May they, through the Mercy of God, Rest in Peace.
I would ask the readers of this blog to keep in your prayers two priests of the Diocese of Trenton who died this week.
Fr. Thomas Rittenhouse was the pastor of St. Peter’s Church in Riverside, NJ. I did not know him much at all, just to say hello to at priest gatherings. Fr. Tom was 56 years old. I do know that he had been ill for quite sometime, but as Bishop Smith noted in his homily this morning, Fr. Tom always gave all that he could to serve the People of God.
I also did not know very well Fr. David Adams, parochial vicar at St. Leo the Great Parish in Lincroft, NJ. His death was a bit more shocking because he had not been ill at all before hand, and he was only 47 years old when he died. His funeral will be tomorrow.
In a wierd way, the funeral of a priest highlights the common fraternity of the Ministerial Priesthood. The last several priest funerals that I have attended I did not know the priest well, in the one case I had never met him. However, they are brother priests; all of us certainly have our shortcomings, but each of us have responded to a call from God to serve the Church, to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, and to reconcile repentant sinners. We are “earthen vessels” to whom Almighty God has entrusted a most precious gift. I honor the service of Frs. Tom and Dave, and pray for their immortal souls, and the consolation of their family, friends and parishioners.
