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From the Pastor

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

8/8/2021

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                                                                                 From the Desk of Fr. Kevin Waymel
 
Brothers and Sisters,

Well, summer seems to be coming to a conclusion, and with it a few changes here in the offices. As you may or                              may not have been aware, our former Youth Minister, Dean Gontis, has moved on and is entering graduate school                    this fall. We wish him well and are happy to welcome the new Youth Minister, Brianda Tzintzun. Brianda comes to                      us with a lot of experience from her former parish in Washington state and yes, she likes the rain.
In addition to a new Youth Minister, we have also added a Campus Minister to the team. St. Albert did not begin as                  a parish, but as a Newman Center and to understand the difference between those two is to understand                                        the complexities inherent in our parish community. A Newman Center is not a parish, but more like a missionary                  outpost at secular universities. These centers (they exist all over the US) provide pastoral services and ministries                    to the Catholic student population. Some centers include residential living space or houses for students, while others              just have a building where the students can gather for talks and to celebrate Mass. Normally, a priest assigned                          to a Newman Center doesn’t have a parish. He is able to dedicate himself ‘full-time’ to campus outreach and working      with students, there is no CCD, no sacramental prep, no sacramental record keeping, and no bulletin (that’s my dream).      St. Albert began in this way, many years ago, in a galaxy far, far away.

At some point (and I need to brush up on my Albertine history), the St. Albert Newman Center was                                established as St. Albert Newman Parish. And so, we became a parish, but as you might expect, we are not a                            “normal’ parish. Almost every parish is territorial, meaning it’s defined by a certain set of boundaries. Historically               this let the priest know those he was responsible for ministering to. People didn’t have the option of shopping around            if they didn’t like a priest as the next parish could be a few hours walk. You were stuck. But I digress.  St. Albert                               was established, not as a territorial parish, but as a personal parish. Personal parishes are established to serve a                      specific community of people. On the East Coast you find them often associated with a certain nationality.                                  So, for example, if you had a lot of Italians move into an area, the bishop might build a church within another                      parish’s territory and establish it as a personal parish for the Italians (etc. etc. etc, you get the point). So yes, you                          are attending a parish that has a bit of an identity crisis. Welcome home. Even the parish doesn’t understand the                meaning of its existence: Newman Center and Personal Parish.

I think I began to write this to let you know that we have a new Campus Minister, Clara Roberts to assist  Fr. Trinidad              and myself in our outreach to the university and college students. It is an important mission as  university and college          living is no joke. There are a thousand and one ways life can go sideways, and fast. We are there to help them,                              provide a healthy place of faith and companionship to support them and bring them closer to Christ during these                        years. And as I’m almost at the bottom of the page, I’ll end here. You may not see me for a  week or two, I am trying                     to get away, far away, far, far away (like 4 plane rides away) for a little bit. They say  absence makes the heart grow                     fonder, and I’d like to test that theory out (just kidding). Treat the short priest well while I’m away (but not too well).

​
Fr. Kevin










 
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St. Albert the Great Newman Parish
2615 S. Solano Dr
Las Cruces, NM 88005
​575-522-6202

Mass Schedule
Monday - Friday:  5:30 pm
Saturday:  5:30 pm
Sunday:  8:00 am, 9:30 am (Spanish), 11:15 am, 6:30 pm 

Confessions​: Saturday 4 pm