Meet our 2022 Catechumen & Candidate: Abe Niedzwiecki & Francesca Fusaro

We are thrilled to introduce our catechumen and candidate! We ask that you keep them in your prayers as Abe prepares for full initiation into the Catholic faith through Baptism, Eucharist, and Confirmation at the Easter Vigil and Francesca prepares to receive the sacrament of Confirmation at Pentecost.

My name is Abe Niedzwiecki, and I was born and raised in Staten Island, NY. I graduated from The University at Albany - SUNY with my bachelor’s in accounting and received my master's in accounting at Hunter College. I worked as a CPA before starting a career as a police officer.  I am now a Sergeant in the NYPD. I’ve always wanted to receive my sacraments but never fully pursued it until I met my now-fiancé. She has helped with my journey and has been fully supportive. We want to be a part of the Church not only for our wedding but also for the rest of our lives.

My name is Francesca Fusaro. I am 25 years old and raised in Bloomfield, NJ. I grew up Catholic, attending St. Thomas from first through eighth grade. What brought me back to the sacramental life of the Church was my mother's recent passing and the birth of my nephew. In my faith journey, a quote that inspires me is, “Faith is unseen but felt, faith is strength when we feel we have none, faith is hope when all seems lost.”

St. Thomas the Apostle School’s 45th Annual Tricky Tray

Hit it big this spring at the St. Thomas the Apostle School’s 45th Annual Tricky Tray presented by the Home & School Association!

Join us for a fabulous day full of fun and a chance to win some prizes!

• When: Saturday, April 30, 2022

• Where: St. Thomas the Apostle School, 50 Byrd Avenue, Bloomfield, NJ 07003

• Time: Event Begins at 11:00 am

• Last ticket buy ends at 2:30 pm and last ticket drop is at 3:00 pm

• The calling time begins at 3:30 pm and you must be present to win!

Entrance tickets are $20 per person if purchased by April 27! Tickets are $25 the day of the event and are cash only. All guests must be age 21 or over.

Sign Up for Monthly Donation Runs with the Young Adult Ministry

“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” - Mother Teresa

The members of the young adult ministry would like to thank everyone for their generous donations to our clothing drive. We received an overwhelming amount of donations.

On Sunday, March 6, volunteers from the young adult ministry were able to bring clothing from your generous donations, food, and rosaries to our neighbors in Newark.  We served about 50 people and only made a small dent in the clothing donations.

Due to the positive experience and the remaining supply of clothes, we would like to continue to perform this service for our neighbors in need.  The members of our ministry wanted to open the opportunity up to the rest of the parish.  If you would be interested in participating by either providing food items or joining for distribution please reach out to youngadults@stachurchbloomfield.org for more information.  We are hoping to make a trip about once a month and will have a sign-up sheet for anyone interested in helping.

Finally, I would like to share a brief story.  One time a group I was part of was bringing food and clothing to a halfway house – a house designed to help people transition from prison back to their lives.  Upon dropping off the items we started to talk with the man who was working at the house.  He was telling us how most of his life he dealt with addiction and was on and off of the streets.  He said he tried every program to help fight addiction: AA, different therapies, etc. but nothing seemed to be working.  And then with tears in his eyes, he pulled out his cross necklace, and said: “it turns out all I needed to turn my life around was to be loved”.  He told us after he was shown love, he quit drugs and had completely turned his life around. He was seven years sober and was now spending his time in this halfway house trying to help others do the same.

As Catholics, we are called to love our neighbors, especially those most in need.  We are hoping these service trips will provide opportunities to do just that, as you never know who needs a little bit of love to turn their life around.

Thank you, and God Bless you!

Young Adult Group for Catholics

If you are a young adult Catholic between the ages of 20 to 40 at any stage of life, we invite you to young our Young Adult group! We currently meet in person and virtually every other Thursday evening for Bible study, fellowship, outreach, and other social events. You can learn more about our ministry here.

To receive updates on our meeting dates, events, and to join our email list reach our to Brandon Codi at youngadults@stachurchbloomfield.org.

Join the Social Concerns Ministry for a Virtual Chat!

Are you feeling a little disconnected and isolated due to the prolonged COVID pandemic? Have you been struggling with the “Dead of Winter Blues”? Would you like to share your concerns with someone, need help with an issue, or just have a pleasant chat with another human being about how things are going? 

If so, you’re only a click away from your friends on the STA Social Concerns Committee: Barbara Albert, Fran Gardella, Michele Gilfillan, Shelia Walsh Romeo, Jason Scotti, Steve St Hilaire, and Joe Turner.

The Social Concerns Ministry is sponsoring a virtual chat on Zoom on Thursday, March 10th, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm for our St. Thomas Community.  We invite you to drop into our call any time between 7:00 - 9:00 PM to engage in community and conversation with one another.

This call is an excellent opportunity to meet some fellow parishioners, learn more about what the ministry is about, and share anything that may be on your heart and mind lately.

If you are interested in attending you can join our Zoom call here, if you are having difficulty connecting, please reach out to Fran Gardella at 848-448-4335 or via email at fgardella@hotmail.com. If you have questions, don’t hesitate to reach out. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Girl Scout Cookie Drive

Come out and support Girl Scout Troop 20204 of St. Thomas the Apostle School for our Drive-Thru Cookie Booth!

• Sunday, March 6, 2022, from 8:00 am - 1:00 pm

• St. Thomas the Apostle School, 50 Byrd Avenue, Bloomfield

• Parking lot across the street from the school

Stay in your car and have your favorite cookies delivered right to you!

• $5 a box for Adventurefuls, Lemon-Ups, Trefoils, Do-Si-Dos, Samoas, Tagalongs, and Thin Mints

• $6 a box for Girl Scout S’mores and Toffee-tastic

When stopping by our sale, we ask that you please remain in your cars and wear a mask upon delivery. We can deliver to your car window or directly to your trunk. Contact-free credit card payments or cash are both accepted.

If, instead, you prefer to order your cookies online and have them shipped directly to your home address, you can order here to support Troop 20204!

Beyond Cornerstone Seeks Volunteers for St. Augustine's Soup Kitchen

Image taken pre-COVID

Join the Beyond Cornerstone Service Ministry for a planning meeting supporting their work with St. Augustine’s Soup Kitchen!  We will be meeting on March 9, 2022, at 7:00 PM in the Parish Center.  All are welcome as we recruit new volunteers to help us serve those in need. 

The Beyond Cornerstone Service Ministry supports the Missionary Sisters of St. Mother Theresa at St. Augustine’s Soup Kitchen in their efforts to provide meals to those in need.

They request financial support from parishioners to meet this mission.  Please consider placing a check for any amount in the collection basket or the lockbox at the parish center. Please designate that the donation is specifically for the soup kitchen in the memo line.

If at this time, you are unable to provide support financially, we are also in need of volunteers to shop for supplies, food, and water and to then help deliver items to the nuns.  Each month, our current volunteers plan and shop to feed about 150 people, including adults and children. The Sisters then prepare and distribute the meals for the community – this may be the only meal they will have all day for many of the guests.  We also seek donations of cases of water and, if you are able, assist with our twice a month delivery. 

If you are interested in participating in the Beyond Cornerstone Service Ministry, please reach out to Alicia at aliciavons@gmail.com or 973-715-5770.  You are also welcome to stop by any of our meetings! Make sure to keep an eye out in the weekly bulletin for upcoming meeting dates.

Young Adult Ministry Clothing Drive

“The righteous will ask ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? Or naked and gave you clothing?’ And the King will answer them ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did to me.’” - Matthew 25:37-40

We have recently restarted our Young Adult Ministry, as you may have heard.  Our hope for this ministry is to provide a community for our parish's young men and women to grow together in their faith.  We believe a big part of this involves going out into the world, living your faith, and spreading the word and love of God through acts of service.

Drawing inspiration from the Franciscan Friars, we plan to engage in outreach to those in need by providing them with necessities such as food and clothing, and sitting with them in prayer.

This winter season, we humbly ask for the help of our parish to achieve this goal.  We are seeking donations of gently used winter clothing to bring to those in need.  One of the biggest struggles for the homeless in our area is staying warm during the winter. The smallest donation to our community could significantly impact someone’s life.

With the clothing collected, our ministry will make recurring trips to Newark Penn Station and Penn Station in Manhattan with food, clothes, and prayer to help support those going through a rough time in life.

How to Donate

Donations can be dropped off in the bucket near the Infant of Prague statue in the church, or reach out to Brandon Codi at youngadults@stachurchbloomfield.org.

It is easy to think that making an impact in others’ lives can seem too big a task to take on, but as Mother Teresa said, “There are no great acts, only small acts with great love.”

We once again thank you for your generosity, and God bless you.