News - December 2020 RSS Feed

Have a Blessed and Healthy New Year filled with new hope and may 2021 be a peaceful and prayerful year. Fr. Steve & Staff

This is being proposed in our State's legislature. The Bill is titled s-3030/a-4848 here are some bullet points of the proposed Bill: 1. Allows late term abortions up to birth of the child 2. The bill includes language that a fertilized egg, embryo, or fetus shall not have independent rights under the laws of the state of New Jersey. 3. This is supported by Gov. Murphy! Who claims to have Catholic roots) 4. The bill permits non-physicians to perform abortions. 5. It nullifies conscience clauses for medical personnel who are opposed to abortion 6. It mandates an annual allocation of taxpayer funding of Planned Parenthood under the Title X in the State budget. Exempts prosecution of individuals who terminate or attempt to terminate their pregnancy. Requires all insurance providers to cover abortions and contraceptives. 7. Young women who are minors can procure an abortion without their parents knowledge, or permission and forces us to pay for it. LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD AGAINST THIS BILL! Contact your legislators for our district by e-mail addresses or call their office.

Discover in Joseph - the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence - an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble. Pope Francis, Patris Corde Pope Francis invites us to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Blessed Pius IX's proclamation of St. Joseph as the Patron of the Catholic Church. Bishop Kevin offers us this year, in our parishes, our Diocese of Paterson and the universal Church, to draw closer to the one who loved Jesus "with a father's heart."

I huge thank you goes out to Frank Altieri, Ed Cox and Ron Scilla for working diligently over the past several months to get our live streaming capabilities up and running. It has been a much more complicated process than expected - their help was invaluable. Also, another thank you to Keith Bodmer for taping and encoding the Saturday evening Mass since July for posting to our website. Good luck to Keith as he begins his career working for Dreamworks!

We wish you a Blessed and Healthy New Year. And may 2021 bring hope for an end to COVID and be a peaceful and prayerful year. Fr. Steve, Fr. Babu & OLM Staff

Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family with the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. The Gospel tells us Jesus grew in wisdom and strength under the guidance of His Mother Mary and Joseph. On January 1st, we celebrate the Feast of “Mary, The Great Mother of God.” Looking down from the Cross Jesus gave you His Mother Mary, as your own. Why not let Mary also guide you in wisdom and faith? On this first day of the New Year consecrate yourself and your family to Mary’s Immaculate Heart. THE SHORTEST WAY TO JESUS IS THROUGH HIS MOTHER, MARY!

On behalf the entire staff, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a healthy and blessed New Year. As you celebrate the miracle of this special season, may your heart be filled with love, joy and peace. Fr. Steve

St. Paul’s Abbey on Route 206 in Newton, NJ has thousands of Christmas trees ready to choose & cut. They are open 7 days a week from November 27-December 20, 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM. The Abbey Gift Shop will also be open.

Consider making your weekly contributions to OLM charitable donations through a QCD - Qualified Charitable Distribution. These contributions can be counted toward satisfying your required minimum distributions (RMDs) for the year. A QCD excludes the amount donated from taxable income, which is unlike regular withdrawals from an IRA. Call George in the Parish office for more information.

Please click here to see the 2019-2020 Financial Report to Parishioners from the OLM Finance Council.

Today, we light the pink candle on the advent wreath and we will bless new parents who are expecting a child and present them with the symbolic pink roses.

On Saturday December 19, the American Legion of Butler will place wreaths on Veterans Graves in our cemetery between 10:30 to 12:30. Contact Ray Bossard for more info or to sponsor a wreath visit butlerkinnelonwreaths@aol.com

On Dec. 8TH we honor Mary, our Mother, The Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Mass will be in the church at 7:00pm.

Join us for an hour of peace and joy as we pray an interactive Christmas Rosary enhanced with holiday music. (Sponsored by the OLM Cornerstone Team) Sunday December 20th 4pm -5pm OLM Church Don’t forget to bring your rosary beads. The church protocols for social distancing will be followed.

The cloistered Carmelite Sisters of Morristown are devoted to praying more than eight hours a day for peace in our community and in the world. They are dependent on the goodwill of the community to meet their basic needs and unfortunately, the Assumption Church annual bake sale benefiting the Carmelite Sisters cannot be held this year due to the Covid pandemic. In lieu of the bake sale, volunteers have created a cookbook of desserts, “Sweet Carmel”, which includes Catholic themed photos taken by a professional food photographer! There will be a limited number of printed copies available by mid-December. The 80+ page cookbook will be high end magazine quality with a bounded spine. There is also a digital version that can be downloaded immediately upon payment. Thank you for your consideration and your support. Please keep the Carmelite Sisters in your prayers, especially during these trying times. Link: www.carmelnj.org Go to: Cookbook tab. For info contact: carmelvolunteers@gmail.com

2020 TAX PLANNING The 2020 CARES Act passed earlier this year created a new above-the-line charitable contributions deduction taxpayers who don’t itemize deductions. To qualify for this new deduction, the donations have to be in cash, and they have to be donated directly to charities. It’s a one-off deal for only 2020 and the deduction is capped at $300 for single or married filing jointly. Please discuss with your tax professional for further information.