| On Sunday, January 20, we welcomed Fr. Steve Sanford, pastor of Sacred Heart Church on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. It was Fr. Steve's second visit to St. Mark, as he also said the Mass at this time last year, when he traveled to Colorado to participate in a retreat at Sacred Heart Retreat House in Sedalia. (Click on any image for a larger view.) |
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Fr. Steve had seen the special ramp to the altar at St. Mark and was eager to celebrate Mass with us so that he could give it a try. The Jesuit priest, who deals with the effects of MS on a daily basis, has been confined to a wheel chair for the past three years and had never before been able to approach the altar so handily. A number of us, including Fr. Steve, believe that God may have used the attraction of our ramp to bring him to St. Mark for a greater purpose - to help us discover our kinship with the Lakota people. |
| On display at the entrance to our worship space on the morning of his visit was the prized Lakota Star Quilt which was won by a St. Mark family last November in a drawing at Sacred Heart's annual fund-raising bazaar. The quilt was specially made for Nancy Red Cloud-Perez, a direct descendant of Chief Red Cloud, and was donated to Sacred Heart Church by her family following her death. The Lakota Star, symbolic of the morning star and renowned for its uniqueness and beauty, is but one example of the artisanship of the Lakota people. |
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During his homilies, Father has spoken to us with warmth and zeal about the parish he has served for the past ten years, despite his physical challenges. The Pine Ridge Reservation is home to an estimated 26,000 Oglala-Lakota (Sioux) who live in poverty that most of us cannnot imagine. The town of Pine Ridge is located in Shannon County, one of the three poorest counties in the United States, with grim statistics on life expectancy, infant mortality, and death and disability from diseases such as diabetes, tuberculosis and alchoholism. Unemployment has been as high as 75 to 80%; teenage suicide rates are among the highest in the nation. It is a place of many and great challenges. |
| Hearing Fr. Steve speak of the hardships of the Lakotas has inspired a number of St. Mark parishioners to look for ways that we can be of service to our brothers and sisters in Pine Ridge. We designated a tithe to Sacred Heart Church for the weekend of January 19-20, and are now considering other means of raising funds to help the church and its people with their overwhelming needs. |
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Those who are interested in a continuing project of assistance to Pine Ridge can contact Marvin and
Joyce Hersh or Stan and Teresa Banaszak for more information.
You can visit the Sacred Heart website at
http://www.gwtc.net/~sacredheartpr In the meantime keep
Fr. Steve and the 360 Catholic families he serves at Sacred Heart in your prayers.
Photos and story courtesy of Marvin and Joyce Hersh - January 20, 2008 |