Together in the Light of Christ
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
It was cold April 11; colder than it should have been this night of Easter Vigil.
Not cold enough, though, to keep throngs of people from gathering in the darkness outside St. Barnabas Church, Bayville for this most solemn and wonderful celebration.
There, hidden by night, they waited together, quietly, patiently, reverently, for the kindling of the light that would signal the banishment of darkness…forever. And, when the fire caught hold and started to blaze, the figures of scores of people began to emerge into the light. One by one and then in groups, all ages and generations, backgrounds and cultures, they joined together, carrying the light and its Easter promise into the darkened church.
This Is our Passover Feast
Hospitality is a big word at St. Barnabas Parish. Planted like a seedling in the Bayville pines in 1996, it has grown over the years to 6,320 families, many of them transplants from New York and northern New Jersey. The most recent arrivals include about 150 Latino families, some of whom travel regularly from Toms River, Waretown and beyond, to worship in its welcoming embrace, attend religious education there as members of the community and participate in its daily life.
During the Easter Vigil, the congregation would welcome 40 people who completed their Sacraments of Initiation. Included among the group of candidates and Elect were 20 Latinos, many of whom had never been previously catechized or received any Sacraments.
Encouraging them to share this sacramental moment as members of the Church community at large is a hallmark of an overall mainstream approach to spirituality, liturgy and education in St. Barnabas Parish.
The hospitable approach was very much in evidence during Holy Week, from the warm greetings at the big front door to the wide-screen monitors in the nave broadcasting responses, prayers and hymns in a way that enabled everyone to participate in the liturgies in the fullest sense, to the congregate foot-washing on Holy Thursday. The clear message is, as Father Kevin J. Keelen, St. Barnabas’ pastor, often puts it, that "everyone is welcome at the table."
Father Keelen attributes his strong sense of community to growing up in a tight knit Catholic family in the Bayshore area of Monmouth County. There, life revolved around church and Catholic school – St. Mary Grammar School and Mater Dei High School, both New Monmouth. The sense of community grew when he entered the Augustinian order and strengthened further after his 1991 ordination as he served in campus ministry at Merrimac College and Villanova University.
It was during parish work though, at St. Thomas of Villanova, Rosemont, Pa., and St. Nicholas in the Bronx that his sense of community deepened to the extent that he began thinking of becoming incardinated in the Diocese of Trenton, a goal he accomplished in 2003, the year he was assigned to St. Barnabas as administrator.
When he was named pastor a year later, he told The Monitor he came to Bayville with a mission to broaden an already active community.
Whole community catechesis and expanding the parish’s adult faith formation program were two of the first goals he set.
"Bayville is a huge area with a lot of Catholics and they are my kind of people," said Father Keelen with a huge grin. "When I came here, I thought, ‘the Holy Spirit knows what he’s doing.’ Bayville is a wonderful place to land. I kept hearing people saying ‘this is a family’ and that’s what it was.
"Hospitality and community go hand in hand," he said. "It’s not about buildings its about community."
Most Blessed of All Nights
As the throng of more than 800 people took their places in the pews and settled in for the long liturgy that separates the holy night of the Easter Vigil from all others, Rosemarie Spedalieri, all robed in white, stood off to the side in the back of the nave.
For the sixth time in as many years, she would recreate the Woman at the Well, during the liturgy, just one of scores including ushers, lectors, choir members, musicians and members of the B.A.T.S. youth group who roamed the nave throughout making sure every detail was tended to. Without even being asked, she echoed Father Keelen. "It’s wonderful when you put together a community," she said.
And on this most blessed of all nights, the emphasis was truly on community, building it, blending and mixing it well.
Forty faithful would be coming into communion with the Church during the vigil. Mary Britanak, coordinator of faith formation stood in the vestibule for a few moments with Sisters for Christian Community Rosa Gamarra who have been working with the growing Latino community in St. Barnabas for two years.
The trio spoke softly, coordinating among each other where they would take their places in the upcoming movement of 40 people and their sponsors and family members to the front of the nave to receive their Sacraments.
As they waited, they talked about the journey of faith shared by the 40 and how it came about that many of the Latino members of the group participated in what has been referred to as “a whole community” approach to catechesis by attending Saturday sessions for all generations. Family-style catechesis was sparked, Britanak and the sisters said, by a simple question. Mirelle Wittig, who teaches the Hispanic population, was the one who asked it.
"The Hispanic community is generally very timid and afraid to speak out. We knew that the parents would come and drop their children off for religion classes and one day, I asked, ‘What do you do after you drop them off’," Wittig said.
That led to a discussion of the fact that the adults wanted their children to have something they never had: religious education.
"Asking them in their own language opened the door," Wittig said. "They feel more comfortable when you speak the language."
But, Sister Carla was quick to point out, the adults are also attending English as a Second Language classes offered by St. Barnabas.
Earlier in the week, Father Keelen talked spoke of the Easter Vigil as but one example of the focus in St. Barnabas to “bring the communities together. We need to help mainstream them so they become part of the larger community.
"These are members of our family, fellow Christians and Catholics. The time has come to be together rather than separated so, although we have Spanish Mass here on Saturdays, when it comes to the bigger liturgies, we bring everyone together."
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It was cold April 11; colder than it should have been this night of Easter Vigil.
Not cold enough, though, to keep throngs of people from gathering in the darkness outside St. Barnabas Church, Bayville for this most solemn and wonderful celebration.
There, hidden by night, they waited together, quietly, patiently, reverently, for the kindling of the light that would signal the banishment of darkness…forever. And, when the fire caught hold and started to blaze, the figures of scores of people began to emerge into the light. One by one and then in groups, all ages and generations, backgrounds and cultures, they joined together, carrying the light and its Easter promise into the darkened church.
This Is our Passover Feast
Hospitality is a big word at St. Barnabas Parish. Planted like a seedling in the Bayville pines in 1996, it has grown over the years to 6,320 families, many of them transplants from New York and northern New Jersey. The most recent arrivals include about 150 Latino families, some of whom travel regularly from Toms River, Waretown and beyond, to worship in its welcoming embrace, attend religious education there as members of the community and participate in its daily life.
During the Easter Vigil, the congregation would welcome 40 people who completed their Sacraments of Initiation. Included among the group of candidates and Elect were 20 Latinos, many of whom had never been previously catechized or received any Sacraments.
Encouraging them to share this sacramental moment as members of the Church community at large is a hallmark of an overall mainstream approach to spirituality, liturgy and education in St. Barnabas Parish.
The hospitable approach was very much in evidence during Holy Week, from the warm greetings at the big front door to the wide-screen monitors in the nave broadcasting responses, prayers and hymns in a way that enabled everyone to participate in the liturgies in the fullest sense, to the congregate foot-washing on Holy Thursday. The clear message is, as Father Kevin J. Keelen, St. Barnabas’ pastor, often puts it, that "everyone is welcome at the table."
Father Keelen attributes his strong sense of community to growing up in a tight knit Catholic family in the Bayshore area of Monmouth County. There, life revolved around church and Catholic school – St. Mary Grammar School and Mater Dei High School, both New Monmouth. The sense of community grew when he entered the Augustinian order and strengthened further after his 1991 ordination as he served in campus ministry at Merrimac College and Villanova University.
It was during parish work though, at St. Thomas of Villanova, Rosemont, Pa., and St. Nicholas in the Bronx that his sense of community deepened to the extent that he began thinking of becoming incardinated in the Diocese of Trenton, a goal he accomplished in 2003, the year he was assigned to St. Barnabas as administrator.
When he was named pastor a year later, he told The Monitor he came to Bayville with a mission to broaden an already active community.
Whole community catechesis and expanding the parish’s adult faith formation program were two of the first goals he set.
"Bayville is a huge area with a lot of Catholics and they are my kind of people," said Father Keelen with a huge grin. "When I came here, I thought, ‘the Holy Spirit knows what he’s doing.’ Bayville is a wonderful place to land. I kept hearing people saying ‘this is a family’ and that’s what it was.
"Hospitality and community go hand in hand," he said. "It’s not about buildings its about community."
Most Blessed of All Nights
As the throng of more than 800 people took their places in the pews and settled in for the long liturgy that separates the holy night of the Easter Vigil from all others, Rosemarie Spedalieri, all robed in white, stood off to the side in the back of the nave.
For the sixth time in as many years, she would recreate the Woman at the Well, during the liturgy, just one of scores including ushers, lectors, choir members, musicians and members of the B.A.T.S. youth group who roamed the nave throughout making sure every detail was tended to. Without even being asked, she echoed Father Keelen. "It’s wonderful when you put together a community," she said.
And on this most blessed of all nights, the emphasis was truly on community, building it, blending and mixing it well.
Forty faithful would be coming into communion with the Church during the vigil. Mary Britanak, coordinator of faith formation stood in the vestibule for a few moments with Sisters for Christian Community Rosa Gamarra who have been working with the growing Latino community in St. Barnabas for two years.
The trio spoke softly, coordinating among each other where they would take their places in the upcoming movement of 40 people and their sponsors and family members to the front of the nave to receive their Sacraments.
As they waited, they talked about the journey of faith shared by the 40 and how it came about that many of the Latino members of the group participated in what has been referred to as “a whole community” approach to catechesis by attending Saturday sessions for all generations. Family-style catechesis was sparked, Britanak and the sisters said, by a simple question. Mirelle Wittig, who teaches the Hispanic population, was the one who asked it.
"The Hispanic community is generally very timid and afraid to speak out. We knew that the parents would come and drop their children off for religion classes and one day, I asked, ‘What do you do after you drop them off’," Wittig said.
That led to a discussion of the fact that the adults wanted their children to have something they never had: religious education.
"Asking them in their own language opened the door," Wittig said. "They feel more comfortable when you speak the language."
But, Sister Carla was quick to point out, the adults are also attending English as a Second Language classes offered by St. Barnabas.
Earlier in the week, Father Keelen talked spoke of the Easter Vigil as but one example of the focus in St. Barnabas to “bring the communities together. We need to help mainstream them so they become part of the larger community.
"These are members of our family, fellow Christians and Catholics. The time has come to be together rather than separated so, although we have Spanish Mass here on Saturdays, when it comes to the bigger liturgies, we bring everyone together."
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