Cardinal George helps St. Joseph’s mark 100 years

For 100 years, Round Lake’s St. Joseph’s Catholic Church has been a bastion of faith for a diverse group of parishioners.

The parish started with immigrant German farmers who held the first Mass at St. Joseph’s in 1912, 100 years ago Saturday. Today, a rich variety of cultures call the church their spiritual home.

Saturday’s century-mark anniversary Mass was a tribute to that diversity with parts of it spoken or sung in English, Spanish, Tagalog and Latin. Church leaders were also able to get Cardinal Francis George to preside over the celebratory Mass and deliver a homily that noted how the parish’s congregation was a microcosm of the Catholicism itself. George’s sermon focused on how Catholics need to foster their faith throughout their lifetime.

“Just like love itself, in faith there’s always more,” he told the standing-only crowd of roughly 300. “Christ is around us.”

The majority of parishioners at St. Joseph’s these days are Hispanic, but there is also a large Filipino presence, as well as families from the local Polish and black communities, parish officials said.

“This is a big day for everybody at St. Joseph’s,” Pablo Arcinaga said. “It shows you can involve every culture here, and that everybody is equal in this church. It doesn’t matter where you come from.”

Several in attendance Saturday had grown up in the parish but had moved to other parishes in adulthood. George welcomed them back as well.

“This is a time when others who have been part of this parish’s life have come back to see it again,” he said. Parish leaders have been planning the special anniversary Mass for more than a year. A special booklet on the parish’s history was created by several members of the congregation. Parish historians know St. Joseph’s was blessed by the Rev. A.J. Thiele, then the Archdiocese of Chicago’s vicar general, during its first Mass. But they don’t have any idea what that first homily was about.

“They had all the pomp and circumstance that comes with a first Mass,” said church historian John Jonker. “But we never did find out what the sermon was about.”

The parish’s original church building was replaced in 1952 and then replaced again by the current church building in 1980. A fundraising campaign is currently under way to refurbish the interior of the sanctuary.

The parish also maintains an elementary school on its campus.