Registration now open for Pastoral Care Training; Nearly 1,000 gather at Belmar gazebo for Mass

Those who minister to the sick, grieving, divorced, imprisoned and others are invited to take part in the 2017-18 Pastoral Care Training Program beginning this fall.
 
The Diocesan Department of Pastoral Care is sponsoring 12 workshops over six daylong sessions – Fridays Nov. 17, Dec. 15, Jan. 12, Feb. 16, March 16 and April 13 – in the Chancery, Lawrenceville.
 
The sessions will cover topics such as pastoral theology, pastoral spirituality, pastoral presence, pastoral care of the dying, grief support, and more. Persons preparing for any parish pastoral ministry are strongly encouraged to take the entire program for the best preparation. You can find a full schedule, here.
 
Register at dioceseoftrenton.org/pastoral-care. For more information, please contact Deanna Sass, director of the Department of Pastoral Care, by emailing [email protected] or calling 609-403-7157. About 1,000 faithful gathered by the shore Aug. 13 as Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., celebrated an outdoor Mass at the gazebo on Silver Lake, Belmar.
 
The Mass, at which Bishop O’Connell was principal celebrant, was hosted by five Monmouth County shoreline parishes that comprise Cohort 19: St. Catharine-St. Margaret, Spring Lake; St. Rose, Belmar; St. Mark, Sea Girt; Ascension, Bradley Beach, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Avon, offered an opportunity for the gathering to pray, share camaraderie and reflect on the goals laid out in Faith In Our Future, the diocesan initiative commissioned by Bishop O’Connell in 2015 to strengthen and enliven parishes of the Diocese.
 
Looking to the congregation, Bishop O’Connell, in his homily, reflected on the Gospel that referred to the miracle that Jesus had performed when he fed 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and some fishes. Jesus’ miracles followed with his walking on water in the Sea of Galilee and then his having to convince his apostles that he was indeed the Son of God.
 
"Sometimes it takes a little drama to stir up faith," Bishop O'Connell said. "Faith is not simply a set of doctrines, although they are important. Faith is not simply a dramatic miracle here and there that catches our attention. Faith is a relationship with the Lord. And like every good relationship, it has to grow and deepen – it cannot be taken for granted.”
 
You can read more about the Mass, here, see the full text of Bishop O’Connell’s homily, here, and watch an archived version of the homily live stream, here.