NEWS FROM THE DIOCESE OF KNOXVILLE
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St. Mary-Oak Ridge marks 75th anniversary The parish that was born in the Secret City in the ‘dark, dark hour’ of 1943 celebrates its milestone in style
DAN MCWILLIAMS
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n 1943, at the dawn of Oak Ridge, the Secret City of the Manhattan Project in World War II, a parish was born. Today that parish is 75 years old and going strong. St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge celebrated its 75th anniversary in a big way Aug. 22, with Bishop Richard F. Stika as principal celebrant at Mass and Father Chris Michelson — a son of the parish — as the homilist. “It is a great joy to be here at St. Mary’s in the Secret City. We give thanks because the parish is not secret,” Bishop Stika said in greeting the assembly at Mass. “Under the patronage of the Blessed Mother, this parish has stood for faith and tradition and beauty and prayer. And that’s what we give thanks for this day as we celebrate this feast of the Queenship of Mary and 75 years of service to this community, with my brother priests and former pastors and a son of the parish and all of you.” Father Michelson was among three former St. Mary pastors who joined the parish for the celebration. Also returning were former pastors Monsignor Bob Hofstetter and Father Bill McKenzie, as well as former associate pastor Father Gilbert Diaz. Ten priests overall attended the Mass, and assisting at the liturgy were deacons John DeClue and Gary Sega. More than 340 people attended the Mass and dinner that followed, including nine Dominican Sisters. The Dominicans have served at St. Mary since its school was founded
A son of the parish Father Chris Michelson delivers the homily at the 75thanniversary Mass of St. Mary in Oak Ridge. in 1950. “Wow. This is great. It’s great to be home,” Father Michelson said to open his homily. Father Michelson’s theme for his sermon was “cross-pollination,” as he covered a large swath of parish history, including the events of 1954, the year of his birth. “The history of St. Mary’s Church affects so many in this community, not just St. Mary’s Church but the entire community, cross-pollinating great things out there throughout the community,” he said. “1943. World War II. At war with Germany, at war with Japan. It was a dark, dark hour. People who walk in darkness have seen a great light. The city of Oak Ridge starts to un-
fold as a group to come together on the Manhattan Project, to make this new weapon to secure world peace. “People all started to arrive, and it was successful. And we all know the story of what happened, but it didn’t end there, because then the people of Oak Ridge decided, ‘We’re going to cross-pollinate.’ It’s not going to be just about nuclear war and nuclear weapons, but what about nuclear plants to provide energy? What about nuclear medicine to improve people’s lives, to crosspollinate and make great things? And thus the history of this city, not just because of atomic bombs, but how it has affected so many others and changed so many other lives in very great and very positive ways.”
By Dan McWilliams
Father Michelson asked, “How did Oak Ridge and St. Mary’s Church get here?” “In 1943, Bishop [William L.] Adrian came, and he appointed Father Joseph Siener as the very first pastor. He lived at 204 Tennessee Ave., and he celebrated his very first Mass on this feast day in 1943 at the Oak Ridge Rec Center,” Father Michelson said. “The old-timers will tell you where the Oak Ridge Rec Center is, now called the Oak Ridge Playhouse. But in that day it was the Oak Ridge Rec Center, and there were 20 to 25 people at that very first Mass in 1943.” By 1945, “Oak Ridge had grown from a city in the low thousands to 75,000 people in just two years,” Father Michelson said. “There were 4,000 Catholics living here, and they were completing 20 new houses a day to live in. Can you imagine? They were completing 20 houses a day to house the influx of people coming to Oak Ridge. So they built one church, the old-timers will tell you, the Chapel on the Hill. Everyone shared that church. “The Catholics were rather a large population. They were given the hour of 5:30 on Sunday morning. They said, ‘Why?’ ‘Because Catholics are the only ones who’ll get up that early to go to church.’ Pollinating the city, setting an example. Then they would go out and they would have Mass at the Oak Ridge Rec Center — the Playhouse — at the Grove Theater, and then out at the Wheat School out by K-25. Every St. Mary continued on page B7
Holy Family Parish: ‘We burn this mortgage’ on center Seymour faithful celebrate the end of their debt on their family life center, with Bishop Stika joining them for the occasion
By Dan McWilliams
DAN MCWILLIAMS
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oly Family Parish in Seymour celebrated a doubly special accomplishment Sept. 16: the paying-off of the debt on its family life center and the burning of the mortgage on the building. Bishop Richard F. Stika joined pastor Father Gilbert Diaz and many of the 328 families in the 34-year-old parish for the occasion. “We gather together this day to observe a very special moment in the history of this parish: the burning of the mortgage,” the bishop said in his opening remarks at Mass. In his homily, Bishop Stika mentioned that he had served as Knoxville’s shepherd for more than nine years. “One of the things I enjoy so much about this diocese is that every Sunday I’m traveling to a different parish,” he said. “I’ve been here at Seymour a number of times to celebrate with you.” The bishop talked about a verse from the day’s reading from Mark 8. “There was a question in that Gospel today: who do you say that I am? How do we answer that question? . . . Not Rick Stika, no, no, no. It’s Jesus asking that question,” the bishop said. “. . . So the question is posed to us as individuals, as a group, as a parish, as a community, when Jesus says, who do you say that I am? “. . . This parish has been kind of acting, living out that commission in the [second] reading [from James 2:14-18] and in the Gospel, and all through the Gospel: teaching, baptizing, feeding, nourishing, being available when somebody has a disaster in their family. All those second collections, all those special collections, like for earthquakes
Up in smoke Bishop Richard F. Stika holds the burning Holy Family mortgage as pastor Father Gilbert Diaz leads the service. or hurricanes or Gatlinburg, but also the things that nobody knows about, because you, in your own personal, private life, have adopted in your heart a response to Jesus, to live lives of goodness and care, concern and love. “That’s how we answer Jesus, when he says to the apostles, but he also says to you: who do you say that I am? Just don’t say My name. Action! Jesus invites to a deeper and deeper and deeper relationship, and he waits, and he waits, and he waits.”
At the end of his homily, the bishop said “I just want to commend the parish for what you’ve done, and what you’re going to continue to do: to be Jesus, His face and His voice and His hands. Congratulations on paying off that [mortgage].” Rain altered the plans to burn the mortgage with the assembly outside, so Father Diaz set fire to the mortgage by the back door of the family life center and let it burn in a barbecue grill just outside the door. As part of his prayer before the burning, Father Diaz said, “And
now, Holy Father, trusting in Your love and goodness, confident in and through Your power, and dedicating ourselves anew to the support of our beloved Church, and through that support to the growth and expansion of the kingdom of love and light, we burn this mortgage, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Former Holy Family pastor Father Tom O’Connell was remembered during the prayer. Father Diaz said the mortgage Holy Family continued on page B4