This church revives many living memories. It is a testimony of sustained faith. It is the sacred location that binds our community together. We appreciate and speak highly about the beautiful aspects of our church. In this church, we have gathered for Mass on Sunday, celebrated various moments of joys and sorrows in our lives, initiated steps to reach out to the poor, needy and care for the earth. It has given us a sense of collective identity as the parish of Our Lady and St. Joseph. All of these have helped us to get closer to God and each other.

Above all this church reminds us of Jesus’s words. ‘For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them’ (Mt 18:20). We experience the loving presence of Christ personally and as a community whenever we gather in the church in prayerful reflection. We are called to proclaim that love to the world. This celebration gives us a moment to rejoice in our Christian calling.  

At the beginning according to the Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, our ancestral Christian communities did not have separate public church buildings in which to gather, due to fear of persecution. They met in their simple homes or in hidden places like the catacombs. We know it is in these ordinary places they listened to the Word of God, Broke Bread and Shared the Cup, and renewed their commitment to the Reign of God. They shared all that they had, took care of the poor, the needy, the sick, the children, and the elderly. Many who had not heard of Christ came to know him by the lifestyle of the first Christians. Conversions increased not because of a beautiful site of a piece of architecture but as a result of the greatest life examples of our ancestors whose lives were moved and molded by Christ. This powerful witness to love among the believers have been the essence and the lasting quality of our faith.                                                                                                                                       

May this celebration of the 150^th anniversary of our church of Our Lady and St. Joseph be a blessing to all of us to revive our faith and experience that love and fellowship with God and with one another.

Fr. Bernard Reyhart C.C