For those not receiving Holy Communion we offer the following prayer.

My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen (St. A lphonsus Ligouri)

PARISH OFFICE HOURS: Monday-Friday 8:30am- 4:00pm OFFICE ADDRESS: 130 Bray Avenue, Middletown N.J. CONTACT: Parish Office: 732-787-1318 Fax: 732-787-2851; Rel. Ed/Ministry: 732-495-7779; Parish Hall: 732-787-2869; Thrift Shop: 732-787-2836; Web Site: www.stcathek.org; Email: stcathek1@aol.com

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass Sat. 5:00pm & 6:30pm

Sun: 7:30am; 9:00am (Latin) 10:30am & 12:00noon

Daily: Mon.– Sat. 8:00am Monday & Friday 12:00 (Latin)

Eucharistic Adoration: Monday 8:30am-7:00pm

Novena Mass; Mon., Wed. 7:00 pm; Sat. 8:00 am

Confessions: Sat. 3:00 -4:00

Mural of the Apparition in the New Basilica in knock Ireland

TODAY’S LITURGY: 20th Ordinary Sunday

READINGS: RED HYMNAL # 929

Processional Hymn: CREDO # 449 When Morning Gilds the Skies

Gradual (Psalm 40) Lord come to my Aid

Offertory Hymn: CREDO # 577 How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place

Communion Hymn: CREDO # 361 O Sacrament Most Holy

Recessional Hymn:

Refrain: Glory and praise to our God Who alone gives light to our days Many are the blessings He bears To those who trust in His ways We the daughters and sons of Him Who built the valleys and plains Praise the wonders our God has done In every heart that sings. *Refrain Every moment of every day Our God is waiting to save Always ready to seek the lost To answer those who pray. *Refrain

THE INTERCESSIONS: P: In peace let us pray to the Lord

P: That this day may be holy, good and peaceful. We pray: R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That Your holy angels may lead us in paths of peace and goodwill, We pray: R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That we may be pardoned and forgiven for our sins and offenses. We pray: R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That there may be peace to Your Church and to the world. We pray: R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That we may depar t this life in Your faith and fear , and not be condemned before the great judgement seat of Christ. We pray: R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That we may be bound together by Your Holy Spir it in the communion of saints, entrusting one another and all our life to Christ. We pray: R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That the sick and all who need our prayers may know the strength of Christ. We pray. R: HEAR US O LORD

P: That all the faithful depar ted may rest in peace. We pray: R HEAR US O LORD

P: Almighty God, You have given us grace at this time with one accord to make our common supplication to You; and You have promised through Your well beloved Son that when two or three are gathered together in His name You will be in the midst of them. Fulfill now, O Lord our desires and petitions as may be best for us; granting us in this world knowledge of Your truth and in the age to come, life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. R: AMEN

Parish Staff Pastor: Very Rev. Daniel C. Hesko, VF Deacons Rev. Mr . John Or lando Rev. Mr. John McGrath (retired) Religious Education: Mrs. L. Jackie Callahan, M.A. Mrs. Kathleen McGuire Parish Office: Mrs. Julie Fehlhaber Mrs. Kathleen Toomey Music Director: Mrs. Karen Ohrn

Ministry to the Sick and Homebound: To arrange Communion for the homebound, or for the Sacra-ment of the Sick, call the parish office.

Sacrament of Baptism: Arrangements must be made through the parish office. Infants should be baptized as soon as possible.

Sacrament of Matrimony: According to Diocesan policy, marriage arrangements should be made at least nine months prior to the wedding date through the parish office. Either the man or woman must be registered in our parish.

Annulment Advocacy : To discuss Church Annulment procedure, or for information concerning Church Validation of a civil marriage, call the par-ish office to arrange a meeting with Fr. Dan.

FORMED: A Catholic Media Program you can access 24/7 from your computer, I-phone etc. Go to

www.stcathek.formed.org click ’register’ follow prompts.

FEAST OF OUR OF LADY OF KNOCK

Wednesday: August 21 Join us as we honor

Our Lady, Queen of Ireland. Mass and Devotions 7:00 pm

We celebrate the events of Knock on the evening

of August 21, 1879 When our Lady

appeared to many villagers in Knock,

County Mayo Ireland

WEEKLY MASS INTENTIONS Monday, August 19th St. John Eudes 8:00am Amanda Gambacorto by Margaret Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament all day. 12:00noon Liv. Int. Rev. Hector Larrea by Padre Pio Prayer Group 7:00pm Claudia Theresa Lisa by Mom, Dad & Brother

Tuesday, August 20th St. Bernard 8:00am Walter Hesko by Pastor

Wednesday, August 21st St. Pius X/ OUR LADY KNOCK 8:00am Jane & Peggy Caso by Margaret 7:00pm Mary & Walter Kohl by Lisa & Chris Kohl

Thursday, August 22nd Octave Day of the Assumption The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary 8:00am William Michalski by Maria Lonseth

Friday, August 23rd St. Rose of Lima 8:00am Andrea Cherne-Dreisbach (1st anniv.) by Rudy & Kathy Cherney 12:00noon Liv. Int. Frances Piatkowski-Bradley by Sharon

Saturday, August 24th St. Bartholomew 8:00am (Liv. Int.) Christine O’Connell by Mom & Dad

Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time 5:00pm Dorothy & Harold Oches (wedd. Anniv.) by Family 6:30pm Patricia Dickinson by Family, John & Jean DeStefano by Daughter Debbie & Family, Kay Falco by Dowd Family, John Burns by Ed & Sue Corbliss, Charlie Bolin by Greg, Nancy & Julia Zyry, Bob Emerson by Daughter Debbie & Family

Sunday, August 25th 7:30am Pro Populo 9:00am Fabian Bulsiewicz by Karen Murray 10:30am Thomas Idyk wife, Marita & Family 12:00noon Bernard & Ellen Comey by Comey Family

Annual Summer Novena Our Assumption Novena was, as always a very great success,

judging by the large number of people who came night after night.

Thank you to ALL who worked to make this a time of blessing for so many.

The Intentions placed before the Shrine of Our Lady will remain by the

Image of Our Lady of Grace until the Feast of the Holy Rosary, October 8. Those Intentions are remembered at all our Masses.

BLESSING OF BACK TO SCHOOL Backpacks and other School Supplies

Sunday September 1, 10:30 MASS

Back to School, Assistance Donations of Back to School Supplies for local Chil-

dren in need would be greatly appreciated

CHOIR NEWS St. Catherine’s

Adult Parish Choir will be star ting up soon. ALL Parishioners who like to sing

are most welcome to join. Social Gathering for returning and New members

Thursday Sept. 5 @ 6:30 pm in the Parish Hall Rehearsals begin on Thursday Sept 12 @ 7:15 in Church. For more information call the Rectory

Children Choir will resume later in Sept. Latin Choir rehearses on Fr i Mornings from 10:00 to

11:30. ALL ARE WELCOME AND INVITED

Our Summer 50/50 was a Great Success.

The Winner received $6,537.50 Ticket Number 15804

Thanks for all who participated.

Baptized in Water and the Spirit

The Parish welcomes Emma Joy Cusumano, Mila Rose Hayes, Christopher Paul DiNero, Tessa Louise Fedorko Raymond James Sullivano Baptized into the Catholic Faith on Saturday, August 10th.

WEEKLY OFFERING The first collection last week: $6,585.00 The second collection: $1,671.00

Thank you for your support of your parish. Fr. Dan Hesko God is generous to the generous of heart.’ Let us be generous in what we are and what we have, our time, talents and treasure.

CCD NEWS Time is traveling so fast, I cannot believe it!! Another year begins in preparing our children for the blessings in their faith journey as a Catholic from Saint Cathe-rine’s Parish. Below are the starting dates and times. There is still time to register!

OUR OPENING DATES for the 2019/2020 School Year WILL BE: Tuesday, September 17th Grade 2: 3:45 to 5:15pm Grades 5 & 6 5:30 to 7:00pm Wednesday, September 18th Grades 3 and 4; 3:45 to 5:15pm Grades 7 and 8; 5:30 to 7:00pm Tuesday, October 1st Grade 1; 3:45 to 5:15pm

One final note we sure could use more teachers and cate-chists for All grades. We will happily train you. The re-wards for sharing the love of Jesus with our children and their families are beyond imaginations. For more infor-mation please call 732-495-7779

O Worship the Lord in the Beauty of Holiness

Flowers on the Main Altar today in in memory of Eric Rasmussen, gift of Theresa.

The Sanctuary Lamp will burn this week in memory of Donald & Emma Finan gift of Bev Finan & Daughters.

The Blessed Mother Votive Light in memory of Mary Scherzinger, gift of children.

The Sacred Heart Votive Light will burn this week in memory of John Truppo gift of Food Pantry Volunteers.

MIDDLETOWN HOME REHABI PROGRAM If you are a Middletown homeowner, you may be eligible for a home rehabilitation grant of up to $25,000.00 from the Township’s Home Rehabilitation Program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program. The Home Rehab Program assists low and moderate income households to repair or replace older systems in the home such as plumbing, heating, roof or electric. Handicapped accessibil-ity improvements are also eligible. For more information about this program call 732-615-2281 or visit online at www.middletownnnjj.org

FY 2019 Household Income Limits Household Gross Income 1 Person $52,850.00 2 People $60,400.00 3 People $67,950.00 4 People $75,500.00 5 People $81,550.00 6 People $87,600.00 7 People $93,650.00 8 People $99,700.00

SPIRITUAL ADOPTION UPDATE 7 MONTHS A lot of growing between the 5th and 7th month. I now weigh 2 1/2 pounds and I think I’m about16”long. My eyes are beginning to open, and I can blink. The Iris is just starting to develop the pigment that gives eyes color. Pigment may be produced up to six months after I am born so my eye color can change after I’m born. I have 150 joints and a 1000 ligaments great stretching and bending. By the time I’m born I will most likely weigh between 6 and 8 pounds. I now recognize my parents voices and by the way they talk about me I can tell they are happy God has entrusted me to them. Thank you God and thanks to all of you for your prayers. GREAT NEWS FROM GOOD COUNCIL In October we will have a shower to help them out, but until then we could use some financial help. The address is: Christopher Bell Good Council P/O Box 6068 Hoboken, New Jersey 07030-7202 (1-201-795-0637) SISTERS OF MERCY Support the Sisters of Mercy! The sisters will be selling their Golf Clas-sic 50/50 raffle tickets this weekend August 17th & 18th. after all Mass-es. Tickets are $10.00 each (checks payable to Sisters of Mercy), and all proceeds from the raffle will benefit the retired Sisters. The winning tickets will drawn at the Sisters Golf Classic. For information please contact Lind Cavallo @908-756-0994 ext. 4006 or lcaval-lo@mercymidatlantic.org

ATTENTION ALL PARISH LADIES Rosary Altar Society HIGH TEA PARTY

September 15, 2:00 to 4:00 pm In the Parish Hall

All Ladies Welcome

In your charity please remember to pray for: Kevin Mo-ran, Ed Cooney, Rachel O’Brien, Elayne Allen, Judy Maxcy, Kevin Daniely, Pat Welch, Stacey Welch, Gina Tobia, William Walsh, Alan Peterson, Kathy Yannibelli, Janice Henar, Patrick Lipka, Talia, Baby Victoria Pow-ers, Ann Bolger, Karen Conte, Jim Murphy, Monica Gilk, Maria Lonseth, Marge Brand, Ruth Alaia, Kath-leen Toomey, Julia Fehlhaber, Rev. Josh Keeran, Susan Rick, Ryan Hansen, Kerri Black, Ellie Julien, Sara Jane Mauer, Thomas D. Murphy, Ana Oliveira, Michael Brothers, Theresa Marks, Sheila Buxton, Taryn Hussey, Maureen Farrell, Rich Callahan, and for the faithful de-parted: God, our loving Father, look with kindness on our broth-ers and sisters who seek Your care. In Your mercy grant health to the sick; comfort to the sorrowful, peace to the troubled, joy to the weary and eternal rest to those whose work on earth is done, and all for Jesus’ Amen

Prayer for those serving in our Military

Please remember to pray for our parishioners and friends serving this nation at home and abroad. CDR Michael Dwan; USN Major Mark Paige; USMC Patrick Gal-lagher; Staff Ssgt. Matthew San-tilli; Master Ssgt. Albert DiMag-gio; Lieutenant Colonel Bayard Smith; Dallas Jamison & Sgt. Timothy Hayes, Major Carlo Brancato, USMC Prayer: O God who art the lover of peace and concord. Grant to

these thy servants who serve this nation, grace and strength. Preserve them we pray and shield them from all danger of body and soul; and hasten the day when they shall return to their homes and loved ones, through Christ our Lord. Amen

PRAYER FOR OUR POLICE OFFICERS

O Almighty God, Whose great power and eternal wisdom embraces the universe, Watch over all policemen and law enforcement officers everywhere. Protect them from harm. In the performance of their duty to stop crime, robbery, riots and violence. We pray, help them keep our streets and homes safe, day and night. We commend them to your loving care because

their duty is dangerous. Grant them strength and courage in their daily assignments. Dear God, protect these brave men and women. Grant them your almighty protection. Unite them safely with their families after duty has ended. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

We Need Altar Servers. See Fr. Dan for more information. If you are unable to serve your assigned Mass try to get a replace-ment and notify the parish office of your replacement. TODAY 5:00pm Fr . Dan 6:30pm Fr . Dan 7:30am Fr . Michael 9:00am Fr . Dan 10:30am Fr . Dan 12:00noon Fr . Dan Altar Servers: 5:00pm A. Alex, A. Alex & S. Wickham 10:30am P. Edinger A. Lewandowski L. Lusquinos

THAT MAN IS YOU TMIY will resume their meetings on

Saturday, September 7th @6:30am-8:00am Year 5 is called The Fight of Faith!

Right now, our parish is running a men’s program that is spreading around the world and is truly changing men and their families. This program is the That Man Is You! Program and I want to personally invite all adult men to be a part of it. We had an amazing experience last year and those that completed the program have truly been impacted. I know for me personally, I have learned so much about what it is to be a better husband and father. We want to invite all of the men of the parish to join us on this new year of TMIY unlike any other. It is different than all of their other programs and is made up of 9 different speakers. If you have never attended at all, or simply came to a couple of meetings, you can jump into this new content without any issue. In joining us this Fall, you will be one of over 25,000 men going through the TMIY program this year across the country. You will be joining a band of brothers that will support you on your journey. It is a powerful thing when you gather with a group of other men striving to do right by God and their families. I know life is busy, but we just ask that you give the program a try. The program is resuming on Saturday, September 7, 2019 and is held every Saturday at 7:00am in the school building. Breakfast starts 6:30am and we will make sure to have you out by 8:00am. The content and the fellowship can be truly transforming! Please stop by our table in the back after all Masses on August 31st and September 1st if you are interested or need more information . Thank you Steven Mendez, TMIY Leader

The Fight of Faith to engage in the cosmic, spiritual battle raging in our day. Authentic Masculine identities will emerge to inspire heroic lives of service to a calling greater than ourselves. The Fight of Faith is uniquely both contemplative and practical. The Fight of Faith is 26 sessions for the year, 13 in the Fall and 13 in the Spring.

August 24th/25th 5:00pm Fr . Dan 6:30pm Fr . Michael 7:30am Fr . Dan 9:00am Fr . Dan 10:30am Fr . Dan 12:00noon Fr . Dan Altar Servers: 5:00pm A. Gibilisco, A. Gibilisco, A. Gibilisco 10:30am S. Wickham, A. Lewandowski

In the light of a recent Poll of Catholics which said some 70% of Catholics Do Not believe in the True Presence of Christ in the Blessed Eucharist. It would be good for us to review for our own edification a summery of Catholic Teaching. These Polls seem accurate, as about 78 % of Catholics DO NOT ATTEND MASS. The unbelief and inactivity seem to go together. Introduction to the Eucharist The real crisis of faith in Catholic ranks today is the crisis of disbelief in the Eucharist. The most dramatic reason for this is the same as what happened when Christ first announced that He would give us His Body and Blood to eat and drink as described by St. John. You recall that many people who had until then been devoted to Christ began first to wonder, then to murmur, and finally doubting, left His Company. This has always been so since this mystery of faith was first announced to the world. Let us focus on two features of this mystery: first reflecting upon the Eucharist as Reality and secondly as Presence. What is this Reality to which the Church strongly directs our attention? To be real is not to be imaginary or illusory, not to have "it" existing outside ourselves nor as a figment of our imagination, nor solely as an idea in our own minds. Is this Reality simply God? We cannot say that that is so, because God was in the world from the moment He made it. He would have been in the world even if there had been no Eucharist. He was in the world before He in-stituted the Blessed Sacrament. This Reality is God present in a different special way. The essence of what we believe here is that God is present as man. The Eucharist began with the Incar-nation, in the womb of Mary. Except for her there would be no Jesus and without Him there is no reality to speak of, in the Eu-charist. The Eucharist is unqualifyingly Jesus Christ! Our faith tells us that Christ, true God and true man is present on earth as He is present in Heaven. We know the Ascension was no make-believe but Catholics also believe that Christ is now present on our altars as a living human being, whose divinity assumed our nature. He is completely, identically, numerically, the same Je-sus Who was born of the Virgin Mary, Who will judge us on the last day, and Who we hopefully will see in glory forever after-wards. In common with some sincere Protestants we believe that Christ is in heaven but that He is truly also on earth. Scripture tells us that the night before Jesus died He gave His Apostles, His successors on earth the power to do what He did at the Last Supper - change bread and wine into Himself. This is Catholic Faith: it is what Reality means. Presence is not an easy word to define. In a manner of speaking we say one thing is present to another if it is near to it but strictly speaking only rational, intelligent human beings are present to each other. In proximity - yes, but also someone having a rela-tionship with someone else - an awareness of their being there. What can we say about Christ abiding with us in the Eucharist? Are we always present to Him in the sense that He is always aware of us? Yes. If Presence is "thereness". Christ is always there with the fullness of His humanity and the plenitude of His divinity. He is there independently of whether we think of Him or not. This is Catholic Truth. As the Council of Trent defined it; in the Eucharist is the TOTUS CHRISTUS, the whole Christ, with all that makes Him what He is. His sense of reality is inde-pendent of our awareness of Him. It is the adversatives of our faith that really spell the difference between what we believe and how we live. Is Christ in the Eucharist in another sense present to us? No. To live out what the Church teaches and what Christ intended us to do when He instituted the Blessed Sacrament, He should be not only physically present to us but spiritually in our minds and hearts. Some people take Eucharistic devotion for granted. They seem to act as though Christ being here on earth, should do something for them like miraculously infusing their minds with a mystical light or giving them some mystical expe-rience. Really we are supposed to do something for Him!

We must make His Presence real to us. Making Him spiritually present to us is our part in responding to the mystery of the Eu-charistic Covenant. Being with us, Christ promised a miraculous effusion of grace, on condition that we do our part. We must act with our minds and with our wills, thinking of Him present in the Blessed Sacrament not that that will make Him present but that our thinking starts our becoming aware of His Presence with us. It is just religious common sense, to freely decide to reflect about Christ's being with us in the Eucharist. We must make that mental effort if we are to grow in Eucharistic devotion, which the Church considers essential for all Christian living and the foundation of a life of perfection. But to make the reality of the Lord's Presence spiritually effective we must make Him present in our wills. If two persons spacially separated by thousands of miles or millions of years each wants what the other wants they are present to each other not only by their mental awareness but by the strongest bond that can unite one spiritual being to another - the bond of love. Returning to the Eucharist, we ask, what does the Eucharis-tic Christ want from us in order that we be united with Him in spirit, in our wills and in our minds? He wants us to practice the things He taught us. First the virtues He practices in the Blessed Sacrament. First perfect humility. In the Eucharist, Christ not only hides His divinity which He did during His visible stay on earth but He even hides His humanity. We see and taste the elements that seem to be just bread and wine, but our faith tells us that they are nei-ther bread nor wine but Jesus. St. Paul calls this the kenosis, God emptying Himself, not revealing the fullness of Who He is. God wants us to cultivate a corresponding humility. We shudder at what that demands of us. A humility that constantly means our gifts, talents, and abilities are to be hidden. This we call the sacri-fice of recognition, than which there is none greater, especially when there is much to sacrifice. In the Eucharist Christ practices great patience, remaining in our midst even when we are indifferent to His Presence, unlike St. Margaret Mary who would spend hours unable to tear herself away from the Blessed Sacrament. Let us remember Christ's com-plaint to her "that which pains Me most is the coldness and indif-ference of My consecrated religious to the Sacrament of My Love". Thinking of the growing number of convents without chapels, of Priests casual in handling the Sacred Hosts, is it any wonder that Christ complained and continues to complain, asking those of us who have the faith to see beyond the veils of sense and realize that God is really present and act accordingly. He wants us to be patient in uncomplaining endurance of pain, realiz-ing that often the most poignant pain is not of the body but of the spirit. In the Eucharist Jesus practices generosity. Being among us in His humanity for one reason only: to bestow on us those bless-ings which faith tells us are available only through His human nature. Christ can show us the way to the Father because He is a human being. It is through this Humanity, depending on our faith that He opens up to us the vastness of His divinity. He wants us to be correspondingly generous to others by giving, never asking nor expecting anything in return. Giving ourselves, our likes and dislikes offered up in order to be of help to others, whom He told us the night He instituted the Sacrament, are put into our lives to love and help: an index of how much we love Him. Let us ask our Eucharistic Lord to help us understand Who He is, Who is in our midst and how we may grow in our awareness of His Presence among us, recognizing that beyond this awareness, by uniting our wills: His and ours, giving ourselves to, for, with and through Him as He so generously does with us, that we please Him - thereby anticipating the day when there will be no more sacramental veils between God and us. That will be Heav-en! The Eucharist unveiled for our eternal Love. Sponsor Vol. 25 - #1, Feb. 1979 Rev John Hardon SJ