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Bishop braxton addresses diocesan assembly day in jalapa, guatemala

Bishop Edward K. Braxton, of the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois, addressed the priests, deacons, religious and lay leaders of the Church in Jalapa, Guatemala at their Diocesan Assembly Day on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007, telling them, “We are missionaries to each other.” Bishop Braxton visited the Diocese of Jalapa Nov. 6-9, as the guest of Bishop Julio E. Cabrera Ovalle. The bishop was accompanied by Msgr. Vincent A. Haselhorst, who was Spiritual Moderator of the Guatemala Mission Board, who celebrated a special Mass marking the Golden Jubilee of his ordination on Sunday, Nov. 11, among old friends. Several other diocesan priests and a number of lay people were also in Guatemala visiting their sister parishes in the diocese.

The Belleville diocese has been involved in missionary work in Guatemala for more than forty-five years through the Guatemala Mission Board and the Sister Parish Program, which was introduced to our diocese by Mr. Leonard Daiber of Highland, Ill. Even though the work of the Guatemala Mission Board has come to an end, the close relationship between the two dioceses and the close friendships between the people will continue because the parish-to-parish relationships will continue.

During the course of his visit to Jalapa, Bishop Braxton had the opportunity to experience the warmth of the people and the vitality of their faith first hand. He visited a number of parishes, clinics, and social service centers. He also had the opportunity to visit with a number of priests, religious, and lay people. Their love for the Church and their love for their sisters and brothers from the Belleville diocese was very evident.

Speaking at the new Juan Pablo II Pastoral Center, the bishop thanked Bishop Cabrera for his warm welcome and praised him for his leadership, especially during the time of civil unrest in Guatemala.

“May the Peace of Jesus Christ be with you! I am honored to be here in Jalapa. I give thanks to God for all of you and for the inspired leadership of my brother bishop, Bishop Julio Cabrera Ovalle. I am very mindful of his great courage and prophetic solidarity with the poor during the civil war. I know of the unspeakable suffering that has been endured here. I am encouraged by Sunday’s election of Mr. Álvaro Colom Caballeros as your new President and Dr. Rafael Espada, Houston-Guatemala City based heart surgeon, as your vice-president. They made social justice and fighting poverty a centerpiece of their campaign. They have expressed the hope of making Guatemala a social democratic country with a Mayan face. I pray that their government will bear fruit for all, especially those most in need.

“Some people may think of the work of missionaries as a one-way street. The missionaries bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to those who have not been evangelized and they assist with education, health care, housing, and social development and receive only gratitude in return. But missionaries actually receive a great deal from the people they serve whose vibrant, young faith often renews and deepens their own.

Here in Guatemala the Catholic faith has been strong for centuries, since the Spanish missionaries introduced the faith to the indigenous Mayan people in 1523. In 1963, my predecessor, Bishop Albert R. Zuroweste, initiated a missionary presence in the El Progreso area of Jalapa. This was an area where evangelization was very much needed. Bishop Zuroweste personally visited the area in 1964 to learn personally of the needs. He was accompanied by Dr. Thomas Prosser, who later initiated health care improvement programs.

“Father Theodore C. Siekmann of Belleville became the first resident pastor of Our Lord of Esquipulas Parish in El Progreso; he was later joined by Msgr. Vincent A. Haselhorst, as well as other priests and religious sisters. These dedicated priests and religious eventually served parishes in El Rancho, Morazan, San Christobal and El Jicaro. In time, the Catholic Physicians and Dentists Guild of the diocese assisted with medical needs by establishing a clinic in El Progreso.

After the terrible earthquake of 1976, which claimed 1,000 lives and destroyed many homes, the Church of Belleville raised more than $100,000 to help build new homes in “La Ascension,” which I visited.
More than thirty Belleville parishes are united with the Church in Guatemala through the Sister Parish Program. They give of their time, talent and treasure each month. These ongoing relationships have resulted in genuine bonds of Christian friendship that have enriched both dioceses.

“It is the Lord Jesus Christ who calls every Christian to be a missionary. The Mystery of the Incarnation, which we will soon celebrate at Christmas, calls every member of the human family into a communio, which is greater and deeper than the bonds of human affection. It is this Christ-centered solidarity that calls us to be missionaries to each other.

The whole Catholic Church is a missionary Church. The resources that we bring to you in faith help you to build a church building and the deep, joyful faith that you bring to the political, social, and economic challenges you face help us rebuild the spiritual church within ourselves. It is a source of great happiness to me that the Diocese of Belleville, a mission diocese in our own country, which is modest in size and resources, has been able to sustain this outstanding missionary relationship.

“It is fitting that this Assembly Day is centered on the celebration of the Eucharist. There is no Church without the Eucharist and there is no Eucharist without priests. We in Belleville were once able to send priests to serve in Jalapa. Now, we do not have a sufficient number of native priests to serve our people. As many of our priests grow older and retire we are receiving the grace of missionary priests who are generously responding to my invitation to come to southern Illinois from Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Sri Lanka, India and Poland, to be missionaries in our midst. We are all missionaries to each other because we are all members of the Mystical Body of Christ. When we are fed by the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ at Mass, we must never forget that what we eat does not become us. We become what we eat. We become Christ!”