Video recordings of Sunday Masses can be found at:  Video Masses & Messages.

Next week begins Holy Week with the Solemnity of Passion Sunday and the reading of the Passion of Our Lord.  Because of the typical length of this liturgy, I will not be record the entire Mass. However, I will record and upload a Palm Sunday sermon for this website. 

The directives from the Diocese regarding the Holy Week liturgies during this time of pandemic are as follows:
 

1. Palms will be blessed during a private Palm Sunday Mass, but these will not be distrubuted until much later. 
2. The Chrism Mass will be postponed until such time as it can be celebrated safely.
3. Holy Week liturgies may be live-streamed, but not recorded and uploaded.  Here at St. Mary's, we do not have the facilities for live-streaming   So far, we have only been able to record and upload Sunday Masses.  Because the liturgies of Holy Week are time-sensitive celebration, we will not be able to record Holy Thursday, Good Friday or the Easter Vigil.   Monsignor and I will be celebrating these liturgies privately and will be keeping all of you, our parishioners in our prayers.  
4. That said, Bishop Checchio will be live streaming these Holy Week liturgies from the Cathedral of St. Francis in Metuchen.  Please click here to view the Holy Week schedule from the cathedral. 
5. During the course of this coming week, I will try to record reflections for each of the days: Holy Thursday and Good Friday.  These will not be recorded Masses, but only recorded reflections to help you to worship God on those days and to be assured that God has not abandoned us. 
6. I hope to resume the record of Massses on Easter Sunday and the Sundays following as long as this pandemic quarantine lasts. 

Some NEW Directives from Bishop Checchio, as of March 25, 2020:

•  In light of the cancellation of the public celebrations of the Fourth and Fifth Sundays of Lent, the Scrutinies associated with these Sundays are hereby dispensed. The Baptism of Catechumens can proceed without the Scrutinies when public Masses are able to be resumed. 

• Given the difficulties of obtaining some types of food and the many other sacrifices which we are suddenly experiencing from the coronavirus, I am granting a dispensation from abstaining from meat on Friday, March 27 and Friday, April 3.  Good Friday, April 10, is universal law and bishops cannot dispense from the obligation that day. 

Below are new directives from the Diocese of Metuchen, dated March 22, 2020.  Highlights include:

• Parish and School Operations – all parish and school offices are to be closed and parishioners/ parents are to be informed that the office is closed. It is vital that the resident priests remain available and responsive to the faithful. Those things that can be handled by phone or email must be handled by the resident clergy or by parish employees working from home. Obviously pastoral emergencies will arise where you will need to make a prudential judgment on meeting a parishioner’s sacramental need. More specific directions are being prepared regarding specific concerns around penance and anointing of the sick.

• Funerals, Weddings and Baptisms – public funeral Masses, weddings, baptisms and other gatherings are now prohibited by the Governor’s executive order.

• Funerals - while a public memorial can be scheduled for a later date, the burial of the dead will need to occur before that date – our cemeteries will remain open subject to some changes of hours due to staffing concerns. A committal service should take place outside in the cemetery or outside of Mausoleum with the priest and must be limited to 10 persons. The pastor/priest will celebrate a private Mass without a congregation on the day of burial, if no public memorial is scheduled and/or if the family requests it, and the priest will inform the family that he has or will do so.

• Baptisms – all baptisms are to be postponed except in the case of emergency. A reminder ALL HOLY WATER IS TO BE REMOVED FROM THE CHURCH.

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Due to the social isolation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Fr. Jim Tucker has begun to video record masses, beginning with the Solemnity of St. Joseph.  Going forward, we hope to share recordings of the Sunday Masses only.

Due to the ongoing challenge we are facing due to the Coronavirus, the Bishop of Metuchen as issued these directives for all parishes in the Diocese:
 

Welcome everyone to our parish's web site. It is our hope that the information contained here will be of help not only to those who call St. Mary Church their parish home now, but to those who are considering joining us in the future.

SATURDAY VIGIL
    5:00pm

SUNDAY
    8:00am |  9:30am  |  11:00am

MON-SAT
    8:00am