‘God had a hand in making our dreams come true’

The most striking features of the new Holy Angels Church in Indianapolis are the openness of the space and how light pours through its large windows. The church was dedicated on June 9, the culmination of a nine-year journey for the parish. (Photo by John Shaughnessy)

By John Shaughnessy

St. Joseph Sister Gail Trippett told the story with delight, noting how it showed the small miracles that God made possible for the completion of the new church of Holy Angels Parish in Indianapolis.

The finances for completing the church had already been severely strained by the time she turned her attention to buying a crucifix for the sanctuary. So, as a starting point, she focused on just purchasing a corpus—the representation of Jesus on the cross.

“I spoke with the lady at the store and I said, ‘Would you mind calling the company and see if they would just sell us the corpus, and then we’ll figure out a way to get the cross made?’ ” said Sister Gail, the parish life coordinator of Holy Angels. “The next day, somebody sent us the cost of the corpus without even knowing we needed it.

“I said, ‘OK, God, you got us the corpus, how are we going to get the cross?’ ”

Soon after, she was talking to a man about the church when she asked him, “Do you know a carpenter?” The man said, “Yes. Me.”

“And he said he would build a cross out of 400-year-old wood,” Sister Gail said as she pointed to the beautiful crucifix behind the altar of the new church.

Sister Gail shared that story during her comments near the end of the dedication Mass of the new Holy Angels Church on June 9—a story that was greeted with cheers and shouts of “Amen!” from people in the pews.

(See a photo gallery from the dedication)

Sister Gail said that story is just one of the many “miracles” that have happened in the nine-year journey to a new brick church for Holy Angels, replacing the small, wood-frame house of worship that was torn down in 2012 because of extensive weather damage, after serving the predominantly Black faith community for more than a century.

“There are so many stories I could tell you about God’s hands on the building of this house,” she shared. “I remember one of our parishioners was dying who said, ‘Sister Gail, I have this much left of my pledge. And if you come by my house, I’ll pay it so it will be done before I die.’

“I know there is a parishioner sitting here who promised God how much she was going to donate for her pledge. Then she lost her job. And she said, ‘How am I going to keep my pledge? How am I going to do it? And I have children who are in school.’ But she kept making her pledge anyway. And when she finished it, she started again.”

Sister Gail compared the parish’s nine-year journey of building a new church to a woman starting her pregnancy.

“I think about how a mother takes care of a child in her womb for nine months. Well, for nine years, God planted a seed of hope in everybody sitting here. And trust me, it has not been easy. There were people saying this will never happen. And every time the prices would go up, some of us would say this will never happen. And yet the seed of hope stayed alive in each and every one of us—a testimony that God stays with you no matter what. And God has been with us all nine years.

“If God kept us together, and God kept giving us the hope, and kept giving us the grace to continue to stay with him, then he also wants us to be those seeds of hope for everyone else.”

Sister Gail’s message has been embraced by Justin Armitage, the principal of Holy Angels School, a Notre Dame ACE Academy.

“This church is going to be tremendous for our school,” said Armitage, who joined in the celebration of the dedication Mass. “Each year, we pick a theme for our school year. Next year, it’s going to be, ‘Cultivating Community.’ It’s all about rejuvenating the partnership between the Church and the school. It will provide so many opportunities for our scholars to get out into the community and serve.”

The dedication Mass also made an impact on Reggie Ash, a member of the parish for more than 30 years. He served on the sacred space committee for the new church and was part of the honor guard of the Knights of Peter Claver at the Mass.

“This has been the most rewarding achievement ever,” Ash said. “To know our ancestors are looking down on us, keeping our Holy Angels’ family together, is a total blessing. There is nothing better to know than God had a hand in making our dreams come true.”

Longtime Holy Angels member Cecelia Boler echoed the sentiments of Ash and Sister Gail.

“I am so grateful for God’s strength and mercy. I am grateful for being able to witness the faith of our parish,” Boler said. “I pray that every person who was a part of this journey has seen the power of God and has felt his perfect love for us.” †

 

Related story: Nine-year journey leads to joyful creation of a new church for Holy Angels Parish