By the time many people hit their 80s, they are thinking about tee times, enjoying their family and working on their bucket list.
But not Father Earl Henley. The 82-year-old is busy serving six different Native American Catholic missions in Southern California. He drives hundreds of miles every month to the various missions in order to serve them, spreading himself between the distinct reservations where the chapels are located.
He celebrates Mass, some parts of which are spoken in the Native language. What’s more, the languages are different depending on the reservation! Father Henley is an octogenarian who is certainly at the top of his game.
As amazing as this is, it is not new behavior for him. Father Henley is a priest of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. He is a missionary through and through. Right after his ordination, Father Henley went to Papua New Guinea where he served for 23 years. Next, he went to the Youngstown, Ohio, Retreat and Renewal Center.
And then in 1998, feeling the “tug of heart to be a missionary once again,” he went to the Diocese of San Bernardino in Southern California to serve the Native American community. He has been there ever since.
The dream team
Father Henley resides at St. Joseph Mission on the Soboba Indian Reservation, pictured below.
He does everything a busy priest would do. He leads the Eucharist and conducts baptisms, offers the sacraments of reconciliation and first Communion, and performs funerals and memorial Masses.
Father Henley is quick to point out that,
It’s not me. It’s WE.”
This is not just an expression of Father Henley’s humility. It is a pastoral necessity.
He has put together a “dream team” to minister with him in his home in the Soboba Reservation and to five other satellite communities in reservations across the diocese. Some of these communities are small—the St. Michael Parish serves roughly 400 Pechanga Reservation residents—while others are huge. Our Lady of the Snows Church serves the Cahuilla Reservation, which has thousands of residents.
Deacon Andy Orosco, pictured below with Father Henley celebrating the first Communion of Cahuilla children, is part of the Dream Team, along with his wife.
Deacon Orosco is from the San Pasqual Band of Mission Indians near San Diego. He and his wife have been instrumental in tailoring the RCIA program to their Native brothers and sisters seeking to understand Catholicism.
Additionally, the Missionary Sisters of Mary have joined in the efforts. Sister Maria Genara Sarigumba regularly visits the satellite communities and heads up the baptism preparation classes.
Father Henley has also enlisted a retired priest, Father Tom Burns, to help with Sunday Masses, Bible classes and retreats.
Together they are ensuring that no Native community is without the presence of the Church. This includes those living on the Soboba Indian Reservation, attending Mass at St. Joseph Mission, pictured below.
Faith is the greatest gift
Father Henley said that “presence” is the key. “If we do not respond and respect our people, they leave. We changed that by living on-site and creating a Catholic presence,” he said.
This Catholic presence encourages the Native people he serves to have dreams and continue to journey with God. Father Henley said,
Faith enables us to love tenderly, to believe and hope continuously. Faith is an adventure in trusting God.”
Faith, in other words, is a gift worth sharing because faith leads to hope. And this is the conviction that keeps Father Henley going strong in his mission.
He is dedicated to helping Native Americans “to not feel invisible,” he said, which he feels is particularly important for a people who have suffered so much throughout most of American history.
Nowhere is that dedication more profound than in Father Henley’s work with those considering suicide and families who have lost loved ones to suicide.
For Native communities, limited access to health care, unemployment, poverty and historical trauma make suicide all too frequent. Father Henley said, “I would have given up years ago. You have to remember the Native American history. They went through a lot of turmoil in American history; their lands were taken away from them. They were told to cut their hair, not speak their language and learn English. When you lose your language, you lose your spirituality.”
Father Henley believes that allowing the richness of our Catholic faith speak to the beauty of the Native American culture results in a vibrant spirituality which enhances all who participate.
This is why Father Henley is so loved and respected by the Native communities he serves.
It’s also why he is not thinking about his bucket list. He is too busy walking with his people in faith and helping them speak the language of hope. He is 82 years young, and it is as if his missionary work has just begun.
Catholic Extension Society is honored to share the story of Father Earl Henley, a finalist for our Lumen Christi Award. This award is our highest honor given to people who radiate and reveal the light of Christ present in the communities where they serve. Visit this page to read the other inspiring stories from this year’s finalists.
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