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The church building
By FR. PHILIP KENNEDY, PRESIDENT

A Sign of the People’s Faith

On a hot afternoon in late July of 2007, I stood with Bishop David Monroe of Kamloops, looking apprehensively over a sad piece of property in Anaham, British Columbia. It was the site of the native mission’s former church, which had been destroyed by fire a few months earlier. Plans were already being made for anew church, about which you can read in the pages of this issue, but on that day, there was still a pall of regret for the loss of the community’s spiritual centre.

“It’s too bad about the church,” the then-Chief Gerald Johnny said to us, “but the true Church is all the people in this place, and the Great Spirit that lives with us.” He and Bishop Monroe both agreed, though, that the building that housed their gatherings and gave them a sacred space for the celebration of the Mass and other Sacraments, was a real and powerful sign of their belonging to Christ, and their commitment to the growth of their Catholic faith. Thus, the new church that was to arise on that vacant lot would be so crucial to the people.

Our Lady of the Way Church at Haines Junction, in the Diocese of Whitehorse, Yukon.

Our Lady of the Way Church at Haines Junction, in the Diocese of Whitehorse, Yukon.

Just this past Christmas season, I accompanied Bishop Gary Gordon from Whitehorse to a small tour of missions on the Holy Family Feast. At Our Lady of the Way Church at Haines Junction, we concelebrated Mass for the several families who came out to ask the bishop’s blessing on their families. Right after the Mass, we were offered lunch while the people present talked about the continuing strength of the faith in the area, and about the repairs and improvements they needed for their landmark mission church. You would gather from them that their church building fostered their faith, and their practice of the faith prompted the need to sustain and improve their building, which is considered a part of the Yukon heritage.

Some distance away up the Alaska Highway, the village of Burwash Landing has another historic mission church, Our Lady of the Rosary. The Oblate Fathers and Brothers were posted there for decades and the church had a school attached. The school is now an informative little museum, and inscriptions tell an interesting story of the living Church that has perdured in the faithful, and the faith that is seen even now in their persistence in attending Mass at the church.

All across the country, church buildings demonstrate the presence and vitality of the living faith of the Catholic people of the land.

We know that the Church really resides in the faithful through the grace of Jesus Christ, but our church buildings show our pride in the religion we hold sacred, because it is in these structures that the Lord Jesus Christ remains alive and vibrant, and is passed onto new generations who will be entrusted with that same faith.

Catholic Missions In Canada responds often to appeals to help distant communities sustain their churches and missions, with the ultimate end of supporting the Word of God and the sacraments in the hearts of all people.

© 2011 Catholic Missions In Canada Charitable BN # 119220531 RR0001