With the 53rd annual Belmar Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade approaching, members of St. Rose Parish, Belmar, came together Feb. 28 for an Investiture Mass celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., to formally welcome this year’s grand marshals.
“It has always been the tradition before the parade to celebrate an Investiture Mass with the parade’s grand marshals,” said Msgr. Edward Arnister, pastor and a concelebrant of the Mass. “We were very honored this year to have the presence of Bishop David O’Connell to preside at the liturgy.”
PHOTO GALLERY: 2026 Investiture Mass in Belmar
While the Mass went on as scheduled, the parade was rescheduled for March 28 due to the historic blizzard that blanketed the Jersey Shore.
“The Irish story — especially the Irish‑American story — is one of people who clung to faith, identity, and community through hardship, migration, and renewal,” said Bishop O’Connell during his homily. “Their covenant with God sustained them, and their commitment to one another built parishes, neighborhoods, and traditions like the Belmar/Lake Como St. Patrick’s Parade.”
Bishop O’Connell also referenced the Irish Catholic immigrants who first settled along the Jersey Shore.
“They were often set apart — sometimes by prejudice, sometimes by poverty — but they transformed that experience into solidarity, hospitality, and faith,” he said.
Bishop O’Connell also celebrated this year’s two grand marshals – Michele Gannon and Wyatt Earp.
Gannon is the founder and executive director of Mary’s Place by the Sea, a nonprofit organization founded in 2009 that supports women with cancer. To date, the organization has offered thousands of women from around the country the opportunity to heal and connect with others while taking a step away from daily routines and responsibilities.
Gannon’s ties to the annual parade date back to when she used to bring her own children in strollers, and went on to see them later walk in the parade as St. Rose Grammar School students.
A fixture in the local Irish community, Earp has been part of the parade for more than 40 years and grew up with a strong pride in his Irish roots. He retired after a successful, 45-year IBEW union career, and has served as president of the Monmouth and Ocean County AFL-CIO. He has also spent 25 years as president of Meals on Wheels of Ocean County, and is a dedicated supporter of parade fundraisers as well as Irish scholarships and heritage programs.
“The grand marshal’s role is ceremonial, yes — but it is also symbolic,” said Bishop O’Connell. “It represents the best of a people: their values, their history, their faith, their humor, their resilience.”
With such a large Irish population in his parish, Msgr. Arnister emphasized how the annual traditions around St. Patrick’s Day are deeply rooted in faith.
“The annual Investiture Mass and the St. Patrick’s Parade remind us again of our beautiful Catholic faith and the zealous missionary spirit of Ireland’s patron saint,” he said. “We look to St. Patrick and recall that faith involves suffering and hardship, as he experienced in his life. It also reminds us of the tremendous love St. Patrick had for Christ and his witnessing to his faith. As disciples of the Lord and encouraged by the life and witness of St. Patrick we too are called like St. Patrick ‘to make Jesus known and love’ by our words and action.”
Parade chairman Chip Cavanagh also expressed the importance of the Mass as part of the annual tradition.
“The Investiture Mass is an important part of the parade. It honors our Irish heritage, Catholic faith and the grand marshals,” he said. “The Belmar Lake Como St Patrick’s Day parade is very significant to Belmar – it is the start of spring and helps jump start all the businesses to get ready for the summer season.”
