Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

Our Lenten journey continues at what seems to be a rapid pace. We had a good turnout last weekend for our annual Lenten Penance Service. Of course, Confession is always available by appointment. There are other opportunities at parishes in the area to attend a Penance Service if you have not done so already: St. Mary (Colts Neck) on April 3rd at 3:00 p.m.; St. Catharine (Holmdel) on April 7th at 6:00 p.m.; and at St. Gabriel (Marlboro) on April 13th at 7:00 p.m.

We have been offering the Sacrament of Confession each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday after the 9:00 a.m. Mass. The Sacrament will continue to be offered at that time but will now shift to the Confessional instead of the Adoration Chapel. This is because the Adoration Chapel is again open for perpetual adoration. Effective last Monday, March 14th, we have re-opened the chapel for private prayer and devotion 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Already many people have taken advantage of this change, and we hope to see many more take advantage of this great opportunity. Consider taking a regular time slot during the week, but of course, the stop-by, even for a few minutes, is a great blessing in one’s day.

You will notice in the Adoration Chapel as well as in the Hall of Saints, a new bank of small vigil candles. At $1 a piece they burn for one hour. We had hoped these candles would have been available before Christmas, but at least we were able to install them on Ash Wednesday. In the Hall of Saints, of course, the regular $3 three-day candles are still available.

We continue with The Chosen on Tuesday and Thursday this week and with the Stations of the Cross on Wednesday and Friday. It is only, or already, week three of Lent, but it is still not too late to enter more deeply into the Lenten practices. Feel free to join us for the presentations even if you haven’t been able to attend any of the earlier sessions.

I will be away from Sunday evening until Wednesday afternoon this week as I am giving a Lenten Reflection at St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Cinnaminson, where Father Dan Kirk is pastor. It will be good for me to get away and change the setting a bit. I will be using the time for some reading and quiet. It is also better than driving back and forth each night. Many of you ask how I am doing and the answer is basically...coming along, slowly, but coming along. I am going to cardio-rehab three times a week, and I do still find it tiring. I am making progress, but apparently this recovery takes much more time than I had expected or hoped. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

Speaking of prayers, Lent or anytime, really, is a good time to bolster our prayer lives. Sometimes we feel alone in prayer, don’t really know how to pray, or don’t “have the time.” As with so many other things these days “there’s an app for that.” A new website, developed by one of our parishioners, can be found at: prayoverus.com. There you can join a specific St. Benedict group where we pray for each other and our intentions.

The app, Laudate, has many interactive prayers which you can read or play aloud, and also use on Bluetooth connected devices. This way you can pray while working out, driving the car, or sitting on a park bench. The more opportunities we have to bring prayer into our daily lives the better our relationship with God, and the better our lives.

I also ask for your prayers for the students from our parish who are to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation next week, March 31st.

Have a blessed week.
Father Garry