Five years together

CLIFTON  The Catholic community of St. Brendan and St. George happily reports a marriage made in heaven as it celebrates this year the 5th anniversary of the merger that brought together the parishioners of St. Brendan, Clifton, with the parishioners of St. George, Paterson. Since the merger, a multicultural faith community has been established that has cast a wider net by welcoming other ethnic populations, including members of the Portuguese and Filipino communities.

Father Junior Flores, pastor, has been leading the Catholic community of St. Brendan and St. George to a renaissance of sorts as it develops new or revived ministries to meet the spiritual and social needs of its increasingly diverse population. The parish added a 12:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish on Sundays, which started with 100 people and has grown to 300 people — and even more on Christmas and Easter. The outpouring of evangelization, with the help of the growing Portuguese community, has continued in the celebration of Our Lady of Fatima on May 13 and Oct. 13 to mark her first and final apparitions. The parish also has started a Mass for the Filipino community in Tagalog on every third week of the month, the priest said.

In addition, this blended community, housed on the campus of St. Brendan, holds a Mass and celebration in Spanish of Our Lady of Guadalupe on her feast day of Dec.12 for the Mexican community. The parish also had a re-enactment in English and Spanish of the Passion of Christ through Clifton’s streets and holds Bible study and prayer groups in both languages.

“With the merger, these two faith communities and all these cultures have come together to understand each other and to love God and their neighbors — God’s two greatest commandments — demonstrating that the kingdom of God is for everybody,” said Father Flores, who joined the Catholic community of St. Brendan and St. George in celebrating the 5th anniversary of the merger in April with a dinner at the Mansion in Mountain Lakes, which also served as a fundraiser for the parish. “This has developed into a powerful community and we keep growing,” he said.

The combined communities also have developed outreaches, such as ACE, which stands for Advice, Counseling and Encouragement. Through ACE, Naomi Freytes and Jose Cordova, a licensed social worker, help people with grief or family problems. In 2017, the parish provided relief for Puerto Rico, which had been devastated by two hurricanes: Irma and Maria, said Father Flores. The outpouring of support from the parish communities and local supporters was welcomed.

One parishioner, happy with the merger, is Jose Rolon, a member of St. Brendan for 20 years, who serves as an usher at the Spanish Mass on Sundays and teaches religious education.

“I think the merger was a good idea. The Clifton and Paterson communities have adjusted well,” Rolon said. “Father Junior is a young pastor and has done a lot for the parish.”

The merger of St. Brendan and St. George took place officially on April 6, 2013, with the communities and new pastor, Father Flores. The merger was part of the Paterson Diocese more comprehensive reconfiguring of some parishes and services, which included the linking of St. Michael and St. Agnes parishes in Paterson.

In May 2013, St. George Church on Getty Avenue closed, because of safety concerns, so St. Brendan and St. George — which are located about half a mile from each other — were linked under the leadership of Father Flores, who served as pastor. Before the merger, Father Flores traveled back and forth to celebrate daily Masses and weekend Masses at the two churches. When the church was closed, parishioners of St. George’s were invited to participate in the parish life of St. Brendan, until repair estimates could be obtained for St. George’s. All sacraments were also celebrated at St. Brendan’s. It was then that Father Flores began the Spanish language Sunday Mass at St. Brendan’s to welcome the many Latino families living around the neighborhood and now, the parishioners of the largely Spanish-speaking community of St. George’s.

Sadly, because of the high cost of repairs that would be needed to fix the multitude of building problems on the inside and outside of St. George’s, the parishioners, trustees and the parish finance council of the Paterson parish recommended that the church building be closed and that the parish community should merge with St. Brendan’s.

St. George Parish was founded in 1897 to serve the growing southern section of Paterson. The establishment of a new parish was a priority of Father George Corrigan, who was rector at St. Agnes Parish in Paterson. The first church was built in 1900 and dedicated by Dean William McNulty. Its first pastor, Father Joseph Dolan, started the parish school shortly after and St. George’s was soon listed as among the larger parishes in the city. Because of its growth, a larger church was built in 1940.

In 1945, Bishop McLaughlin established St. Brendan in the Lakeview section of both Clifton and Paterson. A year later, St. Brendan School was opened and it continues to be a strong presence in the community. St. Brendan’s current church was built in 1961. Today, the parish has several ministries including: The Marian Prayer Group, Spanish Bible Study, Charismatic Prayer Group, ACE Support Group, The Family Initiative and the Youth Group.

Another happy parishioner is Alba Vargas, who joined the community in 2016 and started working as Father Flores’ administrative assistant in 2015. She is a happily married wife and mother of two children, Adrian, 18, and Mark, 13, who is an altar server and attends St. Brendan School.

“I like the way Father Junior preaches. He gets into the details of the Scripture and gives you ideas that you can take into your own life,” said Vargas, who attends either the Spanish-language Mass or the 9 a.m. Mass in English. “Father Junior wants people to feel comfortable [in the parish]. He also is trying to get as many people of different cultures together to be as one to share their experiences with each other. Here, people are getting along,” she said.