St. Bartholomew Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The Gospel of Mark will be proclaimed throughout this year at our Sunday liturgies. The evangelist Mark was a disciple of Simon Peter and was a member of the earliest Christian Community at Rome. This community endured tremendous persecution and when the Emperor Nero burnt the city of Rome, the Christians were blamed for the destruction. St. Peter and other community members suffered martyrdom for their faith in Christ.

Mark begins his Gospel with the Baptism of Jesus at the Jordan and finishes with the death of Jesus on the Cross. One can easily read the entire text in one sitting. The words immediately and suddenly appear often in the stories to underline the urgency of the Gospel message to repent and believe in the Good News. It is important to pay attention to the questions - the questions that Jesus asks and provokes in the people He encounters. In this week's Gospel the demons confront Jesus with the question, "What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?" "Have you come to destroy us?" The demons recognize that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah) and ye, He has come to destroy them. What has Jesus to do with us? With me? An excellent question to deepen our awareness of what it means to be a disciple of the Lord.

As you may have noticed there is a form in the bulletin to memorialize our new hymnals. The new Worship Hymnals have arrived and we will begin using them in Lent. The hymnals contain an excellent selection of hymns as well as the readings for Sundays and Feasts of the year and the Order of the Mass. This Monday, January 30, we begin our Lenten Novena at 7pm. Can Spring and Easter be far behind?

In Christ,

Fr. Thomas

[read more from previous From the Pastor's Desk articles]

First Friday - February 3

12pm - 1pm: Parish Staff, St. Bartholomew School Faculty and Staff
1pm - 2pm: HSA, School Community / Students
2pm - 3pm: Altar Rosary Society, Lazarus Ministry
3pm - 4pm: SVDP, Religious Ed Catechists and Students
4pm - 5pm: Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Lectors and Ushers
5pm - 6pm: Columbiettes
6pm - 7pm: Youth Group
7pm: Mass
7:30pm: Chaplet of Divine Mercy
8pm - 9pm: Deacons and Priests, Altar Servers, Young Adult and Children's Choirs
9pm-10pm: Knights of Columbus

To date, the Development Department has received pledges totaling $125,969.01 and payments totaling $114,772.12 from 602 parishioners. This represents82.4% of our $152,800.00 goal.

Thank you for your efforts. The campaign continues through the Spring of 2012, so it's not too late to make a gift.

Did you know that there is more than one way to give to the Bishop's Annual Appeal?

1. Make a pledge and spread out your payments - donate online by going to the Diocese's website
2. Have your donation matched by your company with a Corporate matching gift.
3. Make a one-time gift.
4. Give a gift of appreciated stocks or securities.

No matter the way you choose, we thank you. Every gift is appreciated and every gift is important.

Thank you to all who have switched their electric supply to Viridian. You are not only saving money but you are supporting our parish. And you have made a difference by contributing to a greener and cleaner environment.

For those who have switched ... Viridian is now offering natural gas. This is another opportunity for you to save money and help St. Bartholomew Parish. By law, under the New Jersey Energy Choice Program, you have the right to choose your energy supplier.

St. Bartholomew will receive $20 for any customer who switches his gas supply over to Viridian by the end of February 29, 2012?

Please see our bulletin for more details and information ...

Saint Bartholomew's Parish has signed up with Viridian Energy so that everyone supplied by Viridian under the St. Bartholomew's umbrella will enable St. Bartholomew's to earn $2 per month.

Viridian has similar programs with the University of Connecticut, Immaculate HS and Waterbury Hospital.

Viridian is a Green Energy Company that has proven to save you money by switching to them.

• There is no monthly fee and no enrollment fee
• No cancellation fee
• No long-term contracts

Over 125 parishioners are saving with Viridian.

To sign up:

Go to www.viridian.com/stbartsenergy

Click Become a Customer in the upper right corner of the page. You should have your current utility bill to complete the online form.

You can also enroll over the phone by calling (866) 663-2508. Please provide the associate with St. Bart's ID number: 4701 so the parish receives credit.