PATTY: Tell us about your assignments as a
Capuchin?
FATHER DAVID: As a novice I spent a year and a half
at San Lorenzo Seminary. Eight years were spent in San Francisco,
studying for the priesthood. During that time I worked with
refugees and migrant workers from Central America. My first
parish, as an ordained priest, was St. Lawrence of Brindisi, in
Watts. I have been a Missionary in Mexico for the past
twenty years.
MARILYN: Were you asked, or did you volunteer, to
go to Mexico?
FATHER DAVID: Capuchins are not sent to be
Missionaries, we must volunteer.
MARILYN: When you went to Mexico, how long did you
think you would stay?
FATHER DAVID: I went with the idea that I would
stay.
PATTY: How long did it take to feel comfortable
with your new life?
FATHER DAVID: When I arrived, there were three
priests and one brother at the Mission, but each of us travel to
different communities so we were alone for much of the time. It
took about two years to feel comfortable, but four years to learn the
languages of the four different tribes we visit.
PATTY: How do you feel when you return to the
United States as you have this week end?
FATHER DAVID: Returning to the United States is
disorienting. Life here is complex, compared to the simple lives of my
people. The spirit of the people is different and of course their
basic needs. The people I serve suffer from hunger and lack
medical and dental care.
PATTY: This week end we have heard many wonderful
stories about the people you minister to and love. If you have time
alone, what do you do?
FATHER DAVID: I have written many books,
including dictionaries, four native catechisms, and one about the
local cave paintings. I recently completed a book chronicling our
mission growth from 1990 to today, four hundred years after he Jesuits
were expelled from Mexico in 1797. I also study Astronomy,
Anthropology, and Paleontology as they reinforce the mysteries of God
and creation.
MARILYN: What is your greatest
challenge?
FATHER
DAVID: Helping to overcome the evils of
alcoholism and drug trafficking. No words for the suffering of our
people.
As we concluded our visit,
he reminded us, as he has many times this weekend, "I feel
privileged and Blessed to be a Capuchin Franciscan Missionary among
the people of Mexico."
We felt privileged and blessed to be in the presence of such a holy
and unselfish man, and know that God has placed him exactly where he
is suppose to be.
