Dear Parishioners,
First of all, at the request of Bishop Sullivan and on behalf of the Diocese of Camden our parish will be
hosting a young man desiring to be a seminarian
(and ultimately a priest) for our
diocese. Mr. Anthony Infanti will live at the rectory and will be working in
our parish in various capacities: visiting
the sick in the hospital as well as the homebound, helping in the school,
assisting with our religious education program, reading and serving at Mass,
and various other tasks. Please welcome
and prayerfully support Anthony so that he will one day serve as a priest in
our diocese.
Next, I remind everyone to keep
in mind our three basic goals as we strive for the renewal of our parish: love God, love your neighbor
and make disciples. We will be working to create a welcoming atmosphere, attempt to provide good liturgical music while our priests
and deacon will strive to deliver insightful,
thought-provoking homilies primarily based on each Sunday’s readings.
I certainly hope that all Catholics
would realize the importance of weekly
Mass attendance. The desire to hear
the Word of God proclaimed and
preached, and a longing for Jesus, the
Bread of Life should be at the heart of a Catholic’s spirituality. Quite frankly, there is nothing more
important for parish life and for the
life of the universal Church than attendance
at and participation during Mass. I was
reminded by today’s reading for daily Mass (Luke 4: 16-30) how Jesus “went according
to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day.” If it was important for Jesus to have this custom,
then shouldn't this be our practice with our Mass attendance?
We continually request volunteers to help around the parish. There are needs at various Masses for
readers, servers, ushers, extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion, and choir members / leaders
of song. Perhaps you can help clean the church, join a service or fundraising committee, oversee parking during weekend Masses, teach religious education, or volunteer your gifts and talents in
some other capacity?
A pastor with the clergy and
religious can help set the tone for a parish.
Yet, the heart of any parish is its people. The more prayerful
and dedicated we all are to Jesus Christ,
the stronger and more vibrant this (or any) parish will be. The fruit
of prayer will be the various good works that will be both inspired and accomplished
with God’s grace.
I realize all too well that I can’t
do anything without the grace of God and your support. I hope that you recognize that I hate asking
for money, but I comprehend all too well that we can’t
pay our bills, maintain our buildings and grounds or continue our many programs
without it. Please be as generous as
your means allow.
As our regional school reopens and
the presence of our youth once again becomes a daily occurrence, please pray
for our students and their teachers, and the administration and staff.
May we work together to build the
Kingdom of God!
Fr. Ed
Namiotka
Pastor
No comments:
Post a Comment