Class of diaconate candidates offer day of service to St. Joseph Shrine

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. Joseph, 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 Sacrament 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.

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 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.