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Phoenix parish celebrates 50 years of loving ministry
By Gina Keating, The Catholic Sun
October 19, 2006
The hallmark of St. Theresa Parish is its enduring spirit of love and charity that has been nurtured by generations of the faithful for the past 50 years.
Hundreds of parishioners gathered in prayer Oct. 1 to mark the golden jubilee of the church on the feast of its patroness, St. Theresa of Lisieux.
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted presided at the morning Mass, which was concelebrated by Fr. Charles G. Kieffer, pastor, and Fr. Mathew Plathottam, associate pastor.
The undercurrent of love and service was resonant in Bishop Olmsted’s homily as he addressed the life of St. Theresa.
He gave thought to her “little way of love,” as a testament to her childlike surrender to the Father.
“She knew that the greatest thing God did for her was to make her aware of her own littleness, to show her she could do nothing without Him,” he said.
The bishop said her example helps prepare everyone for their mission from God.
“To fulfill that mission with enthusiasm, we need to become like children,” he said. “We need to be love in the heart of the Church.”
Bishop Olmsted encouraged each person to be an example of goodness in their daily lives and remember the “primacy of love and of its power in little ways to transform lives.”
Founded in 1955, St. Theresa Parish has prospered under the watchful eye of its patron saint.
Four months after the parish was established, the original church building — now Fr. Feeney Hall — the rectory, four classrooms, the school library and school offices, were completed.
The first school bell rang two years later with an enrollment of 234 children, which has grown to more than 570 today.
Tom McNamara was only 4 when his family joined the parish.
He and his wife, JoAnne, were married there 30 years ago, and now a third generation attends the parish.
“This is home,” JoAnne said. “We’ve traveled to different parishes, but we always come back.”
The church of 2,600 registered families has diversified, spanning several generations, as well as socioeconomic, ethnic and geographical boundaries.
People come as far away as Globe and Avondale to attend the church.
The mission has always been to make a community where God’s love is felt in keeping with the spirit of St. Theresa, Fr. Kieffer said.
“She teaches, in her little way, to do all things and bear all things in the spirit of love,” he said. “People find something special here.”
Founding member Josephine Swiger said the parish has always felt like family, even after 47 years.
“Fr. Chuck has done a wonderful job as pastor, and the parish continues to grow under his leadership,” she said.
The parish has an active community life, with programs like religious education and RCIA classes to pastoral care and Life Teen.
The backbone of the church is St. Vincent de Paul, established to meet the needs of people experiencing hardships.
Not one to toot his own horn, Fr. Kieffer shies away from the spotlight when it comes to bragging about the parish.
He is the fourth pastor of St. Theresa, having been preceded by Msgr. John J. McMahon, the late Fr. Theodore Radtke and the late Fr. George Feeney.
“My vision of how we minister here is to do so quietly and without a lot of fanfare,” he said, “because it’s a way of… witnessing God’s love humbly and simply.”
Charitable efforts have included responding to the survivors of hurricane Katrina, assisting poor communities in Northern Arizona and building homes for Habitat for Humanity. The parish has also named the program its jubilee outreach project.
A spring tea has already raised $60,000, and the students at St. Theresa School collected nearly $1,500 on a recent buck-a-jean day.
Sr. Adele O’Sullivan, CSJ, MD, is the medical director of Health Care for the Homeless, and an active parishioner.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Nun said the money raised is equivalent to getting 37 people off the streets and into homes of their own.
Perhaps the works of love and charity of the church for the past 50 years are the result of heavenly blessings from its patron saint.
“My gratitude is to all those engaged in ministry of the parish, and those that have gone before us, upon whose shoulders we continue to build,” Fr. Kieffer said. |
