Sacred Heart Parish in Strathmore: A parish reborn

A message from Bishop William T. McGrattan

From ancient times the name “church” has been given to the building in which the Christian community gathered to hear the Word of God, to pray together, to take part in the Sacraments and to celebrate the Eucharist. [CCCB – The Order of the Dedication of a Church and an Altar, pg. 31]

For the past seventeen years the parishioners of Sacred Heart Parish in Strathmore have been without a permanent dedicated place of worship, and have been celebrating the Sunday Eucharist in the Holy Cross Collegiate high school gym. In 2017, the parish purchased a vacant IGA grocery store that included a parking lot with the vision of transforming this structure into their new church building. And on Friday evening, June 14, 2024, we celebrated the Mass and Order of Dedication of a Church.

Blessing of new liturgical items in Sacred Heart Academy gym

Procession from school gym to the new church building

It began with a procession from the entrance of the high school to the site of the new church. For those who joined in this walk, it symbolized in many ways the People of God who had journeyed for many years in the hope of reaching the promised land.
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​Like the chosen people of the Old Testament, the parishioners had endured many hardships, faced painful memories, and had made countless sacrifices in order to arrive and enter into this renovated building, which was to become their new place of worship. They carried with them the memory of those families who had built the two previous church buildings and those who patiently transformed the high school gym week after week into a worship space for the celebration of Mass.

It was amazing to see the expression on the faces of the parishioners, and members of the community both young and old, as they entered to see how an architectural vision and construction trades had created from the empty space of a building a new place of worship. They saw a narthex in which people could now gather, columns and pews that formed the nave of the church where they were sitting, a vaulted ceiling and loft that invited them to continually lift up their eyes in wonder and a sanctuary where the altar, ambo and tabernacle were permanently in place. 

At the entrance of the new church building

Fr. Wojciech Jarzecki.and the relic of St. John Paul II

Chapel of the Relic

Anointing of the Altar with Sacred Chrism

Anointing of the Pillars with Sacred Chrism

Following the entrance rite, the ceremony began with the blessing of water and the sprinkling of the people, a sign of repentance and a reminder of baptism. The sprinkling of the walls of the church space and the altar signified the act of purification. The Word of God, the readings and the Gospel were then proclaimed from the ambo. After the homily, the Litany of Supplication was sung invoking the saints which concluded with the placing of the relic of St. John Paul II into the base of the altar. Then the Prayer of Dedication was prayed over the altar followed by the anointing of the altar and church walls with sacred Chrism. A brazier of burning charcoal was then placed on the altar. The smoke of the incense that ascended was to prefigure and signify the continuous sacrificial prayer of Christ that would be offered from the altar in the Mass. The people and the space of the Church were then also incensed as a further sign of their prayer and offering to God that is united with Christ in each celebration of the Eucharist. The altar was then wiped, draped with a white linen cloth and then the final lighting of candles on the altar and around the church in preparation for the Offertory and the first Eucharist that would be offered from the altar.

This ancient ritual of the Order of the Dedication of a Church and an Altar draws upon the symbols of the sacrament of baptism. They are employed to signify the deeper meaning to which a building is being consecrated, dedicated and set apart for the worship of God. As Catholics we celebrate the salvific presence of God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit which we believe is present to us in time, in architectural space, in the material signs of water, fragrant oil, illuminating light, bread and wine that are transformed into the sacred signs that we celebrate in the sacraments. This expression of our faith and belief is founded on the reality that Jesus became human, the Son of God was incarnate, he was both human and divine. Thus, in his ministry Jesus used incarnate, material signs, to convey the divine presence and power of God’s love and grace. The church in its use of rituals, and in the celebration of the sacraments continues to use such created material realities in order to convey a deeper spiritual meaning. This was the very experience of those who were present and participated in these rites of dedication of the church and altar.

As we are reborn in baptism, the parish of Sacred Heart was also reborn that evening through the newly dedicated church which will serve the growing community of Strathmore in the years to come. This is but one of signs of the renewal that is taking place in our diocesan parishes.   

Read Fr. Cristino's thank you notes and a bonus picture

Photos by Manny Everett, Sacred Heart Parish, Strathmore

Written by Bishop William T. McGrattan
​June 16, 2023