Florida Catholic | St. Maximillian Kolbe Parish Celebrates

St. Maximillian Parish celebrates its first year

ANDREA KUDLACZ | FLORIDA CATHOLIC CORRESPONDENT

Published: 09.28.07

Bishop Wenski meets a young parishioner at St. Maximillian Kolbe Parish in Avalon Park

Isabella Lauteria and her mother, Edith Lauteria, greet Bishop Thomas Wenski as they arrive to celebrate the one-year anniversary Mass at St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Avalon Park.
JIM DELPH | FC

AVALON PARK | Bishop Thomas Wenski shook hands and greeted parishioners as they entered the cafeteria of Stone Lakes Elementary School Aug. 26 to celebrate Mass in honor of the first anniversary of St. Maximilian Kolbe Parish in Avalon Park.

Brenda Kolbrich, a member of the building site ministry, was instrumental in working with the Diocese of Orlando in identifying a need for a Catholic church in Avalon Park.

“When my family and I moved to Avalon Park six years ago, I quickly realized there was a need for another Catholic Church in east Orlando,” Kolbrich said. “I worked with the diocese and the developer and now it’s amazing that St. Maximilian Kolbe is now beginning the second year.”

One year ago, 700 people attended the parish’s first three Masses. More than 500 people gathered at just one Mass to hear Bishop Wenski speak. Now it is not unusual for more than 1,200 parishioners to attend the Masses each weekend. A fourth Sunday Mass was added to accommodate growing attendance.

In 1941, the Nazis imprisoned Father Maximilian Kolbe in the Auschwitz, Poland, death camp. There he offered his life for another prisoner and was condemned to slow death in a starvation bunker. His impatient captors ended his life with a fatal injection Aug. 14, 1941. Pope John Paul II canonized Maximilian Kolbe as a “martyr of charity” in 1982.

In his homily, Bishop Wenski talked about that incredible sacrifice. According to the bishop, the value of human life was what Maximilian Kolbe stood for in his life and in his ministry, and that is why the parish was named for him.

“Back in Miami, I and another priest friend of mine — also Polish-American — whenever we heard a new parish was to be established, would petition then Archbishop Edward McCarthy to name a parish for Maximilian Kolbe,” said Bishop Wenski. “Although he first declined — he said the people would end up calling it St. Max and we countered, ‘So what? You have a parish everybody calls St. Pat’s’ — he finally accepted.

“As bishop of Orlando, I didn’t have to petition anybody. I am convinced that his example and his prayers will help us to value human life and family life. St. Maximilian Kolbe shed his blood for these values.”

Father David Scotchie, pastor, by recognizing the diversity of the parish and its continued growth, is honoring the value of the people who compose the parish. More than 25 percent of parish membership is Hispanic. A Spanish-language charismatic prayer group now meets every Tuesday evening at 6:30 p.m. Spanish-English missalettes will be added. During the coming year special celebrations, such as the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, will feature a bilingual Mass in Spanish and English.

Father Scotchie has other plans for the coming year as well. “In our second year we will start parishwide sacramental catechesis sessions for reconciliation, Eucharist and confirmation; Crown Ministries financial planning; Bible study; summer vacation school; an affiliation of the Council of Catholic Women, and a Boy Scout troop,” he said.

A parish pastoral council has just been named and is developing a long-range plan for the parish. One of the major priorities is to raise funds to build the permanent campus on the land donated by Avalon Park developer Beat Kahli.

Tanya Goodman of the Florida Catholic staff contributed to this report.

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St. Maximillian Parish celebrates its first year

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