Holds final mass
Special to The Bolivar Bullet
Parishioners of Sacred Heart Parish in Rosedale gathered around Bishop Joseph Kopacz and SVD Fathers Sebastian Myladiyil and Tom Mullaly to celebrate a final Mass in the church on Sunday afternoon, June 30. Friends from the nearby parishes of St. Francis in Shaw, St. Mary in Shelby, and Our Lady of Victories in Cleveland joined in the bittersweet celebration as a sign of support for their Bolivar County neighbors.
During the diocesan pastoral re-imagining discussions over the past year and even before that, Sacred Heart parishioners had begun talking among themselves and with Father Myladiyil, the parish’s sacramental minister, what the future of the parish would be after the death of their longtime, dedicated Lay Ecclesial Minister, Dr. James Tomek in August, 2022. Since his death, several parishioners have taken on various responsibilities around the church.
Ultimately, through much prayerful discernment and fortitude, these devoted parishioners were ready to make a leap of faith.
Throughout the discussion, there was a deep sense of love and concern for one another and the legacy of the families who had been in the parish for decades. In the end, they decided together to close and have a final Mass in Sacred Heart with Bishop Kopacz.
This decision was indeed a communal decision grounded in a firm and faith-filled realization that the church went beyond a single building. It also was a painful decision to let go of what has been a home filled with memories of baptisms, weddings, and funerals. And it was a bittersweet decision that brought about a profound resolve and quiet relief in those present at the meeting. It was a privilege to be able to witness the tremendous faith of the people of God in Rosedale.
Located just off Highway 1 near the Mississippi River in the Delta, Sacred Heart officially became a parish in 1968, but Catholic history in the Rosedale area goes back to early French explorations of the River. Rev. Jacques Marquette, SJ, and Louis Jolliet ventured down the Mississippi in the spring of 1673 seeking to determine whether the “great river” was a path to the Gulf of Mexico or turned and went west to the Pacific.
A Jesuit evangelist, Marquette’s mission for the expedition was evangelization. Jolliet, a trader and mapper, was seeking opportunities to establish new trading posts along the river. The journey involved a crew of five assisting the duo in two canoes paddling down that massive current that cuts our nation in two.
The team made it all the way from Canada to where the Arkansas River empties into the Mississippi, which is just south of where Rosedale sits today. Some historians record that Marquette celebrated Mass on the eastern bank of the river near where the town is today.
If that is the case, then that would be the first known Mass in the lower Mississippi Valley – predating the Easter Sunday Mass near Fort Adams in 1682, which was part of the LaSalle expedition.
Marquette and Jolliet did not venture farther down the river because they heard the Spanish were in the area slightly south. So, the two canoes turned around and paddled back up the river to what is now Michigan. They did finally establish that the river flowed into the Gulf and did not turn and go west.
Catholicism did not return to the area for another 200 years. In 1888, Father John Koerstenbroek, pastor in Greenville, started ministering to the Rosedale Catholics. Mass was celebrated in the home of Edward Scott. Scott’s son, Norbert, is the first recorded baptism in 1894.
Beginning in the early 20th century, Rosedale was served by priests from Our Lady of Victories in Cleveland. In 1968, Bishop Joseph Brunini established Rosedale as a parish and appoint Father Tony Pudenz as its first resident pastor. Father Tony Pudenz oversaw the building of the church, which was dedicated in March, 1971, by Bishop Brunini.
Other pastors along the way included Msgr. Mike Flannery, Father Dan Gallagher, and Father P.J. Curley. Having just returned from serving in the mission on Saltillo, Mexico, Msgr. Flannery began a Hispanic ministry in the area.
Eventually, women religious began administering the parish and sacramental ministers would come and celebrate Mass and confer the sacraments. Among these women were Sisters Patricia Fitzgerald, Mary Genevieve Love, Vivian Votruba, Jeroma Day, Catherine Leamy, and Celia Evers. These women also devoted themselves to migrants and prison ministry.
Dr. Tomek served faithfully from 2010-2022. His steadfast commitment to Sacred Heart was much appreciated by the parish and the diocese.
Near the end of the Mass on June 30, as a final symbolic act, the altar cloth was slowly folded and placed in the center of the altar. The Bishop then offered the Post Communion prayer, many thanks were extended, the final blessing was imparted, and the congregation gathered for photos and a lovely reception in the gathering area outside the church proper.
Parishioners shared many stories and a few tears, but still held on to that abiding faith that has guided them together through a myriad of sacred moments and will continue to guide and keep them.