BARRINGTON — Last week’s tragic boating death on the Barrington River has prompted a sharp rebuke of the community from the associate pastor at St. Luke’s Church.

The Rev. S. Matthew Glover, in his homily at the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday, said the town is in denial about its substance-abuse problems and alleged that witnesses were being urged to keep silent about the death of 17-year-old Patrick Murphy.

“We drink so much here in this town, and God says don’t,” he said.

And in hopes of inspiring parents and children, Father Glover, who is 25, vowed to make the sacrifice of giving up alcohol himself.

“I want to be in solidarity with any one of those kids out there who have to say no. I believe my sacrifice could do something for them to give them courage,” he said. “And I want to be in solidarity with every one of you parents who has to make the tough decision to say, ‘No, this is not good for you,’ ” when their children seek permission to drink.

The police say alcohol contributed to Murphy’s death, which occurred one week ago tonight while he was on his kneeboard being towed by a boat driven by classmate Ryan A. Greenberg. The medical examiner ruled that Murphy was killed by blunt-force trauma and his body had been slashed by something sharp. Investigators believe it was a propeller.

Greenberg, 17, refused to be tested for alcohol, and he failed a field sobriety test. He is due to be arraigned Friday on felony charges of reckless operation, death resulting. The owner of the boat, Andrew Davis, told the Journal Friday that he didn’t know how the teens obtained the craft.

Police are continuing their investigation. Two more witnesses were scheduled to be interviewed yesterday.

At Sunday’s service, attended by 500 people, about 75 of them teenagers, Father Glover said he knows firsthand that people from St. Luke’s parish “are discouraging people from coming forward with the truth of what happened on that river.

“It’s another way to deny Christ, to say, ‘Oh it didn’t happen.’ ‘We’ll get over it again.’ ‘There won’t be another Zach Stiness and Mike Neubauer tragedy again. We’ll get over it. Just deny it ever happened.’ ”

Stiness and Neubauer, who would have graduated from Barrington High School last month, were killed in a car crash two years ago that may have involved alcohol.

Glover said he experienced another example of the denial in two girls who were in the Barrington YMCA after the tragedy. “They were laughing, laughing [saying], ‘Well it’s too bad they got caught. At least we don’t get caught when we drink.’ ”

Father Glover said the attitude of the community only adds to the ongoing suffering of Jesus as he tries to atone for the sins of people in the community.

“[It’s] denial, denial, denial. Deny that he’s suffering on the cross. Deny what is happening in Barrington. Jesus is dying and we’re walking right by,” he said.

He told parents that even if their children are not drinking or using drugs, too many others are. “Your kids are friends with these kids and they’re your neighbor’s children. It’s Jesus crucified in our town, so we’re all involved in this.

“Don’t deny that we have a problem,” he said. “You want to know what’s going on in our town? I’ll tell you. Kids are depressed. Kids are filled with anxiety. Kids are lonely. Kids are bored. Kids [are affected by] broken relationships and promises — those of their parents, tragically, and those of their own. They suffer from addiction, to drinking and to drugs. They suffer character flaws like you and I both do. It’s not [unique] to our town. They suffer, and that’s what we first must realize.”

And some parents want to counteract the problems with materialism, he said.

“We say, ‘If I just buy my kids that vacation, or I buy them that Mercedes, or we buy them something, their hearts would be filled.’ Our hearts can only be satisfied by God.

“Our kids drink because we drink, that’s why,” Father Glover said. “They see us getting smashed at the country club or Chiazza [a local restaurant] or whatever . . .

“And please, please, please, shame on us if any of us allow our kids to drink at home. If you teach them to drink at home, you teach them to drink somewhere else.”

He said that when people hear parents say that it’s OK, “don’t be fooled by the lie.”

“That’s not the way to deal with suffering, or loneliness and boredom, and addiction and broken promises. It’s to face it square in the face and admit we have a problem, and then to turn to Christ with love.”

The full 22-minute homily can be heard on the Internet at www.stlukesparish.com.

gemery@cox.net