In The Interim

July 7, 2025
Interim Director’s Corner

Greetings! I would like to introduce myself. My name is Dennis Gilhooley and I am the Interim Director of St. Luke’s Mission of Mercy. For those who are not familiar with me I thought I would provide a little background…

I am Buffalo born and raised. My wife Sue and I have been married for 38 years and have been Lay Missionaries at St. Luke’s since 1998.

I am retired from the State University of New York at Buffalo where I worked in Administrative Computing Services / Enterprise Application Systems as a Systems Analyst and a Security Analyst.

I am the director and keyboard player with the Voices of Mercy which is our Music Ministry and we provide music at our various ministries and liturgies. For the past several years, I have also been teaching Math at Our Lady of Hope Home School here at St. Luke’s, to our 5th – 8th graders.
During this time of transition, as we mourn the loss of our beloved Co-Founder and Director, Amy Betros,

I want to assure everyone that the entire St. Luke’s family is dedicated to ensuring that the mission and vision that Amy and Norm had for St. Luke’s not only continues, but thrives and prospers.
Amy and Norm did a wonderful job in training the 9 Lay Missionaries at St. Luke’s and letting them grow and flourish in their areas of expertise. Since Amy’s passing, the Lay Missionaries: Jeanne Marinaro, Charlene Mallory, Dave Topor, Sue Gilhooley, Drew Bernstein, Sandy Bernstein, Joann Heimiller and Jose Cruz have grown into a team united in love, mercy and dedication, each one stepping up and helping to ensure things continue smoothly in their area of expertise. I thank God for this wonderful team!

I also want to update everyone on a couple of upcoming projects that we are undertaking here at St. Luke’s. The first project was one of my first “surprises’ as I took over as Interim Director. We found out that the Steam Pipes for the Heating System in our Church Building will not survive another Winter. We need to have the existing pipes removed and new pipes installed and are in the process of getting an overall estimate of the cost. It is definitely something that needs to be done.

We are also in the process of visiting and checking on the various homes that are part of St. Luke’s and occupied by individuals and families that would otherwise be homeless. We are finding that many of these homes are in need of basic maintenance and some of them need major repairs!
In all of this, as Amy and Norm did before us, we are trusting in the Lord that He will provide everything we need to make the repairs needed, beginning with the most urgent and moving forward from there.
Amy and Norm were always amazed by the generosity of the incredible family of volunteers, benefactors and prayer warriors that have supported St. Luke’s over the years! We pray and trust that St. Luke’s will continue to be blessed as you share of your time, talents and treasure. 

For your calendars, we are getting ready to celebrate our 31st Anniversary on August 1, 2025. We are planning a morning Mass and an evening Festival of Praise, all taking place right here at St. Luke’s. Stay tuned for more specifics.

The Lay Missionaries continue to be devoted to prayer and we gather every Monday – Thursday from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm for the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and Eucharistic Adoration. We pray Evening Prayer together at 4:15 pm and have Mass at 4:30. We also have a 2:00 pm Mass every Sunday. Please feel free to stop by and pray with us!

I also want to thank all of you for your continued prayers and support. We could not do this without you. The knowledge that we are a true family united in love of God, mercy and a desire to assist those less fortunate has helped so much during this time.

We look forward to working together with all of you to carry on the mission begun almost 31 years ago by Amy and Norm. May God bless each and every one of you and your families.

​Jesus I Trust In You!