St. Luke's marks Lent and 150th anniversary

By Susan Bailey
CFP Correspondent
WESTBOROUGH – “All I can say is wow!”
Such were Msgr. Michael G. Foley’s opening remarks as he surveyed the church, filled to capacity with people of all ages for an intergenerational program for Lent.  The pastor of St. Luke the Evangelist Parish welcomed everyone to Sunday’s retreat, the first of three to be held during the Lenten season. The event serves a dual purpose, not only providing a time for reflection, but also to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the parish.
St. Luke’s kicked off its anniversary celebration on Epiphany, Sunday, Jan. 5, with the theme of “Visions and Dreams,” based upon Acts 2:17: “Your young people will see visions and your elders will dream dreams.” The three Lenten retreats, Sunday’s and the others set for March 15 and 29, are the centerpiece of the celebration.
“Over a year ago when we began looking at the ways that we might celebrate our 150th anniversary, we knew that it must be a year-long celebration of thanksgiving,”  Msgr. Foley said. “We decided to dedicate our anniversary year to reviewing and renewing our life of worship, service, and learning. From the beginning (we knew) the heart of our celebration would be these three Sundays of Lent.”
The idea of an extended celebration grew out of the parish pastoral council. Member John Griffin, an expert in strategic planning, helped to develop the three essential principles that govern the parish: a generous way of life, evangelization and discipleship. These principles guided the planning of the 150th anniversary.
“One of the proposals to Monsignor Mike was to host a significant event to celebrate the anniversary,” said Mr. Griffin. “His response was jubilant and inspirational. He said, ‘We are not going to celebrate it once, we are going to celebrate it all year!’ And from that moment, the parish staff and parish council have been planning and organizing a celebratory (year) which will culminate in the 100th year anniversary of the actual church building on January 3rd, 2021.”
Council member Brian McLaughlin who served as chair from 2015 through September 2019 added that “the general idea was to have multiple events over the course of the year so that we could really bring home the significance and meaning of the faith that binds our parish community. We felt it could really invigorate the parish and helped reinforce all the great things St. Luke’s does.”
“The retreats emerged out of the leadership and gifts of our own community,” Msgr. Foley said. “The team that has been designing and preparing the retreats has been one of the most dedicated groups that I have experienced in my almost 50 years as a priest. Their openness to the Holy Spirit, their creativity and their love for the people of our parish has been inspirational.”
The top priority was to make these retreats as accessible as possible; thus they were scheduled for Sunday mornings from 9 a.m. until 10:45 a.m., with the idea that the participants would then attend the 11 o’clock Mass. It involved canceling the well-attended 9 a.m. Family Mass along with religious education classes,  making it easier for young families to bring their children.
“We were hoping to gather 150 people,” Msgr. Foley said. “When more than double signed up, we had to restructure our format. The level of joyful excitement was giving all of us great energy.”
According to Sharon Wilkins, a member of the retreat planning committee, the themes for the three retreats are as follows: The first, “Reverence for the Past” and “We are the Light of the World;” the second, “Commitment to the Present” and “The Eucharist;” and the third, “Discipleship” and “A Vision for the Future.”
The intergenerational aspect was decided upon right from the start.
“Since our parish family includes all ages, we wanted to include all ages in the retreats,” said Mrs. Wilkins.
Along with Mrs. Wilkins, the committee consists of Maria Gasser as chairwoman, Tony Joseph, Bob Thompson, Rosemarie Kellett, Bridget Kenny, and Kathy Burbank. Consultants include Julie Basque, pastoral associate; Anne Egan, audiovisuals; Ellen Linn and Donald Wilkins, music; Diane Patrick, nursery, and Pam Vaccari, visuals.
The first retreat began with a summary of salvation history geared toward the younger members of the audience; this was led by Tony Joseph. Covering the stories of Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, Abraham, Moses, King David, and Jesus Christ, Mr. Joseph emphasized how each person represented the light of faith. Using a lantern as the emblem, he invited children from the audience to place the lantern in front of the symbol designated for that particular story. They included a picture of an apple for Adam and Eve, the tablets containing the Ten Commandments for Moses, and the Star of Bethlehem for Jesus.
Mr. Joseph then linked these biblical stories with the history of St. Luke’s as a parish, beginning with its founding in 1870. He made particular note of the faith and perseverance of the community in enduring the destruction of two church buildings by fire before the present structure was erected in 1920.
The presentation was followed by the recitation of Psalm 136, led by Kathy Burbank. The children were dismissed to the parish center for activities while Ms. Burbank led the adults in a reflection of significant moments in their life history, and how God was present. She spoke of how all are connected to both ancestors from the Bible and parishioners from the past because of similar life and faith experiences. Several people shared their reflections with the larger group.
The children came back to the church, several of them volunteering to share what they had learned. After Mr. Joseph’s closing remarks, the congregation showed their gratitude in sustained applause.
“The energy, love, and spiritual presence was beautiful to behold and incredibly inspiring,” said Debbi Ziegler, a parish pastoral council member. “We are a very blessed parish.”

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