Father Martin O’Reilly, a native of Ireland now living in Bordentown, uses technology to bring people to church, but also takes to the streets to bring his church to those with no access.
BORDENTOWN — Even before the coronavirus pandemic made it impossible to bring people into church, people like Father Martin O'Reilly, pastor of the Mary, Mother of the Church Parish, was exploring ways to bring the church to the people.
“Obviously, this whole COVID-19 outbreak has put a damper on a lot of things,” O'Reilly said. “In times of crisis, for a lot of people, faith is what they turn to. For churches, one of the most important things they do, is to gather the people.”
In better times, the church gathered them in person. Fortunately, O'Reilly was ahead of the curve in figuring out ways to gather them online. There's a livestream link on the church's Facebook page. Prayers are offered at 8 p.m., Monday through Friday, and parishioners are encouraged to write in and ask for prayers.
Naturally doctors and nurses are in everybody's thoughts, but O'Reilly adds police officers, firefighters, EMS workers — literally anybody on the front lines.
And anyone who isn't.
“We pray for any individual if people submit names for them,” O'Reilly said.
He's hopeful it creates a sense of community and reinforces to parishioners that they're not alone.
It's a great approach for people who have internet access. For those who don't, O'Reilly takes a more grass roots tack; he walked down East Eighth Street in Florence recently and personally offered prayers and blessings.
“The challenge for some people is they don't have broadband,” he said. “It's not as if you can go to a neighbor's home — they can't. And some of them have been coming to church for 60 or 70 years. So we wanted to bring them the blessed sacrament, and bring it in the monstrance (a vessel designated for holding an object of piety). The best thing to do if they can't come is bring Jesus to them.”
O'Reilly and Father Cesar Anson, of the Holy Assumption Church in Roebling, usually visit elderly parishioners at their homes during the first week of each month. They called ahead last week to spread the word about this special visit.
“It was moving to them,” he said. “It really meant a lot.”
Frances Tondi is a Holy Assumption parishioner.
“It was beautiful,” she said. “It made my day and I think all the neighbors who came out felt the same way. Father Martin is a wonderful, spiritual man who reaches out to everybody. We're blessed to have him and what he did was about the nicest thing a priest could do.”
Joe Bauer just happened to be outside.
“It was actually a cold, windy day,” Bauer said. “But he came down and stopped in front of my house, and asked me if I'd like to have my house blessed. I said yes. My wife and I have both been having some medical problems. We're doing OK, but we're not in the best of health, and obviously we haven't been able to go to church. It was very nice, that he took the time.”
The timing was good, too. Joe and Norma Bauer will celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary Friday.
“He sparked my whole day,” Joe said. “I went in and told my wife, and it sparked her day, too. I hope we can get back to church soon, but times are tough.”
Times are going to keep changing. It's a challenge that O'Reilly, a native of Monaghan, Ireland, now living in Bordentown, will have to keep meeting.
It's his hope that some good will come out of it.
“The big question is what the new normal will be,” O’Reilly said. “There will be a difference for people, and I hope they'll come to realize they have a need for each other, in a brotherly and sisterly way. They need to be there for each other. Maybe people will have a deeper curiosity about what God is about.”
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