On Nov. 7, law-enforcement personnel, their families, community supporters and the faithful gathered for a Law Enforcement Mass of Thanksgiving to honor and encourage those who serve and remember the fallen at St. Luke Church in the Long Valley neighborhood of Washington Township, N.J.
Msgr. Raymond Lopatesky, a full-time chaplain for the U.S. Secret Service and Law Enforcement Ministry director for the Morris County Police Critical Incident Debriefing Team, was the celebrant and homilist of the Mass. He is also a retired priest of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey and a weekend assistant at the parish.
“On Friday, we all gathered to say what is too often left unsaid [to law-enforcement officers]: thank you. Thank you for showing up. Thank you for standing in the gap. Thank you for choosing service over self,” Msgr. Lopatesky wrote about the Mass in the St. Luke’s bulletin afterwards. He said the congregation at the Mass were also encouraging officers. “Because in a world that can be cynical, law-enforcement people are called to be hopeful. In a profession that can be isolating, they are called to be united. In a culture that can be divided, they are called to be healers,” he wrote.
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Father Michael Szwarc, pastor of St. Luke’s, concelebrated the liturgy. Deacon Bill DeVisio assisted with the Mass. Police chiefs served as readers, servers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and ushers. The Mount Olive, N.J., police provided the honor guard. St. Luke’s music ministry led the congregation in hymns of praise.
The Morris County Chiefs Association sponsored the Mass. The Rosary Society and Women’s Cornerstone of St. Luke’s provided a reception after the liturgy.
In his bulletin piece, Msgr. Lopatesky also urged the faithful to pray for the safety, wisdom, and resilience of law-enforcement officers.
“Let us pray that they may be peacemakers in a world that desperately needs peace,” Msgr. Lopatesky wrote. “‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.’ May they walk in that blessing. May they live in that identity. And may they know, deep in their souls, that their service is sacred. They are blessed by God.”
