60 Years of Faith

MOUNTAIN LAKES  On Sept. 30, Bishop Serratelli helped to celebrate the 60th anniversary of St. Catherine of Siena Parish here — a close-knit Morris County community that remains committed to deepening its spirituality, serving the poor and strengthening social ties among the faithful. The Bishop presided at a Mass as part of the parish’s anniversary celebrations under the theme “Remember, Rejoice and Recommit” which will conclude at the end of the year.

Current and former clergy, staff and parishioners of St. Catherine’s filled the church for the special 60th anniversary Mass, for which Bishop Serratelli served as main celebrant and homilist. Concelebrating the Mass were Father Jared Brogan, St. Catherine’s pastor; Father Joseph Garbarino, pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Parish, Clifton, and former St. Catherine’s parochial vicar; Benedictine Father Edward Seton Fittin, chairman of the religious studies department at Delbarton School, Morristown, and a St. Catherine’s weekend assistant; Father Jim Termyna, weekend assistant; Father Daniel Kelly, pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Wayne; and Father Kevin Corcoran, the Bishop’s priest/secretary. More than 250 guests attended an anniversary gala held after the Mass at Rockaway River County Club.

“At St. Catherine’s, there is lots of energy and enthusiasm for the 60th anniversary: an important milestone for us to celebrate the people — the priests, religious and laity — who got us to this point,” said the Brooklyn-born Father Brogan, who was named St. Catherine’s administrator in June 2015 and its youngest pastor in November 2016. As part of anniversary celebrations, Bishop Serratelli will install Father Brogan as pastor on Saturday, Oct. 14, during a Mass at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception. Father Brogan called the parish “The place where we grow together spiritually, in service, and socially. We encounter the living God in the person of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We experience the Lord sacramentally and in the lives of one another. St. Catherine’s is a place of welcome in which hospitality is offered to all, whether you are a first-time visitor or as a member of our community.”

The 60th anniversary celebrations started on Sept. 17 with a parish picnic. Observances will continue with the following events: Father Brogan’s installation at pastor on Oct. 14; parishioners joining Bishop Serratelli and other faithful for the Diocesan Pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C. on Oct. 21; a Children’s Halloween Parade and Social on Oct. 24; a presentation, “St. Catherine of Siena: Brought to Life,” by Dominican Sister Nancy Murray on Nov. 4; and Annual Celebrating the Joys of the Season Christmas Concert on Dec. 16, according to St. Catherine’s bulletin.

These anniversary events are designed to help the 800-families of St. Catherine’s observe its theme, “Remember, Rejoice and Recommit” in the following ways:

• To remember with gratitude the priests, religious and laity, who provided the parish with a faithful example and a strong foundation, and the joys and success of the past on which it continues to build.

• To rejoice how God provided early parishioners with the grace and perseverance to overcome the initial obstacles and how He blessed the generous donations to fund the building of the church (and its renovation), gym, parish center and ongoing upkeep of the campus.

• To recommit “to ourselves to be good stewards of the blessed that God has bestowed upon us with our time, talent and treasure” and “to serve a world that needs us, encounter a God who loves us and engage in a community that welcomes us,” Father Brogan wrote in the bulletin.

In the past two years, St. Catherine’s has grown, blessed with a diverse population of older people and young families. The parish has served as the spiritual home for the Mountain Lakes, Boonton Township, Boonton, Denville, Parsippany and Rockaway communities and beyond since 1957. Generations of families have worshiped and continue to worship here, Father Brogan said.

Today, St. Catherine’s deepens the spirituality of its parishioners by running a religious education program for 500 students, who get involved in Sunday Mass; having revived its Vacation Bible School; holding a Lenten retreat; and sponsoring an adult faith enrichment program, led by Father Brogan in the spring and again in the fall. The parish’s growing ministries include liturgical ministry, music ministry, youth ministry and women’s group. Also, St. Catherine’s provides rehearsal space for Franciscan Mystery Players, a group of high-school students, who present “The Way of the Cross” at northern New Jersey parishes during Lent, said Father Brogan.

“The people here are spiritually hungry and want to be fed by faith,” Father Brogan said.

St. Catherine’s promotes service to the poor through many outreaches, including the Community Soup Kitchen of Morristown; its longtime mission to Haiti, which focuses on education and aid for its “sister parish,” Our Lady of the Nativity in Dame Marie; and Loaves & Fishes, which provides meals for families who have experienced illness or the birth of a baby. This summer, Father Brogan led a group of teenagers to participate in Catholic Heart Work Camp in Chicago, he said.

Socially, St. Catherine’s parishioners bond by gathering for many events throughout the year, including its annual winter socials, parish picnic, Christmas concert, as well as other happenings, such as trips to baseball games in New York City, Father Brogan said.

It was 1955 when St. Catherine’s legacy of faith, service and community started with a small group of Catholics in the Mountain Lakes area who were looking to establish their own religious identity. Bishop Frank McNulty sent Father David McCarthy there to found a mission. The first Mass was celebrated on July 15, 1956 at the Mountain Lakes Club, but thereafter the community used the Masonic Temple at Island Beach for worship on Sundays and Holy Days and catechetical instruction until a church could be built, the parish history states.

In 1957, St. Catherine’s was advanced to parish status with Father McCarthy named as the first pastor. Under Father Joseph Glynn, its second pastor, Bishop McNulty dedicated the new church on Aug. 22, 1959. In the 1980s, the parish’s third pastor, Msgr. David Mahon oversaw an extensive building project that included construction of a parish center, dedicated to Father Glynn. In 1990, now-Bishop Emeritus Rodimer blessed and rededicated a newly renovated church, the parish history states.

Father Brogan called St. Catherine’s parishioners “so generous with their time and talents.

“They want the parish to be the center of their lives, so they are willing to do anything to make the parish a stronger place,” Father Brogan said.