Vocations

words, “that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” may find fertile ground in my soul.

Deacon Joseph Baltz will be ordained into the priesthood on Saturday, May 30, 2020 at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe.

Deacon Joseph Baltz

I was born in Albuquerque on March 30, 1993. My parents raised me in the city of Albuquerque until after high-school when I left for seminary. During that time, my home parish was St. Thomas Aquinas under the guardianship of Msgr. Douglas Raun.

Regarding my family, some people dread family reunions, this is not the case with me. I love my family, especially when all the cousins, aunts and uncles get together. Anyone who has been blessed with the opportunity to be present at one of our family reunions will witness to the gift that God has given me by placing me in this family.

I first considered the priesthood when I was five years old. I didn’t know what I was talking about at the time, but that’s fine, what God uses to get men into the seminary is not necessarily what He uses to keep them there. I would say that I did most of my discernment in seminary. It was there that I fell in love with the Priesthood of Jesus Christ and His liturgy. I first went to Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas to get my philosophy degree and then to Mt. Angel Seminary in Oregon to get my theology degree. During my summers, I have been assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas, Estancia Valley Catholic Parish, Sacred Heart in Española, Our Lady of Guadalupe in Peña Blanca, and St. Anne’s in Tucumcari. I was also sent to Costa Rica for Spanish immersion one summer.

I am greatly looking forward to ordination and would appreciate prayers, specifically that Jesus’

Anthony Obinna Ezeaputa

I was born on February 20, 1985. I was baptized and raised Roman Catholic by my parents, Joseph and Veronica, in Onitsha Anambra State Nigeria. I have four older sisters, two older brothers and one younger sister.

St. Charles Borromeo Albuquerque is my home parish. I served in these parishes: Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church Española and St. Jude Thaddeus Catholic Church Albuquerque.

My initial desire to serve as a Roman Catholic priest was nurtured by my parents, and my siblings. One of my family’s daily activities was to attend daily Mass before work and school. While attending daily Mass, I longed to serve as an altar server. As was the custom in my parish, one has to be a communicant to serve as an altar server. So, I was enrolled for the first holy communion catechism classes and received my first holy communion to be able to serve as an altar server. While serving daily at Mass, I began to feel a burning desire to become a priest so as to celebrate Mass for my beloved parents. These wishes brought me to high school seminary, the Discalced Carmelite Order and the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

I am thankful to these schools that I attended: St. Dominic Savio Seminary Akpu Anambra State Nigeria, St. John Bosco Seminary Isuaniocha Anambra State Nigeria, Dominican Institute Ibadan Oyo State Nigeria (Bachelors of Arts in Philosophy), Pontificia Facoltà Teologica Teresianum Rome Italy (Sacred Theology Baccalaureate), and Mount Angel Seminary, St. Benedict, Oregon (Masters of Arts in Theology). They were pivotal in my intellectual, pastoral, human, and spiritual formations.

I am grateful to my family, archdiocese, archbishop, vocation directors, and friends, who have helped me in discerning the will of God for me. May God bless you for your prayers and support. Please pray for me to be faithful and fulfilled in my vocation, and be assured of my prayers too.

Anthony Obinna Ezeaputa will be ordained into the transitional diaconate on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at St. Thomas Aquinas in Rio Rancho.

Jordan Sanchez

I was born on August 1, 1993 in Charlotte, North Carolina to Angela Clarke and Randy Sánchez. Shortly after I was born, our family moved back to Albuquerque, where my dad is from. We are heirs of the Atrisco land grant. I grew up there with my younger sister, Amber, and my late older half-brother, Cole. I was blessed to have a happy childhood in a good home. My parents worked hard to raise us kids well, and I am eternally grateful.

I grew up at St. Joseph’s on the Rio Grande parish in Albuquerque, but am now registered at St. Thomas Aquinas in Rio Rancho. I am grateful to the priests at both, who have in some way nurtured

my vocation.

I graduated from St. Pius X high school in 2011, and then went to UNM for my first year of college. It was in this year that I had a radical shift and deepening of my faith. I began attending the Catholic Apologetics club that was sponsored by Our Lady of Perpetual Help Byzantine Catholic Church, as well as a young adult group that was at Immaculate Conception downtown. It was my participation in these two groups, the friendships that I made, and the mentoring of Fr. Patrick Hough, SJ and Fr. Christopher Zugger, that I began to pray more, attempt to grow in virtue, learn deep things about my faith, and think about what God was calling me to do with my life. I am so blessed to have been surrounded by so many wonderful people in this time who built me up and truly inspired me to love God!

By early in the spring semester, I was convinced that our Lord was calling me into the seminary in order to serve the Archdiocese of Santa Fe as a priest one day. I was accepted and sent to Holy Trinity Seminary near Dallas, Texas for four years. It was amazing! During my time there I received an amazing education at the University of Dallas, and was graced with some incredible friendships.

During my summers away from the seminary, I have been so blessed to have been stationed at a variety of places around the archdiocese. I am so grateful for my time at each of these and cherish them all in my heart: San Isidro in Corrales, the Catholic Charismatic Center, San Juan Bautista and Tewa Missions in Ohkay Owingeh, St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center, and St. Anne’s in Tucumcari.

After graduating with my undergrad in Philosophy in Dallas, I was sent to Mt. Angel Seminary near Portland, Oregon, where I am still completing my graduate studies. After my second year in Oregon, I was so incredibly blessed to spend a whole year at Santa Maria de la Paz in Santa Fe for a pastoral internship.

Some of my favorite things are cars (go Mazda!), artisanal coffee (who doesn’t love a good cappuccino?), and learning about the rich and beautiful traditions of our Catholic faith.

If there’s anything I’ve gained over the past eight years of seminary formation, it’s a great love for the people of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe! I can’t wait to, God-willing, serve you as a deacon for the next year, and as a priest for the rest of my life! Please pray for me that I may be a good and faithful servant of God and His people in this archdiocese. I pray for you all every day! Santa María de la Paz, Conquistadora de Nuestros Corazones, ruega por nosotros!

Jordan Sanchez will be ordained into the transitional diaconate on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 at St. Thomas Aquinas in Rio Rancho.

Seminary Burse

The following parishes have sent in excess Mass stipends and other contributions collected at the Archdiocesan Finance Office for seminarian education. These receipts are for the months of March and April 2020. Excess Mass stipends are from multiple Mass intentions celebrated at parishes. The archdiocesan policy is for excess Mass stipends to be used for seminarian education.

Parish Name/City Amount Received

Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – Albuquerque.............. 2,000.00 Our Lady of the Annunciation – Albuquerque...........................1,852.50 Sacred Heart of Jesus – Española .................................................2,500.00 St. John Vianney – Rio Rancho.......................................................... 1,000.00 St. Joseph on the Rio Grande – Albuquerque...............................900.00 St. Patrick – St. Joseph – Raton......................................................... 1,400.00 St. Thomas Aquinas – Rio Rancho....................................................5,153.72 Total $ 14,806.22

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ACCOUNTING

By Sister Constance Veit, LSP O ne of my favorite hymns is a recent addition to our Easter repertoire, Three Days. It begins with an expression of despair – “Three days our world was broken; the Lord of life lay dead,” but then builds to a triumphant conclusion: “Though still Christ’s body suffers, pierced daily by the sword, yet death has no dominion: the risen Christ is Lord!”

As the coronavirus death toll continues to rise, daily media coverage in our country is a mixed bag. Along with a preponderance of ominous and depressing news reports, there have also been many uplifting stories about human generosity and connectedness as well as the power of music, art, and humor to uplift spirits.

As Christians, we should infuse the national narrative with powerful stories of faith in God’s providential care and the hope flowing from Christ’s resurrection. In the midst of so much sickness and fear, our brothers and sisters need us to reassure them that “death has no dominion because the risen Christ is Lord” and really does walk among us!

I have been helping out at our Home in Delaware, which has been particularly hard hit by the coronavirus. By the end of Holy Week, we had lost 11 elderly residents to the virus.

I asked God how it was possible to maintain a spirit of hope in the face of so many seemingly untimely deaths. I say “seemingly” because through prayer I realized that these deaths were untimely only in our eyes – not in God’s. If God saw fit to take these individuals to himself through this pandemic, he must have known that their lives had fulfilled his plan and they were ready to return to him.

Our Christian faith assures us that suffering always has value and that those who die believing in Christ will live with him forever. It has struck me that these words must not remain mere platitudes. Christian faith and hope are meant for times such as these. As St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all” (1 Cor 15:19).

I’ve been thinking a lot about the example of our foundress, Saint Jeanne Jugan, in response to a situation not unlike our own. In 1857 five novices at our motherhouse died of typhoid fever in a short span of time. Those who remained were heartbroken.

Jeanne Jugan tried to help the novices overcome their sorrow and see their situation as a way of growing stronger in faith and more resolute in hope. After one funeral she comforted the novices, “Come along now, little ones, be brave! One of us has left for Glory; our own turn will come. We must be prepared.”

One of us has left for Glory; our own turn will come – generations of Little Sisters have shared this unshakeable faith in the reality of our heavenly destiny. It has sustained them through good times and bad.

The influenza epidemic of 1918, to which our present situation has been compared, came on the heels of World War I.

As 1918 came to a close, our Mother General spoke of “the cross of a universal illness added to the sufferings caused by the war.” She praised the Sisters for their generosity and spirit of sacrifice as they spared no effort in caring for the elderly despite the most precarious circumstances.

The Congregation also underwent severe trials during World War II. In 1944 our novitiate in Marino, Italy and a Home in France were destroyed during Allied bombings, killing 32 Little Sisters and 70 residents. A plan to evacuate the novices to a safer location in Rome fell through and just hours later 28 Sisters were buried in the rubble when a bomb fell on them during the community’s lunch.

One of the survivors later wrote, “We came to realize that what God wanted was not a few departures for Rome, but numerous departures for Heaven.”

As we mourn the loss of our dear residents, I’ve tried to think of their deaths as departures for heaven, their passage to Glory.

During this Easter season I pray that the contemplation of Christ’s victory over sin and death will help us to rise above the cloud of tragedy hanging over us and renew our faith in the power of the resurrection to lift us all to Glory.

Sister Constance Veit is the director of communications for the Little Sisters of the Poor. Faith and hope are for these times “ Our Christian faith assures

us that suffering always has value and that those who die believing in Christ will live with him forever. These words must not remain mere platitudes.

12 P EOPLE of G OD may2020