To the Parishioners of OLPH

My dear brothers and sisters,

           

As you already know Bishop Sullivan has asked me to be pastor at Holy Family Church in Sewell, NJ effective February 1^st.  Since I was asked some two weeks ago and have announced to you I have had many emotions running through my heart.  I have had feelings of happiness and excitement, but I have also had feelings of sadness and even the butterflies, if you will, on leaving here and taking on the responsibility of being pastor.

           

I look forward to meeting the good people of Holy Family but at the same time it is with a heavy heart that I will say goodbye.  As I told you, “I love you and will miss greatly.”  I have come to know many of you very personally and I want to thank you for your friendships, support, prayers, and many kindnesses.   I came to you in a difficult moment of my life; my dad had just passed away a couple of months before my assignment began in February of 2012.  All of you were a great support to me with your encouragement and generosity.  I will never forget your kindness.

            

As priests we are asked to do much, but nothing harder than saying goodbye.  I did not know what this really felt like until I had to do it once before when I said goodbye to the good people of the Catholic Community of the Holy Spirit in Woodstown, Elmer, and Mullica Hill and now to say it again to the good people of Our Lady of Perpetual Help is very difficult.  However, the Lord provides for us all.  Though we part ways we do not part in our friendships or in our mutual affection, praise, and worship of our Lord Jesus Christ.

           

I also want to thank Fr. Nick our pastor who has been a great brother priest to me.  He placed great trust in me in sharing with me some of the responsibilities our parish and I thank him very much for that as I know it has prepared me well for my new assignment.  Most of all I thank Fr. Nick for his friendship.  I think it is rare when you have two priests in the same parish who get along very well on so many levels, it was a blessing indeed.  I will miss watching Notre Dame Football with Fr. Nick.  You know him as reserved, calm, and collected, however when Notre Dame Football is on Fr. Nick lets a little bit of that Italian in him come out, and it was fun to watch the games with him.  I will continue to pray for him daily and I hold Fr. Nick in the highest regards, God bless you my brother.

            

I will continue to pray for you all, I ask that you do the same for me as I move into a new journey in my life.  I ask that you pray that I will be a good priest to the people of Holy Family and will continue to always put the People of God first and minister to them as our Lord did.  My brothers and sisters, I pray that God bless each and every one of you, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

In Christ Jesus,

Father John

Sunday Reflection: We Can Be Heroes

I remember growing up as a kid that I had many heroes.  They were usually athletes.  I grew up a Yankee fan though I lived closer to Shea Stadium.  But I could never bring myself to like the Mets.  The old Shea Stadium was just awful with these ugly looking banners hanging on the outside, plus they lost all the time in the late 70’s and the stadium could hardly ever sell out.  Whereas the Yankees were selling out, winning, the stadium had an aura to it, and who could ever forget the lineup of that team.   Chris Chamblis at first base, Will Randolph at second base, Bucky Dent at Short stop, he was known in Boston by another name which I won’t repeat here, Greg Nettles at third base, Thurman Munson at catcher, Reggie Jackson in right or dh, Lou Pinnela in right field, Mickey Rivers in center, and Paul Blair in left field, and some of the pitchers were Ron Guidry aka Louisiana Lightening, Goose Gosage, and Catfish Hunter.  Those guys were my heroes.

           

I’m sure that young kids have heroes, be they athletes, entertainers, artists – they are heroes we look up to and we dream that one day we will be just like them.  I would lay in bed at night before the Little League season would start and imagine myself like Reggie Jackson hitting three home runs in the championship game.  As we got older our heroes changed and they also became less for we realized that our heroes were not much different than us besides the fact they excelled in one area of life.  We also began to learn that they have some of the same weaknesses as us and they began to let us down.  It is unfair in some ways how much stock we put in athletes, actors, singers, etc. because we imagine them to be something they are not, bigger than life itself.  And yet we would never crush a child’s dream by revealing such, we allow them to dream and to aspire to greatness.

            

Why do I bring all this up?  What does this have to do with the Gospel?  We are told that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  As Jesus departs from John after his baptism many could see the hero that Jesus would become.  He is our hero, a hero who never disappoints.  Shouldn’t Jesus have the greatest place in our hearts, both when were young and even now?  He is so much more than a person who throws a ball, records a song, or acts in a movie.  Do not misunderstand me I have the greatest appreciation for what athletes and artists can do, they are amazing on many levels, I just happened to find a hero who is better than all of that or better put, a hero of heroes.  Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, what an awesome saying and more importantly to know that I am loved by Him, awesome indeed.

            

Though Jesus is our hero he also invites us to be lambs of God to others, a hero if you will to our children, our friends, to our spouses, to our coworkers, basically to all our neighbors, reminds me of the David Bowie song in which he sings, “We can be Heroes.”  We may fall short just like athletes, actors, or singers, but we must nevertheless be another Christ to our neighbor.   We live in a time in which we need real heroes, like Christ, go and be so for the world, for you are heroes.   God bless you, FJ

To Know For What It is We are Created

The greatest moment or moments in our lives are when we become aware for what we were created.  It is a grand moment of self realization.   It is also a moment of great affirmation as well as feeling of great worth.  These are not every day moments, such as, will it be black or brown shoes today, rather these are exhilarating moments.  It was a moment for John the Baptist; I am sure when he took hold of Jesus and dropped him in the water and then lifted him out of it that he realized, this is the moment for which I was created.

Jesus may have realized that moment long before in His own life.  And even for John there may have been more than one moment of affirmation and I think the same for us, there is more than just one moment, but there is always the grand moment.

Think of John’s life, as a young man off he goes into the dessert to live the life of a secluded hermit.  Scripture tells us he ate locusts and honey, that he wore camel’s hair for clothes.  He lived a life of penance and prayer as well as work.  I am sure he often asked, “Lord, to what end and for what purpose am I here?”  Is it just to work, fast, and pray?  That question was answered when the Spirit descended on the Lord after His baptism and all could hear, “This is my beloved Son.”  For John it was his great moment of self realization, “The Lord has called me to baptize His Son, to announce His coming, and eventually to give Him ultimate witness, by martyrdom.”  These moments are gifts.

I’ll share with you a couple of stories.  One is of my very good friend Dave, now a policeman for twenty years, a captain, married for over 10 years and two beautiful children.  Dave and I grew up together since grade school.  We shared many stories together, we trust in each other, we are more like brothers really, that no matter what’s going on, good, bad, or indifferent we can still talk and place great trust in one another.  A person is not often blessed with friendships like that so I thank God for my great friend.  Anyway, following Dave’s life I remember his moments.  I remember when he graduated from the police academy, I could see the look on his face and I knew he had achieved his dream.  I saw it again when he married his beautiful bride, Sandra.  I was privileged at the time as a seminarian to serve at his wedding mass and I remember a few times where our eyes met and I could see the smile on his face, a smile from the heart.  The greatest moment that I felt from him and obviously he could argue otherwise is when his first child, his daughter Melissa was born.  He called me from the hospital to let me know.  There was great excitement was in his voice.  We shared a great conversation about family, life, and great gifts, about moments where we realize for what we were created.  Dave ended the conversation by saying and don’t quote me but it was to this effect, “I could see God in the room, what a miracle and that I would be part of it.”  Dave realized his moment.

John the Baptist realized his moment, so too did my friend Dave.  I have also realized my moment a number of times one was actually with Dave in a bar having a drink, but that is another homily and I don’t feel like getting to emotional right now.  Sometimes with the Lord’s grace He allows me to feel His deep presence during the Eucharist.  I remember one time in particular, celebrating mass here, when I lifted the chalice as I was holding you all in prayer, that voice that’s in the heart, the voice of God said to me and affirmed in me, “It was for this that I created you, to be priest and sacrifice in my Son.”  The joy that I felt when holding that chalice up was heavenly joy.  I do feel the Lord’s presence at every mass, but not like that, that was that special kind of moment.

I ask you, what have been some of your special moments?  Have you ever felt God revealing to you the purpose of your life?  I pray that you have.  All of us have received the moment in baptism but we also receive more moments throughout our lives.  I ask that you reflect today on those moments and to give praise to God for having blessed you with them.  If you are not aware of those moments continue to pray that God will reveal His will for you.

Him

Remember, when God spoke, “This is my beloved Son,” it wasn’t only for Jesus to hear, He already knew it, it was for us to hear, so that we would realize that we too have been created for a purpose and that purpose is a beautiful one, and more importantly a purpose that is Divine.  God bless you, FJ

Epiphany: The Bringing of Our Gifts

The Gifts that we bring to others expresses the deep recesses of our hearts.  The magi (or some traditions have them as kings, wisemen, or astronomers) were Gentiles who came seeking the Christ child to present Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  The gold was a gift for a king, the frankincense the gift for a priest, and the myrrh for his burial.  The gifts were telling indeed, but more important than the gifts they actually gave were the gifts of themselves.  The magi knelt down in front of the infant child and worshipped Him as Lord and God.  Their coming to Bethlehem signified two things, one) that salvation was for all and two) it begs a question of us – what gifts will we bring.

Salvation was and is not just for one particular people, though the Jews were and still are the apple of God’s eye, since it was to them that the first and most direct revelation of God took place, via the ancient fathers, i.e. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and to the prophets.  But God’s revelation as Scripture has it, “In these last days He has given us His Son.”  The Revelation of God is now face to face as I had mentioned on Christmas and that face to face relationship is open and accessible to all.  Remember Scripture, “For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life.”  And it goes even further, “God desires that all be saved and come to repentance” or as in another place, come to the truth.  Isn’t it odd how some people can judge and place people in hell, they can predict or better put determine if they have committed a mortal sin, and without hesitation let them know they will go to hell if they do not repent.  This kind of thinking does not only come from some of the laity but from some priests.  Please do not misunderstand me, “THERE IS MORTAL SIN!”  But I cannot determine if you committed such, only the person who has examined their own conscience before God can do so, the priest or another person can be a guide, spiritual director, confessor to help you determine such, but in the end it is always between the person and God.  Obviously if you are convicted of mortal sin and confess such in confession I will respect and honor that conclusion as long as the three criteria for mortal sin are present. 

My friends we need to be more positive, we need to see Jesus winning souls, and if there are souls who wind up in hell we leave that to the Lord, for again, “God desires that all be saved.”

We can never truly repay the gift that Jesus has given us.  If you start to think of all the sins we have committed throughout our entire lives, they are many some we do not even think are sins and sometimes we like to remain ignorant so that we can continue in our vice.  I am not going to go through a laundry list of sins, if you are honest with yourself and most of all with God, His Spirit will convict you.  Just because you may have justified the action or way of life for yourself doesn’t make it right or good, the action and the way of life must always be measured with God’s will as revealed in Scripture and through the Sacred Tradition of the Church.

Going back to our gifts, since Christ has given us salvation and for free, what then have I returned to Him as a gift.  Today the magi brought beautiful gifts, but the greatest gift was their pure worship.  We should always give that, but we must also give our gifts to our families, friends, at work, and even here in our Church.

You know and I have repeated it before, your gifts are beautiful and amazing and Fr. Nick and I pray you will share them with your parish family.  We have such great need of you and we have plenty of ministries.  Soon and very soon I will begin asking you personally.  I will find you and ask you face to face, just as our Lord went and found His Apostles.  I ask that you do not sell yourselves short.  I have been here almost two years and I cannot say enough about you all, you are good and you are precious.  I have seen your goodness and kindness.  I have taken note of your gifts and they are many.  God is asking you for more than just mass or a few more dollars in the envelope.  The Kings traveled quite a distance to see the infant child, and maybe so have you, I ask that you like the kings leave the Christ child gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, but that you also give something more, that you give Him your hearts through service to your neighbor.  Peace be with you.