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All genuinely Catholic Christian stories end in “happily ever after.” In other words, they are romantic by their very nature.
This is because in the Catholic Christian worldview, we believe that in the end, good will overcome evil, life with overcome death, and love will overcome hate.
Therefore, it is not surprising that on the last Sunday of the Church Year, which is today, the Church celebrates the feast of Christ the King. This feast reminds us that earthly powers, such as presidents and royalty, political movements and parties, and nations of the earth will all pass away. But Jesus Christ shall remain.
The feast of Christ the King is a very special day here in Honduras, for it is the patronal feast day of our Delegados de la Palabra, or “Delegates of the Word.” These are men and women who have special education to be the official Catholic representatives in their communities. In some ways, they are “priest-extenders.”
The parish in which I serve has 87 churches scattered over many mountain ranges and miles, so it is quite impossible for 4 priests to celebrate Masses on a regular basis in every place. Fortunately, the Delegados de la Palabra are on hand in each community. There, they conduct Liturgy of the Word services every Thursday and Sunday, baptize babies who are in danger of death, conduct novenas for those who have died, keep their churches in good repair, handle all the paperwork for sacraments of their churches, visit the sick, and a conduct a myriad of other duties. Without the Delegados, the Catholic Church in Honduras would be in very poor shape.
So today, I salute all the men and women who serve us as Delegados, and I ask that God shower them with many special blessings!
In the above photo, we see some of the Delegados de la Palabra of our parish come together to celebrate with Fr. Gerardo Vallecillo, the former pastor. Fr. Gerardo hosted this celebration as a way of saying “Thank you!” to the men and women who serve in this critical role in the many churches of our parish. The shirts the Delegados are wearing were a gift from our sister parish, the Basilica Shrine of St. Mary, in Wilmington, North Carolina.
