Leadville, Colorado...Revisited!

Contributed By Bro. Ken Lund, CM

Leadville Family

Sister Silvia Gomez and Sister Maria de Jesus with a Leadville family.

When giving an update as to what is happening in Leadville, Colorado, we must first give some perspective on the geography. Denver is known as the "one-mile" city. Leadville is known as the "two-mile" city...at 10,200 feet in the heart of the Rockies. (It is a great place to live if you like snow, lots of it, and cold, lots of that too! And a small town too...this evidences when the front page of the paper's big news story features a large photo of a new town sign!)

Fr. Jay Jung, CM, who is the pastor of the Catholic Community of Leadville, wrote and received an "Impact Grant" from the Congregation of the Mission/ Midwest Province in order to fund three bilingual Sisters to help him with the Spanish-Speaking Ministry in the Parish. While he began his studies in the Spanish language, Fr. Jay met a sister from the Religious Community of "Missionary Catechist of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary." The charism of this Community is catechetical in nature. The sisters would live in Leadville and reach out to those who spoke Spanish and invite them to come to Church. The sisters were asked to begin faith formation of the adults and children and to begin to set up "Basic Ecclesial communities" where the people lived.

Meanwhile back in St. Louis, Bro. Ken Lund, CM, was beginning conversations with Provincial Jim Swift, CM, about finishing up the Migrant Ministry in the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri. When Fr. Jay applied for the "Impact Grant," he had no idea of the conversations going on in St. Louis. He was very happy to hear that not only were the sisters coming to Leadville, but so was Bro. Ken Lund, CM, who arrived in July 2003 and will be staying for the term of our Community contract with the Diocese of Colorado Springs.

The Sisters arrived in the middle of September ready for ministry. Only two sisters were able to come, Sr. Silvia Gomez, and Sr. Maria de Jesus. The Sisters' primary ministry was to help coordinate the Saturday evening liturgy and along with Bro. Ken, they quickly began to organize and train the various liturgical ministers. Secondly, the sisters were to help Bro. Ken in visiting parishioners in their homes and organizing 'Comunidades de base' where appropriate. They also helped offer a full range of catechetical programs for the Spanish-Speaking adults and youth on various topics on the Teachings of the Catholic Church, liturgy, sacraments, stewardship and other needed areas. In addition, they were asked to help Fr. Jay with pastoral situations when needed, be present at parish events and to be in the rotation of English liturgical ministers. The Sisters will be in Leadville until the end of December, returning to Texas in early January.

The Sisters have been a true blessing to the Catholic Community of Leadville and their faithfulness in visiting the families of the parish have increased the numbers of registered families in the parish. With the help of the Catholic Extension Society's donation of four cases of Spanish Bibles, Bible study has started in each of the Colinas. These prayer groups give some much needed peer support to help fight off proselytizing of the other religious sects who knock on their doors frequently.

The sisters conduct alternating Sunday programs for the younger children and teenagers, and conduct an afternoon retreat for families on Saturdays. Although initially the groups had smaller attendance, the number of families increased as the time for the Saturday liturgy came closer. They have also just started a "Grupo Guadalupana," a society not unlike the Altar and rosary society. And, they had to divide the sacramental class for Communion because of the numbers Ð a good sign; there are 50 students registered and attending. A few months ago, Fr. Prudencio had about 50 people in attendance when he celebrated the Saturday evening liturgy. In November on a Saturday evening, a little over two hundred folks attended the liturgy. The attendance is increasing due to the work of the Sisters and Bro. Ken.

Bro. Ken gave a four week reflection during the regular Saturday evening liturgy on the differences between the Church in the United States and Mexico and what it means to be Catholic in the United States. Our diocese of Colorado Springs is a Stewardship diocese. Our Spanish-Speaking brethren have no idea what stewardship is. Therefore, we began giving reflections and it seems as though the folks are coming around. In January, we will begin using Sunday envelopes for registered families and children in the parish school of Religion. Bro. Ken also teaches English as a Second Language for the Colorado Mountain College. (Teaching English is one way to help the immigrants learn to speak English and adapt to the American culture.)

We have had a number of events bridging the English speaking community with the Spanish-Speaking communities. During the month of October, we had the living rosary, by alternating the decades between English and Spanish. We established a tradition of having an altar to remember all of the deceased of our families; Parishioners were asked to bring photos of those who had died in their families and place them on the special altar. [November 2; All Soul's day; the day of the dead].

Living community life for us as Vincentians is a bit different from those back east in the province. Since Fr. Hank resides in Salida, Fr. Bill in Buena Vista, and Fr. Jay and Bro. Ken in Leadville, we gather each and every Sunday when possible for a sit-down dinner usually cooked by one of the Confreres. We stay overnight and conclude our time together by sharing breakfast. We find this community life to be very supportive and enriching.

As we look to the future, our contract with the diocese for this parish will end in four years. As we move on, both Fr. Jay and Bro. Ken are committed to having a viable Spanish-Speaking community with trained liturgical and diocesan certified catechetical leaders to help the new pastor carry out the mission of the Church. The Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary have given the Catholic Community of Leadville a head start in this venture.

Leadville Ministry Team

Left: Sister Maria de Jesus instructs altar boys in Leadville.

Right: A young friend with the Leadville Hispanic Ministry team. Pictured left to right are Sister Silvia Gomez, Brother Ken Lund, CM, and Sister Maria de Jesus from the Missionary Catechists of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

Vincentian is published bimonthly by the Midwest and Southern Provinces of the Congregation of the Mission, the Vincentian Priests and Brothers, to promote the apostolic works of its members and those of the larger Vincentian Family.

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