Weekly Letter from the Pastor

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict:

As you can see we have returned to Ordinary Time, the festivity of the Christmas Season is now behind us, and we await the arrival of Lent on February 22. We are already preparing for the Lenten journey. As part of the initial stages of preparation, we are going to return with the Soup and Scripture format we used prior to the pandemic period. This will include Stations of the Cross on Wednesday followed by soup and then followed by the Scripture reflection. There are other programs being formulated, and all will be announced prior to the beginning of Lent.

Catholic Schools Week is being held from the weekend of January 28/29 until the weekend of February 04/05. If you know anyone interested in our school for any grade, three-year-old to eighth grade, please have them make contact with the school office soon in order to get a tour at the Open Houses, Saturday, January 28 and Friday, February 17. Spots are filling up quickly.

We are also announcing that we are undertaking a summer camp program for children ages 4-7. This is open to everyone, not just the students in the school. This is not the same as the Summer Religious Education Academy, which will be running simultaneously for two of the eight weeks of the camp. Speaking of the Summer Religious Education Academy, you will also find the announcement and details for that in the bulletin as well. It is not too early to think about our summer plans, and certainly we need to be able to make sure that we have everything we need in place for the various summer programs and also undertake some work we need to do in the building and on the grounds.

January, although it seems slow and sort of “dead of winter” is a great time for planning and getting projects underway. On the subject of projects here, we have a significant water invasion problem in the narthex which requires us to investigate replacing the roof over the church. This will be a serious undertaking for sure. Likewise, the HVAC system in the church is old and not easily repaired. That, too, needs to be replaced. We will be investigating and looking into bids and funding in short order.

Next Monday -- January 23 -- is the Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children. The bishop is celebrating Mass for Life at the Co-Cathedral in Freehold this coming Friday (January 20). This week we are hosting the Novena for Life as part of our diocesan cohort, on Sunday-Monday-Tuesday at 7pm. Check further along in the bulletin for more details.

For the past 100 years Christians in Europe and North America have observed a Week of Prayer for Christian Unity from January 18 - 25. Although the Ecumenical Movement seems to be less vibrant now than it was about forty years ago, the movement towards unity among Christians is an important issue, and certainly reflective of the Gospel imperative. Sadly, right now it seems as if there is not that much unity even among Catholics.

The political tension, broken down between conservative to traditionalist Catholics and those in the more liberal camp are quite nasty and unreflective of what it means to be “catholic” in the truest sense. Let our prayer be for unity within the church and also with our separated brethren, Orthodox and Protestant. I hope this week finds everyone well.

Blessings to all,
Fr. Garry