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st. luke parish in belleville celebrates 125th anniversary
Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor
St. Luke Parish was inaugurated in 1883 as the English speaking parish in Belleville when it began with St. Peter’s the parish for German speakers.
Mindful of the need for a school, St. Peter’s rector, Father Louis Hinssen, established a school for English speaking children with the School Sisters of Notre Dame as their teachers.
Bishop Edward K. Braxton was celebrant with former pastor, Msgr. Jim Margason, homilist at a 4 p.m., Oct. 18 anniversary liturgy, the feast of St. Luke.
Msgr. Margason spoke of the church’s architecture and the care that early pastors had taken with items such as the Stations of the Cross that were carefully cleaned when Msgr. Margason was pastor.
In his homily, Msgr. Margason referred to St. Paul’s letter to Timothy, saying, “Ministry is not something we can do alone; we need others.” We need to “enter into ministry together; we need one another.”
Referencing the day’s Gospel message, Msgr. Margason said: “If we are going to be successful at being church, we can only do it if we have peace in our hearts and are one with God. We need a deep sense of peace and quiet in our hearts to be faithful, committed disciples and reach out to others.”