Thank you, Volunteers!

In celebration of National Volunteer Week, the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women honored its volunteers at a luncheon prepared and served by our women.  As we enjoy some of the photos from today, we thank God for the presence of our volunteers and ask God to bless them abundantly.

Save the Date

We are excited to announce that the final celebration of the Center's fifth anniversary year will be a special luncheon on September 24, 2019.  Our speaker will be Christina Baker Kline, bestselling author of seven novels, including Orphan Train and, more recently, A Piece of the World, which explores the real-life  relationship between the artist Andrew Wyeth and the subject of his best-known painting, Christina's World.  An instant New York Times bestseller, A Piece of the World was awarded the 2018 New England Prize for Fiction, the 2018 Maine Literary Award, and a Silver Nautilus Award.  Kline's 2013 novel, Orphan Train, spent more than two years on the NYT bestseller list, including five weeks as #1, and was published in 40 countries.  Hundreds of communities, schools and universities have chosen Orphan Train as a "One Book, One Read" selection.

The Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women is honored to host Christina Baker Kline, and we hope you will consider joining us on Tuesday, September 24, 2019 for this special event.  Invitations will follow soon.  Until then, please save the date!

Spring Has Sprung

We are grateful to Liz and Marge for sharing their time and talent with our women today, as they made wreaths.  Here are a few photos that will help you to experience the spirit of springtime at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women:

The youngest attendee approves of our workshop!

We are One

Back in November, we attended the 4th anniversary celebration for Make the Road New Jersey in Elizabeth, NJ.  The staff members of "Make the Road" have been very helpful to our women during the organization's four years of existence, so it was important for us to celebrate with them and to thank them. We thought that the diversity of people representing Passaic at that celebration was so significant, that we took a photo.  In this photo, from left to right, are:  Passaic City Councilman Salim Patel, Sister Gerardine Tantsits, SCC (Administrative Assistant, Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women), Sister Ann Marie Paul, SCC (Director, Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women), and New Jersey State Assemblyman and Passaic City Council President, Gary Schaer.  A closer look at this photo reveals representation of three Abrahamic faiths -- (from left to right) Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

On Sunday, March 17, these same people, and hundreds of others, gathered in Passaic City Hall for an occasion which, while very different from a celebration, most definitely represented Passaic's diversity.

As you know, on Friday, March 15, we woke up to the news that two acts of terrorism were committed at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Center in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Friday prayer services.  As we heard the news, our thoughts and prayers went immediately to the dead and the injured in New Zealand.  Upon hearing and seeing the increasingly tragic stories from New Zealand, we prayed not only for the victims there, but for our local Muslim brothers and sisters who would be waking up to the same news and who would soon be heading out to Friday prayer themselves.

Here at the Center, our thoughts and prayers turned especially to our neighbors across the street -- the Noble Leadership Academy, a school in Passaic that serves the Islamic community.  We prayed for their protection and we prayed that the parents, faculty, staff and administration would have the strength to guide the young students through this difficult time.

Two days later, we were able to pray WITH our neighbors, as we gathered in Passaic City Hall for an interfaith candlelight vigil organized by Councilman Patel to remember the victims of the attack in New Zealand.  Prayers were offered by representatives of various faith traditions, and several state and local government officials spoke.

An especially poignant moment of the vigil occurred between Sister Ann Marie Paul and Sister Amanny Khattab, the principal of Noble Leadership Academy.  During her prayer, Sister Ann Marie directly addressed the members of the school who were present and indicated that they were in our special prayers.  When Sister Amanny spoke, she began by thanking Sister Ann Marie.

Sister Ann Marie offers a prayer.

Sister Amanny thanks Sister Ann Marie for her prayers. 

Sister Amanny addresses the gathering.

At the end of the ceremony, someone suggested that perhaps we could replace the gruesome thoughts and images in our minds with the image of two Sisters -- one Muslim and one Catholic -- embracing.

More photos of the vigil and some of the speakers appear below.  These photos demonstrated clearly that we, though many, are one.  May God continue to bless the City of Passaic and all who minister here!

State and local government officials
and representatives of many faiths
recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

Passaic Councilman Salim Patel 

New Jersey's Attorney General, Gurbir S. Grewal

State Assemblyman and Passaic
City Council President, Gary Schaer

Mayor of Passaic, Hector C. Lora

Imam Wesley LeBron offers the closing prayer.

New Jersey's Commissioner of Health,
Shereef Elnahal, M.D.

The Three Kings and the Lunar Eclipse

According to the Gospel of Matthew (2:2), after the birth of Jesus, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star at its rising and have come to do him homage."  This is the event we celebrate on the Feast of the Epiphany, which is better known in our neighborhood as "Three Kings Day."  Many of our families celebrate "Three Kings" with joyful celebrations and gifts.  So, it is only appropriate that on Monday, January 7, the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women held a festive "Three Kings" celebration, complete with food, fellowship and gifts.  We are so very grateful to our women for providing the food and to our benefactors for providing the gifts. Enjoy some of the photos from that celebration:

Sister Eleanor's English class provided an abundance of food.

Winter hats and gloves for the children were generously
donated by the students of St. Francis Cathedral School, Metuchen, NJ.

Toys and other gifts were provided by the St. Vincent dePaul Society
of Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Monroe Township, NJ.

Although in the Bible, the celestial event came before the magi, here at the Center, the celestial event (in this case, a lunar eclipse) came after the three kings.  Specifically, in yesterday's English class, Marie Mead taught her students about the Super Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse of January 2019.  Did you know that overnight from Sunday, January 20 into Monday, January 21, millions of people in North and South America will be able to view a total lunar eclipse?  Did you know that during an hour of the eclipse, the moon will appear to be the color of a sunset?  Did you know that this total lunar eclipse will be the last one until May 2021 and the last one visible from the United States until 2022?  The women at the Center know all of this, and they learned it in a language that is not their native tongue!  We are grateful to Marie for bringing this creative demonstration (see the photos below) into her English class.  We think the magi would definitely approve!

Happy Feast Day!

Today on the Feast of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton we send greetings to the Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ,  who have been so supportive and active in the founding and growth of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women.  A brief history of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth can be found here.  During the pre-beginning and beginning stages of the Center, Sister Marion Scranton, SC, (then Vice-President of Mission at St. Mary's General Hospital, Passaic) provided valuable guidance. For the first few years of the Center's existence, Sister Mary Culhane, SC, taught English and Art. The Center continues to be graced with the presence of Sister Patricia Reynolds, SC, who teaches our quilting class.  Additionally, we collaborate frequently with Sister Anne Moroney, SC, Director of Community Health Outreach at St. Mary's General Hospital and with several departments at St. Joseph's Health, Paterson, NJ (a sponsored work of the Sisters of Charity).

Sister Patricia Reynolds, SC

Sister Marion Scranton, SC

Sister Anne Moroney, SC, accepts donations of baby blankets from our crocheters.

Sister Mary Culhane, SC

Last Year's Words, Next Year's Words

In "Little Gidding," the last of North American poet T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, he writes, "For last year's words belong to last year's language/And next year's words await another voice."  

While we reflect on the many blessings of 2018 at the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women, we welcome the voices of 2019, secure in the knowledge that the God who has brought us here will continue to provide for us as we journey forward together.  

After 5-plus years of growth toward providing a peaceful, safe and welcoming place for the women of Passaic, we continue to rely on your generosity to carry us through.

In reality, we cannot find enough words -- last year's or next year's -- to express adequate appreciation for the faithful support we have received from near and far.  So, we will allow the theme of the entire five years of our existence to carry our New Year's message -- "Thank you and God bless you!"