Be On Time For Mass and Don’t Leave Early
Please make every effort to arrive at least five minutes before the beginning of Mass. If you are not able to be present in time to be seated for the readings from the Word of God, then it might be better to plan to attend the next or earlier available Mass on that day.
If we rush in just in time for Communion, then we will not have truly experienced the transforming sacrifice of Jesus. We will not have been completely nourished by the Lord’s Word and his Body. If we who love Him had been there on the day He died, would we have been late?
Please do not leave the Church before the Celebrant (priest). The Mass ends officially when the priest leaves the Church. Even then, it is usually advised you sit or kneel in silent prayer of thanksgiving or simply gaze at Jesus in the Tabernacle, smile at Him and just be joyful.
God loves you!
Statement of the New Jersey Bishops
Reinstating the General Obligation to Attend Mass
The Pastor's Pen
Dinner
09-26-2021Fr. Matthew R. Paratore, S.T.L., J.C.L.Dear Friend,
C. S. Lewis once provided a powerful image of the difference between heaven and hell. He described hungry people sitting at a huge banquet loaded with delicious food. Every person had a meter long fork and knife attached to their hands (that’s about three feet long).
The scene in hell was one of anger, frustration, and fighting as people scrambled to feed themselves. They could reach the food with the long knives and forks, but they were too long to feed themselves. The conflict, screaming, and unfulfilled hunger continued for eternity that is hell.
READ MOREEveryday Stewardship
Made in God's Image
09-26-2021“Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” Mark 9:41
We are made in God’s image and likeness. We tend to forget this. When you look at other, do you see the face of Jesus in them? When other look at you, do they see the face of Jesus in you? When we realize that all lives matter to God, then gratitude and generously become easier. Why? Because that’s way we are made! We are one Body of Christ; when one of us is hurting, all of us feel the pain.
READ MOREGospel Meditation
The Start of a Good Foundation
09-26-2021© LPiWhat are the little ones? They are the poor, the marginalized, the women and men at the well, the Zacchaeus’ looking for Jesus from a tree, those mired in sin, the blind who want to see, and the lame who want to walk. They are the lepers and the different ones who have been told that they are unclean, and the ones who suffer from abuse and grave injustices and oppression. They are children who want nothing more than to be loved and enjoy celebrating their innocence. These are all the little ones and they are all vulnerable. Life already brings them burdens, we don’t need to add to them.
READ MORESunday Mass & Holy Day Obligation
It is both a precept of the Church and Church law that Catholics must worship God on Sunday and Holy Days of Obligation by participating in the Holy Mass. This follows from the fact that in the Mass it is Christ Himself who worships the Father, joining our worship to His. In no other way is it possible to adequately give thanks (eucharistia) to God for the blessings of creation, redemption and our sanctification than by uniting our offerings to that of Jesus Christ Himself.
