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Granville parish celebrates 125 years

By RENEE WEBB, Globe editor
(Email Renee)

GRANVILLE – For parishioners of St. Joseph Parish in Granville, June 19 was a day to celebrate.

It not only was Father’s Day, but also was the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity and the 125th anniversary of the parish. To mark the quasquicentennial, Bishop Walker Nickless celebrated 11 a.m. Mass, which was concelebrated by Father Richard Ball, pastor, and Father Paul Eisele, pastor of St. Mary’s in Alton and St. Anthony’s in Hospers.

During the homily, the bishop said as he prepared for the visit to Granville, he referred to The Frontiers of Faith, the diocesan history that was written by Deacon Richard Roder of Remsen. The bishop learned that Father Herman Meis, who was pastor in Le Mars, helped the Catholic community of Granville plan and build a church in 1886.

“We give thanks to God for all that has been accomplished in the past 125 years,” Bishop Nickless said. “And we pray that he blesses this church and this community for many years to come.”

As the world church celebrated the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, he said it allowed the Catholic faithful to focus on the nature of God – one God in three persons – the father, son and Holy Spirit.

He noted that the Catechism of the Catholic Church refers to the mystery of the trinity as the central mystery of Christian faith and life. It goes on to say that the trinity is the mystery of God himself and therefore is the source of all other mysteries of faith.

The Scriptures for the day, the bishop added, helped to provide an understanding of who God is by addressing what God does such as to love and forgive, as opposed to an explanation about the trinity.

“It is more important to know God than to know about God,” said Bishop Nickless.

He asked the faithful to look at themselves and how they live their lives by the trinity.

“Are we loving, forgiving, caring, faithful, joyful and trusting as the trinity is?” he asked. “It is here where we come every Sunday to experience God’s love for us and go forth to God’s love for others.”

As they celebrated 125 years of parish life, Bishop Nickless asked them to listen to the words of St. Paul: Brothers and sisters rejoice, mend your ways, encourage one another, agree with one another, live in peace.

“If we can do that, we can give a great legacy to all those who come after us and all those who will benefit from what we have here in this community of St. Joseph Parish,” he said.

At the end of the service, the bishop asked all fathers to stand to receive a special blessing in honor of Father’s Day.

Father Ball referred to the parish as a “tight-knit community” made up of parishioners who are always willing to give of their time, talent and treasures to support the parish and Spalding Catholic School.

As an example, he said last year’s parish picnic raised $104,000 from about 180 families.

“Just as the bishop was saying, these people have a foundation of faith that has been passed on from one generation to the next. It keeps growing,” Father Ball said.

Joe Ascherl, a member of the parish for about 14 years, said the bishop really touched upon a key aspect of parish life – coming together to celebrate.

“With any parish there are ups and downs but in the end, it’s about our ability to worship God and be here as a community,” he said. “It’s lasted 125 years and that says a lot about the people – those who have been here and maintained it and those who are new.”

Maro Plathe, a lifelong parishioner, said he enjoyed the celebration.

He pointed out that he has always gone to church at St. Joseph’s so it is all that he knows and “it’s comfortable.” In addition to membership at the parish, for 40 years he did custodial services at the parish and school during the summers.

“It’s nice because everyone knows everyone around here,” Plathe said.

Dan Hunt, a lifelong parishioner, noted that many in the community are farmers and he likes the strong work ethic and faith of the people. He is a fourth generation farmer.

He pointed out that the celebration was perfect, as if they had put in an order and it came out just as planned – beautiful weather, Mass and time for socializing with fellow parishioners.

“I’m proud to be a member of this parish and community. We are a family,” said Hunt, who added that many of his children and grandchildren belong to St. Joseph’s. One grandson sang during the Mass and it made him tear up a bit.

Dan’s wife, Faye, has been a member of the parish since they were married. She mentioned that they baptized their five children and many of the grandchildren at St. Joseph’s.

“We love the school being part of the parish,” she said.

Father Ball mentioned that six years ago the church building marked 100 years and at that time they held a bigger celebration.

“With the 125th of the parish, we thought we would have a little more low-key, intimate celebration with the parish family,” he said.