CHRIST THE REDEEMER PARISH E-NEWSLETTER N°36 - OCTOBER 2020
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CHRIST THE REDEEMER PARISH
98 South 2nd Ave.
Manville, NJ 08835
Phone: (908) 725-0072
www.CTRmanville.com
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Dear Parishioners,
I’m happy that even in a time of pandemic our regular worship services are celebrated although with some restrictions that are necessary for our safety. Thank you for wearing your mask and maintaining social distancing. I am grateful to Kulinski Memorials for donating our new live stream TV system installed in Sacred Heart Church. It helps to spread the good news and to stay in touch with those who are unable to attend our Sunday liturgy. During the last few “COVID 19” months we did our best to address the needs of the parish e.g. First Communion and Confirmation took place, staff meetings are being held, funerals and weddings are taking place. Hopefully, if safe, our church groups will slowly resume in next few weeks.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic it’s been decided that our Religious Education Program this year will be taught remotely using “Google Classroom” as the platform of communication. Thank you to our dedicated catechists who volunteered their time to teach the Good News. Click here to learn more>>.
November is the month of prayers for the deceased, and weather-permitting, we will gather at 3:00PM at the cemetery to pray for our beloved dead, especially victims of Covid-19. At the end of the devotion, flowers and candles will be blessed. You can then place them on the graves of your family and friends. Don’t forget to submit your All Souls Day envelopes. The names will be read before the 7PM Masses on Wednesdays & Fridays and the 5PM Mass on Saturdays throughout the month of November.
Furthermore, please remember that we, the church, are continuing our mission and ministry. I know that these are frustrating times and we would like to “get back to normal” but we must be careful faithfully finding our way forward together. God will continue to sustain us now and in the days ahead as we do our best to care for each other.
In Christ the Redeemer
Fr. Stan
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A special thank you to Kulinski Memorials for their donation of a new camera system which has been installed in Sacred Heart Church.
If the cable company that you have in your home provided you with a remote control device that has a voice activated TV remote button, you can watch the live Mass on your large screen TV set. Just hold down the voice activation button and say: YOUTUBE CHRIST THE REDEEMER PARISH MANVILLE NEW JERSEY. The selection of the live mass should come up for you to select.
We realize how difficult it still is for many of you to attend Mass in person, so we again thank Kulinski Memorials for donating this new camera system to the Parish and also thank you to Caz Bielen for the many weeks he has provided a video-taped production of the Mass to the parishioners.
Please SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel! To ensure uninterrupted live stream we need to have at least 1,000 subscribers.
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The drawing took place on October 11th at 3:00 p.m. Congratulations to the winners and thanks to Celeste Onka for supervising and conducting 2020 Mega Raffle and all participants.
Christ The Redeemer Mega Raffle 2020 WINNERS!
1st -- $3,850.00 -- Richard Onderko
2nd -- $2,887.50 -- Dorothy Gluch
3rd -- $1,925.00 -- Marcia Casas
22 Runner Up Prize Winners - $481.25
Kulinski Memorials, Nicholas Trilone, Agnes Middlecamp, Marianne Gola, Martin Geiger, Ronald & Monica Wozniak, Kim Petzinger, Lorenzo Bonanni, Ed Ogin, Isabel Piotrowski, Chris & Ralph Trksak, Jarek & Kasia Balicki, Robert Pietryk, Dorothy Battista, Lee Ravaioli, Eugene Jardine, Vince & Rachel Petrone, Darren Hinmon, Louise Romano, Kulinski Memorials, Andrej Wawrzyszko, Thomas Carroll.
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Our CTR Parish Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020 has been finalized and is available here. I want to thank you for your weekly contributions and support of our parish fund-raising efforts. Still, our fiscal year 2020 is unsettling. Your on-going contributions through weekly collections, mail-in and on-line giving are vital
and appreciated.
Please consider making a sacrificial increase to your weekly contributions.
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I am happy to report that, in spite of the pandemic, we were able to put together a new calendar for 2021. Thank you to all who contributed towards it. Since we had to cancel our major fund-raising events, I am appealing to you to make a special donation, upon receiving the calendar sometime in December, to help your parish cover some of the lost revenue. There will be a tear-off sheet to make this easy for you. I hope that the 2021 calendar will remind you of the vibrant spiritual and social events scheduled at Christ the Redeemer Parish.
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| BICYCLE PILGRIMAGE TO AMERICAN CHESTOCHOWA SHRINE |
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Due to the Corona Virus pandemic, there were many indications that in 2020 we would be restricted to a spiritual pilgrimage to the American Czestochowa Shrine in Doylestown, PA. However, at the last minute the Pauline Fathers notified us that PA had relaxed the pandemic restrictions so we could proceed with our bicycle pilgrimage as planned.
Despite the many obstacles the news about the pilgrimage was spread by word of mouth. With only a weekend to secure confirmation and the challenge of 43 miles to cover, we managed to gather a group of daredevils for the 12th annual bicycle pilgrimage from Manville, NJ to the American Częstochowa Shrine. Early in the morning July 17th, seven bicyclists departed from Sacred Heart Church in Manville, after receiving the blessing from Father Stanisław Słaby C.SsR. to finally grow to a group of 20 cyclist pilgrims.
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Although the route was more of a challenge with every mile, especially after crossing the state border with Pennsylvania, due to its hilly nature, the favorable weather, good mood, prayerful atmosphere, discussions, and most of all the decades of the rosary prayed at each stop along the way in the spirit of Christian brotherhood contributed to the feeling of time and effort well spent for the parish indulgence of the Most Holy Redeemer. On reaching our destination our souls and bodies were soothed as always on the hospitable thresholds of the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Częstochowa. A spiritual feast started with a private prayer in the lower chapel, the Eucharist in the upper church, a private meeting with Father Pauline Bartłomiej Marciniak, and ended with an unexpected interview of our group on live radio.
Joy filled our hearts as we met with hundreds of not only bicyclist pilgrims, but also pilgrims who traveled by motorcycle from New York and as far away as Boston and Chicago. All embraced and shared the spiritual benefits we received from our pilgrimage to this sanctuary. We extend a special thank you to those who pioneered the first bicycle pilgramige to the American Czestochowa Shrine. We welcome all who are able to join us in our bicycle pilgrimage to American Czestochowa in 2021.
Father Marcin Gacek, CSsR, Manville, NJ
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| MEET FATHER MARCIN GACEK, C.SS.R. |
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A belated welcome to our new associate pastor, Father Marcin. He arrived in Manville shortly before the coronavirus attacked so many residents of New Jersey that, as a result, he had limited opportunities to meet and interact with our parishioners. Over the last several months, our churches have been closed to the public further complicating the ability of Father Marcin to practice his English and perform so many of the activities, celebrations, and ceremonies that usually take place each spring. To make the most of it, Father Marcin uses social distancing to meet and greet parishioners.
Born in the south of Poland in Kielce, Father Marcin, is the youngest of three siblings. He has an older brother, Dariusz, and a sister, Aneta. They still live in the city. His mother also lives there, but his father, according to Father Marcin, “is in Heaven”. He says with a giggle!
In the city of Kielce, Father Marcin was an altar server in his young age. As a teenager, religion took a back seat to the normal activities teenagers participate in, especially music. He was particularly interested in “techno music”. Interestingly, RAP music was also the music of Kielce with many Catholic musicians performing it. After high school, Father Marcin attended a university studying history.
Two events occurred in his life that propelled Father Marcin to a vocation in the priesthood. The first was a car accident involving a friend and himself. It was a huge accident, but miraculously no one was injured. At the time, Father Marcin did not consider it a miracle. Afterwards, his parents prohibited him from interacting with his high school friends.
The second situation involved his father’s hospitalization with a serious illness. A few months later, his father had an operation, although the doctors did not think this would fully cure him of cancer. While his mother was at the hospital, Father Marcin was home. He knelt in front of a statue of Jesus on the cross and prayed for an hour. Since he had not been an active Catholic up to this time, he just repeated the Our Father and Hail Mary. He also talked to God saying, “God, you know what is better for my family and for me.” When his mother returned home, she said the doctors indicated the surgery was a success, calling it a miracle. Father Marcin knew in his heart that what he said to God was not his normal thinking, but instead sent from the Holy Spirit.
Soon afterwards, Father Marcin returned to church, praying often, and finally after six months, returned to confession. He began to feel joyful and talk about God to everyone in every sentence. One day, he visited his sister. She listened to all her brother’s remarks about God and said, “Marcin, you speak like a priest!” He knew then that this would be his vocation.
Father Martin has been a priest for 15 years. He was an associate pastor for two parishes in Poland. After that he became a missionary for 10 years in over 200 parishes. In addition, he helped young Redemptorists by advising them, guiding them, and helping the formation of their principles.
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| FEATURED SAINT: JUNIPERO SERRA (1713-1784) |
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We pay tribute this month to Saint Junipero Serra, a Spanish missionary who established nine missions in California during the 1700’s. He was beatified by Pope John PaulII in 1988. In 2015, Pope Francis visited the US and pronounced Junipero Serra a saint. This was the first canonization in our country.
Saint Serra was born in 1713 of a faith-filled and humble family on the Spanish island of Majorica. They worked the land in Petra. His primary education was at a local school run by Franciscan monks. At the age of 15, Miguel Jose (Junipero’s Baptized name)
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aspired to become a priest, moving to Palma to achieve his vocation. After several years of study, he joined the Franciscans and was given the name Junipero. After his ordination, Saint Serra became a teacher and earned a doctorate in theology from Lullian University.
In 1749. Saint Serra traveled to America as a missionary. His first stop was Mexico. Landing in Vera Cruz, he walked 250 miles to Mexico City suffering a leg injury which never healed completely. He became involved in Sierra Gorda missions in 1751. They were located in the land of the Pame Indians. Junipero worked hard to convert them.
Saint Serra traveled to the San Fernando area in 1769 where he established the first mission. Afterwards, he ventured to San Diego setting up a mission there. All together, Saint Serra formed nine missions in what would later become California. For the remainder of his life, he continued to evangelize, especially with the Native Americans.
Saint Serra was concerned about the treatment of the Native Americans by the Spanish authorities and confronted them continuously. He did, however, support corporal punishment for Native Amercians’ offenses. Some felt this was too harsh. During his time there, more than 4000 Native Americans converted and over 6700 were baptized.
Saint Serra died in 1784 at the Mission San Carlos where he is buried.
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| On November 22nd, the Feast of Christ the King, we are planning to launch our 100th Anniversary Website. There you will be able to find pictures, stories and videos of all the Jubilee events along with historical details of Sacred Heart and Christ the King Churches, which include statistics and press releases. I am certain that as you scroll through it, it will make you proud of our rich history and diversity of the people who established this strong Roman Catholic presence in Manville. May this encourage you to continue to fearlessly answer the challenges of today, maintaining your Catholic identity. |
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Please email us at: RFnews@CTRmanville.com
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Created by inter-works for Christ the Redeemer Parish
PO Box 924, Manville, NJ 08835
Phone:(908) 725-0072 www.CTRmanville.com
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