Faithful Disciples:
Sharing God’s love.
Discípilos
Fieles: Compartiendo el Amor de Dios
Thank you to all parishioners who have completed and submitted your Commitment Card! For those parishioners who have not yet had the opportunity to renew your resolution, a final letter will be mailed to you with a personalized Commitment Card. We invite all parishioners to make a commitment as a sign of our dedication to increase the missionary outreach of St. Mary Immaculate Parish. We want to lead more souls to heaven! You may return your card by:
- mailing it to the church using the pre-addressed envelope included with the letter.
- or bringing it to Mass next Sunday.
- or you may visit our parish website at www.smip.org/onlinegiving/ and complete an electronic Commitment Card.
We ask that all commitment cards are returned to the parish by Sunday, December 7. As a friendly reminder, electronic giving is an easy, safe and secure way to support St. Mary Immaculate Parish. To set-up a recurring weekly or monthly gift or to make a one-time donation directly from your bank account or credit card, please visit our website and follow the instructions. We are grateful for your support!
Love Your Parish
Here, united in God’s love, we are a visible sign of the body of Christ and together we do great things. Nourished by prayer and the sacraments, the members of our parish community are journeying on the path of discipleship and growing in relationship with Jesus Christ daily. We value discipleship and evangelization.
Love Your Savior
As we strive to love one another better, good stewardship plays a key role. Stewardship isn’t a code word for financial support. Stewardship is about doing the work of Christ and engaging our many resources to further the ministry and mission of Our Lord. Remembering that everything we have is a gift from our creator.
Love Your Neighbor
We know the importance of bringing the love of God to our neighbors. Through our many ministries, and our social and service-oriented outreach programs, we put into action the truth stated so eloquently by St. John the Apostle: “If God so loved us, we also must love one another” (1 Jn 4:11).
See How Magdalena Is Living As A Faithful Steward
I’ve been catholic my whole life but faith and church has not always been my first priority. A lot has changed since I became a mother. I started attending Sunday masses weekly and trying to better understand my relationship with God. Year after year, praying, receiving sacraments, teaching my kids how to be a good person, my life was going on just fine, but without a deeper meaningful connection with higher beings.
One Sunday I decided to attend a Polish mass at St. Mary Immaculate church in Plainfield (I used to go to different church in a nearby town). I kind of knew the priest since he covered Polish masses at my church when our priest was unavailable. I was excited since I always enjoyed his preachings whenever he was substituting. This one time happened to be his last time serving the Polish community at St. Mary Immaculate. What a blessing I thought, that I had the chance to see him one more time before he goes.
Something changed in me that day at the mass. After the service the priest was saying his goodbyes and there was one person giving testimony about a family member coming back to life after a long, often hopeless journey in hospital, how without all the prayers and everybody’s support it would be impossible to get through it. I didn’t know any of these people, yet my heart was pounding fast and I was unsuccessfully trying to hold back my tears. I can’t describe what I was feeling at the moment. I was overwhelmed with emotions but also I knew I was experiencing something bigger. It felt like the Holy Spirit was hovering all over the room. I felt so close with people I never knew before, I thought it must be God’s presence in them.
This happened about two years ago. I’ve been coming to the Polish 9AM mass at St. Mary since. A lot of the people and I became friends. Sometimes the priest comes and visits the parish which always brings warmth and happiness in my heart. I’m proud to be part of this community. We participate in many different events, one of which is coming later this month: Make a difference day, when everyone can come and help in a variety of projects to choose from. Those kinds of arrangements always bring people together,which is something everybody needs these days.
I’m glad God brought me to this parish that day. It’s the people I’ve met that changed my life.
Magdalena Chen
Make your Commitment Now!
Forget the checkbook and make donating simple for you and your family. With Online Giving, you can give back to your church whenever and wherever with the simple click of a button from your computer or smart device.
