On the Vigil of the Feast of Pentecost, June 7, the Most Rev. Richard Hanifen, the retired bishop of the Diocese of Colorado Springs, came to Sacred Heart Church to celebrate and preach the evening Mass.
The parish used the feast as an opportunity to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the arrival of the Congregation of Holy Cross to serve in the community. Bishop Hanifen was the bishop who invited Holy Cross to take pastoral responsibility for the parish.
Rev. Ron Raab, C.S.C., pastor of the Tri-Community, which includes Sacred Heart Church, was the first Holy Cross priest to arrive to the parish. He was the associate pastor back then, and Rev. LeRoy Clementich, C.S.C., was the first pastor.
In his homily, Bishop Hanifen encouraged the parish to give the Holy Spirit impression to work more in their lives, growing their gifts and harmonizing their differences. He challenged the parish to stop speaking and thinking of “the” poor and to transform their gaze and see them as “our” poor.
Following the Mass, a festive, catered dinner was held in the Parish Center. More than 150 parishioners crowded the gym, along with members of the Holy Cross Novitiate community. Fr. Ron offered some inspiring words about how blessed the Congregation of Holy Cross has been to serve at the parish and he also invited people to be ever more engaged as “the priests come and go and some of us return but you are the ones who form this community.”
Lea Zorn, who was the parish secretary when Holy Cross arrived, offered reflections on her memories of the transition 30 years ago and thoroughly delighted all in attendance. She also said she is looking forward to the next 30 years.
