The officers of Bishop Matthiesen, responsible for predicating the “serious mistake”,
came before the Diocese of Amarillo to organize a secular school which they called Ascension Academy.
Many of the diocese joined them,
but Bishop Yanta and his fellow Catholics gathered in a group apart.
Then the officers of now Bishop Emeritus Matthiesen addressed Bishop Yanta:
“You are a leader, an honorable and great man in this city,
supported by faithful Catholics.
Come now, be the first to obey Bishop Matthiesen’s command,
as all the secularist and the priest of his shadow diocese and those who are left in Alamo have done.
Then you and your sons shall be numbered among Bishop Matthiesen’s Friends, and shall be enriched with silver and gold and many gifts.”
But Bishop Yanta answered in a loud voice:
“Although all the secularist in the Diocese of Amarillo obey him,
so that each forsakes the Catholic education of his fathers
and consents to the bishop emeritus’s orders,
yet I and my fellow Catholics
will keep to the schools of our fathers.
God forbid that we should forsake Catholic education and the schools.
We will not obey the bishop emeritus
nor depart from our Catholic religion in the slightest degree.”
Will Bishop Zurek be upright and show the saving power of God for Catholic Education?
If today parents, students, volunteers and benefactors hear his voice inviting us to join this integral part of the mission of the Church,
harden not your hearts.
If Bishop Zurek would draw near Catholic Education,
he would see that a need in the Diocese of Amarillo to Discover Catholic Schools is something to weep over. He may even hear the Holy Spirit saying,
“If this day you only knew what makes for peace–
but now it is hidden from your eyes.
For the days are coming upon you
when your enemies will raise a palisade against you;
they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.
They will smash you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave one stone upon another within you
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”