DIOCESAN NEWS
10/09/09
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Rains flood groundbreaking in Ripley
By Sr. Donna Gunn
      RIPLEY — Sister Kate Regan, lay ecclesial minister, and the people of St. Matthew Mission watched as a torrential down pour forced them to cancel their outdoor Mass on their new property. By 10:30 a.m. that Sunday, Sept. 20, the property looked more like a huge lake than a soccer field.
      They gathered inside instead in the now-too-small space, with “the promise of something far better.”
      Father Bob Dalton, a Glenmary Home Missioner, asked everyone to imagine they were on the new property. He reminded the congregation to pray for all those in the future who would use the new church for baptism, First Communion, confirmation, marriage and as a place of grief when they brought loved ones there for the last time.
      Sigifredo Bonilla, the pastoral minister-parish multicultural worker, spoke about the living stones — the church – the people of God.
      The liturgy was bilingual; the close quarters gave testimony to the work of evangelization in the area where 12 years ago, there were only eight families who came for worship. Today the facility has outgrown its space and is packed with families and small children.
      Eight years ago, the Glenmary Home Missioners bought property in Ripley, with the hope of some day building a church. On Halloween 2006, Sister Regan received word that a donor had left a large sum of money for a church to be built. The last three years have been a time of patient waiting as the estate worked its way through probate.
      Rain or shine, the groundbreaking was “a glorious day and a tangible sign of building a community of faith,” Sister Regan said. “The rain was but one more reminder of God’s grace being constantly poured forth, flooding us with mercy and unconditional love.”

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