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St. Joseph Apache Mission
Mescalero, New Mexico
On a hot August day in 1914, Father Ferdinand Ortiz, OFM, rode a horse-drawn buggy up into the cool pines of the Sacramento Mountains in southern New Mexico to begin his ministry to the people of the Mescalero Apache Reservation. With a small adobe church and a tent for his living quarters, Father Ferdinand became the first in a long line of Franciscan friars accompanying the Mescalero Apache people on their journey through life.
St. Joseph Apache Church |
As you round a curve on U.S. Route 70 midway between Tularosa and Ruidoso, a massive stone church looms near the highway. It’s home to the parish community of St. Joseph Apache Mission and, Catholic or not, everyone on the reservation is proud of this landmark structure. Father Albert Braun, OFM, was the driving force behind the construction of an awe-inspiring church built to serve the people and dedicated as a memorial to the veterans of World Wars I and II.
While the church is a wonder to behold, Father Al’s greatest legacy is the respect and appreciation he maintained for the Apache people. He came to Mescalero as a newly ordained priest in 1916, eager to bring everyone on the reservation into the Catholic Church. What he discovered was that the Apache people already possessed a profound faith in God, the creator of all.
These days, people training to be missionaries are instructed to first discover how God is already present among the people; only then, with humility and respect, does one introduce the Good News of God’s love revealed in Jesus. A man ahead of his time, Father Al instinctively followed this approach in his ministry, establishing a tradition of mutual respect and enrichment that continues to this day. We evangelize one another through word and example, as brothers and sisters in Christ.
The St. Joseph parish community of about 300 families is spread out over 460,000 acres. A pastor here once compared the parish church to Noah’s Ark: a place of safety in a deluge. The deluge in Mescalero, as in so many communities, is poverty, broken families, violence and substance abuse.
The people of the parish are generous contributors of time, talent and treasure, but funding parish programs and operations is a constant struggle. This parish depends on the generosity of people from other communities.Over a third of the people in Mescalero
Pastor Paul Botenhagen, OFM and the parish community exchanging |
live below the poverty level. According to the 2000 U.S. census, while the national per capita income in the United States was $21,587, in Mescalero it was just $8,079.
Youth ministry is important here; the median age on the reservation is twenty-two. The parish staff strives to meet the needs of the community by journeying with the people: providing the sacraments, 
teaching, counseling, consoling, being present and spreading the Good News of God’s love.
Ben tells the story that, “During their time at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, the Chiricahua Apaches learned about farming, baseball and the church. They made these songs to sing in church. After being released from captivity the songs were lost for a while, until my Mom’s sister and some other ladies brought them back in the 1960s. Now most of the churches on the reservation use these songs.”
Sister Robert-Ann Hecker, OSF, |
Please join us in this life-giving journey. Your prayers and financial support will ensure that this small parish family will continue to shine the light of Christ into the world. Your contribution will make a difference in the lives of many.
Choir Director Ben Blake (in white shirt) and the choir lead the congregation in an Apache Song. |
You can listen to the choir singing a part of one of the Apache songs by clicking on "Apache Hymn" below. The song translates as follows in English:
Jesus Ba Jinda
Chorus: It is good to live for Jesus. That's the only good way.
Verse:
1. It is good to walk with Jesus and remember Him.
2. It is good to walk with teh strength of Jesus.
3. It is good to pray to Jesus.
4. It is good to walk in Jesus' road.
5. It is good to let the Spirit of Jesus live in you.
6. It is good to follow his word.
