SPRING BRANCH • Set high on a hill where the beautiful Hill Country begins just north of the Bexar County line, the grounds of St. Joseph Church were filled with over a thousand parishioners, extended family and friends who had come together to celebrate the dedication of their new church by Archbishop José H. Gomez on Aug. 13, almost 130 years to the date of its original founding on Aug. 20, 1876.
    If anyone was in doubt that a larger church was needed, one look at the line as it grew and grew in preparation of processing into the new building would clear that doubt — it took 30 minutes to get everyone inside for the liturgy to begin!
    Special touches found throughout the liturgy were evident everywhere of the love found in this growing parish family of their roots here in the Hill Country to the needs of the future. As a sign of unity between the two buildings, the statues of St. Anthony and St. Francis that were in the old church near the front doors were brought in the procession to the new church and placed there.

    When Building Committee Chairperson Billy Moore presented the key to the new church to Archbishop José H. Gomez, the archbishop noted there were actually two different keys, one old and one new.
    Pastor Msgr. James Janish explained that while preparing to move to the new church, a very old key was uncovered, which obviously went to one of the older buildings. He shared with the assembly, “Keeping the keys together made sense as everything we have done has been done to keep a bridge between our now ‘old’ church and the new one.”

    During his homily, the archbishop pointed out that the readings remind us of very important aspects of what our Catholic life and this building are all about. From Nehemiah, the priest Ezra reminds us that we come to this building to hear the Word of God. In the second reading from First Peter, we hear that we come to church to become as ‘living stones to be built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.’ In the Gospel passage from John, Jesus explains to the Samaritan woman how ‘the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth.’ The prelate explained, “That is why what happens in this parish is so important for all of us. This is the place where we learn about God, about the dignity of the human person, about how to love God and love one another. The Mass is a personal encounter with God.”

    He continued, “Today is a great opportunity to renew our commitment to our faith and our love for God and to especially pray to St. Joseph, patron of the universal church, to intercede for us that we can actively listen to the Word of God and worship in Spirit and truth, especially in the Eucharistic celebration.”

    After the homily, Archbishop Gomez formally led the prayer of dedication, anointed and incensed the altar. Many special friends of the church were present for the liturgy, including Archbishop Emeritus Patrick F. Flores, who had given the approval to the parish for its building campaign in 2000, and Father Chuck Gunti, OFM, who represented the Franciscan community of Father Virgilius Draessel, who was the pastor when the old church was built, and retired Auxiliary Bishop Bernard F. Popp, who is related to the current pastor, Msgr. Janish. Several of Msgr. Janish’s family were on hand for the day as well.

    At the end of the Mass, everyone spent some time admiring the new worship space. The cross is German in style as it represents the German heritage of the parish. The corpus was hand carved in Germany, weighs 200 pounds and is six feet tall.

    The altar furniture reflects the land of the current parish family as it is carved from native mesquite by skilled artisans of the parish. Michael James built the altar, ambo presider and deacon chairs; John O’Brien built the three candle stands; and Craig Bachmeyer built the credence tables, gift table and other furniture.

    The baptismal font reflects the rivers and springs of the Hill Country. Alberto Saucedo carved the upper bowls from one 3,500-pound block of Texas Sunset Red Granite. The bowls rest upon a limestone wall, topped with three inches of black granite.

    The paschal candle stand is one piece of limestone cut from the quarry on Hilmar and Barbara Wehe’s ranch. The tabernacle stand is also from Texas Sunset Red Granite, and on the front of the stand is a mosaic of the victorious Lamb of God created by Father Jairo Lopez. The roof of the tabernacle house is made of cypress shingles, much like the ones used by early settlers on their first Hill Country homes.

    Father Lopez also created the mosaic of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which hangs in the gathering space. The mosaic is made with smalti glass and gold tiles imported from Italy. The mosaic of the patroness of the Americas welcomes all who will come to join the parish as it grows.
    As a reflection of that anticipated growth, a Mass in Spanish will now be offered on Sundays at 12:30 p.m. beginning this month.

    Morkovsky & Associates, Inc. served as the architect and The Keller-Martin Organization, Inc. served as the construction firm. The stained windows are currently being designed by the Cavallini Company. The four front windows will depict the life of St. Joseph, and the other windows in the church will show scenes from the Old and New Testaments as well as symbols of reconciliation, baptism and angels.

     The day’s celebration continued with a potluck lunch and fellowship on the grounds between the two churches. Everyone was all smiles at the end of the day, especially Sandy Strange, pastoral associate, who served a key role in planning the details of the day.

    As Cora Gustin, past president of the Altar Society, reflected upon the move into her new church building, “Our parish has grown so much. It’s going to be hard to still have that small, intimate feeling we had in our ‘little’ church.” With the love evident this day within this community, that shouldn’t be a problem.