A Special Guest At St Rose Offers A Reminder: ‘Be Thankful’

By Shannon Hicks

Mired in the middle of a miserable recession, it is sometimes difficult to step back and remember that there are so many Americans who have much less than what most residents of Newtown live with. While Newtown’s 2008 median household income was $113,000 and the per capita income averaged $46,300 according to the US Census Bureau, it is difficult to imagine living in a city where those numbers are $33,570 and $15,146, respectively.

St Rose of Lima recently welcomed Father Eusebio Martinez, the parish priest for Holy Family Church in Edinburg, Texas, a Roman Catholic church in one of the nation’s poorest cities, who shared a message of hope and thanks with those who attended Mass during the weekend of April 10–11.

Fr Martinez flew into New York on April 9 and spent the weekend in Newtown, where he was a special guest during all six of the weekend’s Masses at St Rose. His invitation came through Newtown resident and St Rose member Mark Dennen, who visited The Bee office with Fr Martinez as the two returned from LaGuardia Airport that Friday afternoon.

“I had read an article in The Wall Street Journal in September [2009, called ‘Downtown Weighs On Poor’] that compared the impact of the recession on the poorest people in America,” said Mr Dennen. “The lowest poverty rate in the country was in the Cornwall-Torrington area of Connecticut, with less than two percent of the population living under the poverty level. The highest poverty rate was Edinburg, Texas, which had just under 40 percent of its population living below the poverty rate.

“And of those people, about 15 percent of them were living on less than $22,500 a year, and that was for a family of four,” he continued.

Mr Dennen began to wonder about life in that Texas city, and through phone calls to the Diocese of Brownsville in Texas, he learned of Holy Family Church and Fr Martinez, the church’s only preacher for a church with 4,000 families. He also spoke with Sister Rose Carmel Garay, the church’s only deacon, who told him about the church’s outreach program.

“The maximum they can distribute to any one family is $50 a year. Given the poverty rate in this town, one can imagine the extent of the need,” said Mr Dennen, who felt compelled to do something to help the impoverished parish. So he asked his co-workers at JSR Micro if they would be willing to make a donation for the Edinburg church’s outreach program. Mr Dennen pledged to match any donations he received for the Texas church.

With a financial donation in hand, Mr Dennen and wife Susan flew to Texas in November to deliver the money and also to see where it would be spent. While they enjoyed meeting Fr Martinez and attending Mass at his church, the Dennens also saw firsthand the difference between their life in one of the country’s most affluent counties and life for those in the country’s most impoverished town.

Edinburg is a very agricultural town about 12 miles from the Rio Grande. Its residents work in cotton and potatoes, said Fr Martinez.

“As you know, there is very little money in agriculture,” Fr Martinez pointed out. “The margins are thin. The people work very hard.”

Most Edinburg households, according to Fr Martinez, live within an annual income of between $20,000 and $25,000. Families are generally five to six people, and the cultural makeup is primarily Hispanic.

Fr Martinez is himself no stranger to poverty. One of the youngest children in his family of 13, Eusebio Martinez emigrated from Mexico to the United States at age 16, swimming across the Rio Grande. He earned a degree in accounting and became an American citizen on November 30, 1988, the closing date of an amnesty program under President Reagan.

His accounting degree was not earning him a lot of work, so he began working as a laborer in oil fields. In 1992 he started seminary school, and continued his studies nearly a decade, while living and working in the Midwest. He has been an ordained priest since 2003, and has returned to southern Texas.

His message to the people of St Rose: “Look at what you have. Do not take it for granted,” he told The Newtown Bee shortly after arriving in Newtown. The members of his parish, he said, “are very grateful to God that they have the basics: a roof over their head, a bed, and good water. For that, they consider themselves rich.”

The parishioners of St Rose listened to Fr Martinez deliver his story during the weekend’s Masses, following the Gospel message of fear and doubt, the story of Thomas.

“He explained his fear and doubts, in crossing the river, in working in the oil fields, leaving for the seminary and now with a very tough assignment,” Mr Dennen said following Fr Martinez’s visit. “He also explained how God has provided, how people are happy just to have a roof over their head and food on the table and how they trust in God.

“As for the message being received, it was quiet while he was speaking, especially after talking about swimming across the Rio Grande at age 16,” Mr Dennen added.

The parishioners of St Rose said Farewell to Fr Martinez by sending him home with donations they pulled together during the Masses, a collection that totaled $7,500. Fr Martinez told the parishioners that the money will be used toward his plan to add more classrooms at his church, not just for religious education but also to help educate those without jobs so they can secure employment.

In return, he left many members of St Rose with a reminder that they have indeed been provided for.

“It’s easy to lose sight of what you have, until you see others who are trying to get by with less,” Mr Dennen said. “The recession has been so hard on everyone, but you have to look around sometimes and remember what you have.”