Please Consider Joining a St. Matthias Small Faith Group This Fall

FALL INTO FAITH

Small groups, in fact, are where much of the theology taught in our pulpits begins to be fleshed out in conversation and action.

The implications of the Biblical passages come alive when we hear how each member of the group shares his/her story of struggling to make sense of God’s will in their own lives. The sharing of struggles and challenges, joys and triumphs provide great mutual spiritual support. Small faith-sharing groups also meet a very practical and human need: the need to belong.

We are communal creatures: we were made by a community of love called the Trinity and because community is our origin, we’ll always find life and direction within a community better than we will on our own. That means small groups deliver deeper friendships that double as accountability. When people know you, really know you, your life becomes far more transparent, including your shortcomings and imperfections. Others learn to read you and will call you out for those areas you wish to improve. Thus it creates opportunities to deal with real-life difficulties as they surface. This is part of what we should expect from good friends.
So, why not sign up if you have never tried this small group experience?  Visit “Small Groups”- www.stmatthias.net/faith-formation for details or click here to register.

Groups begin October 10.

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Dear Friends,

Just a week ago, we had the funeral of Marion Fischer who was the librarian for St. Matthias School for 45 years. She and her husband Francis “Frank” Fischer were among the founders of our parish. She passed on her faith to her children and grandchildren by her example of living the faith and participating both in the church ministries and community activities. Her family said that she would not be deterred by the most dire weather conditions from attending Sunday Mass! May she rest in peace. As we mourn the passing away of this vibrant disciple of Jesus, and become aware of the decreasing number of the founding members of our parish, we need to ask ourselves this important question: how seriously are we taking on the mantle of these pioneers in living and passing on our faith?

Today is national Catechetical Sunday – a wonderful opportunity to reflect on the role that each person plays, by virtue of Baptism, in handing on the faith and being a witness to the Gospel. This year’s theme for the Catechetical Sunday is: “This is my body given for you” (Luke 22:19). We have heard so many times that the Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. The term “Eucharist” originates from the Greek word eucharistia, meaning thanksgiving. In the celebration of the Eucharist, bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the instrumentality of the priest. The whole Christ is truly present — body, blood, soul, and divinity — under the appearances of bread and wine, the glorified Christ who rose from the dead. This is what the Church means when she speaks of the “Real Presence” of Christ in the Eucharist.

Catechists are the ones who are teaching this and other truths about our faith to our children who attend our religious education/GIFT and sacramental preparation programs. We, here at St. Matthias, are blessed with wonderful women and men who give their time and energy as Catechists. We are very grateful to them. Today at all the Masses you will hear some of them speak to us about their passion as Catechists. I hope their testimony will inspire some of you to volunteer as Catechists. Being part of St. Matthias is life-giving as is the experience of so many – including Marion Fischer who, in the words of her children, “found her strength in her work among the children.”

Learning of our faith is not to be relegated only to children. We all need this learning. Don’t we all have many doubts about what we believe and practice? That is why we all need to choose something intentionally from the opportunities our parish offers. We are preparing to begin the RCIA sessions and the Fall Into Faith small faith sharing groups. These are excellent ways to learn more about the Word of God and our faith in a setting where we have ample time and freedom to clarify many of our questions on faith matters. I invite us all to consider this seriously and make a decision in the coming weeks as you will be hearing more about these two programs.

Your brother in Christ,

Fr. Abraham Orapankal

The 60th Anniversary Edition Cookbooks are in!

Are you ready to get cooking delicious and fantastic food? Then wait no more!!! The 60th Anniversary Edition Cookbooks are in!!!!! They look fabulous and are just loaded with mouthwatering recipes!!!! Thank you to all who submitted new recipes to be included. They added to the already 224 incredible recipes from the original cookbook created ~30 years ago by the Rosary Altar Society.

The 60th Anniversary Committee will be distributing the advance sale books after all Masses the weekend of Sept. 17 & 18th. There are a limited number of cookbooks available for sale that will also be available after all Masses the same weekend. Cookbooks are $20 ea.

*No advanced books or additional sales will be available prior to 9/17 & 18*

SMYLE – Survey for Youth in Junior High & High School

 

SMYLE is YOUR Safe Space where you can feel comfortable and confident to just be yourself while discovering new things about God, your faith, life, and others. You can be with people who can bring you joy, create new possibilities, spark new adventures or friendships!

Please help us create these opportunities for you by telling us what kind of activities/events that would be worthwhile for you to show up – and even invite a friend? To *SMILE* at SMYLE!

After you complete your survey, you’ll be eligible to receive a free SMYLE T-shirt!

We’ll be asking the larger Community of St. Matthias to hopefully help us do what interests you.

We can only do more as we gain more support – so please pray and encourage others to participate! Thanks – TEAM SMYLE

 

To fill out the survey please click here.

The Alzheimer’s Association and St. Matthias Catholic Church are co-hosting an Early Stage Support Group series

The Alzheimer’s Association and St. Matthias Catholic Church are co-hosting an Early Stage Support Group series for people living with Alzheimer’s and Dementia and their care partners. Our first meeting for the year will be Wednesday, September 14th  from 2pm-3pm on Zoom. Registration is required. To register, call 800-272-3900.

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.

Racial Justice Initiative’s Upcoming Faith and Racial Equity Sessions

The Racial Justice Initiative is working on lots of things for our parish, such as movie nights, discussion groups, and book talks. Another exciting project we have taken on is facilitating racial justice programs via Just Faith Ministries. Here are some videos with some reflections from the first of those programs, and information about upcoming programs.

World Youth Day 2023

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.

Eucharistic Procession at St. Matthias!

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.

Parish Survey To Determine Parish Needs – Please Participate!

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.