Join the Parish

In order to become a parishioner of Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, please contact the Parish Office to determine if you are within the parish boundaries set by the Diocese of Trenton.   If it is determined you are within the boundaries, you can either come to the Parish Office and complete a Parish Registration Form or request that one be mailed to you for completion.

Policy of Parish Membership: Registration Policy

A. Those baptized Catholics living within the boundaries of the Parish are members unless they have exercised their right to join another parish. The boundaries of this parish, roughly speaking, are the Township of Moorestown and the two portions of Mount Laurel Township that lie (a) West of the NJ Turnpike, and (b) between Church Road and Church Street.

B. Catholics who live beyond the boundaries may petition Fr. Damian in writing with their reasons for wanting to be a member of Our Lady's Parish virsus the parish where they reside. 

Practical Applications:

1) The services of a priest in an emergency or during an extended     confinement are available to all.
2) Letters of Eligibility will be given only to those who have been registered at least three months and demonstrate a pattern of attending Mass regularly.
3) Parents must be registered for at least six months and demonstrate a pattern of practicing their faith in order to arrange for the baptism of their child at Good Counsel.
4) To set a wedding date at Good Counsel Church, an individual or the parents must have been registered for at least one year and have a record of church attendance and support. These Wedding arrangements should be made one year prior to the desired date.

No Person is an Island

Missing Mass is like missing a family gathering, such as Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe people won't notice you're not there as they would at Thanksgiving, but God notices. Besides, the main person who will notice is you. Why? Because "no man is an island" (John Donne). Besides, Sunday Mass is a time to ba a witness of your faith.
We all need things from other people, and we all have things to give other people. That's why God wants us to celebrate the Eucharist together on Sundays. Your church might not have the greatest Mass, but part of that might be? because you're not doing anything to make it better.
The Bible says: "We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another" (Heb 10:25).

Why Is Mass So Special Anyway?
What goes on at Mass is not something you could just do by yourself in your own home. It's doing what Jesus asked us to do in memory of Him. It's the Lord's Supper, in which Jesus offers Himself to us as the "Bread of Life," changing bread and wine into His own body and blood so that His followers would achieve complete union with Him. The Mass is also a memorial; a reenactment that makes present Jesus' death on the cross, in which He offered Himself to the Father as a sacrifice for our sins. We call the Mass the "Eucharist," which means "thanksgiving," because it's joining Jesus in thanking God for the gift of life, love, and salvation given us in Jesus Christ. In the Mass, we join the priest, who stands in the place of Christ, offering himself to the Father for us. With the whole Church, we make up the Body of Christ and offer ourselves in love to the Father. That's why it's so important for us to be there!

A Catholic Church: Set Aside for Worship

A Catholic Church is consecrated especially for this worship of God. A bishop actually comes and blesses the site, making it a place where God will dwell in us, his people, in the Eucharist, and in our sharing of God's Word. That 's why Catholic churches are such special places. Every Catholic Church is a house for God's people, the Church.
It's not the building that makes the Church, its the people.
The church building is not nearly as important as the people in it. (In some parts of the world, Catholics can't afford to build a church, or are forced to worship outside of one.) The real Church is the body of believers gathered in Jesus' name.  Also see The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1066 - 1075.

Is The Church full of Hypocrites?

Question: I've heard all about priests and other leaders in the Church who commit terrible sins. How can I follow a church that has these people in it?
Answer: With that reasoning, how could you follow anything on earth? How could you follow any government, any school, any institution whatsoever?  Every human institution has some corrupt people! As Jesus said; no one is fully righteous. We are all sinners.

Question: I thought the Church was founded by Jesus, and therefore it couldn't have any evil in it.
Answer:   The Church was founded by Jesus Christ, and He said that "The gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it" (Mt 16:18), which means it will never die. That's because the Holy Spirit is the real leader and sustainer of the Church. Therefore, the Church and its basic teachings on faith and morals will be safeguarded from error by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, Jesus appointed human beings to operate and spread the Church throughout the world, and human beings are not perfect. Christ's gospel and His Church are not corrupt, but each of us, everyone in the Church, is a sinner, and some can be downright corrupt.

Question: I still don't see how that justifies the Church, if they're supposed to be representing Christ.
Answer: Put another way, suppose the constitution of your country's government was the best constitution you could imagine.  Perfect rights for everyone, perfect laws, and so on. So the basis of your government would be perfect. But now you have governors, mayors and other politicians who have to put that constitution into effect. Even though the constitution is a great document, it's still going to have its problems in practice because of the weaknesses of those politicians. It's the same with the Church. Its basic doctrines, as laid down by Jesus Christ and inspired by the Holy Spirit, are perfect.  The implimenters are not.

What Does "Catholic" Mean?
Some of the people in charge of spreading that faith, like everyone else (including each one of us), don't always practice what they preach. They may preach a message that is in keeping with their own lifestyle rather than with God's plan.
Jesus encountered the same problem in His time. Even though the Jewish religion came from God, some of those who were leading it (the "Scribes" and "Pharisees") were very corrupt. Since the religion was basically good, Jesus told the people to continue to follow it, but without imitating those who were corrupting it: "Do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice" (Mt 23:3).
Despite the sinfulness of its members, including some of those leading it, the Church has successfully brought people to know Jesus Christ and His truth for nearly two thousand years. During Mass, the priest prays to God, "Look not on the sins of Your people, but on the faith of Your Church. " We should say the same, always praying that the faith Christ has given us will transform all members of the Church (including us) into good and holy people.
Also see The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 823-825.