The CRASH Workcampers are in need of a female adult to help chaperone their mission trip to Virginia from July 14-20. Must be 21 or older and ready for an awesome week of fun and service! Please contact Mary Ranbom for more information, 79marylombardo@gmail.com.

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/

The Hopewell Knights of Columbus are sponsoring two scholarships: $100 award for a male 8th grade Confirmation candidate and $500 award for a graduating high school male. Applications are on-line [click on the title] or contact Todd Kent, (609) 947-6260 or Kent83@comcast.net. Application deadline is June 3rd. Applicant must be a member of St. James, St. George or St. Alphonsus.

The Hopewell Columbiettes are sponsoring two scholarships: $100 award for a female 8th grade Confirmation candidate and $500 award for a graduating high school female. Applications are on-line [click on the title] or contact Michelle Galik: (609) 213-5618 or emnisar@gmail.com. Application deadline is June 3rd. Applicant must be a member of St. James, St. George or St. Alphonsus.

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.

Applications for 2019-2020 scholarships from the St. George Scholarship Foundation are now available. They can be found in the foyer of the Church or can be accessed by clicking the link above. The deadline for submission of applications is Sunday, May 12th.

To see a copy of this action alert, and what you can do, click on the title.

Family Promise is a support program that helps families that are temporarily without a home by providing a place to stay within the church and meals provided by volunteers. Volunteers are needed to prepare and serve meals for the families staying at the Hopewell Presbyterian Church, Sunday, May 12 through Sunday, May 26. Overnight and weekend afternoon hosts are also needed. Contact Dick Sheetz (609) 737-2310 or deslms30@verizon.net

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.

Once again it is time for the Sisters of Mercy Giant 50/50 Raffle. The donation for each ticket is $25 and can be purchased from Sister Dot after Mass. Drawing date is May 19th. Deadline to purchase a ticket is May 12th.

A number of parishioners, volunteers, and parish employees have recently received emails from fake gmail accounts impersonating our parish priests. This is a hoax. Our parish firewall was not breached and no part of our network has been hacked or compromised. Automated “bots” “scrape” the email addresses from our parish websites and construct and send fake emails. Please know that neither Fr. Mike or the parishes of The Catholic Community of Hopewell Valley would ever solicit money or information by email.

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.

The Knights of Columbus will be collecting eye glasses and accessories. A drop-off box will be in the foyer of Church through the month of February for your donations. Thank you

Hopewell Valley Catholic Community parishioners recently attended the March for Life in Washington, DC. Pictured are Brian and Sharon Barr, Melody Maskell, Paula Zolner, Mike Ahearn and Fr. Jarlath.

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.