Justice & Community Outreach

Giving Tree/Adopt-a-Family

At Christmas, we have several programs to serve parishioners and members of our local community in need. Participants can select an ornament from the Giving Tree from early to mid-December to purchase a gift for families served by Guadalupe Family Services in Camden. In addition, volunteers can sponsor Christmas gifts for an entire family by contacting the Parish Office in late November. Parishioners can also bring in diapers, wipes, baby clothes, and other needed items for mothers and babies to all Christmas Masses for the “Gifts for Baby Jesus” program that benefits Good Counsel Home in Riverside, First Way in Collingswood, and Helpers of God’s Precious Infants in Gloucester City. There are announcements in the bulletin and at Mass with specific program instructions and dates.

Prayer Shawl Ministry

Care and love for knitting or crocheting are combined into this prayerful ministry that meets monthly to create prayer shawls to be blessed and distributed to the homebound, the sick, the suffering and those experiencing difficult times. A prayer and a blessing accompany the shawl for the recipient. Contact Dot Contact Oczowski (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 215-906-6526) to join the ministry. Contact the Parish Office (856-667-2440) if you need a prayer shawl/blanket for someone who is ill or in need.

Grief Support Group for Widows and Widowers- To Live Again

This is a support group for those who have lost a spouse. This group meets weekly on Mondays at 6:00 pm in the parish center. You can check the parish calendar for the location and just show up for the meeting or contact the parish office and we will put one of the group leaders in contact with you.

Parish Nursing

The main purpose of the Parish nurse is to promote the health of parishioners in mind, body and spirit.  To do so, the following services are offered:

• assessment visits to the homebound
• hospital, rehab, or nursing home visits
• referrals to other health services as needed
• escorting parishioners through hospital admissions when distant family or friends  are not readily available
• providing health information through written word and related programs
• distribute communion and pray with the homebound person

We presently have three parish nurses. Should you care to confer with a nurse you may contact them through the parish office at 856-667-2440 or

Helping Hands

These volunteers provide rides and other services to those in need of them.  If you need a ride or would like to become a volunteer driver, please contact Mike or Judy Bodary.  Their phone number is 856-912-7257.

Operation Rice Bowl

During Lent, the parish, Resurrection School, and faith formation classes learn about the work of Catholic Relief services around the world. The committee arranges educational pieces for the bulletin.

Each year, Operation Rice Bowl calls us to pray with our families and faith communities; fast in solidarity with those who hunger; learn more about our global community and the challenges of poverty overseas; and give sacrificial contributions to those in need.

Your participation in Operation Rice Bowl ensures that Catholic Relief Services can continue to provide assistance to those in need in more than 100 countries. Seventy-five percent of your gifts will go to CRS to help farmers in Bolivia receive training to improve crop yields, children in Afghanistan gain more opportunities for quality education, communities in Ethiopia access reliable water sources even during times of drought, and fund many other vital projects. Twenty-five percent of your gifts remain in your diocese to support local hunger and poverty alleviation efforts.

The Catholic Community of Christ our Light, Resurrection School and Elementary Faith Formation are all supporting Operation Rice Bowl. Operation Rice Bowl is an educational and almsgiving program of Catholic Relief Services. To learn more about Operation Rice Bowl and to tap into their educational and inspirational materials, visit the CRS website.

Operation Rice Bowl Prayer

God of all people, Hear us as we join in prayer with our brothers and sisters in need. Bless our Lenten fasting, learning, and giving. May your generous love for your people be our guide as we reach out to all who live with hunger and poverty. Amen.

Hospital and Nursing Home Visitation

Volunteers take communion to residents of local nursing homes and assisted living facilities. We serve Jefferson Hospital, Arden Courts Memory Care Community, Barclay Nursing Home, Dwellside Care and Rehab, and Spring Hills Assisted Living.  If you are interested in volunteering as a Eucharistic Minister to Catholics who have been hospitalized or are living in a local nursing home, please contact the Parish Office.

Mitzvah Day

Mitzvah Day is an annual parish-wide day of service held on a Saturday in late October. Over one hundred volunteers serve at local project sites and there are opportunities to serve for all ages and abilities. The parish also hosts a blood drive. There is extensive publicity in the parish bulletin and registration begins online in late September. The planning committee begins meeting in the spring. Contact the Parish Office to join the planning committee.

What’s a mitzvah?

"Mitzvah" is a Hebrew word that most commonly translates as "good deed" – a charitable, beneficial act for another.

The literal translation of the word, however, is "commandment." In Jewish tradition there are actually over 600 commandments. They include positive commandments (what to do) and negative commandments (what not to do).

Many of us in the Western world are uncomfortable with the idea of being “commanded” to do anything, because it seems to deprive us of the right to choose how we behave. But the vast majority of the Jewish community today, from Orthodox to Reform, have come to believe that obeying the commandments-- whether performing good deeds, complying with ritual laws, observing religious holidays, etc-- is not simply and blindly following the law for its own sake, but that these actions have a creative and positive impact not just in our own lives, but also in the fabric of our families, our community and for entire creation. In our own tradition, Jesus commands us to love one another and we know the creative and positive impact of that command!

Joseph's House

Joseph’s House is an overnight café for people who are homeless. Volunteers provide homemade soup and casseroles. Some volunteers work at the site serving the meal and visiting with the clients. The volunteering time is from 8:30 - 11:00 PM. There is also a ministry for making casseroles for Joseph’s House. Casseroles are collected the first weekend of the month. There are casserole pans and lids available behind the welcome/information desk.

Contact: Phyllis Sanders ( or 856-667-7064)

Justice Education and Formation

We provide education about our rich tradition of Catholic Social Teaching and also opportunities to put faith into action through advocacy efforts on issues such as immigration, budget proposals that would affect those who are poor, etc. There is a commission that plans these activities and initiatives for the parish.

Periodically, Justice and Outreach sponsors programs to inform people about various justice issues.

For more information on any of these programs, contact Pat Slater, Pastoral Associate for Justice and Community Outreach.