With prayer and song, parishioners of St. Andrew Kim in St. Paul greeted visiting Bishop John the Baptist Jeong during a Mass April 16 at Holy Childhood church to recognize the parish community’s 50th anniversary.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda presided at the Mass concelebrated by Bishop Jeong, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Incheon, South Korea. During the Mass, Bishop Jeong confirmed six students and 18 adults.
During his homily, Archbishop Hebda expressed his gratitude to Bishop Jeong and his diocese in Incheon for providing “such excellent pastors” to St. Andrew Kim. And he congratulated the parishioners.
“I know that this is a community with a high level of lay leadership and involvement,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I remember how involved your lay leaders were when we didn’t have a Korean priest to lead this community. You are all to be congratulated as you celebrate this milestone in the life of the Korean Catholic community in this archdiocese.”
The Mass’ first reading, from the Acts of the Apostles, described “what a Catholic community should look like,” Archbishop Hebda said. “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers,” he said. “For 50 years, Korean Catholics in this archdiocese have been coming together to form a community centered on the breaking of the bread, while supporting one another in prayer and learning more about Jesus and the Church that he founded.
“As was true in the day of the Acts of the Apostles, you have distinguished yourselves for your care of one another, making sacrifices for those in need,” Archbishop Hebda said. “I can assure you, Bishop John the Baptist, that this is a community that lives out the faith, that puts their faith into practice.”
Images of church life over the past decades, including photos of pastors and groups of parishioners, were projected on a screen at the Mass’ conclusion. A reception and luncheon followed in the facility’s lower level.
The parish has about 80 households, said Won Yong Kim, a parishioner since 2016. “Celebrating Mass in Korean is very important to Korean Catholics to keep our faith as we did in our native country,” he said. Although St. Andrew Kim’s numbers are not large compared to other parishes in the archdiocese, he said every one of them appreciates the archbishop’s presence at the celebration “and also, support from other Catholics.”
The parish plans to have another celebration in September, perhaps including a retreat, said Won Yong Kim, but plans are not yet finalized.St. Andrew Kim has shared a parish campus with Holy Childhood since 2018. The Korean parish offers Masses 7 p.m. Friday and 11:15 a.m. Sunday.
St. Andrew Kim traces its roots to Sept. 26, 1973, when a group of Korean graduate students at the University of Minnesota came together for Mass at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. The Korean Catholic community organized as a parish in 1991.
