Bloomfield parish kicks off 125th anniversary year
St. Valentine Church in Bloomfield celebrated its 125th anniversary with a March 3 Mass led by Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, who urged the nearly 300 gathered parishioners to reflect on the role their parish should play in their lives.
After beginning his homily in Polish — the native language of the immigrants who founded St. Valentine’s in 1899 — Cardinal Tobin recalled how Jesus drove the merchants out of the temple because he did not want his Father’s house to be a marketplace. A parish also should not be a marketplace, the cardinal said, because a marketplace is a venue in which people only look out for themselves. He said a parish instead should be a home where everyone comes together in peace. And as St. Valentine Church turns 125, its parishioners must consider what they are doing to create such a community, Cardinal Tobin said.
“The invitation today, at this stage of our journey of Lent, is to make in us and around us more home and less market,” said Cardinal Tobin, who explained people can do that by praying more and spreading brotherhood and sisterhood to all they encounter. “Brotherhood and sisterhood is needed today in a world that counts divisions more important than unity.”
At the conclusion of Mass, a trustee presented Cardinal Tobin with a St. Valentine’s medal in gratitude for his visit. About 250 people then gathered for a luncheon in the parish’s reception hall, where they were joined by Auxiliary Bishop Manuel A. Cruz and numerous priests and deacons from nearby parishes. Many former parishioners also returned for the celebration, reminiscing with old friends while enjoying a slideshow of photos from St. Valentine’s history.
“Everyone had a very good time,” said Father Andrew Onyemaobi, pastor of St. Valentine Church. “I give thanks to God for giving us 125 years and letting us come together to celebrate. And we’re not finished because we have more anniversary events planned this year, like a new book club and a dinner-dance in February 2025. We hope people will visit us so they can see we’re a vibrant, thriving parish that welcomes everyone.”
For more information on St. Valentine Church, visit www.stvalentinechurch.com.
Photos courtesy of St. Valentine Church
Featured image: Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, greets parishioners following the 125th Anniversary Mass at St. Valentine Church in Bloomfield on March 3, 2024. (Photo courtesy of St. Valentine Church)
