Dear OLP Family, Greetings!

I wish to reflect with you a changed scenario in our parish. Fr. Sebastian Kaithackal, CMI, is retiring after his meritorious ministry as Chaplain at JFK Hospital. We are very grateful to him for graciously helping our parish with Masses, Confessions, etc., despite his full time chaplaincy work. His farewell Mass and reception will be at 12:00pm on Sun, Jul 12. All are welcome.

Whether we will have another chaplain in residence or not, we need to realize the challenges I have in this ‘single-priest-parish’ to do the daily 8:00am Mass, the four weekend Masses, Confessions, Funerals, Anointing of the sick, etc. Hence it is necessary to make some adjustments. The latest official headcount averages only 708 for the four weekend Masses combined. I propose to you two changes that I communicated with the different ministries of our parish, and they were all very supportive.

Dear OLP Family,

Next Sunday is a very important day in the annals of the history of our parish Community of Our Lady of Peace. You have been reading about the good news of Deacon James Prumos, a son of our parish, being raised to the Order of Priests this coming Saturday June 20, 2026, in our Cathedral Church of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen.

Dear OLP Family,

You must have heard about ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ (Magnificent Humanity) - the first Encyclical of Pope Leo XIV. This teaching document on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human dignity has deeply polarized, sparking intense debate across both secular and religious spheres. Sad to say, some media headlines have been very misleading:

Dear OLP Family,

I am very happy to share with you an exciting news: Deacon James F Prumos will be ordained to the Order of Priests at the Cathedral on June 20th, 10am. This is a wonderful news for us because Deacon Prumos is our parishioner! A vocation to priesthood from our parish is a matter of joy and pride for us all, and it could serve as an inspiration for our youth. His family is part of our OLP family and his mother Mary Prumos has been serving us as a Eucharistic Minister.

Dear OLP Family,

Pentecost literally means 50th. It is a feast celebrated on the 50th day after the Passover feast by the Jews, who originally had it as a post-harvest thanksgiving feast. Later, the Jews included in it, the remembrance of God’s Covenants with Noah (after the Deluge) and with Moses (at Mt. Sinai). The Christians celebrated it as a feast on the 50th day after the feast of the Resurrection of Jesus.

Dear OLP Family,

We know from the Bible that the Ascension of Jesus took place forty days after the Resurrection: “[Jesus] presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days.” Acts 1:3. The 40th day after Easter Sunday will always be Thursday, therefore the Church, from very early on, celebrated Christ’s Ascension on this day.

Dear OLP Family,

We salute all our Mothers today! Isn’t it great that we have this annual day to highlight the great vocation to motherhood and what we, as their sons and daughters, owe them? Yes, motherhood is a vocation, a divine call, and not a hobby. You, parents do not collect children like stamps or art works, but it is the divine call by which you become co-creators and sustainers of life with God.

Dear OLP Family,

We know that May is the month of Mary. But did you notice that we began this month with the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1? Why? Human labor is the means for us to sustain our life on this earth. Every year on May 1st, working people around the world join together for a day of remembrance and demonstrations. That is why May Day is also known as International Workers’ Day, a holiday celebrating workers and the history of labor movement.