Vol. 3 No. 12 PARISH NEWSLETTER DECEMBER, 2015 ST. PETER CANISIUS DECEMBER 21 eter, A Dutch man, was born in 1521. His father wanted him to be a lawyer. To please P him, young Peter began to study law before he had finished all his other studies. Soon enough, however, he realized that he would never be happy in that life. About that time, people all over were talking about the wonderful preaching of Blessed Peter Faber. He was one of the first members of the Jesuit order. When Peter Canisius listened to him, he knew he, too, would be happy serving God as a Jesuit. So he joined the order. After more years of study and prayer, he was ordained a priest. The great St. Ignatius soon realized what an obedient and zealous apostle St. Peter Canisius was. He sent him to Germany where Peter labored for forty years. It would be hard to name all St. Peter Canisius great works, prayers and sacrifices during that time. His concern was to save many cities of Germany from the heresies of the day. He also labored to bring back to the Catholic Church those who had accepted false teachings. It is said that he traveled about twenty thousand miles in thirty years. This he did on foot or on horseback. In spite of all this, St. Peter Canisius still found time to write books on the faith. He realized how important books are. So he made a campaign to stop bad books from being sold. And he did all he could to spread good books to teach the faith. The two catechisms St. Peter Canisius wrote were so popular that they were printed over two hundred times and were translated into fifteen languages. To those who said he worked too hard, St. Peter Canisius would answer, “If you have too much to do, with God’s help, you will find time to do it all.” This wonderful saint died in 1597. He was proclaimed a doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XI in 1925. We want to learn about our faith with enthusiasm, the way St. Peter Canisius did. We can ask him to help us study hard and frequently. ~Saints for Young Readers for every day - Vol. 2 2 Confirmation Preparation Meetings Confirmation prep meetings for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students and their parents were held on Sunday morning, Nov. 15, and Monday evening, Nov. 16. During these meetings a drawing was held for the students. The “prize” consisted of a piece of white carpet that was used at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia when Pope Francis celebrated Mass there on Sept. 27. White, gold, and gray carpet was installed on the area surrounding the altar and was walked upon by the Pope. Robert Calvert, Grade 6, and Frankie Cocozza, Grade 8, were the winners of a piece of the white carpet which was the main color installed. They were both excited to receive the carpet and Robert’s mom, Silvia Calvert, has shared her intention to have the carpet and letter of authentication framed!! Robert Calvert, Gr. 6 Frankie Cocozza, Gr. 8 6TH, 7TH, and 8TH GRADE FOOD DRIVE A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all our students who performed generous Acts of Charity to “Feed the Hungry” and “Give Drink to the Thirsty” by contributing to our Confirmation prep food drive. Thank you to…David & Sarah Amory, James Antonucci, Julian Avila, Joseph & Rocco Bellamy, Lauren Castagnetti, Marcus Czarrunchick, Christel & Stacey Darcelin, Ashley & Michael DeLair, Elijah Dennis, Elizabeth Detal, Scott DiGirolamo, Peter Dornbierer, Juliane & Micah Enobio, Ernstein Francois, Catherine & Regina Garcia, Frank Geczi, Gabriel Gerena, Thomas George, Alexiana Gomez, Justin Kula, Naomi Lescano, Ben Lorenc, Joey Malinowski, Jacob Montero, Mercedes Napoli, William Neer, Chris Nguyen, Anthony Nols, Sema Nwana, Dana Ogilvie, Philippe Oriol, Gian Rosario, Phoenix & Ram Sandoval, Erica Solomon, Tereance Stokes, Benjamin Suarez III, Grace Szabo, Emily Terrana, Kevin Vasquez, and Kyle Weidemann. (We apologize for any unintended omissions!) Publisher Staff Rev. Arlindo Paul Da Silva Editor email [email protected] Jeanette Horai Pastor Sue Ellen Bibby The Newsletter will be published Editor Roberta Maurer MONTHLY Pat Lorenc 3 Our Lady of Fatima CCD Recognized for Mission Donations!! Our Lady of Fatima’s religious education program, through the generosity of our children and their families, was the recipient of the St. Therese Missions Award in recognition of our donations to the Missionary Childhood Association. The award was presented at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen on World Mission Sunday, October 18, 2015, at the 12:00 noon Mass. Msgr. Richard A. Behl, Director of the Office of the Pontifical Mission Societies, awarded the plague to Brian Mata, Grade 8, recognizing Our Lady of Fatima CCD as the top contributor from all CCD programs throughout the diocese. Brian is pictured with Rev. Pervaiz Indrias, Homilist. 4 THIRST FOR CHRIST There is a spiritual thirst, as we read in the psalms: “I thirst for the living God, when will I appear before him?” As he says “I thirst,” our Lord is thirsting for return to his Father. The night before, at the Last Supper, he prayed to his Father and asked for the glory that was his before the foundations of the world were laid. He told his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them. Now he has this thirst, to return again to his Father. Applying that spiritual thirst of our Lord to ourselves, what is it that we have if we love the Lord? We have a thirst for holiness. We want to be saints. We want to be happy, to be at peace on the inside, to be one with the Father. What is sanctity? Sanctity is Christ living in me so that his mind possesses my mind and I am governed by his truth. That’s sanctity. He’s in my will, and all things that are pleasing to him I do. He’s in my body, so that my body becomes a tabernacle. Sanctity is not only Christ in me, it’s making Christ known to others. It’s being loveable. It’s making Christ loveable. When others see us, they see Christ. ~Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen EUCHARISTIC ADORATION CHAPEL Committed guardians are needed for the following hours: Sunday 6:00 AM Sunday 7:00 PM Monday 3:00 AM Monday 1:00 PM Friday 1:00 AM Please consider giving one hour to Jesus. Jesus cannot be left alone! Call: Gerry 732-266-4145m or Pat 732-752-4479 .