Dear Parishioners,
9 Days For Life
Today is the first day of the USCCB's "9 Days For Life" novena. You can sign-up for or view the novena at
At the bottom of today's novena prayers was a recommendation to read "Another Look at Abortion." We refer to abortion, but we don't really give a summary of the situation. For a very good and fairly short article, visit
March for Life
I don't see any snow in the forecast for Friday. I don't have any Omicron symptoms. So, it looks like I'll be able to ride the St. Peter's bus to D.C. for the March for Life. We have plenty of room on the bus. Call Ellen at 732-899-7322 to join us.
COVID-19 Update
NJ's daily new cases continue to drop faster than any other state. We passed many states in the last two days and are now in 36th place out of 53 states and territories. We were in 3rd place just nine days ago. See COVIDActNow.org. If this keeps up we could move down from "Extreme" to "Critical" in seven days. So, I'm thrilled to see cases dropping, but many people are still catching Omicron each day.
I did indeed open more pews. Tom and Matt added chairs on the north side of the church hall. Instead of three tiles between rows, there are now 2.5 tiles between rows. If Mass attendance rises this coming weekend and COVID continues to plummet, we'll go back to two tiles between rows.
Scam Awareness
Almost everyone who has had their e-mail address in the bulletin or on our website has received a request apparently from me for Amazon gift cards. It wasn't me but rather a scammer. Today, the Manchester Police posted a YouTube presentation on the most common scams in Manchester. The video is pretty good. You can watch it HERE.
New Parish Hall & Finance Council
Before the pandemic, the Finance Council and I started brainstorming about a bigger parish hall. We tabled the discussion until a couple months ago. In this new year, we'll look more into possibilities. We have room for another parishioner or two on our Finance Council. I'd appreciate the help especially of an architect or engineer. A lawyer would be helpful too. If you have any recommendations, please let me know.
2021 Annual Catholic Appeal
We sent in a check for $5,061 to reach our $66,000 goal. We will get a 15% rebate check as a result. That's $9,900. Thanks for your increased generosity beyond your 2020 donations. I'll be virtually attending the 2022 appeal orientation on 2/1.
God love you,
Fr. Jim