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As the usual rhythm of the liturgical year is ingrained in our hearts and lives we are all expecting to celebrate the Feast of the Ascension this Thursday (May 26th). However, as I mentioned in an earlier missive, the Catholic Bishops of New Jersey have voted to permanently transfer the holy day to the following Sunday. Therefore, this Thursday is not a holy day of obligation, but rather Thursday of the Sixth Sunday of Easter and the memorial of St. Philip Neri. While not a fan of the decision personally, we must continue to follow the liturgical norms of our place. Read more.

We have hit the midpoint of May and Memorial Day is quickly coming upon us. The school year is winding down and our students are ready to be graduated and to move on to their respective high schools. It is with much disappointment, but certainly not much surprise, that we learned this past week of the closing of Mater Dei High School at the end of the current school year. A staple in our community for some sixty years, the model on which they were operating was just not sustainable for the future. We do have some parishioners who are students there and our school office will be happy to assist anyone who is seeking admission to a different Catholic high school. Fortunately we are blessed to have many good Catholic high schools within the general vicinity of our parish. None of the forty students that we are graduating this year were enrolled there for the coming school year. Read more.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the Mothers, Grandmothers, Surrogate Mothers, Godmothers, Aunts and women role models this weekend. Each and every one of you is an inspiration to your family, extended family, and those whom you serve and mentor throughout your life. Today, as we crown the Blessed Mother (at the conclusion of the 11:00 a.m. Mass) we not only honor Mary as our Mother, but we give thanks to God for all of the many blessings that our Mother’s have given to us throughout our lives. Regardless of how old we are, our Mothers remain a steady rock in our lives. While I was recuperating from surgery this past winter, my Mother spent a month here with me preparing meals, cleaning, and most importantly keeping me company. Read more.

Thank you for a blessed beginning to our Easter Season. As we enter week three of the season, and with the month of May upon us, you will note the celebration of First Holy Communion at many of the parish Masses. Today in a private ceremony the students from the school will receive First Holy Communion as well. In a sense the celebration of the Sacrament is a community celebration and should ideally take place at a regularly scheduled parish Mass. Next weekend we will observe the crowning of the Blessed Mother in commemoration of May as the Month of Mary. Of course, it is also Mother’s Day giving us all something else to celebrate as well. Read more.

There was quite a chill in the air past Sunday as we gathered for the 6:00 a.m. Sunrise Easter Mass, much as there has been since we inaugurated this Mass five years ago, but it is certainly proving to be one of the most inspiring Masses in our parish life. Just over 100 people attend the Mass yet there is something special about it. Overall, our Easter celebrations were quite beautiful and very well attended. I am grateful to the entire parish staff for their hard work in assisting our celebrations. Unfortunately both Deacon Rich and Tom O’Brien (organist/pianist) were unable to be with us for the weekend celebrations, so we are especially grateful for Team Remick — Deacon Paul and Ellen — who carried the bulk of the workload during the liturgies. Ellen had very little notice in preparation to chant the Exsultet at the Vigil and still her chant was beautiful and up-lifting. Not only is it challenging in its notation, it is also about five minutes in length! Read more.

Alleluia! This celebration of the greatest feast in the liturgical year is a reminder to us of who we are and what is universally and singularly important in our faith. We, as disciples of Jesus, and with our belief in the resurrection, are a people grounded in hope. In light of all of the suffering, tragedy, injustice, and hatred, we yet remain grounded in the “sure and certain hope” that God has an ultimate plan for history, and that we either cooperate with that plan, or we resist the plan through our sinfulness. Read more.

We embark on the most somber and liturgically rich week of the year, as we walk the procession from Palm Sunday to the tomb on Good Friday. Please check the bulletin for further details regarding Mass times as well as the other events that occur throughout the week. Read more.

We enter the last full week of Lent, so there is not much time to prepare for the events of the Sacred Triduum. Nancy Arkin, Director of Faith Formation, will be leading us through a series of reflections on the Triduum over a three night period at 7:00 p.m. in the church. This Tuesday we will reflect on Holy Thursday, on Thursday April 7th, we reflect on Good Friday, and then on Tuesday April 12th we will reflect on Holy Saturday. Please join us. This is a great way to focus and prepare for the Paschal Triduum and also an opportunity to meet and learn from and about Mrs. Arkin. Read more.

I ask your prayers this week for the members of our parish community who will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation from Bishop David O’Connell on Thursday. Eighty-seven students from our religious education program and thirty-five students from the school have prepared over the past eight years of faith formation and are now deemed ready to take this important step in their lives of faith. Unfortunately this means that many of them will now be checked-out and inactive in their lives of faith. Let our prayers then be that they and their families will grow in the life of faith. Confirmation is not a graduation from religious education but rather a step forward into full and active participation in the life of faith. Read more.

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. Read more.

Today is the opportunity for Penance here at the parish. Over a dozen priests will be with us between 4:00 and 6:00 pm to hear confessions. As part of our “Easter Duty” all Catholics are required by canon law to go to confession at least once per year between Ash Wednesday and Pentecost Sunday. While this is a minimum, for many of us this becomes the minimum, and perhaps most of us miss this all together. We confess our sins to a priest because the forgiveness of sins is a gift given by Jesus to the church. The verbal pronouncement of our sins is itself a healing exercise, allowing us to say that which we may not want to say anywhere else, knowing that it can never be repeated or reported. An examination of conscience using the Ten Commandments as a guide enables us to break the ice with the Lord and open a lifelong conversation. Read more.

Our Lenten journey has begun. Hopefully our walk with Jesus this season will enable us to grow in faith and will provide us with new opportunities to share that faith with others. As you can see, our outdoor stations are in place, so if you cannot make – or even if you can – the communal Stations (Wednesday at 5:30 pm and Friday at 7:00 pm) you and your family can come here and either pray them in the car or walk along the path. As the weather gets nicer through March and April, walking and praying the stations outside would be good spiritual and physical exercise. Read more.

As we begin our Lenten journey this Wednesday, it is a good time to take stock of our relationship with the Lord and to strengthen our life of prayer and penance. We have scheduled a number of services and Masses on Wednesday for the distribution of ashes. Please check the bulletin or the website for details. I also want to remind everyone of the obligation to abstain from meat on Ash Wednesdays and all Lenten Fridays. Likewise, Wednesday and Good Friday (April 15th) are days of fast. Specifics of what this means can be found in the bulletin. Read more.

It certainly has been a classic February so far, and it is good that we are entering into the last full week of the month! It is that time of the year when we need to pay close attention to the weather reports so we know how to dress. It just always feels odd to go from 60⁰ one day to snow the next! Still, the day light grows longer and the hope of Spring looms. Read more.

As you know, Pope Francis has invited us to be a part of a Synod of 2021-2023 with the goal to become a “Church that listens.” You have heard already from the members of our core team, and we are preparing for the February listening sessions, the first of which is this Wednesday and then the other next Sunday. Read more.

It certainly has felt good to be back celebrating Mass and interacting with the staff of the parish in person. I have, as yet, been reluctant to interact with too many people, but I should be feeling more confident as I get stronger. I do get tired easily and I did start cardio rehab this past week. Read more.

Happy Catholic School’s Week! An integral ministry of our parish, we are happy to celebrate the success of our school. At a time when many Catholic schools are struggling we are continuing to expand our programs and seeing a steady increase in enrollment. To celebrate Catholic School’s Week we have engaged a formidable line-up of speakers for our students. I will write more about this next week. The success of our school is evidenced by the number of families who have registered for the open houses scheduled this week. If you have interest in more information about the school, please make contact with the school office as soon as possible. We kick-off this weekend with our students and faculty present for Mass. (hopefully the weather allows for this!) Read more.

Another week of isolation and I am really getting some cabin fever. A few more doctors’ appointments and I should be good to go. At least I hope! The biggest concern is, of course, contracting COVID or the flu. After being with me since I got home from the hospital on December 20, my Mother returned to her home in Pennsylvania as she is now ready to head to her winter retreat in Florida. I am grateful for her love and attention during my recovery. Likewise, so many continue to send baskets and other gifts, especially Mass Cards, that I am overwhelmed and unable to address everyone individually right now. Thank you all so much, especially for your prayers. Read more.

There is no question that winter has set in! The cold and icy weather has been a great remedy for the cabin fever I am experiencing after my recent surgery. Things have been going well and, by and large, I am feeling pretty well. Other than some discomfort near the incision marks, I feel pretty much like my old self. Read more.

This weekend as we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord we bring a close to the Christmas Season. It seems like the season sped by quickly this year, but then in my current situation, the passing of time seems to be really off anyway. Nonetheless, we have a nice stretch now of Ordinary Time until we begin Lent on Ash Wednesday (March 2nd). This time of the year affords us an opportunity to prepare ourselves for Lent and to slow down between the extremes of the liturgical seasons. Easter is relatively late this year (April 17th). Hopefully we can have many of our concerns about the pandemic behind us by then. Read more.