Draft of St. Christopher's Newsletter dated Lent 1964;
Subject
Indians of North America—Religion; Indians of North America—History; Indians of North America—Religion; Religion; Missionaries; St. Christopher's Mission (Bluff, Utah); Health; Newsletters; Language;
Place names
Bluff (Utah); San Juan County (Utah); Utah;
Keyword
Navajo; Navajo Indians; Navajo Indians -- History; Father Liebler; Brother Juniper; Liebler, Harold Baxter 1889-1982; Missionaries; Religion; St. Christopher's Mission; St. Mary's of the Moonlight Chapel; Language;
Tribe
Navajo;
Description
This newsletter announces the upcoming wedding of the Mission's teacher, outlines attempts to rebuild at the Mission following a fire, and describes the staff's efforts to learn the Navajo language;
Publisher
Digitized by: Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library;
Date.original
1964;
Type
Text;
Format
application/pdf;
Source
Utah State University, Merrill-Cazier Library, Special Collections and Archives;
Language
eng;
Coverage
Bluff (Utah); San Juan County (Utah);
Rights
Reproduction for publication, exhibition, web display or commercial use is only permissible with the consent of the USU Library Western and Mormon Americana curator, phone (435) 797-2661;
Holding Location
Utah State University, Special Collections and Archives;
saint christopher's mPtl"V--.-dit4
bluff, utah
been 1Jl9aning to ge t this 1e tter eff f 'or some fi va
weeks new, but Time -that great thief - has a way of s'1pping by
almost un~oticed. There is so much I wou'd like to wr1te abouteach
day is a .lam-picked experience:" but time and Splre l1mi t 'f.DY
intention. Sc, just a few highlights. I think our 1ife can best
be divided into MOMENTS
There are many Moments of joy~ our teacher, from New York, is
marry 1ng a Nava jo boy in New York this Augus t - our staff, bels te.rec.
by several young members, is busy living, working, Playing and
pray ing toge ther for God I s glory tind these People we love so dear,,- ~
our new ki tchen 1s finished,. and wha t an improvement - our work
continues to grow d.aily as sou's are led closer to true Chr1st-like
living in the Kingdom of God. .
There are some Moments of Borrow~ the fire on January 31 in
our Church that destroyed some priceless items; the Indian creche
inc' uded 0:- the dea th of a p:irishoner's infant son - the cons tan t
in-adequoy to cope wi th all the prob' ems and demands tha t need
a ttent1on.
We have many Moments of laughtert at the dinner table after
a long, hard day -- at ourselves as we show-off our mas tery of the
Navajo language - at the three week old puppies in my hogan -
at "Don and Tommie doing the !Coon twitwist' -" at all the sil'y
little dai'y happe'nings that break the monotony of our work and
make communi ty so much easier.
And. last, there are occasional Moments of anxiety: new g'assc
again, bi-foca,ls this time, a wrenched back and trip to the doctor·
s - back b~ce on order - a cold -- w.indy nights in a hogan when the
f1re goes out. .
. I think the greatest" and most constant, Moment 1s one of
thankfulness~ to God for His goodness and, mercy to poor sinners, -
for my voca tion to this life and work - for my many, many friends
and loved ones who cheer the days by their letters' a'nd cards of
greeting and encopragement. .
For a long time now live been asked, "what do ,ou do all day,?"
So, in ~l osing, I',,_ br1~flt out' ine a·, more or less ty pi~a 1. day -
no t Mond.ay, when I baked 60 loaves of' bread by handj. or uesday, my
day off. liednesday dawned brigh t and cris p. Rise and shine a t 5~ 30
then to church for a pri va te cha t wt th the T.ord before serv1ng thE'
6: 15. Mass. Then Communi ty prayers and Mass; a breakfast for 12 to
fix; a brief study period in, common. Now the day's work lies in
wai t •. I spent the rporn1ng gett~ng the ki tchen account closed for
the month, making the inven tory - about 60. people a day to feed _.
and lunch to s tart,. A Nava jo boy is learning to cook and bake no \,1
so he can even tus. 't 1y take over the ki tchen. At 1: 00 I pack up the
Jeep and leave for a remo te area of the reserva tion to visi t in
hogaQ.s, pray with fam1lies, giVe elementary nursfllg care, and.
f1na',y teach a ca tech1sm clas's Clf about 2~ Then home again for a
b1te of dinner and an evening spent "catching up." Compline at 9:(eO
then last minute details and bed. So, until next time, good-night
