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November 22, 2022By Mary Lim
St. Francis de Sales Parish was originally founded on June 3, 1971, though it was not until Thanksgiving Day of 1972 that the first Mass was celebrated in the multipurpose building, then being used as both the parishioners’ church and parish hall. On November 20th, 2022, the parish celebrated their 50th anniversary with the culmination finale event marking the end of their golden jubilee.
When the Jubilee Committee was first formed in August of 2021 in anticipation of the milestone, they surveyed the parishioners for suggestions as to how to best celebrate such an occasion, especially since the world was still very much in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic at that time. In part because of Covid, it was suggested that the parish celebrate in bouts rather than with one huge gathering – one smaller event every month throughout the year, something for everyone.
The jubilee year was kicked off on November 20, 2021 with the celebration of the Mass at 5pm by Bishop Edward Weisenburger, followed by dinner and entertainment.
In December 2021, the parish had a spaghetti dinner, sponsored by the youth group, and the adult choir sang Christmas carols. Parishioners who attended the January event were serenaded by a Mariachi band and enjoyed a Mexican dinner. In February it was a pancake breakfast, and then to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, the youth group sponsored a parish-wide party in which they served corn beef, cabbage, and homemade Irish cream cupcakes. April was swap meet month, and in May they gathered for a procession from the prayer garden to the church for the crowning of Mary. After taking a break from celebrations to wait out the hottest months of the year, they resumed in August 2022 with another swap meet plus a symposium featuring the person St. Francis de Sales and the future of the church which is named for him. In September, the parishioners came together for a Ministry Fair. Octoberfest was the celebration of the month in October, where there was plenty of German food and dancing to be had by all.
Finally, this past Sunday, November 20th, 2022, St. Francis de Sales Parish had the finale of their 50th year with the celebration of Mass. The party after Mass included the renaming and rededication of the Religious Education and Social Center in honor of Father Bob Tamminga, beloved pastor of St. Francis de Sales Parish from 1984 until his death in June 2020. The parishioners also viewed a video marking the Jubilee, and a slideshow documenting the joy they shared throughout the celebration year.
Parish Office Manager, Lori McLaughlin, took part in planning and attending each monthly celebration and said, “All the Jubilee events were good ways to bring parishioners back together after Covid had forced isolation. We enjoyed seeing faces we had not seen in a year or longer. We had fun again.”
92-year-old parishioner Dcn. Frank Collura, who was ordained to the diaconate in 1975 and who is a member of one of the first cohorts of deacons in the country, has also seen St. Francis de Sales grow all through its fifty years. He was there from the beginning when the parish was first founded in 1971. Dcn. Frank is one of the few gems of parishioners who has been a part of St. Francis de Sales since they were celebrating Mass at Regina Cleri Seminary while the church building was being built during that first year. He can recount from memory the full history of the parish, all of the pastors and associate priests, and all of the construction development and refurbishments that the buildings have endured throughout the years. He can detail every corner of the church building, inside and out, from the material to the symbolic significance. Every structure and piece of artwork that is part of the church all point to God and to the divine, and they share a special origin story as being uniquely Tusconan in style and matter.
As a parishioner and as a deacon, Dcn. Frank has been intimately involved in numerous ministries at St. Francis de Sales, from teaching Scripture classes to heading the ministry of vigil masses for the families of the deceased, and so he has had the privilege of watching the people of the parish grow and seeing the community blossom into what it is becoming today. The life and spirit that is present in that church community is made so clearly known through his reminiscing of the beginnings of the parish, to the vibrant gatherings, to the loving guidance of each of the pastors, and to the new life that the people bring to St. Francis de Sales today.
Dcn. Frank is just one of the many parishioners who make St. Francis de Sales Parish the amazing community that it is. Another one of the highlights of the jubilee year was sharing multiple parishioners’ stories about their lives and how the Church has been a part of walking alongside individuals and transforming them. Throughout the year, the Jubilee Committee worked hard to document these stories and share them in the parish bulletins.
The year of celebrating was so good for the parish and really inspired more community, more joy, more outreach and ministry, and more spreading of the Gospel and the love of God. After this their jubilee year, St. Francis de Sales continues to grow to serve the everchanging needs of its parishioners. Congratulations to St. Francis de Sales Parish and community on the celebration of 50 years serving the faithful in the Tucson area!
Watch the 50th Anniversary video:
