EASTER
SUNDAY - MARCH 31, 2024
Reminder, Office Hours are 2:00 PM to 7:30 PM every Tuesday and 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM every Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday. NO Friday’s or Saturday’s. Also, one Sunday a month from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. This month is Sunday, April 7.
Mass Intentions for:
Saturday, March 31, 2024 - Sunday, April 7, 2024
Saturday, March 30 - 9AM - No Mass
Morning Prayer
7PM - Paschal Vigil
Pro Populo
Sunday, March 31 - 8AM
Pro Populo
10AM
Pro Populo
12PM
Pro Populo
Monday, April 1 - 9AM
Edward McLeod *Uma McLeod
Tuesday, April 2 - 9AM
Renato Poscablo *Drs. Gener and Elvira Dapul
Francisca Dapul *Drs. Gener and Elvira Dapul
Wednesday, April 3 - 9AM
Madeline Mielke *Rebecca Roach
Thursday, April 4 - 9AM
Peter Griffin *Mary Ellen Griffin
Helen DeCerce *Richard and Maria Gerbino
Friday, April 5 - 9AM
Lucille Comons *Susan and James Gobat
Reverend Monsignor Ronald J. Bacovin
*Rev. Fr. Jeffrey E. Lee, Staff and Parishioners
Saturday, April 6 - 4PM
George C. Rimmele *Barbara Saake
Peggy Topkins *The Gioacchini Family
Anna Ullrich *Carol Ward
Sunday, April 7 - 8AM
Kathleen Walsh *Staub Family
Helen and John Sionas
*Eileen and Michael Stivala, Jr.
Robert Rumsey *Jane Slattery
10AM
Pro Populo
Rosalie LaPorta *Diane Carnevale
Luke Frewin *Carmel &Peter Vickers
12PM
Special Intention *Bob Amling
Robert A. & Mary Joan McNamara
*The McNamara Family
Deceased members of the Gabbard & Cantatore families
*Gabbard family
Mass Intention Requests
Requests can be made in person by stopping at the parish office, or online HERE. Suggested stipend is $10.
Pleaseprayforthefollowingmembersofourparishcommunitywhoareill:
Jack Coppola ~
Bill Donahue
~
Kaitlin Donahue Nagle
~
Lori Lettieri
Lauren vinci
~
Elizabeth DeStefano
~
TOM JACOBSON
~
Dawn Reinhardt
Gloria Ziemienski
~
Jeff McBride
~
Owen Shoemaker
~
Ginny Hamlin
Gerard Thompson ~
Melissa Love ~
Fran Raleigh
Toaddorremoveafamilymemberfromthesicklistpleasee-mailONLY parishbulletin@stmaryscoltsneck.org Please,also,keepusupdatedonyourlovedone’shealth. Nameswillberemovedfromthelistafter3months.ThankyouforkeepingourParishinformed.
Birthdays to Celebrate!
A most gracious and celebratory Happy Birthday to Father Jeffrey Lee this Friday, 29 March! We are grateful to have you minister to us each week. Enjoy your day in good health and good spirits. -and-
To Monsignor Michael Walsh: Happy 75th birthday! Wishing you many years of happiness, good health and joyful service to God’s People as you observe your birthday on Easter Sunday.
Lifelong Catechesis - Week of March 31 to April 6
READINGS FOR THE WEEK:
31 Sunday: Easter: Resurrection of our Lord
Acts 10:34a, 37-43/Col 3:1-4 or 1
Cor 5:6b-8/Jn 20:1-9
1 Monday: Acts 2:14, 22-33/Mt 28:8-15
2 Tuesday: Acts 2:36-41/Jn 20:11-18
3 Wednesday: Acts 3:1-10/Lk 24:13-35
4 Thursday: Acts 3:11-26/Lk 24:35-48
5 Friday: Acts 4:1-12/Jn 21:1-14
6 Saturday: Acts 4:13-21/Mk 16:9-15
Almighty and eternal God, those who take refuge in you will be glad and forever will shout for joy. Protect these soldiers as they discharge their duties. Protect them with the shield of your strength and keep them safe from all evil and harm. May the power of your love enable them to return home in safety, that with all who love them, they may ever praise you for your loving care. We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Pray for Military & First Responders
AMT Colton Boag, USCG
~
LCpl Devon Francis Chrzan, USMC ~
Col. John Anthony Coppola, US Army
~
TSgt Stephen Witherow, USAF
~
LCpl Edward Zarzecki, USMC
FOR DEEPER REFLECTION:
Question for Children: What sacrifices do you make for those whom you love?
Question for Youth: Even the disciples had a hard time understanding Jesus’ Resurrection – it is that surprising. What does Resurrection mean to you? What does Easter mean to you?
Question for Adults: In what ways has God called you to die in Christ? How is this expressed in your own life?
Lt. Col. Douglas Coppola, US Army
Lt. Mary Herman, USN
~
SN Christian Houlihan, USN
~
LT. Jason Joseph Howe, USN ~
SPC Michael John Mento, US Army ~
LTJG Matthew Motola, USN
LCpl Bradley O’Ree, USMC ~
SPC Nicholas Poskonka, US Army ~
Captain Richard Savo, US Army ~
1st Lt. Adam Sjoholm, US Army ~
Captain Ryan Tanguay, US Army
This week the Sanctuary Lamp burns for…
MariaPellicone
ChristineHogan
Requested by: Pellicone Family &
Requested by: Pellicone Family
Sanctuary Lamp
Consider donating the sanctuary lamp that burns in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament in the Church or Chapel in honor of a living or deceased loved one. One intention is accepted per week (Sunday - Saturday) for the Lamp. The suggested donation is $25. Request online HERE.
Worship & Music
Easter Flowers
Andrew J. Macirowski - Pastoral Coordinator for Worship & Music / Principal OrganistWorship@stmaryscoltsneck.org Music@stmaryscoltsneck.org
There are several reasons why the church is decorated with flowers and other plants during the various times of the year. During Lent, you probably noticed a lack of any floral arrangement whatsoever. This helps to mark the solemness of that penitential season. Yet, beginning with the celebration of Easter the Easter Vigil and for the entirety of the Easter Season, spring-time flowers are used to decorate as a symbol of God’s creation. Lillies, in particular, play a particular role in the arrangements. The trumpet-shaped bloom harkens to the text from the Exsultet, “sound the mighty trumpet of salvation”, and from the letters to the Corinthians, “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised”. The white color symbolizes purity, hope, and peace. The natural fact the bulb-based plants such as lilies and daffodils tend to bloom around Easter time can also be thought of as a sign of resurrection.
As the season carries on towards Pentecost, the arrangements change. During the 7 weeks of Easter, some of the blooms die off, and are removed from display. Some are replaced with newer plants of different varieties. As Pentecost draws near, blooms of yellow, orange, and red are placed in the sanctuary area, symbolizing the fire of the Holy Spirit.
All of these different and additional arrangements are either donated by parishioners, offerings from families who celebrate a wedding or funeral in the church, or sourced from local farms, greenhouses, etc.
Bernadette, Virgin, 1844-1879
The oldest child of a family living in extreme poverty in Lourdes, France, Bernadette was born in January, 1844. Never healthy in her lifetime, she suffered asthma and other maladies during her childhood that stunted her growth and kept her from attending school. The result, and Bernadette’s inability to read, meant that she could not receive her First Communion until she was about fourteen. It was at about this time that Bernadette experienced her visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
On February 11, 1858, Bernadette, a sister, Toinette Marie, and a friend went out to gather firewood a routine chore in the cold winter. When they reached a stream which fed the river Gave, the other girls decided to take off their shoes and stockings and cross the stream in their search. Bernadette, with her poor health, understood that her mother would be upset if she went into the chilly water and so stayed behind. But, after some time, Bernadette grew impatient when her companions didn’t return. She also crossed the stream to the grotto on the other side. As she approached the grotto, Bernadette felt a strong wind. As she looked up, she saw a beautiful lady in a long white dress with a blue sash and a white veil. The lady was holding a rosary. Smiling at Bernadette, the lady beckoned to her. Though she was somewhat frightened, Bernadette pulled out her rosary and - Read More HERE.
March 31, 2024
Ministry Schedule: 2nd Sunday of Easter April 6 & 7
Altar Server Cantor Reader 1 Reader 2 EMHC/Ashes
OH - Martha Cowles
Saturday, 6 4PM
Jacob Barasky & George Barasky Bridget Farrow Charles Young NEEDED
Sunday, 7 8AM 1 SERVER NEEDED Carly York
Annette Raynor Paul Tonacci
TH - Liz Turkovic
TH - Nick Turkovic
ALT - Monica Barr
OH - Gina Shute
TH - Rosanne LaCava
TH - Joseph Flanagan
ALT - Mike LaCava
OH - Maureen Geiger
Sunday, 7 10AM Tesya Yaninas & Eva Tomasetti Carly York
Matt Yaninas Mary Ellen Griffin
Sunday, 7 12PM
Jonathan Stubbs & Jimmy Schatzle CHOIR Carl Simone Jennifer Stubbs
NewParishioner Orientation
Sunday,May5,2024,11:00AM atMadonnaHall
Attendance is mandatory for those wishing to become parishioners at the Parish of St. Mary. For more information click HERE.
Liturgy of the Word Dismissal
Ages 4-12, leave the Sunday assembly during the Liturgy of the Word (readings) and gather in a separate environment to engage in the Liturgy of the Word at a level more appropriate to the children’s understanding.
Every Sunday at the 10:00AM mass.
TH - Steve Stanley
TH - Winifred O’Doherty
ALT - Sue Fitzpatrick
OH - Tom Nathanson
TH - Patricia Gesner
TH - Emily Santangelo
ALT - Lee Gesner
Please remember in your prayers those who have recently died. JosephE.Morreale
“The makes it very clear that this variety of offices and roles is desirable and should be maintained. In fact it goes so far as to state: …’all, therefore, whether they are ordained ministers or Christian faithful, in fulfilling their offices or their duty, should carry out solely but completely that which pertains to them.’-There is a wide variety of services to be performed, and it is desirable that different individuals exercise those services so that the talents and gifts God has placed within the Christian community are fully utilized (USCCB).
Faith Formation
Julia Cullen - Pastoral Coordinator of Faith Formation / Religion Education
RE CALENDAR:
i = Intergenerational Grades 1-6
S = Service Project Grades 7 & 8
30 March, 2024
Morning Prayer & Blessing of Food Chapel, 9:00 AM
i Easter Vigil, Church, 7:00 PM
6 April, 2024
i Spring Clean-up See page 11 to sign-up
7 April, 2024
i Annual Easter Egg Hunt
Beginning at 12 PM mass, following in MH
8 April 2024
Parenting Courageously
Mandatory Parent Meet for Confirm. Prep MH, 7:30PM
13 April 2024
Service Project for Confirmation Prep Mandatory for 7th & 8th Grade Court Yard, 9:00AM
14 April 2024
Happiest Middle Schoolers
Mandatory Confirmation Prep Talk Church, 10:00AM
*Easter Break 29 March - 5 April*
ReligiousEd@stmaryscoltsneck.org
732-780-2666 X 309
Happy Easter! He has risen, Alleluia!
We want to thank the over 80 RE students and their families who attended Palm Weaving on Palm Sunday before the 12 PM mass. It was a great success! A heartfelt thank you to parishionerAnn Marie Dayton who instructed us all on how to weave crosses out of the palms.See pg. 7 for pictures.
Summer Intensive Volunteer sign-up coming soon - stay tuned!
RE Re-Registration/Registration opens on 1 April 2024 at 12:30 PM. Link to register can be found HERE or in the banner on our website. The Fall Class options are as follows:
Grade 1 & 2- every Tuesday on campus/in person, beginning 17 September 2024 through April 2024 from 4:50 PM to 6:00 PM
Grade 3,4,5,6- every Tuesday virtually through Google classroom beginning 17 September 2024 through April 2024 from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Confirmation Prep (Grade 7,8)- bi-monthly beginning September 2024, Sunday Virtual option 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM or Tuesday on campus/in person option 4:15 PM to 5:45 PM
We are pleased to announce the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation:
Date: Friday, 18 October 2024
Time: 4:00pm sharp
Celebrant: Reverend Fr. Jeffery E. Lee
Please keep the Confirmandi in your prayers
https://shorturl.at/jkqtU
April 13, 2024
Blessing bag Brigade is dedicated to showing compassion and humanitarianism towards those in need. Committed to aiding the homeless and educating the public. Help us exceed last year’s 378 completed Blessing Bags.
The following is a list of requested donations and the RE breakdown:
Men’s socks (8th grade)
Travel size deodorant (7th Grade)
Small (8oz.) water bottles (6th grade)
Travel size shampoo (5th grade)
Travel size toothpaste (4th Grade)
Toothbrushes (3rd grade)
Snack bars/breakfast bars (2nd grade)
Soap/travel size body wash (1st grade)
Travel size lotion
Disposable Razors
All donations can be dropped off in the rear of MADONNA HALL. Please do not leave any donations in the Narthex of the church prior to Easter celebrations. There is an Amazon Wish List HERE for your convenience. Deadline is 8:30AM, April 13,2024.
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.” Proverbs 19:17
2024EasterSchedule
Easter Sunday of the Lord’s Resurrection
Sunday, March 31, 2024
8:00am, 10:00am, 12:00pm Masses
Weekday Masses of the Octave
Monday, April 1 to Friday, April 5 9:00am-Chapel
Second Sunday of Easter
Saturday April 7-4:00pm Mass
Sunday, April 8-8am, 10am, 12pm Masses
Eucharistic Adoration &Easter Egg Hunt, following 12pm Mass
Chaplet of Divine Mercy
2:30pm, 3:00pm Benediction
EasterPrayer
“It is only right, with all the powers of our heart and mind, to praise You Father and Your Only-Begotten Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ. .. Dear Father, by Your wondrous condescension of Loving-Kindness toward us, Your servants, You gave up Your Son. Dear Jesus You paid the debt of Adam for us to the Eternal Father by Your Blood poured forth in LovingKindness. You cleared away the darkness of sin by Your magnificent and radiant Resurrection. You broke the bonds of death and rose from the grave as a Conqueror. You reconciled Heaven and earth. Our life had no hope of Eternal Happiness before You redeemed us. Your Resurrection has washed away our sins, restored our innocence and brought us joy. How inestimable is the tenderness of Your Love!”
- Saint Gregory’s Easter Prayer
2024EasterMessagefromBishopO’Connell
Jesus of Nazareth lived most of his life in obscurity without much notoriety or attention paid to him. The Gospels tell us about his birth in Bethlehem and, later, about his appearance in the temple at age twelve. Other than that, the Gospels are largely silent about Jesus of Nazareth until he appears before John the Baptist in the Jordan and begins his public ministry around the age of thirty. Those hidden years of Jesus’ life leave everything to the imagination and to speculation. And while that is true of Jesus of Nazareth, the Jesus of history, it is not true of Jesus the Messiah, the Christ of faith. A thousand years or more of Old Testament writings and traditions kept the Messiah before the Jewish people’s minds and in their hopes and expectations before the “Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” They are not two different persons, no. They are one and the same. Jesus the Messiah, the Christ of faith is eternal but chose to live in a specific, identifiable, historic time period, hence the title, “Jesus of history.”
It is the New Testament, especially the Gospels, that connect all that was planned and foretold about the Messiah with Jesus of Nazareth. And the events of Holy Week have made that abundantly clear.
The week began with Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem and continued with his celebration of Passover with the Twelve Apostles. The week ended with his brutal crucifixion and death. The Church’s liturgies for Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday and Good Friday painted the picture in a most dramatic way and led us to Jesus’ tomb. Although Jesus was an “unknown” for most of his life, he certainly attracted enough attention in his last three years of his earthly existence to lift people’s hopes that the Messiah had come, and the Messiah was he! But when he died in a most humiliating way, the hopes of his followers that he was the Messiah were dashed … But that was not the end of the story, as we know.
John’s Gospel tells us that when the women came to the tomb in which Jesus was buried, the stone was already rolled back; his body was not there; the tomb was empty. “He has been raised; he is not here” they were told by the angel. Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ of faith, the Messiah everything that had been said and predicted about him had been fulfilled, had come true.
The Lord Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. That is what we Christians celebrate at Easter and that is what joins us with baptized Catholics throughout the world.
For all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, Easter is the heart of our faith --- its life, its breath, its everything. There is no more significant human expression than faith in Jesus’ resurrection. He didn’t just die and come back to life. He was not revived or resuscitated. Jesus’ resurrection is about new life, transformed life, a completely different order of existence. He rose from the dead leaving death behind him. The tomb is empty. This is about glory and triumph. “Christ once raised from the dead shall never die again; death has no more power over him.” And the source of our Easter joy is that he offers the same triumph and glory to us who believe in him. That is the meaning of our baptism when we say we die in Christ only to rise in him, new, changed, different, filled with grace and light and life.
Easter is that moment in human history when the world was changed forever: changed by an obscure Jesus of Nazareth who lived and died but who rose to new life, Jesus Christ the Messiah of God, the Christ of our faith! Amen! Alleluia! Happy Easter!
Quo vadis for March 31. . .
My Dear Parishioners:
Today we celebrate the Great Solemnity of Easter. Cell phone contracts can be tricky. Sometimes signing a multi-year contract gets the purchaser free activation or other benefits. It’s the small print that is critical, however; if one breaks the contract there is generally a fairly high penalty. In other words, the purchaser must “buy out” the contract in order to be freed from it. This is something of the meaning of the most basic Old Testament concept of redemption. Essentially the concept of redemption is rooted in family law and its purpose is entirely protective. For example, in Leviticus 25:23-28 we read the basic law of redemption: if someone is reduced to poverty and must sell land to pay debts, a “redeemer” (v.25: closest relative) may buy it back; or if the individual eventually gains enough means, that person may buy it back. The implication is that the one who bought the land has no choice but to sell if the original owner wants it back. Furthermore, if neither a close relative nor the seller has the means to buy back the land, at the jubilee year (every fifty years) the land automatically reverts back to its original owner (v.28). The notion of redemption is also applied to buying an individual’s freedom (e.g., Lev 25:35-55) and to redeeming the firstborn (e.g., Exod 13:1-16; Luke 2:23). All of this Family Law is meant to keep intact the family’s integrity and heritage.
The notion of redemption is also used in the Old Testament to refer to God’s redeeming Israel from slavery (e.g., Exod 6:6; 15:13) and so is closely connected to the Exodus event, that founding event which established Israel as God’s chosen people and gave them a land for their heritage. When the Old Testament refers to God as redeemer, however, there is never any mention of payment or ransom. God does not buy back what already belongs to the divine Creator but restores to integrity what belongs to God and was created
good. Any notion of God as redeemer is always in the context of the covenantal relationship between God and Israel whereby God acts as “next of kin.” Thus God as redeemer underscores the close relationship God has with God’s beloved people. When the prophets speak of God as redeemer they are referring to Israel’s straying from God through sin and so the prophets constantly call for repentance and re-establishing the integrity of the covenantal relationship with God (e.g., Isa 41:14; 42:24). The psalms frequently refer to God as redeeming us from death (Ps 103:4), enemies (Ps 107:2), distress (Ps 25:22), and from any number of other miserable human situations. All in all, what we learn about God as redeemer is that God is the best “next of kin” we can have!
The New Testament, as expected, presents Jesus as our redeemer. Through baptism Jesus is our “next of kin,” our brother. Jesus’ giving “his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45; see also Matt 20:28) reestablishes the integrity of our baptismal relationship with God. His offering of himself faces us from the slavery of sin and secures our heritage life everlasting. At stake in living the paschal mystery is our being willing to be ransomed from sin. By our identity with Jesus in his dying and rising mystery we, too, pass over into new life and become redeemers of each other. The wonderful thing about this mystery that we celebrate so specially at this time of year is that we remember God’s great love and mercy and great desire to be one with us (“next of kin”). In turn, we seek to be one with each other (“next of kin”) as a sign of our love.
The Season of Easter lasts 50 Days until Pentecost…we joyfully sing ALLELUIA for the Lord is truly risen and has appeared. Have a great week. Let us remember one another in prayer. Buona Pasqua! Happy Easter! Peace.
Father Jeff
Temporal Admin., Stewardship & Outreach
Sharing Our Treasure March 24, 2024 –Palm Sunday
# Registered Parishioner Households
$1,000wasgiventowardtheHolyLand (GoodFriday)appeal.Thankyouforyourgenerosity.
NOurmonthlyBuildingandMortgageReductioncollection isnextweekendApril6&7.Ourmortgagepaymentis $7,926.66.Pleasebegenerous.
"The poor you will always have with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them, but you will not always have me." Mk 14:7
NEW TO COLTS NECK?
Join Saint Mary Parish!
We welcome you and invite you to register as parishioners of St Mary! Please find our registration guidelines on our website under AboutUs/NewParishioners
Parking headin on the grass
It is so wonderful that we are blessed with many parishioner families & visitors to our parish during this sacred season. Please be reminded that all staff, ministry volunteers & choir members should park head-in on the grass around the parish campus. Visitors are invited to do the same for additional parking especially during Easter Masses. Please see page 9 for Mass times.
EdwinA. SevillanoTemporalAdmin@stmaryscoltsneck.org
Sign-in for our Online Giving system to make your parish offerings from your bank account or Credit Card!
To set up an online giving account please visit
https://giving.parishsoft.com/smcn
Caring for Our Parishioners
Periodically, we receive calls from elderly, shut-in, and/or disabled Parishioners seeking help with some needed tasks such as food shopping, transportation to medical appointments, light cleanup, or just for an hour or so of conversation and companionship.
If you feel that you may have the time and interest to share of yourself in this way, please call the Office of Charitable Appeals at (732) 294-8841 X320
Stewardship: Please Remember Our Parish this - Easter -
Our 2024 Easter Collection is a major annual collection to support our parish. It helps to fund capital projects as well as our regular operational expenses. Kindly use the Easter envelope your received in the mail for your offering and drop it in the collection box as you come to celebrate our Easter liturgies. Alternatively, you may make an offering electronically at our online giving system HERE
Thank you for your generosity and HAPPY EASTER!
