San Felipe de Neri Roman Catholic Church The Mother Church of Albuquerque 2005 North Plaza, NW Albuquerque, NM 87104 (505) 243-4628 www.sanfelipedeneri.org “In the heart of Albuquerque, we strive to be the heart and hands of God.” San Felipe de Neri Established 1706 May 17, 2020
My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ, This weekend, as we celebrate the 6th Sunday of Easter, we hear Jesus telling us, “I will not leave you orphans.” Jesus says these words to all the people who were confused and concerned in that period just before His passion, death, resurrection and ascension during that most special time in John’s gospel that we call, “The Last Supper Discourse.” I share this idea from Sunday’s gospel as it will hopefully be a comfort for what I now need to announce. This presentation today is for the community of San Felipe de Neri Church here in Albuquerque as well as the community of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary also here in Albuquerque. On July 1, 2020, Archbishop John Charles Wester, the twelfth Archbishop of Santa Fe has assigned me to become the new pastor of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary in the near Southwest Valley here in Albuquerque. Yes, on that date I will be leaving my position as the pastor of San Felipe. I would like to first address the holy, historic and venerable community at San Felipe and then speak to the community at Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. First, to the sisters and brothers at San Felipe de Neri in Old Town, I would like to begin by saying it is extremely hard to believe it was just over four years ago when I was more than honored to be called to be the shepherd of this Mother Church of Albuquerque. I came with great hope, great expectations, some trepidation with great trust that God certainly had a plan for us to walk together for this time. We have done some amazing things in a very short time. We have celebrated the lots of Masses, weddings, funerals, baptisms and many momentous occasions at the San Felipe School. Of course, then, all the FIESTAS clearly have been amazing. We have worked very hard and well together. I believe we have touched each other’s hearts. We have walked with each other through joys and sorrows. We have experienced challenges and had great successes. We have listened to the voices of our Creator/God, the Redeemer/Son, and the Sanctifier/Spirit all the while opening each other to the mystery of being a dynamic community of faith. Clearly, the culture, traditions, and experiences we shared have been gifts beyond measure. I will miss you in ways you cannot begin to understand. I have been humbled by your faith, your generosity, your compassion, and your love. Having lost my father just after my arrival in 2016 and the loss of my mother just this past February, I literally became an orphan in these days as your pastor. You have been here with me on this part of the journey and for that alone I will be eternally grateful for your care, prayers and support. Over these past years reflected in many of the preaching experiences I have shared, one of the themes that continually has come through has been, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.” That has once again come true as I genuinely thought, “I will be here at San Felipe until my retirement twelve years from now.” That plan was not meant to be. Now, I would like to speak to the community of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary. Two weeks ago when Abbot Joel Garner, Archbishop John Charles Wester, Fr. Graham Golden and Ms. Vita Saavedra your Parish Pastoral Council Chairperson announced that the Norbertines would be leaving ministerial leadership after 35 years at Holy Rosary, I know it was a significant shock to many of you. It is going to be a huge transition. Often, when an announcement like that is made, immediately many questions with even more concerns arise. “What will happen to our community? Who will come to lead us? What will change? What is happening?” Those were many of the questions I had myself as the initial shock of the Norbertine announcement settled into my mind. To all those who have questions and concerns I ask that we all look to the holy messengers who come from God with the advice, “Do not be afraid.” Our Blessed Mother Mary herself was given that very message from the Archangel Gabriel when she was asked to be the mother of our Salvation, Jesus. Ultimately Mary responded, “I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” I believe it is in our Blessed Mother that we have an excellent example of how we need to trust in our God and the plan that is ahead for all of us in our future. In these next weeks, months and years we will walk together as sisters and brothers in faith. We will get to know one another’s strengths and weaknesses. We will laugh. We will cry. We will share in this part of our journey continuing to listen for the voices of all our shepherds trying as best we can to continue to be the thriving community standing on the shoulders of all the leaders of the past. I promise to do as Jesus asks of all of us to, “Love one another as I have loved you.” The Norbertine charism or, spirit that has led this community for these last 35 years will continue, albeit in a new way as the future unfolds. I have spoken with Abbot Joel and Fr. Graham about my desire to have this transition be one that honors the past and looks to the future with great hope. One additional question might be, “Why Fr. Andy Pavlak?” The best answer I can give is in two parts. First off, Archbishop John Charles asked me to do this. Out of obedience I feel safely called to listen to the voice of our shepherd/Archbishop. So, I full heartedly responded with a resounding, “Yes!” Secondly, some of you know my history, many of you do not. When I was ordained (twenty years ago this past week) I was a member of the Order of Preachers or, Dominicans. Originally from Chicago, I was first acquainted with New Mexico when I served as a seminarian at The Aquinas Newman Center at the University of New Mexico. It was there that I came into my own in ministry and literally fell in love with New Mexico’s culture, people, land and church. My first assignment as a priest was at another St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center at Purdue University in West Lafayette Indiana. At that time, I was part of a brand-new three-member community that was going through the transition from being led by priests of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana to being led by the Dominicans. That was a huge transition for the community at Purdue. After that three-year assignment, I was called back to New Mexico and served as Associate Pastor and then Pastor of the Newman Center at UNM. While in that assignment, I discerned a change in my own life moving away from the Dominicans to embrace the life as a secular priest of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, another significant transition. A few years later, the Dominicans left the Newman Center at UNM. Many of us all experienced another significant transition that was very difficult for numerous members of the UNM community. When Archbishop Wester asked me to consider this current change, I reviewed my life and saw the previous transitions seemingly have prepared me to walk with the Holy Rosary community in this time. I believe I have a sense of what some of the issues (including a fair amount of grieving), feelings and problems might include. I ask you to allow me to be your, “foot-washing servant” in this time of your history. Finally, to both communities of San Felipe de Neri and Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, one of the most difficult things about this is just the tremendous change that will occur in the days ahead. It is the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus who is credited for the idea that, “Change is the only constant in life.” Perhaps it is the human condition that makes any change so very uncomfortable for us all. With this change happening in a time when there still seems to be more chaos than calm does not give many people a sense of peace. Yes, we are still in a time of limited contact. This fact only means we will take additional time getting to know one another. I do promise we will get to know each other soon enough. I began this presentation with the words of Jesus that I would like to repeat here, “I will not leave you orphans.” Jesus has given us each other to walk with together on this journey. Now, I ask you to join me in an exciting time of possibilities, opportunities, and dreams yet to be imagined. With the Easter light guiding us, years of tradition, grace, faith, and love in our history, we need not fear.
May God bless us all today, tomorrow, and always.
Rev. Andrew J. Pavlak, Pastor San Felipe de Neri, Old Town (until July 1, 2020)