Mission Statement

        We are a people of God called to serve Him and one another as we journey towards His Kingdom. We strive to bring Christ's love to all within and beyond our community. With the celebration of the Holy Eucharist as the center of our Catholic lives, we respond to the grace of the Holy Spirit by living and sharing the teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ.  We welcome all who come to pray with us and who wish to make our Church their "second home".        

A Message From Our Pastor:

Dear Friends,

During the past year, St. Helena's Church has joined with all the parishes in the Archdiocese of New York in celebrating the BICENTENNIAL OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK. We have celebrate the glorious history of our Archdiocese for the past two hundred years, a history that can boast of great saints like St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, born here in New York City; St. Frances Xavier, who came here, as so many other Catholics came here, as an immigrant; St. John Neumann, ordained in the Old St. Patrick's Cathedral. We can boast of great New York City people like our beloved Terence Cardinal Cooke, who served the Church with such fidelity; Venerable Pierre Toussaint, a freed slave who did so much to help the poor of our city; and Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker, who "comforted the afflicted and afflicted the comfortable."

Those are the great figures of our New York Catholic history. But there are so many others. There are the countless men and women who labored long and hard to raise their children in God's way; the innumerable religious sisters and brothers who taught our children; and the dedicated priests who brought generation after generation closer to Jesus the Lord. These are our parents and grandparents, our parish priests, and the religious who taught so many of us over so many years. Right here in our own parish, we think of our beloved Monsignor Arthur J. Scanlan, our founding pastor. Was there ever a greater priest than he? How many St. Helenites look back on their years of knowing Monsignor Scanlan, who always told them that, "It's fun to be good?" That message has guided them throughout their lives. We think of so many other great priests—Father Joseph O'Shea, who served here for 67 glorious years of priesthood; Father (now Bishop) Patrick Ahern, who always called this, his first parish, the "honeymoon of his priesthood;" Father Owen McEnaney, who sang God's praises so beautifully and even taught us to sing "Happy Birthday Jesus;" Father John Cody, who served the sick so faithfully; and so many other great men of God, too many to mention. We think of the great men and women who built this parish, who devoted countless hours to Bazaars and parades, to Cadet Corps and basketball teams, to Sodality/ Altar Guild and Holy Name, to the Hispanic Society and the Charismatic Prayer group, and to so many other groups—past and present—that have been part of their lives. For almost seventy years, St. Helena's has been a "second home" to so many. How proud we can be!

How do we thank God for our Bicentennial? The answer is simple: we can resolve to carry on the great work of the past and live in here and now. St. Helena's Church continues to be the presence of Christ in our community. The Lord, who has helped us during the glorious years of the past, will continue to help us in the glorious years of the future. I remember a beautiful sermon given here by Bishop Ahern on the occasion of the 45^th anniversary of our church. Bishop Ahern spoke about the "golden years" of the past. Then he reminded us that the golden years are not in the past. The golden years are right now because this is the moment God gives to us. Every day, every moment, every "now" is golden because it is given to us by Almighty God. May we always accept every moment and live every moment in that way.

We thank God for 200 years of the history of our Archdiocese and almost 70 years of the history of our parish. May we be ready for many more "golden moments" as we serve God faithfully. May we be ready to be God's people, today, tomorrow and always!      

God bless you,     

(c) 2008 mdvalenti