Celebration of Confirmation

Confirmation Class for January 4 is Cancelled

Tonight's Confirmation class is cancelled due to inclement weather.  

Our next class is Thursday, January 18

Just some reminders:

Our Confirmation Overnight Retreat is approaching (Saturday, Feb. 10 - Sunday, Feb. 11) 

In the red folder that you received at the beginning of the year is a permission slip that needs to be completed and returned by our next class on January 18. More information about the retreat will be sent home later this week.  

Confirmation Sponsor & Confirmation Name Forms are due back March 1. 

If you have misplaced the red folder with the forms, you can download them from our website. They are located in the Confirmation Section on the right side of the page.  

Up Coming Service:

Saturday, January 20 from 6:30-9:30pm - Family Bingo - Help with set-up, distributing prizes, giving out popcorn, helping with the ice cream station, and clean-up.  You will also have some time to play bingo. You can sign up at class on Thursday, January 18.

Religious Education News

Pentecost & Solemnity of the Most Blessed Trinity

During the past two weeks, the Church has given us two wonderful feast days to celebrate. Last Sunday, we celebrated the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Both of these days give us the opportunity to meditate on the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  On Pentecost, the Father sent the Holy Spirit that the Son had promised to his disciples. Today, we honor the Blessed Trinity, the union and love shared by the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Through this union and love, we are united to God the Father by the love of Jesus and the power of the Spirit in our lives. 

During these past two weeks, our parish has been especially blessed as we also celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation with 13 adults and 51 teenagers.  In Confirmation, our hearts are imprinted with a permanent seal that marks us forever as Christians and we are given the strength and gifts needed to be true witnesses of Jesus Christ. 

We pray that they always open themselves to the Holy Spirit and allow the gifts of wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence and wonder and awe to fill their hearts. We also pray that they may remain connected by the Holy Spirit to the True Vine, Jesus Christ, who nourishes us by His own Body and Blood and allows us to grow as true disciples who bear God’s love to all.

Confirmation, May 21, 2016

Celebration of Confirmation - Sunday, May 3rd

Confirmation Program

Rescheduled Make up Class: Thursday, February 5 from 7-8:30pm

This class is for anyone who missed class in December (Dec. 4 or Dec. 18)

Rescheduled: Confirmation Retreat -

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Where we are going:

The Retreat is being held at the Archdiocesan Youth Retreat Center in Kearny, NJ.

The address is 499 Belgrove Drive, Kearny, NJ 07032.

On Saturday, February 7:

Please arrive at St. Mary’s Church by 8:15am for check in.

We will gather and leave for the retreat center by bus.

Closing Mass

*** Important change to the Closing Mass.

Instead of having our closing Mass here at St. Mary's, we will have the closing Mass at 5:30pm at the Archdiocesan Youth Retreat Center in Kearny, NJ. We ask that all parents join us for the closing Mass. The candidates will be dismissed from the Retreat Center.

You can enter the retreat center by parking in the lot behind the building (the driveway is located just past the church building) and enter through the doors with the blue canopy above it.

Confirmation Retreat Postponed

Dear Parents,

Due to the snow and predicted ice, we have decided to postpone the Confirmation retreat scheduled for today. I will be talking with the Retreat Center to come up with an alternate date and will email you on Monday or Tuesday.

Just a reminder that there is a make-up class for anyone who missed a class in December on Monday, Jan 26 from 7-8:30pm.

Thank you for understanding,

Fr. Rich and Anthony Armando

Confirmation Program

Our next class is this Thursday, November 20, 2014 from 7-8:30pm

Make-up Class

If you missed our first class on Thursday, October 23, you need to attend the make-up session on Monday, November 24 from 7-8:15pm in the Parish Center. Please respond via email to confirm attendance at the make-up session.

Up Coming Service Opportunities:

Healing Mass

Saturday, November 22 – 11:45am-2:30pm

This Mass is for members of our community who are in need of healing.  Candidates will help usher guests into the church. Following the Mass, they will help guests across the street to the gym and assist in serving them lunch.

Giving Tree Gift Tags

Wednesday, November 26 – 3-5pm

We are in need of help to prepare the gift tags for the Giving Tree and hang them on the tree.

Sorting Food for the Food Pantry

Friday, November 28 at 11am in the Food Pantry in the Parish Center

We need 4 people to help sort food for the pantry and prepare it for those in need.

Good Bye October, Hello November

I can not believe that this week is our 8th week of classes already. Time is flying by and it has been amazing to see how our students have been growing in knowledge.  At last count, we are blessed to have 430 students in our Religious Education program in Grades K-8. We have 35 wonderful catechists and 16 youth aides, who are sharing of their time and talent to help the children of our parish to grow in knowledge and to grow in God's love.

Our Confirmation Program is also in full swing. Our 53 Candidates, will meet twice a month on Thursday evenings to better understand more about the Holy Spirit and how they are called to be disciples of Christ in today's world.

We ask that you pray for the Holy Spirit to be with all of our students, parents and catechists, that they may be open to where the spirit of God may lead them and that they will open their hearts to receive the peace, joy and love that Jesus has to offer each of us.

Some highlights of October include:

• 14 students attending our 1st Children's Choir meeting and rehearsal
• Children's Liturgy of the Word is growing each week as more and more young people join us to hear God's Word
• Our Family Gathering Event, where more than 50 children and their families attended and made over 70 autumn wreaths for the senior residents of Nutley
• Our 2nd Grade students going on a field trip to see our church and chapel and to learn more about what happens at Mass
• Our Confirmation Rite of Welcoming Mass on Sunday, October 26, where each candidate received their own Bible, signifying that they are ready and open to receive God’s Word and to share the Good News with the world.  

Coming up in the next few weeks:

No Religious Education Classes on Tuesday, November 4. We will be closed for Election Day.

Please pray for our leaders that they may turn to the Holy Spirit for guidance as they do their best to work for a more peaceful world.

Confirmation Class on Thursday, November 13th and Thursday November 20th from 7:00-8:30pm.

Family Gathering Event on Sunday, November 16 following the 10:30am Mass

We will create Thanksgiving Day cards for the homebound members of our parish and for the senior residents of the town. We will have treats for all to enjoy.

Sacrament of Confirmation

We will begin our program with a Parent and Candidate Meeting on Thursday, October 9 at 7:30pm in the Church. 

During this time we will talk about the Sacrament of Confirmation and provide you with the details of the program. 

At the 2013 World Youth Day in Brazil, Pope Francis put forth this challenge:

Jesus is calling you to be a disciple with a mission!

Today, in the light of the word of God that we have heard, 

what is the Lord saying to us? 

Three simple ideas: Go, do not be afraid, and serve.

Preparation for the Sacrament of Confirmation will focus on helping our teens to build a relationship with Jesus and helping them to grow into a people of faith who live and carry the Good News of Christ throughout their life. Through our class times, service opportunities, youth ministry nights, prayer services and retreat, we hope to provide them with the opportunity to develop a lasting relationship with Jesus which calls them to live as "disciples with a mission."

If you have not yet sent in your Confirmation registration, please bring it with you to the meeting.

Confirmation Registration Form

Celebration of Confirmation

At our Baptism, the Holy Spirit was given to each of us to free us from sin, make us sons and daughters of God and to give us new life in Christ. In Confirmation, our hearts are imprinted with a permanent seal that marks us forever as Christians and we are given the strength and gifts needed to be true witnesses of Jesus Christ. Jesus promised his disciples and all of us that the Holy Spirit would be sent forth from the Father to be our Helper and Guide, so that we would not be alone in our journey.  

When we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, we allow the gifts of wisdom, understanding, right judgment, courage, knowledge, reverence and wonder and awe in God’s presence to fill our hearts. 

The Holy Spirit then dwells within us to give us wisdom to know where God is leading us, understanding to know how to use our gifts to help others, right judgment so that we can always choose what is good, courage so that we may have strength to live out our faith, knowledge that we may truly know God in our lives, reverence so that we may respect and honor all that comes from God, and wonder and awe so that we may always recognize the greatness of God and all that He has done for us.

Strengthened by these gifts we can fulfill our potential as sons and daughters of God and to act as witnesses of Christ.  As our Helper and Guide, the Holy Spirit guides us to the Way that Jesus calls us to, helps us to recognize the Truth of Christ in a world that can be confusing, and leads us in the right direction so that we may have Life and have it more abundantly. 

This past weekend in our parish, we will be witnesses to the presence of the Holy Spirit who will fill the hearts of 42 young people and 9 adults in the Sacrament of Confirmation.

As we celebrate with them let us pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful

and kindle in them the fire of your love.

Confirmation Retreat

Candidates building the Kingdom of God
with pasta and marshmallows

The Confirmation candidates took some time to reflect and think about their faith during their Confirmation retreat on January 18, which was held at the Archdiocesan Youth Retreat Center in Kearny. The retreat was led by 4 of our very own young people, who have been working since the middle of December to prepare witness talks and activities. Kieran Baguiwet, April Klecak, Rosalina Perez, and Sarah Roselli each spoke about their faith and how they have built a relationship with Jesus. After each witness talk, the candidates had the opportunity to discuss their faith with one another in small groups. They also talked about their gifts and talents and how they can help build the Kingdom of God here on earth.  A retreat is a great time of reflection. The candidates took advantage of the opportunity during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and after which when they wrote letters to themselves about where they hope to grow in their faith. The presence of the Holy Spirit was truly with the entire group during this day.

Candidates writing letters to themselves about
how they hope to grow closer to God during this next year.