Most of the members of the Immaculate Conception Church of Clarksburg are getting ready to bid farewell well to their pastor Father Casey Mahone. Father Mahone has been at. The IC church for in excess of seventeen years. He will also be celebrating his 70th birthday. He has also announced that he has purchased a home in the area and will be making Clarksburg his residence.
Few people have given much thought to the tasks at hand for the priest of the Immaculate Conception Church. I am asking you to travel with me down this road just for memory’s sake.
The church week starts on Saturday with a mass at 4:30, then continues to Sunday with masses at 8:00, 9:15 and 11:00 A. M. On some Sundays after the 11:00 mass there will be baptisms for new born babies. Then we continue the mass schedule for the week 8:00 A. M. Masses on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and a 7:00 P. M. mass on Wednesday.
Now, any day of the week there might be funeral masses at the church for any parishioners who may have died. There will also be a prayer service at the funeral home the evening before and the death that may have required visits from the priest prior to the funeral.
Any Saturday during the month you may find the priest presiding over a marriage. Then the schedule will also list confessions on Saturday afternoon at the church.
Many hospitalized parishioners will receive hospital visits from the priest or even a home visit. When thinking about time we must remember the time spent preparing sermons for weekly masses, for funerals, for weddings and for classes for individuals seeking info on joining the Catholic Church.
On his list is also overseeing the properties of the church which is the priests residence, the nuns residence, and the church center which houses the offices and a social hall for gatherings.
If this seems a tremendous task, we must not forget he must oversee the finances of the church and oversee his staff. He has a staff of an assistant, two nuns, and several office assistants. At any time you may see his assistant doing mass or the nuns visiting the hospitals. His assistants will prepare financial statements. And last but not least he has a host of volunteers who head up committees. For socials, who prepare bereavement dinners, who oversee the cleaning of the church, who assist with church repairs and the list goes on and on.
Father Çasey has certainly earned his retirement, we will miss him and we wish him well. We welcome our new priest and pledge our support to him.
Stay healthy, take care and until next week “Now You Have Heard It Through The Grapevine.”
