ST. JOE'S PASTOR LEAVING, ADDS TO DISARRAY

St. Joseph's Church has had a whirlwind of change and challenge in the past few years, and now comes word that its pastor, Rev. Eustace Edomobi, is leaving.

Since he replaced former pastor, Rev. Michael Saporito, many in the parish have been frustrated with his lack of communication and oversight, with some pleading with the Archdiocese of Newark to intervene.

A major incident that added to concerns was the March 2012 assault on a church employee, and later word that the parish had fired her for not being able to return to work after her horrible tragedy.

In today's church bulletin, Father Eustace addresses his departure, but with little explanation, with this note:

PERSEVERING IN HOPE

I thank you, Brothers and Sisters, for your great show of support, encouragement and understanding in the last few weeks when I announced that my duty as your pastor will end on February 1, 2014. I know that something like this is unsettling and can create confusion and the circulation of accounts that are simply not true. So that is why I told you up-front what had taken place during my vacation, so that you could hear the facts from me and not get caught up in misinformation or rumor. 

The true character of the St. Joseph Community showed itself in the numerous offers to help and solidarity to me as your pastor, as I look forward to a new assignment.  To all who by phone call, visit or e-mail have sent words of encouragement, I offer sincere gratitude from my heart. For now, let us work together as family by meeting one another’s spiritual and emotional needs so we can move forward.

Today in the Gospel, our thoughts are directed to the end of times. Like everything in life, whatever has beginning will have an end. We all have times in our lives where we believe our worlds are coming to an end. These are usually times of high stress and intensity, huge disappointment, great upset, and despair.  They can be caused sometimes by events not of our making, by incidents that concern our family members, friends, world events, or natural disasters. 

The more people are involved, the greater the stress, unease, and chaos. We experience things like:  illness or death of loved ones, divorce, hurricanes, war, and end of Pastorate or even thoughts about the end of the world itself.  Certainly, in each of these events or thoughts, the world as we have come to know it seems to come to an end. The consoling message of today’s Gospel is that in all that we experience, Christ is near, Christ is present and Christ will see us through. Luke tells us that, in these moments, “not a hair on our heads will be destroyed,” for God is there. Our task then is to look for Him, to persevere, and not to lose hope. 

Grace and Peace of the Lord,

Fr. Eustace

This can only offer more uproar in the church's daily life, which has seen many members depart out of frustration.

Hopefully whoever takes over can give the church the resurrection it needs.