"You'll find Harding County in northeastern New Mexico." "It's here that our story begins." "Over the plateaus and canyons near the village of Mosquero, the sound of an airplane can be heard, a single-motor ship, flying low." "To many of the people here this plane, the Spirit of Saint Josef, has a special significance." "It's the plane that brings their priest, the Reverend Fred Stadtmuller." "This is the story of 2 days, he'd call them 2 ordinary days, in his life." "For 6 years, Father Stadtmuller has been piloting his own plane." "Today he's on his way to Gallegos to conduct a funeral service for a ranch hand." "Two men wait for him at the tiny field he uses for an airstrip there." "Although his 11 mission churches are spread out over a 4,000 square miles area, the Padre can overcome the handicap of distance by flying from his main parish, Saint Josef's in Mosquero, to wherever his duties take him." "Later, Father Stadtmuller officiates at solemn services for the deceased." "Friends from nearby ranches join the family as the simple wooden coffin is carried to the tiny graveyard alongside the mission church." "To the main parish in Mosquero, Father Stadtmuller returns in his plane in the late afternoon, to conduct evening devotions." "Most of his parishioners are Spanish-Americans, the majority of them small farmers or ranchers...and he's been their priest now for 8 years." "Next morning as he's eating breakfast in the parish house, a young girl from the village comes to see the Padre." "She brings a very special and difficult problem." "The wise and friendly counsel of the priest is always available to his flock, and he listens attentively as the girl tells her story." ""Her playmate Pedro is a bully." "He teases her, fights with her, is cruel to her." "Won't Father talk to him?"" "The Padre says that he will, at once." "And his questioning soon discloses that the girl is right:" "Pedro's conduct in the matter leaves something to be desired." "An amicable settlement, even though Pedro soon drops the arm around the shoulder." "At any event, peace seems momentarily restored." "When his work and studies permit, Father Stadtmuller turns to his chief hobby, his birds." "He raises canaries, occasionally sells them to members of his parish." "He's also a crack shot, likes to hunt deer and other game." "Much of his spare time is spent keeping his plane in constant readiness." "He borrowed 2,000 dollars from a friend to buy it, and it served him and his neighbours well." "He's grown accustomed to emergency messages like this:" "a sick baby, a telephone call, a mother's plea for help." "The Padre talks to the young mother: husband away on business, baby's sick, getting worse, no doctor nearby." "Please hurry Father!" "She's at an isolated ranch 50 miles away." "He can get there in less than an hour." "While the mother comforts the ailing baby, the priest heads for the ranch." "He'll have to land in a nearby field, but he's used to that." "He flies 12,000 miles a year, has more than 1,200 hours in the log." "35 minutes after the phone call, the mother sees the Spirit of Saint Josef bank over the house." "10 minutes later, Father Stadtmuller prepares to take off with his precious cargo." "His destination is Tucumcari, where an ambulance is waiting at the airport to rush the child to a hospital." "This is the end of the journey:" "the airport at Tucumcari." "The ambulance is waiting." "The hospital is only minutes away." "There's no brass band here, no cheering crowds, no newspaper men clamouring for a headline." "Just an ambulance driver, an anxious mother, a sick baby and their priest." "In the hospital the baby will be treated and nursed back to health." "And that, really, is the only reward ever asked by the Spirit of Saint Josef's flying Padre." "Subtitles by Xenu"