Local missions will benefit from Mission Sunday
SALT LAKE CITY – World Mission Sunday is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church’s missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice. World Mission Sunday, organized by the Propagation of the Faith, will be celebrated on Sunday, Oct. 24 this year.
About 1,100 mission dioceses worldwide receive annual assistance from Mission Sunday collections. Every year the mission needs grow as new dioceses are formed, new seminarians hear the call of God and as areas are rebuilt after war or a natural disaster.
The Diocese of Salt Lake City began as a mission diocese. Father Lawrence J. Scanlan told the Propagation of the Faith on Oct. 14, 1877 that “two priests were entirely inadequate for the work to be done in the Utah Territory.” He applied to the Archbishop of San Francisco for another assistant, and received one, according to “The Salt of the Earth” by Bernice Maher Mooney.
“We are still a missionary diocese in the sense that we don’t have the resources and personnel to do the work we would like to do in the missions in central and southern Utah,” said Deacon Silvio Mayo, chancellor of the Diocese of Salt Lake City. “We still have a shortage of priests and with the influx of Hispanics, it has become even more difficult because we need Spanish-speaking priests.”
The missions of Saint John Bosco in Delta, Holy Family in Fillmore and Saint Bridget in Milford have suffered without a priest for several years, although they have had communion services and a Mass celebrated about once a month. As of Oct. 1, Father Hernando Diaz was assigned as pastor of all three missions.
St. John Bosco had been without a priest for about eight years. “We feel more alive now because we can have Mass every Sunday and we can have a daily Mass on Monday morning,” said Janice Patton, who belongs to St. John Bosco. “It just starts our week off right.”
Although she is grateful to have had Deacons Mario Rodrigues, Rubel Salaz and Anario Moreno provide Communion services in the years when there was no resident priest, Patton said it’s more meaningful to have the Mass. “Having a priest will strengthen us and keep our community growing” she said.
“We are already seeing a difference,” said Guadalupe Hertado, a member of St. John Bosco. “We also have a Mass on Thursday at 6 p.m. and Fr. Diaz is hosting adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for an hour following Mass.”
Hertado, who teaches RCIA, said they have been trying to keep their community active but it has been difficult without a priest. They have a prayer group and now are planning monthly dinners.
“The missions are the most important apostolic work in the Church,” said Fr. Diaz. “The Gospel tells us to reach out to all the people. I am very happy to see the people enjoying the Mass, going to confession and following God.”
Delta is the largest of the three mission areas with about 150 Catholic families. The confirmation class this year has about 20 students who range in age from 12 to 18. There are 40 students in the CCD program, 11 students in the Hispanic RICA program and 20 Hispanics in the youth group, which are taught by Maria-Cruz Gray, director of the diocesan Hispanic Ministries.
Gray and her husband Deacon Forest Gray travel to Delta, Fillmore and Our Lady of the Light in Beaver almost every weekend. They also go to Santa Ana Mission in Tremonton and Saint Jude Mission in Ephraim to teach catechetical formation and liturgical ministries.
“Most of the people at Holy Family, are Hispanic,” said Maria Cruz Gray. “Delta is about 80 percent Hispanic, Beaver is 90 percent Hispanic, and San Isidro Mission in Elberta is 100 percent Hispanic. I just finished catechetical training at San Isidro. It is difficult to reach all of our brothers and sisters because of the 85,000 square miles in our diocese – all of Utah.”
Fr. Diaz goes south from Delta 75 miles to Milford on Friday and Saturday. He then travels 40 miles to Fillmore twice a week on Saturday to teach the confirmation class, assist the CCD teachers and celebrate Mass. He returns to Delta, where he lives in a small house, and goes back to Fillmore Monday morning.
“I love missionary work because I can serve many people and I like going from here to there visiting families and working with immigrants,” said Fr. Diaz, who has no place to stay in Milford and Fillmore. “It would be nice to have a mobile home to stay in during the winter when the storms are bad.”
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