Community of Communities

Father Jim Weeks, MS ministers in Las Termas de Rio Hondo, Argentina. He wrote about ministry there.

With the recent addition of Brother Adrian, one of our Bolivian seminarians who recently took his perpetual vows, we now have four La Salettes on our pastoral team: Padre Alfredo Velarde, a native of Argentina who is 55 years old; Padre Juan Miguel “Jack” Garvey, an American Missionary who is 83; myself another American and I am 75; and Brother Adrian Fernandez Gallardo who, at 38 years of age brings youth to our team. Our parish ministry takes in a whole county and in some ways it’s like a whole diocese.

There are two different realities to the parish: the city and the campo or countryside. In the campo we serve 127 chapels and 76 schools. In the city we have the main parish, which has 11 neighborhood chapels or faith communities attached. Our most recent addition here in Las Termas is the new school of Our Lady of La Salette. Only the first part of the building project is finished, which consists of the kindergarten and grades 1 through 4. The land was donated by a parishioner. When finished, it will go from kindergarten through high school. So far most of the funds have come from the weekly cake sales put on by the PTA, a car and motorcycle raffle also done by the PTA, and a state government grant of $150,000.00.

How can we care for all these realities? Thank God we have many active lay parishioners who collaborate with us. Basically our Pastoral Plan focuses on Family Catechetics, where both parents and their children walk together in a two-year preparation of Sacraments – first Communion, Confirmation – and on the formation of Grass Root Christian Communities. These two aspects go hand-in-hand so that each group of parents and children – usually 8 to 10 families – deepen their faith and later form a Grass Root Christian Community. That way the whole parish becomes “a community of communities.”

In about 40 of the campo schools the teachers prepare the people for these Sacraments.  Right now we are very busy with over 300 children preparing for their First Communion and 120 for Confirmation. Just think what that means in terms of preparation for and reception of the Sacrament of Reconciliation! Probably about 1,000 confessions.

In the city parish we have Baptisms every week. On any given Saturday we could have 25 or more. One day not too long ago Fr. Alfredo and I performed 71 Baptisms.

For over 2,000 years the world has been hearing the Good News. The parish here in Las Termas first heard it in 1589 from the mouth of Saint Francisco Solano who captivated our native people with his music and his violin, as we saw in the movie “The Mission.” For the last 72 years – what youngsters we are! – the Missionaries of La Salette have been here preaching that same message of hope and love to the descendents of those people and to the immigrants who came here from European and Near East Christians – from Spain, Germany, Poland, Syria and Lebanon. What a wonderful ministry the Lord has confided to us. Thank you for your help in accomplishing this mission.