A lion or a lamb?
By John R. Linton
Father John W. Fitz Gerald came to New Mexico by way of Detroit, where he was born, and Milwaukee where this oldest child of a family of three boys and one girl spent part of his boyhood. Visits to relatives in New Mexico convinced him that the Southwest should be his future home.
In his initial attempt to enter the study for the priesthood, the first of many ailments that were to mark his life caused the Maryknoll order to reject his application because he had had meningitis. This blow turned his attention in a different direction, as he then went to the University of Arizona in Tucson to study drama with a view to a career in the theater.
Americas entry into the Second World War brought closure to that chapter in Father Fitz Geralds life, for he then entered the Air Force intending to become a pilot. This, too, was frustrated because of a lack of depth perception in his sight which the Air Force first discovered when Airman John Fitz Gerald bounced his plane in on his first (and only) solo landing. Thus began his career as a radio operator in the Air Force.
John Fitz Geralds tour of military service included duty at Bahrain Island and at Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey. He capitalized on his opportunity to visit the Holy Land where he absorbed details of the life, the suffering, and death of Our Lord which he later brought forth from the storehouse of his memory in such compelling sermons as a priest.
After leaving military service at the end of the war, Father again turned his eyes toward the priesthood, entered the seminary for diocesan priests in New Mexico and was ordained in 1953. Father Fitz Gerald was told by a priest mentor that a priest should be a lion in the pulpit but a lamb in the confessional.
How well Father Fitz Gerald has carried out this advice! For his sermons have been strong and moving advocacy of all things Catholic, leaving no room for doubt or confusion as to where the Church stands on any moral or doctrinal point. His sermons also come to life as he paints them in detailed pictures, for example, of scenes in the Holy Land which he visited in the war years.
A particular one of his sermons stands out in my mind. It related to the arrest and trial of Our Blessed Lord which was filled with detailed information of the distance Jesus was forced to walk as Caiaphas, the High Priest, plotted the Lords crucifixion. The distances, the hours, and the sufferings of Our Savior come to life in the living color of Father Fitz Geralds word pictures. Like all his sermons, this one was tightly wound with forceful phrasing in a brevity of style, leaving the congregation looking forward to his next sermon.
Father Fitz Gerald carried out the other half of his mentors advice by his availability for confession and his patience in the confessional with his understanding of human weakness and, yes, even of malice. These gifts of the Holy Spirit have marked him as a lamb in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
For years Father Fitz Gerald had a Bible class that drew many followers from all over Albuquerque to listen to his lectures, so reminiscent of Archbishop Sheens television series in their dramatic and spellbinding quality. No doubt much of Fathers charism was drawn from that great TV personality with whom Father Fitz Gerald served for 15 years in the capacity of Archdiocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Father Fitz Gerald is from the pro-active school of the priesthood. He has sought out the sheep and contacted them when he has sensed their problems. Moreover, Father, an active Marian priest, has never hesitated to remind the flock that the surest way to reach Our Lord is through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So he has encouraged devotion to the Rosary, the life of Christ as seen through the eyes of Mary, as a most effective route to follow.
This writer and his wife have a particular reason to value Father Fitz Geralds friendship because of the beautiful Mass he celebrated on the occasion of our 50th wedding anniversary three years ago. For, in spite of his many ailments, especially his life threatening heart condition, Father made the effort to say Mass on that happy occasion for us, with his oxygen tank at his side.
Father Fitz Geralds service to the people of New Mexico includes teaching English, Drama, and Speech at Pius High School, plus assignments to the parishes of St. Bernadette, Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Fatima, and Queen of Heaven in Albuquerque.
He has carried on in spite of terrible health afflictions including pseudamonas, osteoporosis, heart failure (including six heart attacks which required many trips to the hospital), triple heart by-pass surgery, and now an ulcer.
Even now in residence at Queen of Heaven parish in Albuquerque in what should be his retirement years, Father says the Tuesday and Thursday Masses in the parish Church and hears confession on Saturdays. The previous pastor, Father Robert P. Malloy, and the present pastor, Father Johnnie Lee Chavez, in order to protect Father from his friends and penitents, have for the past couple of years had a notice on his confessional which states his hours for hearing confession are limited to one hour on Saturday.
As he celebrated his 46th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood on May 23, 1999 and his 78th birthday on May 31st, Father Fitz Gerald could look back on a life of dedicated and humble service to Our Lord. We have been blessed to have such a loyal Alter Christus in this Archdiocese.
By John R. Linton
Father John W. Fitz Gerald came to New Mexico by way of Detroit, where he was born, and Milwaukee where this oldest child of a family of three boys and one girl spent part of his boyhood. Visits to relatives in New Mexico convinced him that the Southwest should be his future home.
In his initial attempt to enter the study for the priesthood, the first of many ailments that were to mark his life caused the Maryknoll order to reject his application because he had had meningitis. This blow turned his attention in a different direction, as he then went to the University of Arizona in Tucson to study drama with a view to a career in the theater.
Americas entry into the Second World War brought closure to that chapter in Father Fitz Geralds life, for he then entered the Air Force intending to become a pilot. This, too, was frustrated because of a lack of depth perception in his sight which the Air Force first discovered when Airman John Fitz Gerald bounced his plane in on his first (and only) solo landing. Thus began his career as a radio operator in the Air Force.
John Fitz Geralds tour of military service included duty at Bahrain Island and at Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey. He capitalized on his opportunity to visit the Holy Land where he absorbed details of the life, the suffering, and death of Our Lord which he later brought forth from the storehouse of his memory in such compelling sermons as a priest.
After leaving military service at the end of the war, Father again turned his eyes toward the priesthood, entered the seminary for diocesan priests in New Mexico and was ordained in 1953. Father Fitz Gerald was told by a priest mentor that a priest should be a lion in the pulpit but a lamb in the confessional.
How well Father Fitz Gerald has carried out this advice! For his sermons have been strong and moving advocacy of all things Catholic, leaving no room for doubt or confusion as to where the Church stands on any moral or doctrinal point. His sermons also come to life as he paints them in detailed pictures, for example, of scenes in the Holy Land which he visited in the war years.
A particular one of his sermons stands out in my mind. It related to the arrest and trial of Our Blessed Lord which was filled with detailed information of the distance Jesus was forced to walk as Caiaphas, the High Priest, plotted the Lords crucifixion. The distances, the hours, and the sufferings of Our Savior come to life in the living color of Father Fitz Geralds word pictures. Like all his sermons, this one was tightly wound with forceful phrasing in a brevity of style, leaving the congregation looking forward to his next sermon.
Father Fitz Gerald carried out the other half of his mentors advice by his availability for confession and his patience in the confessional with his understanding of human weakness and, yes, even of malice. These gifts of the Holy Spirit have marked him as a lamb in the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
For years Father Fitz Gerald had a Bible class that drew many followers from all over Albuquerque to listen to his lectures, so reminiscent of Archbishop Sheens television series in their dramatic and spellbinding quality. No doubt much of Fathers charism was drawn from that great TV personality with whom Father Fitz Gerald served for 15 years in the capacity of Archdiocesan director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Father Fitz Gerald is from the pro-active school of the priesthood. He has sought out the sheep and contacted them when he has sensed their problems. Moreover, Father, an active Marian priest, has never hesitated to remind the flock that the surest way to reach Our Lord is through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So he has encouraged devotion to the Rosary, the life of Christ as seen through the eyes of Mary, as a most effective route to follow.
This writer and his wife have a particular reason to value Father Fitz Geralds friendship because of the beautiful Mass he celebrated on the occasion of our 50th wedding anniversary three years ago. For, in spite of his many ailments, especially his life threatening heart condition, Father made the effort to say Mass on that happy occasion for us, with his oxygen tank at his side.
Father Fitz Geralds service to the people of New Mexico includes teaching English, Drama, and Speech at Pius High School, plus assignments to the parishes of St. Bernadette, Sacred Heart, Our Lady of Fatima, and Queen of Heaven in Albuquerque.
He has carried on in spite of terrible health afflictions including pseudamonas, osteoporosis, heart failure (including six heart attacks which required many trips to the hospital), triple heart by-pass surgery, and now an ulcer.
Even now in residence at Queen of Heaven parish in Albuquerque in what should be his retirement years, Father says the Tuesday and Thursday Masses in the parish Church and hears confession on Saturdays. The previous pastor, Father Robert P. Malloy, and the present pastor, Father Johnnie Lee Chavez, in order to protect Father from his friends and penitents, have for the past couple of years had a notice on his confessional which states his hours for hearing confession are limited to one hour on Saturday.
As he celebrated his 46th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood on May 23, 1999 and his 78th birthday on May 31st, Father Fitz Gerald could look back on a life of dedicated and humble service to Our Lord. We have been blessed to have such a loyal Alter Christus in this Archdiocese.
