Ground consecrated for future parish home in SCV
OLPH hosts blessing on the lot where church will be built in the future
More than 100 people gathered Wednesday night in the dusty, empty dirt lot next to the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church. The gathering was not a formal church service, but a symbolic act to consecrate the ground on the site where the new church will be constructed in the future.
Guiding the blessing, Father Craig Cox explained to attendees that was the start of the road ahead to build the future church parish.
“We felt it was time to recognize this is the ground upon we and subsequent generations will worship,” said Cox. “We want to transform it into that sacred purpose already, which is why we are blessing the ground.”
A short ceremony was held, including singing, prayers, and Bible readings. Then Cox and church deacons splashed holy water on the four corners of the lot in cardinal directions. Incense was burned and carried to the four points.
Cox explained the church will not break ground for several years, more fundraising has to be done before construction can begin. The church announced immediate plans to create a prayer walkway and reflection garden.
“My hope is to begin providing a place of prayer and worship,” said Cox. “This will give people a sense of moving ahead toward a real goal.”
Around the perimeter of the future site of the church, a temporary walkway and garden will be created, totaling one-sixth of a mile. It will include the stations of the cross.
“We are creating a reflective garden, a place where you can go and sit and just be at peace,” explained Kevin McCarthy, OLPH’s Business Manager and a deacon at the church. “It will be a gorgeous area with trees and shade, for people to enjoy.”
Hope for the future
Attendees were excited by the blessing and were hopeful of the project ahead.
“This is very important to us,” explained Rosalia Anuario, who has attended OLPH for 20 years, now attending with her four children. “This will last for many generations and we will be able to see our kids and grandkids grow in the church.”
Babs Semko has attended the church since 1999. She shared her excitement for the building project, looking forward to the growth it would offer the congregation. When asked about the significance of the ceremony, Semko became tearful.
“We are consecrating the ground,” she explained, as her voice wavered. “This is now holy ground and we are going to build our church here.”
While the ceremony doesn’t mark the beginning of construction it symbolizes the future of the church. Administrators are hopeful ground will be broken within the next three to four years.
OLPH purchased and renovated a nearby building for church offices and meeting spaces. Homes that stood on the lot were purchased and demolished and a parking lot was built adjacent to the lot.
At the end of the ceremony Cox asked attendees to pick up a rock. He asked attendees to take the rock home, place it in a prominent place where it can be seen daily. He explained the rock is a reminder of the sacred work to be done to reach the goal of building the new parish.
“I want people to feel at home in the parish and encounter the Lord in our worship and in one another,” said Cox. “Our Christian tradition is strong in saying we experience God directly, but we also experience God in the community of the faithful.”