Living the Gospel Values
in the Footsteps of St. Francis of Assisi
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In the photo above, St. Francis parishioners bless the friars for their service to the Gallup parish since the late 1940s.
The friars of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish marked nearly 80 years of Franciscan presence at St. Francis Parish, Gallup, New Mexico, on May 26, 2021, as Bishop James Wall presided at a farewell Mass. Provincial Minister Ron Walters, Vicar Provincial Charlie Martinez and a number of friars—including former friar-parish ministers—joined parishioners for the celebration.
“The Church has been blessed for 800 years with the Franciscan community [of] men and women,” Bishop Wall told the parishioners in his homily. “You have been the beneficiaries of their service, who have given up their lives on your behalf.” Recalling the sacraments administered, and the “good times and sad times,” he expressed gratitude for the service of the Franciscans.
At the end of the Mass, Father Ron reviewed the history of the friars in the Southwest, beginning with the efforts of St. Katherine Drexel and Franciscan Bishop Bernard Espelage, the first bishop of the Gallup Diocese. Fr. Ron had earlier explained in a letter to parishioners that the diminishing numbers and aging of the friar-community dictated the return of the parish to the care of the diocese.
Then he surprised most of those present by declaring, “I hope this evening I bring you good news” and preceded to announce that the remainder of a loan by the friars to St. Francis Parish was being forgiven, “as our parting gift to the parish [and] the diocese”—in the amount of $150,000. His announcement was met with prolonged applause.
The last two friars to serve the parish, pastor Father Abel Garcia and Brother Maynard Shurley, also expressed words of farewell. Fr. Abel remined the people to pray for vocations to the Gallup Diocese, and thanked them, inviting them to support their new pastor and the bishop. Then all the friars present were invited forward into the sanctuary, as the parishioners all stood to bless them. A communal meal and reception followed in the parish hall.