News - September 2017 RSS Feed

What About You? We are looking for people to represent our parish at the monthly Rockaway Right to Life meetings which are held at Saint Cecilia’s on the first Wednesday of the month. For details please see Lyle Ryder, John Sautter or Father Zig.

“Share The Journey: Love Your Neighbor" is a Week Of Prayer And Action from October 7th to 13th.   "The Church is Mother, and her motherly attention is expressed with special tenderness and closeness to those who are obliged to flee their own country and exist between rootlessness and integration.  This tension destroys people.  Christian compassion - this 'suffering with' compassion - is expressed first of all in the commitment to obtain knowledge of the events that force people to leave their homeland, and where necessary, to give voice to those who cannot manage to make their cry of distress and oppression heard.  They are all elements that dehumanize and must push every Christian and the whole community to concrete attention." Pope Francis, in an address to the Participants in the Plenary of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and ltinerant People, May 24, 2013.

Divine Mercy Academy 3rd graders partnered with St. Monica's Guild to sort and pack all of the school supplies donated by our DMA families for Hurricane Harvey victims. The items were later loaded on a truck to be delivered to Texas.

The women’s society will conduct its next meeting on Monday evening, October 9th beginning at 7 o’clock in the rectory basement meeting room. All women of the parish are cordially invited to attend.

Do ‘Something Beautiful for God’:  From Sept. 27 through Nov. 5, there will be “40 Days for Life” daily prayer vigils around the world outside of Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers.   

Thank you to everyone who donated food items to Divine Mercy Academy's September 11th food drive. Our seventh graders helped deliver the donations to the food pantry.

Save the Date for Divine Mercy Academy's 1st Annual Tricky Tray, on Saturday, November 18th at Morris Catholic High School. More details to follow.

Joanaleigh Bretzger was baptized at Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish on September 17, 2017. We welcome her into our parish community. Please pray for her and her family.

The vital work of our Church supported by the Bishop’s Annual Appeal is only as successful as the number of faithful parishioners who participate by making a gift. Your support helps bring hope to those who come to our Catholic Charities agencies. It supports seminarian education, our diocesan priests’ residence and our inner-city area schools. Every gift counts!  Saint Teresa once wrote that “we feel what we are doing is a drop in the ocean, but that ocean would be less without that drop.”  Our Bishop’s Annual Appeal is able to do that much more with whatever you are able to give.   

Save the Date! The Rockaway Catholic Right to Life Ministry will be hosting a Pro-Life Community Evening on Friday, October 13th in Hayes Hall from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM. Guest speakers are Christine Flaherty, Executive Director of LIFENET, which promotes Respect for Life and the virtue of chastity; and Christopher Bell, Co-Founder of Good Council Homes, dedicated to the care of single mothers. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served.

Congratulations to Ryan McKay and Lisa Reeck who were married at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church on September 16, 2017. We pray that they continue to grow in love and faith as they begin their new life together.

We celebrate the Lord’s Day on this 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The Pauline lection for this Sunday comes from the Apostle Paul’s correspondence to the Philippians. In this periscope we find the words, “For to me life is Christ.” These words were taken by Bishop Serratelli for his episcopal coat of arms and have had special meaning within the Diocese of Paterson since his appointment as our bishop in 2004. The Latin translation for this is “Vivere Christus Est.”  

 A second collection to assist all those affected by the recent hurricanes which have struck our country will take place on the weekend of September 30-October 1.   Please make your check payable to our parish with the memo: Hurricane. May God bless you for your kindness.

 You are invited to join Father Zig in traveling to Ireland and Northern Ireland, April 9-21, 2018. A Colette travel brochure with all the information regarding cost, itinerary and much more can be found in the church vestibule or in the rectory.

The Diocese of Paterson will make a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception on Saturday, October 21st. A bus will take us from Rockaway to Washington, DC for the day filled with prayer and devotions. Please contact Pat Zayac by calling 973-625-4572 for details.

New Jersey’s oldest Catholic prep school, Seton Hall Preparatory School, will be hosting its annual Open House for 7th and 8th grade boys and their families on Sunday, October 29th between 12 and 3 pm. 

A presentation on the annulment process will be given on Wednesday evening, October 11th at Saint Paul Inside the Walls in Madison. The presentation will run from 7:30 to 9 o’clock. For additional information visit the website: www.insidethewalls.org .

CYO Basketball Come join us and build friendships that will last a lifetime. CYO Basketball 2017-2018 Season 4th thru 8th Grade Boys and Girls. If interested please email [email protected]

n our celebration of the Lord’s Day on this 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time we commemorate CATECHETICAL SUNDAY. The theme of this year’s observance is “Living as Missionary Disciples.” In today’s Gospel we hear the Lord Jesus speak to His disciples regarding the manner in which they are to live. He tells them a parable so that the lesson may be better understood by His disciples. The subject is mercy and forgiveness. Jesus wants His followers to practice these virtues when they are confronted with being wronged by others. Rather than holding onto anger and retribution they are to grant forgiveness. He gives them a new commandment, “Love one another as I have loved you. ”The school of discipleship is one to which all the baptized are students. This school is always in session and graduation from it occurs at death.  

 I am happy to report that the response to the appeal for donations to upgrade the lighting in the church has been very positive. We have reached the number of donors necessary to upgrade each of the chandeliers in the church. I am most grateful to those who have responded to this appeal.