Dear Parishioners,
I realize that I have only been with you for a short while and they say in church life that it takes a full year for a priest to get acquainted with a new parish assignment. There is still a longing to see my long- time friends in Florida while at the same time getting acquainted with each of you.
Fr. Mark Schaffner, O.Carm.
Every one of us remembers a special Christmas in our life and maybe we were blessed to have many happy Christmases. But it was at the midnight Mass, December 25, 1981 that I experienced a profound calm and great peace that lasted for many months. The priest that said that Mass was the first Carmelite I ever met and before he came to my parish in Virginia, he had been the pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel here in Tenafly. I call this my Christmas miracle for here I am following in his footsteps after many long years.
And, so I pray and wish that each of you this Christmas will have a special memory in which God really touched your life and made it good.
To all of you, a Blessed and Joyful Christmas season.
Fr. Mark