Funeral held in cathedral for Paterson teen shot while helping his grandmother

PATERSON  Mourners filled the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist here Feb. 4 for the funeral Mass of Robert Cuadra, an 18-year-old teen from Paterson, who was killed in a hail of gunfire Jan. 19 while unloading groceries from his grandmother’s car. The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated by Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and concelebrated by Msgr. Geno Sylva, rector of the cathedral, who was the homilist.

At the start of Mass, Msgr. Sylva said, “To Robert’s family and friends, we are with you. The Church is with you.”

The high school senior at HARP Academy was shot in the head and killed while helping his grandmother at around 6:30 p.m. in front of 130 Godwin Ave. here Jan. 19. Cuadra was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire as men started shooting at each other.

Three men, who were arrested in Paterson in a stolen car with two guns hours after the shooting, were charged with Cuadra’s murder. Jaquin Williams, Jahed Jones, both 19, of Paterson, and Kahez Heron, 18, of Clifton, are currently in the Passaic County Jail.

An honor student, Cuadra had a promising future, earning a full four-year scholarship to attend Montclair State University next fall after his high school graduation. He had not yet determined his major, however, he showed interest in becoming a veterinarian due to his love of animals. He also showed interest in joining the military after he completed college. He played an integral role in both his family and within his community. He was a cherished son, and a devoted brother and father figure to his three younger brothers. He volunteered for various charities and drives, as well as maintaining employment at The Brownstone here.

In his homily, Msgr. Sylva said to Cuadra’s family and friends, “As we gather here this morning, you grieve not alone but with the entire Church. You are grieving with the entire city of Paterson. We are here united in your loss as a Church and as a city.”

Referencing the song, “Put Your Head on my Shoulder” by Paul Anka, who was 18 when he wrote it, the same age as Cuadra, Msgr. Sylva said, “Robert loved to sing that song to his mother, to his aunt, to his grandmother, to his family. He loved that song.”

Msgr. Sylva said, “When a parent takes home a child from the hospital, they cradle that treasure in their arms and they never stop cradling no matter how old that child becomes. This is the normal path of creation. The natural flow of life. Yet to have to cradle one’s child in her arms as he fights for life as you had to endure, Ivie (Robert’s mother), this is anything but natural or the way things should be in this world and so there are no words to begin to express that pain and that agony.

“A child that loses a parent is an orphan, a spouse that loses a spouse is a widow or widower but there is no word in the English language for a parent that loses a child. “This is not the way things should be and there’s nothing in the world to express that feeling,” said Msgr. Sylva. “We are here in our tears for the tragic loss of Robert so that by God’s grace we can turn from the emptiness of the inadequacy of human words to the healing and merciful power of divine words. These divine words do have the power to heal us for they come from God, who has felt the agony and the pain that you are all enduring and he has felt with those who grieve.”

Msgr. Sylva said, “In the eyes of the world, Robert may appear dead and gone but with the eyes of faith that with trust, hope, and remembrance we can pray each day and every night to God to hold him in your arms.”

Known by the nickname “Gordo,” Cuadra is survived by parents, Ivernis Santiago and Robert Cuadra; his grandparents, Sonia Rivera, Jose Santiago, Elizabeth Vicente, Juanita Acevedo, and Marcial Acevedo; his brothers, Jayden Cuadra, Jordan Santiago, Nathaniel Robledo, and Lujan Robledo; his sisters, Jennifer Silva and Nova Cuadra; and a host of other family members.

At the funeral Mass, Bishop Sweeney reminded the congregation, especially the young friends of Cuadra, to seek the Blessed Mother’s love at this time. “In Jesus’ very last breaths on this earth as he gave his life for us, he pointed us to his mother, Mary, and she is our mother. John was the youngest of the Twelve Apostles. He was a teenager and struggling as we are struggling right now. He was there with Mary at the foot of the Cross. Jesus said to him and to us to look to Mary.”