With summertime and vacation time upon us, please consider joining our parish online giving program. This is the safest and most convenient way to ensure the financial stability of the parish over the summer months when many of our parishioners are on vacation. You can make your gift payable on a recurring basis, so that you support the parish even while you are away. Remember, parish expenses do not decrease over the summer months! Making a donation is easy. Simply go to this link. You can select either a one-time or a recurring gift. Even though you will not be using envelopes, please make sure to include your envelope number when you sign up to ensure that you get properly credited for your donation.
Wishing you and your family a happy and safe summer! God bless.
A little over a year ago parishioner Mark Lang offered to assist with the parish website. Not only did Mark take on the challenge of completely redesigning the website, he has also been running it and updating it on a weekly basis ever since. Mark’s flair for finding and then inserting the right information on a timely and user friendly basis has been invaluable. Unfortunately for us, Mark and his family have moved to South Carolina. While he has graciously continued to run the website remotely, it is time to hand this project over to someone who has the skill and the time to handle this important project locally.
If you have any web ability and a willingness to help the parish in this important way, please contact Fr. David through the parish office or by email at [email protected]
Please make use of our Meditation Garden. What a beautiful spot to spend a few minutes with our Lord! Our Meditation Garden and Remembrance Walkway project is ongoing, and bricks can be ordered at any time. The next placement of bricks will be during the summer. Remembrance bricks are a beautiful way to remember loved ones or special moments in our lives.
With the onset of warmer weather please note that the chiller in the church will be turned on from time to time as necessary. The chiller does not provide true “air conditioning” in that it basically blows in colder air without taking out humidity. There is no thermostat. The chiller is either on or off. Please don’t shoot the messenger. If you typically feel chilly in air conditioned premises, please dress accordingly and bring a sweater or jacket with you to Mass. You can always take it off. People who feel warm don’t have many options. Please keep in mind that the priests and deacons when fully vested for Mass are wearing four layers of clothing and are not sitting under any of the fans. Many thanks for your cooperation and understanding.
Religious Education Program - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
Catechists and Assistants are needed for the 2022- 2023 Academic Year (September - May). Please consider donating your time and talent to assist the children of the parish on their journey of faith.
All volunteers (over 18 years of age) MUST be fingerprinted, background checked and attend a one-time Protecting God's Children workshop in order to work with children in the Diocese of Metuchen. 7th and 8th Grade Students are welcome to sign up as assistants for service hours; however, please note that the commitment is from September-May. Catechists and Assistants receive tuition discounts. Student volunteers receive service hour credits.
On Sept. 24, 2022, the Diocese of Metuchen will conclude its year-long 40th Anniversary celebration with a diocesan pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. As we hope this to be a joyous celebration of our diocesan anniversary, we hope to have many Catholics from our diocese in attendance as possible, so please save the date and encourage your fellow parishioners to do the same. More information and materials will be forthcoming.
All volunteers are reminded that if their volunteer work at the parish involves working with children, unless each child’s parent or guardian accompanies their child for the entire time, the volunteer needs to have been fingerprinted and have gone through the Protecting God’s Children program, and their credentials must be up to date and on file with our Safe Environment Coordinator at OLMV (Ms. Zmigrodski). Also, no photos that include children may be included on any social media website or platform or in any publication without the prior written consent of the parent or guardian. Many thanks for your understanding and cooperation
While online giving is the best and easiest way to make offertory and special contributions to the parish, many thanks also to all who use the offertory envelopes for making their weekly and special contributions to the parish.
Collection envelopes are currently sent out every other month to about 1300 families in the parish. This is far more than the number of families that actually use them. In order to cut costs and waste, we are in the process of discontinuing envelopes being sent to any family that has not used its envelopes since January, 2019. You should still retain your envelope number and use it whenever you add or make changes to online giving or make a note of the envelope number on the memo line of your check if you make a contribution by check. If for some reason you would still like to receive envelopes, please call Patty in the parish office.
The best way to support the parish is to enroll in our online giving program. Through this program you can determine your donation amount, select the funds or funds of your choice to which to donate, determine the method of payment, and set the frequency of payments (one-time or recurring). Many thanks for your prayerful support and generosity.