By Tim Wenzl

Diocesan Archivist

The centennial celebration of St. Mary’s Church in Hodgeman County took on the air of a reunion May 1. Many of the more than 300 people attending had not been together since the memorial Mass on July 19, 1997, when the parish was closed after diocesan restructuring. The centennial was obviously a more festive occasion.

More than 100 people filled the church while the others participated in the liturgy via closed-circuit television under a nearby tent.

Bishop Ronald M. Gilmore presided at the Mass. He was joined by Father Henry Hildebrandt, pastor of the Spearville, Jetmore and Hanston parish cluster; Deacon Dwaine Lampe, and Father Gerald Harr, pastor of Christ the King Church, Gering, Neb. Father Harr is the grandson of John and Bridget Burke Gleason. John Gleason donated 10 acres for the church and adjacent cemetery in 1904.

The community observes the parish anniversary from the year of the construction of the church. The cornerstone was set May 29, 1904, and the church was completed that same year. The church was dedicated in Jan. 12, 1905.

Many of the founding Irish families moved into the area around 1879 and were, for 23 years, parishioners of the "Old" St. Joseph Church in Ford County, five miles to the south.

Bishop Gilmore referred to the area’s storied past during his homily.

"I sat in this Church one afternoon shortly after I came to the diocese, and paced in this church, and prayed in this church. I communed with the ghosts of this place, and tried to absorb all the textured past.

"The growth of the Irish settlement, the complex and difficult relationship with the Austrian settlement at Old St. Joseph, the intervention of Bishop Hennessy to permit the moving of the church to the center of the parish, the injunction that prevented its moving, the interdict against Old St. Joseph’s and the lasting bitterness it produced, the laying of the cornerstone of this church in May 1904, the untimely death of John Gleason in October of that same year, the ferocious fire in 1928, the infusion of new vitality with a parish school in 1943, the loss of the Sisters in 1955, and the ultimate loss on that July day in 1997. I tried to feel it all ...the closeness of the settlement, the estrangement of the two groups, the misunderstandings and hurt feelings, the irreversibility of the choices, the sheer pain of it.

"But I could not understand it then, and I am not sure I understand it even now."

Bishop Gilmore then made reference to the Sunday readings and said they speak of the role of historical accident in the unfolding of God’s saving plan.

"No historical accident, no person, no quarrel, no misunderstanding, no loss can separate the sheep from the Shepherd. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and from the vocation he has marked out for each of us. Historical accident, the many-sided drama of human freedom, sin, and divine grace, is part of God’s intricate plan for all of us and for each of us. It led to better things in the days of the Apostles. It leads to better things in our days too, if we have but the eyes of faith to see them.

"I sat in this church one afternoon, and paced in this church, and prayed in this church: for those who built this church; for you who lost this church; for a deeper understanding of the mysterious plan of God; for an increase of faith; for healing; for peace. On this happy occasion, may the Risen-Lord of the strong hand give us a full measure of all those things."

As was common practice when the church was open, the congregation recited the Rosary prior to the Mass. Following the Rosary the youth of the community participated in a May crowning. Each placed a red rose in a vase before the statue of the Blessed Mother. Ashley Burkhart placed a crown atop the statue of Mary.

The congregation processed to the cemetery following the liturgy where Bishop Gilmore blessed the graves. After the blessing, "When Irish Eyes are Smiling" was sung.

Today the church and grounds are maintained by members of the St. Mary’s Community Heritage Foundation, Inc. The church is still at the heart of the neighborhood. A Monday evening Rosary started by Eleanor Hogan and Rosanna Gleason after 9/ll continues to this day. Services such as the St. Isidore Novena during times of drought and Stations of the Cross during Lent are also held in the church. The "pheasant feed," begun in 1968 for hunters on the first day of pheasant season, continues as an annual fund-raiser.Members of the St. Mary community attend Mass in Hanston, Offerle, Kinsley, Spearville, and Dodge City.