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5th Sunday of Lent

Just prior to this week’s Passion narrative in St. Matthew’s Gospel, there is a small, striking story describing a woman’s scandalous action toward Jesus: “A woman came up to him with an alabaster jar of costly perfumed oil, and poured it on his head” (Matthew 26:7). The ointment was pure nard, worth more than 300 denarii. A year’s wages. Maybe a dowry, maybe a family inheritance. In any case, she breaks it. She does not measure or ration. She pours it all out, irreversibly, over Jesus. Why does this image begin Holy Week? Because what she does with the jar, Jesus will soon do with His life. The jar must be broken so the fragrance can be released. Jesus’ body will be broken so His priceless divine and human love can be poured out. She gives everything, just as He is about to give everything. And He sees it: “She has done a good thing for me” (Matthew 26:10). Her act is lavish, impractical, scandalous in its apparent wastefulness. And He loves it. It is what Holy Week is all about. What jar are you still holding onto? Your time? Your comfort? Your plan for how life should go? Don’t just wave palms today. Let yourself be broken open so your love, too, can be poured out.

 

Lenten Challenge: Offer something costly to Jesus this Holy Week — not out of guilt, but love. Your attention. Your forgiveness. Your time. Break the jar. Trust that nothing poured out for Him is ever wasted.

Father John Muir

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
This article is one I wrote back in 2017 but felt it was worth repeating:
I was reading Dear Abby today and a woman had written to complain that she was very generous in the gifts she gave and felt she was not getting enough credit or equal treatment (gifts of equal value) in return. I found myself first thinking critical thoughts about this woman and her attitude but found myself suddenly feeling guilty and remorseful; for you see I had been acting the same way over these couple of weeks. My parents will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on May 4th and my one sister had already told them what she was giving them as a gift. My gift is already known for I have been giving them the same gift for over a decade now. Every year I do the landscaping at their house in the spring. Well, I have heard many times over how generous my sister is with the gift she was giving them this year. I happen to know how much the gift cost that my sister is giving them and to be perfectly honest it does not cost more than what I spend on the landscaping every year. This was bothering me that her gift was being called “generous” and mine was called “nice”. Thus, my guilt of having critical thoughts of the woman who wrote to Dear Abby for I was no better than her. I had to ask myself why am I giving the gift to my parents? Is it out of love for them or is it to gain credit or praise for myself? This weekend is Passion weekend where we hear about the suffering and death of our Lord. Jesus died a horrible death on the cross so that our sins can be forgiven. He did it not for praise, He did not do it to gain anything in return but rather He did it because He loves us. My dear brothers and sisters let us always remember this and when we give gifts may it be as Jesus gave to us, strictly out of Love.
God Bless you and have a wonderful week, Fr. Michael

SCRIPTURAL REFLECTIONS ON STEWARDSHIP

“As they were marching out, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name; this man they pressed into service to carry His cross.”
The Lord calls us to love God and to love our neighbor. Every day we are presented with opportunities to love our neighbor and help him “carry his cross.” These opportunities aren’t usually big events; they are usually ordinary occurrences like helping someone carry their groceries or holding the door open for them. The key is putting the other person’s needs before our own and not expecting anything in return.

2026 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal

We have $9,905.00 pledged toward our Archdiocesan directed goal this year of $13,746. The Archdiocese has sent out letters to past donors announcing the 2026 Appeal. If you wish to participate you can either mail your pledge directly to the Archdiocese or you can put it in our collection and we will forward it for you. If you do decide to mail it in directly, we are asking that you let Sue know in the office so we can be sure our account is properly credited. You can drop a note in the collection, call the rectory, or send us an email. Thank you.
SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY MASS
The Archdiocese is preparing for the annual tradition of honoring couples who will be celebrating their 5th, 25th, 50th, or 60+ wedding anniversary in 2026. The presence of these couples and their families is a beautiful witness to the strength and stability of Catholic marriage. Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Joseph Tobin on Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 3pm at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. All family members are welcome! Please call the rectory if you are interested in attending this mass as pre-registration is required.
SEND A SEM A SENTIMENT
On the bulletin board in the vestibule is a list of seminarians. The Archdiocese is encouraging the faithful to send cards, letters, and well wishes to the seminarians. Take a picture of the list with your phone and send one (or more) of them a little uplifting message. Thank You!
 PRAYER REQUESTS
That God will relieve their suffering and restore them to health.
Please pray for: Please pray for: Kellie Salata, Kelly Chinchar, Jessica, Daniel Breslin, Stanley, Joseph Marrone, Anthony, Michael, Joseph, Jessica Esopo, Steve, Audra, Bernadette, James Weiss, Baby Ford, Rosemary Malangone, Elizabeth Malangone, Sue West, Danny, Colleen Emery, Richard, Joan Russo, Christina Martin, Mornia Evans, Valerie Valverde, Diana McGuckin, Manny Scarangella, Cheryl Prinjinski, Stephen West, Bryan Westfall, Cathy Bruno, Brett.
Holy Name Medical Center is looking for Eucharistic Ministers, volunteers, who are willing to help out in giving out Holy Communion to their patients. If you are interested, you can email them at pokafor@holyname.org or call their office at 201-833-3243 or stop by their Pastoral Care Office, behind the chapel, lobby/ground floor at Holy Name Medical Center.

To ALL Our New and Existing Volunteers Readers, Eucharistic Ministers and Catechists

We would like to thank the Perpepaj Family for reupholstering the chairs on the altar as a gift for our parish. We truly appreciate their generosity. The Perpepaj Family owns D&D Upholstery & Window Treatments in Hackensack.

The gift of Bread & Wine for the first two weeks of March has been given in memory of Frank Pizza by the Pizza Family.
The Sanctuary Lamp for the month of March has been given in memory of Josephine & Anthony DeGrosa by Joann DeGrosa.
Please consider sponsoring our Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, and the oil for the Sanctuary Lamp.

Opportunities for Parish Support

There are several ways you can help support our parish and honor loved ones at the same time. As you may have noticed on the first Sunday of every month in our bulletin, we thank the donors of our Altar Gifts. You can donate the Bread & Wine, Altar Flowers, or the Sanctuary Lamp in a two-week block for $50 in someone’s memory. We have blocks open for this year. We also need to purchase a new Easter candle each year (the tall candle on the altar) for $300-$400 which can also be donated in someone’s memory. You do not have to fund the entire amount, anything you wish to donate towards the purchase of our Easter candle is appreciated. We also have masses available for your intentions. If you wish to honor someone in any of these ways, please call the rectory.

Prayer for our Nation
God our Father, giver of life, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. You are the rock on which this nation was founded. You alone are the true source of our cherished rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Reclaim this land for your glory and dwell among your people. Send your Spirit to touch the hearts of our nation’s leaders. Open their minds to the great worth of human life and the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Remind your people that true happiness is rooted in seeking and doing your will. Through the intercession of Mary Immaculate, patroness of our land, grant us the courage to reject the “culture of death.” Lead us into a new millennium of life. We ask this through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Praying the ROSARY

The Rosary is a meditation, a time to recall and think about the life of Jesus as seen and experienced by Mary. As the model of faith, Mary’s life sets a pattern that we strive to follow: saying ‘yes’ to God’s will in our lives and sharing His love and message with others. The Mysteries of the Rosary form a mini lesson of faith, using the highlights and significant moments of the life of Jesus. Like paging through a family scrapbook, we see in brief the events of salvation history that are the core of our belief and the hope of our eternal life.

WE NEED BULLETIN ADVERTISERS!!

We would like to thank all the advertisers who have supported us throughout the past year. Our parish benefits greatly from the ads you see in the bulletin. The revenue pays for the printing which is an important means of communication for the parish. If we do not have enough advertisers, the cost of our bulletin goes up. We thank the local businesses that advertise with us especially in these tough economic times. We have some spaces on the back of our bulletin that need filling so if you would like to advertise your business as well as benefit your church, please contact John Patrick Publishing at 1-800-333-3166.

Please support our advertisers at the back cover of bulletin.