More Gratitude

Each year, the staff members of St. Mary's General Hospital, Passaic, make food baskets for Thanksgiving.  For the past three years, the women of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women have been recipients of some of these baskets.  We are extremely grateful to everyone at St. Mary's -- especially Sister Anne Moroney, SC and Luz Flores who coordinate the basket distribution -- for their overabundance of generosity.  In these days of food insecurity, it is so good for our women and their families to receive these gifts.  Thank you!!

To show just how very generous our benefactors at St. Mary's are, take a look at these photos of the baskets:

Giving Thanks

We are so very grateful to Rev. John Connolly (pastor), Dr. Joseph Daly, the entire staff and the Altar and Rosary Society of Sacred Heart R.C. Church in Clifton, NJ for their generosity to the Center.  On Sunday, we picked up the last of the donations that resulted from their recent collection, including:

• Over 1,500 diapers
• Over 3,800 baby wipes
• 38 rolls of paper towels
• 141 rolls of toilet tissue
• Shop Rite gift cards.

We are so happy to expand that this collaborative ministry has expanded to include this parish family.  Especially during Thanksgiving week, we are happy to be able to provide our women and their families with a "little extra" that makes a huge difference!

Here are a few photos of the donations:

Preparing for Changes

From the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC):  "The new administration is expected to make significant changes to current immigration policy.  The details of what President-elect Trump will actually do on immigration are unknown, but we have prepared some resources for you . . ."

Please click here to access CLINICs "Preparing for Changes in the Presidential Administration" materials. 

Please share widely with those who might need this information.  From being cautious about scammers to what to do about DAPA and DACA status, this is crucial information for every immigrant.

We ask for your continued prayers for our ministry as we continue to provide a safe and peaceful place for the women of Passaic to express their needs. 

Out and About

Sunday was a busy day!  The Sisters of Charity of Saint Elizabeth, Convent Station, NJ, celebrated the dedication of the Shrine of Blessed Miriam Teresa.  It was wonderful to be among so many of the Sisters of Charity, who have been so supportive of the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women!  We congratulate them and we pray in a special way to Blessed Miriam Teresa, asking her to intercede for our ministry here in Passaic.

The Shrine of Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, SC,
was dedicated during a Eucharistic Liturgy celebrated by
by Bishop Serratelli on Sunday.

On Sunday evening, we were happy to speak to the Confirmation candidates and youth group at St. Anthony Parish, Passaic.  We were able to share the good news of the Center with the young people and their mothers.  What a great, responsive group!

Sister Ann Marie interacts with the youth group
and Confirmation candidates and their mothers
at St. Anthony, Passaic.

From Passaic to Taiwan

As readers of this blog know, the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women has been blessed to be a collaborative ministry involving, among other organizations and individuals, various religious congregations.  The Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother of God (affectionately known in abbreviated fashion as the "SMICs") have supported the Center since before its opening and continue to support the Center in many ways.  So, when Sister Eleanor requested to purchase hand-made gifts to take to the delegates of the SMIC General Chapter in Taiwan in November, our crocheters jumped at the chance!

Pictured below is Sister Eleanor, SMIC, our Monday morning English teacher and member of our board of directors, with Elizabeth, who crocheted three of the 15 cell phone/eyeglass cases that will travel from Passaic to Taiwan next month.  We're so happy that the Center continues to touch lives globally (as work from our quilters has been sent to Haiti in the past).

The women did a great job in choosing the exact yarn that would be light enough to pack and sturdy enough to retain the shape of the case.  We hope that the SMIC General Chapter delegates enjoy their cases as much as our women enjoyed making them.  We send our prayers with Sister Eleanor, Sister Joanne, all the delegates and the entire SMIC Congregation during their Chapter.

Grateful for Three Years and Counting!

September 24 marks the third year since the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women opened its doors.  Three years of serving the women of Passaic with the collaboration of so many people!  Three years of gratitude!  We spent this week expressing our gratitude to our staff and volunteers by giving them "Third Anniversary Gratitude" certificates.   We are so grateful for the work they do for the people of God in Passaic Here are some photos from the week.  (Email subscribers:  Click here to view the photos if you do not see them below.)

Nancy watches the children while their mothers take classes.

Sister Marcella, FSP, has given over 200 hours of volunteer service!

Sister Eleanor, SMIC,  has been a part of the Center since BEFORE it opened!

Sister Margaret, SMIC, has given over 100 hours of volunteer service! 

Claudia, our "right-hand" from City Green, is now also an English teacher at the Center!

Sister Pat, SC, has given over 300 hours of loving service!

Sister Gerardine, SCC -- once a volutneer, now a staff member.

Marie has gifted us with over 200 hours of service;
Sister Elaine, FSP, has been our Associate Director from the beginning.

Angela, a member of St. Anthony's Parish, Passaic, shares her joy with our children.

Our newest volunteer, Sister Patricia, MPF, teaches English at the Center.

Sharing Mercy at Good Shepherd

On Sunday, September 4, Sister Ann Marie gave a presentation, "Mother Teresa: A Saint of Mercy in the Year of Mercy"  at Good Shepherd Parish in Andover, NJ.  Coinciding with the canonization day  of Mother Teresa, the presentation focused on the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy,  its relationship to St. Teresa of Calcutta, and its meaning in our daily lives.  As always, Sister Ann Marie took this opportunity to share the good news about the Passaic Neighborhood Center for Women with this crowd of over 50 participants.  It is always good to be able to visit various parishes in the Paterson Diocese to thank the parishioners for their contributions to Partners in Faith, the diocese's capital campaign which had the Center as one of its case statements.  This Center would not exist without the Partners in Faith donors, to whom we are so very grateful.

In delving more deeply into Mother Teresa's life and ministry, we find that her way of ministry is similar to ours here in Passaic.  While we do not take a fourth vow of "giving wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor," as the Missionaries of Charity do, we follow this directive to the best of our ability.  Our donors make this possible. Thank you!

We are grateful to Nick Berg, Evangelization Director at Good Shepherd, and to the entire parish family, for this invitation and the hospitality they shared on Sunday.

Here are some photos from the presentation at Good Shepherd: