Message #24 from Father Liebler, Helen Sturges, Brother Juniper, and Joan Eskell dated October 1977

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Miami after Father w~ discharged from hospital to take care of him at the home of Dr Bob Liebler, and chauffeur him 2~ound to doctor's offices for medical check­ups, visits to other members of the family and so forth, in the car Dr Bob kindly put at their disposal. Ei ght weeks later they returned hqm~,and all F~ther's friends, including his good Dr Merritt in Dolores, Colorado, notice the improve­ment in his he alth since the operation. All, that is, except Father, who would feel much more dispo sed to agree with them if only someone would come up with an "instant cure" for arthri tis~ * * * * * * * * * And here speaks up the aforesaid Fr. Liebler - but so much of this Message has been about my doings that there is little to be added. A shower of thanks spreads all over the map, but I must emphatically mention Fr Steven Plummer, the first Navajo priest, for getting to St Mary-of-the-Moonlight church as many Sundays as ~e pos­sibly could until my return. l~ ith the responsibilities he now has - St Christo­pher's at Bluff and San Juan B ~ utisto at Montezuma Creek - he is busy every Sunday. At once some of you will say, "What abaut St David's in Page?" Relax~ The people in Page kindly agreed to a new schedule - that of havino th2 Mass on Sunday evenin o, so that I can get there after the 11:00 a.m. service here. ~nother news item is the trip to 5t Louis, Mo, for the meeting Sept. 14-16 • . It was the making of history~ Ne~rly two thousand in attendance, most of them on fire with the love of Jesus Christ and His Church, expres ~ ing their minds on the st8tus their church is in, as it condones divorce, homosexuality, the ordination of women, etc, etc. Under capable leadersnip we may look forward to a solution - which lack of sp ace forbids me to enlRroe on here. You h3ve all seen more or less accurate accounts in the press (though almost all speak of "a neb/splinter church", or simi­lar absurdities), but you will get the truth in the more reliable church papers. I must add, thouqh, that there was ab-solutely no "hatred" or vilifyinq of the peisons who have put the church in­to its present state; nothing but love and sorrow for their brothers in Christ. A word must be added reg~rding Nashotah House: I have seen in print, more th8n once, the statement that there is not a Theoloqical Seminary leF.t in the Epis­copal Church where the Faith is fully taught. While I bIBS there ,in May, it wa's affirmed by the Trustees , the Faculty And the Alumni Association, each meeting separately, that no woman priest would celebrate at any of the alt~rs, or perform any sacerdotal acts on the seminary Qrounds. On the other, and perhaps more important matter, in­volving morality -- abortion, divorce, remarriage, sexual aber ation ~- there can be no doubt, I am sure, of Nasho­tah's t eachinq. It would S8em t h8t there are yet some prophets who hAve not bOilled the knee to the Baal im of this wo rld! * * * * * And from Helen: After the won derful -r\&)O "fil"Sh" _ .fir$t A"'Slo bol.'1' Mo.s\e.C'" ?&~V "8j£1 k~ g~tt. tD br. bcs..f'cili:h ~ ~~ J(o.\f'o..Jo 1"""." '"'F'o..~ ---Plu.n-.""el", 0'"' i-tb.\u..ca.Y.1 ;l. 'i ~. ''''1 ~ cer pmony at N8s hot ah ~ n d my v ~ ca ti o n vi cit with my older brother in the e as t , I returned to Hst Rock R etre ~ t Center just beFore a parish meeting to discuss the people's '"i s hes in re Q'3 r d t o a new Vic 8r. Brother Junio pr hRd been doin o. a good job of r unnin r:j th8 place, IIli th ne i qhborly help from the women of St-Mary-of-the­Moonlight, but th8 women were definit ely in ch ar qe of prepar?tions · for t he Parish Meeting. They bought the lunch sup plies, pl anned anrl prepared 8 delicious lunch and hed it r8ady at t ~l e l ve o ' Ll ock . One o f t hp three a dvi ~ ors and dioces en of f i­cials c ame early for the t en o' clock me etinq. Thp ot hers were Belayed until two, and '-'-Jere out of reach of tel eohon e;: . Every hQlf hour the 1,lOmen patiently aske d, "Idhat s hall we do about lunch? " A little be f ore t wo I s aid, "I gu ess ble should e ~ t". I was thinking wh at most women's puilds would have s aid over the ruin of t heir carefully prep ared lunch, but there was never a word of comp laint. Instead , there were giggles and they s aid, "Hel en, we did not tell you because it was 8 surpri fi e, but thi s is really a home -com i ng party for you!" Every week people came from th ~ e as t co as t or the west co ast hoping to see the Padre and to hear about his wo r k amonq the NAva jo. ~ e hAd to tell t hem s adly thAt he ItIRsn't bAck yet , but th ey l eft I,Iith enthusi e: sm ab'] ut a l l t he\, !"l2d le 'O' r ned ab'Jut l oc al hi story, culture and work of the mi s s i nn, s nd pr nmi s ed to come back to see the Padre •.