The gentle hum of excited voices filled St. Dominic Church, Brick, as more than 1,200 people from multiple counties gathered Aug. 11 to honor the Feast Day of St. Dominic.

Starting with Mass celebrated by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and concelebrated by Father Brian Woodrow, pastor, and others, the day’s festivities included a procession of a newly commissioned statue of St. Dominic around the parish grounds, followed by a large picnic complete with live music, food and games.

“It’s community. The future of the Church is in tradition, giving God primacy, making sure the Liturgy is at its most beautiful and then letting everything come down the mountain from there,” Father Woodrow said.

Photo Gallery: St. Dominic Feast & Picnic

In his homily, Bishop O’Connell related the life story of St. Dominic, explaining how the founder of the Dominican Order “set the world on fire” with his deep faith and holiness. Everybody involved in St. Dominic’s life, the Bishop said, had great faith.

“It was because of his faith that St. Dominic accomplished great things,” the Bishop said.

Reflecting on the day’s Second Reading, from Hebrews 11, which talks about faith being the “realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen,” the Bishop said, “I find great insight in those words. Think about them for a moment. Isn’t that how we experience faith in our lives?”

“There are a lot of times in daily life when we exercise what I would call ‘worldly, everyday faith,’ most times without even thinking about it,” Bishop O’Connell said. “We wake up, put our feet on the floor and rise – an act of faith that we can walk. We eat breakfast with faith that the food is OK to eat. We say goodbye to our spouse, our kids with faith that we’ll get where we’re going. These are all little acts of everyday faith.”

He continued by speaking of a different faith, one of a spiritual nature.

“We come together each Sunday for Mass, and we bring all kinds of things with us – needs, hopes, prayers,” Bishop O’Connell said. “What motivates us? Faith that a God truly cares. … Such faith is so much deeper than our everyday faith. Faith is why we pray, and our lives are what we hand over in prayer, no matter how long or short our experience might be.

“As we recall the great St. Dominic and all that he did, know that none of it would have been possible without his faith. That is what the Lord asks of you today – have faith.”

In honor of the saint for whom the parish is named, faithful poured out of the church as a procession with the new St. Dominic statue, which was handcrafted in Spain, made its way around the grounds. The Bishop, clergy, congregants, children, first communicants and visitors alike walked to religious tunes played by the Polkadelphia band from Philadelphia. 

“This is so very Catholic,” a few murmured happily as they strolled along.

As the procession came to a close, Bishop O’Connell blessed the statue with prayer and holy water, referencing St. Dominic, whose feast day is Aug. 8. The reverent atmosphere then changed as squeals of laughter, smells of fired-up grills and the sounds of music by the local band Friend Zone saturated the air while the parish picnic fell into full swing.

“God Number 1, party after,” Father Woodrow said, laughing.

Among those in attendance were faithful from Father Woodrow’s former parish, St. John the Baptist Parish, Allentown. With their years of experience in organizing processions, members of the parish worked with St. Dominic’s faithful to make the day a success.

“Father Woodrow is very intent in combing all the elements of our faith with welcoming everybody on this campus with having a wonderful time as a family,” said Dorothy Conway, business manager in the Allentown parish.

Explaining how Father Woodrow was instrumental in bringing processions to Allentown, she said, “He sees the fruit of how that tradition can really excite a parish.”

That was certainly the case in St. Dominic, where numerous parish ministries came together to take part in the day such as the parish Honor Guard, Altar Rosary Society, nurse ministry,  youth ministry, altar servers, sports league volunteers and more. First communicants from St. Dominic School and parish religious education students were also a sweet addition, their suits and white dresses standing out among the crowd.

“It’s exciting to have everyone of all age groups help out and be here,” said Nancy Nahrebne, St. Dominic Parish office manager.

Added Sharon Crippen, parish administrative assistant, “The turnout shows there is a strong sense of community among our parishioners and our school.”

Speaking about the parish’s first-ever procession, parish pastoral assistant Mary Jo Bihuniak said, “There’s this family parish spirit with Jesus in the center. Hopefully this is going to spark an idea in another parish and then the fire is going to grow – like the Bishop said, the faith is going to grow and we’re going to get back to the joy of living the faith.”