A Message from the Bishop

Finding the signs of renewed parishes

Ever since becoming your bishop, I’ve made it a top priority to work on making our parishes vibrant places where lifetime faith formation takes place, the Eucharist is celebrated as the source and summit of our faith, and the poor and troubled in our communities find a welcome.

All well and good, some might say, but where’s the proof that this renewal is actually taking place?

First, some background:

Parish life has changed, often for the better, in my lifetime. When I was ordained for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1964, I was put to work as an associate at Our Lady of Consolation in the Tacony section of the city. The members of my ordination class who were assigned to parishes devoted ourselves to the same kind of work, no matter where we were assigned. It was a time when parish life was fairly uniform.

There was an abundance of priests, and we were happy to minister in visiting the sick and offering the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where there were long lines on Saturday afternoons.

After Vatican Council II, parish life underwent a transformation. Lay people were invited, by nature of our common baptism, to do many of the things I did as a young priest. I have seen how that call to lay ministry has transformed parishes throughout my lifetime.

While serving in Texas, even in the smallest and poorest parishes, I saw active outreach to meet the needs of the poor. These were communities that lived out the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew, who said he could be found in the faces of the struggling hungry, sick and imprisoned:

“I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me,” Jesus told his followers, who then asked, “Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you something to drink?”

Jesus replied, “Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.”

And now, back to my roots in the northeast, I see a similar dynamic emerging in our parishes in the Diocese of Camden as I travel throughout our six counties in South Jersey. I am regularly reminded of the impact parish life continues to have:

When I hear music at parish liturgies sung by enthused people who love and live their faith;

When I greet parishioners at receptions, and they are anxious to pull me aside and tell me how their parish has transformed their lives;

When I hear people involved in our adult Faith Formation program, who describe how enthused, excited and zealous they are to serve our parish communities;

When I hear people describe how a pastor is beloved by his people and how he is able to bring forth the gifts and talents of lay people.

These are subtle, yet real. But there are other ways to see evidence of a renewed parish.

One clue can be found in the parking lot, not just on weekends but during the week. Parishes that are renewed present a lively vibe: their parking lots are often filled, not only on weekends but on Mondays and Tuesdays and frequently throughout the week.

In such vibrant parishes, the Eucharist brings people together to celebrate their unity every weekend. During the week, parishioners regularly come to churches that are forging that community, whether through efforts to serve the poor, provide mothers with a day out, offering a helping hand to bereaved spouses or responding in scores of ways to the needs of their communities.

These parishes live Matthew’s Gospel, responding to Jesus by making a difference in the lives of those who suffer. That hasn’t changed in my experience, from Philadelphia to Texas and now in South Jersey. The needs that renewed communities can address remain boundless. Parish renewal is a constant and remains a priority of our diocese.

May God continue to bless you and guide you.