St. Joseph in Monticello celebrates 75th anniversary

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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The Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, performs the ritual of laying on of hands to call down the Holy Spirit on the confirmandi of St. Joseph Parish in Monticello.

MONTICELLO — Saint Joseph Parish had plenty to celebrate Sunday: a new statue of its patron saint, its 75th anniversary and the Sacrament of Confirmation during a Mass celebrated by the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City.

“We’ve done many different things to prepare for this big day and we’re so happy to be able to be here and to be able to celebrate the presence of this parish here in Monticello for 75 years,” said Father William Wheaton, the pastor.

The church is located not far from the site where Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante celebrated the Liturgy of the Word more than 200 years ago while traveling from New Mexico to California, Fr. Wheaton said. In addition the celebration coincides with Monticello’s 100th anniversary. “That’s amazing to think we had a Catholic presence here 25 years after the founding of this city,” he said.

All three readings for the 22nd Sunday of Ordinary Time all stressed humility, Bishop Wester said during his homily. “A real humble person feels very good about himself or herself; so much so that they can go out and help others because they’re not so absorbed and worried about… trying to make a name for themselves,” he said. “They know that they are precious in the sight of God. True humility is being able to say, ‘Lord, with you as my friend I can truly be who I am called to be, because I know you love me and I know you dwell in me through the Holy Spirit – the gift of the Father – and with that knowledge I can be who I am and feel good about myself, even with my limitations, even with my sinfulness, even with my weaknesses,” he said.

A truly humble person is one whom others want to emulate, he added.

He also told the candidates that staying true to the faith isn’t easy. “Every day you’re going to have to recommit yourself to Jesus Christ,” he said. “Every day you have to say, ‘Lord, help me to think less of me and more of you and others.”

Confirmed were Alicia Gallegos, Shandiin DeAnda, Roque DeAnda, Josephine Torres and Miranda Martinez.

The new statue of Saint Joseph and the baby Jesus was donated as a 75th anniversary gift by the parishioners of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Pasadena, Calif. In a hand-written note that accompanied the statue, the California parish’s pastor, Father Gerard O’Brien, wrote “May he always protect you and bless you with his fatherly presence.”

The statue was hand-carved in Italy, Fr. Wheaton said. “We are so blessed to have this and it will be part of our church now, part of our history.”

In his blessing of the statue, Bishop Wester said, “May we follow in the footsteps of the Lord, keeping before us the example of St. Joseph, and grow to a maturity measured not by nature but by the fullness of Christ.”