Our Pastor - Father Ernest Rush
Fr. Ernest Rush was Ordained to the Priesthood on May 25, 2002. He celebrated his First Mass on the feast of the Holy Trinity at Holy Trinity Parish, Hackensack, where he served as Transitional Deacon under the guidance of Bishop Charles McDonnell, Pastor of Holy Trinity. Fr. Rush's first parish assignment was as Parochial Vicar at Saint Philomena Parish, Livingston from June 2002 through June 2008. His second assignment, also as parochial vicar, was at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Bayonne, where he served until assuming the pastorate at Saint Mary's.
Fr. Rush attended Saint Peter's College and Union County College. Upon completion of his studies he began working in healthcare, intent on completing medical school. Given the rigors of his work as a mobile intensive care unit paramedic and an administrator at Clara Maass Medical Center, he chose to postpone his further studies in medicine. Also impacting this decision was God's call to the priesthood. Although Fr. Rush felt a vocation to the priesthood from the age of eighteen, he did not enter the seminary until 1997. He attended Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, graduating in 2002 with a Master of Divinity in Pastoral Ministry and a Master of Arts in Theology with concentration in Scripture.
Fr. Rush desires to build upon the spiritual foundation of Saint Mary's Parish established by Msgr. Hubba and other predecessors. He also seeks to bring a new perspective to ministry, working collaboratively with parishioners to continue to build upon the spiritual and corporeal community already existent at Saint Mary's.
Fr. Rush's Ordination.
