St. Gabriel at 50: ‘We’re on a roll’

By Jonathan Martinez - Florida Catholic

POMPANO BEACH | Founded out of necessity in 1967, St. Gabriel Parish has been nourished by love over the past 50 years.

Its church — built just a year after its founding, and renovated in 1987 — sits on four acres of prime real estate along the 700-block of North Ocean Boulevard. And many of the same parishioners who helped build it remain involved in the parish.

In commemoration of the milestone jubilee, St. Gabriel’s parish council organized several events, including an anniversary Mass April 2.

"It was a beautiful Mass. I was impressed,” said Jo Anne Kralich, president of the parish council. “We are a community of seniors and we have a number of ministries that support one another and the less fortunate in our area as well as in Guatemala, where we support a mission.”

The parish’s founding wasn’t the only milestone being celebrated. Father Anthony “Tony” Mulderry, the church’s pastor, is also celebrating his 50th anniversary as a priest.

"We hope the parish continues to grow the next 50 years,” said Kralich. “We have a vibrant spiritual life and are blessed by having Father Tony, who is an outstanding pastor. It's truly a spiritual family."

In the beginning, 400 families made up the parish community. Today, the parish continues to flourish with over 1,000 families. It is a home away from home for many winter parishioners.

“We now look forward with great confidence and determination that we will continue to build up the Body of Christ, the community of St. Gabriel,” said Father Mulderry. “I think we're on a roll. We have people that are very committed. I never have any problem looking for volunteers. We have something unique here."

Archbishop Thomas Wenski celebrated the anniversary Mass as hundreds of parishioners and community members filled the pews.

“The word ‘parish’ is derived from a Greek word, ‘pa-roi-ki-a.’ The Spanish word for parish, ‘parroquia,’ is closer to the Greek than our English word. But ‘pa-roi-ki-a’ refers to a sojourner — or a community of sojourners,” the archbishop said during the homily.

He noted that when the Hebrew bible was translated into Greek, ‘pa-roi-ki-a’ was used to refer to the Hebrews who ‘sojourned’ through the desert on their way to the Promised Land.

Since we also are ‘sojourners’ on our way to the promised land of heaven, the archbishop said, “our parishes are like the oases that the Hebrews found in the desert. And St. Gabriel is an oasis of faith in the desert of a world that too often wants to pretend as if God doesn’t matter.”

“You make St. Gabriel’s an oasis for the sojourner,” Archbishop Wenski said. “You have made St. Gabriel’s a beacon of hope along A1A so that those who seek the Lord can find him who is the Resurrection and the Life.”

Although St. Gabriel is, as Kralich said, mainly “a community of seniors,” the parish is keeping up with technology. One of the key pieces in keeping parishioners in touch with one another is a daily e-blast.

“We have a daily email blast called Gabriel's Horn that talks about some of the things going on in the church that day, the saint of the day, all the requests people send in for different personal things, prayers; and this goes to almost 300 people a day,” said Carin Imhof, parish council member. "Even when the winter parishioners are away for so many months they still feel like they are an integral part of the parish by knowing everything that is going on."

The golden jubilee celebrations began in January with a champagne reception, Italian night, day cruise, parish mission, and art show.

"The activities have been a great way to see the entire parish come together for both social and religious, spiritual outings,” said Imhof. “Everything has been a sellout, a full house. It's been phenomenal watching everybody work, pray and have a good time together."

Since the founding of the parish April 5, 1967, there have been four pastors. Miami’s first archbishop, Coleman Carroll, appointed Father Thomas J. Goggin as the first pastor. He was followed in 1971 by Msgr. Thomas O’Donovan, who served the parish for 12 years. Msgr. Francis Fazzalaro was the third pastor. He was installed in 1983 and served the parish until 2003. All three are now deceased.

“He brought to St. Gabriel’s a dedication to liturgy, an enthusiasm for pastoral duties and a talent for music,” Father Mulderry said of Msgr. Fazzalaro.

Father Mulderry himself was named pastor Jan. 9, 2004.

"The parish is only going to keep getting better,” said Imhof. “The parish is alive, it's vital, it's growing, and even though a lot of it is winter parishioners there are still a lot of year-round people who devote tons of their time and prayers to the parish.”