News - February 2017 RSS Feed

Coming together to celebrate the Lord’s Day we observe the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time. We leave Ordinary Time this week with the beginning of Lent on Wednesday. Lent is the 40 days prior to Easter during which we actively engage in PRAYER, FASTING and ALMSGIVING. As we reflect upon the sufferings that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, endured for our salvation we are challenged to conversion and a change of heart. The disciplines of Lent (prayer, fasting and almsgiving) assist us in our responding positively to repentance. I will be reminding you during this holy season of the various opportunities we all have to reform our lives and become true disciples of Jesus Christ.  

Have you always wanted to sing in a choir? Come try it out this Lent and Easter. All parishioners of High school and older are invited to join our choir. Any music reading singing experience is helpful, but not required. E-mail Derek Nelson, the choir director, at [email protected], if you are interested, or have any questions.  

Children from the Second to Eighth grade are invited to join our childrens’ choir. E-mail Derek Nelson, the choir director, at [email protected], if you are interested, or have any questions.

The St Monica Guild invites you to a Pilgrimage to the home of Mother Seaton, the Seton Shrine, St Jude’s Shrine, the Baltimore Basilica, the National Shrine Grotto and Mt St Mary’s University, on May 16 to 17, 2017. Father Zig and Father Marchin will be on the Pilgrimage.

The St Monica Guild is sponsoring a Corned Beef and Cabbage Night on March 18, 2017 at 5 to 8 PM. Reservations must be made in advance.

Our Lord, Jesus Christ, made these twelve promises to those who honor His Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun, whom he called “the Beloved Disciple of the Sacred Heart” and the Heiress “of all Its treasures”, in the 1670’s. They show us how much he cherishes this devotion. These promises were revealed in one of many private revelations that Jesus gave St. Margaret Mary.

Holy Virgin Mary, at the message of the Angel Gabriel, You received and brought forth the Word in our word. Be with me now and intercede for me. That I too may hear and ponder the Word of God in my heart. Through your powerful intercession, may Jesus the Word of life, dwell among us. AMEN!!!

If you received a final request from our Bishop asking for your support of the 2016 Bishop’s Annual Appeal, please respond as your means permit. The Appeal is essential to the work of the Church in reaching out to those in great need who come to our Catholic Charities agencies.

Our Lady of the Lakes Knights of Columbus Council #3359 will be hosting a Lunch with a Leprechaun on Saturday, March 4th, at noon until 2:00 PM at St. Catherine of Siena Church Parish Center located at 10 Pocono Road, Mountain Lakes.

The Annual Saints Cyril and Methodius Appeal will be taken in our parish the weekend of February 25 - 26, 2017.  Most of the money from this collection is used to support the Pontifical College of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Rome, the residence of priests from Slovakia who were sent to Rome by their bishops for graduate studies. 

The second collection for the weekend of February 11-12, 2017 was for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe. Your donation today helped restore the church and build the future in 20 countries, many of which still struggle to recover in the aftermath of Soviet rule.

Today is the Lord’s Day and the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time. In the first lection from the Old Testament Book of Sirach we hear the words: “If you CHOOSE you can keep the commandments, they will save you; if you trust in God, you too shall live…Before man are life and death, good and evil, whichever he CHOOSES shall be given him.” The Old Testament author is reminding us that the Lord God has given us the gift of FREE WILL, we can choose and God does not interfere. The Lord desires us to make choices which will keep us close to Him but unfortunately many times we make choices which separate ourselves from Him who is all-good. The laws of God, the Commandments, have been given to us as a sign of our committed relationship of love with our Creator. These precepts are not burdensome but rather are liberating, freeing us to live our lives in accord with the Lord’s design.

Reboot Live, a wonderful evening of Catholic revival,  takes place on Friday evening, April 21st, from 7:00 to 9:30 PM at Saint Theresa Catholic School Gymnasium located in Succasunna. This is an evening you will not forget and an opportunity you should not miss. The evening includes music which will be performed by musician and recording artist Jon Niven, and internationally acclaimed speaker and author, Chris Stefanick, who will speak on the life you were made for.

Villa Walsh Academy, located in Morristown, NJ, is looking for part-time school bus drivers. Interested candidates must possess a CDL with both the passenger (P) and school bus (S) endorsements. Most trips are late afternoon/early evening. There are also some weekend trips available. Please contact Jen Fleury, Athletic Director, at [email protected] or call 973-538-3680 x145.

Today we celebrate the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week, the day on which the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. This is also the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time. The word “LIGHT” appears in the reading from Isaiah the Prophet, in the Gospel reading from Matthew, in the Responsorial Psalm and in the Gospel Acclamation. Its presence in the liturgy of the Word is prominent and revelatory. Jesus said that He is “the LIGHT of the world,” and indeed He is.

Please join the Women’s Society for their monthly meeting on Monday night, February 13th at 7 PM in the Rectory Basement.  For more information about our society, please call Claire at 973-586-9706.

Please join the Women Society for hospitality after the 10AM mass on Sunday, February 19th. Additionally, the same weekend is our monthly food drive for the Rockaway Food Pantry.   Canned goods, cereal,  peanut  butter, and pasta, etc. are always needed.  The Rockaway Food Pantry sent our parish a thank you letter for all the food we have donated. Thank you for your support.