'We have not lost our family': Hundreds attend Mass after church torched in arson attack

Alexis Shanes | NorthJersey

Show Caption Hide Caption Franklin Lakes church destroyed by arson fire, police say The church fire is suspected arson.

FRANKLIN LAKES — Days after their sanctuary was torched in an aggravated arson attack, parishioners of Most Blessed Sacrament R.C. Church gathered in a show of resilience, choosing triumph instead of anger.

“Joy is the experience of knowing that you are unconditionally loved,” the Rev. John Job said. “Even the destruction of a church cannot take that away.

“We are called … to be reflections of that light of hope,” he said.

A gymnasium on the church’s campus was standing-room-only as hundreds assembled for Mass on Gaudete Sunday, the third Sunday of Advent.

Children’s “MBS strong” drawings were taped to the gymnasium’s baby-blue masonry. Folding chairs were lined up on the slick wooden floor. Basketball hoops were folded up to the ceiling.

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Having Mass in the gym, he said, meant returning to the church’s roots. In 1981, when construction of the recently destroyed sanctuary began, services were also held in the gym.

The parish is nearly six decades old and serves more than 2,000 families.

“It’s not easy to see it gone,” Job said, adding that he knows the sanctuary occupied a special place in countless family memories.

“We have temporarily lost our home, but we have not lost our faith,” Job said. “We have not lost our family. We will build a new home.”

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The parish’s painted mission statement was in the sanctuary when the fire began, and as the rest of the building was reduced to charred rubble, the painting was unscathed.

The painting, framed in gold, was on display Sunday in the gymnasium. It outlines the parish’s goals, such as being “a welcome community” and “supporting those within and beyond our parish.”

“They got it out without a scratch,” a parishioner said in wonder, pausing to look at the painting before leaving the gym.

The destroyed sanctuary, now barricaded with a chain-link fence, still smelled like smoke as parishioners walked past on the way to their cars.

A small memorial was set up outside with flowers, candles and wreaths, including one from Temple Emanuel, a synagogue down the street.

“It’s terrible,” said Mary Ann Mccoi of Woodland Park, who stopped to take in the memorial and the rubble beyond. “I was very shocked. I don’t know why he did this.”

Police were called to the fire just after 1:30 a.m. Wednesday.

James Mayers, a 26-year-old borough resident, was arrested at the scene, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said. He was charged with first-degree aggravated arson and third-degree burglary.

Mayers was the only person in the building at the time of the fire. He was treated for burns at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.

But the attacker was barely mentioned Sunday as parishioners assembled in solidarity.

Rick Behnke, who has been a parishioner at Most Blessed Sacrament for 30 years, said the “amazing” turnout reflected a larger community priority.

“It’s not about the building,” Behnke said. “It’s about the people.”

People gather at Most Blessed Sacrament Church to show support People gather at Most Blessed Sacrament Church in Franklin Lakes, NJ on Thursday December 12, 2019 to show their support after the church burned down.