Sunday Mass in Gallup

We were road weary on Saturday evening when we stopped for the night in Gallup, New Mexico. We stayed in a Hampton Inn plunked in the middle of a hot complex of hotels and restaurants, right across from a huge Home Depot. We had a cookie for dinner and didn't venture back out into the hear. The internet connection was weak, and I didn't do my usual planning for Sunday Mass.



Baptism at St. Francis of Assisi, Gallup

Yesterday morning we hauled ourselves out of bed, moving more slowly than usual. We checked out of the hotel just in time for 9:00 o'clock mass at St. Francis of Assisi, a little over a mile from the hotel. The Franciscans are very present in this part of the world, and the morning's celebrant was a visiting priest who spoke fluent but very accented English. He frequently interjected comments in Spanish to the linguistically mixed congregation. The beautiful baby girl of people who seemed to be Hispanic was baptized in English, but presented to the congregation in both English and Spanish.

I was amazed and moved by what seemed to be a cordial co-existence of English and Spanish in this part of the country. The missalettes were in English on one side, in Spanish on the other. The bulletin was bilingual, and I heard both languages spoken as we left the church -- an easy switch from English to Spanish and back in the same conversation. I did wonder about how the parish and the diocese deal with the underlying hostilities in the immigration debate that colors the political and cultural landscape here in the southwest.

After the very brief homily, a female parishioner read a letter from Bishop James Wall, about the Diocese of Gallup's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the wake of accusations of sexual abuse "many years ago". I don't know anything about the response of this particular diocese -- I could find only a few references, but I was surprised that the reading of the letter wasn't followed by a response from the pastor or the parish council. The congregation seemed quite oblivious to the news and the mass went on. Several days later, I heard the announcement on TV and read about it online.

The choir was pretty good and led congregational singing quite well. We were greeted by many parishioners and felt quite at home in this vibrant parish.