Back from Colombia

LONG VALLEY  On a wing and a prayer, Father Javier Bareño hedged his bets and bought a ticket for a June 14 flight from Colombia to Miami that he was not sure he would be allowed to board.

For several weeks prior, Father Bareño had been longing to return to New Jersey where the diocesan priest serves as a parochial vicar of Our Lady of the Moun­tain (OLM) and St. Mark the Evan­gelist parishes, both in Long Valley. He had been waylaid for 10 weeks in his native Colombia with family due to travel restrictions and a national shutdown to help slow the spread of COVID-19. As if torn from a chapter of an international thriller, he learned that he had one way out of the country: on one of many “humanitarian flights” sponsored by the U.S. embassy. However, there was a catch: the priest would be placed on a waiting list because priority for seats goes to U.S. citizens and legal residents — not U.S. visa holders such as him. Worse, Father Bareño, 33, would not know if he could board the flight until he got to the airport.

“I drove 13 hours from my parents’ farm [in the small town of Santa Rosa del Sur, Bolivar] to the airport in Medellin City early that morning. At check-in, someone told me, ‘Wait 20 minutes to see if you can get on the plane.’ I prayed that I would be able to fly. Then, the person came back and said, ‘Ok.’ I was so excited,” said Father Bareño, who boarded the flight from Medellin City to Miami on June 14. He then connected on another flight from Miami to Newark Liberty International Airport. “When we landed in Miami — on American soil, I said, ‘I made it.’ I was so happy,” he said.

Actually, plans for Father Bareño’s return to the U.S. started to hit a series of snags two weeks after his plane touched down in Bogota, the nation’s capital, on March 1. He came back to renew his U.S. visa as a religious worker and his passport at the U.S. Embassy there but a nationwide lockdown of government offices closed the embassy before his documents were scheduled to be ready on March 20. The office opened again on June 1 but restrictions on travel from town to town prevented the priest from picking up the paperwork himself. So his uncle, a resident of Bogota, picked them up and mailed them to him. He also needed permission to drive to Medellin City for his flight, said the priest who is healthy and has not had coronavirus.

As God’s providence would have it, Father Bareño returned to the Paterson Diocese at an opportune time. Bishop Serratelli had just given parishes permission to reopen their churches for the celebration of Mass for the weekend of June 13–14, the feast of Corpus Christi — thanks in part to the easing of some restrictions on indoor gatherings by the State of New Jersey. Imme­diately, the priest resumed celebrating Masses along with Father Marcin Michalowski, pastor of both OLM and St. Mark’s. They presided over Masses in the two churches and outside on the property of St. Mark’s — an accommodation that the pastor made during the COVID-19 lockdown, Father Bareño said.

“I was so happy to be back in Long Valley, celebrating Mass for our parishioners,” said Father Bareño who stayed in contact by phone with Father Michalowski during his extended stay in Colombia. “The community knew my situation. Parishioners were emailing, calling and texting me, saying, ‘We miss you and we are praying for you.’ It was nice to feel that love and connection with our parishioners,” he said.

For 10 weeks in Santa Rosa del Sur — a 12-hour drive from Bogota, Father Bareño also rekindled his close connection with several members of his immediate family: his parents, Rafael Antonio Bareño and Emma Castillo; three sisters; and six nieces and nephews. Together, they sheltered in place on his parents’ farm where they raise cows to sell for beef for a living and grow corn, the priest said.

“In the peace and quiet of the countryside, I had lots of time to pray, walk around the property and read books — three classics and one spiritual — as well as read Scripture, especially the Old Testament. I enjoy the history of ancient Israel,” said Father Bareño, who also celebrated Mass several times in the farmhouse for his family because the shutdown also mandated the closing of churches there. He and the rest of the family watched Pope Francis preside over Masses and services in Rome during Holy Week on TV. “In the area of my parents’ farm, there were no cases of coronavirus because it’s so far away from large populations of people. No one was self-quarantining. Everyone was working at the jobs as usual,” he said.

Those conditions contrasted sharply with most of Colombia, which wasted no time in responding to the pandemic by imposing strict restrictions. These included prohibiting people from leaving their houses without an essential reason under penalty of a fine from police, limiting trips to the store to one family member each and limiting the number of people in a store at a time. The government might reopen the country if the COVID-19 rates of infection and death continue to stay low — positive numbers that Father Bareño credits to the severity of the restrictions.

Born in Santa Rosa del Sur, Father Bareño earned a degree in philosophy in Colombia. Arriving in the U.S. in 2014, he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Holy Apostles College & Seminary, Cromwell, Conn. and a master’s degree in divinity from Holy Apostles. On July 1, 2017, Bishop Serratelli ordained him and 12 other men to the priesthood for service in the Diocese.

Back in Long Valley, Father Michalowski told The Beacon, “We missed Father Javier at Our Lady of the Mountain and St. Mark’s.” Father Bareño’s ministries include celebrating Mass and being involved in religious education, altar server ministry, Bible study and the distribution of Holy Com­munion in homes, hospitals and nursing homes, he said.

“He is very involved in parish life,” said Father Michalowski, who called Father Bareño “very outgoing and friendly. People like Father Javier. He brings a lot of good things to our parishes,” he said.