GOOD SHEPHERD

AMERICAN NATIONAL CATHOLIC CHURCH

1890 WHITESVILLE RD, TOMS RIVER, NJ 08755
732-279-6837

WWW.GOODSHEPHERDANCC.ORG

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/GOODSHEPHERDANCC
WWW.THEANCC.ORG

Mass Schedule
Saturday 5PM
Sunday 8AM & 10AM

January 1, 2017

Served by:

Fr. Anthony R. Lipari, FCM

Pastor

Franciscan Community of Mercy

Fr. Drew Miller

Associate Pastor

Sr. Donna Lombardi, N/FCM

Pastoral Associate
Family Faith Formation

Karen Suter

Parish Administrator

Mike & Fran Krol

Parish Council Leaders

An All Inclusive Independent Catholic Community,

Dedicated to Making the World a Better Place

A Shepherd's View
January 1st
5PM : Keith Howells
Ann Wonica
10AM For the people of the Parish
January 8th
5PM For the people of the Parish
8AM For the people of the Parish
10AM Robert Nese
Rose & (infant) John Weaver

Saints of the Week

January 2:
St. Basil the Great (+389) and
St. Gregory Nazianzen, (+390), Bishops
& Doctors of the Church
January 3:
The Most Holy Name of Jesus
January 4:
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious
(+1821)
January 5:
St. John Neumann, Bishop (+1860)
January 6:
St. Andre Bessette, Religious (+1937)
January 7:
St. Raymond of Penyafort, Priest (+1275)

A Happy New Year to each

and Every One of you! May God
continue to bless your lives with
faith, hope and love in 2017!
And just how do we Catholics
begin this New Year? By Celebrating MARY, as the Mother of
God! Mary faced a great mystery she could not understand,
reflected on God's will for her, and was affirmed in
her yes (Fiat) to become the mother of the Savior.
We face many challenges during life, must ponder
God's will for us, and be affirmed in our yes when we
encounter the ONE who comes to save. As a good
mother, Mary gives birth, nurtures, teaches, guides
and protects. Mary does all this for us and even
more. She intercedes for us before her Son so that
we may share in the fullness of Life He came to bring
us. As we encounter the Baby of Bethlehem with His
mother Mary (and Joseph) let us, like the Shepherds,
be changed, healed and sent to proclaim the Good
News throughout this New Year!
I want to take this opportunity to personally thank
each and every one of the members of our parish for
your example of faith, your good works and your
ANCC spirit! What better words to share than the
Blessing of Aaron (brother of Moses) that we hear in
today's first reading .
The LORD bless you and keep you! he LORD let his
face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

Live Jesus in our hearts,

forever!
Franciscan Reflection
"What you should desire above all
else, namely, to have the Spirit of the
Lord and His grace working in you,
to pray always with the purity of
heart, and to have humility, patience in persecution and in illness, and to love those who
persecute, rebuke or slander you."
~ St Francis of Assisi

Mary, Mother of Jesus

Weekly Justice Challenge

Mary, a young Galilean woman

of Nazareth, was betrothed to a
carpenter named Joseph. One
day, according to the Gospel of
Luke, she was visited by the
angel Gabriel, who proclaimed
that she would bear a son
named Jesus, who would be
called the Son of the Most High. How could this
be, she asked, since she was as yet unmarried? The
angel told her she would conceive by the power of
the Spirit and assured her, With God nothing will be
impossible. And so she responded, Let it be done
to me according to your word.

Octave of Christmas Week/Solemnity of

the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God

It was in the space created by Marys faith and not

simply in her womb that the Word became flesh.
For this reason she has been called not only the
Mother of Jesus but Mother of the Church. In subsequent centuries, Marys status and her distinctive
nature would be the subject of dogmatic pronouncements and learned tomes. In the Gospels Jesus
frequently rejected the claims of blood or natural
kinship in favor of discipleship. In this perspective,
Marys preeminence is due to her having exemplified
the spirit of true discipleship: attention, reverence,
and obedience to the word and will of God.
The Gospel of John places Mary at the foot of the
cross. According to Luke she was among the
disciples who gathered in Jerusalem after Jesus
ascension (Acts 1:14). She was in effect the first and
paradigmatic disciple. She is thus the first to be
honored among the saints.

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in

God my Savior, for he has regarded the lowliness of
his handmaiden. For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has
done great things for me, and holy is his name.
~Luke 1:46-49

(Source: Blessed Among UsDay by Day with Saintly

Witnesses by Robert Ellsberg. )

The first week of January is National Migration

Week. Mary and Joseph and Jesus were refugees
when they fled to Egypt to escape the persecution by Herod. They know what it is like to be
strangers in another land.
Your challenge this week is to honor those who
migrate by educating yourself on the reality and
reasons for migration. Go to the United States
Bishops website (http://www.usccb.org/
about/migration-and-refugee-services/) and
learn about migration through the lens of faith.
Then choose one concrete action recommended
on the Bishops website which you can do to
stand with refugees in todays world. Or, if you
have migrants or refugees in your own community, determine one thing you as a family
can do to support them.

A Message from our Pastoral Team

Due to family obligations, Fr. Miguel will be taking a
leave of absence from the ANCC.
Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Family Faith Formation with Sr. Donna

. to all who contributed to our two

recent community projects

Will resume on Sunday, January 22nd

following 10AM Mass.

Your generous contributions yielded over 1100 pounds

of food that was delivered to the Ocean/
Monmouth Food Bank on Monday, December
19th! Thank you to Fran & Mike Krol for spearheading
this event!

Meets the 4th Sunday of each month

For additional information or questions,

please call the church at 732-279-6837 or
see Sr. Donna after mass.

Adult Faith Formation

with Fr. Anthony

Will resume Monday February 6th
at 7PM
Monday Evenings at 7pmdownstairs
All are welcome!

Bible Study with Fr. Drew

Will resume this Friday, January 6th
Friday evenings at 7PMdownstairs
All are welcome!

Rosalies Kitchen
third Weekend of the month
For those who may not know the history,
Rosalies Kitchen is being instituted in
memory of Rosalie Hartman. Rosalie was an
important charter member of Good Shepherd ANCC
when we began worshiping in Island Heights in the
beginning of 2015. Rosalie was instrumental in
collecting food for those in need. It was a project
close to her heart. Sadly, we lost Rosalie to cancer
at the end of October. We plan to continue her
project by collecting food for the Christ Episcopal
Food Bank.
The following are items most needed at this
time:
Vegetable oil
Boxed milk
Peanut butter
Jelly
Canned tomatoes
Pasta
Rice

canned stew
canned potatoes
canned corn
canned chicken
canned tuna
chicken soup

* the food bank is currently requesting NO cereal, NO green beans,

and NO cranberry sauce.

The staff at Childrens Specialized Hospital

were extremely grateful for our generous donations of
toys, games, clothes, art supplies, and gift cards.

Toy Box Raffle Winner!

Our beautiful, sweet,
4 year old*

SKYLAR AROMANDO !!
Thank you, Joe the carpenter Hader for
your generous donation of time, talent, and
treasure in construction of the toy box!
*(Santa has been notified of the extra toy
storage!)

Second Annual Christmas

Party ..
Was attended by 70 people,
including adults and children. A
great time was had by all!! Good
food, good drink, good people!
Thank you Joe Keating for the
donation of your
outstanding DJ services!