Hopewell Valley Catholic Youth—CRASH is group for teens in 9th-12th grade that brings youth together for fun game nights, special outings and trips, service projects, prayer, and various holiday parties. We also focus on discussing our response as Catholic Christians to social issues such as stress and anxiety, peer pressure, bullying, and dating as well as social justice issues such as helping our neighbors who are less fortunate, elderly, or disabled in our community and beyond. While we encourage service and discussion, we also make sure every meeting is filled with fun, friends, and food! Meetings are Sunday evenings from 7:00pm-9:00pm in the St. James basement. Contact: Marietta Racancoj, mracancoj@StJamesPennington.org 609-737-0122 ext. 824

Do you have an hour or so to devote to the Adoration Ministry? Please consider keeping vigil during Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, on Thursdays, at St. George Church. If you are able to commit to a specific time, or can substitute from time to time, please call John Colna (215) 862-0267. This is a special time to be with Jesus, and for Him to be present to others.

We welcome Marietta Racancoj in the role of Youth Minister serving all three parishes. Marietta brings a faith-filled presence, plenty of energy, and a sense of joy at being a Catholic, which she wants to pass on to our young people. We extend our support, encouragement and prayers!

We collected 314 boxes of cereal to benefit the children served by Mount Carmel Guild. Thank you for your generosity! If you would like to help with Social Concerns, please contact Sharon: 908-806-7858 or skibbees@aol.com

CRASH Club Mission Trip to Prince George, VA.

Thank you to everyone who donated to our Children's Lightly Used Book Drive ... we collected 1,654 books ... many children ( and adults ) will be able to read this Summer and beyond ! Thank you!

Congratulations to the winners of the Knights of Columbus & Columbiette $500 Scholarship Contest. Ryan Hobson, a member of St. James, will be attending Wilkes University. Aneta Sieminski, a member of St. James, will be attending The College of New Jersey.

Beginning Monday, July 1st we will no longer have Mass on Saturday mornings at the St. James Chapel. Wednesday mornings at 9:00am in the St. James Chapel will now be a Eucharistic service, and Friday mornings at 7:30am at St. George Church will also now be a Eucharistic service. Please, pass the word regarding these changes, especially to people who do not come to our Church regularly.

As had been announced in February of this year, the Diocese of Trenton – along with the other Roman Catholic dioceses in New Jersey – has established an Independent Victim Compensation Program (IVCP) to compensate those who, as minors, were sexually abused by a priest or deacon of the Diocese. The IVCP will be open to claims beginning June 15. The IVCP is independently administered by experienced victim compensation experts Kenneth R. Feinberg and Camille S. Biros. Mr. Feinberg was the plan administrator for the federal 9/11 victim compensation program, as well as the Boston Marathon bombing compensation program. The IVCP will handle the submission, evaluation and resolution of individual claims, and will operate independently of the Diocese or any Church-affiliated institution. The administrators of the IVCP will have complete autonomy to determine the eligibility of a claim with the guidelines of the established Protocol. The amount of compensation for those who make a claim will be determined by the IVCP administrators. All victims – no matter when the abuse occurred – are eligible to participate, and all matters will be handled confidentially. Victims of clergy sexual abuse of a minor can begin the process of utilizing the program by going to www.njdiocesesivcp.com and reviewing the Protocol for submitting a claim. Anyone who was sexually victimized as a minor by a priest or deacon of the Diocese is strongly encouraged to participate in the IVCP. The Diocese also asks that anyone who knows of someone who was abused to pass along this information to the victim so that he or she is aware of the IVCP.

We are called to be the best St. George parish we can be and the En-Vision effort will help us get there. The first step is Listening Sessions. Have you signed up for one? They are being held at various times through June. We want to hear from you! Please contact akoloski@stgeorgetitusville.org for information or to sign up.

On July 13th riders and support crew will leave Auburn, NY to bike 500 miles, in 7 days, to Trenton, NJ as part of the 41st Anchor House Ride for Runaways. The ride is to raise funds and awareness for Anchor House, a shelter for runaway and abused teenagers in Mercer County. Your donations are always appreciated. https://anchorhouseride.rallybound.org/

I was in prison and you visited Me! The Diocese of Trenton Jail & Prison Ministry is in great need of volunteers to visit our incarcerated brothers and sisters, to remind them of God’s great love and mercy for them. We serve multiple State and County Correctional Centers and the Federal Prison at Ft. Dix. Our volunteers conduct Communion Services, Bible Studies and Prayer Services, as well as offering the gift of Listening and Pastoral Presence. If you are interested in sharing faith, hope and love with this often forgotten population, we will be conducting information sessions throughout the Diocese. Please contact Peter Haas: 609-403-7198 or phaas@dioceseoftrenton.org.

St. Alphonsus: Weeks of June 17 & 24, evenings, 6:00PM – 9:00PM, Monday – Friday; Grades 3 - 6 or St. James: Weeks of August 12 & 19, 9:00AM – Noon, Monday – Friday; Grades 3 - 7. If we get enough volunteer teachers, we hope to offer both options. Registration is available online. Visit the Faith Formation page on your parish website. We are looking for volunteers to give their time for one or both weeks. Please CONSIDER VOLUNTEERING YOUR TIME to teach/assist in our classes. We need several volunteer teachers to be able to offer both programs. Contact the Religious Education office for more information on volunteering.

Are you able to help maintain the garden beds around the parish properties or help with Spring clean-up? Many workers make the job much easier! Scheduling is flexible. St. Alphonsus, Lola, 609-466-9681, St. James, Kris, 609-802-2583, St. George, Bob, 609-730-0787.

Due to the shortened deadline we’ve been given, we are delaying the implementation of this youth leadership program offered to our parishes until spring, 2020. We have several excellent candidates to consider and a few dedicated adult mentors for our 2020 team and will be meeting with them over the next several months. Our goal is for this program to succeed and thrive in our community, therefore, it is best to put more time and thought into the process. We ask that you offer your prayers and support for the success of this unique opportunity for our youth. We are looking to build a small team of adults that represents each of our parishes to help implement this opportunity for our teens. This team is necessary in order for us to work cohesively in selecting the best candidates. Contact Nancy Lucash at nlucash@stjamespennington.org or Terry Evanko theresace@verizon.net.

For more information on the upcoming Open House and Information Sessions at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart, St. Paul School Princeton, Stuart Country Day School, St Ann School Lawrenceville, Notre Dame High School, and Holy Ghost Prep Bensalem Pa, click on the graphic or the headline.

The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley has a new website! Come and see what Fr. Mike has to say about our three parish families in one faith community, and much more. Visit thecatholiccommunityofhopewellvalley (one word).org. [For more details, click on the title or graphic.]

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