Speaker Matt Gill
The Robson Ranch Catholic Community has been very busy since our last article. On a crisp, sunny March Tuesday morning during Holy Week, 50 St. Mark parishioners ventured by bus to Oklahoma City. Sponsored by the Robson Ranch Catholic Community and organized by Rita and Brett Paxton and Joan and Pat Bridges, our destination was the Shrine of Blessed Stanley Rother. Father Stanley’s journey of faith took him from an Oklahoma farm to Guatemala where he lived, worked, and ministered to a poor, indigenous community. After a brief return home and knowing he was on a death list, he returned to his flock, telling his bishop, “The shepherd cannot run at the first sign of danger.” Within months, he was murdered by guerillas, a victim of the Guatemalan Civil War. Beatified by Pope Francis in 2017, Father Stanley is the first USA born martyr and first USA born priest to be declared “Blessed,” the first stage toward canonization and sainthood.
The site has a church, chapel, museum, and pilgrim center. Also, there is Tepeyac Hill, a replica of the site where Our Lady of Guadalupe appeared to St. Juan Diego. A guided tour, including a video and the tomb of Father Stanley followed by Mass, was a highlight of our pilgrimage. God watched over us, even sending a new bus from Dallas to bring us home. We learned our bus going out had a serious problem, and our journey could have ended badly.
Then on April 9, 43 members gathered in the clubhouse for our April meeting. Joan Bridges opened the meeting, Pat Bridges gave the opening prayer, and new members were greeted. Joan gave a recap of the pilgrimage and made an announcement regarding our May 11 social. Our speaker for the evening was Matt Gill, director of Formation and Evangelization at St. Philip’s Catholic Church in Flower Mound. Matt spoke on Apologetics: How to defend your Catholic faith in the modern world. Matt’s talk was both informative and inspiring. Matt spoke of how Jesus asked more questions than he answered, thus telling the group to ask questions of those who may not be believers and then listen and allow them to express their views as we are guided by the Holy Spirit. Matt encouraged the group to not only defend our faith but to spread the faith, because we have been called by our confirmation to spread the faith by living a sacramental life and living by the precepts of the Catholic Church. Our gathering ended with a prayer, and all left inspired by Matt, a knowledgeable and inspiring speaker.