Joyful occasion – Bishop Álvaro Corrada, SJ, approaches the new Resurrection Cemetery at St. Ann Church in Winnsboro

Bishop joins St. Ann in triple celebration

By JIM D'AVIGNON

WINNSBORO – Bishop Álvaro Corrada, SJ, joined the parishioners of St. Ann Church in Winnsboro in a triple celebration Aug. 16, and his homily reflected the three-fold occasion.

The parish gathering marked the Silver Jubilee of the small faith community, and also served to dedicate a church cemetery and the new St. Ann Family Life Center.

As Catholic Christians, the bishop said, “We are here to encounter Jesus Christ, to follow Jesus Christ, to imitate Jesus Christ.”

Throughout his homily, the bishop interweaved both his theological points, and reminders of the earthly events the congregation had gathered to celebrate. “Twenty-five years or more ago,” he said, “this plot of land was bought by the Diocese of Dallas. At that time people thought there were very few Catholics in East Texas. They said this would never be built. But when you encounter Jesus here every Sunday you know they were wrong.”

In a tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose Feast of the Assumption was Aug. 15, the bishop said the idea for a Winnsboro church came out of a women’s prayer group.

Just as the Blessed Virgin Mary encountered Jesus and conceived him in her womb, he said, “The ladies had a prayer group and out of this prayer group came the decision to have a church.”

The bishop gestured to his miter, which had an image of Mary being assumed into heaven, and said, “Of all humans, she encountered Jesus in a deeper form than any other human could.” Then Bishop Corrada waved his hand at the congregation, the gold threads on his vestments glittering, and added, “but through her, we came to know we could encounter him.”

The bishop turned slightly and gestured at the altar, saying, “We experience something of what Mary experienced when we receive Jesus in the Eucharist.”

But it is not enough, the bishop said, merely to encounter Jesus. “We have to follow Jesus,” he said, “and the following of Jesus is not easy. It will take us to the cross. Our faith requires not only the encounter, but learning about Jesus.”

But Jesus helps in that effort, the bishop said, as evidenced by results: “After 25 years we have these buildings, this community.”

There is no separation, the bishop said, in the various relationships to Jesus. “You not only have to encounter Jesus and to follow Jesus, but you have to imitate him,” he said. “Christ enters you in the Eucharist, in your prayers, and allows every human person to imitate him, to become like a copy of Jesus. You need to become a reflection of Christ.”

Returning to his starting point, the bishop looked closely at the faces turned to his, and said “Most of us would say, ‘How could we have a church in Winnsboro?’”

He said Mary, and her mother St. Ann, undoubtedly helped. “We still are in the desert of this life,” he said. “Mary is in heaven, but her work is not finished. She is still in the desert of the world with us.”

Bishop Corrada said the parish, despite its small size, has had a full history. He pointed out it was erected in 1984, three years before the establishment of the Diocese of Tyler. “So the parish moved from Dallas to Tyler, without moving at all,” he said.

After Mass, the bishop invited the congregation to process with him to the cemetery, which adjoins the church on the north side. He led the procession, an imposing figure in white and gold, with a broadly varied group trailing on the sidewalk or flowing into the green grass alongside – Hispanic and Anglo and Filipino and Vietnamese.

A small boy in a bright blue shirt scampered by the bishop’s side, and horses from the neighboring pasture trotted to the fence, tossing their heads and blowing softly in wonder at the sight.

The main entrance to the cemetery features two large angel statues, and the central area is enclosed by a simple two-bar metal fence. A cross near the west end towers over a reproduction of the Pieta.

The cemetery is overseen by a board of directors whose officers are Raymond Richter, president; Dr. Michael McAdoo, vice president; and Gaylord P. Whiting, treasurer/secretary. Carmelite Father Jose Kumblumkal, priest in charge of St. Ann, is an ex officio member of the board.

The cemetery has 108 adult plots, 88 children’s plots and 20 cremation plots. Adult and cremation plots are $500 each, and children’s plots are $200. “Our purpose in this is not to make profits,” Father Kumblumkal said. “Our purpose is to provide a dignified place of rest for our departed.”

The cemetery is the 14th Catholic cemetery in the diocese, and only the second to be opened in more than 50 years. Mary Queen of Heaven Parish in Malakoff opened a cemetery in 2007, the first since 1952, when Our Lady of Fatima Church in Daingerfield opened Our Lady of the Pines Catholic Cemetery.

Bishop Corrada also dedicated the family life center, a 3,775-square-foot structure with a kitchen, restrooms and storage facilities. The structure holds 250 people, and was full to capacity Aug. 16 for a reception and program which followed the dedication ceremonies.

St. Ann Church was built in 1984. The community traces its origin to 1979, when local Catholics began meeting every Wednesday evening to pray the rosary. The first Mass in Winnsboro was celebrated in 1980 by Glenmary Father Ray Orlett, pastor of St. James the Apostle Church in Sulphur Springs. St. Ann remains a mission of St. James. o