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The Sunday Morning Café has been a wonderful experience of fellowship and formation for those who have been participating in it. It was my hope to create an event that both helped us share time together in fellowship on a Sunday morning and provided an opportunity for us to grow in faith through topical presentations covering a wide variety of subjects. This year I would like to focus the café on prayer and spiritual formation. There is a great hunger in many hearts to grow closer to the Lord through the life of prayer, but we need some help and guidance to do this. I have enlisted the help of several speakers to address various topics relevant to our nurturing spiritual life, for example, what is prayer, overcoming obstacles and distractions in prayer, the three ways of prayer, and principles of discernment in prayer, to name a few. It is my hope that this café series will assist us in our spiritual formation and direct us to deeper reflectivity and communion with the Lord. Please come!

The Church of the Immaculate Conception has purchased a Gift for You! Enjoy a free subscription to formed.org - an incredible online gateway to the best Catholic content, all in one place! With FORMED, you can: Prepare for Sunday Mass by watching an insightful five-minute video by renowned Catholic teachers; Enjoy a movie with your family that is both nourishing and entertaining; Choose from a variety of Faith Formation studies designed to help you better understand, live, and share our Catholic Faith; Help your children grow in character and embrace the beauty and wonder of the Faith; Gain access to Children friendly movies.

We welcome our two new priests, the Rev. Gustavo Rodriguez-Perez, Parochial Vicar, and the Rev. Jay Alquiros, Director of Catholic Identity and full-time faculty member at Immaculata High School. Fr. Gustavo will serve our parish parochial vicar.

El programa de Orden de Iniciación Cristiana para Adultos (OICA) antes conocido como RICA, comenzara de nuevo en otoño para los siguientes grupos: 1. Adultos que no han sido bautizados y quisieran ser recibidos plenamente en la Iglesia Católica a través del Bautismo y los Sacramentos de Iniciación. 2. Adultos que han sido bautizados en otra comunidad cristiana y buscan ser parte de la Iglesia Católica. 3. Adultos que han sido bautizados católicos, pero no han recibido los sacramentos de la Confirmación ni la Eucaristía. Loa que estén interesados en hacer estos sacramentos n comuníquese con el diácono Reynaldo y Julia 973-632-1701

Msgr. Joseph Celano, Clergy and Staff of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, our Parish and Schools extend our deepest sympathy and prayers to all the families affected by the recent fire in Somerville. ​We deeply appreciate the efforts of all the first responders from the area and keep them in our prayers. Parishioners who wish to help those families displaced as a result of the fire, can make a monetary donation to the Somerville Civic League at www.somervillecivicleague.org or can be dropped off at the Parish Office. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us.

Parece que fue sólo ayer cuando llegué a Somerville para comenzar el ministerio sacerdotal marcado por tantas primicias: primeras confesiones, primeras unciones, primeras bodas, primeros funerales.

It seems like only yesterday I arrived in Somerville to begin priestly ministry marked by so many firsts: first confessions, first anointings, first wedding, first funerals.

Please be mindful that the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord has been permanently transferred to the 7th Sunday of Easter in the Province of New Jersey. This Thursday, May 9, will be celebrated as the Thursday in the 6th Week of Easter and not Ascension Thursday.

I am pleased to inform the parish that the Most Reverend James F. Checchio, Bishop of Metuchen, has called Mr. Tuan Minh Bui and Mr. David Gerard Lang to the Order of the Diaconate. They will be ordained deacons on Friday, May 3 at the Cathedral of St. Francis of Assisi in Metuchen. In accord with canon 105.2, I am announcing their upcoming ordination to the parish and commending both Tuan and David to your prayers as they prepare for ordination.

Beginning on Friday, April 5, the hours of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be extended on Fridays until 7:00 pm. The opportunity for prayer and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at weekly adoration is available on Tuesdays from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm and on Fridays from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. It is my hope that the extension of Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will give more people an opportunity to spend time in prayer and reflection before the Lord. Msgr. Joseph G. Celano

Among the more graced moments of my life was the privilege of celebrating the Eucharist in the Holy Sepulcher, the tomb of Jesus. Today, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher stands over the site where the Lord was crucified and the empty tomb from which He rose from the dead.

Dear Friends, The events we commemorate during Holy Week are the foundation on which our faith is built. It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that the paschal mystery, that is the mystery of human salvation, is accomplished, opening for us the hope of eternal life. The liturgical climax of Holy Week, of course, is the Triduum, a word that means “three days.” These three days are Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday-Easter Sunday, with the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday considered the same liturgical day.

The Eucharistic Revival has at its heart a call to be reawakened to the centrality of the celebration of the Eucharist in the life of the Church and in the life of every believer. Mr. Tim Glemkowski, Chief Executive Officer for the National Eucharistic Congress, will be the presenter for these two evenings of prayer focused on the encounter and the mission that flows from the Lord in His Eucharistic Mystery.

So that the Church of Metuchen may be spiritually one in a common observance of Lent, the following obligations are to be observed by all Catholics of the Diocese who enjoy the blessings of good health. Bishop Checchio has approved this year’s Lenten Regulations.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception, together with Immaculate Conception School and Immaculata High School, is blessed to congratulate Ceil and Nancy for their exemplary commitment to the sacred mission of Catholic education and service as a light of God at Immaculate Conception School and Immaculata High School.

Due to the expected storm this evening into tomorrow, we are rescheduling the Information Session for the "Be My Witness" program from tomorrow morning to Saturday, January 27 from 9:30 am - 11:00 am in the ICS cafeteria. The subsequent facilitator training, for those who would like to participate as small group facilitators, has also been rescheduled to Monday, February 5 at 7:00 pm.  Debido a la tormenta esperada desde esta tarde hasta mañana, estamos reprogramando la sesión informativa para el programa "Sé Mi Testigo" por la mañana hasta el sábado 27 de enero de 9:30 am a 11:00 am en la cafetería de ICS. La capacitación posterior para facilitadores, para aquellos que deseen participar como facilitadores de grupos pequeños, también ha sido reprogramada para el lunes 5 de febrero a las 7:00 pm.

Once again, I am pleased to present you with the annual financial report for fiscal year 2022-2023. You'll notice that the format of the report has changed significantly. Rather than simply publishing numbers, we have created a format that is more magazine-like, combining numerical data, a narrative that helps to explain it, and stories that bring to life the many ways in which your generosity helps to provide for the life and mission of our parish and schools. You will also notice that the report also contains a snapshot of the fiscal health of our schools. Fiscal transparency and accountability must also extend to both Immaculate Conception School and Immaculata High School. This new format will be the way we make this report available to you in the future. Lastly, I have asked the members of the parish Finance Council to make this report to you through a brief presentation at all Masses on an annual basis.

Now that the pandemic is behind us, and after prayerful discernment and consultation with the parish clergy, I believe the time is right for us to restore the reception of Holy Communion under both forms.

The Church of the Immaculate Conception invites you to come and see! No obligation. CATHOLIC INQUIRY FOR ADULTS STARTS IN JANUARY 2024 • Come to ask your questions • Find out more about the Catholic faith • Get help to discern God’s action in your life FOR ADULTS WHO: • are not baptized • or baptized Protestant Christian • or baptized Catholic but not raised in the faith For more information or to participate, contact the Parish Office at 908-725-1112 or Linda Wass, OCIA Team, at [email protected] Please share this invitation with interested friends and family!

All are invited to sponsor a tree, as the Church of the Immaculate Conception once again illuminates hundreds of Christmas trees on the parish campus during the Advent and Christmas seasons.