The World Youth Day will be held in Lisbon, Portugal from July 28th – August 7, 2023. The Diocese of Metuchen is planning to have a contingent of youth – 16 years and older to young adults – to attend this event. It will be wonderful if some of our Youth are able to attend this world event.
Those interested in getting more details about the trip, please contact Deacon John Radvanski or Sue Lenczewski or send an email to SMYLE, or visit the diocesan website: www.diometuchen.org/wyd.
We had a Eucharistic Procession, led by Msgr. Seamus Brennan, accompanied by Altar Servers, members of the Knights of Columbus and some 100 parishioners, soon after the 5 pm Vigil Mass on Saturday June 18, 2022 as we celebrated the solemn feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). Many commented that this was the first time in memory that they witnessed such a procession here at St. Matthias. To watch a glimpse of the procession in a 2-minute video please click here.
Statements from Bishop Checchio and the New Jersey Catholic Conference regarding the Supreme Court Decision on Roe v. Wade are attached herewith.
The Bishops statement in PDF format.
The Parish Pastoral & Finance Councils, and other parishioners have suggested that we use this year of the 60th Anniversary of our parish to do some renovation of our church that is long overdue. Many ideas are suggested. But the Councils felt since we cannot hope for all the suggested projects to be implemented immediately without enough funds, we should ask the whole parish for your input to see what you think should be the priorities. Hence this short and easy Google survey. The answers to the survey are completely anonymous. None of your personal information is collected.
The suggested needs/projects are: refurbishing the pews, new floors throughout the Church, bathrooms, narthex (gathering area), deep clean and brighten the walls, replace windows with stain glass.
Please participate, your voice matters.
To take the Parish Survey please click here.
Effective June 20, 2022 the St. Matthias Parish Office summer hours are Monday through Thursday, 8:30AM-4:00PM and Friday, 8:30AM-12:30 PM.
Our Parish Finance Council has been giving us periodic updates about our financial health. Please read the letter from the Finance Council to all parishioners on this matter below.
Dear Parishioners,
This letter is to continue our commitment to keeping you, our fellow parishioners, informed regarding the activities of our council and the financial health of our beloved parish. First, our thanks to all who continue to support our church and school with their generous giving of their time, treasure and talent. Your Parish Finance Council feels blessed to be just one of many ministries along with parish and school staff that work diligently to create the caring community of Saint Matthias led by Father Abraham, Monsignor Brennan, and Principal Mary Lynch.
Some updates:
Much still needs to be done but together we can plan and move forward as a thriving Catholic Community. Any questions may be directed to us at financecouncil@stmatthias.net.
Sincerely,
Saint Matthias Finance Council
Kester Hector, Chair, Carmen Driz-Melilli, Barry Dusault, Audrey Francis, Mary Pat Burke-Grospin, Gwen Orlowski, Joan Pritchard, Joe Porter, Fr. Abraham, Pastor.
Congratulations to our Msgr. Seamus Brennan on the golden jubilee of his ordination! He was ordained as a priest on June 4, 1972. He has served the people of God in many different parishes of our diocese in various capacities. Pope St. John Paul II elevated him to the rank of Papal Chamberlain, with the title Monsignor, in 1991. We are very fortunate to have his priestly ministry with us here at St. Matthias. We will celebrate his golden jubilee on June 4 – this Saturday – at the 5 pm Mass with him as the presider. Msgr. Brennan asks that we respect his wish not to have any other celebration here. Instead, he is inviting us to join him for the Jubilee Mass he will celebrate at 3:30 pm on this Sunday, June 5th at his former parish of Immaculate Conception, 35 Mountain Ave, Somerville. Light refreshments will be served in the Immaculate Conception School cafeteria after the Mass. All are welcome.
St. Matthias Church is looking for part-time summer janitorial help.
This position is perfect for a responsible high school or college student. Please contact Mary Pat Burke-Grospin at 732-828-1400 ext. 121 or mpburke-grospin@stmatthias.net.
The Masses during the weekend of May 14th and May 15th celebrated the Feast of St. Matthias. Light receptions took place after the Masses.
St. Matthias Cookbook – 60th Anniversary Edition
In honor of St. Matthias’ 60th Anniversary, the cookbook that was created by the Altar Rosary Society 25-30 years ago is going back to print! There are more than 270 delicious recipes to choose from. The book should be released sometime in July of 2022.
On June 8th, 2022 a 60th Anniversary Mass was celebrated by St. Matthias School
60th Anniversary Proclamation
On June 14, 2022, the Franklin Township Council has made a Proclamation, sponsored by Councilman Jim Vassanella, our parishioner, and Mayor Phillip Kramer and supported by Councilman Charles Oneijiaka, also our parishioner. It was presented to Fr. Abraham .
60th Anniversary Mass
We celebrate our 60th Anniversary Mass presided by Bishop Checchio on June 26th at the 12 PM Mass. We have invited all the priests, deacons, religious and lay men and women who have served our parish and school. Some of them have gladly agreed to join us. It will give the parishioners a wonderful opportunity to connect with those who ministered to us. We will have a reception in the cafeteria after this Mass for the legacy/founding families.
Future Upcoming Events & Spiritual Activities (Dates to be Announced):
Dear Friends,
Biblically, Ascension took place 40 days after the Resurrection and so the actual Ascension Day falls on a Thursday – which is what we used to celebrate every year. Recently the bishops of New Jersey met and after discussing the pros and cons of this practice have discerned that the Solemnity of the Ascension be permanently transferred from Thursday of the Sixth Week of Easter to the following Sunday. The bishops’ discernment included a great desire for more of the faithful to participate in this integral dimension of the completion of Our Lord’s paschal mystery by the Ascension observed on a Sunday – which will be next Sunday.
This year, Thursday, May 26 will be observed as Thursday of the Sixth week of Easter and the Memorial of St. Philip Neri (1515-1595) who is known as the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory. We have Oratorian priests and brothers in our diocese and so it is their feast in a special way. As a layman, Philip spent several years in Rome performing all kinds of good works – especially in ministering to the sick, in catechizing the youth, and in providing for pilgrims. Under constant advice and persuasion from his spiritual director, he decided to be a priest and was ordained in 1551. He was almost 36 years old, a “delayed vocation” in the extreme by the standards of the day, but without the least difference in priestly zeal and vigor.
St. Philip Neri is commonly known as the “patron saint of joy,” and the “humorous saint.” He wasn’t exactly a comedian, but he did enjoy poking fun at himself, using humor to maintain his humility. For example, according to author Shaun McAfee, “Neri was known to show up to important events with half his beard shaved, give incorrect walking directions to his disciples, read a book of jokes … When he did each of these things he caused a mix of emotions in others, but it always ended up producing the same end state: increased humility, and increased patience.” St. Philip Neri hung this sign on his door: “The House of Christian Mirth.” He used to say: “A heart filled with joy is more easily made perfect than one that is sad.”
Holiness is related to humor. That is why many saints laughed at themselves; they knew that this earthly life is only a stop on our journey to heaven and so to take this world seriously is utter foolishness. Bishop Sheen once said, “A divine sense of humor belongs to poets and saints because they have been richly endowed with a sense of the invisible, and can look out upon the same phenomena that other mortals take seriously and see in them something of the divine.”
This is what Pope Francis has been reminding us when he said, to be a Christian doesn’t mean being “gloomy-faced,” but being filled with a levity of heart that recognizes the beauty and joy of Christian life. Humor in the right context can be a good thing, and even a pathway to holiness. St. Philip Neri practiced it. His joyful spirit was one of the reasons why many were attracted to him. They saw the joy he had and wanted to know the source of that joy. They realized that the source was Jesus who said: “I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (John 16:22).
Your brother in Christ,
Fr. Abraham Orapankal