‘24 Hours For the Lord’

God’s mercy is paramount at special Diocesan observances

MORRISTOWN  When the Lord bestows His mercy on us — no matter what sins we have committed, He “welcomes us back into the joy of His family” with the most important sentiment ever written or spoken: “I love you.”

Bishop Serratelli proclaimed that message for the Jubilee Year of Mercy, encouraging the faithful to seek out the boundless mercy of God and then sharing it with other people, while serving as the main celebrant and homilist at all four weekend Masses in English and Spanish at St. Margaret of Scotland Church here on March 5-6. In his homily, the Bishop examined the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In it, Jesus tells the story of a younger brother, who squanders his inheritance on sins of the flesh before repenting and returning to his father. Meanwhile, an older brother commits the sin of pride by expressing indignation when their father rejoices that his younger son has returned.

“In the parable, the father loves both [sons]. He runs to meet the prodigal, who is on his way home. He goes out to the older brother, who is standing outside their doorstep, refusing to be part of the family celebration [for the younger brother],” said Bishop Serratelli, at the Masses, concelebrated by Father Hernan Arias, pastor of St. Margaret’s, which serves a large Hispanic population. “In parable, the father is God, whose mercy embraces all. The Lord condones no sin, but He looks at all of us sinners as His children. Whatever our sins — great or small — and whether we are on the road distant from the Father’s house or on His doorstep, He is saying to us the most important sentence that welcomes us into the joy of His family: ‘I love you,’ ” he said.

Among the four Mass during the “24 Hours for the Lord” that the Bishop celebrated at St. Margaret’s was a special Mass in Spanish for immigrants and their families at which prayers for justice for all immigrants were offered.

That same weekend, St. Margaret’s joined two other parishes — the Shrine of St. John Paul II at Holy Rosary Church in Passaic, and Good Shepherd Church in Andover — for a major Diocesan celebration of “24 Hours for the Lord” — one of the Diocese’s many observances for the Jubilee Year of Mercy. These parishes, one in each of the counties that the Diocese serves, welcomed faithful to Eucharistic Adoration, the Sacrament of Penance and other observances and events at particular times last weekend.

St. Margaret’s, one of two churches in the diocese that has a Holy Door for the Holy Year, held 24 hours of Adoration, which included Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament; confessions; and a penitential service. Various parish groups kept watch throughout the night and day in the church, which stayed open. Also, worshippers were encouraged to walk through the Holy Door, Father Arias said.

“Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be a church with a Holy Door for the Jubilee Year of Mercy in our Diocese. This has been a great blessing not only for us, but also for the many people, who have been visiting us,” Father Arias told Bishop Serratelli at the conclusion of last weekend’s Masses at St. Margaret’s. “The ‘24 Hours for the Lord’ has been tremendous with people seeking God’s mercy.”

The Shrine of St. John Paul II at Holy Rosary, which houses the other Holy Door in the diocese, held events and devotions in English, Polish or Spanish. They included Mass, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Stations of the Cross, Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a lecture on Divine Mercy and opportunities for Confession and for veneration of a relic of St. John Paul II, said Father Stefan Las, Holy Rosary’s pastor.

“It was a great experience. At the present time, people need the Blessed Sacrament. They are hungry for more of it. People are sinful and need forgiveness and to forgive the other. It’s important for them to want to have an encounter with the living God and have peace in their hearts,” said Father Las, who thanked priests from around the diocese, who assisted at Holy Rosary’s “24 Hours for the Lord” observance. “Afterwards, some people wanted to encourage family members to come back to church and go though the Holy Door. Other people wanted to learn more about St. Faustina [who promoted a devotion to Divine Mercy],” he said.

Good Shepherd held a four-hour observance that included Eucharistic Adoration, Exposition, Benediction and opportunities for Reconciliation, said Msgr. Martin McDonnell, pastor, who added that he and visiting priests heard a strong and steady stream of confessions in the first three hours.

“It was a wonderful experience for people, whose lives are so busy, to be still in the presence of our Lord without distraction,” Msgr. McDonnell said. “Reaction [from participants] was positive.”

After last weekend’s Masses at St. Margaret’s with Bishop Serratelli, Father Arias, who has been commissioned with six other diocesan priests as Missionaries of Mercy during his Holy Year, thanked the Bishop for “being here to celebrate and preach at our Masses the Gospel through a beautiful parable of mercy.”

In turn, Bishop Serratelli thanked the priests of St. Margaret’s for allowing him to visit to celebrate liturgies there. At the conclusion of the Masses, he reminded the faithful that Pope Francis calls all of us to be “missionary disciples of mercy — from the oldest to the youngest and from the Pope down to the newly baptized.”

“We all sit at the feet of Jesus to learn every day from him, but we also have a mission: to bring others to Jesus. Maybe some of our family members have fallen away from the faith. I ask for your special effort. How great it would be to bring a least one member of our families back to Church,” Bishop Serratelli told St. Margaret’s parishioners.

[Information for visiting Holy Doors in the Paterson Diocese:
St. Margaret’s at (973) 538-0874 and Holy Rosary at (973) 473-1578.]