June 27, 2010 - Thirteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time

And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home." To him Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." - Lk 9:61-62

St. Mary’s is going to be updating our parish website to include parish forms and instructions; parish guidelines, and ministry information.

Volunteer forms for St. Ann’s can be downloaded from the website (click here to go the Social Ministries page which hosts St. Ann's information), as well as updated information on the latest needs for St. Ann’s.

Please log in and check what’s available online in the coming weeks!

We also have a link for e-contributions at our parish website. Over 50 families now use e-contributions. Check out this easy and convenient way to make your weekly contributions.

MOUNT ST. MARY HOUSE OF PRAYER
The following programs are being offered: Registration required for all programs. Call 908-753-2091 or e-mail: msmhope@msmhope.org

HEARTS CENTERED IN GOD~Welcoming You to a Deeper Spirituality Year-long adult contemporary spirituality program. For more information, contact us now! Program begins in September Limited to 16 - Register early!

CENTERING PRAYER Pray this ancient form of prayer and breathe in God’s peace. Centering Prayer and Lectio Divina Tuesday - July 6, 7:30-9:00 p.m. Free-will offering

PERSONAL RETREAT DAYS SACRED TIME, SACRED SPACE: A personal private day to enjoy God’s presence; begins with communal prayer Wednesday, July 7, 9:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. Bring bag lunch. ($20)

SISTERS OF MERCY OF THE AMERICAS
The Sisters of Mercy Annual Golf Classic will take place on Thursday, September 16 at the beautiful Navesink Country Club, in Middletown, New Jersey. “Fore” all the details on this most worthwhile event, which benefits our retired and infirm Sisters, please visit our website www.golfdigestplanner.com/15675-SOMGolfClassic or call Linda Cavallo @ 908-756-0994 ext. 4006.

IN AND ABOUT THE DIOCESE OF METUCHEN
OFFICE OF EVANGELIZATION: WORKSHOP The Office of Evangelization in the Diocese of Metuchen will hold a workshop to train people to facilitate Jeff Cavin’s Great Adventure Bible Study program on June 30 from 7-9:30pm, at St. John Neumann Pastoral Center, in Piscataway. If you are interested, please register with Joanne Garcia @ jgarcia@diometuchen.org  or 732-562-1990 ext. 1824.

2010 FLAME OF CHARITY DINNER The 26th Annual Flame of Charity Dinner will take place on Tuesday evening, October 26 at the Hyatt Regency, in New Brunswick. The two outstanding individuals being honored this year are:

HUMANITARIAN OF THE YEAR: William D. Ard, (Senior Vice President Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, LLC and parishioner of St. Mary’s-Stony Hill. And

COMMUNITY SERVANT: Rev. Msgr. Gregory E.S. Malovetz, Pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Church. Proceeds from this event help support many social service programs of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Metuchen, including homeless shelters, health clinics, youth programs and low income housing. Please call 732-562-2438 for more information

EUCHARIST IS NOT UNDERSTOOD, LAMENTS POPE
Says Well-Celebrated Mass is Best Catechesis

ROME, JUNE 17, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The doctrine of the Eucharist -- and its relevance for believers -- is not sufficiently understood and must be a catechetical priority, says Benedict XVI. The Pope affirmed this Wednesday when he went to the Basilica of St. John Lateran to address participants at the convention for the Diocese of Rome.

The Holy Father told his diocese that a "more profound knowledge of the mystery of the Body and Blood of the Lord" is a necessity for the communities of Rome. "At the same time," he added, "in the missionary spirit that we wish to nourish, it is necessary to spread the commitment to proclaim such Eucharistic faith, so that every man will encounter Jesus Christ who has revealed the 'close' God, friend of humanity, and to witness it with an eloquent life of charity."

The Pontiff went on to give a reflection on the Eucharistic mystery, considering Christ's sacrifice on Calvary and how it is memorialized. He acknowledged that "sacrifice" is no longer a popular word. "However, properly understood," he said, "[sacrifice] is and remains fundamental, because it reveals to us with what love God loves us in Christ."

Entering a reality- Benedict XVI affirmed that Mass itself, "celebrated in the respect of the liturgical norms and with a fitting appreciation of the richness of the signs and gestures," fosters and promotes Eucharistic faith.

"In the Eucharistic celebration," he said, "we do not invent something, but we enter into a reality that precedes us, more than that, which embraces heaven and earth and, hence, also the past, the future and the present. This universal openness, this encounter with all the sons and daughters of God is the grandeur of the Eucharist: We go to meet the reality of God present in the body and blood of the Risen One among us."

It is because of this, the Holy Father affirmed, that liturgical prescriptions are not mere "external things" but "express concretely this reality of the revelation of the body and blood of Christ." Hence, he contended, the best catechesis on the Eucharist is the Eucharist itself, well celebrated.

Individual altars- Later in his address, the Bishop of Rome noted how the Eucharistic celebration must lead to charity. "Feeding on him we are freed from the bonds of individualism and, through communion with him, we ourselves become, together, one thing, his Mystical Body," he said. This surmounts the differences of profession, class and nationality to form "one great family, that of the children of God."

"When we receive Christ," the Pope added, "the love of God expands in our innermost self, modifies our heart radically and makes us capable of gestures that, by the expansive force of good, can transform the life of those that are next to us. [...] A celebrated Eucharist imposes on us and at the same time renders us capable of becoming, in our turn, bread broken for brothers, coming to meet their needs and giving ourselves.

"Because of this, a Eucharistic celebration that does not lead to meet men where they live, work and suffer, to take to them the love of God, does not manifest the love it encloses. To be faithful to the mystery that is celebrated on the altars we must, as the Apostle Paul exhorts us, offer our bodies, ourselves, in spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God in those circumstances that require dying to our 'I' and constitute our daily 'altar.'"