The water’s fine
A few months ago, I asked you to share your photos of immersion baptism (Inside ML, ML 24:5). We received pictures from St. John Vianney Catholic Church in West Sedona, Ariz., and from the Church of St. Timothy in Escondido, Calif. And, all the way from Australia, we received some beautiful shots of Ann Munro going under down under. If you have photos of full-immersion baptisms, send them to ML, Baptism Photos, 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112.A neophyte is baptized last Easter Vigil at the Church of St. Timothy, Escondido, Calif.
Ann Munro is immersed by Fr. Gerard O’Dempsy, OFMCap, at the Parishof the Good Shepherd in Plumpton, New South Wales.
Rev. J.C. Ortiz baptizes Colter Fortune at St. John Vianney Catholic Church, West Sedona, Ariz.
From a thriving parish
"Our parish staff, including our pastor, thrives on ML," wrote Linda Dix in a cover letter for a Sharings contribution. Now that she had our attention, the director of religious education at The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Moorestown, N.J., went on to explain that her parish had recently installed and dedicated a new statue of Mary. Her comments about the dedication follow.The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel recently celebrated its centenary by fulfilling a 100-year-old dream of placing a statue of Mary at the entrance of the church. The day the statue arrived, Msgr. James J. McGovern, the driving force behind the acquisition, joined the students of the parish as they watched the 1,150-pound sculpture of the Madonna and Child being lifted into place.
The statue serves as a symbol of the parish’s ongoing mission to its sister community in Kingston, Jamaica. Many of the children in the Jamaican shelters are palsied, crippled, and poor. But like the children here at our Lady of Good Counsel, they are also joyful and smiling. Mary’s story connects all of us together in bonds of love and service. "He has filled the hungry with good things," like the peanut butter and jelly, tuna fish, flour, and canned goods the children and parishioners hauled in for their friends in Jamaica. As I gaze at the statue of the Madonna, the two visions of the two different groups of children merge in my mind-a vision of two extremes that may one day come together.
Sculptor Carl LaVitch of Pennsauken, N.J., conceived of Mary seated
on a rock, timelessly moving forward and upward with all of her attention
focused on the Christ-child in her arms. He combined the flow of the Baroque
with the natural realism of today. The DiFazio Architects and Design Build
Affiliates of Cinnaminison, N.J., placed the finished sculpture on an extended
platform of sandstone and granite. The statue was
dedicated by retired bishop John Reiss of Trenton, and the new parish
cornerstone was blessed by the diocese’s new bishop, John Smith.
"I draw so much strength from the statue’s vitality," said Msgr. McGovern.
Other parishioners also feel the image is a fitting symbol of the social
action of the parish. As we tell the story of Mary’s "yes" in our many
liturgical celebrations, we are driven by
God’s Word to serve. As we were once a mission church, we reach out
to one another, as Mary does for Jesus, with a new sense of recognition.