The recent removal of Franciscan artist Robert Lentz’s painting, “Apache Christ,” from St. Joseph Apache Mission, on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico, has been rightly reversed. It is now a moment to consider the backstory for why this icon is so meaningful to our Apache friends.
When work on St. Joseph Apache Mission began, sacred items from the Apache traditional spirituality were placed at the cornerstone, a clear statement that Apaches and their traditions are most welcome at the church. God (the Creator) had not forgotten the people. Years later, tribal president, Virginia Klinekole, looked back and said that her family chose to be baptized Catholic because of the great respect that Braun had shown for tribal traditions and sacred customs.
When Franciscan Br. Robert Lentz painted his “Apache Christ” icon, he did so with great care for Apache traditions and sacred customs and with dialogue with tribal spiritual leaders, the medicine men and women. With their approval, he painted Jesus as a medicine man, including symbols and sacred items for which our Apache friends needed no explanation. They understood the message that our Lord Jesus had been with them all along and that he is one of them as he is one with the people of every land. And, under his feet is the longtime Apache title for God: Bik’egu’inda’n, that is, Creator of Life.
Not long after I moved to Mescalero, I sat with my Apache big sister, Dortha, in the mission church in front of the “Apache Christ” icon, and said, “Dortha, that painting is stunning. I hope you never take it for granted.” “Father, that will never happen,” she said. “When it first went up on the wall, I sat here for the longest time.” She paused … then continued: “I saw myself.”
The Apache Christ reminds our Apache friends that they have not vanished into history.
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Fr. Dave Mercer is a retired priest of the Diocese of San Jose, California, and formerly served at St. Joseph Apache Mission in Mescalero, New Mexico.
With thanks to National Catholic Reporter (NCR) and Fr Dave Mercer, where this article originally appeared.
