Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

As you likely have already learned, Father JM is being transferred to become parochial vicar at St. Joan of Arc Parish in Marlton. After five years of newly ordained service to our parish, it is time for Father JM to move to another assignment where he will gain exposure to a different pastor and parish setting, so as to prepare him for his eventually becoming a pastor. As much as I have enjoyed his collaboration and friendship over these past five years it is certainly in his best interest and development to broaden his horizons with new parish experiences.

At the same time, the Bishop has named Father Augusto Lorenzo (Father AL) Gamalo as parochial vicar. He was ordained a priest with Father JM and is not only also from the Philippines, but they come from the same diocese and attended college seminary together there. I am sure that we will all come to appreciate Father Al's many gifts and talents, and that he will be a good fit for our parish. He is presently the parochial vicar at St. Gregory the Great, Hamilton Square. He, too, has been there for five years and is moving to broaden his experience as well.

The transfers are effective as of July 1st.

Not only will we celebrate with Father JM in his new assignment, but on June 4th he will celebrate the fifth anniversary of his priestly ordination. We will celebrate with him as he sees fit.

We are also preparing for another blessed event next weekend with the Ordination to the Order of Deacon of Paul Remick! Paul has spent the past five years preparing for ordination and has earned a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Theology from Georgian Court University along the way. The Ordination Mass will be live streamed on Saturday, May 15th at 10:00 a.m. The link can be found on our website. Paul will serve his First Mass as a deacon and deliver his first homily at the 5:00 p.m. Mass which will also be live-streamed. We celebrate with Paul, Ellen, their daughters Brianna and Kaleigh, and their entire family. We pray for Paul and his classmates that they will serve the Lord with gladness and minister to us with the touch of Jesus Christ himself.

While we would normally be celebrating the Ascension of the Lord this week the bishops of New Jersey have transferred the solemnity to next weekend– Saturday and Sunday – which is customary in most of the country. As the dispensation from weekly and holy day Mass attendance is still in effect, there is no need to have the holy day celebrated at its proper time. The Mass on Thursday will instead be the ordinary Mass of the Thursday, Seventh Week of Easter.

And of course, last but far from least, Father JM and I extend our most sincere blessings and best wishes to all of our Mother’s on this Mother’s Day! We are, all of us, grateful for the wonderful Mother’s in our lives, and we pray that all of them enjoy the blessings and peace of the day.

For those among us who lost a Mother or Grandmother or Godmother this past year, today is certainly a bittersweet day, and we pray that they are sharing in the life eternal promised to us. I am blessed to have my Mother in good health and doing well as she enjoys the life of a Florida snowbird, and Father JM’s Mother and paternal Grandmother are both doing well in their respective provinces in the Philippines. Given the Covid protocols and restrictions life has been challenging for many families and some have not been able to see their Mother’s or Grandmother’s – or perhaps just give them a hug – in a rather long time. Let us continue our prayers that this plague comes to a quick end and we can return to a more normal way of living and interacting.

Blessings to all this weekend,
Father Garry