"What happens in baptism is the beginning of a process that embraces the whole of our life: it makes us fit for eternity."
- Pope Benedict XVI
Baptisms are celebrated throughout the month on Saturdays and Sundays. First-time parents are required to attend Baptismal Preparation.
Registration in advance is required. Please call (908) 322-5192.
"We are not the sum of our mistakes.
We are the sum of the Father's love for us."
- St. John Paul II
Confession is offered weekly in the Church on Saturdays from 4-4:30pm or by appointment. Please call (908) 322-5192 to set up an appointment.
Our new Ignite Confirmation preparation initiative seeks to inspire young people preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Ignite will help unpack the journey of faith, identify how the Spirit is at work in our lives and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Ignite involves learning, sharing, serving, fellowship, spiritual growth, and fun!
Confirmation is a two-year process open to anyone in 7th grade or older.
"Let us love, since that is what our hearts were made for."
- St. Therese of Lisieux
Please reach out to inquire about beginning marriage preparation with us. Click the link below to fill out a Marriage Intake Form and we will contact you, or call us at (908) 322-5192 ext. 100 and we will be happy to assist you in setting up an appointment with a priest.
"Be who God created you to be and you will set the world on fire."
- St. Catherine of Siena
If you discern in your faith life a calling to serve the Church as a priest or a deacon, please contact a priest at the rectory to further explore the call of God in your life. You may also contact the Vocations Director of the Archdiocese of Newark at {973} 497-4365 or visit their website at www.rcan.org/vocations-diocesan-priesthood
"For all who are sick: do not lose hope . . . Christ is near you."
- Pope Francis
If you or a member of your family would like to share in the grace of this healing sacrament, please call the rectory and a priest would be happy to visit with the sick person and celebrate the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick as is appropriate. If your loved one is in danger of death, please call the emergency number: 908-358-7297.
Very often our fondest memories of growing up Catholic revolve around sacraments. We remember First Communion day processing into church with all of our friends, the splash of water during the Baptism of a child, the hand of our sponsor on our shoulder, as we are Confirmed and tears at a wedding or funeral Mass. Sacraments are at the heart of the Catholic way of life. A sacrament is a sacred sign by which we worship God, his love is revealed to us. His saving work accomplished in us. In the sacraments, God shows us what he does and does what he shows us. Simply put the sacraments are signs or symbols of God's love and presence enriching our faith.
The word sacrament comes from the Latin "Sacramentum", meaning "an oath of allegiance, a pledge." The sacraments are a "pledge" of our faith and of our salvation. When we celebrate the sacraments worthily and in faith, we believe that what we celebrate takes place. The sacraments are "effective signs of grace." They make present the Paschal mystery of Christ and allow us to share in it. They are signs of, and give expression to, our faith. This is what the Church means when it describes the sacraments:
"They are efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the church, by which divine life is dispensed to us." —Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1131
The Church, over the centuries, has come to name seven celebrations of the liturgy to be sacraments. They are Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony. These sacraments are the first and fundamental prayer of the Church by which we are joined to Christ in his prayer to the Father. The preparation for sacraments is extremely important for our life-long formation in Christian life.