It was discussed by the Liturgy Committee to erect a 25^th Anniversary Memorial dedicated to the Memory of all those who lost their lives on September 11^th, 2001 in NYC / World Trade collapse, the attack on the Pentagon and the passenger diverted plane that crashed in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

This is to be completed, installed and dedicated by September 6^th, 2026 and the following will be engraved on a large boulder to be placed by the berm and lamp-pole on the handicap front door entrance. The following text will be etched:      

 

Dedicated to the Memory of    

         the Victims of September 11, 2001

 

We commend to God’s mercy

all who died that fateful day,

especially our parish members.

We offer our gratitude

for the heroic sacrifice of first responders

and all who risked and gave their lives

in service to others on that infamous day.

We honor those who have since

perished because of the aftereffects

of the Towers’ collapse

and the faith and courage of the families

who mourned and will continue to mourn.

In prayerful remembrance of all who lost their lives:

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May this memorial stand as a witness

to faith, courage, and the enduring hope of peace!

 

Dedicated September 6, 2026

 

If you have a name of a parishioner that died on 9/11, please call the Office. Their name will be engraved on one of the rocks in the berm, as the Memorial is for all and we are keeping it generic. If you wish to contribute to this undertaking, a collection will be taken up in mid to late July.

We are kind of at a stalemate with the parking lot. We are waiting for estimates to come in from vendors so that we can best plan how to proceed. Part of the Committee believes we should take what we have in the Capital Campaign account and pay off the roof loan and then petition the Diocesan Office of Mission Assistance (MAC) for another loan to have monies up front to start the parking lot work. (Required lighting, conduits curbing, handicap area and main parking lot with stripping; as Phase I. Phase II would be the area in front of the rectory and the lot behind the Parish Center. Let the Committee members know your thoughts (Committee is composed of our Trustees, and PAX members, Paul Knudsen and Fr. Jim).

Pax et Bonum,

Fr Jim

This Sunday’s Gospel reveals Jesus as the One who lifts burdens and offers rest. He calls His Church to do the same—especially for immigrants and newcomers who arrive carrying fear, separation, and the weight of beginning again. When He promises that His yoke is easy and His burden light, He entrusts us with helping others experience that mercy.

As our nation marks 250 years, we remember that our founders affirmed that human dignity comes from God. And our Pledge of Allegiance commits us to a nation with “justice for all.” When dignity depends only on what others allow, it can be taken away whenever it becomes inconvenient. We see that danger today in how immigrants are spoken about and treated. This anniversary invites a Gospel challenge: Are we helping people carry their burdens as Jesus does? Are we living our promise of justice for all—including the stranger God places in our care?

In response to an article I submitted to Newsday that was printed in the June 19^th, 2026 issue, I was invited to speak at an event on Tuesday June 30^th in Huntington Station sponsored by Catholics Welcome Immigrants (CWI), a grassroots advocacy group on Long Island formed by local parishioners. Its goal is to mobilize the Catholic community to oppose mass deportations and to urge local church leadership to speak out and take a clear, humane stand on immigration issues. 

To all attending Catholics Welcome Immigrants -

My name is Fr. Jim Mannion, Administrator of the Roman Catholic Church of St. Mark in Shoreham. I am not physically present due to a surgical procedure but was asked to write something to be read by a CWI member concerning how the message of charity, welcome and solidarity with immigrants on Long Island can be instilled in our local parishes.

I don’t know if it can be. I say this, because my experience has been, that while every parish has a few of you know - those ‘social justice crazies,’ most parishioners are isolated from any universal issues. Not because they don’t care but more that it’s not on their radar. Sure, they read Newsday, watch the news on television, see what might be in their bulletin, if permitted or mandated by Diocese, but by-and-large, they are focused on trying to survive, pay their bills, stretching their dollar, dealing with children, marriages, health … personal and very parochial issues. My other awareness of RVC parish communities- are that they are too homogeneous, as are their neighborhoods and school districts. It is unlikely therefore, that exposure to an immigrant, would be veryrare unless the parish were in a poorer ‘section’ of the Island/Diocese.

That said, our people have a fundamental sense of fairness, charity and belief in the American dream. Albeit freestanding and not rooted in the principles of the Beatitudes, the Good Samaritan or the call of the Prophets: to care for the widow, the orphan and the stranger in our midst- for we were once aliens ourselves.

A personal story - I was with former parishioners, now retired and helped by an aide, an immigrant, unknown if documented or not, who they love for her care, compassion and goodness. When ICE started hitting the area of the North Fork where they lived, with raids, it frightened the Hispanic aide working with them, who expressed hesitation about coming to work. The wife expressed to me that until that conversation with the aide - this was a non-issue - now it was personal; as they knew her and her family and it incarnated the evil that was occurring on the Island.

To bring this to an incarnational experiential reality in our parishes - get real human stories and speakers to share them. Prepare materials to be dropped into the bulletin. Write up petitions for the Universal Prayers of the Faithful. Offer templates for demonstrations of solidarity with our sister and brothers in Christ, Prayer gatherings, Rosary Vigils. Connect this with the underknown wisdom of Catholic Social Justice teaching and the understanding of the Eucharistic assembly. Make connections to our Founding leaders, who declared our Independence in the face of the scandal of King George’s treatment of his American subjects, in their quest for Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. (Life, especially in the context of the religious / philosophical / judicial milieu of the Revolution, was understood as an inalienable right- for if human dignity depended solely on what other humans grant (and not the rule of agreed upon law), it can revoked whenever it becomes inconvenient or a convenient tool for popularity; as is our present governmental POTUS policy).

We need to sensitize the Catholic mythos of vote, pay taxes and quietly OBEY, to one that is more alive in its witness of and to the Gospel of Jesus. This ispolitical, for it will bring our voice into the Public Squarebut Not partisan, as we are not dictating policy but only praying for a just, fair and long overdue immigration policy that allow people to become part of the American experiment and dream and make our nation the richer by its new creative citizens. A good beginning, and a safe base, ask every parish in the Diocese, ask every church, synagogue, mosque, temple to hang a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe in their lobby area, perhaps entitled: Patroness of Immigrants - We pray for our sisters and brothers to be seen, to be heard, to be respected as a human being, who has hopes and dreams for themselves and their families, just as we do. We pray for justice. Amen.

Pax et bonum,
Fr. Jim

A BIG Thanks to the Ahrenstein Family, who donated and manned the selling of Raffles for the Garden Wheelbarrow. Thenet donation of the raffle was $1,200 and it was won by a fellow parishioner - Laura Slatter. Great job everyone!

The bulletin cover strikes me as the display of Divine compassion in one still innocent to worry about who she was helping and why he had this cross. The innocence of her Spirit moved her to act; much like Veronica, the name means ‘a true/real icon (image) of God,’ without thought of self but only of the other in need. It’s a shame that as we get older, more jaded and necessarily more cautious, we too often remain as a bystander to situations like this; not entering into the humility of compassion and empathy to lend a hand; shoulder; voice; personal involvement.

As our nation marks 250 years since its founding, do we find ourselves reflecting on the gift at the heart of the American story: freedom, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom sought, fought for, defended, expanded, and so many times - imperfectly lived. Freedom that allows us to gather, to speak, to worship, to build communities of faith and hope. A freedom won because Europeans - free, indentured, enslaved; Africans - free, indentured, enslaved; indigenous native peoples - free and independent, willingly took up the cause and the fight for that Freedom, with many of them falling under the cross of bullets, cannon balls, raids.

Anniversaries invite honesty. They ask us not only to celebrate what we cherish, but to remember what we have learned from our historical journey; and what we still need to achieve in our society, so that the words: “We the People’ and ‘all men (and women and child and immigrant and the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of another shore, the homeless, thetempest-tost) have the right to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness … for America lifts her lamp beside the golden door! (Paraphrase of Emma Lazarus’ The New Colossus—on the Statue of Liberty, November 2, 1883)

Remember, just a few years back, when COVID swept across the world and, almost overnight, our freedom to gather, even for the Eucharist, was taken from us. Not by persecution or hostility, but by a crisis that touched every corner of society. Still, the ache was real. The silence in our churches was real. The longing for, even more so - the hunger for the altar, for the presence of Christ, for the simple freedom to kneel side by side in community, was real in a way we will never forget. In a country that treasures liberty, we suddenly discovered how fragile some freedoms can be.

How fragile some freedoms still are for those of color, orientation, religious beliefs, cultural origins, status. You know, when the restrictions of COVID were removed, religious bodies found that many never returned to church. The habit, the routine was broken; people managed without God (they believe falsely) and many did return because of a burning hunger for God, for the Eucharist, for the gift of community and singing and touching and enjoying one another’s company. COVID made uschoose and claimour identity; the person, the people we want to be. It clarified for us the freedom of choice - like the little girl helping Jesus with the cross.

The freedom of choice is that which shapes every other freedom we hold dear. So, as we celebrate 250 years of American independence / freedom, perhaps the Spirit is inviting us to remember these truths:

• Freedom is a gift, but it is also a responsibility.

• Freedom is precious, but it is never guaranteed.

• Freedom is strongest when it leads us toward communion, not isolation.

• The greatest Freedom we have is not political - it is spiritual. It is the freedom in Christ. The freedom to love, to forgive, to serve, to hope, to welcome the stranger, give comfort to the oppressed, the freedom to share and be transformed.

For America lifts her lamp beside the golden door, and we like the little girl on the cover, must be there to help - when our nation, our church, our neighbor falls as I hope and pray, someone is there for me when I so fall.

And so, with gratitude, humility, and awe … May Godcontinue tobless our nation,May we be aware of how blessed we are,May God strengthen our Church and may God keep us faithful to the freedom that truly sets us free.

A Blessed, Joyous, Safe and Reflective Fourth of July to all of us.

Pax et Bonum -

Fr. Jim