January 16, 2022: Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear Parishioners:
It seems odd to be reading about Jesus as a grown man first last week with his baptism by John and now this week with the wedding feast at Cana when we celebrated his birth just two weeks ago. But if we take a step back and consider the past three weeks not as individual events, we realize that we have been given everything we need to know about who the long- awaited Messiah is. At Christmas, Jesus was born an everyday human, not someone with power, wealth or station in life that wouldn’t know what life was like for the ‘regular’ people; at his baptism, God the Father announced to the world that Jesus was his son; and at the wedding feast at Cana, by ‘saving’ the bridegroom from the embarrassment of running out of wine and then providing the guests with the best wine of the feast, Jesus announced his intent not only to save us from sin, but to provide us with an eternal life beyond our wildest dreams. What a way to start off the ‘ordinary’ time of the church year! Maybe this time before Lent is not so ordinary after all. Maybe, we are not so ordinary.
In fact, through the other two readings this week, we are told how extraordinary we are. In the first reading from the Old Testament, we are told that the Lord calls “My Delight.” Then, in the second reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians that each of us is given a gift chosen specifically for us. Aren’t we all given all seven gifts at baptism? Yes. And aren’t those same seven gifts enriched in the sacrament of Confirmation? Yes. But isn’t it true that each of us seems to radiate one gift of the Spirit perhaps a bit more clearly than others? It seems so. Which gift of the Spirit seems to come to the forefront in your life?
Blessings,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
January 9, 2022: Baptism of the Lord
Dear Parishioners:
By now, for most of us, Christmas has become a ‘thing of the past’. Most of us have taken down our Christmas trees and packed up the decorations. Every year it seems that we wait forever for Christmas to arrive. Then, in what seems like an instant, all the beautiful decorations, special family traditions and visits with those we only see at this time of year are gone in an instant. But, according to the Church’s liturgical calendar, today, the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord, is still part of the Christmas season.
By this time in our lives, we’ve heard the story of Jesus’ baptism many times and probably take it on its face. But think for a minute - why was Jesus baptized? He certainly didn’t need to be since he wasn’t born with original sin. We learn that being baptized was a way Jesus could connect with his humanity, reveal his true identity as the Son of God and begin his ministry as the Messiah. Since most of us were baptized as infants, we do not remember the event, only what we may have been told about the day years later. No matter what age we were, with the exception of needing to be cleansed of original sin, like Jesus, our baptism proclaimed us a child of God, united us with the entire Church and began our ministry to proclaim the good news of the gospel. This afternoon in the celebration of the sacrament of baptism, we will welcome several children into the fellowship of the church. What better day for each of us to take some time to thank God for the gift of our baptism and reflect on our relationship with God and how we can continue to help it grow and deepen. So for those of you who have been holding out on packing up your Christmas things and have been teased by family and friends, you can tell them that today is still technically part of the Christmas season. After today, you’re on your own with defending the extension of Christmas decorations.
It has been wonderful seeing so many of you continuing to come to mass each week even as we begin the annual cold and flu season and deal with Covid and its variant. Be assured that we continue to clean and disinfect our church thoroughly and follow any federal, state, Archdiocesan or local mandates. Priests and Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist continue to use hand sanitizer before and wear a mask during the distribution of communion. You may be aware that only the Township of Montclair (not the county, state or federal government) passed a masking resolution on December 21st requiring masks to be worn in public places. You many not be aware that the resolution excludes certain general public situations (like eating and drinking in public places), people with prohibitive medical issues, religious services and political activities from strict adherence to the resolution. Whether or not you wear a mask in church continues to be your choice. We continue to encourage everyone to remain faithful to our Catholic Christian values by being mindful of all everything available to protect your own health and safety as well as that of all the people of our parish and town.
Blessings,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
January 2, 2022: Happy New Year
Dear Parishioners:
I have a feeling that everyone’s sentiment is the same as we prepare for the New Year: “Thankfully 2021 is over and 2022 will be a better year for sure!”
That is my prayer not only for the Parish here, but for the whole world as well. I pray that the New Year will mean good health for all; a greater appreciation for our loved ones; a renewed love for the Lord and His Church and especially the Eucharist that many of us have not been able to receive; a sense of thanksgiving that the Lord has protected us; and gratitude for so many. Thank you, Lord, for all these blessings!
I am happy to see so many of you back in church again and grateful for your faithfulness. In many ways, after so many being away for so long, the return will be like a new birth and a new start to everything we do here at St. Cassian Parish and I am excited to begin all over again. I realize there are new concerns about virus variants and we, as a parish, continue to be vigilant with our regime of cleaning, sanitizing, social distancing and wearing masks where appropriate. I encourage you to do as you feel best to safeguard your health, but hope that, if you feel safe, you will continue to join us in prayer and worship.
We certainly do count our blessings as the year comes to an end and the new one begins. We thank God for the blessings we did receive this past year and firmly believe that the New Year will be filled with God’s graciousness and new blessings.
New Year blessings to all,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
December 26, 2021: Christmas
Dear Parishioners:
This time of year is such a blessed time for us as a parish and as a local community; there really is nothing like it!
To all who are our ‘regular, come-every-week parishioners’, thank you for being here and your wonderful support. To those who have been away from this parish or are just finding your way back to the Catholic Church, I am excited that you are with us and hope that you feel comfortable enough to return on a regular basis. And if you are visiting for the Christmas, I wholeheartedly welcome you.
It is incredible how, for the past few weeks, we have this building crescendo of excitement growing: all the while, baking cookies, buying the perfect gifts, singing along with the Christmas carols, decorating our houses; all this adds so much to the spiritual festivities! It is not just the “Season” that we embrace, really, but it is the celebration of the great Solemnity of the Birth of Jesus who ushered into the world with him the promise of salvation, eternal life and the Good News which is happiness with the Father in heaven! This is what we truly celebrate. Remembering all this makes the celebration of Christmas even more meaningful because then it is not just a fun day of cookies and get-togethers, but a solemn and wonderful day that we as a Christian people praise God through the family get-togethers, gifts to each other commemorating the gifts brought to Our Savior as well as the many other activities we take part in that give glory to God as a little Child.
On behalf of Msgr. Anthony Kulig, our weekend assistant, Msgr. Doran, Fr. Gene Gniewyk and the parish staff, we pray that this Christmas Day and the Christmas season that follows will be a time of fun, the pleasure of being together we so sorely missed last year, moments filled with grace, and most of all an opportunity to time and time again remember how God was born to live and grow like us and eventually bring us to heaven!
May this be a time of wonderful blessings for all! Be assured of my prayers for you! Merry Christmas
Blessings,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
December 19, 2021: 4th Sunday of Advent
Dear Parishioners:
This time of year is such a blessed time for us as a parish and as a local community; there really is nothing like it! It is incredible how, for the past few weeks, we have this building crescendo of excitement growing: all the while, baking cookies, buying the perfect gifts, singing the Christmas carols on the radio stations, decorating our houses; all this adds so much to the spiritual festivities! These Christmas days are a time of joy because of the gifts left under the tree, but also the gift of joy and peace that came on that first Christmas day and hopefully will be present throughout the whole year to permeate our lives!
What a profound thought: that God became incarnate; He took on human flesh in Jesus Christ and lived among us! This means that Jesus, who is God, for thirty-three years, lived just like you and I do. With His birth, he brought the promise of freedom from sin, salvation and eternal life, all wrapped up in swaddling clothes in a manger. What an incredible thought! So, when we see Jesus in a nativity scene, we can imagine Him as the cute little baby that no doubt He was, and at the same time, let us see Him as the source of our salvation and conqueror of sin!
It is not just the “Season” that we embrace, really, but it is the celebration of the great Solemnity of the Birth of Jesus who ushered into the world with him the promise of salvation, eternal life and the Good News which is happiness with the Father in heaven! This is what we truly celebrate. Remembering all this makes the celebration of Christmas even more meaningful because then it is not just a fun day of cookies and get-togethers, but a solemn and wonderful day that we as a Christian people praise God with the family get-togethers and the gifts to each other commemorating the Birth of Our Savior and the many other activities we take part in that give glory to God as a little Child.
To those who are our regular, come-every-week parishioners, thank you for being here and your wonderful support. To those who have been away from this parish or are just finding your way back to the Catholic Church, I am excited that you are with us at Saint Cassian and hope that you feel comfortable enough to keep returning. And if you are visiting from another church, I wish to wholeheartedly welcome you here, as I do to everyone who has joined us.
I pray that the joy that can only come from knowing and loving Jesus Christ will be yours, not just on Christmas, but always and look forward to seeing you this coming weekend.
Blessings,
Fr. Marc A. Vicari,
Pastor
