Archbishop pays New Year’s Eve visit to Highland

By Mark Reynolds
Posted 1/4/23

On New Year’s Eve, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archboshop of New York, celebrated Mass at St. Augustine Church in Highland. In 2009 he was appointed Archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI, who passed …

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Archbishop pays New Year’s Eve visit to Highland

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On New Year’s Eve, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Archboshop of New York, celebrated Mass at St. Augustine Church in Highland. In 2009 he was appointed Archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI, who passed away earlier that morning.

In his opening remarks, Archbishop Dolan kidded St. Augustine’s Parish priest John Lynch, saying, “I was about to thank Father John for his gracious invitation, but he didn’t invite me; I called and told him I was coming.”

Dolan said it was appropriate to come together on the Feast of the Solemnity of St. Mary, Mother of God and that New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day is a time not only to look back at the joys and sorrows of the passing year but also to look forward.

“There is going to be some sickness and health, there is going to be some war and peace and some happiness and sorrow,” he said, pointing out that in navigating the new year, “we have the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus, who had her share of joys and sorrows in her own life, with the birth and death of our savior Jesus.” He predicted that happy times are ahead, saying that God is with us.

Dolan loves visiting churches in his diocese that now number about 300, saying that it is the best part of his job.

“It gives me the chance to tell you how proud I am to be your Archbishop and I am very grateful to all of you for your love of Jesus and the Church,” he said.

Dolan’s diocese spans Staten Island, Manhattan, the Bronx and nine counties in the Hudson Valley, almost to Albany.

“So most of the diocese is rural and is not urban,” he said. “Here it’s nice to come on a Saturday night as I am in New York [St. Patrick’s Cathedral] on Sundays.”

After Mass Dolan took a few moments to visit with Gary Hoff and his family. Hoff painted the large picture above the altar of Jesus on the cross in honor of the Church’s centennial in 1999.

“Many years ago there was a fire and there was a picture of Christ above the altar and so many years later I thought let me try to redo a painting in oils and that’s what happened,” he said.

Hoff has a life-long connection to St. Augustine’s, having been baptized in the church; “I’ve been here forever.”

Dolan summed up his visit to Highland.

“Here’s the deal, the smaller the parish, the more vibrant it is, so Highland is like the little town of Bethlehem,” he said. “God the father did not have his son born in the metropolis of Jerusalem. His mother came from Nazareth, which is podunk, and he was born in Bethlehem, which was hardly thought of as a big metropolis.”

The Archbishop said he will try to come to the annual St. Augustine fair in June.