Bishop joins Keyport parish for patron saint's feast day
October 13, 2024 at 6:58 a.m.
It was a beautiful autumn day as Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., joined the parish community of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Keyport to celebrate the vigil of their patronal feast at the 4 p.m. bilingual Mass.
PHOTO GALLERY: Our Lady of Fatima Feast Day Mass
Parish pastor Father Rene Pulgarin welcomed neighboring diocesan priest pastors including Fathers Daniel Peirano, St. Thomas More, Manalapan; Jarlath Quinn, Our Lady of Perpetual Help- St. Agnes, Atlantic Highlands; Javier Diaz, Christ the King, Long Branch, and Garry Koch, St. Benedict, Holmdel, as well as priest friends Fathers Camilo Cruz, pastor, St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, Newark, and Andres Galeano, parochial vicar, All Saints, Waterbury, Conn. Deacon Glen Mendoca assisted at the Mass and Father Jean Felicien, the Bishop’s secretary, served as master of ceremonies.
At the beginning of the Mass, Father Pulgarin observed the tradition of dressing of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and the Bishop imparted a special blessing.
In his homily, Bishop O’Connell preached about the apparitions and message of Our Lady of Fatima to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
“One of the central themes of Our Lady’s message at Fatima,” he said, “is the call to prayer, particularly the recitation of the Rosary. Mary emphasized the power of the Rosary as a means of obtaining peace for the world and for the conversion of sinners. She asked the children, and through them, all of us, to pray the Rosary.”
The Bishop continued, “Another important aspect of the Fatima message is the call to penance and conversion.
“Our Lady urged the children to offer up their sufferings and sacrifices for the reparation of sins and the conversion of sinners,” Bishop O’Connell said. “Her message to the world, ‘Penance! Penance! Penance!’ is a call to remember that we are all in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. It challenges us to examine our lives, to repent of our sins, and to strive for holiness.”
In a world that often seems filled with darkness and uncertainty, “the message of Fatima shines as a beacon of hope. It reminds us that God’s love is greater than any evil, and that through prayer, penance and conversion, we can be instruments of His peace and mercy in the world,” Bishop O’Connell said.
Speaking after communion in both English and his native Spanish, Father Pulgarin invited parishioners “to stay connected, to God, to the Church and to one another!”
After Mass, Bishop O’Connell, Father Pulgarin and the congregation gathered in the gym for an international food festival that included music, dancing, karaoke and even mechanical bronco bull riding of which Bishop O’Connell joked he was “tempted” to try.
The following day, the feast day was to be continued at 5 p.m., at which the parishioners were to join in the annual Fatima Feast Day “Procession of Cars” from the grounds of Jesus the Lord Church, a worship site of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, and journey through the streets of Keyport to St. Joseph Church, also a parish worship site. En route, the community would pray the Rosary together as Our Lady encouraged in 1917, drawing the feast to a close.
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It was a beautiful autumn day as Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., joined the parish community of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Keyport to celebrate the vigil of their patronal feast at the 4 p.m. bilingual Mass.
PHOTO GALLERY: Our Lady of Fatima Feast Day Mass
Parish pastor Father Rene Pulgarin welcomed neighboring diocesan priest pastors including Fathers Daniel Peirano, St. Thomas More, Manalapan; Jarlath Quinn, Our Lady of Perpetual Help- St. Agnes, Atlantic Highlands; Javier Diaz, Christ the King, Long Branch, and Garry Koch, St. Benedict, Holmdel, as well as priest friends Fathers Camilo Cruz, pastor, St. Patrick’s Pro-Cathedral, Newark, and Andres Galeano, parochial vicar, All Saints, Waterbury, Conn. Deacon Glen Mendoca assisted at the Mass and Father Jean Felicien, the Bishop’s secretary, served as master of ceremonies.
At the beginning of the Mass, Father Pulgarin observed the tradition of dressing of the statue of Our Lady of Fatima and the Bishop imparted a special blessing.
In his homily, Bishop O’Connell preached about the apparitions and message of Our Lady of Fatima to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917.
“One of the central themes of Our Lady’s message at Fatima,” he said, “is the call to prayer, particularly the recitation of the Rosary. Mary emphasized the power of the Rosary as a means of obtaining peace for the world and for the conversion of sinners. She asked the children, and through them, all of us, to pray the Rosary.”
The Bishop continued, “Another important aspect of the Fatima message is the call to penance and conversion.
“Our Lady urged the children to offer up their sufferings and sacrifices for the reparation of sins and the conversion of sinners,” Bishop O’Connell said. “Her message to the world, ‘Penance! Penance! Penance!’ is a call to remember that we are all in need of God’s mercy and forgiveness. It challenges us to examine our lives, to repent of our sins, and to strive for holiness.”
In a world that often seems filled with darkness and uncertainty, “the message of Fatima shines as a beacon of hope. It reminds us that God’s love is greater than any evil, and that through prayer, penance and conversion, we can be instruments of His peace and mercy in the world,” Bishop O’Connell said.
Speaking after communion in both English and his native Spanish, Father Pulgarin invited parishioners “to stay connected, to God, to the Church and to one another!”
After Mass, Bishop O’Connell, Father Pulgarin and the congregation gathered in the gym for an international food festival that included music, dancing, karaoke and even mechanical bronco bull riding of which Bishop O’Connell joked he was “tempted” to try.
The following day, the feast day was to be continued at 5 p.m., at which the parishioners were to join in the annual Fatima Feast Day “Procession of Cars” from the grounds of Jesus the Lord Church, a worship site of Our Lady of Fatima Parish, and journey through the streets of Keyport to St. Joseph Church, also a parish worship site. En route, the community would pray the Rosary together as Our Lady encouraged in 1917, drawing the feast to a close.