Denver Catholic

SENIORS I 11 DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER I JULY 30, 2014 LV Cath Register 7 30 14 303 8727538 7390 West Eastman Place Lakewood, CO 80227 LakeviewSeniorLiving.com A SPECTRUM RETIREMENT COMMUNIT Y WELCOME TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD Actual Spectrum Residents Independent Retirement Living Lakeview offers a dining program, housekeeping, maintenance, transportation, activities, an emergency alert system and more. Visit Spectrum Retirement's 2013 Top Community of the Year Msgr. Bernard Schmitz Msgr. Bernard Schmitz has served as the vicar for clergy and pastor of Mother of God Church since 2007. "These 40 years have been much more than I expected and have been fi lled with many surprises as I have grown in my love of the Lord," he said. Msgr. Schmitz was born in Denver and attended Bishop Machebeuf High School and Western State College before entering St. Thomas Seminary. He was ordained in May 1974. His fi rst parish ministry assignment was to St. John the Baptist Church in Longmont and subsequently Holy Apos- tles Church and St. Mary Church in Colo- rado Springs. He returned to Denver to be pastor at Our Lady Mother of the Church in Commerce City in 1982 and served as chaplain to the Knights of Columbus. During the 80s, he also ministered to the congregation at St. Michael Church in Aurora and became the assistant voca- tions director as well as dean of the Auro- ra Deanery. He completed some mission work in Monteria, Colombia. Msgr. Schmitz then ministered to a large Hispanic community at Our Lady of Peace Church in Greeley until his ap- pointment as vicar for clergy and ministry at Mother of God Church. He said that one of the greatest joys of the priesthood is the joy of praying with people and aiding them on their journey to know God. "When, as St. Ignatius says, someone's 'eyes are opened just a little,' it's a great joy to see them discover the powerful love of God," Msgr. Schmitz said. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI named him monsignor with the rank of chaplain in 2009. Anniversaries From Page 10 Cathedral rector, shelter co-founder, dies Msgr. James Rasby, longtime rector of the Cathedral Basilica, co-founder of the fi rst facility in the nation built to serve as a homeless shelter, and founder of an Ar- vada parish, died July 22 at his home. He was 89 and had been a priest 62 years. James Rasby was born in Stratton, Neb., on May 13, 1925, to Louis J. and Mayme Boyle Rasby. He attended Holy Cross Abbey School in Canon City, Colo., where his uncle was a Benedictine monk, and grad- uated in 1943. He then entered St. Thomas Seminary in Denver and was ordained to the priesthood on June 7, 1952. Immediately following ordination, he served as assistant pastor at Christ the King Parish in Denver for seven years, then as pastor at Shrine of St. Anne in Ar- vada for seven years before founding St. Joan of Arc Parish in Arvada in 1967. He served as pastor at St. Joan of Arc for two years before being appointed rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, the "Mother Church" of the Denver Arch- diocese, in 1969. He served as rector for two decades. During his time as rector, Msgr. Rasby oversaw a renova- tion of the "Mother Church" to make it comply with Vatican II requirements, and on May 22, 1980, had it raised to the status of "minor basilica." To help the homeless and needy, he estab- lished a sandwich line at the Cathedral Basilica and part- nered with his friend, Msgr. C.B. "Father Woody" Woodrich, pastor of Holy Ghost Church and editor of the Denver Catholic Register, to establish Samaritan House homeless shelter in downtown Denver. In 1989, Msgr. Rasby was assigned to St. Vincent e Paul Parish in Denver. He retired in 1995 and was living at the Gar- dens of St. Elizabeth senior home when he died. MSGR. JAMES RASBY Msgr. Thomas Dentici, who worked to connect the Western Slope with Denver and launched its fi rst Catholic Charities' offi ce, died July 17. He was 85. Born to Salvatore and Josephine Dentici on Aug. 8, 1928 in Brooklyn, N.Y., Thomas Francis Dentici attend- ed Niagara University and Sem- inary and Our Lady of Angels in New York. He studied at Colum- bia and Fordham universities in New York, Saint John's in Min- nesota and the Pontifi cal North American College in Rome. He was ordained a priest on May 30, 1953 in Trenton, N.J. and became incardinated into the Archdi- ocese of Denver in 1983. The fi rst 25 years of his ministry in the Diocese of Trenton "were good years" he wrote August 2001 in the Denver Catholic Register. He served as assistant pastor at St. Cecelia and St. Thomas the Apostle par- ishes and worked in campus ministry at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. He also spent time teaching medical ethics at a hospital and was later appoint- ed as the diocese's Offi ce of Family Life director. In 1983, Msgr. Dentici came to serve in Colorado. His ministry was spent on the Western Slope: in Aspen, Steamboat Springs and Vail. He served as pastor at St. Mary's Par- ish in Aspen, Holy Name Parish in Steam- boat Springs, St. Patrick Parish in Minturn along with the nearby mission churches. During this time, he was ap- pointed as dean of the Breck- enridge Deanery and West- ern Slope Deanery, as well as a member of the College of Consultors. In 1990, Msgr. Dentici was ap- pointed to a new position, West- ern Slope vicar forane, in which he said he hoped to become the "visible sign of the connection between the West- ern Slope and the rest of the archdiocese." He spent his time addressing economic and social justice issues, including closing the gap between the rich and the poor in the mountain towns. Msgr. Dentici also developed low-income housing projects and started the fi rst Catholic Charities' of- fi ces on the Western Slope. After 45 years of priestly ministry, he retired. Msgr. Dentici lived with the Trap- pist monks of St. Benedict's Monastery at Snowmass, which he called "one of the most beautiful places in our country." Western Slope priest dies at 85 MSGR. THOMAS DENTICI

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