Author: Nathalie Godet

The Giving Tree is Back! Please Consider Donating.

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

The Giving Tree is at the front of the Church and will remain there until Sunday, December 17th.

During this time you will have the opportunity to take ornaments and purchase some or all of the items listed. Once again in conjunction with Catholic Charities, we will distribute gifts to Elijah’s Promise, Great Expectations, Naomi’s Way, Ozanam Family Shelter, Ozanam Men’s Shelter, PACT, YES Early Learning Centers (Sacred Heart & St. Ladislaus), as well as Pregnancy Aid and Local Families.

 We will be collecting and sorting gifts on the weekends of December 9th/10th and December 16th /17th .

Please note we will be collecting gifts on these weekends only.  ALL GIFTS ARE DUE BACK NO LATER THAN 2:00 PM ON DECEMBER 17th!

Please SECURE THE ORNAMENTS TO THE PACKAGES, otherwise, we have no way of knowing where the gifts are to be delivered.

As in the past few years, Great Expectations is requesting gifts through the Amazon Wish List.   To access the list, please click here.

In addition to the gifts listed on the ornaments and on the Amazon Wish List, there is a need for:

    • Children’s coats, hats, and gloves
    • Men’s and women’s sturdy/warm winter hats and gloves
    • Underwear – Men’s sizes Med – XL and Ladies sizes 6-8  (There is a great need for these items)

    These gifts should be placed under the tree and they will be distributed where needed.

    This year over 500 ornaments have been placed on the tree. There is still a great need in our community so please, if you have not done so already, grab a tag, purchase a gift, and bring joy to those less fortunate. St. Matthias parishioners and friends have always been generous in the past.  Please keep up our tradition going – it means a lot to so many people in need. Thank you!

  • With the many gifts to sort and deliver, we can use more elves and drivers for deliveries on the mornings of December 11th and 18th , after the 8:00 AM Mass.

    Should you have any questions and/or would like to volunteer to help, please contact:

    Joanne Diana at (732)322-6270 or j-diana@comcast.net

     

A Note of Thanks…

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

A HUGE Thank You to all of our parishioners who volunteered to set up the 300 trees for our Spread the Light Campaign. Almost 40 people, adults, teens, and kids came out to help. With three men starting at 8 AM, including Fr. Lancelot, lashing trees to poles, joined by many more at 9 AM testing lights and lighting the trees, the work was completed by noon! The old saying, many hands make light work, is certainly true!

So, from all of us on the planning committee to all who came out to help, THANK YOU AND MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Pat and Jo-Ann

Giving Tuesday – “Works of Mercy”

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

GivingTuesday is an opportunity for people to give back in many different ways: through acts of kindness, gifts of voice, time, talent, or treasure. Our parish of St. Matthias has been blessed with generous parishioners who always responded joyfully to every need of our community. Thank you. This year, instead of focusing on any particular project, we wish to highlight the “Works of Mercy” to further the God-given mission of our parish and help those in need. Thank you for your goodness.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

Dear Friends,

I hope we all had a happy and relaxed time for Thanksgiving, with family and friends. Thanksgiving has put us into the start of the holiday mindset – a whole season of celebrations, excitement, and joy. Generally, we use positive terms to wish one another:

“Happy Thanksgiving.” “Happy Hanukkah.” “Merry Christmas.” “Happy New Year” or, for those who are concerned about political correctness, “Happy Holidays!” But not everyone feels happiness. Studies show that holidays evoke not just feelings of happiness and enjoyment but also sadness, cynicism, and even loneliness. How do we help and support those who don’t find calendar holidays a time to celebrate?

Psychologists and counselors recognize high levels of stress and unhappy feelings during this season. They suggest many tips to maintain balance and prioritize one’s mental health – including a healthy lifestyle with quality sleep, regular exercise, and a nutrient-dense diet. One tip is to connect and reach out for support. Small groups like family, close friends, and church groups can be a big source of support. I believe it is here that you and I can be observant to sense feelings of unhappiness or depression in individuals around us, so we can reach out to them and offer them encouragement.

As believers, one tip that we can practice, as well as suggest to others, is to turn our emotions over to God and pray for peace and connection every time we feel down. I found Psalm 30 very helpful. Its dominant theme is thanksgiving for God’s deliverance. In nearly every line the psalmist either expresses thanks and praise for God’s deliverance or describes the circumstances of that deliverance. Keeping the spirit of Thanksgiving, all the days after Thanksgiving Day, is the best way to stay happy.

Today’s Feast of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe (formerly known as Feast of Christ the King) is the signal that the Church’s calendar year is coming to an end and that we are about to start the new year! Thus, the First Sunday of the New Year in the Liturgical Calendar is next Sunday as we begin the season of Advent! It is good for us to know that today’s feast was established by Pope Pius XI in 1925 as an antidote to secularism, a way of life that leaves God out of our thinking and living and organizes human life as if God did not exist. This feast is intended to proclaim in a striking and effective manner Christ’s royalty over individuals, families, society, governments, and nations. May we all recognize this truth and continue our efforts to honor Jesus by living his values in our lives.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

 

Alzheimer’s Support Group Meets in Person on December 13th at 2 PM

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

The Alzheimer’s Association and St. Matthias Catholic Church are co-hosting a monthly Support Group for individuals living with Alzheimer’s or Dementia, their care partners, and others dealing with the disease.  Our next meeting will be Wednesday, December 13th, from 2:00 PM -3:00 PM in the Parish Office at St. Matthias. Registration is required.

To register, call 800-272-3900 and mention the St. Matthias group.

The Group provides a safe and supportive environment and offers dementia-related education, emotional support, and connections with resources so that the group members may enhance their lives in the midst of the journey.
For more information, visit alz.org/NJ.

33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

Dear Friends,

Today is the World Day of the Poor. It was established by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera, issued on 20 November 2016 to celebrate the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. In preparation for this year’s celebration of the World Day of the Poor, Pope Francis had urged everyone to work toward providing free healthcare, medical examinations, vaccinations, and bill payment assistance to those in need.

The theme for World Day of the Poor 2023 is a passage from the Book of Tobit: “Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor.” The Pope stressed that “a great river of poverty is traversing our cities and swelling to the point of overflowing; it seems to overwhelm us, so great are the needs of our brothers and sisters who plead for our help, support and solidarity.” This is literally true in our own area as our St. Vincent De Paul Society is overwhelmed with requests for help in the recent months. Helping those in need is something that we here at St. Matthias, have been passionate about through the ministry of St. Vincent DePaul Society, and we can be happy that we are helping as many deserving individuals and families as we can.

Last Sunday we revived the Children’s Liturgy of the Word, which we had suspended during Covid. The 10 am Mass was packed with families with children and it was a delight to see some seventy children having a separate and wonderful time of understanding the Sunday Scriptures.  They were given an increased opportunity to come to a full, active and conscious participation in the Liturgy of the Word according to their spiritual capacity.

I am sure that we all agree that helping our children appreciate and benefit from the Sunday worship is very important. Taking them away from the adults during the Mass facilitates sharing the message of the gospel with them at their level and encourages them to form a loving and generous response to the Word of God. This way of doing Mass helps children to learn about their faith in a positive and enjoyable manner. This encourages parents to bring the children to Mass and to come as a family regularly. I am very grateful to Cecelia Regan who leads this ministry, with the help of Dee Nann, Jody Martielli, Maria Fonseca, Melanie McNamara, Marianne Viaud and Fran Johnson.

We are entering the Thanksgiving Week. We all take a pause from our regular work and activities to celebrate this quintessential American holiday. But, the celebration will be meaningless unless we become people of gratitude. Thanksgiving Day is to remind us that our expression of thanks to God and to others must become a habit with us on a daily basis. Please come for the Thanksgiving Day Mass here in our church at 8 am so that we can begin this day with the Eucharist, which literally means thanksgiving. “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Have a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving time with your family and friends.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

Dear Friends,

Out of over 17,000 Roman Catholic parishes in the US, about 800 are considered to be predominantly African-American. Our 12 noon Mass today is an opportunity for our parish community to celebrate National Black Catholic History Month – thanks to the initiative of our St. Martin de Porres Society. I am very happy to welcome Reverend Gerard C. Marable, pastor of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Galloway, NJ, as our presider.

When we recite the Creed on Sundays, we profess our belief in the “communion of saints.” The Book of Revelation 7:9 says: “I saw a huge crowd After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” This reminds us that the holy ones in heaven are diverse in terms of nationality, race, color, or language. One takeaway we can learn about the National Black Catholic History Month is that there are over 100 saints from across the African diaspora. Currently, though there are no African-American saints, the USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) has advanced beatification and canonization causes of six inspirational African-American men and women: Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Servant of God Mother Mary Lange, Venerable Henriette DeLille, Venerable Augustus Tolton, Servant of God Julia Greeley, and Sister Thea Bowman. You can read more about these holy men and women in our bulletin this month.

The “communion of saints” reminds us of another celebration: the commemoration of our departed brothers and sisters. The special Memorial Mass we celebrated on November 2nd evening was a very touching and meaningful liturgy. One of the emails I got stated: “Because we could not be in NJ for the remembrance mass, we were thankful that St. Matthias live-streamed it. We could be present for our mom along with all of those families who lost their loved ones as well.” Yes, we do miss our departed dear ones and we continue to lift them up to God.

But this month is also meant to remind us of our own death – a topic that we rather not discuss or even think of. So it may sound strange to hear that there is a revival of an ancient practice called “Memento mori” or “remembering one’s own death.” Even before the Roman empire, meditation on death and the last things was a common practice of ancient philosophers like Plato. The phrase and the practice were then incorporated into medieval Christianity. “Memento mori” was such a popular religious theme in this period that it inspired a genre of art, music, and literature.

The difference for the Christian is not only remembering our own personal death which of course will happen as there is an end to this earthly life, but Jesus has transformed our death into a new life of glory through his own resurrection. St. Benedict said to keep death before your eyes daily. St. Francis of Assisi had made peace with his own mortality, going so far as to call death his “sister.” Some­day Sister Death will greet us and we will go home to our God who created us, loves us, and re­deems us through Jesus our Savior. So this commemoration of the dead is not to make us scared but hopeful of our own future life of bliss with our dear ones in the Lord.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

Time to Volunteer for our “Tree-mendous” Spread the Light Event! SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25th at 9 AM

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

Good News!!! The deadline for Our Christmas Tree Campaign has been extended!!! The donation to sponsor one of these beautiful trees is $200.  If you would like to sponsor a tree, please complete the Christmas Tree Form 2023 and return it, with a check made payable to “St. Matthias Church”, to the Parish Office.  If you would prefer to make an online payment via ParishGiving, please click here. (Note: Families or groups may join together to sponsor a tree.)

If you are able and would like to help, volunteers are needed on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25th to move the trees to the field and light them up. We need at least 25 to 30 people to light the trees. This is an excellent opportunity to earn service hours for our high school students! We need at least 25 to 30 people to assist. Please bring scissors and wear gardening gloves. We work in pairs so bring a friend if you can. Work begins at 9 AM, with a good group, we will be finished by noon! Call the parish office if you have any questions.

We will bless and light the trees on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2023, following the 5:00 PM Mass.  The trees will remain lit every night from 4:30 PM until 11:00 PM, through the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, 2024.  People are welcome to come to visit the trees and read the plaques throughout this time.  Everyone driving by on JFK Boulevard will be reminded of the hope and peace that breaks into our darkness at Christmas time.

Be part of this beautiful Christmas celebration and “Spread the Light!”

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

Dear Friends,

Veterans Day is coming up in a week! For over 100 years, we have remembered those who served our country in uniform on 11 November – first as Armistice Day, and then, since 1954 as Veterans Day. A few years ago, the Department of Veterans Affairs broadened that tradition of observance and appreciation to include both Veterans and Military Families for the entire month of November. Besides the annual rituals of remembering them with wreaths and visits to their tombs, many organizations celebrate this upcoming weekend honoring the veterans in various ways. Many popular restaurants and other retailers across the nation are giving them free meals, discounts, and other freebies Veterans Day. Some parishes plan to pray the Patriotic Rosary on Veterans Day.

In the context of yet another tragic mass shooting a week ago – this time in Lewiston, Maine – peace and prosperity in our nation is a matter of grave concern and consideration. Every solution that has been proposed will not make our nation safe and secure unless we give priority to spirituality and family life. The profiles of most shooters reveal emotional and mental issues arising from dysfunctional families and mental health. That’s all the more reason for us to listen to what our Church has been at pains to promote. These words of Pope Francis, delivered at various events, are worth remembering and practicing:

–          “The family is the foundation of co-existence and a remedy against social fragmentation.” 

–          “Every threat to the family is a threat to society itself. The future of humanity, as Saint John Paul II often said, passes through the family. So protect your families! Protect your families! See in them your country’s greatest treasure and nourish them always by prayer and the grace of the sacraments.”

–          “We need simplicity to pray as a family; it is very beautiful and a source of great strength!  And also praying for one another! The husband for his wife, the wife for her husband, both together for their children, the children for their grandparents….praying for each other.  This is what it means to pray in the family and it is what makes the family strong: daily prayer.”

–          “Living together is an art, a patient, beautiful, fascinating journey. This journey of every day has a few rules that can be summed up in three phrases which I have already repeated many times to families, and which you have already learned to use among yourselves: May I? Thank you, and I’m sorry.”

Let us speak about these to our family and thus help every member of our family connect with God and with one another.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal