Milestone anniversaries

PARSIPPANY  Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney congratulated 127 religious sisters and priests marking milestone anniversaries in consecrated life — as if they were a new Hall of Fame class — thanking them for their service to the Diocese and Church at the annual diocesan Jubilee Mass for Religious and for World Day for Consecrated Life on May 15 in St. Ann Church here.

In his homily during the Mass, Bishop Sweeney compared the joy of honoring these jubilarian religious — celebrating from 25 to 90 years of ministry — to the thrill it would feel like for him to meet a gathering of Hall of Fame players of his beloved N.Y. Yankees baseball team. The Bishop then added, “This is a thousand times better than that.” The comment was met with laughter from honorees in attendance, representing the many religious orders that serve the Diocese in distinct charisms and ministries, including education, healthcare, pastoral care, and mission work. This was Bishop Sweeney’s first celebration of the Jubilee Mass for Religious since becoming bishop of Paterson last July.

“It’s a privilege to be gathered here with our religious who have served our Church and our Diocese for so many years,” Bishop Sweeney said in his homily. Some jubilarians watched the Mass on livestream at home. “You would need ‘new math’ or a supercomputer to figure out how many years of service are represented by those jubilarians we honor today. [We also note] the number of lives you have touched — and continue to touch and inspire. You use your different charisms and talents to serve the Diocese. What a gift to the Church,” he said.

Bishop Sweeney then told the jubilarians: “On behalf of the Diocese and the Church, thank you. We are so grateful.”

Concelebrating the Mass were: Msgr. Martin McDonnell, St. Ann’s temporary administrator and founding pastor; Father Stephen Prisk, diocesan vice chancellor and the Bishop’s priest-secretary; Father Jared Brogan, diocesan worship director; and Msgr. Raymond Kupke, pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Hawthorne, and diocesan archivist. This year, the Mass honored 127 sisters and priests who celebrated anniversaries in 2020 or are celebrating in 2021, because last year’s Jubilee Mass was cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown. Organizing the Mass was the Office of the diocesan Chancellor and Delegate for Religious.

In his homily, Bishop Sweeney also reminded all religious of the importance of community — their religious communities, parishes, schools, and other organizations — in helping to nurture vocations and their particular charisms. He also urged them to continue praying to discern God’s will for the Diocese and the Church and, with Jesus, for the “unity of all Christians.”

Bishop Sweeney also fondly recalled the influence of two religious sisters: his second-grade instructor for first Holy Communion and his seventh-grade homeroom teacher, who suggested that he attend Cathedral Prep School and Seminary in Elmhurst, Queens, for boys who were considering the priesthood, he said.

During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney led the jubilarians in renewing their commitment as religious ‘to follow Christ in chastity, poverty, and obedience.” Toward the end of the Mass, Kerry Timony, administrative assistant to vice chancellor and delegate to religious, read out the names of the jubilarians, while Sister of Christian Charity Joan Daniel Healy, diocesan chancellor and delegate for religious, helped the Bishop hand out anniversary certificates to the jubilarians.

After Mass, worshippers walked to St. Ann’s parish hall for a reception. There, Sister Joan Daniel announced that her office would be donating money, which it usually uses to buy small gifts for the jubilarians, to a ministry of one local religious community each year, starting with the oldest. This year, the oldest, the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth in Convent Station, founded in 1859, will receive a donation to its missions in El Salvador and San Salvador, she said.

One jubilant jubilarian that day was Sister Margaret Reid of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception (SMIC), who is celebrating 65 years of consecrated life this year. She retired in 2010 and lives in St. Francis Residential Community in Denville.

“I’ve always wanted to be a sister. I can’t remember wanting to do anything else,” said Sister Margaret, who worshipped at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Verona growing up and attended daily Mass when she could. A friend in the Dominican Sisters of Caldwell introduced her to SMIC sisters from Paterson. “I loved that they were missionaries and were simple, outgoing, and kind,” she said.

Since entering the SMIC community in 1954, Sister Margaret has served as an elementary school teacher and principal in schools outside the Diocese and later became a nurse so she could care for the older sisters of the community in New Jersey. She also served as the provincial of the order’s U.S. province and now helps out at St. Francis, she said.

“It’s a miracle that I made it to this milestone. I couldn’t have done it without the Lord and all my religious sisters. It’s all wonderful,” Sister Margaret said.

Celebrating 70 years as a religious, Sister of Christian Charity Nicholas Campasano, now retired at her community’s motherhouse in Mendham, said she grew up living across the street from her family’s parish church, St. Benedict in Brooklyn.

“My vocation is a mystery. I felt the call as a kid. I used to dress up as a nun, when I was five years old,” said Sister Nicholas. She remembers being “so impressed” in grade school seeing one of the Sisters of Christian Charity demonstrate great love for the sisters in her community by sewing their habits, a task made difficult by its thick material.

Sister Nicholas entered the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham, at 14 years old, at the suggestion of a religious sister. She taught in Catholic schools, such as St. Patrick in Chatham, and the former St. Joseph School in Mendham. She also took on “homemaking” at the motherhouse: cleaning, cooking, sewing, and caring for elderly sisters, she said.

“I never thought I would make it to 70 years as a sister. There have been ups and downs but they have been happy years,” said Sister Nicholas, who expressed gratitude for the support and prayers of her family and religious community. “I’m eternally blessed. I praise and thank God for this life,” she said.