Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict’s:

As Zacchaeus is called out of his tree in the Gospel passage for this weekend, so each and every one of us is also in our own trees. We go there for many reasons. Sometimes we are there to hide from God. Sometimes we are there to hide from the crowd. Sometimes we are there to get a better perspective in life.

This weekend we as a diocese are launching, and we are preaching, on a new initiative from our Office of Vocations entitled “Called By Name.”

In the structure of the Office of Vocations for our diocese, Father Jason Parzynski is the director. He is assisted by Father Dan Swift who coordinates Burlington and Mercer Counties, and myself, as coordinator of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Father Dan is assisted by Fathers Jorge Bedoya and Christopher Colavito. I am assisted by Father Christopher Dayton and Father John Michael Patilla.

At the moment we have fourteen seminarians studying for the priesthood. This for a diocese of ninety-eight parishes and over 800,000 Catholics! Monday afternoon I am going to the chancery where the Vocations Board will interview three potential candidates for admission next fall. There are others also in the pipeline who may be joining us. At present we have two seminarians on a leave of absence, and we have no certainty that all of the current seminarians will all be ordained to the priesthood.

The Lord provides for his church. It is incumbent upon us to both pray for vocations and to stand with Jesus to gives him the names of men who need more care in discerning the Lord’s call. Someone had to tell Jesus the name of the man up the tree so that Jesus could call him.

Following is an extraction from a letter from Father Jason concerning what we are doing this weekend:

“At the heart of this program is the belief that all of us share a common calling through Baptism, to which we are invited to respond in a variety of ways – marriage, single life, consecrated life, and ordained ministry. The CALLED BY NAME process focuses on priesthood and stresses the role of the Christian community in calling forth men to consider this vocation. Parishioners throughout the diocese are encouraged to consider who in our midst might serve well as a priest and submit their names during weekend liturgies. There are many good prospective priests who are simply waiting to be asked! The following qualities are desirable in persons identified as potential candidates: • A man of prayer who loves the Lord • One who is actively involved in the life of the Church • One who is successful in life, including school, work, and relationships • A “people person” • A man of personal integrity, honesty, and generosity

How does the CALLED BY NAME initiative work? You are invited to submit names of potential candidates from our parish. Upon approval of the pastor, the names of the nominated will be invited to discernment event organized by the Diocesan Vocation Team. Participants will learn about discerning priesthood and will have the opportunity to seek answers to their questions and be invited to explore the discernment process further.

The CALLED BY NAME program is an ambitious undertaking which holds great promise for the Diocese of Trenton. Many dioceses have had success with this program in response to the invitation from their parish and diocesan Vocation Office. It remains so very important that we actively support and promote a future generation of priests to serve a growing Church, hungering for Christ in the Eucharist. God continues to call people to serve Him in our world today. The faithful have a responsibility to help identify and invite those called. Please pray for the success of this initiative and consider whom in our midst God might be calling to serve.

Let us take this initiative seriously and exact great care and prayer in presenting names to the team.

In peace,

Fr. Garry