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ATTENTION – All High School SMYLE members!

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

“Fully Alive – National Catholic Youth Conference – November 16-19th – NCYC 2023

In our second reading from St. Paul, we hear “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.”

If you are in high school reading this, or know someone who is, I have the perfect opportunity for any high-school teen to “be transformed”!

In November, the National Catholic Youth Conference will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana from November 16-19th. The theme for NCYC 2023 is *Fully Alive*

The estimated cost is $1,100 which includes airfare, event fee, hotel (4 teens/room), meals, transportation, and T-shirts. (Students will miss 2 days of school).

If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting trip, please send an email to SMYLE@stmatthias.net by September 10th. The total cost is $1,100.00.

Each student will only have to pay 50% ($550) in two installments. To reserve a spot, the first payment ($275) is due Sept 10th. The final payment ($275) is due Sept 17th which is when we’ll actually book the airline, hotel, and pay the conference fee. We’ll be traveling with 8 youth and 2 chaperones from St. Joseph parish in Hillsborough.

The remaining $550 per person will be paid through fundraising (bake sales, etc.) and any donations offered by our generous parishioners.

I encourage you to support our youth through your monetary donations and/or prayers.

If we have enough replies, we’ll let you know next steps – including fundraising possibilities, and a required pre-travel meeting for teens and parents.

If anyone really wants to attend, but has financial concerns, please still email SMYLE@stmatthias.net

Deacon John

 

For a preview:

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

Dear Friends,

The World Youth Day celebrations (August 1-6, 2023) are concluding today. More than 28,600 young adults from 1,300 U.S. groups travelled to Lisbon, Portugal, to participate in this global event for young people that takes place about every three years, offering a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ through liturgical celebrations, networking, faith sharing, catechetical sessions, and prayer with the Holy Father. We are happy that our parishioners Emily Chavez, Mary-Frances Chavez and Jasmine DeLeon are there attending this spectacular event. I hope you have been watching some of the exciting and inspiring WYD programs.

“Mary arose and went with haste” (Luke 1:39) is the theme chosen by Pope Francis for the World Youth Day. This quote from the Gospel of St. Luke opens the account of the Visitation (Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth), a biblical episode following the Annunciation (the angel’s announcement to Mary that she would be the mother of the Son of God). During their conversation of the Annunciation, the angel also tells Mary that her older cousin, thought to be sterile, is pregnant. It is then that Mary sets out for Ain Karim, a village near Jerusalem, where Elizabeth lived and was awaiting the birth of John, who would become St John the Baptist.

This week we keep the feast of St. Lawrence (August 10th ). The esteem in which the Church holds Lawrence is seen in the fact that his memorial day ranks as a feast. He is one of those whose martyrdom made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church. Celebration of his feast day spread rapidly. He was a Roman deacon under Pope Saint Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death, Deacon Lawrence and four clerics suffered martyrdom, probably during the persecution of the Emperor Valerian. The church built over his tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages.

The feast of Deacon Lawrence naturally reminds us of our own wonderful deacons – John Radvanski, Russ Demkovitz and Ron Caimi – who have been ministering us for years.

The word deacon derives from the Greek diakonia, meaning “service,” thereby indicating that a deacon is called like Christ to be a servant. The Church teaching clearly states that the Order of Deacon has three essential functions: the proclamation of the Gospel, the service of the liturgy, and the administration of charitable works. Deacons may baptize, witness the exchange of vows and bless marriages, distribute Holy Communion, impart benediction with the Blessed Sacrament, bring Viaticum to the dying, read Sacred Scripture to the faithful and especially proclaim the Gospel, preach, officiate at funerals and burials, and administer the sacramentals. Besides, they should dedicate themselves to other charitable works, particularly within the parish community. (Confer the Catechism, No. 1569-70, and the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, No 29).

This feast is a wonderful opportunity for our community to thank our beloved deacons for their selfless ministry to us all. Their life should be an inspiration for the men of our parish to consider taking their place as deacons. I invite our men to pray about it and speak with one of our deacons.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

Alzheimer’s Support Group Meets In Person, on 7/12 at 2 PM!

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

ALZHEIMER’S SUPPORT GROUP MEETS IN PERSON, ON 7/12 AT 2 PM!

LET’S CELEBRATE SUMMER AND ENJOY EACH OTHER’S COMPANY AND SOME FOOD!

The Alzheimer’s Association and Saint Matthias Catholic Church are co-hosting a monthly Support Group for people living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia and their care partners. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, July 12th, from 2 pm-3:30 pm in the dePorres room in the Parish Office building at St. Matthias Church in Somerset. 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.

Survey for Adults Interested in Supporting St. Matthias Youth Ministry

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

SMYLE provides a safe space for our teens for self-expression and to find their purpose while developing an authentic relationship with God, others, and self. SMYLE provides Social, Service, Spiritual, and Religious opportunities/events where teens can form a community with people who can bring joy, create new possibilities, and spark new adventures or friendships!

Our teens in Junior High and High School (grades 6 – 12) have completed surveys highlighting their interests and concerns during these challenging times. This Adult (21+) survey is an attempt to match their responses with your skills and gifts. Please help St. Matthias to create a variety of different opportunities for our youth, by sharing your time & talent in areas of interest/need identified by our youth.

There are many direct, and also very helpful indirect ways, for adults to minister either to, for, or with our youth. Whatever you’re passionate about doing which gives you meaning and purpose – either professionally or as a hobby – it might be something a teen would be curious to further explore with your guidance.

We can only do more as we gain more support – so please pray and also encourage others to participate!
If you don’t have time to answer these questions but would like to chat with us, just provide your contact info, scroll to the bottom of the second page and click –> Submit.
Thanks for prayerfully considering being a part of a ministry where you’re capable of greatness!

To fill out the form, please click here.

Announcement From Msgr. Brennan

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

Dear Parishioners of Saint Matthias,

On March 7th, 2023 I celebrated my 75th birthday and on March 23rd I wrote a letter to Bishop Checchio requesting his approval and blessing on my retirement from active priestly ministry effective July 1st, 2023. Bishop Checchio has approved my decision and so June 30th will be my last day serving as Senior Priest at Saint Matthias. On July 1st I will enter into full retirement and will move to Saint James Church in Basking Ridge. The pastor, Msgr. Sylvester Cronin has extended an invitation to me for the last two years letting me know I was welcome to live with him in retirement. In addition to the pastor, there is an associate, a retired priest from Newark, and a seminarian living at the rectory. So we will be a small community of five people living at the parish.

In retirement I will still continue some priestly ministry, but on a limited basis. If requested I will assist with some weekend Masses, funerals, or even some weekday Masses.

I am deeply grateful to Father Abraham and the people of Saint Matthias, for the welcome you have given me over the past two years. I moved into Saint Matthias in February 2021, though I did not begin ministry officially until July 1, 2021. So it will be exactly 2 years I have served here as Senior Priest and I have enjoyed my time here and the people I have met. Father Abraham has been most thoughtful and a joy to live with. I am grateful to the deacons and the staff of the parish who have shown such kindness and consideration to me and my needs. I am also thankful to Bishop Checchio for allowing me to serve here as Senior Priest.

I must confess I am looking forward to retirement as my energy level has certainly begun to wane. I hope to be able to play some golf (though even that has to be limited to allow time for recovery), and perhaps a little travel, especially back to Ireland to visit family and friends. I already have plans to visit Ireland in July.

I have assured Father Abraham that he can call me if he needs some help from time to time and I will do all in my power to assist, if possible. Please be assured of a remembrance in my prayers and masses and I ask the same of you. We are one in Christ and especially in the Eucharist. During this year of Eucharistic Revival let us pray for each other and our church that we may truly become one in Christ.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Msgr. Seamus F Brennan

A letter From Fr. Abraham Regarding St. Matthias School

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

To the Parents of St. Matthias School

Dear Parents,

As we come to the final days of the current academic year, I wish to thank you for your interest and support for your children’s education and for the support you have given to the school administration to fulfil our mission of Catholic Education. The beautiful graduation celebrations of the 8th Graders was a clear testimony of this.

The Principal is the primary person responsible for the overall management of every school. While shouldering that responsibility, our Principal, Mary Lynch, has done an amazing feat in getting her own graduation of her Masters degree last month from St. Peter’s University, Jersey City. She deserves a double congratulations for this.

Over the past years, the enrollment in our school has been decreasing which in turn made the parish having to generously subsidize the school. The St. Matthias Church’s mission is to support our school and do everything in its power to make the school strong. But when the enrollment drops and when parish subsidy is needed beyond a reasonable limit, some staff consolidation is called for. It is in that spirit that I painfully informed Mr. Joe Gidaro that his contract with our school would not be renewed. Mr. Gidaro has faithfully served St. Matthias for 12 years. Besides being the Vice Principal, he has worn many hats – especially as director of marketing & development, filling in as librarian and as substitute teacher when needed. He has the admiration and affection from all here in the campus and outside. Therefore letting him go was a very painful decision taken after lots of consideration and proper information over a long period of time.

Both Mr. Gidaro and Mrs. Lynch were informed of this possibility two years ago, and then one year ago. But when Mary Lynch informed you of this yesterday (6/8/2023), it must have come as a shock, and some rumors that are untrue have been going around. I wish to assure you that this decision is taken precisely to make our school strong and sustainable. The Church will not flinch from its primary mission of evangelization and our Catholic School is a major component of that mission. I am committed to that mission – despite whatever rumors are out there. Our Bishop, Most Rev. James Checchio is committed to that. The Office of Catholic Schools is committed to that. And certainly this Catholic Community of St. Matthias is committed to that.

Hence I invite you all to understand and accept the change, in the spirit of a family, and continue to support our St. Matthias School, and help it stay and grow stronger in ‘Faith, Caring and Excellence,’- as our School motto reminds us.

Have a wonderful summer.
God bless you and your families.

 

Fr. Abraham Orapankal
Pastor
The Catholic Community of St. Matthias, Somerset

 

Letter to SMS Parents 2023 June

60th Anniversary Fundraising Update

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

Dear Fellow Parishioners and Friends,

We are more than halfway to reaching our fundraising goal of $200,000. Our sincere thanks to all who have already donated to this fundraiser. Your generosity has helped us reach this point. We are excited to start the bathroom construction and other renovation projects this summer. The opportunity to donate to this fundraiser continues.

A donation progress thermometer is on display in the church vestibule along with fundraiser information letters and envelopes. Additional letters and donation envelopes are available at all church exits and in the parish office. Be well and be blessed.

60th Anniversary Fundraising Committee

Come Join Us for Movie Night!

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

St, Matthias Racial Justice Initiative Hosts Movie Night

DATE:       Saturday, May 27th

TIME:       6:00 pm Dinner / 6:30 pm Movie  

WHERE:   St. John XXIII Room

Please join us for a special Easter season movie night!  We will be watching Lilies of the Field, starring Sidney Poitier.  There will be sandwiches, beverages, cookies, and lots of fellowship.  There will be a free-will offering for dinner and ALL are encouraged to attend!

Please RSVP to matthiasracialjustice@gmail.com by Thursday, May 25th so we can prepare accordingly.

HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!

 

St. Matthias Ministry Fair May 20th & 21st

Posted on by Nathalie Godet

 

St. Matthias is blessed with a host of ministries doing so much good for our community and beyond. Our Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) has initiated a “Ministry Fair” to let our parish community know more about our various wonderful ministries. It is our hope that many will be inspired to join one of the ministries. Here are the details:

The date/venue: the weekend of May 20 & 21, in the cafeteria

Format: Each ministry will have a table in the cafeteria to put up displays. You can prepare your own charts, and giveaways like flyers about the ministry, objects, or other attractions.

Invitation: Parishioners will be invited to come after each Mass to the cafeteria.

Manning the Table: Each ministry will have to make sure that one or more of your ministry team will be present at the table after each of the Masses, to speak about your ministry to our parishioners who come.

Food: Coffee, drinks and snacks will be provided.

Printing: Each Ministry can prepare flyers and get them printed here in the office. Kindly contact Fr. Abraham for any help with that – at least by May 8th.

Contact person from PPC: Rose Peng email: rosepeng@optonline.net (Phone: 908-285-5921) will be the contact person to coordinate this. Kindly email her for any questions you have on this matter. If any Ministry is left out due to incorrect emails, change of leaders, etc, please inform Rose Peng or Fr. Abraham.