Home visit to Optimo, New Mexico

This is a home visit to Optimo, New Mexico. Optimo is located in Mora County in northern New Mexico.  The label on this slide states that this is a box car that a family was living in.  The Catechists would visit families in their homes to see what their needs might be.  This could include physical needs, such as, food or clothing. The Catechists would obtain these items from their benefactors to distribute to those in need. These needs might be spiritual in nature, such as, the need for the children to be baptised, their first communion, or confirmation.  The same would go for the adults also, but would include a check to see if they were married within the church.  Due to the lack of priests in rural areas, it was not unusual for families to go years without seeing a priest.  The Catechists would then prepare these families in order that they could receive the Sacraments that they were missing.  The Catechists would also be in contact with a priest in order to make him aware of Catholics in a locale that he might have not been familiar with.  The Catechists would also provide basic medical care if needed. Many of the people that the Catechists ministered to, could not calll upon the doctor, because the distance was too great, or they could not afford the cost.