Ambria Hammel/CATHOLIC SUN

Catholics close Year for Priests with special anniversary celebration

MESA — Parishioners at St. Gabriel the Archangel weren’t about to let the final day of the Year for Priests quietly slip away.

They knew their pastor deserved better, especially considering Fr. Dennis O’Rourke, VF, was days away from marking his 30th year as a priest.

They also knew that their kindhearted priest is much more than just a pastor to some 1,600 families at the Cave Creek parish plus a growing elementary school. Fr. O’Rourke also heads the northeast deanery, travels with area Catholics on pilgrimages and serves as chaplain for Boy Scouts throughout the Phoenix Diocese and, in some ways, across the country.

So to honor Fr. O’Rourke’s three decades of service to the Church, St. Gabriel’s parish council coordinated a special anniversary of ordination celebration June 19 at the Wright House, a garden reception center in Mesa.

The simple, but tasteful affair included a late afternoon Mass, a capella music, hors d’oeuvres and a catered dinner.

“A priest is all things to all people in the sight of God,” Fr. O’Rourke told some 100 parishioners during his homily. “He’s a mediator, a peacemaker between heaven and earth.”

The ticketed event, which also featured a small raffle, doubled as a fundraiser for the eight-year-old parish. St. Gabriel parishioners are still without a permanent church.

Fr. O’Rourke has led Cave Creek Catholics since 2006.

“It seems like yesterday. It seems like forever — both of these things in a good way,” Fr. O’Rourke admitted in his homily.

Rob and Helen Boland, parishioners since 2005 — whom Fr. O’Rourke presided over their marriage in Cana, Israel earlier this year — said the parish’s ministries have become more active under Fr. O’Rourke’s leadership. They also applauded him for starting Annunciation Catholic School last year and the parish’s Boy Scout troop a few years ago.

“The value of this ministry is so important to the Church,” said Fr. O’Rourke, who knows of at least 20 priests who can trace their vocation to their involvement with Scouting.

Fr. O’Rourke has served as chaplain at the National Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico since 1983 and recently returned from a summer stay there. Five staff members approached the Cub Scout-turned-priest about their possible vocation to the priesthood.

“Families need to ask their sons if they’re called to the priesthood. Sometimes that’s all it takes is just the ask,” Fr. O’Rourke said.

He noted that priests come in assorted sizes, shapes, weights and colors. They also serve the Church in a variety of ways from the monastery to an educator to a parish.

“He’s part of each family yet belongs to none. He shares sorrows, heals wounds and has the authority of an encyclopedia,” Fr. O’Rourke told parishioners at the anniversary celebration.

He listed a litany of sorts of the impact the Year for Priests had on the Church including a greater understanding and appreciation of the priesthood and an increase in vocations.

Randy Raish, member of the parish council and one of St. Gabriel’s first 300 families, said Fr. O’Rourke’s vocation certainly shows commitment, both to the Scouts and to parishioners.

He said Fr. O’Rourke relates well with parishioners of every age and has worked with them to create a warm community. Raish has lived in 47 states and said he feels most at home at St. Gabriel.

He also admires how his pastor shows parishioners through Gospel teaching and by example that stewardship is a solid approach to life. Fr. O’Rourke also demonstrates a steadfast faith, Raish said.

“He always says the Lord will provide,” Raish said of his pastor. “And it happens over and over."