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As a follow-up to last week’s launch of “Called By Name” we wish to thank those of you who offered to call a Zacchaeus out of his tree, and certainly if you find or know of any more out there, please let us know. This is not an easy time to consider a religious vocation, and a religious vocation is itself never easy, but then nothing great is ever done by only taking an easy road. We are all on the journey to eternal life, and we need the assistance and support of a community of faith – a family of faith – to help us to get to Heaven. Read more.

As Zacchaeus is called out of his tree in the Gospel passage for this weekend, so each and every one of us is also in our own trees. We go there for many reasons. Sometimes we are there to hide from God. Sometimes we are there to hide from the crowd. Sometimes we are there to get a better perspective in life. Read more.

Our “Rediscover the Eucharist” event last Saturday was very successful. Thank you to the Faith Formation staff and their team of volunteers, as well as the presenters. We had a good turnout, though like anything else, you always hope for more. Read more.

One of the most poignant and difficult times of our lives is dealing with the passing of a loved one. Often times, we are lost. It is not uncommon that when speaking with the surviving spouse or children in a hospital room after death has occurred that I am asked the question: “what do we do now?” I then gently walk them through the process of calling a funeral home and explaining to them what will happen over the next several days. Read more.

Next Saturday we are hosting a series of talks and events entitled “Rediscover the Eucharist.” Our planning for this event began before the recent survey indicating that only about one-third of Catholics believe in the Real Presence. However, since that survey was released this past summer, the need for such a day has taken on even greater urgency. Read more.

Today at the Co-Cathedral of St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop O’Connell will celebrate a Mass for couples who are observing significant anniversaries of marriage this year. While I am always happy to attend, as we have a few couples each year who are celebrating an anniversary, this year we are blessed to have sixteen couples attending. Not only is that a statistic itself worth celebrating, it is also very impressive that these couples – and the many other hundreds from around the diocese, choose to gather with our bishop for this Mass. The celebration will be repeated at the Cathedral in Trenton on October 20th. Read more.

As autumn digs in – at least we hope soon the weather will become season appropriate – the faith formation programs in our parish ramp up in earnest. Much planning and attention has gone into the preparation of these programs, and we hope that you will be able to take advantage of some of these opportunities to grow ever deeper in faith. Read more.

Thank you! We had an absolutely spectacular carnival weekend. Yes, the weather was perfect all three days, but the response in attendees and participation of all the volunteers served to make this a wonderful weekend. While I cannot possibly thank everyone by name, there are a few we need to point out for their tireless efforts. Read more.

After much work, planning, haggling, and worry we have made it to carnival weekend. This “last blast of summer” event now only relies on good weather and good attendance. Hopefully it has all been going well. There are so many wonderful people we are indebted to for their dedication to the success of the weekend. We will address more of that next week. Suffice to say, if you spent enough time at the carnival, they are easy to spot and identify. Read more.

Summer “ended” on a strong note and now September is getting into full swing. There are many interesting parish programs which we will be undertaking as we move forward this month, and I hope that you will be able to take advantage of them. Please read through the bulletin to discover the many exciting things we have planned. Read more.

Happy Labor Day! I guess this is the official “end of summer” as the students in our school and the neighboring schools will be happily heading off to school this week. We are opening school at 396 students (or there about). As I write this the phone is still ringing, so who knows how many will actually be here on Friday for the opening school Mass). We are in good shape for the opening day. Read more.

This weekend we celebrate Deacon Ray’s 90th Birthday! We will have cake and celebrate him at the 11:00 a.m. Mass this weekend. He has served our parish as a deacon for 34 years and has been integral member of the community – along with his late wife, Mary (d. 10/09) – for many years before that. We wish him continued blessings, health, and peace in his life. Read more.

Sometimes the effects of the summer weather seem worse than that of the winter. It might sound harsh, but it has certainly been true around here the past few weeks. The storms we had on Tuesday, August 6th wreaked havoc on us here. While, unlike many in our area, we didn’t lose power, the lightning did blow out our firewall and destroyed our surge protection. This was the second time this summer we had a problem with the firewall hardware, we had replaced it in June. We ended up closing the parish offices due to no internet or phone service – our phone service is with Vonage and is internet based – on Thursday and we were not open again and up and running until Tuesday. Read more.

As many of you are aware Deacon Ray Pelkowski has not been on the schedule since February, having experienced some minor yet debilitating health issues. He is anxious to get back to work, but is taking his time recovering, and certainly we are happy to let him wait until he is ready to resume whatever kinds of ministry he feels he can manage. He is grateful for your prayers. Read more.

I am very happy to announce that the parish has exceeded our goal for the Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) again this year. In a year when giving to the diocesan appeal has taken a hit, we have managed to raise $95,000 when our goal is $90,000. THANK YOU! Of course, you can still make a pledge, remembering that once we exceed goal we are entitled to a rebate from the appeal. In the past we have used these rebates to makes various improvements and restorations to the church and the school. This is a wonderful testimony to your generosity and commitment to the broader church in the world. Read more.

Bishop O’Connell has appointed a new vocations team for our diocese, with Father Jason Parzynski serving as the diocesan director. Father Dan Swift, assisted by Father Christopher Colavito and Father Jorge Bedoya, will coordinate vocation activities on the River Side of the diocese – Mercer and Burlington counties. On the Ocean Side of the Diocese, Monmouth and Ocean Counties, I am coordinating and assisted by Father JM and Father Christopher Dayton. Both Father JM and I are happy to serve together in this ministry to and for our diocese. Read more.

Our Summer Academy was honored and blessed this week with a visit from Bishop O’Connell on Thursday. The Bishop celebrated the 9am Mass and then got to meet some of the students, teachers, and volunteers who were here this week. It is a very positive sign that the Bishop is taking an interest in these programs. Of course, he brought with him Mrs. Denise Contino, Diocesan Director of Catechesis and former Director of Faith Formation here. The students had, I believe, a good week. We are looking forward to the final week of the Academy coming up. Read more.

Holmdel parish's Summer Academy welcomes visit from Bishop O'Connell

Happy Solemnity of Saint Benedict! As we have transferred the feast to Sunday, we are able to honor our patron with the dignity that are his due. He rescued monasticism, and through his followers, the faith in Europe, through a programmatic system of reform and renewal. The church was then, is now, and always is, in need of reform and renewal. Please accept the challenge to be an agent of such reform and renewal in your own homes, neighborhoods, our parish, and in the church in the world. Please visit the Narthex, and accept the challenge for your own renewal as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Read more.

This week we begin the Summer Religious Education Academy. This has been an important development in the faith formation of the students in our parish. Most of the religious education students in our parish will complete the majority of their required hours of instruction during one of the next three, week-long sessions. The program includes several required family day events through the course of the year, so that we can maintain contact with these students and their families for purposes of enrichment and on-going formation. Read more.