Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Next weekend is Mother’s Day and the May crowning. In the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, we are ever-mindful of her guidance of and patronage of the Church and we pray for her intercession for all that we might remain faithful to our call as disciples of Jesus Christ and his Church. May we be earnest and fervent in our prayer. The Motherhood of Mary is even more highlighted now as Pope Francis declared the Monday after Pentecost to be the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church.

As Mother of the Church, Mary is also closely associated with the vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Here in our diocese we are hitting an immediate shortfall of priests, and this will only worsen over the next few years. This year we are ordaining 0 priests and 0 transitional deacons! Were it not for the expected priestly ordination next year of a now widowed permanent deacon, this would give us two years of no ordinations at all. Given the quickening pace of priests here reaching retirement age, this will be a rough period of time going forward. While we do have fifteen seminarians, one has recently needed to take a medical leave and another one is being dismissed from seminary. Two others, one seminarian and a transitional deacon ordained last year, chose not to continue in formation, though one of them has switched to another archdiocese.

With only two new men expected to enter formation this fall, this leaves us stretched. With all of this in mind, I am happy to report that Bishop O’Connell has seen fit to extend Father JM’s assignment here at St. Benedict’s, along with his adjunct assignment as chaplain at St. John Vianney High School. It is hard to believe that Father has been with us for three years already!

May 12th is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. Hear the words of Pope Francis: “Dear friends, it is not always easy to discern our vocation and to steer our life in the right direction. For this reason, there needs to be a renewed commitment on the part of the whole Church – priests, religious, pastoral workers and educators – to provide young people in particular with opportunities for listening and discernment. There is a need for a youth ministry and a vocational promotion that can open the way to discovering God’s plan, above all through prayer, meditation on God’s word, Eucharistic adoration and spiritual accompaniment.”

Let us be conscious to pray for vocations on that day – and every day. I would like to thank all of you for your support of vocations and our seminarians. In this time above all it is so important that we continue this prayerful and financial ministry. This summer we will have a seminarian assigned to the parish as part of his pastoral formation. As soon as I have received official notice and details about him I will make that public.

I am saddened to report that Matt Santucci, Coordinator of Faith Formation and Youth and Young Adult Minister is leaving St. Benedict.

He notes the following: “At the end of May, I will be leaving New Jersey and St. Benedict to move back to my home town of Richmond, Virginia so I can pursue a new career in Marketing. My last official day with St. Benedict will be on Friday, May 24th.

“I have met many fantastic people here at St. Benedict. I have also made a number of friendships whether it be through the Youth Groups, the Young Adult Group, the Confirmation Program, ChristLife, St. Benedict School, the Office Staff, or just from meeting different people through experiencing parish life here at St. Benedict. I have to say, I have found St. Benedict to be an amazing place to work and to worship. You have an incredibly special community here and I hope you know that.”

We are all sorry to see Matt go. He made a positive impact on our programs and we wish him the Lord’s grace and peace as he moves to this next phase of his life. News on a sendoff event is forthcoming.

Blessings to all,
Fr. Garry