Saint Francis of Assisi Parish celebrates groundbreaking

IC photo by Marie Mischel

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Father David Bittmenn, pastor of Saint Francis of Assisi Parish, motions for Jesuit Father Joseph Rooney to join the line for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new church. Father Rooney is pastor of the neighboring San Andres Parish in Payson and Sa

OREM – The sound of drums resounded in Saint Francis of Assisi Parish on Sunday as Aztec dancers performed first in the old church, then in the courtyard to celebrate the groundbreaking of the new church Oct. 3.

“My brothers and sisters in Christ, you are going to build a church,” said the Most Rev. John C. Wester, bishop of Salt Lake City, during the bilingual Mass celebrating the event. “Gracias a Dios. This takes great faith.” Fittingly, faith was the topic of Sunday’s liturgical readings. In the first reading, the prophet Habakkuk teaches that faith is a relationship with God, Bishop Wester said. “We have to live with God, be with God, and trust in God just like we do with husband and wife or with a friend.”

As for the Gospel reading, Jesus told the disciples not to underestimate faith, Bishop Wester added, because “faith can move mountains.”

This applies to the St. Francis community, he said. “We have many, many things to do and our checkbooks are short, but faith is powerful. This is not our project. This is the work of God for us and God … is working in this community. God is building us up and God is building these walls.”

After the Mass, the Quetxalcoatl dancers, whose members belong to the parish, performed a dance. They also entertained the crowd after the groundbreaking.

In his comments at the groundbreaking ceremony that followed the Mass, Bishop Wester thanked the dancers. “We are very blessed in our church and the state of Utah to have many wonderful cultures,” he said, adding that the Aztec dancers remind us of Mexico’s culture and rich legacy, which many St. Francis parishioners share.

A groundbreaking is “an opportunity for us to acknowledge God as the giver of every good gift,” Bishop Wester said. “God gave us the earth and the ability to work the earth and to build beautiful buildings on it such as churches. We are building the community of God and we are building our community of faith.”

Just as the bricks and mortar and wood will come together to build a beautiful church, so too do Catholics come together to build a beautiful church, Bishop Wester said. “The church will rise up to the heavens as if giving glory to God, because it is doing just that, and so we raise our hearts in prayer to give glory to God. The church will be a sign, therefore, of welcome, just as we are a sign of welcome to all people to come, and to come without paying the cost to enjoy food and drink. This church is a wonderful coming together of so many people and so much talent and so much sacrifice, so we give thanks to almighty God for it and for you and we pray that the Lord will continue to bless us and our efforts.”

Construction of the church is expected to start in early November; the project still needs approval of permits from the city, said Juliana Boerio-Goates, chairwoman of the St. Francis building committee.