SCRANTON – The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of many events but it wasn’t enough to stop what has become an annual back-to-school tradition in North Scranton.

For the last several years, Mary, Mother of God Parish has hosted a picnic for students and families from the Bangor Heights Housing Development in late August. Due to the coronavirus, this year’s event on Aug. 27 looked different but was still able to accomplish its mission.

“It’s very important to come, just to see the children here,” parishioner Mary Lou Lozinger said. “They appreciate it and whatever we can do to help them further their schooling, we’ll do it.”

Instead of hamburgers and hot dogs served off the grill, those who turned out received pre-wrapped sandwiches. They were also provided with free school supplies and clothing.

“They don’t get a lot of what other children do, so we try our best to help out,” parishioner Nina Condella said.

The back-to-school picnic serves as evangelization tool for the parish. Parents are able to enroll or learn more about religious education classes.

“Every year that we come, we always get a few children to join the CCD classes and receive Communion and Confirmation. Some even get baptized so it’s nice, it really is,” Condella added.

Geraldine Francisco, who lives in the Bangor Heights development, learned about the parish through the event several years ago after moving to Scranton. She attended the event with her son after seeing a promotional flyer.

“I wanted to baptize my son since he was a baby and because of other things going on at the time, it felt impossible, but now I feel stable here at the parish. I’m glad that I was able to baptize him and he’s doing his First Communion so I’m really happy about that,” Francisco said.

“I did not know Geraldine before but now we do, because of this particular project and there are a lot more Geri’s. We just have to surface them and connect with them,” Mary, Mother of God pastor, Father Cyril Edwards, said.

The event is funded by a social justice grant, provided to the parish by generous donations from the Diocesan Annual Appeal.

“This is an opportunity, through the Appeal, to show that there is plenty of hope,” Father Edwards explained.

“The interaction it provides with people is priceless,” Sister Therese Mary Dougherty, I.H.M., said. “Hope never dies. We want to nurture people’s hope through the church and through their neighborhood.”

While Father Edwards used a microphone and speaker to invite families to the picnic, volunteers from the Mary, Mother of God Marian Society waited for hungry guests under two large pop-up tents.

“It is a way to reach people. You have to…We have to go to them,” Father Edwards said.

Without attending the picnic, Geraldine Francisco said she may not have become involved with the parish.

“I feel like everything happens for a reason and if it wasn’t for that, then I wouldn’t be where I am today and I’m so happy that I’m in the parish family,” she said.

 

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis delayed the annual Peter’s Pence Collection from June 29, 2020, to Oct. 4.

The purpose of the Peter’s Pence Collection is to provide the Holy Father with the financial means to respond to those who are suffering as a result of war, oppression, natural disaster and disease.

It likewise provides the faithful with a tangible opportunity to not only empower the weak, defenseless and voiceless, but also sustain those who suffer.

“In view of the current health crisis, the Holy Father has decided that, for this year 2020, the Peter’s Pence Collection, which traditionally takes place around the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, on June 29, will be transferred throughout the world to the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Oct. 4, the day dedicated to Saint Francis of Assisi,” Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office, said in making the announcement this summer.

 

 

September 3

SCRANTON – In addition to the seemingly endless interruptions the COVID-19 global pandemic has had on our world – from a direct impact on those it has affected, to fear of contracting the virus, to separation from loved ones, and an overall upheaval it has caused to our social, work and financial lives – the crisis has also taken a serious, sometimes deadly, toll on the mental health of society.

No one is more aware of that fact than Deacon Ed Shoener.

Ordained a Permanent Deacon for service in the Diocese of Scranton in 2004, Deacon Shoener in 2017 launched his Catholic Mental Health Ministry based at the Cathedral of Saint Peter, where he serves as the parish deacon. He began the support ministry following the death of his daughter Katie Shoener, who took her own life after a 12-year battle with severe depression.

Deacon Shoener is currently president and a founding member of the Association of Catholic Mental Health Ministers.

Since becoming the face and point person for such ministry in the Diocese, Deacon Shoener has emphasized that mental health ministry in the Catholic Church is growing because many people see the need for a ministry focused on the spiritual needs of those living with a mental illness, along with family members and others who love and support them.

Within the past six months, the need has become greater than ever.

“The pandemic has clearly led to greater isolation and anxiety for everyone,” Deacon Shoener said. “For people who are living with mental health challenges, the added isolation and stress has made their lives more difficult.”

The deacon noted that during the height of the COVID restrictions in the spring, the mental health ministry support group gatherings in Scranton transitioned to online ZOOM meetings, but have returned to in-person sessions requiring facial masks and social distancing.

Support ministry for those suffering from mental illness continues to meet on the second and fourth Saturday of the month from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at the Saint Peter Cathedral Rectory. For family and friends who support those living with mental illness, meetings are held on the first Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. in the rectory.

In a recent homily Deacon Shoener preached at the Cathedral, following Matthew’s Gospel account of the terrified disciples being tossed in a boat during a raging storm only to encounter Jesus walking on the water towards them, he equated the apostles’ plight with the feelings of helplessness so many are wrestling with at this time.

“The pandemic is not only causing physical, social and economic strains, it is also heaping pressure on the mental health of many people in ways that are hard to see,” he said. “Like the disciples in today’s Gospel, we are shaken by a vast storm that we have no control over.”

Noting that many struggling with the effects of the global health crisis are overwhelmed by its impact on all aspects of life, the deacon remarked, “For others, the pandemic may be manageable, but it may be some other part of life, perhaps a relationship, that is in chaos.”

Following the example of the disciples, who “cried out in fear,” said Deacon Shoener, there is a need to cry out for Jesus.

“You are struggling with the loneliness brought on by the pandemic, you are struggling with the fear brought on by the pandemic — Cry out for Jesus,” he said. “You lost a job and your debt is a burden you don’t think you can bear — Cry out for Jesus.”

“We may fall, we may begin to sink beneath the waves, but He will pick us up,” the deacon continued. “Our faith may be weak, yet His mercy is strong.”

“During these uncertain and chaotic times, we all need to cry out for Jesus,” Deacon Shoener said. “We all need to spend time with Him in prayer. He will speak to us in the quiet moments. We all need to be with Him in His Church. Jesus will pour out countless graces on us to calm the storm.”

 

 

WILLIAMSPORT – During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people have been looking for signs of hope. On Sunday, Aug. 16, they didn’t need to look any further than the front lawn of UPMC Susquehanna.

More than 100 people came together for a “Prayer Vigil of Light and Hope” at the hospital organized by Saint Joseph the Worker parish.

“The one thing that we wanted to do was pray for our doctors, our nurses, our firefighters, police and first responders, all those people who have been battling COVID on the front lines ever since the beginning,” Father Brian Van Fossen, pastor, said.

Attendees prayed a rosary on the hospital’s front lawn, lighting candles that ultimately spelled out the word “HOPE” in large letters.

“It was really, really nice. We even had people in the windows of the hospital looking down and being with us, even though they were in the hospital working,” Father Van Fossen said. “There was even a couple people who came out of the emergency room, who were able to stand and pray at a distance.”

The parish worked with the hospital to make the event a success. People who attended wore face masks and were easily able to maintain proper social distancing.

The event was planned for the weekend that the Church celebrates the Assumption of Mary. The rosary focused on the Glorious Mysteries: Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, Assumption and Coronation of Mary.

“All you have to do is look at the Glorious Mysteries of the Church and you see how the Cross is overcome by the triumph of faithfulness and hope and love and people proclaiming the Gospel,” Father Van Fossen added.

The Williamsport pastor says even after the prayers were over, many people wanted to stick around, caught up in the awe-inspiring moment. In the days following the event, he added that the parish has received numerous notes of appreciation from doctors and nurses who witnessed the prayer vigil.

“It really formulated a sense of community with those who are on the front lines,” he added.

The prayer vigil at UPMC Susquehanna was the final event in a weekend of activities for members of Saint Joseph the Worker parish.

On Saturday, volunteers took to the street to clean up litter as a community service project. Normally in mid-August, the parish would be immersed in festivities for the Little League World Series, but since the games were canceled this year, parishioners decided to give back in other ways.

“We knew with a few hours and a few hands we could clean it up,” Makenzie Conner, director of youth ministry, said. “It was a great morning after Mass, walking the streets and cleaning up trash, taking the young out and learning about our city.”

On Sunday, before the prayer vigil at UPMC Susquehanna, the parish held Mass and a meal at a local park right behind a baseball field that would have normally been a welcoming site for thousands during the Little League World Series.

“There is something about sharing a meal together with a parish family that we all really missed,” Conner added, emphasizing that safety measures remained in place.

The parish is already working on its next big community events.

“One of the things we’re looking at doing with the Knights of Columbus is the National Rosary Rally in October. Our Knights of Columbus have taken up the mantel and we’ve placed five strategic locations throughout the city of Williamsport and we just got approval that we can do this,” Father Van Fossen said. “We’re going to go to city hall where our police department is located, we’re going to go to the food pantry and family promise for the homeless and those who are in need, especially in light of our world today, we’re going to go over to the hospital and pray a decade of the rosary there, and then we’re going to come to the fire hall and pray a decade of the rosary there and finally finish here at the church with the decade of the rosary as well.”

 

 

 

Eric M. Deabill

Secretary for Communications

Editor-in-Chief, The Catholic Light

Diocese of Scranton

300 Wyoming Avenue

Scranton, PA 18503

Direct Office Line: (570) 591-5001

Catholic Light Office: (570) 207-2229

Cell: (570) 237-6508

EDeabill@dioceseofscranton.org

 

 

 

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WILKES-BARRE – When Father Fidel Ticona walked into a downstairs room at Saint Nicholas Church in mid-August, the parishioners burst into sudden applause.

For many, it was the first time they had seen Father Fidel in five months.

In March, when travel restrictions started being put in place, the 50-year-old cleric was on vacation visiting family in his native Peru. He ended up spending five months in the South American country because he could not return home to Luzerne County.

“I usually take my vacation around that time. It’s summer time in the south, back home. It was about a two and a-half week vacation that was planned and expected,” Father Fidel recounted. “I was ready to come back and look what happened.”

Father Fidel said he was on his way to the airport when his niece called him and told him everything was going to be shut down due to COVID-19 concerns.

“I couldn’t believe it,” Father Fidel explained. “When I got there, it was chaos in the airport. There was nobody to talk with. People didn’t know what to do.”

After a few hours, Father Fidel was told that he could still take a domestic flight to Lima, the capital city of Peru, for the first part of his journey home to Wilkes-Barre. Realizing that if he took that flight to Lima he still wouldn’t be able to return to the United States, he decided to stay put in his native Puno, Peru.

“I didn’t know what to do,” Father Fidel admitted.

Initially, Father Fidel thought he would need to remain in Peru for only a month, but he quickly realized it would take much longer to return home.

“I tried to get a plane ticket through different countries,” he said. “I got one after a month and a-half. I was ready to come back. Three days before, the flight was cancelled.”

Father Fidel often thought about all of the items on his work calendar, including baptisms, but it wasn’t until he had a phone call with Father Joseph Verespy, pastor of Saint Nicholas Parish, when he learned that many local events also were being changed because of the coronavirus.

“After that, I enjoyed my time,” Father Fidel admitted.

The quarantine in Peru was very strict. Father Fidel said only one person per family was allowed to go out for necessities like groceries and medicine. He said there was a curfew between 5:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.

“We were allowed to go out on designated days by gender. I was allowed to go out Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Women were allowed to go out Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,” he said.

Travelling was also no easy task. In most cases, it took Father Fidel two hours to walk to the store in only one direction.

“We had to walk. There was no way to move from one place to another place,” he said. “You had to wait in line for hours and hours.”

Father Fidel was able to leave Peru on July 23. He arrived back in Wilkes-Barre on July 25 and then spent two weeks in quarantine locally before returning to public ministry duties.

“It’s nice to be home,” he said. “It has been really rewarding to work with the Hispanic population who are most in need.”

While he was able to talk to some parishioners by phone while he was in Peru, Father Fidel said now that he is back in Wilkes-Barre there is a lot of work to do.

“What I have to do goes beyond their spiritual needs,” admitting that he helps his parishioners with finding jobs, translating documents and other necessary services.

 

Pope Francis leads his general audience in the library of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Aug. 26, 2020. Christians cannot stand idly by and watch as milions of people are deprived of their basic needs because of greed, the pope said. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christians cannot stand idly by and watch as millions of people are deprived of their basic needs because of others’ greed, Pope Francis said.

“When the obsession to possess and dominate excludes millions of people from having primary goods, when economic and technological inequality are such that the social fabric is torn and when dependence on unlimited material progress threatens our common home, then we cannot stand by and watch,” he said Aug. 26 during his weekly general audience.

Christians must act together, rooted in God and united in the hope of “generating something different and better” that is more just and equitable, he said.

During a livestream from the library of the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis continued a series of talks on the principles of the church’s social doctrine as a guide for healing and building a better future.

Focusing on the universal destination of goods, the pope said this is “the first principle of the whole ethical and social order.”

God entrusted the earth and its resources “to the common stewardship of mankind to take care of them,” he said, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2402).

When God called on his children to “have dominion” over the earth in his name, the pope said, this was not to be interpreted as “a ‘carte blanche’ to do whatever you want with the earth.”

“No,” he said. “There exists a relationship of mutual responsibility between us and nature.”

Communities must protect the earth, take only what they need for subsistence and make sure the fruits of the earth reach everyone, not just a few people, the pope said.

A person should see his or her legitimate possessions “not only as his own but also as common in the sense that they should be able to benefit not only him but also others,” according to the Second Vatican Council’s Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (“Gaudium et Spes”).

In fact, the catechism says ownership of any property makes the “holder a steward of providence, with the task of making it fruitful and communicating its benefits to others,” he said.

“We are stewards of goods, not masters” or lords keeping them “selfishly for yourself,” he added.

The pope said the catechism also says, “political authority has the right and duty to regulate the legitimate exercise of the right to ownership for the sake of the common good.”

This “subordination of private property to the universal destination of goods,” he said, “is a golden rule of social conduct and the first principle of the whole ethical and social order.”

Property and money are meant to be instruments that serve development, he said.

However, people easily turn property and money into ends in themselves, he added.

When that happens, he said, the human being, who was made in the image and likeness of God, “becomes deformed” and becomes individualistic, calculating and dominating, instead of social, creative, cooperative and charitable “with an immense capacity to love.”

Social inequality and environmental degradation go hand in hand, he said, and have the same root cause: “the sin of wanting to possess and dominate one’s brothers and sisters, nature and God himself,” which was not God’s plan for creation.

The inequalities in the world “reveal a social illness; it is a virus that comes from a sick economy,” which is the result of unfair economic growth that disregards fundamental human values and leaves just a handful of people with more wealth than the rest of the world, he said.

“If we take care of the goods that the creator gives us, if we put what we possess in common in such a way that no one would be lacking, then we would truly inspire hope to regenerate a more healthy and equal world,” he said.

 

 

KINGSTON – For the last 34 years, Janet Lyons has been shaping the hearts and minds of Catholic elementary school students at Good Shepherd Academy. With diocesan schools preparing to reopen soon for in-person instruction five days a week, she is excited to return to the classroom.

“I really, truly miss the children. It’ll be nice to get back to some kind of normalcy,” the veteran educator said. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Lyons feels the safety procedures put into place by the diocese will help mitigate any potential risks of the virus.

“I do believe they’re in the safest place they could be. They’re like my own children. As a teacher, you do treat them like that, you look at them like that. You protect them and they will be protected in this school,” she added.

Lyons teaches second grade at the Luzerne County school with her colleague, Jennifer Jones, who is also excited to get back to in-person instruction.

“The kids thrive on routine. I’m excited to make eye contact and there is nothing like that conversation one-onone with somebody, face-to-face and just making the kids feel back to normal and comfortable,” Jones said.

“It’s an opportunity to get back to teaching our faith and living our faith with these kids side-by-side. We always made that connection through distance learning but now I feel it’s a better opportunity to really embrace our Catholic identity and our Catholic faith and do what we love.”

The last time teachers were in the classroom was Friday, March 13. On that day, Governor Tom Wolf ordered all schools to close as the coronavirus began to spread in Pennsylvania. On the following Monday, March 16, the Diocese of Scranton Catholic School System launched its distance learning initiative. Five months later, Jones, a parent of two children herself, will be sending both kids back to Catholic Schools in the diocese in addition to being back in the classroom herself. Both teachers and students will need to wear masks and desks will be physically distanced from one another.

“I think everything is a teachable moment. This is an opportunity to teach selflessness and showing the kids that these small sacrifices that we’re making are going to pay off for everyone and it really goes back to our Catholic identity and the golden rule – Love God and love others – and you do what you can to show your love for others in small, selfless ways,” Jones added.

At La Salle Academy in Jessup, teachers came together in person last week for a professional development day in the school’s gymnasium. With each teacher seated at their own table, the educators were learning how to use technology most effectively.

“I really feel that we have been afforded a lot of opportunities with the Diocese of Scranton in the years that I’ve worked here at least, for having those professional development sessions that are enhancing our abilities to teach the most effective practices,” teacher Shaina Dougherty said. Since March, Dougherty said she has missed the ‘noise’ of her classroom.

“A lot of people that aren’t teachers may see that ‘noise’ as noise, a lot of loud kids in a class. For me, it’s all about creating a community and allowing every voice to be heard and sometimes out of that noise comes incredible things,” she added.

Cody Opalka, a social studies teacher at Holy Redeemer High School, agrees that there is a special energy behind teaching and welcomes the engagement that goes along with in-person instruction.

“I’m excited and I’m positive about making it work,” Opalka stressed. When reflecting on what the first day of school will be like this year, a smile came over his face. “I’ve had a lot of first days. This one is going to be different so the butterflies are going to be there like always but it’s going to be a good different. It’s going to be about making it safe for the students, making sure they have what they need on that first day, that reassurance, so it’s going to be more of a comforting kind of entry,” he said.

In addition to in-person instruction, families in the Diocese of Scranton Catholic School System also expressed a desire for a virtual option for instruction. The Diocesan Virtual Academy will provide those families with the opportunity to begin their instruction completely online, or to transition into the Diocesan Virtual Academy, if desired, during the year.

Both options have the mission of providing an academically excellent and faith-filled experience for students. Ben Tolerico, principal of Holy Cross High School, says if parents choose a virtual education, their students will remain an important part of the Catholic school community.

“If a Holy Cross student chooses to take part in the Diocesan Virtual Academy, they’re still a part of Holy Cross. If we have any kind of activities, for example a virtual Mass, they would still be a part of that,” he said. Tolerico has spent countless hours over the summer preparing to welcome students back.

“Since May really we have been going non-stop in planning, the changing of plans, trying to figure out the right formula and it has been a lot of work. It has certainly been worthwhile work and it has just been an amazing effort and a team effort all the way throughout the top of the Diocese down to the schools in making sure we are committed to having a quality education in the safest environment possible,” Tolerico added.

A life-long educator, Tolerico said since March his teachers have been willing to go above-and-beyond. “I will never, ever be able to thank them enough for their efforts,” he said.

 

MOUNT POCONO — When the doors of Villa of Our Lady Retreat House closed earlier this month, it closed an historical chapter of long and distinguished service in the Diocese of the Scranton by the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters dating back nearly 100 years.

Bishop Joseph C. Bambera served as principal celebrant and homilist for a final Mass of Gratitude and Thanksgiving on August 1 in the Villa of Our Lady chapel.

A group of Bernardine Franciscans joined the last three nuns in residence at the wellknown retreat house — Bernardine Franciscan Sisters Jean Anthony Rodgers, Josandra Ciucci and Anna Mae Milus.

Several local clergy concelebrated the closing liturgy attended by friends, volunteers and co-workers who supported the Bernardine community in their landmark ministry in the diocese, which began in 1905.

Their ministerial service stretched from catechetics to all levels of education; elder care to outreach to the poor; and pastoral, prison and retreat ministry to spiritual direction. Reflecting on the passing of Villa of Our Lady Retreat House as the last mission entrusted to the Bernardine Franciscan Sisters in the diocese, Bishop Bambera lauded their far-reaching apostolic works.

“After more than 125 years of service in the Diocese of Scranton, you are being called to serve in different ways and places,” Bishop Bambera said, “yet, with the same commitment to spreading the good news of God’s love and mercy to the faithful entrusted to your care.” He continued with a nostalgic reflection on his own personal encounters with the Bernardine Franciscan congregation.

“Of course, as a priest and bishop, I’ve had many opportunities to engage the Sisters of your community — the happiest of which were my years as pastor of Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary parish in Dickson City, where your Sisters staffed the parish school since its beginning days,” the Bishop recalled.

According to Bernardine Franciscan Sister Rosemary Stets, congregation historian, the first mission of the OSF congregation in the Scranton Diocese was to serve Saint Stanislaus Parish School in Nanticoke in the early 1900s, followed by ministry at Saint Mary Parish in Nanticoke. ‘

In the succeeding years, the Bernardine Sisters would teach in 32 elementary schools and six high schools; staff orphanages in Nanticoke and Elmhurst, two health care facilities in Hazleton, and their signature Villa of Our Lady Retreat House in Mount Pocono.

By the mid-20th century, the religious community’s presence increased and a need arose for a provincial headquarters in the Diocese. The OSF Sisters established Saint Francis Province in Scranton on Clay Avenue. The provincial house would be the central location for the Bernardine Franciscans in Eastern Pennsylvania until 1958 when it was relocated to Reading.

The closing remarks of Bernardine Franciscan Sister Marilisa da Silva, congregational minister, included praise and gratitude for the trio of Villa of Our Lady Sisters who orchestrated the closure process during the past six months. “We realize that this enormous task was possible through the generosity of our lay employees who worked tirelessly with the Sisters,” she said

 

PECKVILLE – As she welcomed her Holy Cross classmates to their graduation ceremony at Valley View’s John Henzes/Veterans Memorial Stadium on July 20, 2020, salutatorian Leslie O’Connor also gave them a mission moving forward.

“Let us all work harder at healing the world than we ever have at anything else in our lives,” the Archbald native challenged her peers. During her speech, O’Connor tackled a difficult topic – the fact that many people refuse to listen to one another and refuse to understand people who have different ideas.

“We surround ourselves solely with those who agree with us and seek to isolate ourselves from those with different points of view. We stigmatize, marginalize, generalize and stereotype those whose beliefs challenge our own without taking the time to learn the realities of these individuals, their situations or the basis for their opinions,” O’Connor said. True to her Catholic faith and what she learned at Holy Cross High School, O’Connor reflected on the life and message of Jesus to inspire her fellow graduates. She said Jesus’ message of “uncompromising, indiscriminate love” should be a guiding principle.

“What will produce healthy change, however, is truly putting Jesus’ message into action; loving those who don’t love us. Loving everyone. Treating our neighbors as we would want them to treat us. Being willing to spread our message to all and being even more willing to allow all other messages to be spread to us,” the Holy Cross salutatorian said.

“If we are willing to consider, listen to, and love the beliefs of all people, especially those opposing ourselves, our hearts and our communities will have no room for hate or division, as they shouldn’t.”

A total of 71 graduates received diplomas at the Commencement ceremony, which featured students wearing masks and sitting socially distant from each other in chairs on the football field due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Family and friends were able to watch from the stadium seats and dozens of others watched a livestream provided by the school. During her valedictorian address, Tori Kovalchick said it would be impossible to summarize the experiences of the Holy Cross Class of 2020 with a single story, but emphasized the well-rounded education all of the graduates received.

“What makes our story at Holy Cross especially unique is our ability to celebrate and explore our Catholic faith each day. We have been afforded the privilege to discern our character while deepening our relationship with God,” the Factoryville native said.

“We’ve shared the sacraments as a school community and learned the power of prayer.” Kovalchick added that the Holy Cross educational experience motivated the Class of 2020 to serve God by serving those around them and taught them that genuine discipleship goes far beyond attending Mass on Sundays.

“It involves treating God’s creation and children with respect every day,” Kovalchick explained. Of the 71 Holy Cross graduates, 60 of them will be attending four-year colleges or universities, more than half of which are Catholic colleges or universities. Five other graduates will attend two-year colleges, two will immediately enter the workforce and one plans on entering military service.

The Holy Cross Class of 2020 was awarded 406 scholarships, equating to an amount of $16,183,079.

 

God’s power, love and mercy sustain us wherever we find ourselves

SCRANTON – Wearing a mask and sitting on a lawn chair directly in front of a sign encouraging social distancing, Kim Derbin waited patiently for the closing Mass of the Solemn Novena to Saint Ann to begin on Sunday, July 26, 2020.

“I’m blessed. I try not to ask for too much. I do ask for patience,” Derbin said. The 96th Novena at the National Shrine of Saint Ann in West Scranton was unlike any other for many reasons. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all Masses and services were held indoors where seating capacity was limited and sanitization a constant priority. But for Derbin, the 2020 Novena was different for another reason, it was the first since her mother passed away last summer.

“She is close to me now. She is with me all the time like God is with me,” Derbin added, saying she was thankful the ten days of prayer and devotion were allowed to go on. “I think some people think ‘it’s so different,’ but different is okay.”

Traditionally, Novena crowds number in the tens-of-thousands. This year, the numbers were just a fraction of that. Many chose to watch Novena services on CTV: Catholic Television or social media.

“I watched it on TV. I made a point to watch this past week,” Antoinette Varvaglione of Pittston said. Varvaglione attended the closing Mass of the Novena. It was her first time at the Basilica this year which she said was unusual.

“You hope and pray all of this goes away and we can get back to our lives,” Varvaglione explained. The preachers at this year’s Novena focused on the theme “By His Wounds, We Are Healed.”

During the closing Mass, Bishop Joseph C. Bambera focused on hope – saying despite the pandemic – God is woven into our lives and His power, love and mercy sustain us wherever we find ourselves and whatever the challenges facing us may be.

“If you stop and consider what we’ve been up against for the past five months, we’ve been immersed in a global pandemic that continues to wreak havoc throughout the world. We’ve been isolated one from another, afraid for our own well-being and that of those we love. We’ve been confronted with loss, grief and pain…yet through it all, something quite miraculous has occurred. We have been living out our faith – even and especially in the midst of adversity,” Bishop Bambera said.

“So many among us have looked beyond themselves and their own comfort and well-being to serve the most vulnerable. Many of you have reached out to the lonely and have sought to care for the brokenhearted. Countless numbers of you have shared from your bounty with those who have lost so much. In so responding to our suffering world, countless numbers of you have acknowledged, almost instinctively, where the true and lasting treasures of God are to be found. They are found within us and among us, aren’t they?”

During his homily, the bishop noted that while this year’s Novena looked much different, the Novena prayers can truly be said anywhere. He used an example to illustrate his point.

“I went into the doctor’s office for a check-up the other day at 7:15 a.m., and as I signed in at the desk, the woman sitting behind it held up her Novena prayers, reminding me that they can be prayed wherever we are,” he illustrated.

Al and Madaline Lori of Waverly listened to the bishop’s homily while maintaining social distancing outside the Basilica.

During a normal year, the couple would attend services up to five or six days. This year, they only came in person twice.

“I feel peace here. It brings me right back to my childhood and I strongly believe in the Blessed Virgin and Saint Ann,” Madaline Lori said.

“Over the years, there have been so many medical things we’ve laid before her and asked for help, and she has come through all the time.”

While noting that only about 65 people sat outside during the closing Mass, Al Lori said the precautions in place didn’t dampen the experience.

“We have to be safe. It makes sense to be more careful,” he added.