A Hanes pantyhose factory, athletic fields, or broken-down trailers might seem like unlikely places to find God, but that is exactly where Brother Richard Critz has experienced the Holy. His ministries have shown him how faith sustains ordinary lives — and grows in unexpected ways.

“We’re often stretched by what our community asks us to do,” he says, reflecting on the turn his life took after visiting Father Bob Viegas in New Mexico in 1975. The priest was trying to serve four towns by himself, and Brother Richard — then a graduate student at the University of Texas — wasn’t sure how he could help. At the time he didn’t know much Spanish or have any experience in pastoral work. But he felt drawn by the need of the people, and with the Province’s approval, he embarked on a 15-year stint as a pastoral assistant in LaMesa, Sunland Park, and Chamberino (New Mexico), and Dell City (Texas).

“In Hispanic communities, there is a very deep awareness of the presence of God, and also of the presence of evil,” says Brother Richard. “The parents would bless their kids as they left in the morning, and wives would bless their husbands. When a storm was coming, they would burn palms from Mass in the fireplace.

“Their faith is very tangible: They touch the statues of saints as an act of prayer, and their relationship with God is very real and familiar. I really learned to be sensitive to God’s presence, whether I was dropping by their baseball games, or visiting the pantyhose factory to see where people worked, or coming to their home for a meal.”

In retrospect, Brother Richard has also realized the impact that different physical landscapes have on him spiritually.

“I found such freedom in the desert,” he recalls, “and New Mexico remains a spiritually renewing place for me.”

He remained in the state during his 1991 sabbatical, going on a 100-day retreat in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Santa Fe. A year of theology and computer courses in California followed. During this period, the Congregation was making an effort to assess the needs of different dioceses. At the same time, the East, Midwest, and South-West Provinces were interested in collaborating on a project.

In 1992 Brother Richard traveled to St. Margaret Mary Parish in Adel, Georgia, joining two Brothers from the East and one from the Midwest in a ministry that, he recalls, “was new for all of us.” Each man focused on different needs — elementary school, Newman Center and youth groups, homeless people, migrant workers — but they supported each other’s work.

Brother Richard focused on the migrants, working with a consortium of county, church, and civic groups who were interested in helping the farm workers.

“Many were from Mexico and undocumented,” says Brother Richard, “and others came from Cuba, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Belize. Very few spoke English, and those who did had to translate for the ones who spoke only Indian languages or Spanish. They had absolutely nothing, lived in terrible situations, and were completely at the mercy of contractors, whom they paid to get their checks cashed, or to get a ride to the doctor.”

Because of these conditions — and the fact the farm owners did not want him on their property — it took him a while to gain the migrants’ trust. At first Brother Richard brought the people blankets and food, and finally three workers trusted him enough to go the doctor with him. Eventually the home health nurses were able to visit the workers’ campsites to assess their health needs and sanitary conditions. Tuberculosis screening was a growing issue. When a migrant’s relocation interrupted his treatment, he could develop a resistance to further treatment. The county realized that this under-served group could have an impact on the entire community’s health.

“I developed a program with the county,” Brother Richard explains, “signing up people at the camps so they could get a card for basic medical care at the clinic. We also set up health fairs. In a seven-county area, we got in touch with 3,000 migrant workers in 72 campsites.”

In reaching out to the migrants, Brother Richard and his lay colleagues reached across the borders of professions and faith traditions to forge connections with each other.

“We could not have had this kind of success without our inter-faith collaboration,” he notes. “Some of the nurses and social workers had never talked to a Catholic before, but we ended up talking about faith all the time.”

The workers, though, made the deepest impression.

“They made me feel that God was truly touching their lives,” he remembers. “Their faith was so profound. They were absolutely dependent on God, and the little they had, they would share. One day I went to a broken-down trailer, where a young girl had just given birth. That mother and baby, surrounded by workers, was an image of the Nativity for me.”

By the time he left Adel in 1994, Brother Richard and his colleagues had set up a Board to oversee the migrants healthcare that eventually included the farm owners. Then the Province asked him to serve as formation director at the Brother Charles Anderson House in San Antonio. It was challenging to “switch gears” from his externally directed work in Adel to such an internal experience, but Father Larry Levasseur mentored him through the transition.

From 1997 to 2006 Brother Richard focused on both the external and internal concerns of the South-West community in his leadership role as Provincial.

“My main work is to see to the health, community life, prayer life, and ministry of our Brothers,” he says, “and I see everyone at least once a year. It’s a real privilege — they’re such good guys, and it makes me proud to get to speak with each one about his life and faith.”

Brother Richard also consulted with the other U.S. Provincials about common concerns: how each does mission, what they can share, and planning for events. He also represented Holy Cross at the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, which brings together all congregations for annual discussions on important topics. Visits with individual Brothers took him throughout the South-West, to Brazil almost every year, and beyond; one year he also went to Rome and India.

Wherever he goes, Brother Richard feels stretched by his experience.

“We can fear new encounters when we don’t feel prepared for them,” he reflects. “Part of the life of a Brother entails taking risks, and the other part is fulfilling our vow of obedience. Whether we’re stretched by places we want to go or experiences we don’t want, I find we’re much more prepared than we thought.”

Ed. Note: In summer 2006, Brother Richard stepped down as Provincial and embarked on a sabbatical. He is taking courses at the Franciscan School of Theology in Berkeley, California for a year before taking up new duties.