Father Peter DiTomasso

I was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in the winter of 1962 to Mary and Peter DiTomasso.  I was named after my Father, therefore I am Junior.  I was the first grandchild on my mother’s side of the family and first child of my parents.  My Mom & Dad had three more boys, Pat, Matt, and James.  We grew up on the top floor of a 3 floor row house in Brooklyn, down the street from our Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. 

I went through Catholic School in grammar school and High School.  I went to a Private College with a Catholic name called St. Francis College and had earned a BA in History in 1984.  After college I pursued a calling to Religious life with the Redemptorist Fathers.  I went to their college to get Philosophy credits and after two years I left for I felt not ready to go forward.  I soon found a job as a teacher then as an auditor for funded programs at the Board of Education of NYC. In the Office of Monitoring & Review.

At night I went to St. John’s University and in 1989 received my MA in theology.  After my MA, I once again seemed to answer God’s call and joined the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI). I was asked to leave them after 4 years and looking back it was the right thing to have happen.  I moved to New Jersey and worked for Catholic Charities at a Men’s Shelter and then a halfway house for teenage boys who had faced jail time and were newly released. During this time I was an active member of Sacred Heart Church in New Brunswick, NJ as lector, Parish Council member, RCIA, CCD, Men Club Member, and Extraordinary Minister.  I rented an apartment in nearby South River, NJ and was employed briefly before I found a job with a temp service.  While with them they assigned me to Merrill Lynch and a temp job became a job I could rely on.  I stayed with Merrill Lynch for five years and in that time bought a home, and still went to Sacred Heart Church.

In the Jubilee Year 2000, I was asked to travel to Italy to join a priest friend on a Eucharistic Pilgrimage.  We went to different cities in Italy that had miracle of the Eucharist like Lanciano, Orveto, Cascia, and Rome.  We also went to Assisi and Loreto in these travels.  It was on this trip that I felt the strongest urge about being a priest in honor of the Sacred Heart. When I returned I  went to on a  retreat to clear my head and to see if  this feeling was me or God speaking to my heart.  While on retreat I heard of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary.  I went to pay them a visit as they were in south Jersey in Linwood, NJ.  I met this elderly priest Fr. Leonard who spent time asking me questions and who seemed to tell me a good deal of the Founder of the Congregation.  His name is St. Gaetano Enrico.  I returned to work at Merrill Lynch and soon made my decision to join the Missionaries.  I was accepted to join the Order in July 2001 and now I am a priest seven years.  As a priest I have served in NJ at our headquarters for a year and as a Chaplain 6 years at the near by hospital of Shore Medical Center.  I enjoyed being a Chaplain visiting the sick and dying.   I loved hearing confession especially those of men/women who had not gone in 5, 10, sometimes 30 years.

I was assigned to St. Joseph the Worker as of August 1, 2013. In my short time here I have grown to love the dedication of the parishioners to their love for Adoration, their friendly comradiere, and how they love the church of St. Joseph’s.  I witnessed my first Pot-Pie Sunday and saw the dedication of all the volunteers who put it together and serve such good food. I am grateful for God in calling me to be a Religious and for allowing me to come to serve the people here at St. Joseph’s in Bonneauville.  I look forward to teasing the Philly’s, Pirates, Steelers and Raven’s amidst the confines here, as they tease me for being a Met and Jet’s fan.