Dear Parishioners,
With Thanksgiving approaching, I think it is
always a good practice to take the time to say “thanks” to God for the many gifts and blessings that we have in life.
First of all, I thank God for
what He has done in my life. I thank Him for the gift of life itself,
for health, for family, and for the gift of the
ministerial priesthood. I also give special thanks for you,
my parishioners, whom I have the privilege of serving in Holy Angels Parish.
For more than a decade, my family has joined me for dinner at
whatever rectory where I have resided as pastor. This year will be no exception. I will cook the two turkeys and some
of the sides while my family members will bring some of their specialty
dishes. We usually have over twenty
people around the dinner table. This
year we will also celebrate my mom’s 85th
birthday while the family is all together.
I think that there is no better way to give “thanks” to God than
by joining together for the Eucharist—the most perfect offering,
the most perfect prayer of thanksgiving to God. What a privilege to
receive the precious Body and Blood of Jesus our
Savior! We remember Him at every Mass when He took
ordinary bread and wine and changed these elements into the inestimable gift of
Himself for us! Please make it a priority to join our parish family each
week around the altar to give thanks.
Please join us for Mass on Thanksgiving Day (9 AM) as well!
The 1st Sunday
of Advent begins on December 2nd and the new liturgical year commences. While the Christmas season does not actually
begin until Christmas eve, we are unfortunately driven by the consumer
mentality that starts selling Christmas items as early as late summer. By the time Christmas arrives, people are
ready to take down decorations when the actual Christmas season is really just
beginning. Incidentally, the Christmas
season ends this year on January 13th with the Baptism of the Lord.
I am still looking for a few people
from our parish to participate in the Convocation of Catholic Leaders: The Joy of the Gospel in South Jersey. According to
the diocese, this event (March 25-28, 2019) “will bring together pastors and
representatives from every parish in the diocese for an intensive four days
that, it is hoped, will have profound effect — both spiritually and practically
— on the future of the diocese.” Our
bishop “has instructed every pastor to pick 10 delegates from his parish to
attend. Ideally, the delegates will
represent different heritages, backgrounds, ages and viewpoints — and include
parishioners who have gifts and talents yet to be tapped.” If you feel inspired to step up and become
more of a servant-leader (missionary disciple) within our parish, please contact me as soon as possible so that we can
discern your potential and inform you of all the details of the event.
Finally, thanks to all who have
made a commitment to our parish by your gift or pledge to our Catholic Strong campaign. Remember that 70% of all money collected
stays right here in the parish so that we can accomplish what we need to
do here, whether it be ministerial programs
or a necessary repair or maintenance
issue to one of our many buildings.
Please be kind to our volunteers when they call!
On behalf of all our clergy and
staff, have a happy, blessed Thanksgiving with your families!
Fr. Ed Namiotka
Pastor
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