Reflection from Fr. Joseph

Three items of news that might be of interest to the parishioners of St. Jude:

First of all, this weekend the diocese gives out its annual St. Augustine Medal, which is an award given to a member (or a couple) from each parish to recognize volunteers who go above-and-beyond. These volunteers give their time and talent to the parish for the upbuilding of the Kingdom. This year, the recipients from St. Jude are Brian and Jana Veo. Brian and Jana are staples at our 11:30am Sunday Mass, where Brian serves as an usher (you will see him in the back of church with a smile on his face!) and Jana helps take care of the candles. They also lead our Hospitality ministry, providing coffee and food for parish events, as well as serving on Parish Council and being active in the St. Jude Festival. We are so grateful for all that the Veos do at St. Jude’s – thank you, and congratulations on being awarded the St. Augustine Medal!

Second, an update on the school building. As you may have seen, the Town of Monroe on September 25 voted to go ahead with the purchase of our school building. They are purchasing our school and a few acres of property for approximately $1.7 million, pending the closure of the sale. The contract allows us to continue to use the school for Religious Education for 10 years (with a possible 10 year renewal). This will take a huge financial burden off of the parish (we had been losing over $50K every year in maintenance and heating of the massive and old structure). We now need to decide what we will do, as a parish, to provide enough space for our programs. In my mind, we have four options:

• We can build an entirely new (much smaller) building somewhere on our property. Downsides include the exorbitant cost of construction materials and the limited space we have available, for much of our property is unbuildable due to environmental and structural concerns.
• We can refit the Social Hall to have sliding walls which will allow it to be opened for large gatherings or closed-off for smaller classrooms.
• We can renovate the basement of the rectory, which is a huge space that is not utilized well and could be turned into classrooms and meeting rooms. Downside of this would be a significant expense – possibly upward of a million dollars - as it is not at all ADA compliant or set up for large gatherings.

Or, we can do nothing and plan to hold all religious education classes – and possibly other meetings – in the old school building for the foreseeable future.

The good news is that we are under no “time-crunch” to decide, as we have up to 20 years of continued use of the building, albeit for a more limited time frame (Sunday mornings and one weeknight per week). I would love to hear from any parishioners who are contractors, architects, engineers, or related fields on their professional opinions! I also need to publicly thank Vin Pescosolido, the head of our Finance Committee, who spent countless hours making this school sale possible. He has been a tremendous gift to the parish and the sale would not have happened without him! 

Finally, next weekend (October 21) the Diocese celebrates 70 years! In 1953, the Archdiocese of Hartford, which comprised all of Connecticut, was split off into three different dioceses: Bridgeport, Hartford, and Norwich. We have so much to be grateful for in our 70 years! The Bishop will celebrate a special Mass on Saturday Oct. 21 (tickets required), but that entire weekend, every parish in the diocese will celebrate weekend Masses as Masses of thanksgiving. So you will hear special readings and a special homily reflecting on this great milestone.

"A Concert of Praise, Meditation, and Thanksgiving"

50th Anniversary Pipe Organ Concert & Recital

Sunday, November 12th - 4:00 P.M.

Here is yet another exciting St. Jude 50th Anniversary event! In August, our beautiful French Cassavant Freres pipe organ underwent a considerable retrofit. Over 2,000 man hours went into electronic upgrades and expert craftsmanship work on the console of the instrument, that is, where the organist sits to control the sound output. All work was done by renowned organ builder Sean O'Donnell and Associates. Now, in its restored glory, our Diocesan and Cathedral Director of Music, Dr. William Atwood, will join us for an afternoon of all styles of organ repertoire to show the many tones and colors this instrument has. Works by Bach, Biery, Buxtehude, Phillips, Karg-Elert, Widor and others will be featured. All are invited to the recital and "Coffee &" reception in the church hall. I look forward to welcoming Dr. Atwood to St. Jude and hope you will join me for this Sunday afternoon. If you would like to bring a goody to the reception, please reach out to the parish office. I hope to see you there. This is not to be missed. A free-will offering taken at the door.  -Lou Vollono, Jr., Director of Music & Organist

We have had an amazing first nine months of our 50^thAnniversary Year!

Many more events and celebrations to come!

SAVE THE DATES

October 28:  Closing of St Jude Novena

                      9:00am Mass and celebration of St Jude Parishioners

                             Coffee social

October 28: Dinner Dance to celebrate 50^th Anniversary of our Parish

                     Details below!

November 18: 9:00am Mass of Thanksgiving – Pastors, Priests and Deacons

                          who have served in our parish

                           Social to follow

December 3: Rededication of our Church by Bishop Frank Caggiano

                        Blessing of new relics for our altar

                        Social to follow

Please join us for any and all these events

OCTOBER 14-15

SATURDAY: 3 PM-7 PM

SUNDAY: 8 AM-2 PM

Take a few minutes before or after masses to browse

And choose which baskets you’d like to take a chance on!

OVER 60 BASKETS!

SO MANY TREASURES TO FIND!

$20 for a sheet of 25 Tickets

Msgr. Sabia Social Hall

BABY – GIRLS – BOYS – DOGS – CATS – FALL – CHRISTMAS

ITALIAN MEAL – MOVIE NIGHT – EASTER – PATRIOTIC

AND MANY, MANY MORE!!

DRAWING FOR WINNERS BEGINS: SUNDAY, 10/15 @ 2:30 PM

NEED NOT BE PRESENT TO WIN!

BASKET PICK UP FOR WINNERS, SUNDAY, 10/15 4 – 6 PM

QUESTIONS CALL ANITA FLYNN – (203)984-5166



Check out the baskets on Facebook! – SEARCH “COLUMBIETTES BASKET BONANZA FUNDRAISER”

EVENING WILL INCLUDE:

6:30 – Hors D’Oeuvres

7:00 – Guest Speakers

7:15 – Dinner is Served

Dancing through 10:30 with music provided by JMG

TICKETS:

$50 per person – (CASH BAR)

RESERVATIONS AND PAYMENT CAN BE MADE ONLINE

Use link below to reserve and remit payment no later than 10/6:

Formal invitation with meal selection will be mailed after registration, so please register by the deadline.

If you are interested in taking advantage of free childcare in the Saint Jude Social Hall for the evening of the Gala, email Jessica Iannotta

If your teen is interested in volunteering or you are a virtus-trained adult interested in supervising, email Jessica

Parish News

Save the Date!

Camp Adore 2024 will be the week of June 17-21, 2024.

~Registration will open in early 2024~

(In the case of excessive snow days, our backup dates are August 19-23)

Youth Encounters

All of our young people grades 6-12 are invited to join us for our Youth Encounters! These nights of games, food, fun, prayer, fellowship, and honest conversation about our Catholic Faith have been awesome...come and join us for a new year! This year for the first time, we'll be having separate tracks for high school and middle school. 7-9pm at St. Jude Social Hall, beginning on September 8th!

We have close to 40 children signed up! Register your child soon in order to ensure you get a Be a Saint challenge book before they sell out!

Mom's Group Announcements

Our next monthly mother's Zoom rosary is Wednesday 10/4 at 9 pm and will continue on the first Wednesday of every month e-mail Jessica Iannotta for more information.

Next meeting is Thursday, 10/26 - we will attend the novena Mass together and then meet downstairs in the Social Hall

Bring home Saint Jude's traveling statue of

the Holy Family.

Materials will be included to do a 7-day preparation for Consecration to the Holy Family. To learn more, visit: https://afc.org/family-consecration/ May God bless you and your family through the intercession of the Holy Family!

Click here to sign up

Do you enjoy using our Parish's subscription to Formed? If you haven't registered, click the image and check it out!

The annual subscription price has been covered by Saint Jude's for many years for our parishioners to enjoy!

This year's annual subscription cost, however, has increased to over $2,000. We are accepting donations to help offset the cost to parish. Since we have many registered users, even a small donation can make an impact!

You can easily donate through OSV under the "FORMED" section or drop a check at the Parish office with "Evangelization" in the subject line. Thank you in advance for your generosity!

Dash Through the Creed & Sacraments

Every week we profess the Creed, but do we really know what it means? Every week we receive a Sacrament, but why do we do what we do? All parishioners of all ages are welcome to join Fr. Joseph for the third installment of the "Dash" series - this time dashing through the Creed and the Sacraments! Learn all about those fundamental truths that we believe about the Trinity, Jesus Christ, the Church, Mary, and the Afterlife...and dive into the Seven Sacraments which apply those truths to our lives! Every Monday from September 18 until Easter, all adults and teens are invited to join Fr. Joseph in the Social Hall from 7-8:15pm to learn more about our Catholic Faith!

Need more peace? Searching for love and meaning? Broken and in need of healing? All are welcome to join us for a powerful encounter with our Eucharistic Lord. Every Monday from 9:30am-9pm, the Lord will be exposed in the monstrance for Eucharistic Adoration. Stop by for five minutes, or stay for an hour - in Him will you find the peace you need! No need to sign-up, just show up. He has been awaiting you!

Domingo Arribas Memorial Needs Drive

The Knights of Columbus is sponsoring our bi-annual Domingo Arribas Memorial Needs Drive on Saturday, October 21 2023 from 8AM to 10:30AM. Items to donate include food, clothing, & diapers/wipes which can be brought to the front of Monsignor Sabia Social Hall & then distributed to the St Jude Food Pantry, Bridgeport Rescue Mission, Blessed Sacrament Parish, and Hopeline.

Please refer to the attached flyer for a more specific listing of items we are collecting for the drive. To aid us in distributing these items to the above organizations, we ask if you would please label the boxes & bags you donate. Please note that WE ARE NOT COLLECTING FURNITURE ITEMS.

 

Any questions, please contact Rocky Scali at 203-767-6053 or Frank Flynn at 203-556-5016.

From the Knights of Columbus, Council 5987.

This report serves for the recent blood drive held in the St. Jude's Social Hall sponsored by the Knights of Columbus on Saturday, September 23. Also, we provide a synopsis as to how well we did since we have started sponsoring the drives.

Red Cross sees our recent efforts as a big success. They scheduled 66 slots and we had 51 donors. One was a deferral so we successfully collected 50 pints. Their goal was 38 so they were smiling when they left. Staff and volunteers were served meatball grinders which were pretty tasty. Besides Red Cross snacks, we provide bagels as well and they seem to have taken off with the donors. A lot of good PR for our drives and the location.

Since the beginning of 2022, when we started providing a space to the Red Cross for collecting blood, we have had 6 drives. There would have been 7 but the first one last year was canceled due to heavy snow. Over the 6 drives, Red Cross reports we have collected 303 pints from the 326 donors that have signed in at the door. They say the average is 51 pints per drive.

So, the Council and St. Jude's has been building up an army of regular donors who prefer our location and the extras we provide. Hopefully, we'll be the premier donor location in Monroe.

Thank you to all who have been supportive of this community effort. Our next drive is Saturday, January 27. If you are a long-time donor or newly considering becoming a donor, go to www.redcross.org and search to find our drive and sign up.

Thank you, Father Gill for being supportive of this effort. And, to Bernice in the Parish Office for the help in scheduling these drives.

Food Pantry Update

Items of most pressing need at this time are canned soup, oatmeal, pancake syrup and jarred pasta sauce. Of course, boxed children’s cereal is always appreciated. Thank you all for your continued support!

Knights of Columbus

OCTOBER FAMILY ROSARY

October is dedicated to the most Holy Rosary

Join Us in Prayer at The

“Mary, Madonna of Peace” Statue

6:30 P.M.

Please bring your own chairs

Monday          October 9                   Joyful Mysteries

Wednesday   October 11                 Glorious Mysteries

Tuesday         October 17                 Sorrowful Mysteries

Thursday       October 19                 Luminous Mysteries

Family Rosary

Sunday October 29th

Following 11:30AM Mass

Open to all Parishioners

Adults and Children

Please Join Us

                                              Pope Francis October 2023 prayer intention

For the Synod



We pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a lifestyle at every level, and allow herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit towards the peripheries of the world.

Sponsored by the K of C to Help Promote the Praying of the Rosary on a Regular Basis.

Hopeline Pregnancy Center Diaper Needs

Hopeline Pregnancy Center has a need for disposable diapers. They are currently low on sizes newborn, 3,4,5,6 and wipes, as well as bottles and pacifiers. Should you wish to help you can leave the diapers in the outer vestibule of the church. Monetary donations, with checks made out to the Hopeline Pregnancy Center, as well as gift cards from Amazon, Target and grocery stores are most welcome. As always, your continued support is greatly appreciated.

Please remember in your daily prayers:

Marge Tranzillo, David Nicolett, Maria Bertone, Vincent Daniello, Joe Pinto, Zoey Frigo, Daniel Louis Bianco, Max, Hung Vu, Alfred Zawadski, Dr. John Kezel, Francisca Testa & family, Catherine Belanger, Stephen Henn, Manny Cambra, Bennett Gulyas, Tom Pleva, James Buturla, John Sansone, Paul Verespej, Patti F. , Anne DeVita, Anna Harper, Jack Lane, Robert Freeman, Frank Kerekes, Marian Nanchy, Rosario Pacheco, Antonia Tedeschi, Charles Metoyer, Liz Guaglianone, Mary McDonald, Douglas Stanley, Jenn Katz, Judy Thomas, Barbara Tranchese, Ed Brady, Mary Lopresti, Lou DiMartino, Lor C., Viola Cleo Bradshaw, Susan W. and Janet C, Larry Pisani, Vincent Pisani, Greg, Kaiti and Cameron Kessler, Michael Merola & Family, Martha Mencseli, Mildred Blasko, Father Krzysztof, and Henry Taylor

All healthcare workers, first responders, caregivers and the men and women in the military.

If you have anyone that you would like to add to the list, please call the office or email with the name to be added.

Please join us in praying our Monthly Parish Intention.

Our Petition for October is:

On this Respect Life Sunday and for the

Month of October, we pray God might grant

us the wisdom and courage to protect His gift of all human life...

        We pray to the Lord

Upcoming Mass Intentions

Mass Intentions for  October 14 – October 22

Sat    Oct 14       4:30pm                Isabel Dantas-Teixeira

Sun   Oct 15        7:30am                 St Jude Parishioners

Sun   Oct 15        9:30am                 Carlo Longo

Sun   Oct 15        11:30am               Rick Buckley

Mon  Oct 16        9:00am                 Tony Costello       

Tue  Oct 17        9:00am                 Helen Ryan          

Wed  Oct 18        9:00am                 Vittoria and Nunzio Guerrera

Thu   Oct 19        9:00am                 Dionisio and Rosa Barroso

Fri    Oct 20        7:00pm                Dolores Fiedler

Sat    Oct 21       4:30pm                Stephanie Stanley

Sun   Oct 22        7:30am                 St Jude Parishioners

Sun   Oct 22        9:30am                 Maria Emilia Monteiro

Sun   Oct 22        11:30am               Deceased members of the Bonitatibus and

                                                         Tranzillo Families

Tabernacle Candle: In memory of Isabel Dantas-Teixeira during the month of

                              October

Weekday Masses (Monday thru Thursday) will be in the main Church at 9 am and live streamed.

The Weekend Masses inside the Church are Saturday at 4:30 pm and Sunday at 7:30, 9:30 and 11:30. Only the Saturday Mass at 4:30 pm and the Sunday 7:30 am and 9:30 Masses are live streamed.

(Live-streamed Masses may be viewed at https://www.stjuderc.org/view-masses ) Please note that the link is slightly changed from the previous link due to the change in the website.

Men’s Bible Study

The Men’s Bible Study will begin meeting September 23, on Saturday mornings at 8:00 AM, in the school building. Each week we will take up the readings for that weekend. All men of the parish are welcome. For more information, contact Bob Lux at [email protected].

Saturday Rosary Sign up.

We have a wonderful way to prepare for Saturday Mass and that is to say the Rosary before Mass starts. We start 30 minutes before Mass so we start at 4:00 every Saturday.

Please join us as we pray. Also, please prayerfully consider joining this ministry.

If you would like to join you can sign up at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4aa8ad2fa6fccf8-saturday#/

We look forward to you joining us as we pray the Rosary together.

First Friday

Eucharistic Adoration

“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest”. Matthew 11:28-30



The time that we spend with Jesus in front of the Blessed Sacrament is the best time we will spend on earth. Please join us on the first Friday of every month from 7:00 to 8:00 PM.

Mary's Messengers Prayer Group . Since RE is finished for the year, a new time will be announced soon.

We learn to say the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, and other special prayers for the intentions of our families and Parish.

Flame of Love Rosary

Thursday mornings after 9 am Mass

"Spread the effect of grace of thy Flame of Love over all of humanity"

flameoflove.us

St. Jude Religious Gift Shop is located downstairs in the Msgr. Sabia Social Hall. Fr. Joseph's Books and CD's are available in the Gift Shop. Also new items: Communion Gifts and cards, statues, rosaries and more.



Come in and browse. Call Fran Cambra 203-261-2573 or Parish Office 203-261-6404.

Confession Hours



Confessions on Saturday afternoon will be in the day chapel at 3:30 to 4:15 pm on Saturdays. Come take advantage of God's great mercy by coming to the Sacrament of Confession.

Confessions are also by appointment, please call 203-261-6404, to set up an appointment or email the office.