PORTLAND, OREGON - Dominican Father Paul Duffner is unequivocal about his direct call 'to preach Christ, and Him crucified.'

The words of Christ, 'Feed my lambs' and 'Feed my sheep,' are not quaint verses from Scripture, but commands that animate his life. His aim is to convert to Christ every person on this planet, realizing that he may not do it, but he is willing to die trying.

Priest means 'old man' in the original Greek, and Father Duffner is both, having attained the age of 75; but his athletic build (six feet tall, 190 pounds) and agile movements mask this reality, and mirror a man 10 years younger

Now mature and insightful, he fondly reflects on the athletic prowess of his teen-age years, when he was a formidable 'three-letter man' (in football, basketball and baseball) in the rural community of Jacksonville, Ill., where he was born, and where the Dominican Sisters, in grades one through 12, saw a priest inside a boy and inculcated in him a love for Christ, his church, his Blessed Mother, and the manifold riches of the Catholic faith.

On Dec. 16, after the noon Mass, hundreds will gather at the Holy Rosary Church's community center to celebrate his golden jubilee, to honor him and to thank him for his selfless service to them.

The mental and physical strength that he developed during his formative years would be a foundation for him 30 years later as a Dominican priest penetrating the jungles of Central America on horseback, bringing the Good News to the Mayan Indians and all who would listen.

Today he works out of a humble office in the Rosary Center, across the street from Holy Rosary Church at the intersection of Northeast Clackamas and Third in Portland, directing the activities of the Rosary Confraternity.

The Rosary Confraternity is an apostolate that seeks to alert new Catholics (and old ones lost in the confusion of the times) to the efficacy of the Mass, the sacraments and the rosary as the source of saving grace for sanctity, and even sanity, in a mostly pagan world that rejects if it does not despise traditional Catholic beliefs.

Father Duffner's message is compelling: praying the rosary is a devotion begun by a fellow Dominican, Alan de Rupe, who in the 15th century reported having a vision that this devotion was revealed to St. Dominic by our Blessed Mother herself. It is a devotion encouraged by the church, which celebrates October 7 as a feast day honoring the Blessed Mother and the rosary.

Catholics who see this devotion as merely a quest for piety should research the church-approved apparitions of Fatima; for the warnings contained therein have a striking parallel to the prophecies of St. John the Apostle: 'prophecies of things that are to come to pass in the Church of Christ.' Many who have done this research, including Pope John Paul and Father Duffner, are convinced that the message of Fatima is being fulfilled in the present age.

The Rosary Center, which Father Duffner has directed since 1983, has assumed national and even international importance in furthering devotion to the rosary, dispatching thousands of rosaries and pamphlets throughout the United States and around the world.

Father Duffner supplies the materials, and a team of 50 volunteers, 'the Rosary Makers,' assemble 1,200 rosaries a month in the Portland metropolitan area alone.

Additionally, countless rosaries, made by dozens of volunteers from all over the United States, are received, packaged and mailed by the Rosary Center staff, which is made up primarily of volunteers.

The staff say that Father Duffner keeps everyone focused on the task at hand and deplores 'idle chitchat' and 'criticism of others.' He takes corrective action promptly.

'Observing his attitude and actions is like reading a spiritual book,' says volunteer Norma Monahan, who works 40 hours a week. 'I've never heard him complain nor seen him angry. His humility is enormous. No task is too small for him, he picks up, carries boxes and cooks lunches. No task is too lowly.' And further, 'He's a preacher in the Order of Preachers, and he practices everything he preaches.'

Cecilia Hoesly says that, when anyone faces illness or hardship, Father Duffner is quick to remind them: 'Don't squander this opportunity for grace. Offer it up!'

Father Duffner writes a monthly newsletter that reaches nearly 38,000. It features meditations from the pope, as well as Father Duffner's own observations in a section called 'Theology for the Laity,' where Scripture and the traditional teaching of the church are applied to today's problems.

He is also a member of the board of directors of Portland's Catholic TV station, KBVM (BVM stands for Blessed Virgin Mary). His work helps support the seminary training of novices and students of the Western Dominican Province, as well as retired Dominican priests.

He also serves as a consultant and judge for Roman Catholic Challenge, an annual contest of knowledge for Catholic youth in grades 7-12, held each January at Our Lady of Peace Retreat House in Beaverton. A committee from RC Challenge composes the questions and answers (in the format of the TV game show Jeopardy). They send the questions to Father Duffner for editing and for a check that they contain authentic Catholic teaching.

Father Duffner's greatest challenge came in 1967, when he was asked to serve as a missionary in the southernmost state of Mexico near the border with Guatemala - Ocosingo, Chiapas, Mexico, a primitive area, most of which was accessible only by horseback or airplane. He filled this post for eight years.

His mission encompassed an area of approximately 10,000 square miles (about the size of Massachusetts) and was inhabited by 65,000 Mayan Indians. The year was divided into wet and dry seasons.

During the wet season, he brushed up on his Spanish and studied a Mayan Indian dialect of the Tzeltal language and attended to the spiritual needs of the Indians living in or near his home mission.

In 1975, Father Duffner left Mexico and came to Portland to serve as pastor of Holy Rosary Church, a position he filled for six years. During that period, he built a community center of classrooms, a large banquet hall and a library to accommodate the spiritual, intellectual and social needs of his parishioners.

Editor's note: The writer is a CCD teacher at Holy Rosary Church.