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Our Lenten journey can often be fraught with the struggle to keep the discipline going. It is easy to become discouraged and disappointed along the way. In the Hall of Saints we have a Lenten shrine, focused on the Pieta and the Stations of the Cross. Near the shrine is a basket with some pencils and slips of paper. You are welcome to write your journey – whatever that journey might be – and place it into the basket. This way of articulating our prayers helps to put a sense of hope and the solidarity of the saints with our journey. No matter how alone we might feel, we know that we are never truly alone as the saints walk with us on our journey to sainthood. Read more.

Happy First Sunday of Lent! Today we travel to the Co-Cathedral in Freehold to celebrate the Rite of Election for our candidates for Initiation at the Easter Vigil. Rachel DeMasi and Kim Reit will receive the Sacraments at the Easter Vigil. As they participate in the Rite of Election this weekend and the Scrutinies over the Sundays of Lent, we pray for them that they will grow in the faith and in their relationship with Jesus Christ and his Church. Read more.

I am writing after a long day of travel from Jerusalem to Petra, Jordan. We had an awesome pilgrimage experience and I am now exploring the other side of the Jordan River. Sadly, issues with his Visa prevented Fr. JM from continuing on this leg of the journey, so he got two extra days in Jerusalem — which is a wonderful thing to do — but he is disappointed that he was not able to continue on here. Read more.

For all of our shortcomings, failures, and sins as individuals and as a corporate body, the Catholic Church remains the largest provider of services to the poor, homeless, elderly, infirmed, youth, and person’s in crisis in the world, the United States, and New Jersey. Read more.

The time has finally arrived – this week Father JM and I, along with Deacon Steve, Sister Margaret Tierney, SC from St. Catharine-St. Margaret Parish (Spring Lake) and some 40 other pilgrims embark on our pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This is always an awesome experience, and I am happy to share it with a whole new set of pilgrims. Many of the pilgrims are parishioners at St. Benedict. Read more.

It was certainly a very pleasant week, a great respite from the arctic cold of the week before. We got our taste of Spring, and certainly we can sense the increasing sunlight every day. Read more.

I wish to thank everyone who participated in and supported SBS during Catholic Schools Week. The students had a great week of celebration, including a surprise and welcome visit from SBS alumnus and St. Benedict parishioner Jim Yacabonis. Jim is a pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles and a proud SBS (and CBA) graduate. He offered the students some inspiring words of wisdom and insight into the life of a professional athlete. Read more.

January affords several opportunities for making statements about our faith. As this is Pro-Life Month, we focus on the rights of all people to a life with dignity and respect from conception to natural death. This covers a wide range of issues over the protection of life, health care, education, immigration, basic civil rights, equal justice before the law, housing, employment, and a host of other issues. Let us all be attentive to the short-comings in our own lives that make us silent – or maybe not so silent – agents of injustice and inequality instead of advocates for the rights of all. Certainly responding to Deacon Rich’s appeal for baby bottles is one way we can help. Read more.

Things get back to normal here this week. Ordinary Time begins after Vespers on Sunday, and we begin the journey to Lent. In the meantime, we are planning a few programs to get us ready for the Lenten Season. Read more.

A blessed 2019 to everyone! Today is the great feast – as you know in some areas of the world even bigger than Christmas – Epiphany – the celebration that God is made manifest among us. The great mystery and miracle of the Incarnation is now fully realized for us. As we celebrate this feast – and by an accident of the calendar this year we celebrate it on the traditional date January 6 – let us be aware of the presence of God in our midst, and as we reflect on the gold, frankincense, and myrrh, we are called and challenged to think of the ways in which we offer our gifts to the Lord. Read more.

I trust that everyone had a pleasant Christmas and is enjoying some relaxing family time this week. Father JM, the parish and school staff, and I are grateful for your thoughtfulness and generosity this season. Words are inadequate, really, to express our gratitude. Please be assured of our prayers, and the intention of our Masses, for all of you. Read more.

Happy Fourth Sunday of Advent and as Christmas is Tuesday, we would be hard pressed to call this a week of Advent. I hope that everyone is ready – or at least feels ready – for the Holy Days and holidays that commence this week. Read more.

Dear Fellow Parishioners of St. Benedict: To seek forgiveness of sins in preparation for the coming of the Lord was a key element of the proclamation of St. John the Baptist. Through the great gift of the Sacrament of Confession, we are able to realize that forgiveness through sacramental absolution. During this time of the year, then, we await the coming of the Lord: in celebration at Christmas and in hope at his Second Coming. Today, beginning at 4:00 p.m., we will celebrate Confession for all members of the parish. Some members of the parish, second grade students in the religious education programs, will receive First Penance, and all members of the parish – and certainly all Catholics – are invited to be here to receive the Sacrament. There will be an ample number of priests here to hear confessions. The afternoon is also progressive – while the service begins at 4:00 p.m., we expect to be here for over an hour, so you do not have to be here right at 4:00 p.m. to receive the Sacrament. Read more.

Advent goes really fast. This is the Second Sunday, but I hope you aren’t expecting two more full weeks before Christmas! I hope you like the little tree we decorated next to Father JM’s residence. That tree just screamed, “Decorate me for Christmas” and so we did. We still have the school tree lit as well, hoping to make the property festive as we approach the Holy Days. We are grateful to Eagle Scout-candidate Conor Morris for his construction of a proper crèche to house the beautiful Nativity figures we purchased last year. Read more.

This week we begin the Advent Season in the hope that as we celebrate the coming of the Lord into our hearts and lives this coming Christmas Season, he might take deeper root in us and draw us all closer to him. Read more.

I trust that everyone had a safe and pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. It is always good to get together with our families and friends to celebrate the holidays. For some reason they seem to get busier each year, I am not sure why that is. Still, my Mother at 85 insists on preparing the dinner, not only for Thanksgiving, but Christmas and New Year as well. Read more.

November seems to be on a fast pace to get over with! All of a sudden we are hitting the middle of the month and I feel as though it just started. Hopefully everyone is setting a focus towards the celebration of Thanksgiving next week. Read more.

As previously discussed, we are hoping to expand the presentation of Icons in the Hall of the Saints. Perhaps a brief understanding of the meaning of an icon as such is in order. To the contemporary reader an “icon” is a shortcut on your computer or smartphone that enables you to access a program or an app. This is, sadly, an unfortunate usurpation of a word that has been used in the church from the very beginning, appearing even in the New Testament. The word “icon” is derived from the Greek word for an image. Saint Paul tells us that “Jesus is the icon of the Father.”

This is Vocation Awareness Week. As I mentioned in a prior missive, it is a good time to reflect on the meaning and role of our own “religious vocations” – be it married, preparing for marriage, deacon, or priest. It is also time to reflect on how we encourage and strengthen the vocations of others. We will engage in our annual Adopt-a-Seminarian appeal this weekend. Read more.

Next week – November 4-10, is National Vocation Awareness Week. Parishioner Roe Abbato will speak to the parish regarding the Adopt-a-Seminarian initiative that began with her inspiration through the Faith Formation Committee. This is a great way to support the men who are presently studying for our diocese. Read more.