Encounter the Living God

Dear Parishioners,

It is once again that time of year when Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, as spiritual leader of the Diocese of Camden, makes an appeal for our help with the various ministries and programs of the diocese.  The operation of a diocese is very much like the operation of any parish, only on a much larger scale.  Essentially, we—as a parish or as a diocese—can only do the things that our financial means allow.  We depend on the generosity of our parishioners to support both.

Last year, since we were in the midst of our parish capital campaign we did not make a direct appeal on behalf of the House of Charity-Bishop's Annual Appeal.  Instead the parish goal was contributed from our collected capital campaign funds.

To give some background, the House of Charity-Bishop's Annual Appeal has been made in the Diocese of Camden since 1964—for 53 years now!  So it really should come as no surprise to any of us.  The theme for 2017 is: Encounter the Living God. Thankfully, there are those among us whose financial means enables them to make a most generous gift.  I am extremely grateful for what they can do.  However, so much of our financial resources often comes from the regular, sacrificial giving of the average parishioner or family.  The many small gifts actually amount to something quite substantial!

How do we benefit as a parish from this appeal and where does the money go?  Please be aware that the salary for the hospital chaplain at Shore Medical Center (and the other hospitals throughout the diocese) is paid through the House of Charity.  Included with the various Catholic charities, money goes to the education of seminarians, the residence for our retired diocesan priests, various special education needs, Hispanic ministry, Vitality Catholic Healthcare Services, and many others.  Moreover, if we reach this year’s goal, we will receive 10% of what is collected for use within our parish itself.

How much should I give?  

The Diocesan office suggests the following:

Please consider donating 1% of your income to support the Church in Southern New Jersey through the House of Charity.

Last year’s average gift to the House of Charity – Bishop’s Annual Appeal was $330. Please know that every gift, no matter the amount, can and will make a difference. The reality is that some of your fellow parishioners will not be able to financially support the appeal this year. If you are not doing so already, would you please consider a gift of $1 a day or $365, or more, to make up for those who cannot give this year?

So, on behalf of our diocese and our bishop, I humbly ask for your assistance with this appeal.  As my parishioners, you know that I don't feel comfortable asking for money.  However, there are too many people who will undoubtedly benefit from our financial gifts and sacrifices.  I appeal to your generosity on their behalf.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Getting Ready for Lent

Dear Parishioners,

I have mentioned it before, but when I was young my family never ate meat on any of the Fridays throughout the year (even after the requirements were loosened), and not just during the Fridays of Lent.  We were instructed that this practice should be undertaken as an act of penance to commemorate the day of the week on which Jesus died.  We had simple meals like fried flounder, grilled cheese, potato pancakes, tomato soup,  pierogi and sometimes pizza. 

Naturally, as a young, curious person I wanted to know why no meat?  That’s where I had to investigate and find an answer that seemed to make sense to me.  I heard that meat was associated with feasting, not fasting.  We heard it stated in the bible that we should go and kill “the fattened calf” when it was time to celebrate (cf. Luke 15: 23, 30).  Okay.  That made sense.  But how was fish supposedly different?

Many of the answers that I found became rather legalistic in the sense that there was some hair splitting about what could and could not be eaten.  It began to seem like old time Pharisaical Judaism to me.  According to some interpretations, we could technically eat things like lobster, shrimp and crab, but we needed to stay away from hot dogs, bologna, chicken nuggets and even Spam!  (To be honest, I’m really not quite sure how much real meat is in these products anyway!)

That’s where I think that Jesus’ condemnation of the Pharisees and their legalism seemed to make a lot of sense.  He would tell them that they insisted on keeping the letter of the law rather than living the spirit of the law in many instances. (cf. Matthew 12 or 15).  Unfortunately, they never really got it!

What then is an appropriate practice for Fridays of Lent?  Why not try vegetable soup, salad and bread?  A grilled cheese sandwich with some tomato or mushroom soup also appears to keep the spirit of penance.  You can always join us for Soup and Stations on Fridays where homemade meatless soups are graciously provided for us before we symbolically walk the Way of the Cross with Christ.

Any practice that we choose for Lent should ultimately help us to grow closer to Christ and to become more Christ-like.  Prayer, fasting and almsgiving are clearly suggested in Sacred Scripture.   These should inspire and urge us towards specific acts like attending additional weekday Masses, praying a daily rosary, giving up things (making a sacrifice) and using the money we save to give to a charity, going to confession, and carrying out the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

The Lenten season is given to us for spiritual growth, to do penance for sins and offenses against God and our neighbor, and to urge us to pick up our own cross and follow Jesus.

Please use the time well!    

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Greetings from San Antonio!

Tepeyac de San Antonio

Dear Parishioners,

As I write to you today I am in San Antonio, Texas.  I am currently a member of the Continuing Education and Spiritual Formation of Priests (C.E.S.F.) committee for the Diocese of Camden, and Bishop Sullivan asked if I would attend a convention here.  The conferences have the theme:  Making the Time Count:  Forming a Pastor with a Shepherd's Heart.

I am spending the week at the Oblate Renewal Center which is run by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (O.M.I.), a missionary religious congregation.  It feels somewhat like being back in the seminary again, with those lumpy single beds, no television, institutional food and set schedules of prayer and conferences.  I was a bit nervous as a tornado warning was issued for the area when I arrived.  We experienced driving rains, strong winds and even hail!

   

The convention began on Monday with a concelebrated Mass (shy of about 100 priests) with a newly-elected auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of San Antonio--Bishop-elect Michael Boulette.  Today (Tuesday) we board a bus and head for the San Fernando Cathedral, a tour of the Mission Conception, and dinner along the famous River Walk.

Obviously, the Spanish-speaking population is quite large in this part of south Texas.  Masses for our conference are bilingual, and today there is even a mariachi band playing the music.  Maybe my "Spanglish" will continue to improve!  One can only hope!

Times like these remind me that my growth as a person and as a priest is never complete.  There is always something to experience, to learn, and to re-evaluate within my priestly ministry.  Just the mere opportunity of talking to priests from throughout the country reminds me of the diversity and universality of the Catholic Church.  Each part of the country has its own unique challenges when trying to spread the Gospel.  No, I am no longer in Somers Point anymore!

There is a rather unusual shrine on the campus where I reside:  Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto & Tepeyac de San Antonio.  On the lower level, there is a replica of the Grotto of Lourdes with St. Bernadette and Our Lady.  Climb the stairs and there is a reproduction of the vision of Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego at Tepeyac.  Then there is a chapel on the interior with Eucharistic Adoration taking place.  Within this chapel is also a relic (the heart) of the founder of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, St. Eugene de Mazenod.  He was a French priest/bishop canonized by Pope St. John Paul II in 1995.  Quite a spiritual conglomeration to ponder!

I will be praying for you while I make this brief spiritual pilgrimage.  I hope that I will be able to relate some interesting/inspirational experiences as my week here continues.

 

In the meantime, remember the Alamo!

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Grotto of Lourdes

 Relic of the Heart of St. Eugene

Adoration Chapel

Examining the Current Parish Situation

Dear Parishioners,

Every once in a while I think that it is a good idea to stand back and examine how things are going in the parish.  Personally, I am rarely satisfied with the status quo.  I ask myself: How can we better serve the people given the current resources (financial and personnel) that we have?  Are we properly planning for the future?  How do we reach out to the inactive and disengaged Catholics in our area?  What are we missing?

Specifically as your pastor, I ask you, our parishioners: are your sacramental needs being met?  A priest is specifically ordained for certain ministries which only he can perform:  offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, absolving sin in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation and anointing the sick and dying in the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.  This leads me to question:  Is the current Mass schedule satisfactory (times and frequency)?  Are there enough opportunities given for confession?  If people are serious ill, do they understand the need to reach out to the priest before an actual emergency for anointing?

• The Mass times were established before I arrived as pastor.  Attendance, from week to week, never seems to be quite consistent.  Should the times be adjusted or are they satisfactory?

• We currently offer the possibility for confession only on Saturdays each week.  The numbers are never too great at that time.  During Advent and Lent an additional opportunity is given after all of the Masses on a chosen weekend.  Should we make other opportunities available?

• Holy Communion can be brought each week to any homebound parishioner desiring it by an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion or a deacon.  A priest should be requested for the specific purpose of sacramental confession and anointing of the sick whether at home or in the hospital.  A Catholic hospital chaplain is assigned to all of our local hospitals by the diocese.  In what ways can we minister to the needs of our sick, homebound or dying better?

Other areas that I think need to be addressed include reaching out to inactive or fallen away Catholics.  Should we engage in some type of parish census or door-to-door evangelization effort?  This would necessarily require the help of many parishioners willing to visit their own or other neighborhoods.

Frequently, our youth participation becomes a topic of concern in the parish.  Do we have more volunteers willing to help with Children’s Liturgy, with our newly-formed youth group, with religious education classes and sacramental preparation?  [Remember that all who regularly work with youth are required by the diocese to submit to a criminal background check and must attend a NJ Child Assault Prevention (C. A. P.) program.]       

Forthcoming will be a survey about these and other topics.  However, I wanted to get people thinking ahead of time about what we can better do as a parish to meet the needs of our parishioners.  The ordained (priests and deacons) cannot be expected to be personally responsible for every aspect of any parish.  The most effective parishes have great parishioner involvement and support, realizing that there are many gifts, talents and abilities coming from the parishioners within any given parish.

If not me, then who will do it?

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Eavesdropping on a Dinner-time Conversation

Dear Parishioners,

Tired after a rather busy day in the parish, I decided to go out for dinner (by myself) to a nearby oriental restaurant.  I was seated at a table in very close proximity to a youthful couple.  We might as well have been sitting at the same table; we were so close to each other.  They appeared to be much too young to be married.  They had a bit of that twinkle in the eyes that said that they were quite interested in each other romantically.

 

There I was, minding my own business.  I could not but hear their entire conversation as I pretended to look at and play with my Smartphone.  They discussed various matters—most of which seemed to me like just-getting-to-know-you small talk.

Then my interest was piqued.  The young fellow informed his date:  “You know there are no U-Hauls in a funeral procession.”  Hey wait a minute!  That’s a line that I have often used!  Where did he hear this?  (I had “borrowed” the phrase from a talk I heard Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR give many years ago.)  Where was this guy going with his conversation?

He continued as I rather nonchalantly listened more intently.  “I guess life means that we try to experience as many good, happy things as we possibly can for as long as we can.  We don’t know when it is all going to end.”  I waited for some additional “wisdom” about an afterlife.  I hoped that there would be some mention of God and of a divine plan for us all.  No such luck.  This was not forthcoming.  I recalled the phrase:  Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die!  Is life solely about trying to experience as many good, happy things as we can before we die?

The couple came to mind later that night as I could not readily fall to sleep.  With continued restlessness and perhaps a bit of insomnia, I turned on the TV for a brief moment.  I stumbled upon a spoof of the 70’s-80’s band Kansas singing their hit song Dust in the Wind on a late-night show.  “All we are is dust in the wind . . . everything is dust in the wind.”

What was I hearing God say to me today through all of this?  Without a sense of purpose and direction given to us by our Christian faith, the meaning of life remains unknown, or becomes lost or distorted.  As Christians, we should realize that we are not merely dust in the wind but rather divinely created beings in God’s image and likeness.  Life’s main purpose is not simply to experience as many good, happy things as possible, but to try to know, love and serve a God who loved us into existence and wants us to be with Him for all eternity.  The message of the Gospel is good news for a reason.  It is meant to give us hope as we realize meaning, purpose and direction in life.  We are given the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ!

I was tempted to interject my thoughts into the couple’s dinner conversation that evening.  In the end, I resisted.  They didn’t realize that I was listening, that I was a priest and I didn’t want to give them indigestion on their date.

On the other hand, maybe I should have given them some unsolicited food for thought!

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

          

Giving Thanks Again

(I wrote the core of this a number of years ago.  I thought maybe it was worth repeating.)

Dear Parishioners,

With Thanksgiving approaching, I ask that you take the time to consider and reflect on the things for which you are thankful.  Most of us will find times when we like to moan, groan and complain about many things.  We may tend to see the glass as half-empty rather than half-full.  However, it is a good practice to take an inventory of the things in our lives that we might take for granted or fail to fully appreciate each day.

A statement that I heard quite some time ago seems to put things into proper perspective for me: I used to complain about the shoes that I wore until I met the person with no feet.

Am I thankful for that fact that I am alive?

            Aborted babies never had that opportunity.

Do I thank God every day for my health?

          The hospitalized and homebound might long for days without pain and the ability to get out of bed.

Do I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?  Am I truly grateful that Jesus suffered and died on the cross for me?

            God loved us into existence and then sent His Son to show how much He truly loves us.  Have I thanked God daily and tried as best as I can to love Him in return?

Do I take my Christian faith for granted?

            There are still places in the world where people suffer and die for being a Christian.

Do I go to bed each night with a roof over my head and a full stomach?

            The homeless and those in line at a soup kitchen are probably envious.

Do I have a family with whom I can spend the holidays?

            The orphan, widow or widower, soldier in a foreign country, or person in prison might not have such good fortune.

Have I tried to cultivate a thankful heart?

            Complaining, in and of itself, doesn’t accomplish much.

If I can read and understand what this reflection is all about, am I truly grateful?

         The blind, the mentally ill, a person with Alzheimer’s, or simply an illiterate person might not be able to do what you are doing right now.

Need I say any more?

Please give thanks.  

There’s no better way to do this as a Catholic than by participating in the celebration of Mass on Thanksgiving Day.  

Hope to see you there!

Gobble! Gobble!

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor (AKA, the main turkey)

Vocation Awareness

Dear Parishioners,

This week we have Logan Nilsen, a seminarian of the Diocese of Camden speaking at all of the Masses to encourage priestly vocations.

To supplement what Logan has to say, I thought that I would share my own vocation story with you.  My vocation to be a priest started in the family, in the home and in the Catholic schools.  My parents were not overly religious.  We attended Mass faithfully each week and my siblings and I were in contact with priests and sisters primarily through the Catholic schools that we attended.  Priests and sisters were regularly invited to our home for dinner.  My parents never pushed the idea of being a priest on me.  However, being an altar server from about third grade on through high school and being in a Catholic elementary school put me into close and regular association with my parish priests.

I really began to think seriously about being a priest in high school.  I could remember standing in my high school cafeteria during a school dance (checking out the girls there) when a priest who taught me religion came up to all the guys.  He was asking if we ever thought about becoming a priest.  When he came up to me, I told him politely that I had thought about it but I don’t think that it was for me.  Sometime later in my senior year, however, I went back to the same priest and admitted to him that I thought that God was indeed calling me to be a priest.  I wanted some information at that point about entering the seminary.

After going through the necessary application procedures, I entered the college division of St. Charles Seminary in Philadelphia at the age of eighteen studying for the Diocese of Camden.  Many people questioned whether I knew what I was doing, some suggested that I experience more of life first, but I knew what I was hearing internally was this mysterious call from God—an invitation from Jesus to be his disciple, his priest.  After four years of college, four years of graduate school theology at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary (in Emmitsburg, Maryland), and a pastoral year in a parish, I was ordained a priest at the age of twenty-six.

This May I will be thirty years a priest.  I can distinctly remember praying in high school that God would give me a good wife.  In fact, He answered this prayer in a way that was quite remarkable.  Jesus gave me His own bride—the Church.  It was not quite what I expected, but it was what He had planned for me.  And I am truly grateful beyond words.

I know that today there are many more distractions preventing young people from even considering being a priest.  I genuinely do not think that our faithful God ever stops calling.  Rather, I truly think people stop responding to the “call.”   They stop saying “yes.”  God with His invitation never takes away our free choice.  He offers us as priests a unique privilege to act in persona Christi capitis (in the Person of Christ the Head).

A Catholic priest is called to preach and teach, to govern and to sanctify the People of God.  In the sacraments he is necessary for us to have the Holy Eucharist, to forgive sins in confession and to anoint the sick and dying.

Please pray for our seminarians and priests.  Please encourage young men to think and pray about a priestly vocation.  God will continue to do the calling.  We should do our part to support and promote whatever God intends.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Logan Nilsen     

Diocese of Camden Seminarian

“Crash-Proof” Retirement

Dear Parishioners,

Maybe you have seen an advertisement on television touting a “crash-proof” retirement plan.  Quite frankly, I do not have enough knowledge in the area of investments and finance to tell anyone whether this is or is not valuable financial advice to help plan for the future.  You would have to check it out for yourselves.  Sorry. 

What I do know, however, is that no matter what we may plan for in the future, unless Jesus is at the center of it, our plans may, in fact, be ill conceived.  Do you remember the parable that Jesus told regarding accumulated wealth?  Listen to the words from St. Luke’s 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)

The first thing that I noticed here was that the rich man questioned himself for advice.  What shall I do?  From my perspective, it seems it would have been much wiser to ask God first for advice.  What do You, Lord, think I should do?  We need to pray constantly for the wisdom to make good decisions in life. 

Next, Look at God’s response to the rich man’s plan:  You fool.  That often characterizes the result of any situation when we think that we—and not God—are ultimately in charge of everything.  Many people today may not overtly proclaim that they do not believe in God.  However, so many of us live in a manner as if God did not exist.  We foolishly depend more on ourselves—to a greater or lesser degree—rather than seek out God and let God (speaking through the Sacred Scriptures and the Church) influence our thoughts and actions.  Pope Benedict XVI referred to this mode of living as a practical atheism.  The tragic result of it is that Jesus’ teaching frequently goes unheeded and ignored.  Nobody, not even God Himself, is going to tell us what to do.  And we become all too comfortable and complacent with this attitude.

Third, death becomes the great equalizer.  Tempus fugit, momento mori.  Time is fleeting, remember death.   We may not want to face the inevitable reality that we all are going to die, face final judgment before God, and live either with God (heaven) or alienated from God (hell) for all eternity.  The choices we make here do have eternal consequences.  Are we prepared for this?

Finally, what are the spiritual treasures that we are storing up now?  As we near the end of this Jubilee Year of Mercy, I suggest that we refer to the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy for some sound advice.

Don’t be like the foolish rich man in the parable.  Act now to prepare for eternity.  

Forever is a really, really long time.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Legislating Morality

Dear Parishioners,

My late father, in his own humorous way, could make a point stick in your mind.  He used to say "The smarter they get, the dumber they get!" with reference to the supposedly educated elite.  My father never had the privilege of going to college--just about making it through high school.  However, he did see to it that his five children received a college education.  In fact, he saw us all attend Catholic colleges, Catholic high school and Catholic elementary school.

Sometimes the rationalization, the doublespeak, and the deception, that is created by an allegedly educated elite baffles the mind.  Take the example of those who say that government should not legislate morality.  Has anyone really stopped to think how truly ridiculous this statement is?  Government legislates (makes laws) all the time.  They tell us that we must not speed when driving nor drink alcohol to excess when operating the vehicle, that we cannot rob a bank or convenience store, that rape and child molestation are illegal, and even, at times, try to tell us how big of a soft drink that we should be allowed to purchase!  Government gives us an age at which we can legally consume alcohol, purchase cigarettes, gamble in a casino, drive a car, own a gun, vote, etc.

Usually the argument about legislating morality gets fuzzy in some people's minds when it comes to topics like abortion, contraception, homosexual acts (e.g., sodomy), same-sex unions, and other various bedroom issues.  It's at this point when people don't want government telling us (legislating) what to do.

The fact is every civilized society determines right and wrong in their culture.  What is permitted or not permitted has to be based on a standard of norms which the society mutually agrees upon.  The basis of these norms has generally been natural law.  Natural law can be defined as a body of unchanging moral principles regarded as a basis for all human conduct.  Notice that up to this point there has been no direct mention of God or religion in this process.  (Christians can, however, experience a deeper understanding behind many moral issues through recourse to what is given by Divine revelation--i.e., Sacred Scripture and Tradition).

        

Some words by Trevor Thomas are worth considering at this point:

It is absurd and ignorant to lament conservative Christian efforts when it comes to abortion, marriage, and so on as some attempt to "legislate morality." The other side is attempting the very same thing! In fact, the lamenter (whatever his political persuasion) has also taken a moral stand. Thus, he is like the bank robber who calls the police because his getaway car gets stolen. 

What's more, those who attack Natural Law (because an attack on a position that stems from Natural Law is an attack on Natural Law) do so with arguments derived from Natural Law. It is a self-defeating effort. They are attempting to saw off the limb upon which they sit.

So where am I going with all of this? When people start telling the Catholic Church to stay out of an issue (e.g., keep out of the bedroom), that we as a society cannot legislate morality, or anything similar, please realize a few important observations. First of all, the bedroom issues have regrettably become part of the public forum. I would say in response: keep your bedroom out of our public life! Keep the pornography off TV, out of the cinema, not so readily and easily accessible on the internet, etc.  And don't try to force me or our society to pay for your abortions.  That is what a repeal of the Hyde amendment would do.  Don't legislate same-sex unions.   

Next, please finish your thoughts with regard to the slogan:  the right to choose.  The right to choose what?  Murder of innocent children (a.k.a., abortion)?  Yes, we all have free will but we can certainly determine what we can or cannot choose.  Often we put this into law.   We, in fact, do it all the time.  We can choose as a civilized society to protect all human life in the womb.  We can unequivocally state that the choice to kill an innocent baby in the womb (terminate a pregnancy) is wrong.  We can use natural law and the light of reason to help us (perhaps made ever more clear by certain Judeo-Christian principles).  If we can scientifically determine when a new human life begins (at conception), then we as a civilized society can and should choose to protect that new human life.  We have in our history made laws protecting a bald eagle's eggs and our environment, haven't we?  Why did we ever allow the Supreme Court to legislate legalized abortion for us as a society in 1973 by Roe v. Wade?

I  am tired of lies and deception and the confusion that this creates.  We need more clear, critical thinkers and not those who become brainwashed by some educational or political elitists.

Their intelligence is much too dumb for me. 

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor

Bereavement and Praying for the Dead

Dear Parishioners,

Ministry to the sick and dying is an essential concern for us as Christians.  To visit the sick and to bury the dead are two of the corporal works of mercy included in the focus of this Jubilee Year of Mercy.   Our parish’s bereavement ministry tries to be of assistance at the time of death while also seeking to provide ongoing support as time passes.

Let me begin by reiterating the importance of having a priest visit when a person is seriously ill, is on hospice or is in the hospital.  Please call the parish office and request that a priest visit the sick person for the Anointing of the Sick, the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation (confession) and Holy Communion.   Regular visits by an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion can also be arranged.

When death occurs, our bereavement ministry (currently headed by Sr. Jane Hill, SSJ) is available to meet with the family to help prepare the funeral liturgy.  Sr. Jane is always looking for additional people to be trained to assist her in this task.  I encourage families to have a Mass of Christian Burial offered for the soul of the deceased.  Joining our prayers to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest gift that we can give to one of our deceased loved ones.

I am also looking for volunteers to be present for the funeral Mass.  People who can help to set up and clean up, to greet any parishioners and visitors, to serve during the Mass, to read the Scriptures (if no one does so from the family), can be a tremendous assistance during a funeral Mass.  Those who are retired or senior citizens seeking to get more involved would be wonderful for this task.

As time passes, it is important that those who have experienced the loss of a loved one not fall through the cracks.  I know that when I finish one funeral, it seems I begin preparing for the next situation.  I need people to help me by following up with a card or a phone call.  I want those who may now be alone to know that they are not forgotten.  This phase of bereavement ministry can be done right from home!  I hope this task is appealing to someone looking to do more for others.

Part of our follow-up is our annual All Souls Day Mass during which we remember all our dead, especially those who died this past year.  Please fill out your All Souls Day envelopes with the names of your deceased as they will be placed on the altar for the entire month of November—the month of the Holy Souls.

If any of these phases of bereavement (helping to prepare the funeral liturgy with the family, serving on the day of the funeral Mass, or following-up afterwards) appeals to you, please contact the parish office for further information.  We could always use your help in some capacity.

Most importantly, please take the opportunity and encourage others to have Masses offered for the dead.  More than flowers that will wither quickly afterward, the spiritual benefits of the Mass are beyond what we as humans can fully comprehend.

Fr. Ed Namiotka

Pastor