Dear OLP Family,

Today is World Day for Grandparents and Elderly. This is a day established by Pope Francis in 2021“to draw attention to a category all too often placed on the margins, remembering instead their value and encouraging actions in their favor.” Though the U.S. bishops decided to transfer this to the first weekend after Labor Day to coincide with National Grandparents and the Elderly Day in the United States, the rest of the world celebrates it today. Hence, it is good for us to reflect on the theme of this year’s celebration.

Dear OLP Family, Let me share with you two relevant reflections.

Disobedience to the Pope: Some parishioners asked me recently: what is the difference between regular Catholics and SSPX Catholics, and why are SSPX excommunicated by the Vatican?

Dear OLP Family,

There’s a nice story about a farmer who entered each year his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovering that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors, asked: "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?”

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:

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.