Freer parish is outpost of diocese, but at the center of the faith

"We’re at the end of the world out here,” a fellow in Freer was heard saying to a local resident. “Not at the end, but you can see it from here,” responded the local.

It may not be the end of the world, but St. Mary Parish in Freer is at the end of the Diocese of Corpus Christi. There is not another Catholic Church until you reach Laredo on the Texas-Mexico border 60 miles down the desert-like terrain.

While it may be in a remote, somewhat isolated part of the diocese, the faith at St. Mary is very much alive and thriving. This was clearly demonstrated by Holy Week activities, beginning with a procession of palms and ending with an ecumenical Easter Sunday service at the local community center.

On Palm Sunday parishioners gathered at the Parish Hall where the young people were handed palm branches and placed in the front of a line getting ready to process to the church. Deacon Eleuterio Bitoni read the Gospel of Matthew and Father Sebastian V. Thomas, Administrator of St. Mary, blessed the palm branches that were then distributed to the faithful.

Young parishioners at St. Mary’s in Freer pick up palm branches to use in procession to the church. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

Led by altar servers, the congregation walked around to the front of the church and as they entered the young people with the palms stood as sentinels in front of each pew entry. The congregation sang a hymn written by choir member Raymond Gracia. In his homily, Father Thomas said the Holy Week was the most important week of the year.

Easter week continued with the Mass celebrating the institution of the Eucharist and washing of the feet on Holy Thursday, a Stations of the Cross from the old St. Mary’s some 12 blocks away to the new sanctuary, to an ecumenical Easter Sunday service at the Freer Civic Center.

The old St. Mary’s church continues to serve the community as a food bank, thrift store and center for other acts of mercy carried out by the Caridad Ministry. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

Ecumenism has been an important part of the fiber of St. Mary since its inception. The parish joins other Christian denominations in town for joint events five or six times a year. Once a year they meet at one of the local churches–they met at St. Mary’s year before last–and on other special holidays such as Thanksgiving.

The commitment to ecumenism is not limited to these occasions. In fact, the choir director at St. Mary’s is Kent Whitaker, a member of the Methodist congregation. During the Easter Mass they accepted a Baptist into the Church. If was, after all, a Baptist that provided St. Mary’s its first church home.

Before St. Mary became the western outpost of the diocese, priests from San Diego would only go as far as St. John in La Rosita and St. Catherine in Los Reyes. While ranches existed in the area surrounding Freer, rumblings of a town did not occur until the early twentieth century. Early Catholics would meet at a plumbing shop and later at a feed store. In 1938, a local Baptist named Mary C. Hubberd, after having her prayers answered for a sick child, donated the first church to the Catholic community .

Father Sebastian Thomas blesses palms at parish hall ceremony before processing to the church to celebrate Mass. Alfredo E. Cardenas, South Texas Catholic

The Dominican priests from San Diego began coming around to celebrate Mass. Father Juan Zabala organized a Sociedad Mutualista, a mutual aide society. The Mutualistas are still active at St. Mary.

Today that spirit of mutual aid is alive and well in the form of the St. Mary Caridad Ministry, which performs various acts of mercy in the community. Using the old church as its headquarters, the Caridad Ministry operates a Food Bank and Thrift Store, which are open Tuesdays and Thursday from 1-3 p.m.

Deacon Pete Trevino and parishioner Arturo Martinez are in charge of the ministry, which is designed to help the town’s “working class,” Martinez said.

“We started it because it was a necessity. Now it’s become a meeting place for a lot of people, especially the older generation,” Martinez said. “They just come in; they may need somebody to talk to or just to go out.”

Caridad also provides food and clothing to transients, people displaced by fire or other calamity and immigrants. Located, in the heart of the brush country, immigrants often knock on Father Thomas’ door seeking help. They are given food, clothing and sanctuary, as their needs require.

People who cannot afford to pay for the clothes at the thrift shop are provided what they need at no cost. Some items are sent to a children’s home in Beeville, to area nursing homes and to the poor in Mexico.

The old church is also used as a shelter for immigrants, stranded individuals and in cases of domestic violence, Martinez said.

Deacon Trevino is planning on converting the old sanctuary into an art gallery and museum and is gathering photos and other memorabilia in the community to display.

“All of us hold that church very dearly to our hearts. A lot of us were married and baptized there,” Martinez said.

Members of St. Mary’s Boy Scout troop–including Greg Moreno who is working to earn his Eagle Scout rank–help with the maintenance of the old church. Youth is yet another focus of St. Mary. In addition to a Boys Scouts Troop, the parish also sponsors a Cub Scouts group and a post for youth interested in Law Enforcement and EMS. The parish has 30 altar servers and 220 young people enrolled in its religious education classes.

Every Wednesday, the parish has Eucharistic Adoration and anointment of the sick. “More and more people are coming,” Father Thomas said.

As part of a program initiated by the Alice Deanery, the parish has adopted the Feast of the Immaculate Conception as its patron saint day and will celebrate it in on Dec. 8 by inviting all the priests in the deanery to come concelebrate Mass and parishioners from neighboring parishes to attend.

“People really have a great faith. They are very loving,” Father Thomas said. “They are doing all the things needed in the parish, helping, making donations or whatever. We don’t have to ask them, they are always ready to help.”