CHATHAM TOWNSHIP Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney helped 35 priests to celebrate significant anniversaries of their priesthood — from 25 to 65 years in priestly ministry — during the annual diocesan Priests Jubilee Mass on June 1 in Corpus Christi Church here. He thanked all the honored priests for saying, “yes” to God’s call to priesthood.
On that Tuesday morning, Bishop Sweeney served as the main celebrant of his first Priests Jubilee Mass, since becoming Bishop of Paterson last July 1. The liturgy honored diocesan and religious-order priests, who are marking or have marked milestone anniversaries of their ordinations — 65, 60, 50, 40, and 25 years — in both 2021 and 2020, because the Jubilee Mass for 2020 was postponed due to the pandemic.
“We give thanks to God today and thank those celebrating anniversaries of their priesthood — for the ‘yes’ that each of you strives to make day by day just like our two newly ordained brothers, this past Saturday,” Bishop Sweeney said at the opening of the Mass, referring to the Diocese’s two newest priests, Francis Hamilton Balfour Lennie IV and Joseph Anthony Aguila Mactal, whom he ordained on May 29. “We pray to God to strengthen us in our continuing to serve his people in love,” the Bishop said.
Along with the jubilarians, priests who concelebrated the Mass were: Father Kevin Corcoran, Corpus Christi’s pastor; Msgr. Kieran McHugh, retiring president of Pope John XXIII Regional High School and the Catholic Academy of Sussex, both in Sparta, and 50-year jubilarian, who was the homilist; Father Michael Parisi, diocesan vicar general and pastor of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Mountain Lakes; and Father Stephen Prisk, diocesan vice chancellor and the Bishop’s priestsecretary.
The Irish-born Msgr. McHugh issued a challenge to his fellow jubilarians: Do not stop your efforts to advance the Church — regardless of your age or list of accomplishments.
“If we rest, we rust. Our great Church cannot rest. It must go to the marketplaces every day where the people are — people crying out for support and guidance, pastoral care, and the reassurance that God is in charge. More than ever, we have to listen to the voices of the people on the margins and be inspired by the encouraging words of Pope Francis that we have to have the smell of our sheep,” said Msgr. McHugh, who retires from active ministry at the end of the school year this month. He said older generations of priests visited orphanages, nursing homes, and prisons to administer the Sacraments, continually meeting the needs of people. “The Church must be a place of mercy, freely given, where everyone can feel welcome and be encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel. Now is the time for the next generation to stand on our shoulders. We hope that we are worthy of the task,” he said.
Bishop Sweeney honored 35 priests, including the two oldest jubilarians for 2021 with 65th anniversaries: Msgr. George Dudak, who retired in 1999, after serving as pastor of Our Lady of the Mountain in Long Valley, and Msgr. Joseph Ferrito, who retired in 1996, after serving as pastor of St. Pius X Parish in Montville. Other 2021 honorees are: 60 years: Father Paul Iovino, Father Joseph E. Murphy, and Msgr. James H. O’Rorke; 50 years: Msgr. John J. Cusack, Msgr. Peter J. Doody, Franciscan Father Thomas R. Hartle, Father P. Christopher Muldoon, and Father Raymond A. Pavlick; 40 years: Father John Andrew Connell, Msgr. John E. Hart, and Msgr. George F. Hundt; 25 years: Franciscan Father Francis K. Kim and Father ST Sutton.
Priests who celebrated anniversaries in 2020 are: 65 years: Franciscan Father Claude Lenehan and Msgr. Julian Varettoni; 60 years: Father John T. Catoir, Msgr. Michael J. Conway, and Msgr. Patrick J. Scott; 50 years: Xaverian Father Michael Davitti, Msgr. Francis J. Duffy, Father Paul O’Donnell Duggan, Msgr. John E. Fitzpatrick, Father Edward Holterhoff, Father John J. Klein, Father Stanley Lesniowski, Msgr. Kieran A. McHugh, Father Brendan McLoughlin, and Father James J. Termyna; 40 years: Father Hector Melendez and Father Robert Wisniefski; and 25 years: Father Ruben Dario Castillo, Benedictine Father Samuel Kim, and Father Janusz Rzadca.
During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney led the jubilarians in renewal of their priestly promises and gave those in attendances a certificate to mark their anniversary.
In his homily, Msgr. McHugh reminded the jubilarians that most of them were ordained shortly before or after the Second Vatican Council, which gave “a great spirit — a palpable feeling in the Church.” They lived through many changes in society, history, and the Church. All that time, these priests continued the work of the Church, performing baptisms, penance, wakes, funerals, and weddings” and during “unexpected crises and blessed celebrations of those in our care,” Msgr. McHugh said.
“We did not stop,” said Msgr. McHugh, who noted that priests could have given up in the face of challenges. “We can never forget Christ’s promise, ‘Behold, I am with you till the end of the age.’ So we stay the course and put our hands to the plow and never look back. We continue forward with a new strength, energy, and hope,” he said.
During Mass, Bishop Sweeney told the jubilarians, “Thank you for your ministries and continued ministry in our Diocese of Paterson.
“We congratulate you and pray for you, when we say ‘ad multos annos’ [‘to many years’],” said Bishop Sweeney, followed by the applause of the congregation.
After the Mass, Father Sutton, pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Newton, told The Beacon, “It’s been a wonderful 25 years as a priest.
“I have been able to be sacramentally present to people, bringing peace to their lives and bringing them closer to Christ,” Father Sutton said. “As a priest, I also have been able to find peace in Christ,” he said.
[ Brief biographies of the 2021 jubilarians, previously published in The Beacon, can be found at https://rcdop.org/news/priests-jubilee-mass-1, while ones for the 2020 jubilarians can be found at https://rcdop.org/news/annual-priest-jubilee-mass ]