Watch: Sunday Mass with Father Jim (7-5-26)
Listen: Pray As You Go Daily Meditatons
Read: Scripture for Life with Mary McGlone (7-5-26)
This Week’s Message
Stronger Than Death
By Brother Patrick
Father Ben Madu was my friend. Like you, I miss him. I am angry. I am heartbroken.
Not long ago, Father Ben talked with me at length about his visa situation and imminent return to Nigeria. As Father Ben had done on previous occasions, he assured me that his home region of Nigeria was safe enough for him to live and labor in the Lord’s vineyard. He also spoke about his abiding love for his parents, family, and home country.
At the same time, Father Ben was deeply distressed about the policies and procedures that made it impossible for him to remain in the United States. He loved it here. He loved his work at Salem Hospital. He loved his ministry here in Gloucester and Rockport. As he wrote in his farewell message, he found peace, friendship, and consolation among us and along our rocky shore.
Just two days ago, Father Jim shared the tragic news of Father Ben’s sudden death. He promised then that he would provide more information as it becomes available. At this point, however, the local authorities and county medical examiner have not released a cause of death or the results of their investigation.
With respect for Father Ben and compassion for his family, it does not seem prudent to speculate on our friend’s passing or to comment on how others might have addressed this sad situation. In the coming days, however, we will be forced to reckon with how Father Ben died, how we should deal with his death, and how we should commemorate his life.
As we mourn and pray for Father Ben, we must accept the awful truth that we are all responsible for this tragedy. Father Ben deserved better from the Church. He deserved better from our country. He definitely deserved better from me. Maybe he deserved better from all of us. As we all know, these feelings of guilt, anger, confusion, and disbelief are natural in the wake of a tragedy like this one.
Pope Francis (1936-2025) once said: “The right to weep must not be denied.” Jesus wept in the gospel and he weeps now with us. No one should be afraid to cry for Father Ben. He would have cried for any one of us. He was gentle, compassionate, and always ready to share a kind word. He was our friend. He was our priest. He was part of our parish family.
Once again, the good people of Gloucester and Rockport are confronted with inexplicable heartache. We are called again to stand hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder in our grief. We are called again to lean on God and on each other for support. We simply cannot fail in our obligation to love and care for one another.
Pope Francis also said: “The work of God’s love is stronger than death. We are called to be collaborators with God’s love with our faith.” In this way, we keep Father Ben’s spirit alive by following his good example. We keep Father Ben’s spirit alive by striving to live the gospel in thought, word, and deed. We keep Father Ben’s spirit alive by remembering his beautiful life, not his unexpected death.
In kindness, please continue to pray for Father Ben. Please pray for his grieving friends and family around the world. Please pray for Father Jim, our senior priests, and members of our pastoral team who had become Father Ben’s good friends and are now crushed by grief. And now more than ever, please pray for all who live, work, and worship in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport. May God bless you. May the Lord give you peace.
Brother Patrick Garvey
Associate Minister & Diocesan Hermit
Contact: brpatrick@ccgronline.com
Learn More: Understanding Our Grief
Art by Jose Manuel Gelpi Diaz – Dreamstime – 5396752
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Our Pastor’s Message
Heartbreaking News
By Father Jim
In Gloucester and Rockport, we are not immune to grief and heartbreak. During the past year, our communities have suffered many deep and profound losses. The deaths of those we have known and loved have tested our faith, our resilience, and our perseverance in believing in a world that is ordered toward what is good, true, and beautiful.
This morning, I write with news of another devastating loss. Our dear friend, Father Benjamin Okwy Madu, died suddenly last evening. Father Ben was just 54 years old. He served as a priest for nearly twenty-five years. And he served Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish with true joy, kindness, and generosity for more than four years.
As more information becomes available about Father Ben’s tragic passing, I will share it with our parishioners. Until then, I invite you to join me in praying for the soul of Father Ben, for his grieving family and friends all around the world, and for all who mourn the loss of this good man and holy priest. Please also pray for me, our senior priests, and our pastoral team. We are all heartbroken.
On Saturday, July 4th at 8:00am in Our Lady of Good Voyage Church, all friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners are invited to join me in celebrating Holy Mass for the soul of Father Benjamin Okwy Madu. After Mass, we will pray the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with deepest grief but also with profound appreciation for the gift of Father Ben’s life and ministry.
In the scriptures, the psalmist cries out: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18).” With broken hearts and crushed spirits, let us join hands in grief and in prayer for Father Ben and for each other.
Reverend James M. Achadinha, Pastor
Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Contact: frjim@ccgronline.com
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A Special Message
Goodbye from My Heart
Note: This beautiful message from Father Ben appeared last weekend on our website and in our parish newsletter. It reveals the heart of a priest filled with love for the Lord, for the scriptures, and for the good people of the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport.
By Father Ben Madu
In April 2022, Father Paul Ritt (our regional vicar) talked with Father Jim; and I was invited to celebrate weekend Masses in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport. What a thrilling opportunity! As usual, whenever I am asked to celebrate the Eucharist for the first time in a predominantly white community, my African presence often prompts an initial reaction of curiosity, fixed stares, and guarded expressions.
This has been my experience since arriving in the United States eight years ago. But my response has always remained the same: wait until after Mass and you may come to appreciate the beauty this African spirit brings. “That was marvelous,” or “That was from the heart,” or “I love it when you sing,” or “I felt that you were speaking directly to me,” or “I love the joy and laughter but I could not hear you.”
In truth, there is nothing extraordinary except the care that I put into each homily. I do not simply prepare it. I absorb it fully. And then through stories, life experiences, humor and reflection, I try to offer something nourishing to myself and to the faithful. I preach not by reading from a page, but by speaking from the heart; by allowing inspiration in the moment to shape the message so it can reach each person where they are.
I begin preparing my homily on Thursday by reading the Sunday scriptures. On Friday, I reflect on commentaries and insights from others; and by Saturday, I allow the Spirit of God to minister to my soul. By the time I stand in the pulpit, I have fully absorbed the message and I am ready to preach it from the heart.
Gloucester and Rockport became my Eucharistic community each weekend; and I cannot overstate the love, warmth, kindness, hospitality, and generosity that I received here. I experienced it in Father Jim’s loud and fearless morning embrace, Brother Patrick’s sincere and direct hugs, and the joy and kindness of every parishioner at Saint Joachim Church in Rockport, Saint Ann Church in Gloucester, and Our Lady of Good Voyage Church in Gloucester. I look forward to seeing your beautiful faces every weekend. I look forward to your warm embraces, generous smiles, and handshakes.
Sincerely, it is not my wish to return home right now, but circumstances beyond my control have warranted that my time in the United States come to an end. My heart is broken, yet my joy remains. If I am ever given the chance to minister again to the people of Gloucester and Rockport, I would gladly do it all over again. I will miss the home I found away from home, a mother far from my mother, a father far from my father, and a people far from my own people.
God bless you all. I will soon return to Africa, specifically Nigeria, my homeland, where nature speaks to the soul and bonds of community help ease the loneliness that has weighed on me while living alone in the “white house” in Lynnfield. I will deeply miss the seaside, where I often drive to after Mass to call my family and hear about their Sundays. There, where the ocean meets the rocks and its endless rhythm becomes the music of my post–Mass peace; there I found comfort and serenity. Goodbye from my heart.— Father Ben Okwy Madu
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We Share
Safe & Easy Electronic Giving
The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away.
Dorothy Day
Electronic giving has become an essential part of parish support in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport; and it is available in both Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish. It is safe and easy to make online donations to your home parish using a credit card, debit card, or electronic check.
Donations can be made on a weekly, monthly, or one-time only basis; and it takes just a few minutes to set up a secure personal account. In addition to the weekly offering, you can also give electronically to our church restoration funds which help us plan for the repair and maintenance of our four beloved and historic churches.
Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish always need your generous support! Please prayerfully considering enrolling in our electronic giving program! For more information about creating a new account or assistance with an existing account, please contact Father Jim at frjim@ccgronline.com. Peace, blessings, and sincere thanks to all!
Support Holy Family Parish
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About Us
Established in 2014, the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport is a collaborative of two historic parishes: Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish. Working together as a family united in prayer, fellowship, and service, we are committed to living the Gospel of Christ, sharing God’s love and mercy with all people, and rebuilding the Church in Gloucester & Rockport. All are invited! All are welcome! Always!
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In Memory of Father Benjamin Okwy Madu