Dear OLP Family,

Happy July Fourth! This 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is an opportune time to reflect upon the great privilege and responsibility of living in this “land of the free and home of the brave.” Our Bishops’ Conference consecrated our nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus last month. Here in our parish too, we prayed the Novena to the Sacred Heart, culminating in the prayer of consecration on June 11.

Dear OLP Family,

Last Sunday was a day of joyful celebration for our parish as we hosted the First Mass of the newly ordained priest Fr. James Prumos, our own parishioner. There was only one ordination to priesthood for our Diocese this year, and we are grateful to God that our parish is the recipient of that honor and grace. There were ten priests at the altar last Sunday for the First Mass of Fr. Prumos, including some who served our parish in the past.

Dear OLP Family,

Today we have two wonderful celebrations – a parish feast and a national feast. As a parish of Our Lady of Peace, we have the joy of celebrating the First Mass of the newly ordained priest, Reverend James Prumos. Yesterday he was raised to the Order of Priests, by Most Reverend Paul Bootkoski, the Bishop Emeritus of our Diocese at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi.

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: