“The Nativity Story, Rooted High Above the Desert Floor”
As a mission Diocese, Gallup receives most of its income from outside donors and agencies. One of the greatest supporters of the work done in the Diocese of Gallup is the Catholic Extension Society, who recently featured an article about Advent celebrations in the Pueblos of the Diocese.
“On a trip to the diocese of Gallup the week before Advent, I witnessed something that will stay with me during this season of preparation for Christ’s birth. It was an experience of great reverence for the Christ child, a living instance of what the carol exhorts us to do: O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord. It was the story of the nativity, embedded within an ancient and beautiful culture that nurtured its faith even when the institutional Church was absent.
“Gallup is a massive diocese spanning two states, New Mexico and Arizona. For many years, Catholic Extension has served this region and its several Indian reservations, all of which have traditions that have come down from time immemorial. To this day, these nations retain religious and cultural practices handed down to them by their ancestors: prayers, dances, celebrations rooted in the land, its gifts, and their participation in a cosmic mystery of time and season. On one of the reservations, for example, a group of young people clad in traditional dress danced as part of the offertory of the Mass. In such a context, the dance represented the ways that they offered back to God the cultural gifts handed on to them by their ancestors.”
Read the full article here:
“A Visit to the Diocese of Gallup”
“A Light in the Darkness”: New Lights Installed at Klagetoh Basketball Court
Saint Anne Mission has strived to be a light of faith among the Navajo people of Klagetoh for over 90 years. This October the Mission installed another form of illumination around the outdoor basketball court.
In August the Fiesta Bowl Charities approved a grant of $10,000 to Saint Anne Mission to be used to procure and install lighting for the Mission’s outdoor recreational spaces. This was in addition to the grant approved the previous year that allowed the purchase and installation of an all-weather playing surface on the basketball court.
In late September Mission staff and volunteers poured the concrete foundations for the 16-foot light poles around the court, giving them ample time to cure before the freezing weather set in. The poles and LED fixtures arrived in mid-October and were installed on October 24.
The lights have proven popular with the local youth even in the deepening cold that we’ve experienced of late. We expect even greater enthusiasm when the weather warms in the springtime.
The Mission remains grateful to supporter Mr. John Yonushonis, who not only spearheaded the efforts to revitalize the basketball court but also prepared and submitted grant requests to the Fiesta Bowl and of course to the Fiesta Bowl Charities board which perceived the benefits this project could have for the Navajo people we serve.
Missionaries of Charity Blessed with New Van
Today I blessed the Missionaries of Charity’s new van, which will be used to transport the poor to Mass and collect food for Saint Joseph’s Soup Kitchen and Shelter located in Gallup NM pic.twitter.com/6uN1j7LK3P
— Bishop Wall (@BishopWall) November 30, 2018
Parishes and Schools Celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Diocese
December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, is always a big day for the people in the Diocese of Gallup. This year, St. Mary Parish in Farmington featured dancers and celebrations:
Bishop Wall on Relevant Radio: Personal Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe
For his monthly appearance on Relevant Radio’s Morning Air program, Bishop Wall discussed – what else? – devotion to the patroness of our Diocese.
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