Dear Friends,

This weekend’s Gospel passage has Jesus preaching one of the central paradoxes of Christian life. He says to his apostles, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Put another way, we discover who we were made to be by going all in on Jesus.

When I gave my full “yes” to Jesus just over ten years ago, I didn’t know where he’d lead me. I thought I had some idea of what my life would look like, but I was quite content to leave it up to him. I trusted Jesus and wanted to follow him: the rest was - and is - details. Thank you, my friends, for celebrating this milestone 10th anniversary with me last weekend.

One of the happy turns of my young priesthood came when Bishop Serratelli assigned me to Our Lady of Mount Carmel almost five years ago. I don’t know exactly why, but whenever I’ve been asked how long I intend to stay at OLMC, I’ve responded - without hesitating - that I expect to die here. Perhaps it’s something to do with this Gospel dynamic: I’ve gone all in on Jesus at OLMC, and so it’s no surprise that I’ve discovered who I was made to be here as a person and as a priest.

Thank you all very much, my friends, for who you are and who you are to me. We are making our way together, and I am excited to see where the Lord will take our “yeses” these next decades!

Thank you in a special way to all who helped with the planning of the celebration, especially Christina Simonetti. Christina leaves us for the greener pastures (golf courses) of North Carolina at the end of this month to begin her retirement. She leaves with my sincere appreciation for her hard work and dedication to our parish for the entire time I’ve been in Boonton. She has been the backbone of operations here and her faithful service embodies the true spirit of OLMC. I know I speak for all of us when I wish her all of God’s blessings in her future endeavors.

Christ’s Peace,

Father Daniel

δοῦλος Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ