Yesterday wasn't a great day in the homefront news arena ... got word of the passing of a priest and former pastor. Msgr Michael J Alliegro was instrumental in welcoming us to the parish we now call home and for which we are immensely grateful.
It was 1998 and we just moved to NJ from northern VA. The boy was nearly 3 years old and the move was prompted by a job transfer. The parish we had while in Virginia was vibrant and welcoming and everything we wanted; and we were all involved in the music ministry there. So we wanted to find a new parish home that was as similar as possible in terms of the parish life and to be able to participate in their music ministry as well (knowing that we'd never find an exact replica of our Virginia parish - but it was extremely important to us nonetheless).
We visited all of the neighboring churches. For one reason or another we were dissatisfied with them - some more so than others ... one parish wasn't welcoming at all regarding our toddler boy, another just seemed so disconnected as a community, and so on. Sadly we were told that our "legal parish" was the one closest to us and that if we ever wanted to register at a different parish we would need some letter from the Bishop's office allowing us to do so. Frankly, I hadn't heard of this before yet we knew it was important to be obedient to the local ordinary.
After several weeks - we decided to give one other church a try ... kind of a last ditch effort to find a parish home.
We arrived for mass to see quite a few people there ... quite a few young families - which we took as a good sign of course. One of the ushers, a Knight of Columbus - because he was wearing the lapel pin, extended his hand and welcomed us right off the bat.
A few minutes before mass was to start the cantor introduced a new song to the people, which was a 'call and response' style. The people's response being, "I say yes my Lord." So we were introduced to this song; and then the mass begins.
After the homily there was some welcoming ceremony for candidate and catechumens ... and this call and response song was sung. I felt a real sense of warmth and welcome and vibrant life at this church, and I was hoping that my wife was sensing the same thing. Glancing over to her I was getting the impression that she was feeling likewise.
After the song, our little boy leans over to me ...
"Daddy." in a not-so-hushed voice
"Yes"
"I say YES my Lord!" he blurts out
I'm hooked!
After mass my wife and I both agreed that this was the parish for us. And now we were preparing to swim through red tape to register given our understanding that this was going to require a letter of some kind.
The priest was standing outside greeting the people and wishing them well as they were leaving. We waited and then introduced ourselves and explained our situation. The priest, Msg. Alliegro, was the pastor of the parish and said to us that all we needed to do was call the parish office and explain to them that we've already spoken with him. His final words to us that day were simply, "Welcome."
And we've been a part of this parish ever since - ever grateful and thankful that we are.
Msgr. Alliegro remembered our names from that first day - which was quite a feat considering that the parish is made of nearly 2500 families. And he always made sure that we were welcomed by introducing us to other families and organizations/ministries in the parish.
We spent nearly five years with him as our pastor and remained in touch with him when he was reassigned as the rector of the St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral parish.
After fighting illness for a number of years, Msgr. Alliegro was finally called home on August 17, 2009.
To say that I and my family will miss him is an understatement, to be sure. He was a model priest and pastor and we are fortunate indeed to have counted him among our friends.
(cross posted to: http://monastica.blogspot.com/2009/08/passing-of-priest-and-pastor.html)
It was 1998 and we just moved to NJ from northern VA. The boy was nearly 3 years old and the move was prompted by a job transfer. The parish we had while in Virginia was vibrant and welcoming and everything we wanted; and we were all involved in the music ministry there. So we wanted to find a new parish home that was as similar as possible in terms of the parish life and to be able to participate in their music ministry as well (knowing that we'd never find an exact replica of our Virginia parish - but it was extremely important to us nonetheless).
We visited all of the neighboring churches. For one reason or another we were dissatisfied with them - some more so than others ... one parish wasn't welcoming at all regarding our toddler boy, another just seemed so disconnected as a community, and so on. Sadly we were told that our "legal parish" was the one closest to us and that if we ever wanted to register at a different parish we would need some letter from the Bishop's office allowing us to do so. Frankly, I hadn't heard of this before yet we knew it was important to be obedient to the local ordinary.
After several weeks - we decided to give one other church a try ... kind of a last ditch effort to find a parish home.
We arrived for mass to see quite a few people there ... quite a few young families - which we took as a good sign of course. One of the ushers, a Knight of Columbus - because he was wearing the lapel pin, extended his hand and welcomed us right off the bat.
A few minutes before mass was to start the cantor introduced a new song to the people, which was a 'call and response' style. The people's response being, "I say yes my Lord." So we were introduced to this song; and then the mass begins.
After the homily there was some welcoming ceremony for candidate and catechumens ... and this call and response song was sung. I felt a real sense of warmth and welcome and vibrant life at this church, and I was hoping that my wife was sensing the same thing. Glancing over to her I was getting the impression that she was feeling likewise.
After the song, our little boy leans over to me ...
"Daddy." in a not-so-hushed voice
"Yes"
"I say YES my Lord!" he blurts out
I'm hooked!
After mass my wife and I both agreed that this was the parish for us. And now we were preparing to swim through red tape to register given our understanding that this was going to require a letter of some kind.
The priest was standing outside greeting the people and wishing them well as they were leaving. We waited and then introduced ourselves and explained our situation. The priest, Msg. Alliegro, was the pastor of the parish and said to us that all we needed to do was call the parish office and explain to them that we've already spoken with him. His final words to us that day were simply, "Welcome."
And we've been a part of this parish ever since - ever grateful and thankful that we are.
Msgr. Alliegro remembered our names from that first day - which was quite a feat considering that the parish is made of nearly 2500 families. And he always made sure that we were welcomed by introducing us to other families and organizations/ministries in the parish.
We spent nearly five years with him as our pastor and remained in touch with him when he was reassigned as the rector of the St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral parish.
After fighting illness for a number of years, Msgr. Alliegro was finally called home on August 17, 2009.
To say that I and my family will miss him is an understatement, to be sure. He was a model priest and pastor and we are fortunate indeed to have counted him among our friends.
(cross posted to: http://monastica.blogspot.com/2009/08/passing-of-priest-and-pastor.html)
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