Reflection from Fr. Joseph

When a person grows from a child to an adult, they still have the same eyes, brain, and limbs. Some of the incidentals change – they get taller, hair turns gray, maybe they grow more muscle mass – but the person is still fundamentally the same. If a person were to grow a third arm or wings or flippers when they hit twenty-one, that would be a rather shocking change – one that could even change the very person they were.

Don’t we say that sometimes colloquially? “Wow, she’s not the same person that she was before.” “He’s changed so much I don’t even recognize him.” There’s a big difference between becoming more yourself and changing so that you’re a completely different person.

St. John Henry Newman, an Anglican convert to Catholicism and theologian and bishop, recognized that the teachings of Jesus were similar to the human experience of growth and change. According to his very influential book “On The Development of Doctrine”, when Jesus ascended into Heaven, all of His teachings had already been given to us, but they were given in seed-form. They weren’t fully fleshed out, not fully grown. Like the difference between a flower bud and the flower in its full unfurling, so Jesus’ teachings through the centuries continued to be unfolded and reach their full maturity. That’s why we can have legitimate developments such as devotion to the Sacred Heart, prayers such as the Rosary, or insights like the Theology of the Body – although Jesus didn’t specifically reveal these things to us (and thus, they are not explicitly in the Scriptures), they were contained within seminal form in His teachings that He left with His Church.

But if someone were to claim that one of Jesus’ teachings takes a radically different direction, it would not be growth and unfurling but rather distortion. If something has been taught and expanded upon for two thousand years and then a sudden, abrupt change in the teaching is proposed, we can presume that this change is not growth, but an alteration that is not willed by God. God never changes, and thus His teachings cannot contradict themselves. If the Holy Spirit has taught certain things for centuries, He cannot suddenly change His mind according to the zeitgeist (the “spirit of the age”).

Why do I bring this up? Next week in Rome, a very significant meeting of Catholic Church leaders is taking place. This meeting, called a “Synod”, may be covered extensively in the secular media. Certain churchmen have given the impression to the media that doctrines and dogmas of the Catholic Church could possibly be changed through this gathering. But what the Church believes is not subject to a democratic vote, as if the majority decision gets to decide what is right and wrong. Rather, the Church listens to what Christ has revealed – in the Scriptures, and through how the Holy Spirit has guided us for two thousand years. While the theme of this Synod is about becoming a “listening Church”, we first listen to what the Lord has revealed before we listen to modern men and women.

So, no matter what we read in the media – either the Catholic media or the secular media – we must not be troubled (or excited) over proposed changes to Catholic doctrine. The Church can certainly update how She proposes timeless truths to the modern world, but cannot change what She has always and everywhere believed. So don’t believe any media hype you read about a Church “updating its teachings”.

“Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be led astray by all sorts of strange teachings.” (Hebrews 13:8-9).

More on this next week…

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

  Music Opportunities at St. Jude

Do you like to sing? 

Do you like to give your time and talent to the Lord? 

Then joining one of our music ensembles could be for you! 

The Adult Choir sings each Sunday from mid-September to mid-June at the 11:30 A.M. Mass, although we will be singing at 9:30 A.M. too now and then. The only requirement for joining is the ability to follow music out of a hymnal, literally the ups and downs, and a commitment to attending rehearsals when scheduled for special occasions, typically on Monday evenings. 

The Contemporary Choir leads music at our 4:30 P.M. Vigil Mass. Please see Vin before or after Mass if interested in joining who can fill you in on rehearsal times. Previous experience in singing the style of music or playing guitar would be ideal, but it is not a requirement.  

The St. Jude Children's Choir is going to get back together again after singing beautifully this past Christmas Eve Mass. We would love to have them as regular participants, even once a month, leading the music on Sundays. If your child is of reading age and up, loves music/singing, and like to have a fun time, please reach out to me by email ASAP. 

Thank you for supporting these liturgical ministries at St. Jude. If you are not able to participate, however, I would ask that you offer prayers for those who dedicate their time and talent to enhancing our worship. We are very blessed. 

Have a blessed week!

Lou Vollono, Jr.

Director of Music & Organist 

[email protected]

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

Come and have an easy dinner after a long week and enjoy the company of other Saint Jude families! Dinner will be from 6:00 - 7:00 pm so that families can then go up to the Church for Adoration at 7:00 pm. 

Click here to RSVP and select an item to bring

Save the Dates!

First Friday Family Potluck Dinners - Friday 10/6 and Friday 11/3, 6 pm before Adoration

Women's Morning Retreat: "The Power of Ordinary: Reclaiming Who You Are and Whose You Are" with author and speaker Laura Roland. Saturday, November 4

Fall Parish Pilgrimage: Saturday, 11/25 Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury and the Abbey of Regina Laudis in nearby Bethlehem, CT email Jessica if you would like to join us!

Youth Encounters - TONIGHT 9/29!

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

As the Fall rapidly approaches our needs in the pantry shift accordingly. At this time, we are in need of pasta, jarred pasta sauce, canned soups and boxed children’s cereal. We are looking for a few volunteers to join our ministry. If you can spare and hour of your time one Monday per month please consider our pantry families. There are two opportunities to assist. For details, please contact Liz Romeo at [email protected]. Thank you 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.

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, Tip B., 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

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

Sat    Sept 30       4:30pm                Susan Sherman and Ann DeFelice

Sun   Oct 1          7:30am                 Romeo and Catherine Sanna

Sun   Oct 1          9:30am                 Maria Sanzo

Sun   Oct 1          11:30am               The Pacelli Family

Mon  Oct 2          9:00am                 Andrew Skoronski         

Tue  Oct 3          9:00am                 Barbara Mitchell            

Wed  Oct 4          9:00am                 Margaret Mende

Thu   Oct 5          9:00am                 Gertrude M. Mason

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   Sept 8         11:30am               Tina Pechulis

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.