News - April 2020 RSS Feed

St Mary of the Lakes School may be physically closed, but we have not skipped a beat! Our teachers have been facilitating remote learning since March 16 and are using various online platforms such as Google Classroom, Zoom, ScreenCastify, and Class Dojo. Our maintenance staff has been working tirelessly to keep our school campus sanitized and spotless and getting it ready for when we are authorized to return. We are in constant communication with our families utilizing mass email, social media, individual teacher web pages, and Honeywell Instant Alert. Our enrollment for the 20-21 school year is open. Please contact: [email protected]. All of our registration forms are available on by clicking the title SMLS Updates above. We look forward to when we can all be together again!

The recent conference call to discuss the impact of the pandemic on Catholic schools included Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, Michael Barber, and Archbishop José Gomez. Click the TITLE above to read the article in the Catholic Word Report.

To pray the April 19, 2020 Divine Mercy Chaplet simulcasted at 3:00 p.m. Sunday, please click the title above.

In today's new norm, trying to get basic needs - bread, eggs, jelly, cereal, canned vegetables, spaghetti sauce - have become a major problem for families. For the food pantry at St. Vincent dePaul it is no different. At a time of heightened need, our ability to obtain these staple items has been compromised. Ron Murphy of Murphy's Markets reached out to SVdP asking what we needed. In two days, he delivered supplies which we were not able to obtain since the virus crisis began. Thank you Ron for helping us in our mission to feed the needy and food insecure.

St. Vincent de Paul in Medford is open on Wednesday and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. Please go to the pantry door in the back. Your generosity enables St. Vincent to help men, women, and children with financial assistance for housing, auto insurance, utilities, health care, and other expenses. If you or someone you know needs assistance, call SVdP at 609/953-0021.

To see the April 12, 2020 Easter Sunday Resurrection of the Lord Mass on video, please click on the title above or go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp9LJKjXfKM&feature=youtu.be

To see a video by the SML Choir singing for Easter, please click the title above.

To watch the 7:00 p.m. Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday on video, please click the title above or go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ6LFAHNo4s&feature=youtu.be

The clergy, religious and lay faithful of the Diocese of Trenton are invited to safely display a lighted candle in the window of their homes, like those electric candles used at Christmas, around sunset (7:32 pm) on Holy Saturday evening, as a symbol of our unity with Catholics throughout the world, while Paschal Candles are being lit at Easter Vigils. This symbol will be for us in the Diocese of Trenton “A Light in the Darkness,” the darkness that has been the COVID -19 Pandemic. The following prayer from the Easter Vigil may be said as candles are lighted: “May the light of Christ rising in glory dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds.”

To watch Sight and Sound’s JESUS production on Saturday, April 11 at 1 p.m. on the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) click the title above or go to: https://watch.tbn.org/sight-sound-theatres-presents-jesus

The Easter Vigil will be simulcasted at 7:00 p.m. on the SML YouTube channel: www.youtube.com (search SML Parish) and available at smlparish.org

• A day of Fasting and Abstinence – one full meal; 2 smaller meals that do not equal a full meal; no meat • Wear red, the liturgical color of the day • Between 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. – the three hours Jesus was on the cross – Try to do quiet activities: observe a period of silence; pray; read and reflect on the Scripture readings for today; share a small meal of bread and water. (Submitted by the Bell Family) • Pray the Stations of the Cross, or the Sorrowful Mysteries on the Rosary; • 3:00 p.m. : Watch the live-stream of Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion on SML’s YouTube channel www.youtube.com SML Parish ; • Make Hot Cross Buns • Start the Divine Mercy Chaplet https://www.thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/pray-the-chaplet , usually prayed at 3:00 p.m. each day but today, maybe pray it at 7:00 p.m. in lieu of the Stations of the Cross.

• Watch the Mass of the Lord’s Supper live at 7:00 pm from SML on-line, on TV, or listen to it on the radio. • Do a virtual tour of seven churches for Adoration, beginning at SML’s Adoration Chapel where Adoration will be live-streamed from 8:00p.m. to 12:00a.m. on our YouTube channel, SML Parish. For this tradition, groups of people travel to different churches to adore our Lord in the Eucharist and spend time with Him in the Garden of Gethsemane at their Repository (the place the church has put up especially for the Blessed Sacrament). This year, you can go anywhere in the world and the tradition can be done at home with the family.  Visit as many Catholic Churches as you want around the Dioceses using the Internet. (search: Holy Thursday Adoration 2020 schedule). Pray one Our Father and Hail Mary for that Parish, its Pastor, Priest, and parishioners.  Use Google Earth and choose any Catholic Church, one from each Continent and pray one Our Father and Hail Mary for that Church and for the Continent where it is located. • Spend time with Jesus in Scripture this night and reflect on the Gospel of St. John, chapters 13-17. What are some of the traditions your family has for Holy Thursday?

The Wednesday (April 8) Mass will be live-streamed on the SML YouTube channel: www.youtube.com (search SML Parish) Each Mass will be taped also and available at smlparish.org

For jobs in New Jersey available for those that may be seeking employment, please click the title above or go to: https://jobs.covid19.nj.gov/?Facets.filterbox.filter0=%5B%5D

My name is Sue Roggio, I am a parishioner at St, Mary of the Lake church. I am making fabric protective masks with medical grade foam inserts for individuals. I can make about 10-12 a day. Anyone needing one can call me at 609-953-1723 and I will do my best to provide them. I will place them on my front porch at 2 Friar Tuck Drive in Sherwood Forest after I'm contacted. There is no charge, however if anyone has 1/4 or 1/2 inch elastic they would like to donate, that would be appreciated. I can make small ones for children as well. Please stay safe.