On March 25, the birthday of St. Catharine of Siena and the Solemnity of the Annunciation of Our Lord, a special Jubilee Year of Hope Mass and Pilgrimage took place for young adults of the Diocese of Allentown at the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown – a pilgrimage site with an indulgence connected to it during the Jubilee Year of Hope.
Before the Mass, opportunities for Adoration and Confession were offered. That evening, the Mass was celebrated just as the flight for the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Rome took off, according to Father Nikolai Brelinsky, Assistant Pastor at St. Joseph the Worker, Orefield.
“I know that our Bishop and all of the pilgrims going to Rome for the Jubilee Year of Hope took off on their flight and were probably in the air just as we were having the Mass,” he said. “In a real way, our Jubilee celebration was united with theirs.”
Father Brelinsky helped organize the Mass with brother priests and Leslie Pellosie, a young adult and parishioner of Notre Dame of Bethlehem.
Pellosie and Father Brelinsky began planning this special Jubilee event only weeks before and wanted to do something that united local young adults with the mission of the Jubilee Year.
“I knew [the Cathedral] was a pilgrimage site, and it would be our patron’s birthday, so I thought it would be a good idea to get everyone together for a Mass, Adoration, and Confession, and have a social afterward. It was a perfect fit,” said Pelosie.
Andrew and Theresa Ivankovits, parishioners at St. Catharine, brought their infant and toddler to the Solemnity. They thanked the organizers not only for an evening Mass they could attend together as a family, but also for a Mass “specifically targeted to young people,” which encouraged them to participate early in the pilgrimage and receive the associated indulgence at the Cathedral.
Father Matthew Kuna, chaplain at the St. Christopher Catholic Newman Center at Kutztown University and chaplain of Berks Catholic High School, Reading, emphasized the significance of Mary’s “yes” at the Annunciation. He referenced the Sisters of Life and their mission to support pregnant women, as well as their founder Cardinal John O’Connor’s favorite poem, “I Sing of a Maiden” by Father John Duffy, C.S.S.R.
Within it, one can find the line, “And nothing would again be casual and small.”
Elucidating on this sentiment, Father Kuna detailed how the choice of the Mother of God at the Annunciation impacted the world. He profoundly illuminated her choice by saying, “That day as [Mary] opened her heart to the angel's message and gift, it changed the world.”
He continued, “And it changed your life and mine that nothing again would just be happenstance. Nothing again would happen out of random. No matter what it is – everything would have a purpose in life because it has been punctuated by the light of the world that now was shining in it. Nothing in our lives would be casual or small, or insignificant or purposeless.”
Father Kuna shared this powerful message to shed light on a throwaway culture that often moves on too quickly, seeking the next best thing.
Andrew Ivankovits pointed to Father Kuna's homily, saying, “It hit home to me.” Theresa and Andrew both reflected on having their own children who impact their lives in a “huge” way, especially in light of the homily's theme of everything no longer being “casual and small.”
Concelebrating the Mass were Father Aaron Scheidel, Assistant Pastor of the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena, Allentown; Father Keaton Eidle, Assistant Pastor of St. Jane, Easton; Father Alex Brown, Assistant Pastor of St. Anne, Bethlehem; Father Guency Isaac, Sacramental Minister, Newman Center, Lafayette College, Easton, and Chaplain, Notre Dame High School, Easton; and Father Van-Vien (JV) Nguyen, Assistant Pastor of St. Catharine of Siena. Father David Lopez, F.S.S.P., Parochial Vicar, Holy Ghost, Bethlehem, was present to help with Confession ahead of Mass.
Photos by Vargas Photography.
Copy Permalink
