The 24th Annual Bishop’s Dinner will take place on May 24 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort in Palm Desert. This year’s theme is the “Roaring Twenties,” and the proceeds will help benefit the diocesan seminarian program. Every year, the Bishop selects recipients that exemplify Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes’ Episcopal Motto, “Amar Es Entregarse” (“Love is the total giving of oneself”). This year, Bishop Alberto Rojas will present this award to Catholic Extension Society and Ken Sawa.
Catholic Extension Society:
The organization, which is a papal society, was founded 120 years ago with a mission to build up vibrant and transformative Catholic faith communities among the poor in the poorest places of the United States. They have built or repaired 13,500 churches across America. Presently, Catholic Extension Society supports 15 million Catholics in 87 diverse dioceses, spanning from Alaska to Puerto Rico.
Father Jack Wall, president of Catholic Extension Society, will accept the award on behalf of the organization.
Father Wall said Catholic Extension Society is proud to accompany the Diocese of San Bernardino in its mission of love and compassion in service of God’s people.
“Your charism of welcome has transformed your local Church into a beautiful mosaic of cultures, languages, and expressions of faith. It is a microcosm of the Universal Church,” Father Wall said of the Diocese.
Catholic Extension Society has a special relationship and deep history with the Diocese of San Bernardino. Catholic Extension Society provided seed funding to help launch the diocese when it was established in 1978. But their support in the region started long before that. In fact, they first supported the Church in Southern California in 1914.
Since then, the organization has helped build or repair 35 church facilities within the present-day boundaries of the diocese. Many of these are in the extremely rural desert areas, such as St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, in Trona near Death Valley, and Our Lady of the Desert, in Apple Valley next to the Mojave National Preserve.
Years ago, Catholic Extension Society helped establish churches in what are now the diocese’s growing population centers, such as St. Louis Church in Cathedral City. Just a few years ago they supported the construction of San Juan Diego Mission in North Shore along the Salton Sea to serve farmworker families.
“To Bishop Rojas and all the people of this beautiful diocese, I offer my sincere thanks for this award,” said Father Wall. “And I am grateful to have this moment to celebrate Catholic Extension Society’s shared journey of mission and friendship with the Diocese of San Bernardino.”
The organization also has a long history of supporting ministries that offer pastoral care to the marginalized. They look forward to nurturing the next generation of Catholic leaders by providing educational scholarships to those who will serve the growing diocese including seminarians, priests, lay leaders, religious sisters, and Catholic school leaders.
Ken Sawa:
Sawa met his first social worker and learned of the profession in his late twenties during a one-year volunteer commitment to serve as a Claretian Lay Missionary working with Los Angeles area homeless on Skid Row and Venice Beach.
“By the end of that year, I decided to enroll in graduate school and obtain my Master of Social Work as a man of faith seeking to live out gospel values in service to the vulnerable and poor,” Sawa said.
Sawa first joined Catholic Charities San Bernardino & Riverside Counties in October 1992, fresh out of graduate school, as an associate therapist and later as the Program Director of Counseling Services. In July 2003, Sawa was appointed as the CEO/ Executive Vice President of Catholic Charities by Bishop Gerald Barnes.
“I was employed at Catholic Charities for 32 years, but it was not just a job,” Sawa said. “It was an all-consuming mission to love and serve our local poor and those most desperate for our attention and care. For every one of those years, staff and I felt honored to be in a position to have an unending gambit of opportunities to love and completely ‘give oneself’ to help those in need.”
Sawa says he was inspired every day by the culture of Catholic Charities to always stretch out to be more – to do more solely because of the tidal wave of human need that surrounds the community.
“The impact of our work for those we helped drove me relentlessly forward, despite the many challenges,” Sawa said. “Giving of oneself for the sake of our brothers and sisters in need also has its own rewards and unique blessings!”
Despite the challenges, Sawa says it was solely because of his faith that he served at Catholic Charities - year by year.
“The instruction and courage I received from scripture, Catholic Social Teaching, the words of Pope Francis on poverty, each of our bishops, and the Catholic Charities Board of Directors was invaluable to me,” Sawa said. “All provided me with confidence and encouragement when needed most. Prayer sustained me. And what a gift to overtly practice your faith in the workplace!”
Sawa said he is very grateful to be receiving the Amar Es Entregarse Award and honored to be selected by Bishop Rojas.
“I dedicate this award to the current staff at Catholic Charities and so many I have been blessed to work with in the past, particularly the leadership teams over the years,” Sawa said. “Their unceasing commitment to give of themselves to others so completely fueled mine.”
“I will also accept this honor on behalf of my beautiful wife, Tina, and my two children, Kathleen Elaine, and Jackson Kenneth,” Sawa continued. “From the very beginning, my work at Catholic Charities was a family commitment that included working innumerable nights and countless weekends. They were all in on the purpose and importance of my ministry in the community and provided me with extraordinary grace and support throughout my career.”