7/12/20 Bulletin Message from Father Owen

Dear Parishioners,
 
Congratulations to our new Bishop Kevin Sweeney!  On Tuesday, July 1, we celebrated evening prayer along with other priests, various laity representing the Diocese and the Papal Nuncio.  After the service, I was delighted to meet Bishop’s family.  Bishop Sweeney is a native of Queens, New York.  He was born January 10, 1970 to James and Agnes Sweeney who immigrated here from Mayo in Ireland.  Bishop is part of a close family.  It was a pleasure to meet his sister, Marie, his brother, Brendan, his nephews and nieces and his aunt, Nora.  I am sure many of you watched the online ordination of Bishop Kevin from our Cathedral last Thursday, July 2.  The concelebrating bishops were Cardinal Tobin, Bishop DiMarzio of the Brooklyn/Queens Diocese and Bishop Serratelli.  Due to social distances norms, the church was only able to seat approximately 100 people but the celebration nonetheless was joyful and filled with excitement.    After Holy Communion, Bishop Kevin talked about his parents and family, his former bishop, his many experiences both as Vocations Director and as pastor of St. Michael parish in Brooklyn.  It was easy to see the love and affection with those with whom he ministered and we look forward to getting to know him here in our Diocese.  Bishop Kevin is fluent in Spanish and is acutely aware of the needs of the working poor and those vulnerable in society.  Coming as he does from a strong Irish Catholic family, he exudes personality, wit and is a great speaker.  I invite you to join me as we pray for Bishop Kevin.   The role of a bishop is not easy but we know that with Christ and our Blessed Mother to guide him, the strength of the apostles and our prayers and concerns for him, and with his own natural enthusiasm and pastoral care, he will touch many lives in the counties of Morris, Sussex and Passaic that encompasses the Diocese of Paterson. 
 
The summer is rushing by and very shortly, we will approach the middle of July.  At this time, I encourage parishioners who are sheltering at home to consider returning to church.  Please read the sanitation procedures in the inside of this bulletin so that you can understand the attention we have given to ensure our church building is chemically cleansed and a safe environment for our parishioners to worship in.  We have removed many of the seats and are practicing social distancing.  We have a large and wonderful group of ushers who take each person’s temperature as they enter the building and escort our parishioners to their seats.  The seats are grouped into single person areas, couple areas, small family and large family areas.  At the end of mass, the ushers guide the parishioners from their pews and ensure social distance takes place in the narthex as people return to their cars.  We have Purell available at many stations in the narthex and church and encourage our parishioners to cleanse their hands both before and after receiving Holy Communion.  I have noticed that many young families are still nervous coming back to mass.  Looking forward, however, I think it is important that parents encourage their children to come back to Mass as a family and within safety measures return to church and to some of the normal ways of our lives.  Maureen and I are waiting to see when schools will return.  We have Plan A and Plan B ready for Religious Ed and Confirmation classes.  I do encourage, in particular, moms to help their children to return to a sense of normalcy before school begins in September.  We hope that by then our younger children in particular will be used to going out with a mask and being careful with hand washing and social distancing.    These last months of sheltering have been necessary but I do believe it is now time, with caution, to prepare our children and our young people to begin to be prepared for a return to CCD, Confirmation and school classes later next month or early September.  Many of our seniors have chosen to attend the 5:00 p.m. outdoor Saturday Mass.  It would also be a good idea for our older parishioners, the younger parishioners and families to consider attending the 9:00 a.m. daily mass Monday through Saturday that is held in the church for usually around 20 people in a safe environment.    We do continue our 11:30 a.m. live streaming mass each Sunday and our daily masses are also live streamed for the convenience of those who are apprehensive of leaving their homes.  We pray that in time they will gain the courage necessary to safely begin living their lives again.
 
I wish you all a wonderful July and though vacations will be difficult for most of us, I hope many will be able to take some R&R either at home, at the beach or at a quiet location in the coming weeks. 
 
Fr. Owen