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April 26, 2015 – 4th Sunday of Easter

THE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY OF

SAINT MARTHA

MASS SCHEDULE

Sunday Mass: Saturday Vigil 5:00 pm Sunday 7:30 am 9:00 am 10:30 am 12:00 noon 4:00 pm Daily Mass: Monday thru Saturday 8:00 am

First Friday Mass: 8:00 am 10:00 am

SACRAMENTS Anointing of the Sick: Please call the parish office to make arrangements. Baptisms: 1st & 3rd Sundays at 1:15 pm. Please call the parish office to make arrangements. Parents’ Preparation Session is on the last Friday of the month at 7:00 pm. Confessions: Saturday, 3:00-4:00 pm or by Appointment Marriages: Please call the parish office to make arrangements one year in advance.

DEVOTIONS Exposition & Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament: Fridays, 8:30 am - 9:30am First Saturday Devotion: Follows 8:00 am Mass Novenas: Follows 8:00 am Masses – Miraculous Medal (Wednesday) & St. Jude (Friday) Rosary: Monday-Saturday 7:35 am & following 8:00 am Mass; Sunday 7:05 am

CLERGY & PASTORAL STAFF

Pastor: Rev. David Swantek Assisting Priests: Rev. Bill Bausch Rev. Dominic Fuccile Rev. Gerry Marchand Rev. John Spino Deacons: Fran Groff Ted Kotz Staff: Director of Religious Education: Georgina Kotz Religious Education Secretary: Liz Caracciolo Coordinator of Youth Ministry: Bob Morris Director of Liturgical Music: Lou Letizia Business Manager/Accountant: Nancy Dormanski Parish Secretaries: Mary Nelson Fran Olson

OFFICE HOURS

Monday thru Friday 8:00 am – 4:00 pm Tuesday 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm Wednesday 4:00 pm – 8:00 pm Saturday 9:00 am – 12:00 noon

SPECIAL HOLIDAY SCHEDULES & INCLEMENT WEATHER CLOSING: Please telephone the Parish Office

3800 Herbertsville Road Point Pleasant, NJ 08742-5499

Phone: 732-295-3630 Fax: 732-295-9315

www.saintmartha.net

We welcome all who seek to grow in faith and love just as St. Martha welcomed Jesus into her home. If you’d like to join our parish please call 732-295-3630.

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Reg. Collection: Support of St. Martha Church 2nd Collection: Mother’s Day Mass Remembrance

MASS INTENTIONS Saturday, April 25 5:00 pm Orsolina (Lee) Vaiani & John Vaiani Sunday, April 26 7:30 am Orlando Critelli 9:00 am People of the Parish 10:30 am Pirina & Osvaldo Turrin 12:00 pm Elizabeth & Edward Morgan 4:00 pm Virginia & John Maraguglio Monday, April 27 8:00 am Joyce Lowe Tuesday, April 28 8:00 am Deceased Members of the Aderente

& Gallagher Families Wednesday, April 29 8:00 am Wallace L. McClaren Thursday, April 30 8:00 am Karen Curtis Friday, May 1 8:00 am Hartigan & Najar Families - Blessing 10:00 am Families of the Parish Saturday, May 2 8:00 am John Simmonds

MEMORIAL GIFTS: APRIL 25 – MAY 1 Flowers to Mary: Josephine Booth Tabernacle Candle: Anella Venturelli

OUR DEARLY DEPARTED Please remember in your prayers the recently deceased members of our parish, especially Richard Ronald Karpinski and William Morrow.

ST. GREGORY’S PANTRY NEEDS Detergents, hand soap, shampoo, etc.

LOW-GLUTEN HOST Available upon request before Mass in the sacristy

READINGS FOR THIS WEEK Sun: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 4:8-12 2nd Reading 1 John 3:1-2 Gospel John 10:11-18 Mon: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 11:1-18 Gospel John 10:1-10 Tue: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 11:19-26 Gospel John 10:22-30 Wed: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 12:24-

13:5a Gospel John 12:44-50 Thur: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 13:13-25 Gospel John 13:16-20 Fri: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 13:26-33 Gospel John 14:1-6 Sat: 1st Reading Acts of the Apostles 13:44-52 Gospel John 14:7-14

Need Help? Call St. Vincent de Paul at 732-295-3630 ext 33. Our parish is here to help

FIRST HOLY COMMUNION

St. Martha’s Parish is happy to celebrate the First Holy Communion of our young parishioners. They will receive the Sacrament of Holy Com-munion for the first time at the 12 noon mass to-day and next week. Please welcome them and their families, and pray and rejoice with them as they prepare their hearts to receive Je-sus for the first time. JOHN HENRY NEWMAN’S PRAYER FOR DISCERNMENT God, you have created me to do you some definite service. You have committed some work to me which you have not committed to another. I have my mission – I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told in the next. Some-how I am necessary for your purposes. I have a part in the great work. I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for nothing. I shall do good. I shall do his work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place. Fulfill your high purposes in me, I am here to serve you, to be yours. Amen

THIS WEEKEND – APRIL 25-26 4TH SUNDAY OF EASTER

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Did you ever notice you feel

better on the days you get to go

outside - rather than the ones spent

all day indoors?

I can't help but smile when I pass

dozens of couples and dogwalkers

and grandmas and grandpas, babies,

teens, fitness gurus, fast walkers, and

hard breathers all pacing their way

around the Brick Reservoir. The

ducks warily looking at us and our

paper cone shaped cups of water,

wondering if we've caught on to the

secret they know so well - God's voice

is all around us.

It's a reflection as old as the stars

and our gazing up at them, but it's

worth returning to. God's presence is

often and easier felt in God-made

realities than in manmade ones. Ever

go to a mall to pray? Or feel close to

God under florescent lights? Me

neither.

While the earth under our feet

begins to bloom and the sweet smell

of wet grass fills your nose, a poem by

the acclaimed Jesuit priest Fr.

Hopkins catches what is happening

and the tension between God's

calling out to us in nature and man's

work-a-day world:

THE WORLD is charged with the grandeur of God. It will flame out, like shining from shook foil; It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

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And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil; And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod. And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

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And though the last lights off the black West went Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs— Because the Holy Ghost over the bent World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Jesus picks up this earthy imagery

when he says "I know my sheep and

mine know me." God is calling out to

us - through creation, and through

communion - that's why communing

in nature at a beach or a reservoir or a

mountain lake feels so good - and

also why receiving Holy Communion

so builds us up; God is calling us

through them.

This week again we have our 2nd

batch of 1st communicants. Please

keep them in your prayers that they

may grow to know God - and all the

many ways he comes to us.

A 2nd week of thank yous to all

those who helped to prepare them

for this meeting. Your reward in

heaven keeps growing. Thank you to

Georgina and Ted Kotz, to our 2nd

grade Catechists Kathy Jobes, Kathy

Oltrichter, Kerri-Ann Ferraioli, Tricia

Rothman, Michael Novak, Jackie

Brouder, Jennifer Fisahn, Jane Hagan,

Bernadette Juliano, Michelle Hynes,

Jennifer Maturo, and Gerrie Yachnick.

Thank you also to our 2nd grade

aides: Ronanne Gripp and Maureen

Flemming; thank you so very much

also to our teen aids - Julia Hannam,

Melissa Tirone, and Evan Jerolamen.

You guys still rock!

Congratulations everyone.

In Christ,

(ps. . . T-bow in Philly? really?)

MINE KNOW ME

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Organizations ANNULMENT MINISTRY: please contact the office to learn more. 732-295-3630.

BEREAVEMENT GROUP: meets the 1st Sunday of the month at 10:00 am. Please call the office to sign up. 732-295-3630.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER GROUP 1st Monday (11:00 am) Contact Annette Richards 732-674-6935.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS meets 2nd Wednesday of the month at 7:30 pm.

MOM’S BIBLE STUDY Tuesdays, (9:30 am -11:00 am) downstairs. Information: Sue Byington (908-489-9288).

PARISH BIBLE STUDY Tuesdays, 7:30 pm–9:00 pm. Studying Israel’s story using Liturgical Press Commentary & Little Rock Scripture Study Guide. Info: Michael Tuohy, 908-902-1725.

PRECANA CONFERENCE AT ST. MARTHA CHURCH Next session is June 27, 2015 at 10:00 am. To register, go to www.dioceseoftrenton.org/mar riage-preparation-events/ and scroll down to June. Questions - call AnnMarie at 732-206-0053.

R.C.I.A. A process of prayer, study and spiritual formation prepares adults for entrance into community with the Church. Any adult inter-ested in learning about our Catholic faith is in-vited to call the Parish office.

RESPECT LIFE COMMITTEE meets May 12 (Tuesday) in the Meeting Room.

ROSARY ALTAR SOCIETY meets 1st Monday at noon. For information call Sharon Hettenbach, 732-892-6490.

ROSARY MAKERS meets every other Friday at 10:00 am. Call Sharon Hettenbach, 732-892-6490.

SACRED STEPPERS Mondays, 10 am – 12 pm.

SEPARATED AND DIVORCED meet 2nd & 4th Tuesdays (7:30 pm – 9:00 pm). Contact Arlene, 732-714-1747.

ST. MARTHA’S LEARNING CENTER for God’s special needs children. Stephanie: 732-279-6406.

WOMEN’S BIBLE STUDY Thursdays, at 9:00 am. We are using Scott Hahn’s study “He Must Reign,” the Kingdom of God in Scripture. Call Janet, 732-836-0303 to reserve material.

KIDS BOX

M S E R G R K Y D F S D F J K A V G O E G E R E F I L H X T R H O N Z S E T T U V S Q Z S T D T I I H U S S N M M L W F H W L R P K C R Y A Q B J P O A S I E C W I O R A E T H E R W R H W P B J V C E L E T H N O S X E H I O G X Y C I O U N O G O X N L H C Z B L T T W D I A N D S Q M W N T G T I D C S H E E P D Z R J W H I S O G G G U H I I X K E U O V N S N X U X A Y K G B S Z C D X D C U U S W A Z R B U B E I M T J E X T N I A S P S Q G M A F D

Words to Find: "Jesus said: ‘I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.’" (John 10:11)

Vikings, Saint Martha , Resurrection, Easter

ST. VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY

Inspired by Gospel values, this lay organiza-tion leads all to join to grow spiritually by offer-ing person-to-person service to those who are in need and suffering. All requests are held confi-dential. 732-295-3630 x33 ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY’S MEGA FIFTY FIFTY

This is the conference's major fund raiser and only 500 tickets will be sold during April and May. Tickets for $100 or $25 shares can be pur-chased by leaving a message on our hotline at 732-295-3630, ext. 33 and someone will return your call. Tickets will also be on sale outside of church on the weekends of May 16/17 and May 23/24.

The drawing will be held May 31st at 1:30 pm.

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732-295-3630 x 35 reled@saintmartha.net

"The Eucharist is the Sacrament of Love; It signi-fies Love, It produces love. The Eucharist is the consummation of the whole spiritual life."

— St. Thomas Aquinas Faith at Home: May is a month we honor our Blessed Mother Mary. Set up a “Mary altar” in your home. Choose a location where the family can gather, and set up a picture or statue of Mary with flowers and a candle (a battery-operated one if you have little ones). Come to-gether to pray to Mary each day during May, asking for her help to grow closer to her Son. Teach your little ones the Hail Mary, and older children can learn the Memorare and Hail Holy Queen. A decade of the rosary a day is a way to give “roses” to Mary throughout the month. First Holy Communion: Today at the 12 noon Mass, the second group of young parishioners will receive their first Holy Communion. Please continue to pray for them. And let us all contin-ue to be witnesses to one another of our belief in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament by our reverence and devo-tion as we receive Our Lord in Holy Communion as well as when we acknowledge His presence in the tabernacle when we are in the church. SonSpark Labs VBS is coming to Saint Martha’s June 22-26! Volunteers needed. If you missed last week’s meeting, no worries. Just contact us at reled@saintmartha.net or 732-295-3630 ext. 37. We need you! Grade 7: The next session will be Thursday, May 7. Remember that your Service Reflection pa-per is due in June. Grade 8: The next session will be held on Thurs-day, April 30. Letters to Father Dave are due that day. Service Reflection is due by June 1. You will be contacted soon regarding individual interviews.

All High School Youth Are Welcome!! 732-295-3630 ext. 31

youth@saintmartha.net

Though it seemed like it wasn’t going to hap-pen this year, spring has finally sprung, and that brings thoughts of places like Great Adventure. Once again, Great Adventure is hosting the New Jersey Catholic Youth Rally at Great Ad-venture on Sunday, May 17. This is open to all teens and their families are welcome also. The cost is $45.00, ($20 for the meal if you already have a season ticket) which includes admission, parking, an all-you-can-eat buffet, and a free bounce back ticket. In between the opening ceremonies and the Closing Mass, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the rides. Please let me know by May 8 if you would like to go. HOLY INNOCENTS Did you know that St. Martha’s offers a program for children with special needs that provides in-struction so all children of God can make their sacraments? Contact Kathy Jobes at 732-458-0707, Stephanie Correa at 732-279-6406, or Michele Kozal at 732-370-1148.

Youth Ministry with Bob Morris

Religious Education Information

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KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS GIFT AUCTION There will be a Gift Auction hosted by the

Knights of Columbus to benefit the knight’s charitable activities.

Donations are being requested. All items must be new. Prizes in the past have included bicycles, boogie boards, small appliances, gift baskets, gift cards, and many other items. Do-nations can be dropped off at the parish office.

The gift auction takes place on Saturday, June 20. The doors will open at 6:00 pm and the auction will begin at 7:30 pm. Admission is $10 and includes a sheet of tickets. Light re-freshments will be served so feel free to bring your own dinner.

AROUND THE DIOCESE April 26 – Discernment Meeting for single men

considering the priesthood, Church of St. Benedict, 609-406-7449 or vocations@dioceseoftrenton.org

May 1 – Annual Pastoral Care Retreat, San Al-fonso retreat House, Long Branch, 609-403-7157 or dsass@dioceseoftrenton.org

May 1-3 – Gennesaret Retreat for those with a serious illness, Archdiocesan Retreat Center, Kearny, 732-566-7237

May 2 – Epiphany Knights of Columbus Annual Gift Auction, Adamston Rd VFW, 732-458-8905

May 2-9 – Catholic Cruise to Alaska, 860-399-1785 or Doug@CatholicCruisesandTours.com

May 6 – Happy Are – Beatitudes Retreat at St. Joseph by the Sea, 732-892-8494

May 8-9 – Diocesan Marriage Summit at Geor-gian Court, www.dioceseoftrenton.org/marriagesummit

May 12 – Unmasking the Idols Retreat at St. Jo-seph by the Sea, 732-892-8494

May 15-17 – Come to the Water Silent Retreat at St. Joseph by the Sea, 732-892-8494

BULLETIN SUBMISSION PROCEDURES Submit typed articles to the Parish Office or email to admin@saintmartha.net no later than the Thursday ten days before the Bulletin's date of publication. Include one contact name with e-mail address and phone number. Articles may be edited, rewritten or combined with re-lated articles.

732-295-3630 Ext 36

Father Dave’s famous words after we say grace are, “Mother Seaton, Keep Us Eatin.” We can easily apply these words to the nourishment of our mortal bodies as we thank God for the food we eat. Believe it or not, we can apply this to our spiritual needs.

All the songs we sing are prayers put to mu-sic. The prayers we say and sing are spiritual food that help satisfy our hunger for the Lord.

This is why we continuously urge the faithful who attend Mass at Saint Martha’s not to be afraid to participate. It is the job of our musi-cians who create the music to help in providing the divine guidance necessary in sustaining spir-itual balance in our lives.

As young children many of us learned when we were overcome by fear to say a prayer. Fear can be defined as a state of mind brought about by the human condition we encounter in our daily lives. When we pray, fears go away. As we sing, we pray twice. Praying twice brings something nice. The LOVE of Jesus Christ.

Peace to all! They who sing pray twice! - Saint Augustine SHARING OUR TREASURE Weekend of April 18/19 Weekly Offerings $ 15,198.23 Bequests $ - Religious Education $ - EASTER COLLECTION HISTORY Easter 2012 $ 43,910.00 Easter 2013 $ 39,477.00 Easter 2014 $ 42,056.00 Easter 2015 $ 46,138.00 “Give and gifts will be given to you … For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.” Luke 6:38

Music Notes

from Lou’s Desk