Solemntity of Mary

January 1st
Masses:
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 4:00pm
Friday, January 1, 2010 at 7:30am and 11:30am

Easter 2010

Alleluia! Alleluia! He is Risen!

Easter calls us to grasp, on a deeper and more profound level, what it means to be a follower of the crucified and risen Christ. In the prayers and readings of the season, we are led each Sunday to a deeper understanding, for our lives, of what it means to be baptized into the death and Resurrection of Christ. We are called to deeper conversion - deeper immersion - into the mystery of our participation in Christ's Passover from death to life. In our own experience of the sacraments of initiation, God's power and presence in Christ made us a new creation, his chosen sons and daughters, members of his eternal reign. Easter is the time to reflect on these mysteries of our faith and to meditate on their importance for our lives of faith in the world today. The liturgical life of the season - the readings, prayers, rites, devotions - allows us and calls us to this reality.



Feast of the Ascension of the Lord

40 Days after Easter
This year it is celebrated on Thursday, May 13, 2010
A Holy Day of Obligation

Masses 7:30am, 11:30am & 7:30pm

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 23, 2010.

Pentecost Events:
Mass of Thanksgiving - First Anniversary of the priesthood of Father Andrew N. Onyemaobi

Come to "Pentecost With The Potter"

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

John Angotti's Video Message to St. Thomas

Click the arrow below to stream the audio or click here to download it.


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

Feast of the Assumption of Mary - August 15th

Sunday August 15th, 2010

That feast of the Assumption celebrates Mary's entrance into heaven, body and soul. Mary is the first among the faithful to be fully redeemed because of her perpetually sinless state. Mary, because of her relationship to her Son, shares, through privileged anticipation, in the grace of the resurrection of the dead. Mary does not have to endure the suspension of eternal life until the resurrection of the dead.

The assumption of Mary was declared a dogma of faith to be believed by faithful Catholics, by Pope Pius XII on Nov. 1, 1950.


Feast of All Saints

Sunday November 1st, 2009

Today the Church honors all the saints of heaven--God's holy ones--those known and unknown to us. This solemnity celebrates all who have been examples of faith throughout the ages, those whose lives mirrored the Paschal Mystery of Christ. As we heard in the Proclamation of the Date of Easter on Epiphany, it is in the lives of the saints that the Church proclaims the Passover of Christ. Today's solemnity honors all the saints, in particular those who are not individually recognized throughout the year.

Click Here for list the artwork of Saints we have at St. Thomas.

Immaculate Conception of Mary

A Holy Day of Obligation
Tuesday December 8th, 2009
Masses at 7:30AM, 11:30AM and 7:30PM.

Immaculate Conception of Mary. Saint Anne and Saint Joachim are her parents. The stain glass is from the "Mary Queen of the Universe" Window in the right transept.

According to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, Mary was conceived free from original sin and all its penalties. This privilege was granted to Mary because she was to give birth to Jesus, the Savior. Mary was the first to benefit from the saving passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. Mary was conceived and born without sin because of the merits of her Son, Jesus.

The Feast of the Immaculate Conception always occurs during Advent. Under the title of the Immaculate Conception, Mary is the patroness of the United States. This special feast of Mary is a holy day of obligation in the United States.

Christmas - Feast of the Nativity

December 25th, 2009

  Our Dear Parishioners and Guests,

  It gives us great joy to wish you, your family and your loved ones a very Blessed Christmas, and Peace and Happiness through the New Year. Thank you for the support you give to all the staff of St. Thomas the Apostle by your presence and the sharing of your time, talent and treasure.

    In the Lord,

    Father Charles Miller and Priests, Deacons, Sisters and Staff.


Christmas Mass Schedule

Christmas eCard