In a previous post about Father Quinn, I reflected on my Saltillo trip in 1992. Certainly this was a highly influential and spiritually enlightening trip of my youth. I had high hopes for this book hoping it would fill in a lot of blanks on some questions that I had. Certainly it did but it exposed more than anything a catastrophic failure.
Missions are not easy task. To properly support one, an extreme effort is undertaken for the allocation of financial resources, manpower, political influence, and most of all it takes the heart of servant make it truly successful. Father Quinn was the intersection of all of those thing he had the servant's heart. While initially he couldn't speak the language of the people, he more than anything learned to understand the people. It reminds me of the quote, "Seek first to understand, then to be understood."
Father Quinn didn't go to Saltillo to evangelize and turn them into American Catholics. He went there to serve the Mexican people. He their language and customs, rules, and means of doing business; rather than assert a colonial approach. This was the underpinning of his greatness, whereby he worked within those mechanisms to achieve great success.
His impact was not unnoticed and his funeral more than 20,000 people came by to pay their respects. By the grace of God, this foreign saint was allowed to be buried, not only in Mexico, but next to the altar upon which he served so many masses. I was awestruck by his accomplishment, and while he did not produce all of the work by himself, he found the key to success that he was to empower others. Father Quinn, such a sample for missionary, leader, ship, and tactics. So many lessons can be learned from his success.
The author, Msgr Flannery, does a fair job of providing historical and unbiased review of the events. I enjoyed the accuracy of the narrative and his attention to detail. Monsignor Flannery also served at the Saltillo mission and has great insight into the inner workings.
It's quite easy to look back on history when you already know the outcome. I was especially troubled to read the interactions of then Father Law, who later became Cardinal Law. His elements of being a "company man" and self-servitude can be traced even through this book.
In my own words after reading the book, I came to understand the significant tragedy that one man's death can hold. Father Quinn's sudden death in 1997 sent a drastic shock through everyone, and almost overnight the gains that he had made were lost due to sheer incompetence on part of the episcopates. The true tragedy of the Saltillo Mission is our dioceses didn't have their acts together.
Overall, I highly recommend this book for anyone who was tangentially associated with the mission insult to you. Knowing what we know now, certainly we could've done things much different to prepare for a better succession plan. More than anything this book should serve as a historical guide on what works, and what doesn't.
In all fairness, though, the root problem can be traced to the lack of vocations.
It's hard to believe that America is now the missionary ground. We are in dire need of priests. Priests that can not only provide the sacraments, but can also provide moral leadership. Please pray for vocations.
Dios, padre todopoderoso, ten piedad de nosotros. Por tu bondad te pedimos que envíes más sacerdotes para servir a tus hijos.
Padre Quinn, Beato Stanley Rother, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, rueguen por nosotros.
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