St. Gregory celebrates 60 years of ‘vitality and faith’
A message of transformation that transcends church walls and helps the larger community grow was delivered Sept. 17 by Msgr. Michael Meyers during the 60th anniversary celebration of St. Gregory the Great Parish in Whittier.
More than 2,000 parishioners, school students, faculty, staff, parents and friends attended the ceremony held under a tent adjacent to the church and school facilities.
Concelebrants included visiting priests from Nigeria and pastor Father Ikechukwu Ikeocha and associate pastor Finbarr Devine.
“This church began four months before I was born,” revealed Msgr. Meyers, eliciting laughter, “reaching people from here to the Orange County border.”
Thanking parishioners for their “vitality and faith,” he urged them to continue loving the Lord promoting “change and transformation to enrich the community,” citing the Scripture account of the “landowner calling the workers into the vineyard.”
“All of us have been sent to work here; to proclaim God’s love in this community,” he continued, “not just to be here, but to see ourselves as the light transforming this community. We cannot wait for others to do it.”
“Makes me kind of sad,” Phyllis Reutebuch told The Tidings, “[the ceremony] reminds me of my mom.” She recalled when she attended with her parents the Mass presided by founding Father Michael Galvan at the Candlewood Country Club (across the street from the church building), where the 45 founding families congregated for the first time on April 22, 1951.
In his closing remarks, Father Ikeocha urged parishioners of the 3,700 membership church to keep celebrating “one thing only: the love of God.”
More than 2,000 parishioners, school students, faculty, staff, parents and friends attended the ceremony held under a tent adjacent to the church and school facilities.
Concelebrants included visiting priests from Nigeria and pastor Father Ikechukwu Ikeocha and associate pastor Finbarr Devine.
“This church began four months before I was born,” revealed Msgr. Meyers, eliciting laughter, “reaching people from here to the Orange County border.”
Thanking parishioners for their “vitality and faith,” he urged them to continue loving the Lord promoting “change and transformation to enrich the community,” citing the Scripture account of the “landowner calling the workers into the vineyard.”
“All of us have been sent to work here; to proclaim God’s love in this community,” he continued, “not just to be here, but to see ourselves as the light transforming this community. We cannot wait for others to do it.”
“Makes me kind of sad,” Phyllis Reutebuch told The Tidings, “[the ceremony] reminds me of my mom.” She recalled when she attended with her parents the Mass presided by founding Father Michael Galvan at the Candlewood Country Club (across the street from the church building), where the 45 founding families congregated for the first time on April 22, 1951.
In his closing remarks, Father Ikeocha urged parishioners of the 3,700 membership church to keep celebrating “one thing only: the love of God.”
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