St. Anthony's Celebrates 100

By Susan Hallock
YULAN — June 5, 2007 — A special ceremony was held Sunday, June 3 at Saint Anthony’s Church in Yulan to mark the 100th anniversary of the Church, with His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan of the New York Archdiocese, present to help celebrate with a special Mass.
The Cardinal was assisted by Saint Anthony’s Knights of Columbus, whose member Vincent Donnelly noted, “50 years ago Cardinal [Cushing] came and the streets of Yulan were lined with people. This is a great honor for the parish and its members to have the Cardinal here today. One hundred years ago a acre of land was donated to the Franciscans to build a church and the first church burned, but the Church they rebuilt still stand proudly here today. Saint Anthony’s is in the center of the community and I hope that the examples we set here today, and the examples set 100 years ago, will be followed and carried on by the next generation for another 100 years.”
The standing room only worship service was assisted by priests from other parishes.
Cardinal Egan displayed his sense of humor and smiled often, and told the faithful, “There are miracles and they happen all the time. You have a lovely Church here and the stained glass windows tell many stories if you just look at them.
“The Franciscan Fathers should be very proud of this Church here today as we celebrate Mass and it is being celebrated in the way God would want us to,” the Cardinal added.
“Your church does tell a story – just listen to it. I am suppose to be at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral today, but being here today is a way of playing hokey for me and I enjoy coming to churches such as yours and meeting all of you.”
In his sermon the Cardinal pointed out, “Every human is a image of Christ, no matter what, and you and I are in his care every day. God does care and we are only here for a moment and then we are in eternity and we need to embrace that. Life can be bad, but it can be good, it can be without meaning, it can be devastating. People suffer, people die and we ask why. Remember , we are only here for a moment, embrace that moment.”
Egan went on to say, “ A parish is an important part of the community… the essentials of the Catholic faith is its churches and I am so happy to be here to mark this blessed event and I am thankful to be sharing it with all of you.”
Before ending the Mass Edward Cardinal Egan went on to present numerous Franciscan awards to parish members who have been with the church the longest and also those members who truly carry the work of the Lord through out the community.
Oldest members honors went to Helen and Chet Oset as well as Carl Hinchey.