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Happy Mother’s Day! This is a special day of the year when we honor and celebrate our Mothers. Of course, for many this day is also tinged with sadness as they remember their Mothers who have passed, especially over the past year. Our prayers and best wishes to all Mothers. I expect to get to see my Mother this afternoon, and I hope many of you do as well -- and that you Mothers and Grandmothers get to see your children and grandchildren.

This weekend at the 11am Mass we will have the May Crowning ceremony, hopefully at the statue in the courtyard, otherwise we will crown a statue in the church. We are reminded of the Queenship of Mary and of her intercession and prayers for us. I encourage everyone to pray the Rosary at least occasionally for your own spiritual edification and for the intentions of our world. These days we should all be praying for peace in the world and within our own nation.

This weekend we observe Good Shepherd Sunday, where the focus of the readings are on Jesus as the Good Shepherd, and his promise to provide good shepherds for his flock. While we do not always get the “good shepherds” we always have the Good Shepherd himself, protecting us and walking the journey of life and faith with us.

Next weekend the diocese observes Called By Name Weekend. We will focus on promoting vocations for the priesthood here in the Diocese of Trenton. Billy Attardi, seminarian from our parish who is in his first (propaedeutic) year at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Ambler, PA, will speak at all of the Masses next weekend. You will find a card in the pews on which you are free to submit the name of anyone whom you believe to be a potential candidate for the seminary. We used this program several years ago and it netted some good results. Please prayerfully consider this initiative and complete the cards next weekend if you are so moved. There is a letter from Bishop O’Connell in the bulletin, and he has produced an introductory video which is also available.

Here at St. Benedict’s we had a blessed and beautiful celebration of the Triduum and Easter. We welcomed two new Catholics to our community with one baptism and then an additional Confirmation. More Confirmations will be celebrated at the Pentecost Vigil (May 23). I would like to thank Deacon Paul and the entire OCIA team for their commitment to mentoring and forming our candidates through their journey. There are more individuals in the process, so we will see additional celebrations on the First Sunday of Advent.

Our long Lenten journey -- characterized by our acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is at an end and the celebrations of his Blessed Resurrection begin. The next fifty days will draw our focus to the power of life over death, love over hatred, and good over evil.

We begin today, our great journey through Holy Week culminating with the Holy Triduum beginning on Holy Thursday. It is my firm wish and hope that you’ll be able to join us this week for some or all of the services and Masses that will be celebrated.

Holy Week quickly approaches as we celebrate what was traditionally the Passion Sunday, our readings shift the focus from the call to conversion to the mission of Christ in the world for the salvation of souls and the reparation of sins. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday and we begin then the journey into the Triduum.

Please join us this Sunday afternoon (3/15) for the Sacrament of Confession. Our Easter Duty as Catholics requires us to receive the Sacrament during the Lent or Easter Season and this open Confession time provides easy access to multiple priests. If you cannot make this one, St. Mary in Colts Neck will hold their Confessions at the same time and in the same format next Sunday (3/22). We also offer the Sacrament each week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings following the 9am Mass.

If it’s Sunday morning when you are reading this you are probably in a grumpy mood as you lost an hour of sleep last night. I know I am not a fan. Be careful this week as cardiovascular events, strokes, and various work place and car accidents spike the first week of DST.

I guess I missed the memo that 2026 is the Year of Snow, but here we are. I hope everyone did well through the storms this past week, and hopefully, it is all finished for the season. Unfortunately, the weather does some serious damage to the bank account. We had spent $65,000 in snow removal this winter before last weekend. That is certainly a hard hit to the budget.

This weekend we launch the Annual Catholic Appeal. The video message from Bishop O’Connell is compelling, and we are happy to welcome Carol DeMuria to speak to the parish about the appeal. Carol has been coordinating the parish side of the appeal for many years and is very attentive to the program and its impact on the diocese and on the parish level. I am happy to report that the silent phase of the appeal has brought us to over 10% of goal. Thank you for your support. An important aspect of the appeal is new donors. Regardless of the amount contributed, the kickback to the parish increases based on new donors. I ask all of you who have never donated before to make a donation to assist us in achieving this benchmark.

Our Lenten journey begins this week as we observe Ash Wednesday, Once again, we are offering many opportunities for you to share in the Liturgy of the Word and receive ashes. While there is no requirement to be marked with ashes, it is a noble statement of one’s intention to enter into Lent with a new purpose and a focus on conversion of mind and heart. Given the current world situation, it is good that we take this Lenten opportunity to sacrifice for the cause of world peace.

This weekend we observe Marriage Weekend, and we reflect on the importance of the Sacrament of Marriage in the development of society and the formation of families. The public sharing of vows before a priest or deacon, expressing one’s intention to remain faithful to the marital covenant freely and without reservation, builds up the community, and provides the grace necessary to fulfill those promises. It is not easy, but it is the call that the vast majority of people have in their lives. Lori McCahill, Director of Marriage Ministry, and her “plus-one” Mike, are addressing our ministry and some initiatives of that ministry at all of the Masses this weekend. Anyone who is civilly married should seek the convalidation of their marriage to make it a sacramental marriage. This is generally a very easy and simple process. Please make contact with Lori for more information.

Well that was a snowy weekend like we haven’t seen in a long time. Given my Lehigh Valley roots and college seminary days in Scranton, a good snow storm is always a relaxing and pleasant experience. I know not everyone feels that way.

As I write this letter it is looking like most of you will not be reading it as you will be home watching the snow piling up on your driveways. Nonetheless, there are some important things to address. As you know we are in Catholic Schools Week, and we are excited to celebrate the success of our school; to recognize the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff, and to support and encourage our students. Certainly we are grateful to all of the families who entrust their children to our care for their formation and education. It is an awesome responsibility, and one that we take very seriously here. Thank you to all those who make this mission possible for our parish family.

The new year seems to be moving along rather quickly, and we are already looking forward to the beginning of the Lenten Season. Ash Wednesday is fairly early this year, coming in on February 18. It would seem that not much happens between now and then, though some of the events are worth noting.

I write this letter from the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican awaiting the audience with Pope Leo XIV. I arrived in Rome on January 2 and by the time you read this letter I will be back at the parish. I have been in Rome with Bishop O’Connell and some fifteen priests. It has been fairly cold and the rain has been very heavy at times, so there were a few things that we intended to do but did not due to the weather. Nonetheless, it has been a nice break and a good experience.

I hope everyone had a safe and blessed New Year. Please be assured of our prayers here for blessings in the year ahead. This past Christmas Season was a good and productive one for us here at St. Benedict, and hopefully the same is true for your families as well.

As much as we anticipate the coming of Christmas, in an instant it seems like it has passed. One of the beauties of our Catholic faith is that as a season, Christmas, what one calls Christmastide, continues for a few more weeks. As we have previously mentioned, the calendar of the old Latin Mass continued Christmas for forty days, as we do Easter, meaning it ends on February 2.