SAN ANTONIO • The 50th anniversary of ordination of Msgr. George H. Stuebben was celebrated with a Mass at the St. Paul’s Community Center the afternoon of May 30, drawing an overflow crowd of about 1,100 people. In anticipation of the large audience, Catholic Television of San Antonio had set up a projection screen for latecomers to view the taped liturgy from their seats in the banquet hall of the facility.
    Concelebrants at the service included Auxiliary Bishops Thomas J. Flanagan, Patrick Zurek and Bernard Popp, as well as the monsignor’s brother, Msgr. Lawrence J. Stuebben, archdiocesan vicar general. Special guests included Msgr. George Stuebben’s classmates from 1954: Msgr. James C. Brunner, vicar general for the Diocese of Victoria; Msgr. William Thompson from the Diocese of Corpus Christi; and Msgr. Lawrence Walsh, pastor of Our Lady of Grace Church in the Alamo City. More than a dozen other clergy from the archdiocese were also present.
    The first reading was given by Sister Therese San Miguel, OSF, director of the Education/Formation Services, division of the archdiocese; the responsorial psalm by Al Notzon, executive director of the Alamo Area Council of Governments and member of numerous archdiocesan boards and committees; and the second reading by Thomas Lowell Stuebben, brother of the day’s honoree.
    
    Msgr. Lawrence Stuebben delivered the homily. He began by noting that May 30 was Pentecost, the feast of the Holy Spirit and birthday of the church. “What a beautiful day to celebrate the golden jubilee of a priest,” he added.
    “George is hugely honored and pleased. Every bishop and priest here today must be affirmed by what we are seeing.
    People are saying by their presence and words, ‘Father George. We love you. Thank you for being a part of our lives.’
    There are a few times for each of us an event happens that we will remember all the days of our lives. Today is one of those occasions. Today is a great day for the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ,” said the monsignor.
    He noted that many in the audience were keenly aware of the absence of the mother of the two monsignors, Clara Stuebben, who passed away two months earlier. “But we are also aware of her presence,” said the vicar general. In her memory, flowers were brought forward by brother Thomas Stuebben, his wife, and Msgr. Lawrence Stuebben, and were then placed in front of the altar by Msgr. George Stuebben.

    The homilist continued his talk with a story about priesthood lived in the midst of God’s people. “A surprise took place in the Stuebben household in the summer of 1946. George wants to be a priest. George wants to go to the seminary. In the fall of 1946, George left home with two duffel bags to attend St. John’s Seminary. I’m glad it happened. It changed the lives of many of us, including my own.”
    Msgr. Lawrence Stuebben, himself a former rector of Assumption Seminary, took a look at the history of the priesthood. “Today there is a huge shortage of priests in the archdiocese and in the world.     Many appreciate their service, but not many want to do what they do, which is to make a life-long commitment and live a life of celibacy in service to God’s people. Hardly anything in our present culture encourages anyone to join the priesthood. In the modern world, many say it doesn’t make sense to give one’s life in service to others. It doesn’t make sense if the present here and now is all there is. It only makes sense if God makes sense. To truly follow Christ is to be counter cultural. It is a vision that goes beyond the here and now.”

    The monsignor then asked “three friends” to be present at the celebration.
    He named Abraham with his strong faith, Mary with her deep and life-giving love, and Paul with his great zeal and willingness to lay down one’s life for others.
    “What a contrast Abraham, Mary and Paul are to the rich young man in the Scriptures who walked away from Jesus because he had too many possessions. We don’t even know his name,” he lamented.
    “We thank George for how grateful we are for his first ‘yes’ and the ‘yes’s’ of all those years,” Msgr. Stuebben said. “It has been a marvelous 50 years.”
    He listed the numerous churches in the archdiocese where his brother has ministered: Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Selma, St. Patrick in San Antonio, Immaculate Heart of Mary in Schertz, St. Lorenzo Mission, St. Ann in La Vernia, St. Mary in Stockdale, St. Agnes in San Antonio, St. John the Evangelist in Hondo and Immaculate Conception in Yancey, as well as service in the U.S. Army.
    “His courage, patience and steadfastness have been an example to all of us,” said the monsignor of his older brother. “This golden jubilee is not an event, but a celebration of life together — God, priest and people, past, present and future.”

    At the liturgy of the Eucharist, gifts were brought to the altar by 11 Stuebben relatives. Before the service’s conclusion, a certificate honoring Msgr. Stuebben on his anniversary, obtained by Archbishop Patrick Flores while in Rome last month on his “ad limina” visit with the pope, was presented to the Mass celebrant.
    Standing at the podium, he told the assembled crowd, “Fifty years is a long time. I hope I have helped you in my ministry. I love you all.” In the worship aid for the event, Msgr. Stuebben wrote, “I am deeply grateful for the love and support that I have received and continue to receive in my ministry as a priest.”
    A reception was held following the liturgy, with entertainment featuring Belgian American dancers, Korean dancers and a mariachi group from the Madonna Neighborhood Center.