Reflection from Fr. Joseph

Last week I spoke about distinguishing authentic development of doctrine from the radical changes that some in the media (and even some in the Church) have proposed for the Catholic Church. Today I’d like to look closer at some of the issues that will be discussed at the Synod which might cause some confusion among Catholics.

Recently an American bishop published a great pastoral letter outlining some of the specific truths that we must hold to during this time of confusion. I’d like to publish a large chunk of his letter, as I believe it says it better than I could:

In this time of great turmoil in the Church and in the world, I must speak to you from a father’s heart in order to warn you of the evils that threaten us, and to assure you of the joy and hope that we have always in our Lord Jesus Christ. The evil and false message that has invaded the Church, Christ’s Bride, is that Jesus is only one among many, and that it is not necessary for His message to be shared with all humanity. This idea must be shunned and refuted at every turn. We must share the joyful good news that Jesus is our only Lord, and that He desires that all humanity for all time may embrace eternal life in Him.

Once we understand that Jesus Christ, God’s Divine Son, is the fullness of revelation and the fulfillment of the Father’s plan of salvation for all humanity for all time, and we embrace this with all our hearts, then we can address the other errors that plague our Church and our world which have been brought about by a departure from Truth. 

As your spiritual father, I feel it is important to reiterate the following basic truths that have always been understood by the Church from time immemorial, and to emphasize that the Church exists not to redefine matters of faith, but to safeguard the Deposit of Faith as it has been handed down to us from Our Lord Himself through the apostles and the saints and martyrs. Again, hearkening back to St. Paul’s warning to the Galatians, any attempts to pervert the true Gospel message must be categorically rejected as injurious to the Bride of Christ and her individual members.   



1. Christ established One Church—the Catholic Church—and, therefore, only the Catholic Church provides the fullness of Christ’s truth and the authentic path to His salvation for all of us. 
2. The Eucharist and all the sacraments are divinely instituted, not developed by man. The Eucharist is truly Christ’s Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity, and to receive Him in Communion unworthily (i.e. in a state of grave, unrepentant sin) is a devastating sacrilege for the individual and for the Church. (1 Cor 11:27-29) 
3. The Sacrament of Matrimony is instituted by God. Through Natural Law, God has established marriage as between one man and one woman faithful to each other for life and open to children. Humanity has no right or true ability to redefine marriage. 
4. Every human person is created in the image and likeness of God, male or female, and all people should be helped to discover their true identities as children of God, and not supported in a disordered attempt to reject their undeniable biological and God-given identity. 
5. Sexual activity outside marriage is always gravely sinful and cannot be condoned, blessed, or deemed permissible by any authority inside the Church. 
6. The belief that all men and women will be saved regardless of how they live their lives (a concept commonly referred to as universalism) is false and is dangerous, as it contradicts what Jesus tells us repeatedly in the Gospel. Jesus says we must “deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.” (Matt 16:24) He has given us the way, through His grace, to victory over sin and death through repentance and sacramental confession. It is essential that we embrace the joy and hope, as well as the freedom, that come from repentance and humbly confessing our sins. Through repentance and sacramental confession, every battle with temptation and sin can be a small victory that leads us to embrace the great victory that Christ has won for us.  
7. In order to follow Jesus Christ, we must willingly choose to take up our cross instead of attempting to avoid the cross and suffering that Our Lord offers to each of us individually in our daily lives. The mystery of redemptive suffering—i.e. suffering that Our Lord allows us to experience and accept in this world and then offer back to Him in union with His suffering—humbles us, purifies us, and draws us deeper into the joy of a life lived in Christ. That is not to say that we must enjoy or seek out suffering, but if we are united to Christ, as we experience our daily sufferings we can find the hope and joy that exist amidst the suffering and persevere to the end in all our suffering. (cf. 2 Tim 4:6-8)  

In the weeks and months ahead, many of these truths will be examined as part of the Synod on Synodality. We must hold fast to these truths and be wary of any attempts to present an alternative to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, or to push for a faith that speaks of dialogue and brotherhood, while attempting to remove the fatherhood of God. When we seek to innovate upon what God in His great mercy has given us, we find ourselves upon treacherous ground. The surest footing we can find is to remain firmly upon the perennial teachings of the faith. 

“So then, brothers and sisters, hold fast to those traditions which you have been taught.” (1 Thessalonians 2:15).

Jesus Christ and His Church are the unchanging Rock on which we can build our lives – and thanks be to God for that!

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!

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!

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

RCIA (Right of Christian Initiation for Adults)

A wise pastor once said, “A key trait of a Catholic is someone who believes life is worth living!” If you or someone you know is interested in exploring the truth for living life and how that truth is found in the Catholic faith, please join me, Deacon David Flynn, on October 7^th at 2:30 PM at St. Jude Church. Together we will begin the journey of learning how the Catholic faith makes life worth living by bringing us closer to Christ and experiencing Him in your life each day.  We will have an introductory discussion about the process and how you can join in it. Please contact me at [email protected] to let me know that you are coming and to answer your questions. 

Thank you, Deacon David

Parish News

Due to lack of sign-ups, we have canceled First Friday taco night but will plan another similar gathering in the future.

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!

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.

Knights of Columbus Pasta Dinner - 9/30/23

Photos by Fran Cambra

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.

St Jude - St Stephen Seniors

The St Jude-St Stephen Seniors will meet on Thursday, October 12th at 1:00PM. 

Since we will be exploring the St Jude Church stained-glass windows, our meeting will begin upstairs in the church for this one month.

All are welcome. 

No need to register.  

Any questions, call Ellen or Doug Stevens at 203-268-9229

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

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 7 – October 15

Sat    Oct 7          8:30am                 Denis and Michael Gallagher

Sat    Oct 7         4:30pm                Elvira Ferreira

Sun   Oct 8          7:30am                 St Jude Parishioners

Sun   Oct 8          9:30am                 Maximino Monteiro

Sun   Oct 8          11:30am               Tina Pechulis

Mon  Oct 9          9:00am                 Deceased members of the Corrigan Family  

Tue  Oct 10        9:00am                Angelo Mancini             

Wed  Oct 11        9:00am                 Harry Burns

Thu   Oct 12        9:00am                 Elvira Ferreira

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

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.