Parish Council celebrates Fr. Abraham's appointment as our new Pastor with a little cake and lots of best wishes!

Holy Name of Jesus Parish
2 Broadway
Valhalla, NY 10595
Telephone: (914)949-2323  --  Fax: (914)656-6325

May 14, 2021

Dear Holy Name of Jesus Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This is the way Spring is meant to be: flowers blooming, trees sprouting leaves, warm sunny days, and doors opening.  I hope you join me in celebrating this season of beauty and renewal.

I have enjoyed meeting so many of you since I was appointed as your Parish Administrator by His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, in September. Because of the COVID pandemic, though, I am sad that there are so many others who I have yet to see. Now, I am anxious for our opportunity to get to know each other.

COVID has, or course, created an unprecedented time for us all. Many have suffered, many have lost love ones, everyone has been forced into new, restricted lifestyles. Thankfully, this pandemic appears to be coming to a close, and lifestyles should begin to return to a new form of “normal”. Throughout this period, I have been truly thankful for your prayers, support and patience, and I have appreciated everything you have done to keep in touch with Holy Name of Jesus, and with God.  In addition, over the last fourteen months, you have all been extremely generous with contributions to our parish, allowing Holy Name of Jesus to remain open and administer sacraments, and to implement a means to bring Mass to those who could not attend in person.

Now I ask that you take a moment, close your eyes, and picture yourself in our beautiful, quiet church, with its altar, tabernacle, crucifix and dancing candle flames. Recall the occasional aroma of incense, and the ever-present feeling of peace that blankets you during prayer. Do this, and you might start to realize just how much you have missed being at church, and being a part of our parish family. The time has come to end the pain of the COVID pandemic; our parish community, and our church, can be the center of your renewal.

I hope that you will return to Sunday Mass as a regular attendee. We have invested capital and effort to provide a safe worship environment, such as providing advanced sanitization of the facility after every indoor event, installing an ionizing ventilation system that continuously flows and filters the indoor air, maintaining the requirement for masks and social distancing while indoors, and deploying numerous sanitizer stations around the buildings. I want you to feel comfortable that returning to in-person Mass and other church events is safe.

Nothing can replace gathering in person to attend Mass, being in the true presence of Jesus, and receiving His body and blood through the Eucharist. We will continue our normal Sunday Mass schedule: Saturday 5pm, Sunday 8am, 10am, 12 noon. We had our first outdoor Mass of the warm-weather season this past weekend, and plan to do so every fourth Sunday starting in June. Every second Sunday, at 10am, will be “Family Mass”, oriented toward our children, and followed by coffee, juice and donuts.

And please do not forget: this is our parish’s 125^th anniversary year!  We are planning a drumbeat of events associated with this milestone, including a July 31^st outdoor barbeque, all leading up to the November 20th commemoration Mass, celebrated by Cardinal Dolan. Watch the Holy Name of Jesus Website, Facebook page, Bulletin and bulletin boards for specifics on all these wonderful events.

Like the coming of Springtime, I am thankful that our church is once again able to open up all its beauty to our parish. I sincerely look forward to meeting every one of you. With the return to Sunday Mass, that process will begin.  Remember that the Eucharist is the source and center of our Catholic life, and fellowship across our parish is the source and center of our Catholic community. Our parish has worked hard to enable the safe return to a new normal routine, and so I hope you will come, see and share.

With prayers that we will all once again be together in Christ, I am truly at your service,

Rev. Abraham Berko
Parish Administrator

On November 16, 1896, Fr. Regis Gerest, OP received a letter from
Archbishop M. A. Corrigan of New York that initiated our parish, the
Holy Name of Jesus; as such, November 16, 2021, will mark our
125th anniversary.  In order to rededicate our prayers and thoughts
for those who have gone before us, leaving us such a wonderful
faith-filled legacy, I would like to commemorate the anniversary with special liturgies and social events during the coming year.

In order to accomplish our goals for this celebration, an Anniversary Committee and a Journal Committee will be formed to help us properly celebrate the occasion.  The committees will need additional volunteers to be successful, so we welcome anyone who is willing to devote time and talents to this endeavor.  The Anniversary Committee will arrange special liturgies, speakers and social events during the year, and will produce media notifications, solicit journal ads from parishioners and local vendors, etc. Some of our parish family are presently engaged in these types
of activities, but we need further help – any time that you are able to contribute will be greatly appreciated.

The Journal Committee will produce a booklet capturing the history of our 125 years.  It currently has copies of previous anniversary booklets: The Golden Jubilee Book 1896-1946, the 75th Anniversary Journal 1896-1971 and the 100th Anniversary Journal 1896-1996; now we are looking for any additional information pertaining to the parish history that you can
provide, such as programs of prior events, pictures, memorabilia, memories and short stories of parish life, names of parishioners who had vocations to the priesthood or religious life, names of our former clergy, and any other items that will help tell our story.

One important item that was omitted in the prior anniversary journals is a detailed history of the construction of Holy Name of Jesus Auditorium, Parochial School and our churches.  We would appreciate information anyone has regarding the building and dedication of the auditorium, school and church (s), such as building photos, newspaper articles, teacher
names, short stories, event programs, class pictures, graduation photos, other memorabilia, etc.

Please send or drop off all material to the rectory office; all items submitted will be returned upon request.

If you would like to volunteer for this project, or for additional information or questions, please contact the rectory at 914-949-2323.

01.11.21

As we experience the ongoing effects of the pandemic, Cardinal Dolan has continued to suspend the obligation to attend Sunday Mass.  Please remember, the obligation to “keep holy the Lord’s Day” can never be suspended.  If you are uncomfortable attending Mass in person, or you have cold symptoms or need to quarantine, make sure to watch our Mass livestreamed on our website or on Facebook on Sundays at 10:00am.

If you do not have the internet, sit down with the Sunday readings, pray, and make a Spiritual Communion.  Take a walk and pray the rosary.  Read a good spiritual book, most especially the Bible.  If weekend Mass is too crowded, attend a daily Mass instead.  It has become easy to excuse ourselves from prayer and worship.

Begin this New Year with a firm resolve to keep your faith strong and make it even stronger.  Keep holy the Lord’s day!