Saint Thomas the Apostle

FEAST DAY. JULY 3rd

St. Thomas, our parish patron Saint, was one of the Twelve Apostles. He was a Jew from Galilee called by Jesus to accompany him on his mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God. When Jesus' life was threatened as he went to raise Lazarus from the dead, Thomas said to the others, "Let us also go, that we may die with Jesus'.
Thomas doubted that Jesus had truly been raised from the dead. The Resurrection was proven to Thomas when Jesus appeared to him. Thomas said, "My Lord and My God".
St. Gregory the Great once said, "The unbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. Our doubts are answered by the demand of St. Thomas to know that Jesus' resurrection was real.
According to tradition, St. Thomas preached the gospel in India.
Links to Scripture about St. Thomas the Apostle:

The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ

Measured by Church time, the solemnity of the The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is quite young dating from the mid-thirteenth-century. For hundreds of years, in fact, it was commonly referred to as nova sollemnitas, "the new solemnity" (The Liturgy and Time, 104). This celebration has been given many names over the centuries: feast of the Eucharist, feast of the Most Precious Sacrament, even feast of God. In France it is still commonly known as the Fete-Dieu. The solemnity developed at about the same time as the elevations of the consecrated elements during Mass, and it arose out of the desire of the faithful to see the Blessed Sacrament at a time when they did not often receive it. The solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ is an expression of our Catholic faith in the real presence of the risen Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Yet, this celebration is also outward-looking, carrying the liturgy out of the Church and into the streets.
The stain glass window is found in the parish center at Saint Thomas the Apostle.

Trinity Sunday

The solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity is ancient. The origins of the solemnity can be traced to the seventh century. It has been on the Church's universal calendar for nearly seven hundred years. "The central mystery of Christian faith and life" is the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity (CCC, 234 - Click Here to read more). This solemnity offers us time to meditate upon this defining mystery of our faith.
The stained glass window is from St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield, NJ.

Pentecost

For the Jewish people, Pentecost was a feast of thanksgiving that marked the conclusion of the grain harvest; it was also a time to commemorate the giving of the law at Sinai. It was celebrated 50 days after Passover. For the first Christian believers, gathered to celebrate this feast in Jerusalem, the giving of the Holy Spirit reinvented Pentecost. It marked a new beginning: God would be present among his people not in words carved in stone, but in a whole new way, living in their hearts, and speaking through them. Just as the old feast was a time to celebrate the abundance of God's gifts by giving back to God the first fruits of the fields, so the new Pentecost celebrates the incredible abundance of God's giving, the many gifts of the Holy Spirit.

Pentecost is "the joyful conclusion of the Easter season" (Proclamation of the Dates of Easter on Epiphany). It ranks with Christmas, Epiphany, and the Ascension (see GNLYC,59). It is a day to pull out all the stops, a day for incense, processions, banners, for creative expression of the truth we celebrate: the gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to us. Jesus is here!
Pentecost is 50 Days after Easter and is known as the birthday of the Church. This year it is on May 31st, 2009.

Click Here to read about Pentecost in the Bible (Acts 2)

The stained glass window is from St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield, NJ.

EASTER - THE 50 DAY LONG FEAST

Alleluia! Alleluia! He is Risen!

The fifty-day feast of Easter developed from the harvest feast of ancient Israel known as "Shavuot," or the "Feast of Weeks." It was a period of seven weeks (a "week of weeks") plus one day, beginning with Passover and concluding with the fiftieth day, the day of Pentecost. The fiftieth day marked the end of the barley harvest and included an offering of the first fruits. By the time of Jesus, this festival also had become a celebration of the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai.

The themes of harvest, Exodus and the Law also became part of the Christian celebration. Christians celebrated the Passover of Jesus through death to new life and the Covenant that was established in him. Images of Christ as paschal Lamb and as first fruits are the earliest Easter images used by St. Paul.

Easter was the first of our feasts to develop beyond the weekly Sunday celebration. This fifty-day period of rejoicing seems to have been adopted by all Christian communities by the second century. Within a few centuries, however, the unity of the feast began to weaken, and the resurrection, the ascension, and the descent of the Holy Spirit began to be celebrated separately. Easter and Pentecost became two separate days rather than the two names for the same fifty-day period. Only in our own time has the unity of this celebration been reestablished, at least in the liturgical books. The pastoral challenge is to reestablish it in the minds and hearts of the parish, and the best way to do that is by celebrating the whole feast well.

The latest issue of our newsletter The Voice is available online.
A special thank you to the Communication Committee Team for putting it together and the mailing team who labeled all 3600 copies.

Catholic School's Week

January 18th-25th, 2009

This year's theme for Catholic Schools Week is "Catholic Schools Celebrate Service." It emphasizes the duty and delight of giving back. Catholicism has a long and rich tradition of direct service to those in need, as well as social justice efforts to end social ills like racism and homelessness. Catholic schools incorporate service projects into the curriculum, teaching students the value of helping others as an expression of faith and good citizenship.

Visit St. Thomas the Apostle School, Bloomfield, NJ
Visit St. Thomas the Apostle School Sports Association
Ways you can support the School and the Parish
Pictures from Catholic Schools Week

There will be an open house for the school on Tuesday Febuary 3rd, 3009 at 10:30am and 7:00pm. Registration for the school begins March 2nd, 2009.

Prayer to Respect Life



 Lord, help us to show respect for all life. Help us to have compassion for the elderly, for the unborn children and their mothers, for persons with disabilities, and for all those who are unable to protect themselves.

Remind us that all human beings are sacred to You and that You love each of us.

Give us the courage and the strength to protect those who cannot protect themselves and to support leaders who also value and respect all life.

Ever hopeful that our nation will be more caring towards those who cannot speak for themselves, let our light shine now to illuminate the darkness of ignorance and predjudice so that in the future we will be known as a nation which respects all life.

Amen

St. Thomas the Apostle Parish Mission Statement

The Roman Catholic Faith Community of St. Thomas the Apostle recognizes God's call to be a sign of His Kingdom in the communities we serve.

We respond to this call by:
  • Leading people to a deeper relationship with Christ by providing opportunities for spiritual growth, renewal, education, the celebration of the Sacraments, and the worship of God in the sacred liturgy;
  • Encouraging a commitment to justice and to service of those in need;
  • Promoting good stewardship of our time, talent and treasure;
  • Building a community of hospitality and support in the daily living out of Christian ideals by nourishing mutual respect and understanding within our Church, our families, our community, and other faith traditions.
Listen to Father Charles Miller, our pastor, reading our Mission Statement
A video of how we live out our mission


We are a Parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey.

We extend a warm welcome to all who are visiting or are here for the first time. If you attend St. Thomas regularly and consider this your parish, please take the time to register. Registration forms are available by contacting the Parish Center. You must be an active member in order to have a child baptized, to be a sponsor, to be married and/or to receive an "active" tuition rate for a child attending a Catholic School.

St. Thomas the Apostle Parish Website Mission Statement

To help communicate the numerous ministries done by the Church, the People of God, at St. Thomas the Apostle in Bloomfield, NJ in order to make Christ's presence known in the world. This includes ministries of Word, Worship, Community Building and Service.