Atonement Father C. Donald Howard, pastor of Christ the
Redeemer Church in Sterling, retired after nearly 25 years of
service there Feb. 3.
Arlington Bishop Paul S. Loverde has appointed Atonement
Father Patrick Cogan as pastor, effective Feb 3.
Parishioners at the 10 a.m. English Mass met Father Howard’s
final homily with a standing ovation. After the noon Spanish
Mass, liturgical ministers and volunteers presented Father
Howard with a plaque of appreciation for his many years of
service to the Hispanic community. A “Donut Sunday” reception
followed both Masses, which allowed parishioners to bid
farewell to Father Howard personally.
At the 10 a.m. Mass, Father Howard expressed gratitude for
the generally positive feedback that his homilies and back
page columns in the parish bulletin have received over the
years. He felt grateful that his columns had started
conversations with parishioners, even when they disagreed
with him, calling him a “bleeding heart” for his liberal
attitudes toward poverty and other social issues.
“I’m a Franciscan. I’m supposed to act that way,” Father
Howard quipped.
Throughout his history as pastor at Christ the Redeemer,
Father Howard developed a reputation for his gifts as a
writer and storyteller. Jays Cuasay, director of Christian
Formation at the parish, praised Father Howard for his
writing that was not only “in tune with the liturgical
season, but also “(tapped) into the everyday life of the
average Northern Virginian.”
“Father Howard has a saying that, when we come together as a
community, God happens,” Cuasay said. “It’s not something
that you study. He has a pastoral sensibility. He says that
life is messy and that we’re here to listen to people’s
stories, not fill out paperwork.”
In his final column for the parish bulletin, Father Howard
wrote:
“What I learned as the writing and preaching pastor during
these 25 years is that the conversation is not only about
speaking but about listening. In the speaking and listening
believers learn about God in the church. Good learning and
good conversation came in the process of talking and
listening. God spoke and we listened. We spoke to one
another. We listened to one another. We became church.”
During his tenure, Father Howard was credited for overseeing
a diverse congregation, with many Hispanics, Filipinos,
Vietnamese, Indians, Pakistanis and Africans. Father Howard
repeatedly encouraged parishioners to co-mingle and share
their traditions, cultivating an “intercultural” atmosphere.
Several times each year, Spanish- and English-speaking
parishioners come together for bilingual celebrations, such
as the Easter Vigil.
This is also the same parish where, thanks to the efforts of
Father Howard and his diverse parish staff, the bulletin
includes a Polish-American dinner dance at the Knights of
Columbus and the need for ESL teachers in the same issue. It
also is the same church that has celebrated Simbang Gabi, the
Filipino Advent observance for the nine days before
Christmas.
Nearly 9,000 parishioners of all backgrounds currently are
registered at Christ the Redeemer.
Cuasay, who has been a parishioner of Christ the Redeemer
since 2001, has valued Father Howard’s openness and
acceptance in a more personal way. Cuasay joined the staff in
2006 at Father Howard’s appointment, soon after the death of
his infant son, Joshua Emet. Though Joshua’s funeral was
presided over by a rabbi because Cuasay’s wife is Jewish,
Father Howard still participated in the service. The Northern
Virginia Hebrew Congregation has observed the Jewish high
holy days at Christ the Redeemer for the past decade.
Father Howard chose to retire before Ash Wednesday and the
beginning of the Lenten season to live in an Atonement friar
community in Washington. There he will continue to minister
as a bilingual priest.
Father Howard was Christ the Redeemer’s third pastor since
the parish was established in 1972. His predecessor was
Father Dan O’Shea, under whom Father Howard served as
parochial vicar after finishing graduate school at the
University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
Stoddard is a freelance writer and cartoonist in Arlington.
Read more
Fr. Howard’s final parish bulletin column can be found on the
parish website at ctrcc.org/pastor/latest_comment.htm.
