December 2007 - Father Tom Brundage

Listen to Catholic Radio Weekly's interview with Father Tom Brundage

When Father Tom Brundage volunteered to be on loan for three years in Alaska from his home Archdiocese of Milwaukee, little did he know it would be a "trial by ice."

The affable priest serves as pastor of St. Michael's in Palmer, 50 miles outside of Anchorage,  and one weekend a month drives the twisting mountain roads another 150 miles to celebrate Mass for the Catholics of Holy Family parish in Glennallen. It's a three-hour drive in good weather. In the depth of winter, the trip can take seven or eight.

The priest who describes himself as a "city slicker" got a first-hand look at the hardships that the missionaries who are permanently stationed in the Alaskan missions have to endure:  last summer, the fourth-coldest on record, the pipes at the rectory in Glennallen froze solid, leaving him with no running water or working toilet in the living quarters from roughly November ‘til May.

To say that these communities are isolated is no exaggeration. Father Tom, a canonical lawyer who is serving as judicial vicar for the Anchorage Archdiocese during his time there, had been to the Anchorage area about a dozen times before on business. On one visit in 2000, his rental car broke down on the drive from Palmer to Glennallen, and it was 14 HOURS before he was rescued.

But the people in Alaska look out for one another. Buildings in the bush are routinely left open so that stranded travelers can find shelter, and the church and rectory in Glennallen are no exception.

The Catholics in Alaska are the real heroes, Father Tom and the other missionaries there would say, because they get to Mass even when the elements would keep others home.  "They're the best-singing congregation I've ever heard in my 20 years as a priest," he marvels about the 25-30 stalwarts who make it to Mass at Holy Family. When he goes back to Milwaukee, he'll take back warm memories of the Faith that survives even below zero.

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