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After years of work and planning, Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church on Kiln-Delisle Road in Harrison County welcomed parishioners to their homes on Christmas Eve.
After ten years Father Paddy Mockler and the parishioners of Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Pass Christian are worshiping in their new home, but they haven’t gotten very far from where they’ve spent the past decade. They moved next door. “In 2011, they brought three churches together, St. Stephen’s, St. Ann’s, and St. Williams, and they built a multi-purpose building with a view that would become the parish center and this would become the church. We were there awhile, about ten years, and here we are now in a new church.
Father Paddy says years of fundraising and donating have helped build the church and if you look around you will find the work of some parishioners including David Niolet who is the chair of the building committee. “I’ve been a carpenter for some time, but I’ve never made any important furniture. My wife, Mae, suggested that I try to build the altar, the ambo, and the tabernacle table. I decided it would be a good challenge.
One piece you can’t miss is the painting that stands tall, front and center, also done by a parishioner. “The man who painted the painting, he asked 12 of our guys to dress up as apostles, then he took their picture and painted them from the picture. He found Jesus on the golf course in Alabama and he said I wanted to take a picture of you, so I could paint you and that’s where he found Jesus.
Over the past five decades, the number of priests in the United States has declined dramatically, leaving thousands of parishes without resident priests, but for Father Paddy he says it’s a way of life he’s happy to ‘having chosen. “Honestly, I have been a priest for 42 years. I love it. If I could redo it, I would. I have no regrets. I love every day and hope I can continue to do so for a long time to come.
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