Dear Friends,
Our church pew refurbishing should be completed in another week. It had to be slowed down as we needed to make the church available for funerals, School prayer service etc. Thank you to the many who expressed their joy at the pleasing sight of the rows of pews already refurbished.
Today we begin the Interpreted Masses for the deaf. I am very grateful to Msgr. Joe Curry who helped coordinate these signed Masses in four churches once a month as follows:
o First Sunday – St. Peter’s, New Brunswick, 12:00pm
o Second Sunday – St Matthias, Somerset, 10:00am
o Third Sunday – Immaculate Conception, Spotswood, 11:00 am
o Fourth Sunday – Mary Mother of God, Hillsborough, 10:30 am
Kindly spread the word to those you know will benefit.
Did you know that October is a month for many national observances? Here’s just a sampling out of so many:
– Adopt a Shelter Dog Month to promote the adoption of dogs from local shelters.
– Antidepressant Death Awareness Month to remember those who have been injured or killed as a result of antidepressant use and to work to prevent such tragedies.
– National Church Library Month to shine a light on the periodicals, books, and resources available to our parishioners to continue their faith formation beyond the Sunday sermon.
– National Eat Better, Eat Together Month to encourage families to gather and enjoy their main meals together for better health of mind, soul and body.
– Emotional Wellness Month to take stock of our stress levels and to use resources to lower them.
There are also many cultural heritage observances in October such as the Filipino American History Month, German American Heritage Month and the Italian-American Heritage Month. We also have the Indigenous Peoples’ Day on October 10. The Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 to October 15) is one such observance that we here at St. Matthias celebrate. (See an article on page 6 in this bulletin). Next Saturday 5 pm Mass will be celebrated as a bilingual Mass.
Every culture has its own beautiful heritage and meaningful practices. It will be nice if parishioners from the different cultural/ethnic backgrounds could send me a brief description about their cultural/religious heritage, our whole parish could benefit reading it in our bulletin.
From a Catholic perspective, the month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. Two weeks ago, Msgr. Brennan had written a meaningful column on Holy Rosary. Today, as the church and the world face many crises, the healing we need must be accompanied by prayer. The rosary has proved to be a powerful weapon for fighting the evils that have engulfed the church and the world in the past, and it has been the cradle for healing. Our Altar Rosary Society continue their efforts to promote this devotion. Do you pray the Rosary? If not, will you give it a try?
Your brother in Christ,
Fr. Abraham Orapankal