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Week of March 13, 2022, With St. Martin's
Facebook Live Link: http://www.facebook.com/SaintMartinsEpiscopalChurchBridgewaterNJ

The Leaflet for this week's service can be found by going to
Prayer Requests
  • Fr. Rob's mother, Evelyn.
  • Kathy Picazio asks for prayers for a special high school friend who has a son, daughter-in-law, and her daughter in Ukraine. Doug Newton, his wife, Zhenya, and her adult daughter, Anya.
  • Juanita asks for prayers for Anna Crisolog who was just admitted to Hospice care and Heather Rotz who passed away suddenly at 23
  • Bonnie Whalen requested prayers for her 28 yr old grandson.
  • Linda Virtue
  • Chris Semanchik, who is very ill.
  • Jane Linn's, granddaughter-in-law, Rachael.
  • Keep Mike, Christine Kellam's dad in your prayers.
  • Mary Irwin is experiencing some health issues.
  • Philip and Nancy
Please send your prayer intentions to Philip at philip.muniz@gmail.com.
OUTREACH
Outreach will continue to collect Easter basket goodies until Sunday, April 3rd. We are in need of baskets, individually wrapped candies, grass, and small toys/books/gifts. The children in the school will be assisting us with baskets for children up to age 6. We will be assembling baskets for children ages 7 to 12 so please provide age-appropriate gifts/toys for children 7 – 12.
 
In addition to collecting items in the narthex, we will be doing a collection in the church parking lot on Sunday, March 27th from 11:30 to 1:30.
 
Also, a bin has been placed on the stairs leading to the choir loft for food items which will be given to the Somerset County Food Bank. This bin will be there every weekend for the foreseeable future.
 
Your assistance is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Lenten Book Study
All are welcome. This year we will be learning about and discussing six women from the Old Testament in five sessions. They include Jephthah’s daughter, the Shunammite woman, Esther, Judith, and Naomi and Ruth. Some will be familiar and some probably will not. All have a story to tell and things to teach us about their time and place, their beliefs and spirituality, and their relationship with God and their people.
We will be using the book “Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter”, by the Reverend Lindsay Hardin Freeman (ISBN 978-088028-391-5), It is available online, in both hardcopy and electronic format, from a variety of vendors, including Amazon. This is the same book we used for the 2018 Woman in the Bible program.
Meetings will take place each Monday during Lent beginning on March 7 and continuing on March 14, 21, 28, and April 4 at 7:00 pm. We will be meeting at the home of Juanita Hawkins
                       90 Vandeveer Drive
                       Basking Ridge, New Jersey 
Search for a New Bishop
The Search Committee for our new bishop invites all members of the diocese, lay and clergy, to participate in a survey to help them understand more fully both the unique needs of the diocese at this time and what qualities we feel are necessary for the next bishop. If you would like to participate in the survey, please follow the link below by March 8th. The survey takes about 20 minutes.

Please continue to pray for our diocese during this time of discernment and transition.
Jubilee Parish
A Jubilee parish is a parish committed to the social justice ministry of advocacy and service for the poor and oppressed. It is a network of parish and diocesan Jubilee Centers throughout the Episcopal Church. It was established by an act of the 1982 General Convention as “a ministry of joint discipleship in Christ with poor and oppressed people, wherever they are found, to meet basic human needs and to build a just society.” The term “Jubilee” means the fiftieth year. It is derived from Lv 25:10, which says that the fiftieth year shall be a jubilee: “you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family.”  

If you have a special heart of compassion and concern for the poor and oppressed and want to work for a more just church and society, perhaps God is calling you to be a member of our newly formed Jubilee Commission. We will be prayerfully discerning over the next several months what God is asking us to do in service of the poor in our county, in our state, our nation, and the world. Please speak with Father Rob if you are interested in this important work.
Update on our Blood Drive
Thanks to all who donated blood on Sunday. The Red Cross collected 23 pints of blood which correlates to about 69 lives saved. They were very happy with our facility and are looking forward to working with us again in the future.
Lent at St. Martin's
Mondays - 7 p.m. Bible Study - Women of the Bible at Juanita's house
Wednesdays - 6 p.m. Mass in the Lady Chapel
Thursdays - 10 a.m. - Noon Private Prayer and Adoration with the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament (come and go as you desire) in the Lady Chapel
Fridays - 7 p.m. Stations of the Cross in the church
INTRODUCING THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS
The Stations of the Cross are a series of images of Jesus Christ on the day of his crucifixion. Each station highlights an event from that day and is accompanied by a description and prayer. Christians have been walking the Stations of the Cross for centuries, especially during Lent. The objective of walking the Stations is to assist Christians as they contemplate the Passion of Christ while making a spiritual pilgrimage through Jerusalem. The images here are from a set of 14 icons recently given to St Martin’s in memory of Gloribel Ayala. We hope you will join us at the Church on Fridays during Lent, especially Good Friday, to walk the Stations of the Cross as you contemplate the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.
THE FIFTH STATION: THE CROSS IS LAID ON SIMON OF CYRENE

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

As they led Jesus away, they came upon a man of Cyrene, Simon by name, who was coming in from the country and laid on him the cross to carry it behind Jesus. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, whose blessed Son came not to be served but to serve: Bless all who, following in his steps, give themselves to the service of others; that with wisdom, patience, and courage, they may minister in his Name to the suffering, the friendless, and the needy; for the love of him who laid down his life for us, your Son our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE SIXTH STATION: VERONICA WIPES THE FACE OF JESUS

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you: Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
We have seen him without beauty or majesty, with no looks to attract our eyes. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of men. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes, we are healed.
Let us pray. O God, who before the passion of your only-begotten Son revealed his glory upon the holy mountain: Grant to us that we, beholding by faith the light of his countenance, may be strengthened to bear our cross, and be changed into his likeness from glory to glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Confirmation
Are you interested in being Confirmed? If so please email Father Rob and let him know of your intention. There will be two confirmation classes offered: one for teens and one for adults. Information will be forthcoming, but we would like to compile of list of Confirmands as soon as possible.
St. Martin’s Episcopal Church
1350 Washington Valley Road,
Bridgewater, NJ 08807
www.stmartinsnj.org
Call Us: 908-526-1350
Contact information for Fr. Rob
rectorstmartinsnj@gmail.com or fatherroblaws@yahoo.com