St. Mary's 87th Annual Feast of the Assumption

12 noon to 10 PM

• fun stuff for the kids, like inflatables
• trackless train  for the kids
  
• brand new games for adults and kids
  
• hay ride (see photo below)
  
• musical entertainment (great bands, right)
  
• seafood
  
• chicken bbq
• yummy baked goods
• water ice from Toni's Treats
  
• funnel cake
• beer & Plagido's wine
  
• Chinese auction
• 50-50 raffle
• some fireworks at the end of the night
• commemorative t-shirts, $12 (above right)
  

And we're sure we've missed some things....oh yeah, cheeze fries, cotton candy, snow cones, and more! It will definitely be a good time! Hope to see you there.

                                                                                              

Testing out the hay rides at last year's feast

This year, inflatables, train, & hay ride will be available
for an all-day wristband, $12, or individually.

A brand new, beautiful creche for our Rosary
Garden's Nativity scene was generously provided
by a parishioner in preparation for this year's Feast.

• Joanne always puts together wonderful baskets for the Chinese Auction,
• Marlene sells our 50-50 tickets,
• Jeanie and Ramona, among others, work hard on the Rosary and other gardens.
• Steve and Jim prepare the grounds.
• Jim also helps build the new booths, organizes the talent show, plays the organ, rehearses the choir, and plays with his band.
  
• Bill and another Steve help organize the chicken barbecue.
• Steve gave the feast buildings a new coat of paint and cleaned them out.
  
• Tim and the Knights handle the seafood and beer.
• Diane covers the "snack" foods like funnel cake, cotton candy, and cheeze fries.
• Carmella organizes the cakes and baked goods.
• Leah does...well, everything...signs, permits, tents, donations, all level of organization, and on and on and on.
• Dan and Mike get the tractor and hay ride ready, among many other things.

About half the clergy comprise the swing area: a vast mushy no-man's land where the priests will flip-flop wherever and whenever convenience dictates. At present this means conforming to the radical Modernist leadership. For some of these men, a nostalgia for Rome surfaces now and then, but is quickly submerged. Theirs is the tired refrain: "But this is what the bishop wants, and we took a vow of obedience to our bishop."

Re: "Cares deeply" (letters, Sept. 2).

Andrew Walton, spokesman for the Camden Diocese, implies (erroneously) that St. Gregory's in Magnolia is a struggling parish. This could not be further from the truth, unless he is referring to the morale of our parishioners since the announcement that our church would be closing.

Financially, St. Gregory's is not struggling. We are probably on better financial footing than Mary Mother of The Church in Bellmawr, the parish we will merge with under the reconfiguration plan.

Our mortgage was paid off many years ago. And our weekly collections and stipends bring in enough money to cover our parish expenses and then some -- including contributions monthly to diocesan debt and other special collections.

I believe the proceeds from the sale of St. Gregory's assets are earmarked to pay off or reduce the debt of Mary Mother of The Church, which is the true struggling parish. Yet, Bishop Joseph Galante wants St. Gregory's to merge with this parish. And therein lies the hurt we feel.

It makes no sense. Mary Mother of the Church should merge with St. Gregory's, not the other way around. Or it seems to make more sense if it were merged with the other parish in its own community.

In addition, our dissatisfaction with the bishop's decision is not entirely about the assets our parishioners worked hard to pay for and that we are about to lose. Our struggle is more about our loving parish community and the fond memories that are about to be snuffed out. God bless us all.

WALTER ZUBRZYCKI

Magnolia

Re: "Do not care" (letters, Aug. 27).

The letter writer from Magnolia, whose struggling parish is merging with two nearby parishes, suggested that Bishop Joseph Galante, his priest advisers, deanery planning teams, planning commission and Core Teams "do not care" about the pain being felt by parishioners when their parishes merge.

The feelings of loss that accompany change of this kind are not being ignored. In fact, unlike other dioceses that have moved far more quickly with parish reconfigurations, the bishop insisted there be a period of 12 to 24 months before he issued decrees formally establishing new parishes. He did this in recognition of the sense of loss he knew would be experienced and to give parishes adequate time to prepare to come together.

During this time, he has heard personally from parishioners in every part of the diocese and has acknowledged the disappointment many naturally feel. The fact is, if he didn't care, he would not be taking steps to address the needs of Catholics in South Jersey. If he didn't care, he wouldn't be working to reverse downward trends in religious practice.

The fact is, it is precisely because the bishop cares so deeply about the well-being of parishioners and because of his great love for the Church and the people of South Jersey that he has undertaken the effort now under way to strengthen parishes and improve care to the people.

ANDREW WALTON Office of Communications Diocese of Camden Camden

                    Deptford           Salem County                Camden                   Atlantic City

1950                 7,304                 49,508                       124,555                       61,657

1960               17,878                 58,711                       117,159                       59,544

2006-7*          30,529                 66,595                         80,010                      39,684

*most recent available estimate

bjd0305:

It is more effective to have fewer churches with more people in them. god is a hell of a businessman
9/2/2009 8:27:08 AM

firebird 7478 replying to bjd0305:

Which is why he's always asking for more money.
9/2/2009 10:41:42 AM

They have spewed psychobabble pertaining to the alleged difficulty that we, the laity have coping with change. This kind of patronizing dribble is without merit because it fails to address the purpose of the change and merely holds up "change" as having inherent value. This type of rhetoric attempts to put the Catholic faithful on the defensive, as if we have to prove our ability to healthily cope with change by accepting the destruction of our parishes. The question remains, is the change we are expected to embrace a change toward the Good, toward God's Will, toward God Himself? What are we supposed to be changing to?

By JULIET FLETCHER Staff Writer, 609-272-7251 | Posted: Monday, May 11, 2009 12:25 am

Church officials say there is no evidence the shrine at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Atlantic City is dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes. But Christina Thomasello is looking for photos to prove otherwise.

Photo by: Danny Drake

There's an unwelcome guest at a local church rectory: St. Bernadette.

Standing 2 feet tall, a stone statue of the saint sits behind locked doors in the rectory offices.

And because of a spat about a nearby shrine, she has become an unlikely hostage.

When a parishioner at Our Lady Star of the Sea in Atlantic City paid for the statue to be delivered to the parish office earlier this spring, she says, she had hoped to see the figure placed at an outdoor shrine on the church's grounds.

But instead, Christina Thomasello says her prayer for a completed shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes has been derailed.

The pastor there, the Rev. Joseph Pham, disagrees with her plan to build a shrine in a way he says detracts from the church's identity.

And so, when St. Bernadette arrived by priority mail in March, Pham did not put her at the shrine. He held on to her.

"This is a situation where a priest has to balance the need to maintain the integrity of the shrine with the desires of some of the parishioners," said Andy Walton, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Camden, who expressed support for Pham's actions.

At the heart of the dispute -- and what keeps Bernadette in a holding pattern -- is a split between local Catholics, who see two interpretations of what the shrine represents.

Stop by the site, at the corner of Atlantic and California avenues, and you will see a tall, pale statue of the Virgin Mary standing in a stone alcove.

A nearby sign says the stone basin by the guardrail contains water from Lourdes, France -- where a peasant girl, Bernadette Soubirous, claimed to see a repeated vision of the Virgin Mary in 1858. Faithful pilgrims now flock to that original site, often in hopes of healing.

But alongside that basin at the Atlantic City site sit decorative anemone and conch shells, clues that the shrine, like the parish, may be dedicated to Our Lady Star of the Sea. The name refers to the Virgin Mary and remains popular in areas with sea-faring heritage.

Thomasello, who refers to the shrine as Our Lady of Lourdes, insisted recently that her motives were to bring the shrine back to its former glory. "I wanted to restore it," she said on a recent afternoon, as she and fellow parishioners Horace Robinson and Robert Carpo Jr. met at the shrine, which she noted dates back to the 1930s.

But other parishioners were not so sure. Mary McConnell, who stopped by the shrine just before noon Sunday, said the Lourdes tributes -- which also include prayer cards and articles about purported miracles performed in France -- were recent additions. "I think they started showing up in December," McConnell said.

Walton said there is no evidence the site is dedicated to the apparitions at Lourdes. "There's no history of that," he said Saturday.

As for allowing Thomasello or others to place a statue there, he said that would open the door to any parishioner customizing a public shrine at their own expense.

"It's not her shrine," Walton said.

As far as Thomasello's hopes to reclaim the statue, Raymond Daiutolo Sr., southern New Jersey representative for the U. S. Postal Service, said laws on mail do not help her case.

Whether or not the package had been addressed to her by name, Daiutolo said, the fact that it was sent to a church -- which qualifies as a business -- meant it could legally be held by staff at the rectory office. "If someone has mail sent to a business address, those mail items technically belong to the business," he said.

Statues of St. Bernadette are big sellers for catalogs that cater to the religious community: Stone or ceramic versions of the saint, traditionally depicted kneeling in prayer, can go for as much as $100.

Walton said Saturday that Pham now wants Thomasello to come and pick up her Bernadette.

Thomasello was not available to respond to that invitation Sunday.

But she previously said she had been searching for photos, which may solve the mystery of the shrine's identity.

"I've heard that there used to be metal letters over the top of the shrine," she said. "We want to know what they said."

If local historians have photos that show a historic Lourdes link, that might allow the homeless St. Bernadette statue to settle there.

But until then, Walton said, the statue was unwanted. "Right now, to have two identities here -- that's just confusing."

E-mail Juliet Fletcher:

JFletcher@pressofac.com

"However, the purchase is upsetting some parishioners who are mad about the spending at a time when parishes are being merged."

Today's AC Press has an excellent article about the Diocese of Camden's recent purchase of the $800,000 luxury home in Pittsgrove.  Click here to see the full article. (A similar article can also be found in the well known publication Newsday.) The article was so well-written, excerpts really do not do it justice, but here are a few quotes from Diocesan spinmaster Andy Walton for your entertainment:

But some local Catholics have made much of the description of the new property: Advertised as a "lavish 5-6 bedroom home 11-acre country estate" when it was sold last July, the place boasts riding stables, an elegant fountain in the driveway and a feature described as a "wet bar" inside.

Andrew Walton, spokesman for the diocese, defended the choice of location and style of property for the new convent. "It suits the needs of the sisters, who are looking to expand the order," he said.

He also added that by taking up the new home, the sisters were not going against their vows.

"A vow of poverty has much less to do with where you live than how you live. It's about modest living, but also a poverty of spirit.

"I think there's an undertone of nastiness to some of the commentary, that these sisters' modest living arrangements should come under criticism. There's even that suggestion that, because they're from Kenya, that these arrangements are too good for them."

Andy Walton seems a little defensive - OK, a LOT defensive, even using the race card to try to divert attention from the real issue.  Well, I guess it must be frustrating for him that he cannot clamp down on the AC Press like he does on the Courier-Post (although we know he has tried)! 

Of course, one of the commenters to the article asked how much money Andy Walton makes that he considers an $800,000 home "modest living."  Good question! They could've bought the house I live in for the sisters--five of them, one for each, in fact--and spent the same amount of money. But of course, we have no fountain, wet bar, or stables. Heck, our garage doors don't even work.

Perhaps the most obvious clue to the continual dishonesty coming from the Chancery Offices is this piece of information:

A neighbor, John Langley lives opposite the property. His ancestors, who named the road, used to own most of the area. "Around December, I saw people from the diocese on the property," he recalled. "They said they had come to check it out, and that it might be a residence for the bishop."

"Given the need of the sisters and given the fact that the property was being offered to the diocese at such a substantial discount, we've purchased the property for the religious sisters," [diocesan spokesman] Walton said.

But the Council of Parishes of Southern New Jersey, a grass-roots parish organization, said the sisters moving into the house is a knee-jerk reaction on the part of the Diocese of Camden and that it was not its original, intended use.

"We don't believe it," said Leah Vassallo, co-chair of the Council of Parishes. "First of all, it makes no sense. Why should nuns live in what is described as a lavish country estate? It's completely contradictory to what the nuns mission and purpose is." ....

"There's a huge difference between a five-bedroom house and an $800,000 house," Vassallo said.

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Here is a photo of the stable/horse barn. Who knew the sisters rode horses in their spare time? Perhaps they are one of those obscure equestrian orders.
.

EGG HARBOR CITY- ...about 140 parishioners of St. Nicholas Roman Catholic Church attended a meeting Tuesday night at the Knights of Columbus Hall with hopes of saving their parish.

intentions...to cut the number of parishes in the Camden Diocese nearly in half after years of fact finding, analysis and public discussion sessions uncovered a pressing need for downsizing.

The parish already has lost its catechism classes and its resident priest was not replaced after he left in June to serve as an Army chaplain in Europe. It was unclear who will take over once the merger is complete.

"It's like losing a part of the family," Terri Cantz, 57, of Egg Harbor City, said of the parish being stripped of services. "My ancestors literally laid the bricks that helped build St. Nicholas and my grandchildren were the fifth generation from my family to attend the St. Nicholas school. This parish is a piece of our upbringing, it's a piece of our character and it deserves to stay here."

Like other parishes reconfiguration schemes in the diocese (Bridgeton, Vineland, etc.), Bishop Galante wishes to promote a segregation scheme at St. Nicholas. It is a shame that in this day and age, a bishop would promote the segregation of large numbers of our Spanish speaking brothers and sisters in Christ. Meanwhile, folks at St. Nick's are not only fighting to keep their parish open, but to remain integrated. Said Jim McGeary,

And the Hispanic parishioners who attend St. Nick's will not be able to maintain the (necessary attendance levels) on their own. You need everyone.

But all these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members; and all the members of the body, whereas they are many, yet are one body, so also is Christ. For in one Spirit were we all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether bond or free; and in one Spirit we have all been made to drink. For the body also is not one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear should say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were the eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God hath set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him. And if they all were one member, where would be the body? But now there are many members indeed, yet one body...God hath tempered the body together, giving to that which wanted the more abundant honour, That there might be no schism in the body; but the members might be mutually careful one for another. And if one member suffer any thing, all the members suffer with it; or if one member glory, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members of member. 1Corinthians 12:11-27

And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and other some evangelists, and other some pastors and doctors, For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Until we all meet into the unity of faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fulness of Christ; That henceforth we be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the wickedness of men, by cunning craftiness, by which they lie in wait to deceive. But doing the truth in charity, we may in all things grow up in him who is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body, being compacted and fitly joined together, by what every joint supplieth, according to the operation in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body, unto the edifying of itself in charity. (Ephesians 4:11-16)

This past Sunday the Gloucester County Times published a piece on the Diocesan mergers.  Our favorite spokesperson, Andy Walton, was interviewed. 

"The priest conveners and core teams will begin meeting monthly in January to begin work directly involved in preparing the parishes. The bishop has announced his intentions, but there won't be mergers until the core teams and conveners tell the bishop of the parishes' readiness and he issues a decree formally establishing that new parish."

We don't place much confidence in what the diocese says, but for what it's worth, make sure your core team members know how you feel about the merger, because they (theoretically at least) will be the ones who decide when to pull the plug.

Walton said that some parishes will be able to come together more quickly, especially those who wish to expedite the process and have been working together since the announcement last spring.

Click here to see GCT article.  It also ran in the Salem Sunbeam on Monday.  They also interview Leah, who explains the position of the Council of Parishes.

You know, I am all about merging those parishes that wish to be merged and closing those churches that wish to be closed.  I am skeptical that there are many in this category, but for those that are, by all means, knock yourselves out.  But don't merge those parishes that do not wish to be merged!  After a few years, if the mergers of the parishes that want to be merged are in fact successful, there would surely not be so much resistance to other mergers.  But so far, that hasn't happened. 

I've talked to people from the three previous mergers in the Diocese of Camden (St. Michael and Our Lady of Victories in Minotola/Landisville, St. Mary's and Our Lady of Pompeii in Vineland, and Sacred Heart and St. Lucy in Cedarbrook/Blue Anchor) and all have said that the mergers were horrible and are rough even now, years later.  One used the expression that "there was blood in the streets."  And these were mergers under ideal circumstances - where the both churches were staying open ("primary worship sites") and the communities were already close and had much in common.

Imagine how much worse it would be for new proposed mergers, where churches are closing and the parishes sometimes have little in common.  For instance, the St. Mary's (Malaga), St. Rose (Newfield), Queen of the Angels (Minotola and Landisville) and Our Lady of the Lakes (Collings Lakes) merger spans parts of at least four (Gloucester, Atlantic, Salem, Cumberland), and I believe five counties (also Camden), and around a dozen or so municipalities.  Children from this proposed parish would attend high schools from Woodstown to Hammonton, and Vineland to Williamstown (plus Buena, Delsea, Schalick, and others).  In fact, according to Google maps, the travel time from one end of the proposed new parish to the other is around 30 minutes.  It's clear that nobody thought this out intelligently.  And this is just one of many, many examples of failures of the program/process. 

Also, as a note, even though all six churches of the mergers from a few years ago stayed open, at least two will now be closing in this round of mergers.  So don't feel secure in your primary or secondary worship site status.  It can and will change in the next round of mergers, which has already been alluded to by Fr. Gregorio in an August letter to the editor of the Cape May County Herald:

Again if you were the bishop, and you knew that the average diocesan priest today is 64, and that only 12 men are in all stages of seminary theological training, and that many times that will retire or die by 2015, what would you do? What will the average age be in 2015? By then, the bishop will be forced to do another, even more painful consolidation. Fair-minded people are saying this bishop had the courage to do what two or three previous bishops should have done since they had the same demographics.

No, Fr. Gregorio, fair-minded people are saying maybe the three previous Bishops were right and it is Galante who is mistaken.  I never appreciated DiMarzio so much as I do now.

I always made an effort to stress that the parish is not an accidental collection of Christians who happen tolive in the same neighborhood...Through careful listening to the word of Scripture and sound instruction in the faith they are enabled to experience their lives, and the life of the parish, as a dynamic sharing in the history of salvation. That experience, in turn, becomes a powerful motive for evangelization.
                                                                        -Pope John Paul II (1998)

We, the undersigned, strenuously object to the closing and merging of St. Mary's in Malaga and all other vibrant, viable parishes within the Diocese of Camden. In addition to providing the Sacraments and fostering out spiritual growth, our parishes have many active groups providing spiritual and material assistance to those in need in our communities. Closing and merging parishes in our neighborhoods is not only unnecessary and devastating to the parishioners, but it is also detrimental to many communities within the Diocese of Camden. Furthermore, we vigorously oppose the sale and future use of church properties for anything but that for which they were originally intended--the Catholic Christian worship of God. We pray you will reconsider your actions and reverse this decision.

                                                               NAME                                           TOWN

Parishioners at St. Vincent Pallotti in Haddon Township, pushing to halt a planned merger with nearby St. Aloysius, have won formal permission to proceed with their campaign to reverse the decision, an activist group claimed Wednesday.

The Rome-based Congregation for the Clergy, in a recent letter, has indicated that Friends of St. Vincent Pallotti Inc. may follow a formal process through the Vatican to challenge the local merger plan, according to the Friends group.

"We've tried to do this on a local level. We've tried to address this with the (Camden) Diocese and try to rectify this in a respectful manner through local procedures," said parishioner Ed Pierzynski, a leader of the Friends group. "When that doesn't work, you have some other options."

But under the latest version, St. Vincent Pallotti will remain a regular worship site, even as it merges with St. Aloysius, Walton said. St. Aloysius would be the base of the merged parish.

Galante "has listened to and consulted extensively with the (Pallotti) parish" and revamped the reorganization "in keeping with (parishioners') own recommendations," Walton said.

An analysis of tax rolls across the diocese's territory reveals churches worth a total of about $59 million. Add other parish holdings - from rectories to gardens to vacant lots, as well as affected missions that are expected to merge with parishes - and the land is worth more than $89 million.

These lots cover hundreds of acres across six counties and occupy sites next to highways and bayside towns.

They include a $27 million church site at St. Vincent Pallotti, in Haddon Township, Camden County, whose property includes a school that will not be closed - and St. Anthony's Mission in Commercial Township, Cumberland County, assessed at $129,200.