Pictures of the Celebration:

Confirmación Mass

Vigil Celebration

Sunday Celebration

Closing of the 40th Anniversary Celebration in San Jose Obrero Parish Chulucanas

The weekend of Dec 13-14th marked the closing of the 40th anniversary celebration of the founding of San Jose Obrero (St. Joseph the Worker) parish. The opening of the celebration took place in September during the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross and this closing was planned to coincide with the annual pastoral visit of the bishop. Saturday morning the celebration began with the confirmation of some 80 young men and women asking to recommit themselves to being disciples of Christ. Then in the evening was the mass of thanksgiving for the 40 years of parish life. The focus of the evening mass was on the zonal teams that have worked over the years to build up and strengthen the experience of faith. The parish is divided into 60 parish zones and each zone has a team of lay people who volunteer to serve on the team. It is through this team zonal structure that most of the evangelization efforts of the Church are channeled since it is much more effective in reaching the largest number possible.
During his homily Bishop Dan Turley emphasized the tradition of holiness that has marked the parish with two towering figures, John McKniff who has been declared “Servant of God”, and Richard Appicci who left a special mark for his dedication to the poor. Joining in the celebration in representation of the American Augustinians was Fr. Bill Lego the prior provincial of the Midwest Province, as well as other Augustinian members of the vicariate of Chulucanas.

After the evening mass everyone gathered outside on the street to bring “back to life” a band that was formed in the parish shortly after its founding called the “Boys Dinamicos.” Most of the members of the original band are still in Chulucanas and they came together to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the parish and to give thanks to the parish for the support they received as young men starting the band. Besides music, there was also a bingo held which was enjoyed by all present.

On the following morning, Sunday, Bishop Dan Turley again presided at the principal mass to mark the anniversary. During this mass the focus was on the Basic Ecclesial Communities which are small groups of lay people that meet around God’s Word to try to apply the light that comes from His Word to the concrete social situation that they are living through. The Basic Ecclesial Communities were born in Latin America after the call of the Latin American Episcopal Conference meeting in Medellin, Colombia in 1968 and later promoted by Pope Paul VI in his encyclical on Evangelization (1974). Promoting and sustaining these groups represents a large investment of time and energy in the pastoral plan of the Chulucanas dioceses, and so it was fitting to honor them during the anniversary celebration.

As a sign of solidarity with the less fortunate, each of the small Christian communities presented a small gift of food that will be shared with the local prison where there is always a chronic lack of foodstuffs. These gifts were placed beside the Christmas crib as a sign of how to celebrate in a meaningful way the birth of the Lord.

Following the main mass, Fr. Art Purcaro the pastor of San José and Bishop Dan went out to one of the outlying villages to celebrate another group of confirmations. It was one of 5 different celebrations of the sacrament of confirmation in different rural zones.

Upon returning to the parish, a luncheon was held for all the members of the parish staffs of the three parishes in Chulucanas, as well as for the Augustinian communities of San José and neighboring Morropon and others visiting from other communities.

Together with the celebration in September, this closing celebration was an opportunity to give thanks to God for the many blessings received in these forty years. Beginning with the first Augustinian missionaries from the Villanova province acquiring an old restaurant as a first place of worship, the parish has grown to over 40,000 faithful both in the town of Chulucanas as well as the 40 rural zones. Hundreds of lay people serve in the different zonal teams and a vibrant faith community has risen out of the most humble of beginnings.