Good Counsel Homes will celebrate the opening of their South Jersey home on June 26 at Resurrection Parish in Riverside.
Father Ian Trammell will be the main celebrant and Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R., chairman of the board and co-founder of Good Counsel will be the guest homilist at the noon Mass. Following Mass, there will be light refreshments and tours of the home until 3 p.m.
Parking is limited, so carpooling is recommended.
Father Benedict Groeschel, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, is a professor of pastoral psychology at St. Joseph’s Seminary and director of the Office for Spiritual Development for the Archdiocese of New York. In February he was presented with the first Lifetime Achievement Award to be given by the Catholic Psychotherapy Association
He has published a number of books on spirituality and pastoral counseling and founded the Trinity Retreat, a center for prayer and study for clergy. He has taught at Fordham University, Iona College and Maryknoll Seminary.
He is host of the television talk program Sunday Night Live with Father Benedict Groeschel, which is broadcast on EWTN.
In 1985, Christopher Bell approached Father Groeschel saying, “Someone has to help the numerous women who are pregnant and homeless.”
Father Groeschel offered his help to open a home for pregnant mothers, that offered a safe haven and also programs to help women go out and raise their children in a safe and loving environment. These programs focus on the whole person; physically, emotionally and spiritually.
There are currently four homes in New York. The fifth home and first of its kind recently opened in South Jersey.
The South Jersey home opened its doors on April 6. With accommodations to serve nine mothers and their children, the home was operating at over 100 percent occupancy in one month.
For more information go to www.goodcounselhomes.org or contact Brenda Quinn at 856-423-3468 or olvbquinn@aol.com.