You may have heard already, but if you haven’t, Father Anzelm Chalupka is being reassigned to Church of St Casimir in Yonkers, New York.
The above is audio from Mass when he made the announcement at church today.
Though Father Anzelm’s departure wasn’t entirely unexpected, it did come as a surprise when I learned late last week that he was leaving.
From a personal perspective, when I decided to join a church in my old neighborhood, I was debating between Saint Adalbert Basilica and Corpus Christi…one day about 4 and a 1/2 years ago, I was driving around the neighborhood and noticed Father Anzelm getting his hands dirty and helping one of the church’s neighbors on Clark Street. A little while afterward, I joined Corpus Christi and then get very involved with the church.
What is most inspiring to me about Father Anzelm and the rest of the Pauline Fathers, is that are really down to Earth people…it was easy for me to connect with the church and become part of the Parish community.
What the church has accomplished in the last six years is amazing…from being on the brink of closure in 2003 to being in a mode of restoring the church and growth in 2010 is truly a success story.
At the top of it all was Father Anzelm guiding his flock…he will be the first to tell you that Corpus Christi’s success isn’t necessarily tied to any one person, but a lot of the success comes from him leading the way.
In typical Father Anzelm style, he didn’t want any type of farewell party and all he wanted as a send off is to have the church packed for his final mass next Sunday at 11:30. Father has always like when the church is full.
Please come next Sunday and HELP PACK THE CHURCH!
There is a Facebook event page setup for the mass…click here to see—>
Good Luck FATHER ANZELM!
I will try to make to the mass.
god bless and good luck you will be truly missed
Father Anzelm will be missed. He baptized my child a few years ago. I will be there on Sunday.
Father Anzelm
Niech cie Bóg błogosławi