A couple that has spent their entire lives answering their baptismal calling is Dr. Deacon Steve and Catherine Tjia, recipients of the 2012 Robert E. Paikowski Distinguished Service Award for the Diocese of Lubbock. The award recognizes those who exemplify stewardship as a holy way of life, using God’s gifts with gratitude and as an act of worship.
The award was presented at the annual Bishop’s Guild Dinner on March 6 at the Catholic Renewal Center in Lubbock. The dinner recognizes those faithful stewards who donated $750 or more in the prior year to the Diocesan Catholic Appeal (DCA). A crowd of more than 250 was on hand when Bishop Plácido Rodríguez presented the award to the Tjias.
Married in 1968 in Indonesia, Steve and Catherine met at the Catholic Student Association while they were in college. Steve was a cradle Catholic, Catherine converted from Buddhism in the fifth grade. Neither of them can remember a time when they were not learning about or teaching the faith, or serving the Lord – Steve on the spiritual side, Catherine on the organizational and fundraising side. As a young pharmacy school student, Catherine had the opportunity to lead a large “circle” in her church as there were not enough priests to handle the needs of the parishes. Steve was very involved in the Legion of Mary in high school and in college.
Steve felt called to his work in the church through witnessing the sisters, priests and missionaries from the Netherlands in Indonesia. “I saw their strong faith, their adjustment to the culture and the sweltering weather of the tropics. It made an impact on me.”
The Tjias were called to the United States when Steve found no opportunity to specialize in his desired field in Indonesa. He heard about exams to practice medicine in the U.S. and passed them. The young couple with one small child at the time, Imelda, moved to San Antonio in 1970, with its climate not unlike that of their native country. Catherine never completed her pharmacy training, answering the call instead to be a wife and mother.
Subsequent moves to Amarillo in 1973 and to Lubbock in 1974 to practice anesthesiology at the former St. Mary of the Plains Hospital, brought them not only to West Texas, but also to their long-time church home, Christ the King in Lubbock. They raised Imelda, and their son, Vincent, and youngest daughter Jennifer in Lubbock.
Steve was always interested in the works of the Church, so when a deacon formation program opportunity arose when Lubbock was still a part of the Diocese of Amarillo, he immediately wanted to be part of it. Catherine put her foot down at the time as the program required travel between Lubbock and Amarillo and the children were very little at the time.
A subsequent course started in 1992, and this time, Steve and Catherine were both ready to participate in the formation. The merger between St. Mary and Methodist Hospital was beginning to take much of Steve’s time. He felt he needed to drop out, but responded to the call of his pastor, Monsignor James Comiskey, who told him to finish the study. Knowing he could always be ordained at a later time, he completed his studies.
Meanwhile, Catherine was very involved in parish life. Her seemingly boundless energy continues today in her work for Christ the King’s vocations programs, its prayer line and its outreach to the homebound and elderly.
A savvy fundraiser, Catherine worked to raise much needed funds – especially planned gifts – for Christ the King School Foundation, as a founding board member of the Catholic Foundation of the Diocese of Lubbock, for the Nurturing Center, Catholic Charities and the DCA.
The Tjias heeded Monsignor Comiskey’s homilies when he said, “If you are not comfortable with five percent, start with two percent, and then increase according to your abilities.” Their call to stewardship of treasure was a natural response. Later, they paid close attention when Catholic lawyer Steve Krier urged the faithful to mention The Catholic Foundation in their will.
Later, when people they knew well were making the news for giving $1 million to a university, the Tjias asked, “How can that be?” and they learned about gifts of life insurance that will leave a lasting legacy to the Church upon their deaths. Steve said, “I thought, ‘I can do that!’” So the Tjias answered the call with generous planned gifts to The Catholic Foundation.
The generosity of the Tjias seems boundless. What started with small regular gifts to their parish grew and grew to serve even more needs. Their support for the Cathedral, its school and the many important ministries throughout the diocese – from Catholic Charities, to the DCA, to the seminarian burse – has only increased throughout the years.
In 2001, hearing the call of another priest from the Netherlands, Monsignor Ben Kasteel, Steve was ordained to the permanent diaconate. “I look back on my life now and realize that the calls I answered were from God and that he sent me here to this very place for this very work.”
As their gifts of time, talent and treasure grew throughout the years, so did the blessings the Tjias received in return. Catherine says, “I cannot think of anything we have ever gone without even as we were continually increasing our response to the call of the Lord.”