More than 1,000 people joined Archbishop Bernard Hebda to celebrate Mass July 19 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul as the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis marked its 175th anniversary.
“My brothers and sisters, what a great pleasure it is to have so many of you here on a warm Saturday afternoon in July,” the archbishop said, as he began his homily. “It seems fitting that we would gather on the actual anniversary of the erection of this diocese.”
Auxiliary Bishops Michael Izen and Kevin Kenney, and Minneapolis native Bishop Emeritus John LeVoir of New Ulm, concelebrated the Mass with the archbishop, along with several priests of the archdiocese. The archbishop thanked them and the deacons who served at the altar, the music ministers and others who made the celebration possible, as well as the many women religious, permanent deacons, families with young children and others who were in the congregation.
“I hope that these children will be here for the 200th anniversary and maybe the 225th,” the archbishop said. “Who knows? But it’s important for us to be able to pass on the faith and to experience the liturgy and its beauty.”
After Mass, the congregation flowed onto the Cathedral grounds and lined up at food trucks and children’s games and the inaugural Archbishop’s Bean Bag Tournament, which drew 104 participants in 52 teams.
Cathedral young adults planned the party. Young adult members Jack Healy, 24, and Thomas Stokman, 23, fashioned a set of bean bag boards for the occasion. One board held an etching of the Cathedral and the words “Cathedral of St. Paul,” and the other depicted the crest of the archdiocese along with the words “Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis, Celebrating 175 Years, Est. 1850.”
Winners of the bean bag tournament were 42-year-old twin brothers James Ondrey of Holy Cross’ St. Clement church in Northeast Minneapolis and John Ondrey of Holy Family in St. Louis Park. Founders of the Catholic Softball Group in the archdiocese, the brothers’ christened their bean bag team with the same name.
“I’m honored,” James Ondrey said as he prepared for the championship match, which was held as the sun set on the Cathedral steps. “God is good.”
In his homily, Archbishop Hebda traced some of the archdiocese’s history, with its growth from about 3,000 Catholics on July 19, 1850, to its present size (about 750,000 Catholics in the 12-county Twin Cities metropolitan area).
He noted his own recent prayers at the gravesite of the archdiocese’s first leader, Bishop Joseph Crétin, at Calvary Cemetery in St. Paul.
“It was a wonderful opportunity to give thanks to God for his life, and to certainly pray for his soul, but also to ask him for that same courage and confidence of being willing to take on great challenges,” the archbishop said.
Reflecting on the readings for the Mass, Archbishop Hebda began with the story in Genesis of Abraham waiting in hope outside his tent in the heat of the day and being rewarded with words from three strangers that he and his wife, Sarah, would have a son, Isaac.
In the Gospel of Luke, the archbishop said, Martha is “running around making sure that everybody is well taken care of. And there’s Mary who sits at the feet of the Master. When Martha asks Jesus to correct her sister, Jesus makes that great line, ‘There is need of only one thing,’ and that’s to be able to listen to the word of God, to allow that word to penetrate our hearts and to go forth then and to be able to share it.”
“We hope, brothers and sisters, that we will be an even larger Church, that even more perfectly reflects that love that’s in the heart of Jesus, our savior. It’s the Lord’s plan,” the archbishop said. “We listened to him attentively this evening. We’re nourished by his Body and Blood, and we have that confidence that he has a plan that’s even greater than anything we can imagine.
“This evening, we give thanks,” the archbishop said. “We offer ourselves to the Lord as his humble servants. We, in this Jubilee Year of hope declared by Pope Francis, offer our hope to the world.”
CELEBRATING THE FAITH
People from parishes across the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis came to the July 19 Mass at the Cathedral of St. Paul to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the archdiocese.
Gloria and Eric Hunt of St. Augustine Oratory, part of Holy Trinity in South St. Paul, came specifically for the bean bag tournament they heard about from their rosary group. They were impressed as people discussed the anniversary.
“I’m so young,” said Gloria Hunt, 23. “So, it’s really neat to realize how much history there is in this archdiocese.”
Carlos Serrano, 39, of St. Patrick in Inver Grove Heights, said he enjoys attending Mass at the Cathedral, and he felt moved to attend that evening. He was happy to find it held even more significance than he expected. “I think it’s fantastic,” he said of the anniversary. “It’s the work of God.”
Jack Healy, 24, a member of the Cathedral young adult group that helped organize the celebration, said the archdiocese’s history reflects a strong commitment to the Church.
“It’s a beautiful faith,” Healy said. “It’s something to be shared and to be grateful for.”
Father Joseph Johnson, pastor and rector of the Cathedral, said it was a historic occasion and an opportunity to be grateful for the many faith-filled organizations and evangelical ministries of the archdiocese.
“It started with little seeds that God can grow and do great things,” he said.
