Dealing with Change

Dear Parishioners,

People have asked me at various times why our priests are moved so often.  They say that just when they are getting used to a particular person, then he is transferred to another assignment. 

In the past, some of our diocesan priests spent a long time at one assignment.  Msgr. Joseph Stoerlein, who died this past year and was previously assigned to St. Joseph Church, had been pastor at Sacred Heart Church in Vineland for 32 years.  Chances are we will not see a similar situation again with the policy that is currently in place in the Diocese of Camden.  Pastors can usually expect to spend a term of six years at a particular assignment with the possibility of being renewed for another six years.  While there are sometimes exceptions made, this is now the common expectation.

Regarding parochial vicars (associate pastors) and various special assignments like hospital chaplains or teachers, the duration of assignment can vary widely.  I had been in the education apostolate for 20 years prior to coming here.  Fr. Larry Polansky was with us just about two years as hospital chaplain.

Now our parish faces additional changes.  With the reassignment of Fr. Larry to St. Peter Church in Merchantville, some adjustments had to be made.  Fr. Christopher Onyeneke, who is one of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (M.SS.CC.) from Linwood, will serve part-time as hospital chaplain and part-time as my parochial vicar.  Fr. Christopher is from Nigeria and will officially begin on August 1^st.  We welcome him to St. Joseph Church!

Additionally, Fr. Alvaro Diaz who is serving the Hispanic community both in Ocean City and here in Somers Point (as well as assisting with some Masses in English), will no longer be assigned to St. Joseph Church as of August 1^st.  The simple truth is that our parish cannot afford the salary/benefits of two part-time priests without depleting the remainder of our meager savings.  Fr. Alvaro will continue to live and minister at St. Damien Parish in Ocean City.

Our seminarian, Mr. Anthony Infante, will leave us in the beginning of August to continue his studies at Seton Hall University.

On behalf of our parish, I extend my thanks to Fr. Alvaro and to Anthony for the time that they spent at St. Joseph Church.  Our prayers and best wishes are with them as they continue doing the Lord’s work.

We must all remember that we are on a pilgrimage through life while here on this earth.  Our true home is intended to be in Heaven with God.  The many changes that we experience in life remind us constantly that we are not meant to be here forever.  Christians should not become too complacent with their situation in this life.  Recall a parable from the Gospel:

Then (Jesus) told them a parable. “There was a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest. He asked himself, ‘What shall I do, for I do not have space to store my harvest?’ And he said, ‘This is what I shall do: I shall tear down my barns and build larger ones. There I shall store all my grain and other goods and I shall say to myself, “Now as for you, you have so many good things stored up for many years, rest, eat, drink, be merry!”’ But God said to him, ‘You fool, this night your life will be demanded of you; and the things you have prepared, to whom will they belong?  Thus will it be for the one who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich in what matters to God.”  (Lk, 12: 16-21)

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor