Are you celebrating a Milestone Marriage Anniversary this year?

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All couples who are celebrating a milestone marriage anniversary this year (1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 40, 50+ years of marriage) are invited to participate in our Marriage Anniversary Mass on Sunday, February 11th at the 10:00am mass.

The Marriage Anniversary Mass is a special way in which the Church can continue to honor sacramental unions and celebrate couples on milestone anniversary years.

Please email Patrice at patrice.maher@stachurchbloomfield.org or contact the parish center by February 7th if you would like to participate.

We look forward to celebrating with you.

Join a Ministry at STA Church in 2024!

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God is calling YOU to Ministry Service! ALL Ministries at St. Thomas the Apostle Church are looking new members.

There are volunteer service opportunities and opportunities for Christian fellowship for people of all ages, abilities, interests, and stages of life at STA parish.

Make a difference in 2024! Visit our Volunteer page to get started, or browse our list of Ministries from the top navigation bar.

Don’t know which ministry to join? A parish staff member can help match you with a ministry that fits God’s calling for you. Click here to fill out the online contact form.

Convent Lease Hearing Thursday, January 25th at 7:00pm

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The Bloomfield Zoning Board of Adjustment has scheduled a public hearing on Thursday, January 25th* at 7:00 pm via Zoom on the application to convert and adaptively re-use the existing convent building into a residential building with 8 dwelling units.

*Please note this meeting was rescheduled from 12/14 to 1/25.

The public is invited to attend by accessing the meeting either by telephone or video link. The meeting will also be available for viewing on Channel 35 (Comcast) or Channel 30 (Verizon), or by streaming live on Facebook Live or the Township website, www.bloomfieldtwpnj.com.

The public is invited to participate via Zoom by accessing the website link below or calling the telephone number below. The Meeting ID is 843 2792 2137 and the Passcode is 363583.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84327922137?pwd=dXB2U1AzNU4zYXduSUhjSFRpZHgzdz09

Dial in: (646) 558-8656

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL ATTENDEES AT REMOTE MEETINGS MUST IDENTIFY THEMSELVES ON SCREEN BY FIRST AND LAST NAMES, WHETHER PRESENT BY VIDEO OR VOICE. PHONE NUMBERS AND NICKNAMES ARE INSUFFICIENT. PLEASE COOPERATE IF ASKED TO CHANGE THE IDENTIFYING INFORMATION ON SCREEN. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL RESULT IN REMOVAL FROM THE MEETING.

Lastly, please view this letter from our Pastor Fr. Larry by clicking the button below.

What if C.S. Lewis wrote like Lincoln? A creative essay by Frank Miller

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What if C. S. Lewis wrote like Lincoln?

by Frank Miller

 

Ninety-nine score and ten years ago our Father brought forth into this world the Incarnation, conceived in love, and dedicated to the proposition that all men were created to be in union with Him.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether His people or, or any people, so conceived and so loved, can return to their Creator. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of our time each week, in memory of Him who gave His life as a man that all peoples might live forever with Him. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we do not dedicate, we do not consecrate, we do not hallow this ground. The Son, once living, then dead and who rose and lives again has consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract anything. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say, but it can never forget what He did. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which He had thus far so nobly founded.

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from the One who was and who is and will be forever, we take increased devotion to that cause for which He gave the last full measure of fulfilling God’s Will —that we here highly resolve that His sacrifice and gift of eternal life shall not be in vain—that this world, under God, shall have a new birth of eternal freedom—and His Church imbued with the Holy Spirit, to house the Body of Christ for the glory of God the Father, shall not perish from the earth and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

 

Frank Miller is a husband, father, and grandfather of five beautiful grandchildren and a long-time parishioner at St. Thomas the Apostle. Over the years Frank has been active in many ministries. Currently, Frank is the director of our Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and a lector.  Frank has several essays published on www.Medium.com as Francis Miller.  

2023 Advent and Christmas: Mass Schedule and Special Events

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Advent Confessions will be heard on the following Saturdays at 1:00pm: 12/2, 12/9, 12/16, 12/23, and Monday, 12/18 at 7:00pm.

The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on Friday, December 8th will have masses at 9:00am, 11:30am, and 7:00pm.

Our Annual Christmas Concert featuring the Music Ministry and the Bloomfield Civic Band will be on Saturday, December 9th at 7:00pm.

Simbang Gabi returns to the parish after a several-year pause on Friday, December 15th at 7:00pm.

Our Annual Christmas Pageant will be held Sunday, December 17th at 1:30pm.

Sunday, December 24th will have 8:00am and 10:00am mass. There will be NO 12:00pm mass.

Christmas Eve Masses on Sunday, December 24th will be held at 4:00pm [Children's Choir], 6:00pm, and 10:00pm [Adult Choir]. 

Christmas Day Masses on Monday, December 25th will be held at 8:00am, 10:00am, and 12:00pm.

From Beyond Cornerstone: Thank you for your Thanksgiving Turkey Donations!

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The Beyond Cornerstone Ministry turkey collection was a big success! Thanks to the generosity of our parishioners, sixty three turkeys and three hams were delivered to the soup kitchen to be distributed to families in need. We also provided a van full of clothes and a van full of water.

Bloomfield UNICO provided us with a van full of food for the soup kitchen. This was twice as much as last year.

Our St. Thomas parishioners and the shoppers at Bloomfield Shoprite are to be commended for their spectacular generosity of giving.

Our next planning meeting will be Tuesday, January 9th, 2024 at 7PM in the Parish Center. All interested in this Ministry are welcome.