103 Years on the Journey at St. Joseph's Parish
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May 8, 2023Most would agree that celebrating an anniversary, particularly a 100th anniversary, is important. Such a milestone marks not only where we’ve been but also where we’re going.
Back in 2020 St. Joseph’s parish in Grande Prairie was getting ready to celebrate with great fanfare the one hundredth anniversary of its founding. A committee was established, monthly events were organized, a formal dinner was planned, and invitations were sent out across the country to former clergy, parishioners, and other notables. It seemed that everything was all set to celebrate this occasion with great gusto.
But, as Robbie Burns once said, “The best laid schemes of mice and men go oft astray.” It began with rumors of a respiratory infection making its way across Asia. But that seemed to be far away and with any luck, it wouldn’t impact on us. However, our optimism was short-lived. By March of 2020 it became clear that this virus would, indeed, have a profound effect on us and on the rest of the world.
Public health measures were put in place, masses shifted to on-line and the planned celebrations were postponed. Initially, it was thought the restrictions would only be in place for a few months, but wave after wave of variants made it clear that we’d be in this cycle for the long-haul.
That being said, we never abandoned the idea of celebrating the anniversary at some time. It was an important milestone and so we felt we had to do something in recognition. Eventually, we decided to do something a little off-beat – to host a 103rd anniversary celebration, highlighting the unusual circumstances that pre-empted our jubilee celebrations.
We chose Sunday afternoon April 23, 2023 (close to the actual April 26th anniversary date) to do something simple but heartfelt. It would be a scaled-back event – an open house with a short prayer program and a few other features.
Father Remi Hebert CSsR began the program with a prayer in which he cited two significant scripture passages: “If the Lord does not build, in vain do the builders build,” and “… on this rock I will build my Church.” This was followed by a Land Acknowledgement.
Next, to mark the occasion, a special Proclamation was read (dramatically) by the Town Crier (a.k.a. Father Ed Eherer CSsR). A special cake bearing the amended “103 Years on the Journey” logo was cut and shared with the 100 or so people present.
Self-guided tours were available with a bit of a twist – visitors could use their smart phones to scan a QR code for an audio description of various features of the church. One could also view several video interviews from long-time parishioners which were continuously running in the hall foyer.
We also had on display representative items that will go into a time capsule which will be buried and unearthed in 47 years: a 100th anniversary hat, memento from the Knights of Columbus and CWL; a Cursillo prayer book; kindergarten class photos from some of our Catholic schools; the old parish seal; photos, notices, and mask from the pandemic; Perpetual Help icon; 2020 Canadian coins; book of poetry from Charles Breunig; a hymnal and Sunday missal.
Banners recounting the history of the parish, from its establishment in 1920 to the present, were on display around thehall, as well as billboards noting the priests and religious who served in the parish over one hundred plus years.
Although the celebration was much simpler than the planned 2020 event, it still acknowledged the history and members of this vibrant Catholic community, and we look forward to the next 100 years!