To Celebrate a Life of Love: William D. Mickey
November 19, 1934-November 20, 2020
William D. Mickey, son of Robert K. Mickey and Theresa Horner Mickey, beloved husband of Joan Elizabeth Love Mickey, born November 1934, in Chatham, New Jersey, passed away on November 20, 2020, peacefully of natural causes.
William “Bill” grew up in New Jersey and graduated from Madison High School. He served in the military. He spent a career in sales, marketing, and advertising. He loved football, golfing, his family, and his faith.
Bill was a loving and dedicated partner to his wife, Joan, for 63 years. He was an amazing and responsible father to five children to whom he instilled incredible work ethic and values.
In death, he is predeceased by his grandson, Stephen Dennis Murray. He is survived by his sons; Dennis F. Mickey of Carrollton, Texas, and Brian W. Mickey of San Antonio, Texas. His daughters; Sharon M. Mickey of Wimberly, Texas, Jeanne T. Derby and her husband Ronald L. Derby of San Antonio, Texas, and Eileen P. Mickey of Point, Texas. His grandchildren; Robert W. Derby of Hutto, Texas, Brittany L. Black and her husband James C. Black of San Antonio, Texas, Erin Murray of Sulphur Springs, Texas. And his great-grandchildren; Madilynn McWhorter, Hayes Calvin Black, and Eli Robert Black.
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the race,
I have kept the faith –
Timothy 4:7
SERVICE
The Memorial Service will begin at 11:30 A.M. on Saturday, December 5, 2020 at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North, 3401 Cherry Ridge Drive.
Second Sunday of Advent
Leading the Way
Have you ever been tasked with being the “advance person” for a new project, a new way of doing things, the rollout of a new policy or procedure? As the advance person, the messenger, you can create a plan and follow it, consistently and intentionally. Or you could just wing it, or go with the flow?
This pandemic time has given us some freedom to explore “alternative ways” of doing things. We don’t go to school the same way, go to work the same way, or even go to church the same way. We are being invited (and in some cases, forced) to think of other ways. We are experiencing the “desert” and “rugged lands.” A lot is uncomfortable, demanding of different attentiveness, requiring patience and persistence. We are an Advent people, living Advent themes, here and now!
We are also examining ourselves. How much do we trust the Shepherd? What kind of “messengers” are we being? What are we doing to ready the way for the coming of Jesus? Be creative!
Think of someone you know who needs encouragement, and ask yourself how you could “give comfort.” Then “speak tenderly” to that person, rousing new hope in his or her heart.
Sit with someone and create a list of Christian virtues that you think would help hasten the coming of Jesus. Then practice at least one of those virtues during the next three weeks before Christmas.
As we engage in being “advance persons” or messengers like John the Baptist, we have many opportunities to “prepare the way,” to live through the desert and rugged land, and to ready the way of Jesus to be central in our lives. We can make a plan or we can wing it. Which will we choose?
Perhaps God, the eternal messenger, is clearing the way for us and making our paths straight. And we can imagine a world where kindness and truth meet, where justice and peace kiss. Consider then, these questions created by Network for a national Zoom discussion I participated in last night:
What do you expect Christmas to look like this year—given all that is going on?
What are your concerns about engaging with family or friends who have different world views?
What is one step you can take to help heal a relationship in the coming year?
Messages of love and comfort for our mutual journeys can be found in the music and lyrics here:
To Celebrate a Life of Love: Sister Virginia Celmer, IHM
June 26, 1945-November 26, 2020
Sister Virginia Celmer, IHM, died Nov. 26, 2020, at the IHM Motherhouse. She was 75 years old.Tai Chi at St. Francis
Tai Chi is a very low-impact form of martial arts that enhances balance, coordination, and flexibility, particularly as we age. The class is just $5. Classes are suitable for all fitness levels. Nameer Kirma of Good Spirit T’ai Chi Ch’uan will lead the class. Nameer has been practicing Tai Chi for over 20 years and has been teaching almost that long.
Our Health and Wellness Ministry will have Tai Chi at St. Francis on Wednesdays from 5:30-6:30 pm under the St. Francis of Assisi Church rotunda by the front parking lot. We encourage you to bring water and wear comfortable clothing and tennis shoes.
Email healthsfa@gmail.com if you have questions or want to be added to the mailing list.
Nameer Kirma
First Sunday of Advent
Welcome to Advent
Welcome to Advent! The images in our readings are so relevant to what many of us are experiencing in daily life. These days, we know for certain that we are not in control of what happens. We are indeed clay in the hands of our potter, God! I don’t know about you, but I find myself changing without exerting a great or even conscious effort. Paying attention, slowing down, and being grateful for what I have, bringing to mind all the people I love and miss and long to share hugs with, and just waiting. We are waiting for a vaccine. We are waiting for so many things.
We can wait because we know that God is faithful. We may, however, also subscribe to the maxim I hear often: Pray like everything depends on God and work like everything depends on you. Paying attention to how God is “molding” us in these pandemic times helps us to recognize the bounteous ways in which we are graced.
Advent is also a time of being God’s faithful love to others—in the love and care for our families, in our workplace, in our volunteer efforts, in our donations to our favorite causes, in our work for justice, in our working together as a community.
This Advent, may we be found watchful, alert, and ready! We sing Tom Booth’s song creation often.
“Find Us Ready”
Tom Booth
Find us ready, Lord, not standing still.
Find us working and loving and doing your will.
Find us ready, Lord, faithful in love,
building the kingdom that’s here and above,
building the kingdom of mercy and love.
We must wait for the Lord
for we know not the time.
So here and today
we gather and pray,
discovering love in our midst.
We must make straight the path,
God’s love revealed.
With sin cast aside,
God’s mercy alive,
fear not for here is your God.
Lifting up those bowed down,
we prepare for our God.
Rejoice in the Lord,
for hope has been born
in hearts where our God finds a home.
Optional final ending
Brick by brick, stone by stone,
find us working and loving and doing your will.
Find us ready, Lord, faithful in love,
building the kingdom that’s here and above.
To Celebrate a Life of Love: Martha Anne Kubicek
September 4, 1938-November 19, 2020
On Thursday, November 19, 2020, Martha Anne Kubicek, devoted mother, wife, and friend died peacefully at the age of 82.
Martha was born on September 4, 1938, in Beaumont, Texas to Heinz and Margaret Fischer. Heinz had immigrated to the USA from Germany in the mid-1920s, settling in Beaumont and quickly connecting with other first- and second-generation German immigrants like Margaret and her family. Martha took tremendous pride in her German heritage and truly cherished the close relationships with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins within her extended family, with many a reunion providing happy memories over the years.
Most of Martha’s childhood was spent in Houston and, after graduating from Incarnate Word Academy, she attended Sacred Heart Dominican College, graduating with a BSc in Nursing in 1960. It was while a student there that she met Harold Kubicek, a Civil Engineering student at Rice University, at a college dance in 1957. They later married, on January 7, 1961, at St. Christopher’s Catholic Church in Houston.
Alongside managing busy family life, Martha regularly worked part-time as a nurse, including as a Research Nurse for Baylor College of Medicine. She had a real passion for travel, especially to Europe, which she visited numerous times, meeting with relatives as she enjoyed discovering new places and people. Always highly sociable, Martha was a member of numerous tennis leagues and bridge groups over the years. Most of all, she took great pleasure and pride in her family, which includes her husband of 59 years, her four children, their spouses, and nine grandchildren.
Faith was a constant in Martha’s life. She and Harold made several moves between Texas, California, and Louisiana over the years and she was always an active member of the Catholic parishes to which they belonged. She has also been a member of the Theresians Catholic women’s community for decades, including the Day of Roses group in San Antonio for the last 15 years, and she recently received the honor of being named a Theresian Woman of Wisdom.
Martha was preceded in death by her father, Heinz, her mother, Margaret, and her brother, David. She is survived by her husband, Harold, her four children, Karen, Mark, Joseph, and Margaret, and grandchildren David and Sedona Limón, Tesa, Sofia, Paul and Andrew Kubicek, and Hal, Max and Flo Wood.
Although the impact of dementia was increasingly debilitating for Martha, her true self continued to shine through in so many ways. She was visibly cheered in the company of friends and family until her final weeks and similarly took great delight in viewing photos and mementos from her life and watching animals and birds in her backyard. Most notable was the joy she took from listening to and playing music. An avid piano player from a young age, she was able to play several of her favorite tunes with her family until shortly before her death.
For this reason, in lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider making a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association.
The visitation will take place at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church from 11:30 am-12:30 pm on Tuesday, December 1. The Rosary will be prayed at 12:30 pm, followed by the Mass of the Resurrection at 1 pm. The graveside service will be at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery (1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, San Antonio, TX 78209) at 11:30 am on Tuesday, December 8.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Shepherd King
Pope Pius XI saw a world that had pushed Jesus Christ out of view. He established the feast of Christ the King in 1925 to shine light into a world of darkness, the darkness of greed, violence, and selfishness. The feast is officially titled the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.
Jesus, then, is king of the universe, of all of creation—a creation that is moving, that is in process until its completion which we call the kingdom of God. Some people name it the kin-dom of God, emphasizing the connectedness, the relationship of all, akin to the sheep and shepherd imagery. We acknowledge this relatedness each weekend when we hear our names, brothers and sisters, in the prayers and the readings of the Mass. Do we need to be reminded that we are all brothers and sisters, no exceptions?
In the Scripture readings for Sunday, we hear about kings and we hear about shepherds. The prophet Ezekiel acknowledges that the most powerful leader is not the self-serving tyrant but the humble servant. The shepherd watches carefully, tends the injured, and knows each and every sheep that belongs to his flock.
How do we know that we belong to the flock? That we are known by God? God knows us by the way we care for the least among us. The least include the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, and the imprisoned. We recognize these loving, compassionate responses to “the least” as the Corporal Works of Mercy. Who are the least among us today who need our attention, our care, our mercy? How will we respond to God’s invitation to us?
To Celebrate a Life of Love: Margarita Petra Ortiz
July 7, 1946-November 10, 2020
Margarita Petra Ortiz went to be with the Lord on November 10, 2020, at the age of 74, in San Antonio, TX. She was born on July 7, 1946 in Atascosa County, TX. She is preceded in death by her husband, Rudy C. Ortiz; parents, Norberto and Julia Rodriguez; daughter, Elizabeth Ortiz-Flournoy; siblings, RoseLee Delgado, Bertha Rodriguez, Mary Florentina Rodriguez, Juan Rodriguez and Gilbert Rodriguez. Margarita is survived by her loving children, Michelle Zuniga (Gilbert) and Eric Ortiz (Christina Montoya); step-mother, Estella Rodriguez; siblings, Beatrice Rodgriguez Green (Leo), Delfina Rodriguez (Jesse Castillo), Jesus Rodriguez (Melinda), Eulalio Rodriguez (Isabel), Raymond Rodriguez (Clara) and Fernando Rodriguez; step-siblings, Rosalinda Rodriguez (Jose Santos) and Alfredo Rodriguez; grandchildren, Gabriel Zane Zuniga, Zoe Nicole Zuniga, Ryan Ortiz and Amarige Diaz, and numerous nieces, nephews, and other extended family members and friends.
Education was a huge part of Margarita’s life. She was a student at San Antonio College until she met and fell in love with Rudy C. Ortiz. During their 39 years of marriage, she continued to pursue her dream of getting her college degree and on May 8, 1999 received her Bachelors of Art from Our Lady of the Lake University.
Margarita worked for Southwestern Bell for 25 years at which time she took early retirement to help care for her grandson, Gabriel Zane, and granddaughter, Zoe. When her husband fell ill to lung cancer, she stayed by his side, day and night, nursing and caring for him until his death.
Margarita was a huge Spurs fan and watched almost every game religiously. She knew all the players and could talk stats with the best of them. She also had her Spurs memorabilia proudly displayed throughout her house and always had her Spurs flags firmly mounted on her car windows, sometimes long after the season was over.
Margarita had a love of flowers and plants. She planted roses all along her house, had a peach tree and numerous potted plants and flowers. When her health made it too difficult to tend to her plants, she still had a beautiful display thanks to Michael’s and Hobby Lobby.
Above all else, Margarita loved her family. She made sure to attend every family gathering, birthday party, baby shower, graduation, play, or event that she could. She made a point to ensure that everyone had what they needed and were cared for and did not go without.
Visitation will be Monday, November 23, 2020 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. with a Rosary to be recited at 6:30 p.m. at Mission Park Funeral Chapels South. Funeral Mass will be on Tuesday, November 24, 2020 at 12:00 p.m. St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Interment to follow at Mission Burial Park South.
To Celebrate a Life of Love: Joseph “Joe” Schilling
March 9, 1939-November 9, 2020
Joseph L Schilling, “Joe” (Papa Joe), born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, departed us on 09 November 2020 to be with the Lord.
Joe served in the United States Air Force as a Flight Engineer where he traveled all over the world. When he left the military, he worked as a small engine mechanic and eventually worked as the custodian for St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. He retired to spend a few years RV’ing across the United States with his wife, Margie. They had many adventures and met a lot of people along the way and of course Joe never met anyone that he did not call a friend. Joe was one of the most social people you’d ever meet and enjoyed life to the fullest every day. Returning to San Antonio, Joe came out of retirement and drove a school bus for close to seven years; he loved the kids, and they respected him.
Joe loved the simple things in life. Whether it be watching a western on tv or gathering for a BBQ, a birthday, a Cowboys game, or a full moon, as long as he was surrounded by family and friends he was a happy man. He loved his country music, and if a song came on that he liked, no matter where he was, he would get up and dance, and man could he dance!
Joe had a true love for fishing, hunting, a little golf, and a passion for telling stories about all three. It may have been the camaraderie or it may have been the brag factor. If you’ve ever fished, hunted, or played golf with him, you know it’s a little of both.
Joe is survived by his wife, Margie, of 31 years; sister, Vicky Farnsworth; brother, Kenneth Schilling; daughter, Gigi; son, Michael; stepdaughter, Tena, and her husband, James; 8 grandchildren; and 6 great-grandchildren.
Joe will be missed by all that knew him.
Joe loved a good story, please if you have one, share it.
Rest in peace.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the Disabled American Veterans, https://www.dav.org/.
The funeral Mass is scheduled for 1 pm on Friday, November 20 at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church. Thank you for following COVID-19 protocols and staying safe.
Thirty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Unhidden Talents
What are five things you do very well? And how do you use these things you do well, your talents, in service to God and for the common good? The parable of the talents suggests that we are to make more of a good thing for the sake of others.
Are we willing to take risks to grow our talents? What kind of risks are we willing to take to ensure our growth and the thriving of our community, our church, our country, our world, and our earth? How are we “children of the light” in the midst of darkness?
Perhaps the “burying of talents” or our hiding of talents today comes from a kind of false humility or lack of belief that we have talents to offer. Often those talents are coaxed out of us by others who name them for us. An example of this is the naming of the characteristics of the Proverbs woman. “She reaches out her hands to the poor and extends her arms to the needy.”
Some of the talents needed today are talents for healing, for bringing about unity, for creativity and adaptability in dire circumstances, for accompanying the grieving or those filled with fear, for working to become anti-racist, for leading in climate change, for naming injustice and having the courage to lead for change. Who among us has those talents? Do we seek to learn from them? How do we grow our capacity to grow our talents?
Pope Francis urges us to reflect on our talents:
Have you thought about the talents that God has given you? Have you thought of how you can put them at the service of others? Do not bury your talents! Set your stakes on great ideals, the ideals that enlarge the heart, the ideals of service that make your talents fruitful. Life is not given to us to be jealously guarded for ourselves, but is given to us so that we may give it in turn….Do not be afraid to dream great things!
-Pope Francis, General Audience, St. Peter’s Square, April 24, 2013
We pray that each and every one of us does our part to bring healing, to recognize the beauty of all of God’s creation, and to share in God’s great joy!