Message from Father Ray

Last night I attended a special dinner sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. It was the annual, “Pride in our Priests” dinner. While I was there I made it a point to speak with our Archbishop, Joseph Tobin. He was very gracious and permitted me to speak freely. I began by telling him about our concern with the proposed parish mergers. I made it clear that we do not consider being merged into a larger parish, a valid option, and that we will be proposing our own alternate suggestion for a collaboration among neighboring parishes of equal size.

I also asked if he would be willing to come to our parish so that he could meet you, and come to better understand what we are about, what has been happening here, and what we see as the future for our parish. He acknowledged that he has never been to our parish and readily agreed to come here to celebrate Mass with us and meet all of you. I’m in the process now of arranging that date and I will certainly let you know as soon as that is finalized.

But in the mean time, I also told the Archbishop about our plan to enclose the entrance of our church in glass, to create a weather protected gathering space to facilitate opportunities for communication and community building. I pointed out that this enclosed area would also provide a measure of safety for our parishioners during inclement weather. It would provide a safe place for the elderly who are awaiting a pick up from family members or assisted living facilities. They could safely remain in this comfortable space even after the church has been locked up because the doors would automatically lock behind them when they exit.

I also pointed out that allowing us to move forward with this construction project would be a great show of faith in our parish and the future of our church structure. Permitting us to move forward with construction clearly says that no decision has been made about closing our church. And I emphasized that this is crucial to alleviating the concerns that all of this discussion of merging parishes has triggered among the members of my parish. So I am pleased to say that the Archbishop has agreed to look at the plans, indicating he remains open to the possibility of making an exception to the diocesan wide shut down of all church construction projects.

So I ask you to please keep this project in your prayers, because I firmly believe this will tell us a lot about what the diocese currently thinks our future is. And I’m telling you in no uncertain terms, I believe our future is bright, and it’s all thanks to you and your commitment! I say that with confidence because, as I mentioned, we had 400 parishioners sign up to attend the parish listening sessions last week. When I pointed that out to the Bishop, his eyes went wide, he was stunned! He clearly was aware that the average showing across the diocese was roughly 50 people per session. We exceeded that number by a factor of 4! That got his attention! I think it’s critical that we continue to ride this momentum, and so as I mentioned, the next phase of this process involves your personal response to the e-mail being automatically sent to all who attended the listening sessions.

But I’m including the link to that website here, so that every one of you has the opportunity to send in your opinion. And I’m asking you to take this really seriously. I would like a response rate of 800 to this opinion submission!

Again, they are keeping track of all of these numbers, and if we can double the number of physical attendees, well that is going to blow the minds of the people sitting in an office somewhere deciding the fate of parishes they’ve never been to before. And right now that’s what we need. We need to blow their minds!

Encourage everybody you know, wherever they are, if they have any vested interest in, or any connection to, Our Lady of Good Counsel, write a personal response, however brief. Encourage them to voice their feeling about what makes OLGC special to them, and why it is so critically important that this local parish church remain a local church, serving the needs of the people of Washington Township and the surrounding towns. Help those who have never been here, to understand that we are not just another church. We are something very unique, and very special, and very important to the spiritual life of its membership and even the broader community in which we live.

And I would ask you to pray about your response before committing it to writing. Avoid coming across as angry or negative. Keep your responses focused on the positive, on how being part of the OLGC community has helped you personally grow in your relationship to God, and how you believe that what we have here is different from anywhere else.

And then send a written copy of that response to the Archbishop and Regional Bishop as well. For many of you it was your parents and grandparents, who helped build this church. Now it’s your turn to step up and build upon what your families started. Failure is not an option!

Submit your feedback using this form, click here.

God Bless You,
Father Ray