On Pilgrimage to St. Joseph Catholic Church, Monticello

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Alan Lund, a parishioner whose significant financial contribution built St. Joseph Catholic Church in Monticello, speaking at the 2017 dedication, said, "In our little way in Monticello here, let this be our rock, a place to build our faith, a place to love our church, a place to know each other better, and a place that will be here for many years."

Not an hour into the pilgrimage to St. Joseph Catholic Church in Monticello, I got a flat tire. This inauspicious start nevertheless came with certain graces: A friend who lives in the area directed me to a garage, where the mechanic said he didn’t carry an exact replacement, and suggested that I drive to the Big O store a few blocks away. He filled the tire with air, gave me directions, and didn’t charge me a cent. At the Big O store, the tire was repaired, I was wished safe travels and sent on my way, again without charge.

On the drive I had plenty of time to contemplate Pope Francis’ apostolic letter Patris Corde (With a Father’s Heart), written for the 150th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Joseph as the patron of the universal Church, which was the reason for my pilgrimage.

The Holy Father published this letter on Dec. 8, the same day that he declared the Year of St. Joseph. In conjunction with the year, Bishop Solis has dedicated as pilgrimage sites the three churches in Utah named after the foster father of Jesus: St. Joseph in Ogden, St. Joseph in Monticello and St. Joseph the Worker in West Jordan. I decided it would be fun to visit all three churches as a pilgrim while contemplating the pope’s “personal reflections,” as he described his letter.

What struck me most on my first reading of Patris Corde was the pope’s description of creative courage. St. Joseph, the pope says, was a “creatively courageous father” who dealt with difficulties not by giving up but by finding creative ways to meet the challenges.

“God always finds a way to save us, provided we show the same creative courage as the carpenter of Nazareth, who was able to turn a problem into a possibility by trusting always in divine providence,” Pope Francis writes. “If at times God seems not to help us, surely this does not mean that we have been abandoned, but instead are being trusted to plan, to be creative, and to find solutions ourselves.”

This message struck home because I’ve been pondering just how much we’re supposed to depend on God. This first crossed my mind after the shooting in Las Vegas that killed 58 people in 2017, when a public official said, “Thoughts and prayers are NOT enough” in response to the horrific incident.

I don’t intend to get into a discussion about gun control. Rather, I want to focus on whether thoughts and prayers are enough. I say “thoughts and prayers” a lot when people tell me of their suffering, or to those who have had a death in the family. And prayers are efficacious, as our religion teaches. But we also can offer succor by taking time to listen, by delivering a home-cooked meal, by advocating for action that will somehow address the causes behind tragedies that might be prevented.

In his letter, Pope Francis notes that “creative courage was shown by the friends of the paralytic, who lowered him from the roof in order to bring him to Jesus (cf. Lk 5:17-26). Difficulties did not stand in the way of those friends’ boldness and persistence. They were convinced that Jesus could heal the man, and ‘finding no way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the middle of the crowd in front of Jesus.’ … Jesus recognized the creative faith with which they sought to bring their sick friend to him.”

For the past several months I’ve been facing a problem that I’ve entrusted God, but haven’t gotten a response. Now that I’ve read Patris Corde, I wonder if God isn’t suggesting I address it myself by applying creative courage.

These thoughts kept me occupied as I drove to Monticello, a mission church where Mass is celebrated at noon on Sundays.

St. Joseph Catholic Church in Monticello is a spiritual oasis in the desert. The new church, dedicated four years ago, is an airy, well-lit building of sandstone. The interior is mostly unadorned, with beige walls and wooden beams on the ceiling; the eye is immediately drawn to the crucifix hanging behind the altar.

In his homily, Fr. Rowland Nwokocha focused on the first reading of the day, which was the story about the binding of Isaac. He asked a question that is perfect for Lent: Of the things we love like our children, what would we be willing to sacrifice if God called us to do so?

I pondered this question on my return trip, when I encountered several inconveniences: a restaurant I particularly wanted to eat at was closed, another was out of the main ingredient needed for the meal I chose, and weariness made me wonder if I could complete the journey. All of these normally would give rise to irritation, but that is one “child” I am attempting to sacrifice for Lent, and so I accepted these minor aggravations as part of the pilgrimage, and thanked God that I was in fact able to find food and finish the drive home.