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The Annual St. Mary’s/Our Lady of Peace Parish Carnival is CANCELLED this year. We thank everyone for their help and support in the past years of the Carnival. We are hoping to return next year 2022.
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Below is the Policy for the Camden Diocese on Social Media:
Thank you for being a member of our online community. We welcome open discussion on current topics and issues. As a community of faith, we always conduct ourselves upholding the dignity of each and every individual.
This site permits readers to post comments although we are not responsible for the content of those comments. Opinions and views expressed in those comments reflect the thoughts of the individuals who post them and do not necessarily reflect the views of this organization.
As a condition of posting comments, you agree not to post any inappropriate comments – including, but not limited to obscenities, foul language, spam, personal attacks, bashing, bullying, intimidation, harassment, verbal abuse, threats, insults, commercial solicitations, repetitive or fraudulent comments, comments irrelevant to the post under which they are written, comments which are morally objectionable, and comments which are otherwise inconsistent with Catholic teaching. We welcome your questions and comments; however, we will not respond on this site. Please direct questions and comments to us via email at Olopp@olopp.org
We reserve the sole right, but are not obligated to, review, edit and/or remove any and all comments. We reserve the right to block any user who posts inappropriate comments.
Links to external websites should not be interpreted as an endorsement of those organizations or the opinions of those organizations. We are not responsible for the content of external web sites.
Thank you for your contributions to our site and for your help in creating a courteous, safe and energetic place for discussion.
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Banns of Ordination to the Priesthood:
The Most Reverend Dennis J. Sullivan, D.D. announces that he intends to ordain Mr. Steven Bertonazzi and Mr. Carlo Santa Teresa to the Sacred Order of Presbyter on Saturday, the 22nd day of May, 2021 at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Mary Mother of Mercy Parish in Glassboro, New Jersey.
The faithful of the Diocese of Camden are asked to pray for these men and for the young men of their parish who are being called by God to service in the Church. At the same time the faithful are obliged to reveal impediments to sacred orders, if they know of any, by contacting their pastor before the ordination in accord with the norms of cc. 1043 and 1051.2 of the Code of Canon Law.
Mary Immaculate, patroness of the Diocese of Camden, intercede for these men and for an increase in vocations to the priesthood here in South Jersey.
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The Religious Education Office is in NEED of Catechists for the upcoming year starting in September 2021. We will once again be teaching remotely via Zoom. If you have an interest in teaching our youth, please contact the Religious Education office Monday thru Friday 9am-1pm. As of now we are looking for Sunday 10:30am 1st Grade and Thursday 5:15pm for both 7th and 8th Grades.
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The OLOP Parish Nurses will be offering a virtual health
promotion activity for interested parishioners this spring. It will focus on The Model of Health Living published by the Church Health Center of Memphis, TN (some of you may have picked up the booklet at our ministry table on Ministry Sundays or at the Eagle Scout Health Fair a couple of years ago). The activity will be held from 7 – 8 PM every Wednesday starting on May 5, 2021 and ending on June 30, 2021. Each week the nurses and participants will discuss one component of healthy living. Week 1 will focus on the Model for Healthy Living Assessment Wheel and an overview of the model that includes seven components of one’s wholistic health: Faith life, Movement, Medical, Work, Emotional, Nutrition, Friends and Family. Each consecutive week (7 weeks in total) the nurses and participants will address one of the seven components of healthy living by reviewing related scripture, reflecting on the scripture, assessing one’s level of meeting the specific wholistic health need, thinking about what changes can be made, and then taking action. Participants will complete a brief worksheet that will be emailed to them prior to each session. This worksheet will be the basis for discussions each week. The last week (week 9) the nurses and participants will focus on the reassessment of healthy living using the assessment wheel. During this session, the participants will be encouraged to share what strategies worked or didn’t work in improving their wholistic health. This is an opportunity for you to take control of your health and to re-engage with fellow parishioners. Please consider joining the parish nurses to talk about ways of incorporating healthy living strategies into our daily lives. Interested participants are asked to send an email to the parish nurses’ email address (oloppnurses@yahoo.com) so that discussion materials and the videoconferencing link can be sent to you prior to each session. We hope to see you in May!
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The link below is from the Diocese with some information that might help regarding funeral expenses if related to COVID.
FEMA Funeral expenses paid SJCC
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*NEWS FROM THE MUSIC MINISTRY**: We are able to have a LIMITED number of choir members in the church. Consequently at the present time there will be NO CHILDREN’S CHOIR or ADULT CHOIR REHEARSALS. Things are changing from day to day, and any updates will be published in the bulletin and on the parish website. Please pray that this COVID19 virus comes to an end so we can fully open our churches. God Bless you and stay safe! Jon Agresta
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We are equipped with a hearing assistance system. They are located at the elevators you may use your own earplugs or if your hearing aids have a “T” setting you may use the lanyard. You may sit anywhere in the church including the cry room. For assistance just ask one of the ushers.
LAZARUS MINISTRY
Lazarus Ministry is designed to support families who have lost a loved one. This ministry helps families prepare for the Mass of Resurrection (Funeral Mass) with the readings and symbols that proclaim our faith in the promises of Jesus. They are looking for help!! If you feel you can help with this Ministry, please contact Sally Kingston 856-417-1702.
House of Charity – Bishop’s Annual Appeal
Our goal here at OLOPP is $188,900.00; we have raised $94,723.00 to date, which is from 329 families. Please remember all pledges must be paid in order for the Parish to receive back 10%. Please make your sacrificial gift to help continue the mission of the church here in the Diocese of Camden. With a parish of more than 4,400 families, we still need a lot of gifts to make our parish goal! If you have not made a donation, Pledge Cards are at the side doors of the Church and in the Parish Center. Thank You! Thank you all for your Generosity. May God Bless YOU!!!
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St. Mary School Registering
Anyone interested in registering their child for grades Kindergarten through 8th grade or for our 3 and 4 year old Preschool Program for the 2021-2022 school year. To register please contact the Advancement Director, Jackie Kern at 856-629-6190 ext. 234 or at advancementoffice@smarys.org. You may also visit our website at www.smarys.org to learn more about St. Mary School.
St. Mary School, Williamstown Open House
St. Mary School will hold an Open House on _VIRTUAL ZOOM_ for anyone interested in registering their child for grades Kindergarten through 8th grade and for our 3 and 4 year old Preschool Program for the 2021-2022 school year. Registration will also take place during the Open House. To register for the Open House or for more information please contact Advancement Director, Jackie Kern at 856-629-6190 ext. 234 or at advancementoffice@smarys.org. To learn more about St. Mary School please visit our website at www.smarys.org. St. Mary School is located at 32A Carroll Ave, Williamstown.
SMS 100 CLUB
St. Mary School would like to invite Our Lady of Peace parishioners, as well as family and friends, who are business owners to participate in our SMS 100 Club. This program enables local businesses to donate a tax-deductible gift of $100 to the St. Mary School Annual Fund. Your business’ generosity will be acknowledged on our website, in our Annual Report, and in a variety of written communication to our school families during the 2018-2019 school year. Your business name will be seen by close to 400 school families as well as hundreds of visitors to our website and recipients of our Annual Report. We welcome our local businesses to take part in this initiative which greatly supports our school. Our goal is to have at least 100 businesses participate in our program.
For more information and the required SMS 100 Club form, please visit our website at http://www.smarys.org. Forms may also be found in the information racks at the entrance of the Church. You may also mail in your payment and business name and contact to St. Mary School, SMS 100 Club, 32A Carroll Ave., Williamstown. NJ 08094. For further information, please contact Jackie Kern in the Advancement Office at advancement@smarys.org or 856-629-6190 ext 234.
CALLED TO SERVICE – AM I CALLED?
Through the Sacrament of Initiation, all Christians are called to holiness and to participate in the churches outreach to the world. Some men received a more specific call to the diaconate, through which they are specially consecrated for Christian service (diakonis).
How do I know if God is calling me to the diaconate? The gradual discovery of the vocation into the diaconate and takes place through prayer and discernment.
A vocation traces its beginnings to one’s ongoing dialogue with God. On the personal level, men considering the diaconate should ask the Holy Spirit to disclose the Father’s will for them, not only through time of personal and liturgical prayer, but also in and through daily lives dedicated to God and neighbor.