Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

As you know, Pope Francis has invited us to be a part of a Synod of 2021-2023 with the goal to become a “Church that listens.” You have heard already from the members of our core team, and we are preparing for the February listening sessions, the first of which is this Wednesday and then the other next Sunday.

Essentially there are three words that guide this process: communion, participation, and mission. This communion is a gathering of the “People of God” whether you are here week in and week out or have not stepped inside church for many years - we need your help. This means that each of us must not only be involved ourselves but we must also invite others into the conversation. All of us know someone who was involved and has drifted away; someone who may be angry and walked away; or someone who has been injured by the church and still harbors that hurt and anger. Each of them is invited to be a part of this conversation.

That leads us to our second word participation. Our participation is essential to this process because it cannot be successful without us - without input from us there is no Synod. During election time we say you have to vote to make our voices heard as a single vote can make a difference. In this case a single voice can make a difference. Imagine the difference that all of our united voices can make.

Our third word is mission. Our mission is to bring God’s word into the world. The call to evangelization comes with our baptism. Increasingly we see that how this call for evangelization will work in the 21st Century Church is up to us. Our mission is to establish at all levels of the Church a new way of listening, of discernment, and of action that remains faithful to the truth received but expresses these truths in context of the present time. Synodality demands that we listen and engage in dialogue- to establish authentic relationships in the Church.

Pope Francis has called us to be a “Church that listens,” but in order to do that we must participate. This is a long process that involves every parish and diocese in the world and it is your voice we need to hear. We need the stories of our parishioners, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We would like to hear from everyone. Please sign-up in the gathering space or on the parish website, and bring a friend.

Our Religious Education Programs are running at full tilt again as Mrs. Nancy Arkin has taken the reins full time effective February 1st. Due to the lack of adequate staffing there since November many of you have been waiting on responses to emails and phone messages and those are now being addressed and taken care of. Thank you for your patience and understanding. We will be adding additional staff there shortly to bring the office back to full functioning. We will be announcing shortly the Lenten programs. Likewise, information for our in-person Summer Religious Education Academy can be found in the bulletin and on the website.

There are some up-coming Family Day’s and there is a teaching Mass scheduled for 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, February 27th.

Next weekend we will be launching the Annual Catholic Appeal for the Diocese of Trenton. Our parish goal remains at $95,000. Carol DeMuria, parish coordinator of the appeal, will speak at all Masses next weekend. Please be generous.

Have a blessed week,
Father Garry