In 1885, Grover Cleveland was president of the United States, a loaf of bread cost two cents, milk was 17 cents a gallon, houses ran for $5,500, the average salary was $540 per year and in Hightstown, N.J., a church was founded to serve the spiritual needs of the area’s Catholic population.

On June 20, 2010, the community of St. Anthony of Padua Parish gathered to mark the parish’s 125th anniversary with two Masses celebrated by Bishop John M. Smith, along with Father Patrick McDonnell, pastor, and Father Eduardo Munoz, parochial vicar. (CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS)

The first Mass, at 10:30 a.m., was mostly attended by members of the Englishspeaking community, while the noon Mass that followed was bilingual and attended by members of the Latino community.

The Masses capped off a yearlong slate of activities that the parish had planned in observance of the 125th jubilee. In the fall, there was a cocktail reception and a concert presented by the Chin Yun Chorus. In the spring, the parish hosted a gala dinner dance at a local Holiday Inn hotel.

Bishop Smith, in his homily, noted that there are not too many parishes in the diocese to have reached such a momentous milestone.

“This parish goes back a long way,” he said.

The day was a testimony to the “great love the people had for their Catholic faith and their fidelity in good times and bad to be part of Christ’s Church,” said Bishop Smith. “We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us with great pride in our ancestors in the faith. They planted the seed and that seed grew and developed into what we have here today. This is a great celebration.”

Parish of the People
For nine years, Father McDonnell has proudly served as pastor of St. Anthony of Padua, a lively, proactive parish with about 2,500 families and numerous ministries and organizations.

Of the parishioners, Father McDonnell said that St. Anthony of Padua is comprised of a mix of ethnic populations who “come from all over” – the Caribbean islands, the Philippines and there is an ever-increasing Latino community including people from Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico. The parish has made it a priority to provide ministry to the various populations, such as by making bilingual Masses and other services available to the Latinos, and a Mass is celebrated in Tagalog for the Filipino contingent.

He noted that the parish is especially known for its “outreach” – social concerns and social justice efforts. One such example would be the parish’s Green House ministry, which distributes clothing to people in need on the first Wednesday of the month.

To foster a stronger presence within the community at-large, Father McDonnell has also welcomed outside support groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous, to use space in the parish facilities for their meetings.

He also noted that because of its central location in the diocese and easy access to the New Jersey Turnpike, Route 33 and Route 130, the parish is also a popular site that hosts many diocesan events as well.

Part of History
Parishioners Jim Manley, John Matteo and Dr. David Abalos expressed a sense of nostalgia as they reminisced on their parish’s 125th anniversary.

With Manley and Matteo and their families both having lengthy histories with St. Anthony of Padua Parish that date back to the 1960s, they recalled being part of the building campaign for the church that stands on the corner of Franklin Street and Maxwell Ave. today.

“It was mission country here,” said Manley.

Manley delighted in telling how he used to teach religious education and how his children had all received their sacraments in the parish.

“My family ran the gamut” of sacraments – Baptisms, First Holy Communions, Confirmations, weddings and sadly, the funeral of Manley’s son who died at age 22 in a 1985 boating accident.

“We have found people in the parish who are friends,” he said.

“We’re very comfortable at St. Anthony’s and Father Pat is a caring and sincere individual. That’s one of his main attributes and it’s not just by what he says, but by what he does.”

Coming from Mexican-American backgrounds, Abalos recalled when he and his wife, Celia, had relocated to neighboring East Windsor in1998 and how “surprised” they were to see the significant number of Latinos attending Mass in St. Anthony of Padua. He noted that noon Mass which is celebrated in Spanish draws about 500 parishioners every Sunday.

He then went on to tell of how he and his wife, with Father McDonnell’s approval, became involved with helping to build a network of outreach services for the Latino community.

In addition to working with the police department, municipal court, libraries, banks, school districts, the Abalos’ also arranged for health fairs to be held in the parish center where folks could come for check-ups and various health screenings, as well as panel discussions on immigration issues.

Abalos also had high praise for the way the parish reaches out to help their parishioners and made special mention of the group that provides transportation to those who otherwise would have no means of getting to Mass, the extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion who visit the sick and homebound and the work of the social concerns committee.

“St. Anthony’s has been a wonderful and welcoming for the Latino community,” Abalos said.

“All the way around, the parish has responded to the needs of the various ethnic groups over the years.”

For Father McDonnell, to be pastor of a parish that’s observing its 125th anniversary is an extraordinary milestone.

“I feel like I’m part of history,” he said, then quietly pondered the question: “Where will our parish be 125 years from now?”