Our
Response to the Current Situation of Coronavirus/COVID-19
Illness:
A Message From the Rector
Alleluia! Christ
is Risen! … The Lord is Risen Indeed!
Alleluia!
Dear Friends in Christ,
I am so very happy to be able
to share with you the Good News that the Vestry
has voted to re-open St. Mary’s By The
Sea for in-person worship effective
Sunday May 2, 2021!
After monitoring the COVID-19
statistics issued by the State of New Jersey
for months now, we are gratefully relieved to
see that those numbers are finally falling consistently.
In addition, many of us have been vaccinated
and the springtime weather has arrived. All
of this has encouraged us to once again safely
re-open our beautiful little church, while still
continuing to observe all the recommended safety
precautions and guidelines offered by our church
and public health officials. Read
more...
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We are a loving and inclusive community of believers
and seekers who know that God is love (1 John 4:16), mercy
triumphs over judgement
(James 2:13), and being a Christian means living and loving
like Jesus (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). Come and see!
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Sunday's at Saint Mary's by the Sea
 8:00
am Rite II Service of Holy
Eucharist, Indoors in the Church. This
service will stream on Facebook
Live and will also be saved
for later viewing.
9:00 am Book Study in the Jones
Room.
10:00 am Rite II Service of
Holy Eucharist, Outdoors in the parking
lot/church yard. Bring your own lawn
chairs. This service will be moved indoors
for inclement weather.
COVID-19
safety precautions ... including required
face masks, 6 foot social distancing
from non-household members, hand and
surface sanitizing, etc ... will continue
to be observed at all parish activities,
regardless of vaccination status. Please
join us as soon as you feel safe in
doing so!
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Book Study
Sundays at 9:00 am.
“Learning to Pray”
A Guide for Everyone
by James Martin, SJ
Join us every time and/or any time. Sundays
at 9:00 am.
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It’s
Back!
St. Mary’s by-the-Sea CASH Calendar Raffle!
 Our
latest raffle was a terrific success!
Several players won more than once and one lucky
player won FIVE TIMES! Your purchase helps us
support so many within the community through our
outreach ministries. It’s a WIN WIN!
If you are not familiar with
a CASH Calendar raffle, here is how it works:
The raffle will run for a three-month period (March,
April and May of 2021). For $25
you will receive one numbered calendar which will
be mailed to you. Each weekday has a dollar amount
associated with it. On the day of the drawing
numbered balls corresponding to each calendar
sold will be drawn one at a time at random. The
first ball drawn will be for the first Monday
on the March calendar. If that number is your
calendar number, YOU WIN! That winning ball is
immediately put back in the drum and the next
winner for Tuesday is drawn, and so on. This gives
you MULTIPLE CHANCES TO WIN!
It’s that simple! Winners do not need to
be present to win. There is nothing for you to
do but watch for the mail!
If you would like to purchase a calendar(s), please
respond to Cherisse at stmssecretary@verizon.net
with your name, complete
address and indicate how many
calendars you would like to purchase or contact
the parish office or @609-713-8813.
A separate order form for each calendar you request
will be mailed to you. Fill out the coupon on
the bottom, detach and mail in with your payment.
(The coupon is numbered to coincide with your
numbered calendar, so you MUST fill out a separate
coupon for each calendar you request). Retain
the top half which indicates your individual calendar(s)
numbers. If you are purchasing multiple calendars
you can pay for them with just one check. Checks
should be made payable to: St. Mary’s by-the-Sea,
804 Bay Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach, NJ 08742.
Congratulations to the winners
of the CASH
Calendar Raffle for MAY.
Checks will be mailed by the end of the
month.
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Eucharistic Ministers are available to
bring Communion to those who are not able to get
to church for extended periods of time due to
illness or mobility issues. We are grateful to
Robin Henry for stepping forward
to co-ordinate this vital parish ministry. If
you know of someone who needs home, hospital,
rehab, or nursing home visits, please let us know.
If you would like to be trained to participate
in this beautiful ministry, please contact
Robin or Mother Victoria. |
Welcome to the WeShare family!
Want a more convenient way to support
St. Mary’s?
Want to support St. Mary’s consistently
throughout the year?
Want to make sure your pledge is there
when you can’t be?
Switch to electronic giving –
simply click on
the heart below or go to
https://saintmarysbythesea.churchgiving.com
Please feel free to contact
the WeShare customer
service team for assistance at WeShare@4lpi.com
or
call 1 (800) 950-9952 and select Option
1.
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FROM THE TREASURER
If you have not turned in your 2021
pledge card,
please do so as soon as possible or
send a private email to
our treasurer Gary
(gary.smerillo@smerilloassociates.com)
informing him of your planned support
of St. Mary's for the coming
year. We are short of our goal for 2021
and your Pledge may be the
one to help us reach that goal!!! God
bless you!
Gary Smerillo
Treasurer
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OFFERING ENVELOPES
Offering envelopes for 2021 are now
available for pick up.
The building is open during Mary's Table
on Thursday evenings
between noon and 6. Envelopes will be
on the table in the Jones
Room. If you are unable to stop by please
to my email at stmssecretary@verizon.net
and I will put yours in the mail to
you.
Thanks, Cherisse
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THE ST. MARY'S CHALLENGE IS
BACK!!
Once again, an anonymous donor will
match every dollar that is
donated above the regular pledged amount
and identified as St. Mary’s Challenge
up to $5,000. Each of the past 2 years
we have had the Challenge, all of you
stepped up and met the challenge. In
fact, in both years you exceed the challenge!
To donate just indicate on your check
- St. Mary’s Challenge - or if
a cash donation, use any envelope and
write St. Mary’s Challenge on
the envelope.
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CHURCH SCHOOL ONLINE LEARNING
Church School will be utilizing remote online
learning only for the foreseeable future.
Families who are interested in online Church
School should please contact the office to let
us know of their interest.
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SEAMEN’S CHURCH INSTITUTE
Traveling for business or pleasure?
Please consider bringing home the hotel’s
or ship’s toiletries to share
with the seafarer’s at SCI. SCI
is eager to receive travel-sized toothpaste,
shampoo, conditioner, lotion (hand or
body), and soap. Unscented items are
preferred. Please leave your donations
in the kitchen marked for Elaine
Long.
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Check out our
Calendar of Events
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MARY'S TABLE
Message
from St. Mary’s Emergency Food
Project
For over 9 years Mary's
Table has provided hot meals and warm
companionship to the community. Continuing
to serve our guests has been particularly
challenging this past year but the need
has never been greater. The volunteers
of Mary's Table recognize none of this
would have been possible without the
vision, compassion and determination
of Lois Lyon.
Lois, along with her
parish friends Chuck Reagan and Joan
Bryant, saw a role for St Mary's to
feed the bodies and spirits of those
who hunger, and since that time Lois
has lead the Mary's Table family of
volunteers, greeting guests, celebrating
birthdays, and making every guest feel
at home. We wish to honor Lois's unending
commitment to Mary's Table by dedicating
the meals served during the month of
February to her, as a symbol of our
love and gratitude. Read
more...
Hello everyone!
Mary’s Table
is looking for a volunteer on Thursday
mornings to pick up boxes of goodies
and a case of bananas at the Stop and
Shop in Point Pleasant Boro (Bridge
Avenue). It would take about 30 minutes
to pick up and deliver to the church.
Please contact Kathy at 732.600.3916
if you are interested!
Peace, Kathy
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Fourth
Sunday of Easter
April 25, 2021
O God, whose Son Jesus is the good
shepherd of your people: Grant that when we hear his
voice we may know him who calls us each by name, and
follow where he leads; who, with you and the Holy
Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Acts
4:5-12
The rulers, elders, and scribes
assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest,
Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were
of the high-priestly family. When they had made
the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired,
"By what power or by what name did you do this?"
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to
them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if
we are questioned today because of a good deed done
to someone who was sick and are asked how this man
has been healed, let it be known to all of you,
and to all the people of Israel, that this man is
standing before you in good health by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom
God raised from the dead. This Jesus is `the stone
that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become
the cornerstone.' There is salvation in no one else,
for there is no other name under heaven given among
mortals by which we must be saved."
1
John 3:16-24
We know love by this, that he laid
down his life for us-- and we ought to lay down our
lives for one another. How does God's love abide in
anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother
or sister in need and yet refuses help?
Little children, let us love, not
in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by
this we will know that we are from the truth and will
reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts
condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and
he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not
condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive
from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments
and do what pleases him.
And this is his commandment, that
we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ
and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he
abides in them. And by this we know that he abides
in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.
John
10:11-18
Jesus said, “I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for
the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd
and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and
leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf
snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs
away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know
me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father.
And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other
sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring
them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there
will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the
Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order
to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but
I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay
it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have
received this command from my Father.”
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St.
Mary's by the Sea is a Christian community
that
strives to create a sanctuary for ALL
seekers
and believers alike
to
come and experience the Love of God through Jesus Christ,
to
share that love with those around us
and
in the wider world,
and
to grow in faith
as
part of a caring Christian family.
