Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
Communio
109 W Avenue F
Robstown, TX 78380
An excerpt from Fr. Jim Flanagan’s 2007
Christmas letter:
“Gift Him [Jesus] to all who touch your lives
and pray for all that He has created that
they may live for God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. Ponder the work and suffer-
ings that Jesus has undergone for us all in
the full knowledge that He is the sacrificial
Lamb of God, fulfilling the will of our eternal
Father. One drop of His blood could re-
deem a thousand worlds from all sins. We
ask the Holy Spirit to govern and guide you
all in your lives so that you may come to a
more abundant life.”
Litany of Loreto
This litany to the Blessed Virgin Mary was com-
posed during the Middle Ages. The place of honor
it now holds in the life of the Church is due to its
faithful use at the shrine of the Holy House at Lo-
reto. It was definitely approved by Sixtus V in 1587,
and all other Marian litanies were suppressed, at
least for public use. Its titles and invocations set
before us Mary’s exalted privileges, her holiness
of life, her amiability and power, her motherly spirit
and queenly majesty. The principle that has been
followed in their interpretation is the one enunci-
ated by the same Pius IX: “God enriched her so
wonderfully from the treasury of His divinity, far
beyond all angels and saints with the abundance
of all heavenly gifts, that she . . . should show forth
such fullness of innocence and holiness, than
which a greater under God is unthinkable and
which, beside God, no one can even conceive in
thought.” Hence, whatever virtue and holiness is
found in angels and saints must be present in Mary
in an immeasurably higher degree.
Reflection on the titles of the litany will unfold be-
fore us the grand picture of our heavenly Mother,
even though we know only little about her life. We
will also come to see why Mary’s example, guid-
ance, and help is the need of the hour.
Please pray for:
Billy Anne Steward
Br. Philip Howard
Leocadia Serban
Fr. Sylvester
Fr. Fred Alexander
The repose of the soul of Charles Basgall and for
his family.
A special prayer for guidance and protection for
Mary Beth Lickteig.
In this new year let us also remember our young
people, (our future) that their choices in life may
follow God’s plan.
November 2007
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Our Lady’s Society,
The past, the present and the future of any person
or institution are an important component of its
essence and identity. For the last 50 years the
Society of Our Lady has been committed to con-
tinue our journey as one family making ourselves
rooted into the vision and patrimony of our Found-
er, Fr. James Flanagan. His vision will forever be
the light and the path for each one of us, as we
continue “to climb mountains, to sail deepest seas,
to discover horizons”. The collaborations of Our
Lady’s Society personnel with the other workers
in the vineyard of the Lord, like bishops, diocesan
priests, religious and laity, helped the Universal
Church to acknowledge the importance of working
and serving together in teams, which is exactly the
charism of the Society of Our Lady.
It was in this light that the 4th General Chapters
and Assembly of the Society of Our Lady last July
2007 was directed. We – brothers and sisters
– from both the American and Asia-Pacific Regions
gathered together. It was a sharing of each one’s
joys and sorrows, a discernment of the future, a
celebration of the beauty of life and vocation, an
act of prayer together as one family.
Aside from other many graces given to Our Lady’s
Society by God, we are receiving a tremendous
number of priestly vocations from both the Ameri-
can and Asia-Pacific Regions. Formation is receiv-
ing more attention, with an emphasis on continu-
ously living and sharing the spirituality and charism
of the Society.
Presently, we have one hundred nineteen (119)
seminarians, eighty four (84) in Asia-Pacific Region
and thirty five (35) in the American Region. We
just recently ordained six men to the priesthood
and two to the Diaconate.
Volume 1 Issue 1 Spring 2008
I am convinced that when God gives us opportuni-
ties to open new missions, new works, ministries
and apostolates in service to the Universal Church,
He also calls those He needs to become mission-
aries. He, himself, brings us graces to realize these
gifts and privileges.
As I had mentioned above, we need to form our
priests to become like Christ in everything they
do as alter Christus: like Christ in leadership, like
Christ in Holiness, like Christ in relationship, like
Christ in speaking, like Christ in the way they see
things and the way they think, and the way they
serve.
This reminds me of a question asked by the priest
director of our pre-college in the seminary, when
I was just starting my priestly formation. He said:
‘Who is your idol priest?’ I responded Fr. Tom Gier.
He asked, ‘Why him?’ I described his kindness,
his availability to everyone, especially to the poor
and needy ones, his leadership, decisiveness and
his being a man of prayer. But this priest director
said that my answer was wrong. He asked me the
same question during my next colloquium with him,
and he said, “You will not continue your formation,
unless you answer correctly.” Finally I realized that
he wanted me to see, through Fr. Gier, the reality
of Who he was following; Jesus Christ, our high
priest, who has all the qualities I found attractive in
the priesthood of Fr. Gier.
Archbishop Michael Meier, the Archbishop Emeri-
tus of the Archdiocese of Mt. Hagen, Papua New
Guinea expressed his condolences for the loss of
our dear priest, Fr. Gier, who served in collabora-
tion with him in Mt. Hagen for ten years. Fr. Gier
had really showed his love and dedication to his
mission and to the people of Papua New Guinea.
We had seen the same concern when he started
the mission and work in the Philippines and had
drawn so many young vocations to the priesthood
and to the religious life. These missions are now
led by the priests and religious that he had inspired
and formed as missionaries. They are now the
ones facing the trials and difficulties of the daily ex-
periences in the missions. Because of the witness
of Fr. Gier and the other priests, religious and the
laity serving the needy people in the missions, oth-
ers are also inspired to respond to the call of Christ
to be like Him and are willing to be sent. Recently,
the Diocese of Legazpi in the Philippines (where
Fr. Tom Gier started the SOLT Mission) offered a
concelebrated Mass for beloved PAY TOM (the
word Pay is the dialect for Father), together with
some of our SOLT priests.
I mention the story of Fr. Tom Gier because he was
indeed a great example to us…..an example of a
dedicated missionary….an example of a dedicated
modern-day disciple.
The Peace of Christ be with you!
Fr. Dale has asked Bernadette Cathers and me to
be editors of the Communio.
The purpose of this publication is to help us stay
connected as SOLT family. We live in community
as the Trinity lives in community; however, we also
live (for now) in time and space. How do we stay
connected? Mission assignments, studies, family
obligations can separate us. Our commitment to
SOLT, discipleship, prayer and love connect us.
Therefore, this publication will include contribu-
tions that encourage and support our commitment
to SOLT (writings by our Founder and our elected
leadership), aspects that highlight discipleship (as
in the tributes to the life of Fr. Tom Gier in this is-
sue), prayer in word and art, and news about you
and your current life in mission and changes in
your assignments.
We are eager to hear from you! Please send any
news, articles, prayers, etc. to the Communio email
address: Communionewsletter@yahoo.com.
In Christ and Our Lady,
Diane Olsen
As the Society of Our Lady continues her journey,
we hope for more Fr. Giers. We hope for more dis-
ciples and missionaries who are more than willing
to leave the comfort of their lives in order to serve
the Lord in areas of deepest apostolic need.
As we move towards the future, may the Founder’s
Vision, the Founder’s Patrimony be our light and
guide. To move towards the future, it is necessary
to always look back to our original identity, to who
we are, to our being SOLT.
In communion +,
Fr. Rogel B. Rosalinas, SOLT
General Priest Servant
50th Anniversary Commemorative Book of
SOLT including a bio of the Founder, history of
the early years in NM, the Kansas City years,
Boston and Corpus Christi years, mission
and apostolates throughout the world, special
events, specialized ministries, future directions
and much more….
The book will be an attractive 64 page, hard
cover publication, professionally laid out and
many pictures included.
$20 offering + $5 postage is suggested for
each book. Please help us by reserving cop-
ies now. Books will be sent in early July, 2008.
To reserve a copy online go to Soltsisters.
org/catalog.html or mail a check to PO Box 536,
Bosque, NM 87006. For questions please con-
tact Sr. Anne or Sr. Mary Paul at 505-864-4251.
If you would like a cookbook with recipes com-
piled by Niki Sullivan, call 816-531-0244.
Medals of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity
are available in silver, 14k and 18 k gold. Visit
the Web site www.artifexmariae.com or order
through Blair Burton at PO Box 40, Capulin, CO
81124 or artifexmariae@gmail.com.
He heard call and followed
copyright The Kansas City Star
Tribute: The Rev. Thomas Gier loved
missionary work
By DEANN SMITH
The Kansas City Star
The Rev. Thomas Gier’s zeal for mis-
sionary work took him to the far corners
of the globe.
Who: The Rev. Thomas Patrick Gier,
82, a missionary, of Kansas City.
When and how he died: Oct. 5, of prostate can-
cer.
His early years: Tom Gier was born March 16,
1925, a few minutes before his twin brother, John.
He was the sixth of seven children born to the
family, said his sister Marianne Carr. Carr said she
was two years older but smaller, so strangers often
mistook them for triplets. Their father loved to fish,
so he would load up the Buick and drive them to
Colorado or Minnesota. “Our vacations were never
to cities. We always went to someplace where my
dad could fish,” she said. “We had a very outdoor
life.”
Priesthood: Gier graduated from Rockhurst Col-
lege and then received a master’s degree in social
work from Catholic University of America in Wash-
ington. He served stateside in the Navy in World
War II. When he was 27 years old, he entered a
seminary in New York, Carr said. Her brother loved
it and knew he had found his calling, she said.
Missionary work: He served stints in Bolivia and
Brazil before he headed to the Philippines, where
he became a pioneer Catholic priest on an island
with no running water or electricity. He helped build
a school and church. Carr recalled a visit with her
brother in 1976: “It was a tropical paradise, but it
was very hard to live there. After four days, my sis-
ter and I were happy to get back on the mainland.
It was hard living, very rustic, but he loved it. He
had always loved to camp out.”
After 18 years in the Philippines, when most would
retire, Gier headed for Papua New
Guinea, where he helped bring peace
among warring tribes, including some
cannibals, said friend John Purk. “He
was very meek and humble,” Purk said.
“He was a born missionary.”
Fellow priest and Society of Our Lady
of the Most Holy Trinity member Mi-
chael Jordan, who served with Gier in
the Philippines, said he had more than 70 “spiritual
sons” whom he helped bring to the priesthood,
including a number of Filipinos.
“He had just a wonderful spirit. He could find the
humor in every situation,” Jordan said.
Because of poor health, Gier was forced to return
to Kansas City in 2004. “He really didn’t like that.
He wanted to stay in the mission and die with his
boots on,” said his sister, Marianne Carr.
Survivors include: Two sisters.
Last word: “He kept saying the only thing you
need to be a good missionary is three things: kind-
ness, kindness and more kindness,” his sister said.
“He was living his dream.”
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
SAVE THE DATE!
LET’S ALL GET READY TO
CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!!
SOLT ASSEMBLY AND 50th
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
– JULY 14-19, 2008,
CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS -
DETAILS COMING SOON…