As the Diocesan Director of Religious Education in
the missionary diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska, I encounter the Lord in my
ministry in many ways. The place I most experience God is with the native
people in our village missions. Recently, I had the joy and the blessing of
assisting the parents in the preparation of their children for the Sacraments
of Reconciliation and First Eucharist. It was a wonderful day on Sunday when
five of the children received their First Communion and a baby was baptized. I went
to another village mission for Mother’s Day weekend for First Communion as
well.
I fly to the villages in small planes that land on
airstrips outside the village. My ministry involves flying to 13 native village
missions including Barrow on the Arctic Ocean and Little Diomede Island, 25
miles from Russia in the Bering Sea and driving to our nine parishes on the
road system. I assist in preparing the people for the sacraments. I am, also,
responsible for Catechist Formation, Adult Faith Formation and Religious Education.
There 46 parishes in the diocese, 36 are in native
villages in the bush (access by plane only) and nine are on the “road system.” Fairbanks
is the largest diocese, geographically, in the United States and the only all mission
diocese. Because of the shortage of priests here (16 priests and one Bishop),
the missions in the bush have Mass only every two to three months depending on
the weather. Communion services are the norm in these villages. We also have
only seven Sisters and two Brothers.
Sister Maggie Butler is the other Philly SSJ in
our diocese. She is in Tok, which is on the road system about four hours from
Fairbanks and 80 miles from the Canadian border.
So although my ministry is challenging at times
(for example: being snowed-in for several days in a village, being in one of
our missions without running water, limited food options, difficult travel
conditions with the temperature -30 or less), I feel I am making a difference
in serving our “dear neighbor” with the remarkable, resilient, faith-filled missionaries
and people of our diocese. To learn more about the Fairbanks Diocese go to www.dioceseoffairbanks.org
Sister Dorothy Giloley SSJ
Sister Dorothy was born and raised in
Philadelphia. She has ministered in elementary school, youth ministry, campus
ministry, and religious education, as a pastoral associate and in adult faith
formation. She served in the inner city in Philadelphia for 18 years, and in
New Jersey, Maryland, and West Virginia. She has been serving in Alaska for the
past 14 years
As a novice, I lived with Sr. Dorothy Giloley in inner city, Philadelphia. She is a remarkable woman totally dedicated to doing God's work. I have a favorite story I like to share.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first met Dorothy, she came into the kitchen of the convent declaring, "Boy! Am I mad at God!" Another Sister, apparently used to her declarations, calmly asked her "Why?" while I looked on with interest.
"Look what He did to my habit!" she declared, holding up the part of her hem that was covered in blue paint. "I was just painting the bleachers and He let my habit go into the paint!"
Of course we all laughed but I was impressed by her natural relationship with God. It's always been that way between God and Dorothy. They are partners and steady companions. She does nothing without Him!