Law Enforcement
It is important to support their faithful commitment and self-sacrifice given while safeguarding our communities.  We are particularly mindful of the need to come together in prayer and appreciation for our local law enforcement agencies, paying tribute to these fine men and women.

St. Michael the Archangel,
patron of those who serve in law enforcement,
defend us and be our protection
against the wickedness and snares of the evil.

God of all goodness, who through your Son
gave us a marvelous example of service to others
and the great commandment of love for one another,
we humbly ask that you extend your protection
and bless our brothers and sisters
who have dedicated themselves to serve and protect
all the inhabitants of our community.


Please remember all law enforcement in your daily prayers.
 

RCIA
Fall 2020

Our RCIA Program will begin in November. If you are interested in exploring the Catholic Church as your home, or if there is someone in your life that you care to invite, please do it now!  All who are unbaptized, baptized into another faith denomination, or baptized Catholics that have not received First Holy Communion or Confirmation are welcome to participate in developing a fully initiated relationship with God, culminating at the Easter Vigil on April 4, 2021.  Please call the Parish Office or our Office of Religious Education for more details.
 

……a message from Fr. Jack
Please join me in welcoming Rev. David Edward Keyes, newly ordained on August 23, 2020, as he assumes his first assignment as Parochial Vicar here at St. Ambrose.  Fr. David comes to us from St. Francis Cathedral, Metuchen, where he was last assigned as a seminarian.  He was born in Dodgeville, Wisconsin to Edward &Marsha Keyes and attended Marquette University in 2001, graduating with a degree in Marketing Communications.  Fr. David went on to graduate Mt. St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland in 2019 with a Masters in Divinity and Moral Theology.   Please pray for Fr. David as he begins his priestly ministry with us and take a moment to stop by and say hello!
 

WELCOME BACK TO ST. AMBROSE!
Please make note the following changes as we resume
Saturday Mass Schedule as of July 19, 2020 

St. Ambrose Mass Schedule

 
Daily Mass – Monday through Friday
6:30AM & 9:00AM
 
Saturday Mass
9:00AM
 
Confessions at 3:45PM
5:00PM Saturday Vigil Mass
 
Sunday Mass
8:30AM
12:00NOON
 
All CDC guidelines of social distancing will be observed and
masks must be worn at all times when entering the church.
max capacity is set at 100 persons for all liturgies
 
PLEASE NOTE:
Effective Monday, July 13, 2020
Our church will be closed to visitors Mondays-Fridays
at 12:00NOON
to facilitate sanitizing and deodorizing requirements set by CDC guidelines.
 
We apologize for any inconvenience.
 

"Wide is the road
that leads to destruction
and
narrow is the gate
that leads to eternal life."
MATTHEW 7:14
 

news from
St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry

During this challenging time…please remember that our St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry is still servicing our many clients and helping to distribute much needed food and household items.  If you would like to contribute to our food pantry with a monetary donation or food-store gift card, we would be happy to put it to good use!  Also, if you would like to make a donation of food, paper products, personal hygiene products, etc., you can drop them in the narthex of the church (inside the front main doors), or bring your donation to the Parish Office during summer business hours (Mon-Thurs 10:00AM-2:00PM).

May God bless you for your generosity
 and willingness to serve those in need!
 

….a note from Life Choice Resource Center
Despite the many challenges facing all of us during the COVID crisis,
St. Ambrose Parish raised $7,174.00 in our recent
2020 Mother’s Day Baby Bottle Campaign!

 
The passion for serving God’s people, born and unborn is a true testimony
to the Mission before us.
 St. Ambrose continues to energize the work of Life Choice through generosity and prayer, and is truly a Pro-Life Champion within the community, our Diocese and our world!
 
“In His hand, is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind”
Job 12:9-10
 
I pray for the Lord’s protection to be over you and all those you hold dear!
Rosanda Grau, Executive Director
Life Choices Resource Center
503 Main Street, Metuchen NJ  08840
732 516-0911
LifeChoice@Optonline.net
 

All Saint’s Day

The Feast of All Saints Day, will be celebrated on Sunday, November 1, 2020, and it is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year as it falls on a Sunday.  In the United States, the feast is abrogated (moved to Sunday) if it falls on a Saturday or Monday.  If it falls on any other day of the week, as is the case this year, attendance at Mass is required unless a serious reasons exists preventing  the person from attending, such as illness. 

            All Saints Day honors all saints, known and unknown.  It is a feast for remembering all the holy men and women who have attained the reward of Heaven.  While the Catholic Church recognizes thousands of saints officially, there are, undoubtedly, many more saints who are in Heaven, enjoying the beatific vision, but who are not know to be in Heaven.  While many saints have their own feast days, the feast of All Saints gives the due honor to all the saints who have done so much good in their lives for Christ, and His Church, and we celebrate these holy individuals, asking for their prayers and intercessions. 

            The Feast of All Saints, on its current date, began with the dedication by Pope Gregory III (731-741) of an oratory in St. Peters for the relics “of the holy apostles and of all saints, martyrs, and confessors, of all the just made perfect who are at rest throughout the world”, with the day moved to  November 1^st and the May 13^th feast suppressed.  It was made a holy day of obligation throughout the Frankish empire in 835, by a decree of Louis the Pious, issued “at the instance of Pope Gregory IV and with the assent of all the bishops”, which confirmed its celebration on November 1.  The octave was added by Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484).

All Soul’s Day

            All Soul’s Day is not a holy day of obligation, and is set aside to remember the faithful departed who have died in Christ.  We Catholics believe that through the prayers of the faithful on earth, the souls of those who have gone before us are cleansed of their sins so that they may enter Heaven.

A Mass of Remembrance will be celebrated at 7:00PM
 on Monday, November 2, 2020
(due to COVID19 and the rules of social distancing,
max. cap. is limited so please call the parish office to reserve your space)

Our Book of Remembrance will be available for you to include any name of a deceased member of your family, a friend or neighbor, and this book will be displayed throughout the month of November.  All Souls Day was instituted at the monastery in Cluny in 993 CE and quickly spread throughout the Christian world.  People held festivals for the dead long before Christianity.  It was St. Odilo, the abbot of Cluny in Franc, who in the 10^th century, proposed that the day after All Saints’ Day be set aside to honor the departed, particularly those whose souls were still in purgatory.  Today the souls of the faithful departed are commemorated on November 2^nd and although it is observed informally by some Protestants, it is primarily a Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Orthodox holy day.
 

New Jersey Right to Life (NJRL)

The New Jersey Right to Life organization is the state’s oldest and largest Pro-Life organization, dedicated to protecting all human life from conception to natural death.   NJRL will be selling car raffle tickets after all Masses on October 10 & 11, 2020  and Oct 17 & 18, 2020 and you can enter to win a 2021 Volvo valued at $42,000!  Shop Rite Gift Cards will be  2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th place prizes, for which you are also eligible if you buy a raffle ticket.  Tickets are $10.00 and we hope you show your support and help this cause to which all Catholics are called!