First Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that he may grant you in accord with the riches of his glory to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner self, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the holy ones what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel: Luke 12:49-53
"I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
We Remember St. Veronica Church…
I’ve always enjoyed the intimacy of small neighborhood churches. There is a certain beauty to them. St. Veronica’s Church is one such church. The small mission church was dedicated in December 1940 and erected as a parish on June 10, 1961 with Fr. James Duffy as the first pastor. If you have never had the joy of visiting the church, it is a humble structure about the size of a bungalow style house! When you see the building from the outside, you don’t expect to be impressed at all when you walk in. However, when you walk through the doors you are treated to a beautiful, dignified space. The quaint pews and small chandelier lights lead to a sanctuary that has been lovingly decorated over the years by generations dedicated parishioners and hard working priests.
When I think of large basilica-type churches I think of magnificence and stature, but I don’t think of intimacy. When I walk into a church like St. Veronica’s I can feel the intimate love between the people and their God. You can almost hear the echoes of grandmothers teaching their grandchildren the parts of the Mass. Churches like St. Veronica are the remnants of those places where everybody knows your name. This is the kind of church I like; because in my Father’s house everyone does know your name…everyone is your neighbor.
A dear elder priest friend of mine once told me that when he was a young priest no one ever had to call and request a sick call. He always knew which of his parishioners was sick because he was a part of the lives of the families in the parish and he would visit an ailing parishioner like he would visit a friend---without being asked. St. Veronica’s was a church like that. The parish and the priest made up a family. Even though the little church may fade into history, the love that was born there will live forever.
Please remember the priests and families that made St. Veronica’s a house of God for so many decades.
About this blog
Please remember the Faith Communities that have been God's own Family and yours...
One of my favorite Christian artists is a singer/songwriter called Michael Card. His song “So Many Books” has always been a favorite of mine. During my time in the novice period of formation as a Dominican tertiary I particularly enjoyed the song. The chorus sings to us thus: “So many books, so little time…so many hunger…so many blind. Starving for words they must wait in the night, to open a Bible and move towards the Light.” As a young learner I looked to the “books” of the printed word for knowledge as many young people do. I searched for meaning in the texts of what I called tradition.
As I matured and grew in age and wisdom I came to understand the lyrics of the song of life a little differently. I understand now that the greatest books ever written are written not by man but by God and that these books are not all found in the canonical Bible. These great works of the Father are found in the form of his own children. Your life is part of God’s great library. Each person represents a volume in the encyclopedic work of life. People are God’s tradition. Now as a bishop, I see God’s wisdom in the men and women who have walked before me. I see the beauty of God’s love in all that the older generations have worked to build up for those who come after them. I believe it is the duty of bishops to preserve Tradition by preserving what has been handed to us from our elder brothers and sisters in God.
Memory is important in tradition. We honor our fathers and mothers by remembering them. Parish communities act as libraries in that they house the books of the families of God. In recent years we have witness the downsizing of many dioceses throughout the US. I lament this trend because when the parish fades out of history there is a danger that we will forget those people who were God’s instruments in bringing the parish into the world. I wish my little community of believers had the ability to save all those parishes from extinction.
This little blog is part of my effort to remember the parishes throughout our land that have played a crucial role in building up the library of God’s love for his people. I will post a link to Mass readings and sometimes I’ll offer a brief commentary or I will post other news or information that may be of interest to readers. Along with this information I will sometimes post a section entitled “We Remember” which will highlight memories of a particular parish community, priest, or bishop. I write this blog as a person of love and faith, not as any official minister. This blog is not connected to the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy or any diocese or parish, nor is it my intention to lead anyone to believe it is so connected. It is however rooted in the love God has for his children and the communities that have breathed his love into the world for countless generations. It is also my personal gift to those men and women of history who deserve to be remembered.
As a young priest and eventually a bishop in the independent Catholic movement (a movement that has enjoyed much attention in recent years due to the efforts of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI to welcome many “wandering bishops” back home to the Church), I have come to appreciate the beauty of God’s people. It is not uncommon in the independent movement for bishops and pastors to be younger than those in the mainstream Catholic Church. I have never questioned this trend because of the fact that Jesus began his public ministry at age thirty and because the first apostles were either younger or not much older than the thirty-year-old-Jesus. I have always found a certain beauty in this trend because I have been able to minster to men and women of older generations. This is a privilege because it has afforded me the opportunity to live out the command to honor father and mother in a deeply spiritual way. Even though some may jeer at the practice of ordaining younger men to the order of bishop, it is a tradition that more closely follows the example of the ministry and choice of Jesus.
I believe that God gives his Son in the form of youth so that Hope can be visible in the community. What do I mean? Jesus comes to us as a man in his thirties and by doing so reaches into the community of the young and the community of the older. He is in essence the bridge of that which has been called the “generation gap.” He gives hope to the very young and to the very old in that he represents the future for both groups. For the young he is what they aspire to be. For the old he is the embodiment of what they leave as their legacy of love to the world.
I have had the honor of ministering to many members of the faithful who, by the labor of their lives, paved the way for those like me to inherit the joys of the Kingdom. I hope that this little web page will also expose me to more of the love and wisdom of the generations of elders that I seek to cherish and honor. If you have a story you would like to share about the history of your faith community of a special minister who touched your life, e-mail me at dominicanvocations@hotmail.com and I will do my best to share it with the world in the form of this blog site.
I also encourage you to start your own “We Remember” effort by means of your own web page or blog or by commemorating the history of your faith family in some other way. The Catholic tradition in Southern New Jersey will be celebrating its Diamond Jubilee in 2012, so now is the perfect time to begin to collect and publish your memories of the past 75 years of the Tradition of God’s People here at home.
Be assured of my prayers for you and your faith communities. Please pray for me.
With hope for the future, I am,
+ Tomas Martin, OPD
Bishop of the OPD Community
One of my favorite Christian artists is a singer/songwriter called Michael Card. His song “So Many Books” has always been a favorite of mine. During my time in the novice period of formation as a Dominican tertiary I particularly enjoyed the song. The chorus sings to us thus: “So many books, so little time…so many hunger…so many blind. Starving for words they must wait in the night, to open a Bible and move towards the Light.” As a young learner I looked to the “books” of the printed word for knowledge as many young people do. I searched for meaning in the texts of what I called tradition.
As I matured and grew in age and wisdom I came to understand the lyrics of the song of life a little differently. I understand now that the greatest books ever written are written not by man but by God and that these books are not all found in the canonical Bible. These great works of the Father are found in the form of his own children. Your life is part of God’s great library. Each person represents a volume in the encyclopedic work of life. People are God’s tradition. Now as a bishop, I see God’s wisdom in the men and women who have walked before me. I see the beauty of God’s love in all that the older generations have worked to build up for those who come after them. I believe it is the duty of bishops to preserve Tradition by preserving what has been handed to us from our elder brothers and sisters in God.
Memory is important in tradition. We honor our fathers and mothers by remembering them. Parish communities act as libraries in that they house the books of the families of God. In recent years we have witness the downsizing of many dioceses throughout the US. I lament this trend because when the parish fades out of history there is a danger that we will forget those people who were God’s instruments in bringing the parish into the world. I wish my little community of believers had the ability to save all those parishes from extinction.
This little blog is part of my effort to remember the parishes throughout our land that have played a crucial role in building up the library of God’s love for his people. I will post a link to Mass readings and sometimes I’ll offer a brief commentary or I will post other news or information that may be of interest to readers. Along with this information I will sometimes post a section entitled “We Remember” which will highlight memories of a particular parish community, priest, or bishop. I write this blog as a person of love and faith, not as any official minister. This blog is not connected to the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy or any diocese or parish, nor is it my intention to lead anyone to believe it is so connected. It is however rooted in the love God has for his children and the communities that have breathed his love into the world for countless generations. It is also my personal gift to those men and women of history who deserve to be remembered.
As a young priest and eventually a bishop in the independent Catholic movement (a movement that has enjoyed much attention in recent years due to the efforts of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI to welcome many “wandering bishops” back home to the Church), I have come to appreciate the beauty of God’s people. It is not uncommon in the independent movement for bishops and pastors to be younger than those in the mainstream Catholic Church. I have never questioned this trend because of the fact that Jesus began his public ministry at age thirty and because the first apostles were either younger or not much older than the thirty-year-old-Jesus. I have always found a certain beauty in this trend because I have been able to minster to men and women of older generations. This is a privilege because it has afforded me the opportunity to live out the command to honor father and mother in a deeply spiritual way. Even though some may jeer at the practice of ordaining younger men to the order of bishop, it is a tradition that more closely follows the example of the ministry and choice of Jesus.
I believe that God gives his Son in the form of youth so that Hope can be visible in the community. What do I mean? Jesus comes to us as a man in his thirties and by doing so reaches into the community of the young and the community of the older. He is in essence the bridge of that which has been called the “generation gap.” He gives hope to the very young and to the very old in that he represents the future for both groups. For the young he is what they aspire to be. For the old he is the embodiment of what they leave as their legacy of love to the world.
I have had the honor of ministering to many members of the faithful who, by the labor of their lives, paved the way for those like me to inherit the joys of the Kingdom. I hope that this little web page will also expose me to more of the love and wisdom of the generations of elders that I seek to cherish and honor. If you have a story you would like to share about the history of your faith community of a special minister who touched your life, e-mail me at dominicanvocations@hotmail.com and I will do my best to share it with the world in the form of this blog site.
I also encourage you to start your own “We Remember” effort by means of your own web page or blog or by commemorating the history of your faith family in some other way. The Catholic tradition in Southern New Jersey will be celebrating its Diamond Jubilee in 2012, so now is the perfect time to begin to collect and publish your memories of the past 75 years of the Tradition of God’s People here at home.
Be assured of my prayers for you and your faith communities. Please pray for me.
With hope for the future, I am,
+ Tomas Martin, OPD
Bishop of the OPD Community