Catholics in Beaver County work to overcome challenges, strengthen and enrich their faith
MILFORD — The uncertainties of today’s world pose challenges, but the Catholic community at St. Bridget Parish in Milford and its missions at Saint John Bosco in Delta and Holy Family in Fillmore have not allowed themselves to be overwhelmed.
Despite the social distancing restrictions that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought, since 2020 Catholics in Beaver County have found new ways to continue learning about their faith, to keep gathering as one faith family, and to enrich themselves in other ways as well, said Father Marco Tulio Lopez, parish administrator.
As an example of what his community has been able to do despite the restrictions and despite being hours away from the diocesan Pastoral Center, 10 parishioners from Milford, Fillmore and Delta are about to be certified. This achievement is more noteworthy because their catechism formation was done in English through online instruction, although most of the catechists have Spanish as their native language.
“They were used to having someone from the diocese coming and preparing them, and usually that was done in Spanish because people here usually don’t speak English,” Fr. Lopez said. “The majority of our parishioners thought this was something impossible but here they are.”
Being able to do things remotely is a good thing, Fr. Lopez said. “Sometimes people think that because the pandemic is still going there is nothing that we can do, but there is a lot that we can do. Just having a cell phone opens whole new horizons. … We can still get together, and most of all we can communicate no matter where we are; we can keep on learning and sharing.”
As an example of this, about 40 parishioners attended a Jan. 3-7 virtual study about the Apocalypse, conducted by a priest from El Salvador.
“This format gave the chance to not just people from the parish to participate … it opened the door for people from other parishes and even to people who have moved to other states to participate remotely,” Fr. Lopez said, adding that he is happy to see all the fruits that his community has received by hosting these events remotely.
“We didn’t have to attend in a room to be able to learn; we did it remotely,” he said.
In addition to the special event, since 2020 the parish has held a weekly virtual theological study that about 30 people regularly attend.
“These people are gathering every Monday to keep up with their formation,” Fr. Lopez said.
The parish also has started English as a Second Language classes every Tuesday.
Sometimes people give up their efforts to learn English, but “here in the parish we are focused on giving our parishioners the opportunity to step up and learn English,” Fr. Lopez said. “We want to promote the learning of the language so all the community can take advantage of all the resources no matter if they are in English or in Spanish.”
Two teachers are helping the parishioners to learn the language. One focuses on beginners and the other on people who have more advanced language skills.
“We also want them to strengthen relations in the families, because sometimes their kids speak English and they cannot, so it becomes a disconnection between them,” Fr. Lopez said.
In addition to all of these events, the parish is going to offer a self-esteem seminar Feb. 22-25. The seminar speaker will be Laura Lopez, pastoral coordinator of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Indio, Calif. and a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Advisory Council. She will give the seminar remotely from California.
Self-esteem is important, Fr. Lopez said, pointing out that Utah has one of the highest suicide rates in the nation.
According to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in 2020 on average one person died by suicide every 13 hours in Utah.
The seminar is being offered so that “we can discover the importance of knowing and implementing our talents,” Fr. Lopez said. “We have to help people to discover their potential, their value, and all that they can achieve and contribute.”
The seminar, which will be offered through Zoom, is open to everyone in the diocese. For information, contact Fr. Lopez at 435-387-2732.
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