The Franciscan Earthcare Ministry announces the following:

On Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at 7 pm in Pollak Theater at Monmouth University, best selling author Doug Tallamy, Ph.D., professor of Entomology at University of Delaware and author of Nature’s Best Hope and The Nature of Oaks will present on what you can do in your own yard or balcony to fight climate change, create climate resiliency, and create beauty in your own backyard.

The talk will be followed by Q&A and a book signing. The public is encouraged to bring their own copies of Tallamy books for signature.

Click here to register.

The Church of Nativity Book Club will meet on Monday, January 29 at 7pm in the Parish Library. Our book for January is What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman.

The breakout novel from The New York Times bestselling author of The Orphan Collector, What She Left Behind weaves together riveting stories of past and present, exploring the strength of women in two different times as they face adversity in two very different ways. Go inside the horrifying walls of a 1920s New York asylum as a wrongly imprisoned woman fights for what is most important to her—and meet the young woman confronting the pain and mystery of her own family’s mental illness two generations later.

Ten years ago, Izzy Stone’s mother fatally shot her father while he slept. Devastated by her mother’s apparent insanity, Izzy, now seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents, employees at the local museum, have enlisted Izzy’s help in cataloging items at a long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades-old journal, and a window into her own past.

Young flapper and suffragette Clara Cartwright is caught between her overbearing parents and her desire to be a modern woman. Furious when she rejects an arranged marriage, instead finding love with an Italian immigrant, Clara’s father sends her to a genteel home for nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash of 1929, he can no longer afford her care—and Clara is committed to the public asylum.

Even as Izzy deals with the challenges of yet another new beginning, Clara’s story keeps drawing her into the past. If Clara was never really mentally ill, could something else explain her own mother’s violent act? Piecing together Clara’s fate compels Izzy to re-examine her own choices—with shocking and unexpected results.

Click here to see what other books we’ll be reading this year.

Questions about Book Club? Contact Liz Jacobelli at lizjacobelli@aol.com.

 

The “12 Knights for Christmas” campaign continues again this year throughout December and into the New Year. As a Knight myself, I remain powerfully and deeply grateful to the work done by the Knights in our local Council 3187. This year, I continue my journey in the Knights as Council Chaplain as well as recently attaining the 4th Degree, the highest local rank for Knights.

Founded on the principles of charity, unity and fraternity, the Knights of Columbus was established in 1882 by Father Michael J. McGivney, assistant pastor of St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, CT, and a group of parishioners. In 2023, Knights come from every stage of life, and from all corners of the world. Today, more than ever, our Church needs men to lead, to serve, to protect and defend…to join together as husbands, fathers, sons, neighbors committed to Fr. McGivney’s vision of active discipleship through acts of charity, fraternity and love of neighbor.

Examples of Council 3187 charitable activities and service include: ARC, Special Olympics, Coats for Kids, Local Food Banks Collections, NJ Covenant House, NJ Birthright, Local High School and University Scholarships, and many more! In addition, the Knights serve the pastors of Nativity and Holy Cross.

Over the next few months, it is my hope that we can add at least 12 new Council 3187 members to help support the needs of our parishes and surrounding communities. Please join me in my hope and prayer that this goal will be achieved. I hope that you will answer my call and join today. It only takes a few minutes to complete the online application and if you join now through January 31, 2024, you can become a member of the Knights of Columbus for FREE.

Click here to join.

Use Promo Code BLESSEDMCGIVNEY, specifying Council 3187.

– Fr. Chris

The Notre Dame Club of the Jersey Shore and the Church of the Nativity are hosting a Dorm Mass for college students returning to campus after winter break. All are welcome!

Sunday, January 7, 2024 at 4pm
Church of the Nativity
180 Ridge Road
Fair Haven, NJ

Pizza will be served in the Parish Hall following Mass.

What is a Dorm Mass?

Each week on the Notre Dame campus, every residence hall celebrates Mass in its own chapel, fostering the atmosphere of student camaraderie through the sacrament of the Eucharist.

The Notre Dame Club of the Jersey Shore and the Church of the Nativity are partnering to bring this prayerful experience to local college students and their families.

If you would like to attend, please complete this survey to help us with our planning (and pizza order!).

Questions? Contact Claire Harbeck at claireh@nativitychurchnj.org or 732-741-1714 x220.

To make our night a success, we are accepting donations of new items, gift certificates, toys, games, home decor, services from local businesses and empty baskets.

Not sure what to do with some of those Christmas gifts? Missed the return window? Not the right color? Not your style? We will gladly take any regifting items.

Items may be dropped off in the Parish Office. Please mark items, “Nativity Women’s Group.”