CAMDEN – Keeping in prayer clergy “called to the table of heaven,” Bishop Joseph Williams celebrated a Mass of Remembrance this afternoon for priests and deacons of the Diocese who have died in the past year.
In his homily, Bishop Williams called to mind the day’s Gospel of Luke, and Jesus’ Parable of the Great Banquet, where many are invited to dine with a man preparing a feast, but refuse to come due to their worldly attachments and possessions. Instead, the man invites the outcast, who accept the host’s generosity to join him.
Like those who refused the host’s request, “our attachment to false hopes … keeps us away from the truly wonderful things waiting for all of us in the Kingdom of God, [and] our place at the table,” the Bishop said to those gathered in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
Those deceased clergy recalled by name at the Mass: Msgr. Michael J. Coyne; Father Paul D. Harte; Deacon John Kirk; Deacon Santo Nastasi; Deacon James Smith; Msgr. James R. Tracy; Father John J. Tumosa; Deacon Angel Ramos Vega; and Deacon John Werner.
About two dozen priests concelebrated the Mass, including Father Jon Thomas, vicar general. Deacon Joseph Janocha, director of hospital chaplaincy for VITALity Catholic Healthcare Services – one of a dozen deacons in attendance – led the intercessions.
In his homily, Bishop Williams noted that the Gospel and its words that “blessed is the one who will dine in the Kingdom of God, [is] a reminder of the true hope for the Christian.”
“When things don’t go as we dreamed, we still have that hope that does not disappoint … anchored in heaven,” he said.
Those deceased clergy of the Diocese remembered at the Mass, he said, were models of belief in that hope, and the anticipation of heaven. They took to heart the words of Saint Paul to “rejoice in hope, endure in affliction [and] persevere in prayer,” Bishop Williams said.
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
