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Worship with us via LIVE STREAM or watch on your own time on YouTube We encourage all of our parishioners to live their spiritual lives the best they can from home. MASS CARDS - Available upon request, please call the Rectory at 856-667-8850.
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Invited to Communion!
My Dear Friends,
We begin a series of weeks with the Bread of Life Discourse. We kick off a corresponding Message Series called “Invited!” If I could encourage one thing, it would be to spend the next five weeks praying with the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. In some ways it is the heart of our Catholic Life.
Our Church teaches that the Eucharist is the Source and the Summit of our Christian Life. Sometimes we call it the Sacrament of Sacraments. Saint John Paul also taught that the Eucharist makes the Church (n.26), in that it is and also that it brings about our Communion. We are united with Christ and we are united with one another in the Body of Christ, above all by our reception of holy Communion.
“Come Away with Me!”
My Dear Spiritual Family,
In our Gospel today, Jesus invites the twelve apostles: “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while,” (Mk 6:31). They had just returned from their first mission. Last week, Jesus sent them out two-by-two to proclaim repentance. For a full sense of the sequence, first pray over Mark’s Gospel 6:7-13 and then move to 6:30-34. In other words, begin with last week’s Gospel and then skip to this week’s.
An ebb and flow exists between work and rest. Constant work leads to burn out; continual rest can lead to restlessness and depression. We have names for those on the extremes: work-a-holics and couch potatoes. During the pandemic many struggled to adjust to a new work-life balance based on new expectations. More time at home led people to recognize what they had been missing, some space to reflect on true priorities. A contingent of the workforce decided to change their form of employment. Some folks are calling it “The Great Resignation” as employers struggle to fill open positions by seeking to attract talent in new ways.
“Go Therefore and Make Disciples”
Dear Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold I am with you until the end of time” Mt 28:19-20
Kabgayi Diocese is one of nine Catholic Dioceses in Rwanda. It is situated in the central region of Rwanda. It is comprised of 29 parishes served by 123 priests and a population of more than 708 000 Catholics from a total population of 1 065 078 in the region. The Diocese of Trenton in collaboration with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish, invited us this year to come and share the mission story of our Diocese and appeal for support both spiritual and material to help in the missionary efforts of the Church in Rwanda and specifically the pastoral programs of Kabgayi Diocese in particular. A few years ago, our country went through very hard times of genocide and violence that claimed over a million people in just 90 days. This situation left very severe consequences on the livelihood of our people: countless orphans left and the destruction of the churches and schools. It is with this background that from 1998 to 2000, the Catholic Diocese of Kabgayi conducted a Diocesan Synod to reflect on ways to reconcile Rwandans and to contribute to the country’s renewal through building stronger communities especially caring for the most vulnerable. The Diocese needs help to care for the poor and support the peace and reconciliation efforts. It is with the aim to participate in the reconstruction and reconciliation of Rwanda that the Diocese continues her apostolic mission to contribute to the transformation, reconciliation and the sustainable development of Rwandan society through Catholic education; with particular emphasis on helping the poor students to have access to higher education at a low cost and taking care of orphans, widows and the sick.
