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Class of diaconate candidates offer day of service to St. Joseph Shrine
from July 20, 2023
By Deacon Patrick Cline, Correspondent
Service is at the very heart of a vocation to the Diaconate. The word diakonia is Greek for service. The three pillars of the diaconate are: the Ministry of the Word, the Ministry of Liturgy and the Ministry of Service.
So it is no surprise that, in addition to taking 36 credits of Master level courses and other classes, the Formation Program for Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate in the Diocese of Metuchen requires candidates to identify and perform an individual service project consisting of at least 30 hours.
For the 16 men of the Ordination class of 2024, the projects chosen ranged from hospital and prison ministry, food pantries, veterans’ assistance programs, and helping with Right to Life centers, among others.
The men are also required to select a service project in which the entire class may participate. After discussing a number of options, this class decided to volunteer for cleaning, maintenance and light repair work at the Shrine of St. Jo seph, Stirling. Even though the Shrine is located in the Diocese of Paterson, many parishioners from the Metuchen Diocese benefit from a number of services and activities the Shrine offers.
The Shrine was established in 1924 and is operated by the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, an order founded by Vincentian Father Thomas Augustine Judge. He is also the one who opened the Shrine as a refuge for all Catholics, where they could be renewed in their faith and serve as missionaries to the world in their everyday lives.
While the Shrine has a maintenance staff that takes care of the physical facility, each spring the effects of winter weather necessitate additional effort and manpower. One of the candidates, Eric Koppi, a parishioner of Blessed Sacra- ment Parish, Martinsville, was speaking with the facilities manager about the possibility of the class offering a workday at the Shrine to assist in preparing for the increase in visitors as spring and summer approached. The manager welcomed the offer.
The team and friends from Life Choices Resource Center, Metuchen, enjoyed a night of fun, laughter and fellowship June 22 at the Somerset Patriots Ballpark. Some 80 friends and families from the Center, The Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi, Metuchen, and St. Helena Parish, Edison, came together for the game and fireworks afterwards. Life Choices Resource Center was recognized from the public service announcer and on the scoreboard. The highlight of the evening was being invited onto the field to sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” the unofficial anthem of North American baseball. Elaine Yunker, director of Outreach for the Center, shared, “It was a fun night and a great opportunity to proudly wear our “Choose Life” shirts and publicly show our love for God!” Life Choices Resource Center is a pregnancy help center that offers free pregnancy tests, ultrasounds and compassionate peer counseling. Contact them at 732 516-0822.
Koppi presented the idea to the class and a day in June was chosen for the project. Supplying many of the necessary tools themselves, the men arrived and, after many of them attended the 8 a.m. Mass in the chapel, began their various projects which ran the gamut from power washing the 9/11 Memorial, Stations of the Cross Garden and walkways, to weeding, trimming and sprucing up Shrine property. Joining the class for the workday was Deacon Stephen F. Kern, diocesan director, Office of the Diaconate.
In addition, the men applied new paver sand for the walkways and provided some basic masonry repair, mostly repointing of bricks and stones for the
Deacon candidates Jacinto Fernandez, Our Lady of Fatima, Piscataway and Harold De Freitas, St Augustine of Canterbury, Kendall Park, restore paver sand around the Shrine’s 9/11 Bell Tower.
The Permanent Diaconate Ordination Class of 2024 pose for a class photo during their summer service project at St. Joseph Shrine, Stirling.
Deacon candidate Anthony Scarpantonio, Sacred Heart Parish, Manville, attaches one of 14 new crosses he made for each Station of the Cross at the Shrine of St. Joseph, Sterling.
Deacon Patrick Cline photos
Blessed Mother Shrine and the Cross in the outdoor Stations Garden, with a number of men returning three additional evening to complete unfinished tasks, including redoing paver sand around the 9/11 Memorial and Bell Tower.
