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- Mission Mentions -

Thank You Co-Missionaries for Helping to Build a Church

The Missions in Medellin have finalized their plans for the construction of the new church with a generous donation from the Basilian Fathers Missions to begin first phase construction of the project. They are waiting for permission from the city to build. They will start with a small church for three hundred people and as more funds come in they will build the other facilities for catequesis and for social projects. Father Bob Sequin asks, “Please pray that we can start building soon. Both the architect and the engineer have finished their work and we are on hold awaiting the necessary permissions.”

Father Morfin Vacations in Colombia

Fr. Francisco Morfin, a native of France and a Basilian missionary in Mexico, visited Colombia this spring. He spent time in Bogota, Blanquizal (Medellin), and Cali. He also spent a week at a monastery about two hours from Medellin near a town called Guatapé. After living for fifteen years without having used an umbrella, he was surprised by the amount of rain, especially in Medellín. 

Holy Cross Celebration in May

In Colombia, May 3rd is the celebration of the Feast of the Santa Cruz (Holy Cross). At Blanquizal, the parish of Ecce Homo held an outdoor celebration of the Eucharist for the feast day. The Colombians have a tradition of praying the Holy Name of Jesus 1,000 times on this day before a cross with family, friends and neighbors. Our missionaries ask that we pray with them that, bearing the cross, they can give a constant witness to the need for the Word of God and the Message of Jesus in the midst of violence, hatred, and envy at every level of society. Where sin abounds, there grace all the more abounds. May we all learn to live in that grace. 

Basilian Pastors Meet in Cali

The Basilian pastors of Colombia met in Cali in June to plan for the coming five years in all the levels of the parish: spiritual, liturgical, and social. As the Cali pastor, Father José Delgado, reports, “We have many projects in our hearts.” In Cali, Father Delgado is obtaining resources for a resident doctor and for a dining room for the children and the elderly. Father Delgado sends his thanks for all the help from the supporters of the Basilian Fathers Missions , the co-missionaries, and from his other Basilian brothers.

Sick on Time?

Father Max Murphy loved to tell stories about the missions. Invariably he had his listeners laughing. One of his best tales relates how a new priest at Caltepec was approached by a representative of the remotest church in the parish who said, “We know the pastor will be sick that day, but will you come and celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with us on December 12?” The young priest agreed and as the feast day dawned he started out for the remote chapel. There was no road, so the first part of the trip was on horseback. Eventually, the horse could not continue, so the priest had to walk the rest of the way to the chapel high in the mountains. The area was so high that near the end of his journey, the people practically had to carry the young priest the last few kilometers. After Mass, one of the men asked the priest if he would come again the following year. Quickly the young priest responded, “I am very sorry but I will be sick on December 12. However, I understand we will have a new Priest assigned to our parish by then and I am certain he will be glad to come.”

All joking aside, parts of our parish of Caltepec are in high and remote areas. In the U.S. and Canada, parishes generally have a single church with perhaps a mission attached. In Mexico, each parish has many churches, so the priests assigned to Caltepec serve a dozen churches each week.

Mission History

During the first week of March 2004 a professor from the University of Houston, Texas, went to Toronto to do some research in the General Archives of the Basilian Fathers for a book he is writing. His research studied the Basilian Fathers interaction with Mexican families in the Missions of Fort Bend County, Texas (Rosenberg, Sugar Land). This is another reminder that all that happens in the field of the Missions here and now has an eventual place in history.

New Basilian Archbishop

The Holy Father has appointed Archbishop J. Michael Miller, C.S.B., D.D. as a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Travelers. Archbishop Miller was elevated to Titular Archbishop of Vertara this spring and is the Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education.