Catholics Can Mass honors Bishop Wester and Bibian Rendon

Friday, Sep. 26, 2014

SALT LAKE CITY – Dozens of people gathered to celebrate their gifts at the seventh annual Catholics Can Mass, which took place Sept. 20 at Saint Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish in Salt Lake City.

At the Mass, Carol Ruddell, past president of the diocesan Commission for People with Disabilities, presented the 2014 Catholics Can Award to Bibian Rendon and the Most Rev. John C. Wester, Bishop of Salt Lake City.

Bishop Wester suggested the name for the diocese’s annual Mass that celebrates the many gifts and talents of people with disabilities, calling it the “Catholics Can” Mass, Ruddell said.

“He has traveled to many countries, including Third World countries, witnessed diverse cultures, visited the poorest of the poor and worked towards immigration reform on a local, national, and international level,” said Ruddell. “Bishop Wester’s compassion and pastoral care have long been evident to people with disabilities, especially in Utah. He welcomed the opportunity to annually celebrate their many gifts and talents at celebrations such as today’s Mass.”   

Last year, Bishop Wester attended the National Catholic Partnership on Disability national conference, Ruddell said, and “when other participants noticed a bishop in attendance – the only bishop in attendance – Utah’s representatives would proudly respond, ‘Yes, that’s our bishop!’” she said.  

Ruddell thanked Bishop Wester for his efforts, compassion and care for others.

“Bishop Wester, we acknowledge your efforts and leadership on behalf of people with disabilities. We believe it’s quite fitting to recognize your work by giving you the award to which you provided the title. The Commission for People with Disabilities awards you the 2014 Catholics Can Award,” said Ruddell.

Bibian Rendon, who died in July, worked with minorities and people with disabilities at Job Service (now the state Department of Workforce Services), then became the director of the diocese’s Office for People with Disabilities. A World War II veteran, Rendon served in the Pacific Theater, where he endured jungle combat and malaria. He lost most of his hearing and partial use of his arm.  

“He was among the first to witness the horrors at Hiroshima, Japan, after the atomic bomb,” Ruddell said. “This experience served to focus his life into one of service. He returned to Colorado, married his sweetheart and moved to Utah. He went to work, losing a leg in a mining accident, further sensitizing him to others, especially people with disabilities. Those of us who knew Bibian can attest to his commitment and zeal to make a difference. He was a crusader, whose concern for others is a legacy we all recognize. It is our privilege as the Commission for People with Disabilities to honor Bibian Rendon for not only his work, but his passion as a champion for people with disabilities.”

Accepting the award on Bibian Rendon’s behalf was his wife of 60 years, Gloria.

In accepting his own award, Bishop Wester said he was very grateful, then added, “I always carry you in my heart, and this will help to be a reminder of that and of how much we are fellow disciples.”

In his homily, Bishop Wester, who celebrated the Mass, told those in attendance that people all need to be grateful for who they are and for what they are created.

“God created us and saw that all that he created was good,” said Bishop Wester.

Referring to the fact that nowadays popular media and advertising portray images of a “perfect body,” Bishop Wester pointed out that those images are distorted.

“Of course what the advertisers don’t [tell] us is that those bodies are airbrushed and modified. … We have to remember that God created us as human beings with a body, and the body is good. God is incarnation; God became one of us and he believes in the idea of a body and the body is good. All human beings are good. There is no one better than the others,” said Bishop Wester. 

Everyone should thank God for making them the way they are, Bishop Wester continued. 

“With whatever capabilities or limitations … I may have, I am unique and I am a beautiful human being, and you love me and I rejoice for that; and even further I ask the Lord for the grace to see how God is working on me in the midst of how I am. Thank you, God, because I am just the way you wanted me to be as I am,” said Bishop Wester.