Secondly, I write this letter to thank all of you who are members of our parish for your support – spiritual and financial – that has enabled us to create a place where some 5, 000 Catholic Christian families call their spiritual home.  To this end, I encourage you to take home with you a copy of our parish’s first Annual Report as you leave Mass today.  The report is a brief summary that gives a “snap shot” of our parish life.  There are a few aspects of the report that I would like to highlight so that when you review it, you can understand some of the background of the information contained within it.

One of the purposes of the report is to provide some statistics. You will recall that we sponsored a Mission & Ministry Campaign earlier this year.  This campaign gave us a realistic idea of the number of registered families in our parish which is included in this Annual Report.  Also, you will find a brief sacramental report that summarizes briefly the sacramental ministry of our first full year as a newly established parish.  Also, the statistics include the number of children that were in our school as well as parishioners enrolled in Catholic high schools, religious education and the RCIA during the calendar year as a newly formed parish.

Another purpose of this report is to give a brief accounting of the revenues & expenses in our first year.  You will notice that the report shows a deficit.  Some of the main reasons for this deficit include the fact that there were a significant capital improvement projects needed including the abatement, demolition and debris removal of two buildings in Lindenwold.  Additionally, the rectory and parish offices were in need of extensive repair.  Likewise, the building and mechanical systems at John Paul II School required some repair and code updating.  Although the expenses for these projects are reflected as expenses in this financial report, the majority of the funds were not taken from the year’s ordinary income.  Rather, most came from the parish’s revolving fund account.  The revolving fund account includes funds that are set aside by a parish and held by the Diocese.  If and when a parish needs money from these funds for capital improvement projects, they are released by the Diocese and issued to the parish.  We used these funds to complete the above mentioned projects.  These projects are reflected in the 2010-11 budget but the funds were taken from our parish’s revolving fund.

The final aspect of the Annual Report includes the new ministries began during our first year as well as some of our larger, more established ministries (such as our K of C Councils, Bl. John Paul II School and St. Vincent DePaul Society.)  Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding anything that is included in the report.  Once again, I thank you for your patience and support.  Once again, may God, through Our Lady’s intercession, grant each and every one a blessed Thanksgiving. 

Nov 13, 2011 

I entered the home and one of the grandparents of the children, expressed my condolences and assured him of my prayers as well as those of our parish community.  As parents do, he and the other grandparents were helping their children cope with this tragedy.  The twins’ parents were young adults, many of their friends, co-workers and mourners were also young adults.  There is definitely a difference in ministering to older generations who have been tested by life and have experienced losses and those whose youth has not exposed them to the similar life experiences.

I prayed and asked for God’s strength, sought the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe as patroness of the unborn and human life and prepared to enter the viewing parlor to begin the service.  As I was preparing to enter, the Funeral Director approached me and asked that as a part of my service, I would read a letter the twins’ dad had written to them.  I took the framed letter from him and began to read it.  At that moment, I realized that God was present, that the Holy Spirit would take over and that I had gotten it all wrong by worrying about words, prayers and any form of ministering that I thought I was going to do.

The letter that the dad of these children had composed was filled with love, gratitude and hope.  He spoke about his love for them and how they had brought their parent’s hope.  Imagine, in the midst of this tragedy, he was able to acknowledge that even though their life together was not at all what was expected, these two little ones had already given their parents hope while they were together for those months prior to their birthday.  He told them how proud he was of them already and how grateful he was to have had those brief moments with them even though he had to squeeze a lifetime of parenting and love into so short a time.  He thanked them for teaching him and their mom that life is about how life must be lived in moments and not years.  He asked them to watch over their family until they were all together again.  And he told them that he was certain they would continue their time together at some time in the future.

The Church gives us this month to remember those who have died so that we might not grieve like those who have no hope.  “We do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest, who have no hope.” (1 Thes. 4:13).  This father, a young man, but one who has the conviction and wisdom of the saints, knew, as only a parent can know, that once life is given and love is experienced, it transcends all the boundaries and expectations that this world imposes.  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8: 39).  May God give to us all the conviction of those whose faith is real. 

October 30, 2011 

Bishop Galante’s official decree states the nature, purpose and goals of a shrine.  As mentioned in the canonical decree, Our Lady of Guadalupe has been given a special role within the faith journey of our universal Catholic Christian Church.  She is noted as Empress of the Americas, Patroness of the unborn and the sanctity of human life, Mother of priestly and religious vocations and Patroness of Catholic families. These four areas of special concentration cannot be more vital at this time in our life as Catholic Christians.  How much is Our Lady needed in America at this time!  As parishioners and hosts of this shrine, let us invoke her special intercession upon our country.

How much is Our Lady needed as the Patroness of the unborn and the sanctity of human life! Blesseds Mother Teresa of Calcutta and John Paul II put it so well when they spoke of a “culture of death”.  We live in a time and place when so many love things and use people instead of loving all people, especially the most vulnerable among us, and using things for the promotion of human dignity.  Let us invoke her special assistance in our Church’s valiant voice that calls for the protection of all human life from conception until natural death.  How much is Our Lady needed to intercede for us in order for young men and women to rise up and courageously say “yes” as did she to God’s will and become faithful and holy priests and consecrated religious men and women!  Fr. Romano, Vocation Director for our Diocese reminded us last week how important it is for us to pray, support, encourage and think about this in our families and parishes.  Let us be committed to this effort.  How much is Our Lady needed to protect and defend the sanctity of our Catholic families under assault by so many who would have the sanctity of marriage and family life reimaged according to what is popular and acceptable in some cultures today!  As so many have heard me say, “The hand that rocks the cradle moves the world” and yet, so many others would like to get their hands on our cradles in order to rock the foundation of our family life.  Pray to God through Our Lady that your family is kept safe from danger and the threat of division.

 It is my hope and prayer that beginning now in for many, many generations pilgrims will visit the sacred image of Our Lady of Guadalupe in this Shrine in order to seek her maternal assistance and implore her protection.  May we, the parishioners and promoters of this dedicated and holy place, never cease to      promote this devotion through our perpetual novena to her.  May we renew our efforts of evangelization and ardent participation the sacraments.

 I give thanks to God for so many who have helped to bring this vision to a reality, especially our Bishop for his support and approval as well as for his presence among us this weekend.  Through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Empress and Protectress, may Almighty God bless us and may she gather us into        her mantel of love and draw us closer to her Son, Jesus.

                                 “Hear and let it penetrate into your heart, my dear little son: let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you, let nothing alter your heart or your countenance.  Also, do not fear any illness, vexation, anxiety or pain.  Am I not here who am your Mother?  Are you not under my shadow of protection?  Am I not your fountain of life?  Are you not in the folds of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?  Is there anything else you need?” (Words spoken to St. Juan Diego by Our Lady of Guadalupe on Tepeyac Hill, Saturday, December 9, 1531.    

Incredible!  The RCIA/RCIC ministries are the processes in which folks who wish to become Catholic go through a period of several months up until the Easter Vigil at which time they are baptized into the Catholic Christian faith.  This is also the process in which folks who are already baptized Catholics but who have not been fully initiated into the Catholic Church go through in order to receive this full initiation also at the Easter Vigil. Some of these will receive First Holy Communion and Confirmation while others will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation only. The “Rite of Acceptance” that we celebrate within the 9:30 Mass this weekend is the public declaration of these brothers and sisters that they have formally accepted the catechetical process.  Along with their sponsors, they make a public commitment to pursue their formation while at the same time the parish community makes a public commitment to assist them on their journey.  And so, we welcome all those who will take this step with us today.

  Secondly, we welcome our new parochial vicar, Fr. Rico Duclè.  Fr. Rico is originally from Haiti and has studied and ministered in various countries. He speaks several languages and has been in parish ministry within our Diocese for a couple of years.  Fr. Rico will reside at All Saints parish in Pennsauken and assist us here at OLOG on Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays.  Although there are currently three priests residing in our parish, so now, Fr. Rico will be the official Associate Pastor.  Frs. Wilson and Bartoloma who currently in residence but have official duties outside of the parish will remain with us and as they are able, will assist Fr. Rico and myself in the parish.

 Finally, this weekend we welcome the newly appointed Director of Vocations for the Diocese of  Camden, Fr. Michael Romano.  Fr. Romano will be speaking at all of our Masses to share with us the importance of fostering                                                                  vocations within our church.  Fr. Romano is a dynamic and energetic priest who also  ministers at Paul VI High                                                                     School as the school’s Chaplain.  We are very excited to have him with us.

So there are many “welcomes” this weekend at parish. As always, we are very glad that you are with us to pray and worship our good God.  Whether you are with us for just this weekend or are a regular spiritual    pilgrim or long- time parishioner, we are glad that you are here and hope that together, we can all welcome anyone who is seeking to follow our Lord.  God Bless you and have a great week.

Oct 16, 2011

The other day a lady said to me, “Ugh, I just wish that it would be hot or cold outside.  I can’t stand that it’s cold in the morning and hot by the afternoon. You don’t know how to dress!  I would rather it either be cold or hot”   Immediately, I thought of the Book of Revelation, 3: 14-21. You recall that God thought the very same thing!  (Not about how to dress, but about being either cold or hot).  Remember, God was speaking to the Christians of a place in Laodicea and told them that He wished they were hot or cold because they were neither, but rather “lukewarm” in their faith.  The point of this admonition is that God is trying to call them to repentance.  He even goes so far as to say that He is so reviled by this “warm” expression of faith, that He will “vomit them out” Rev. 3:17. Wow, pretty harsh words.  However, the Christians of Laodicea could relate to that analogy.  You see, there were cold and hot water springs near their city.  But, every once in awhile, due to climate change, the hot springs would be a little cool and the cold springs would get a little warm, hence, when the people would drink from the springs at that time, it would make them sick to their stomach.  What happens when we get really sick to our stomachs?  That’s right, the “v” word, we “vomit”. So, they knew exactly what He meant.

            A name we have for lukewarm Catholicism is “Cultural Catholicism” or even “Cafeteria Catholicism”.  That’s when we say things like, “Well, we live in America so there must be separation between church and state so I can’t impose my beliefs on others.”  Or, “faith is a personal thing so I don’t think that it should be made public”. The list goes on and on.  It is true that one of the foundations of our country is that there is to be no state imposed religion, however, when we interpret that to mean that we should not be public with our Catholic Christian faith, we misuse and misrepresent the true meaning of that statement.  That’s what God called “lukewarm” and we know what He thinks about lukewarm Christians!

Often times I hear very faithful Catholics who regularly practice their faith tell me that they don’t want to “impose” their faith on anyone.  Although I understand where they’re coming from, that position is not at all a part of our faith tradition.  The Truth (capital “T” truth) is just that and just because the Truth may not be popular, it doesn’t make it any less true.  It just means that it is unpopular.  Inversely, what is popular isn’t always Truthful but we still must believe and defend it because it is true.  God needs us to be faithful to His Truth at all times.  I always tell people who sit in a church on Sundays but sit on a fence on Mondays – Saturdays, “You better hope you die on a Sunday while it’s easy to be a Christian!” We will all appear before God one day and we will be asked how we lived what we professed.  We won’t be asked how we studied what we professed or how we understood what we professed or even how well we believe privately or personally what we professed but rather, how we lived what we professed.  Does our faith translate into a way of life instead of merely a “say” in life?  Be careful, because I don’t think that they put any barf bags in coffins, if you know what I mean!

            By the way, I said to the lady who told me that she didn’t know how to dress for the changing climate that one outfit that never goes out of style and is always perfect for every season and temperature in life is the one we received at Baptism.  It is to remain white and unstained until the everlasting life of heaven. Never be ashamed to wear it. Thanks for being with us this week and God Bless!

Sept 24, 2011

Although I couldn’t really help him with much of the rejection he felt from family and others from whom he desired acceptance and love, I was able to assure him of God’s love for him.  I spoke to him of a God who knew what it was like to be rejected by those whom He was sent love and save.  I shared with him the times in scripture when Jesus was persecuted, mocked, scorned, accused, insulted, put down ,told that He didn’t belong.  I told him that indeed, the beatific manger scene of Christmas wasn’t staged for the purpose of pretty Christmas cards but happened because his parents were undocumented aliens and unwanted in one country so they had to flee in the middle of the night unsure of what awaited them.  In fact, Jesus’ whole life on earth was one rejection after another.  Not from a school of His first choice, not from a job His dream job for which He interviewed, not from a significant other in His life of relationships, but from the entire world; with one exception.

The people that everyone else rejected, persecuted, judged and scorned in the world accepted Him, tax collectors and prostitutes, sinners and foreigners, leapers and the unholy, the diseased and disenfranchised.  They both accepted and acknowledged Him.  They accepted Him as a fellow reject of the world and acknowledged Him as the Son of God who came to love and save the world.  I wonder if we realize that every Sunday we worship a homeless reject of the world and are tempted every other day of the week to ignore Him.  We have all felt like a rejected Jesus and this young man but we are also tempted to be the rejecters, the judges, the persecutors.  Maybe we are tempted to act this way towards others because of our own fear of being on the receiving end of such moments.  Maybe identifying with someone who is going through these painful experiences reminds us too much of our own similar past experiences or possible future experiences of the same.  Either way, today’s Gospel reminds us that the rejected are often the most accepting and the accepted can be the harshest rejecters.  As individual believers and as a community of Christians, we know who we must be and who we must never become.

Allow the church to embrace you today as it did my young friend, may the images of God’s love lend an ear to your own story and may you always know that this is a place where Jesus is accepted for who He is, acknowledged for what He did, love for why He came and imitated by those whom He came to save.  God Bless you, we are glad that you are among us today and may you find God’s peace here.

Fr. Joe

September 4, 2011

            As I have mentioned earlier in the bulletin, Bishop Galante has approved our request to give canonical

approval and designation of our parish as an official diocesan shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  This designation means that we will continue as a parish, so there is no change in that respect, however, following the    official decree, we will then be permitted to present our parish as a shrine location.  For Catholic Christians, shrines are a place of pilgrimage and prayer for the purpose of private and communal devotion.  They offer pilgrims the opportunity to receive the sacraments, especially Eucharist and Confession on a regular basis.

Our Lady of Guadalupe has been given much recognition throughout the centuries by no less than twenty-four popes.  Some of her designations include: Mother and Patroness of the Americas, Protector of the Sanctity of Life, Patroness of the New Evangelization (by Bl. John Paul II) just to mention a few.  Each year more than 14 million pilgrims visit her shrine in Mexico City making this shrine the most visited Catholic sanctuary in the world.  Not bad!

            You may have noticed some work going on outside of the church.  In addition to the Shrine inside the church, this area outside will be a prayer garden and outdoor shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  There is a model of it in the vestibule of the church.  In the coming weeks you will be able to find out how you can     memorialize the memory of a loved one at this outdoor shrine which will be blessed and dedicated by our Bishop on Sunday, October 30^th so I hope that you and your family and friends will be able to join us for that.  The time will be announced shortly.

            To help us prepare for this event, I am beginning to include in today’s letter sections from the book Our Lady of Guadalupe: Mother of the Civilization of love by Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Mr. Carl Anderson and Msgr. Eduardo Chavez, Postulator of the cause of  St. Juan Diego.  The sections will make up my bulletin letters for the next few weeks.  Enjoy…

                                                                        Fr. Joe

            CIVILIZATION OF LOVE

“And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet…” (Revelation 12:1)

            On a cold, windswept December morning in 1531, Juan Diego rose at dawn,