Fifty-three years ago this week, a group of El Pasoans led by the Rev. Richard “Rick” Thomas believed they experienced a miracle. That phenomenon and a life of service are among the reasons that Thomas is under consideration for sainthood.
On Dec. 25, 1972, Thomas and members of his prayer group decided to take food to residents who lived near a garbage dump in Ciudad Juárez. They thought they had enough to feed about 150 people. Instead, the group fed more than 300 people and had enough leftovers to provide food for two orphanages.
Thomas, a member of the Society of Jesus, served in the dioceses of El Paso and Las Cruces from 1964 until his death at 78 in 2006. That event in Juárez emboldened him to expand ministries that assisted and advocated for the disenfranchised throughout the Paso del Norte region…