Local News

Sept. 21, 2006

Bishop dedicates Queen Creek parish, installs Legionary of Christ priest

By Lynanne Lasota
The Catholic Sun

QUEEN CREEK — The burgeoning community of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish has its first pastor.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted celebrated Mass with the community on the Feast of the Assumption, officially installing Legionary of Christ Father Michael Shannon to head the parish Aug. 15.

“It’s such a community of love and a community of joy,” Fr. Shannon said. “I’m glad to be here.”

The Legionaries of Christ —founded in 1941 — are committed to love Christ, serve others and build the Church. Their priests serve Third World countries and an “increasingly secularized world.”

“We are all called to leave the darkness of sin,” Bishop Olmsted said in his homily. He held up the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe as an example of holiness surrounded by evil.

“The Moon is a symbol of uncertainty,” the bishop said, noting that in the image Mary enjoys the fullness of peace despite standing on a crescent moon.

“A good pastor reminds us that love is more powerful than sin,” the bishop said. He and Fr. Shannon both wore vestments bearing Our Lady of Guadalupe’s image.

“There’s no one better to teach us that God is love than Our Blessed Virgin Mother,” Fr. Shannon said.

For more than 60 years, the Queen Creek church served congregants as a mission. But over the last few years the community has grown by more than 1,200 families.

“We went from being a mission to a large parish in a very short period of time,” said Ron Dailey, pastoral associate.

Bishop Olmsted elevated the mission to parish status July 1.

Fr. Shannon and Deacon Jason Smith — who will be ordained to the priesthood in Rome this Christmas — will also establish a Newman Center to minister to students at Arizona State University’s East Valley campus.