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The Face of the Catholic Church in La Salle County
A Fond Farewell to Father John Van Lare |
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Reverend Father John Van Lare CM served the parish of Sacred Heart church in Cotulla, Texas and surrounding areas from 1952 to 1964 and from 1979 until his recent retirement on August 26, 2004, a total of 37 years of faithful service at almost 85 years old and with failing eyesight. In all that time, it would be an understate-ment to say that he has had quite an impact on the community. He certainly will always occupy a special place in my heart as the man who instructed me in the Catholic faith and finally baptized and confirmed me, bringing me into the arms of Holy Mother Church. He was exactly the man I needed at exactly the right time. Yet, my single soul is a drop in the ocean of this man's service to God.
Johan Van Lare was born in 1919 in the Kingdom of the Netherlands. He told me once that he never felt he had any control over what he would become, God had chosen him to be a priest and that was that. During World War II, the first of many sufferings began when German forces attacked neutral Holland. Father John was wounded by a German bomb, causing him to lose a kidney. He |
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Father Van Lare at Our Lady of Guadalupe shrine in Millett, Texas |
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was in the hospital when the Nazi planes attacked again. Most patients were moved to the basement, but Father John's case was too critical, so he was left above ground with debris flying and glass raining down around him. Miraculously, he survived. The war continued to be a terrible experience. Jews were hidden in his seminary, disguised as priests, his brother vanished while serving in the Dutch under-ground and during time in Nazi captivity Father John met the future saints Fr. Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein. None of it was enough to shake his faith however, and he was ordained in 1947 as a priest of the Congregation of the Mission, founded by St Vincent de Paul during the Counter-Reformation.
Although his friendly and joking manner was most obvious, Father Van was an extremely intelligent and well educated man; he wrote over 30 books and pamphlets on the Church, the Bible and religious subjects as well as speaking Dutch, English, French, German, Spanish, Latin, Greek and Chinese. This last language was important as Father Van spent many years serving as a missionary in China during the Communist takeover. After only five years in the country he was kept under armed guard constantly and was repeatedly being hauled into jail for interrogation. Unlike many, Father Van survived, but he had to learn to be more clever than the police and always made it a point to act as if he |
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was the sole ambassador of Christianity. One Communist official who had been harassing him was left speechless when Father Van said he would pray for her after learning that her family had been killed by troops of the Kuomintang. He ministered to the Chinese for many years and even baptized two Communist army captains in secret. After years of treatment as an enemy prisoner, Father Van was finally moved to the safety of Hong Kong.
It was here that the Apostolic Delegate decided that the United States would be Father John's next destination and sent him to Cotulla, Texas for the first time in 1953. He told Father Van, "You are always in reserve for China, so look for temporary work." He arrived in Cotulla in the late summer and assisted Father Joseph Daspit in the care of the Catholics in Cotulla and the communities of Fowlerton, Millett and Artesia Wells. After three years, he became pastor, serving mostly as Sacred Heart church in Cotulla and Our Lady of Guadalupe mission in Millett. He was instrumental in building the small mission and in the construction of a new stone building for Sacred Heart. It was also during these 12 years of service that he trained my own future sponsor, and my sister's father-in-law, as an altar boy. |
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Father Van Lare, August, 2004 |
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In 1964 he left La Salle County for the first time when his special talents were needed in Taiwan. He remained there for 15 years, but never forgot south Texas and longed to come back. He was able to do just that in 1979 where he would continue to serve for 25 more years. It is my misfortune that I was only able to know him at the very end of his service in La Salle County, but it was also my very great fortune that I was able to know him at all. I truly believe God had arranged it all, finally moving me toward the Church at a time when I would be helped by just the right man to take me the rest of the way. After a few months of instruction, Father Van Lare brought me to Jesus, baptizing, confirming and giving me my first holy communion. It is something I will never forget and memories I will cherish for the rest of my life.
As a priest, Father Van knew how to be what his flock required. From my experience, and that related to me by others, he was always very friendly and ready to tell or hear a joke. He was one of the most animated and interesting preachers I have ever heard, having a wealth of personal experience to draw from, he had a keen sense of what was really important and what was not. He could see to the heart of a matter. As a priest, his focus seemed to me to always be on Jesus Christ and the apostles. Although recognizing the full range of the Christian religion, he always emphasized Christ above all |
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and how salvation was a lifelong struggle with no shortcuts, but that simply required tireless effort to do the will of God. He was also a very humble man who appreciated humility in others, and recognized many saints in the poor faithful of his own community. He was always quick to point out that saints can be anywhere, and that people can be turned toward God by someone else, without them ever being aware of it.
I could go on, but none of these things could explain better than his own example what a great servant of God is Father John Van Lare. The very best thing he ever did to help me was simply being himself; a friendly, devout, humble priest of God who said what he meant and meant what he said. He will be sorely missed in his retirement, but after so many decades of service, no one could be more deserving of a little rest. For my own purely emotional reasons, I'm sure I will never know a priest to match him; just as I am sure |
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Father John Van Lare will be one of the holy few to hear Christ our King say, "well done, my good and faithful servant."
Father Van, God Bless You. |
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