Sacred Heart Parish, New Brunswick,NJ

Sacred Heart Church, New Brunswick, NJ

EASTER BLESSINGS!...Confirmation Mass May 20 at 11:45am... Congrats to all receiving sacraments this Easter!...We set a parish Rice Bowl record this year, $5K and counting!...Daily Mass moves to Parish Hall Chapel May 28...
On This Site: NEW:Catholic Charities Offers Vision for "City Parish" EASTER SEASON EVENTS May 16: All Over But The Shouting! News & Notes: Daily Mass to hall May 28 Support Intersect Fund! NEW: Photos, courtesy of New Brunswick Patch, from the first-ever combined St.Joseph Parish/Sacred Heart Via Crucis, which stretched the length of both parishes on city streets on Good Friday, April 6. EASTER SEASON EVENTS Thursday, May 17 Ascension Thursday: 2 Masses: 8:00am, 12:10pm Sunday, May 20 11:45am(bilingual) 7th Sunday of Easter with Confirmation (wear red at this Mass) Sunday, May 27 PENTECOST SUNDAY: Wear red at all Masses! Monday, May 28 8am Daily Mass returns to Parish Hall Chapel NEW: Check out New Brunswick Patch photos of Palm Sunday procession, April 1, at the beginning of the 9:45am Mass. BEACONS OF LIGHT The parish tower was framed nicely in the evening sky alongside the crescent moon and the planet Venus on March 26. THE LITTLE RICE BOWL PARISH THAT COULD -- SACRED HEART SETS NEW RECORD -- PARISH GOAL: $4,000 TOTAL TO DATE: $5,021 !!! You’re invited to participate in Catholic Relief Services’ Operation Rice Bowl. This Lent, our Sacred Heart faith community joined millions of Catholics across the country by participating in CRS’ Operation Rice Bowl. Despite our small parish size, we annually place among the top ten parishes in the Diocese of Metuchen. Last year, we raised $2,163, but this year we have set a goal of $4,000. As of May 1, our total is $5,021. Congratulations and thanks to everyone! Our collection totals in recent years: 2007: $2,581 2008: $2,757 2009: $2,429 2010: $3,167 2011: $2,163 NEWS & NOTES We're wearing RED at all Masses Pentecost weekend...Daily Mass returns to the Parish Hall Chapel at the end of Easter time, or Monday, May 28 at 8am...Please support the St. Sharbel Maronite Church festival, June 8-10, on the grounds of St. Sharbel... MAY 16:FAITH FORMATION UPDATE: -- The celebration for Confirmation is all that remains for the current Faith Formation year: Sunday, May 20 at 11:45am, with Msgr. Kerrigan presiding. Sacramental celebrations are the culmination of weeks of religious formation and years of parental faith. Pictured above, the Confirmation Class of 2012 practices in the church. OUR REGULAR (NOVEMBER-MAY) PROGRAM: Family Faith Formation, grade levels 3-6, weekly on Wednesdays, has ended for this year. Thanks to all participants. You can preview our program brochures by clicking HERE FOR ENGLISH BROCHURE and HERE for SPANISH BROCHURE. For questions, please call the parish office, or contact Rocio Ramos at Rocio.Ramos7@gmail.com. Sacred Heart's faith formation is led in many ways by our parish teens, who organize small-group sessions, attend to class paperwork and provide a role model for the younger students. Above longtime assistants Dania and Daniela Garcia celebrate their birthday Dec. 22. "RENEWING THE CHURCH IN NEW BRUNSWICK": ENTERS RESTRUCTURING PHASE NEW:MAY 15: At the May 15 "Renewing" meeting at St. Ladislaus Parish on Somerset St., Marianne Majewski, executive director of Catholic Charities, presented a concept paper proposing that the mission of Catholic Charities be merged within the life of a new parish in the city. Read their proposal HERE NEW:APRIL 24: Sacred Heart hosted the most recent Deanery Council meeting. Thanks to those who helped provide hospitality. Next meeting is May 15 as we draw closer to a decision of a new parish structure for Hub City. NEW:Unofficial notes from the March 20 meeting are now available HERE. NEW: The decisive phase of Renewing the Church in New Brunswick began Tuesday, March 20 with an appearance and presentation by Bishop Bootkoski, along with dispensing of demographic data by Jeff Korgen for the City of New Brunswick. Among the Bishop's comments: "We're not touching the people who are right in front of us... We can sustain 3 parishes, how can we sustain 7?" He also restated the realities of new migration patterns, decreased parish finances and priestly vocations as the factors for the process. Msgr. Kerrigan, Deacon Torres, Tom McNellis and Natalie Borisovets represented Sacred Heart. For a glimpse at some of the data our reps are poring through, CLICK HERE. For more information on the process as a whole, CLICK ON THE DIOCESE'S PLANNING PAGE. The next meeting is Tuesday, April 24 at Sacred Heart. ** OLDER NEWS:** Sacred Heart parishioners were well-represented in both numbers and voices during the Diocese of Metuchen's second Information Night on the Renewing the Church in New Brunswick process Feb. 2. Deanery Council reps Tom McNellis and Natalie Borisovets, along with Joe Grau, made very helpful comments, and were backed by several dozen congregants who met at St. Peter School for the evening. PRAYER FOR THE RESTRUCTURING PROCESS Lord, you alone know the plans you have for us, plans to prosper us, not harm us, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Help us who call New Brunswick home, - we who have as our patron the Sacred Heart of Jesus along with the powerful intercession of St. Mary, Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and St. Joseph, the apostle St. Peter, the prophet St. John the Baptist, and the king St. Ladislaus – help us to be attentive to the work of your Spirit among us in this time and this age and among your pilgrim people, to discern a future together for your glory and our common good. Through Christ our Lord. At a meeting with city pastors Jan. 9, 2012, Bishop Paul Bootkoski launched the second phase of "Renewing the Church in New Brunswick." The mission is to develop a structure of 3-4 parishes that are vibrant, financially sustainable and ministering to the cultures and needs as they are today. The public portion of the restructuring begins with information nights on either Jan. 26 or Feb. 2 from 7pm to 8:30pm in the St. Peter School Cafeteria. A series of meetings will be held through the fall, when the new New Brunswick structure will be announced. CLICK HERE to read the timeline and bulletin announcement that will be made in all city parishes the weekend of Jan. 14-15. Renewing the Church in New Brunswick has been a process in place for more than two years. CLICK HERE to read the proposal that all New Brunswick Catholic organizations agreed to Sept. 29, 2010 at a meeting at St. Peter's University Hospital with Bishop Bootkoski. Our thanks to Sacred Heart Parish reps Natalie Borisovets, Tom McNellis and Nelson Torres, who have been active participants in the proceedings and have represented our parish extraordinary well, as they will continue to do so during this decisive phase. They are part of a Deanery Council to implement the agreement, and began their bi-monthly meetings in November 2010. They are meeting through early 2012 to complete this phase of the project. If you would like to follow the progress of the Council, CLICK HERE for the latest minutes. Please keep the success of this city-wide project in your prayer petitions, especially as we move to restructure New Brunswick area parishes to maximize resources and vitality.


Sacred Heart youth group SHOUT has begun a new year of activities. Look to the bulletin for upcoming events. *Note: Meetings are in the parish hall after the 11:45am Mass on alternate Sundays.*
CHARITY AND JUSTICE ST GIANNA LIFE PROMOTION SOCIETY Grounded in the consistent ethic of life, the St. Gianna Life Promotion Society engages in prayer, education and action to foster a culture that celebrates the sanctity of life at all stages. The group seeks to make connections between Gospel teachings and the respectful and dignified treatment of all human life. Included in the groups's annual slate of activities are Respect Life Sunday and a fund-raising Coffee House in the fall. St. Gianna meetings are held every second Tuesday of the month. For more information, contact Ellen Maughan at 732-249- 3096. Fr. Pauly Thekkan, standing next to a banner for St. Gianna, presides at the 11:45am Mass Feb. 6, 2011. Throughout the weekend, many came to venerate the relics of the 20th-century saint. Fr. Thekkan's chasuble contains fabric from St. Gianna's wedding dress.

SOCIETY OF ST. VINCENT de PAUL JANE DOWLING, conference president APPLYING VINCENTIAN SPIRIT TO NEIGHBORHOOD NEEDS Meetings are usually the third Tuesday of each month. The Vincentians are also active in our two-week hosting of the New Brunswick-area rotating mens shelter. Thanks to all who helped this past winter. ANNUAL HARVEST OF HOPE DINNER Jesuit Father Jack Podsiadlo was our keynote speaker for 2011. Joe Shure, above left, from the Intersect Fund, received a donation in recognition of Scott Alessi, above right, as the Rich Cunningham New Leader in Justice Award. Check back soon for 2012 Dinner details, set for Friday, October 19. Camden Diocese Executive Director of Catholic Charities Kevin Hickey will join us as the keynote speaker. *SUPPORT THE WORK OF THE INTERSECT FUND!* Founded in New Brunswick just a few years ago, and with one of their first training sessions held at Sacred Heart, The Intersect Fund helps break the cycle of poverty by training and aiding prospective low-income entrepreneurs. Visit their website for ways you can support their mission. Watch The Intersect Fund's executive director Rohan Mathew on CNN's American Morning Dec. 19, 2011. The Intersect Fund is supported in part through funding by both the local and national offices of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.
LITURGY WE COME TO DO HIM HOMAGE "The Eucharist is a priceless treasure: by not only celebrating it but also by praying before it outside of Mass we are enabled to make contact with the very wellspring of grace." - Bl.John Paul II
ADORATION OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT Adoration is held from 8:30- 12:00noon every first Friday of the month. (Note: from June-September, Adoration is in the Parish Hall Chapel.)
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