her spine to make her a paraplegic.

As a young girl, whenever she saw somebody with leg braces, she asked why she couldn’t have her own set. Ever since, she has dreamed of being paralyzed from the waist down and says that she sometimes goes skiing in the hopes that an accident will render her paraplegic: “I ski extremely fast and aim for the most dangerous runs.”

She likewise fantasizes about having a car accident to make her paralyzed. In the meantime, she lives her life as if she were a paraplegic, putting braces around her legs, and riding around in a wheelchair.

Neurological disorder She suffers from what has been termed

strongly to her story, noting the irony of so many people who have become crippled due to tragic accidents and yearn for even the most basic forms of mobility, even as Ms. White seeks to mutilate her body and do violence to her own functional integrity.

It doesn’t take much reflection to appreciate how the powers of medicine are meant for healing our bodies, not for harming and maiming them.

Problems with transgender medical interventions Yet this kind of clear thinking seems to get easily sidelined when people discuss medical interventions for individuals who are convinced that they are actually members of the opposite sex.

Dr. Paul McHugh, who served as psychiatrist-in-chief at the Johns Hopkins Hospital for more than two decades, was one of the first to raise concerns about transgender approaches that rely on hormones and surgeries.

He noted that even though follow-up studies of sex-change patients may have indicated satisfaction with the outcome on the part of the patients, the numerous

Misguided notions

Nonetheless, misguided notions about personal identity continue to gain a foothold in our society. The opening line of the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing gay “marriage,” to cite but one example, declares that liberty means “specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity.”

This kind of confused language about allowing people to “define their identity” ignores the crucially important truth that numerous aspects of our identity, especially those related to our bodily and sexual identity, are pre-determined, objective goods that we are called to recognize and respect in the choices we make.

Respecting objective goods stands at the heart of the project of moral reasoning.

Whether considering the integrity of our arms and legs or the integrity of our sexual constitution, proposals for chemical or surgical mutilation of these faculties will understandably raise concerns among reasonable and caring people.

Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D., earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Mass., and serves as the director of education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. See www.ncbcenter.org Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org

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SAVE THE DATE!

With internationally renowned speaker and author, CHRIS STEFANICK And special musical guest, JON NIVEN Reboot! Live! is the fun, inspiring and practical experience of applying the beauty and genius of the heart of the Gospel to every aspect of your life. From prayer and spirituality, to work, dating, marriage, parenting, health and more - there is no part of your life that will be left untouched!

WEDNESDAY, October 7, 2015, 7:00 – 9:30PM UNM Student Union Building, Albuquerque NM To register, go online to www.RealLifeCatholic.com - or Contact Aquinas Newman Center, at 505-247-1094 - or LoboCatholic.org This event is for all ages 12-99

Voice of the

Southwest

PO Box 1338, Gallup NM 87305-1338

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Voice of the Southwest | dioceseofgallup.org