St. Mary's Church-Stony Hill

  Press release from Most Reverend James F. Checcio, JCP, MBA 

We offer our sincere sympathy to the families of Mary Kaziewics and Theresa Hahn, who were called home to the Father recently. May their souls, and the souls of all our faithful departed, rest in God’s peace.

What we Believe
St. Mary’s-Stony Hill is a Roman Catholic parish that is rooted in our sacramental life and the vast traditions of the Catholic Church.  First and foremost, our parish life centers on the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist.  The grace received from Eucharist enables us to function in our mission as a parish community.  Our mission as a parish encompasses parishioners of all ages.
 
We strive to be a place where our parishioners feel a sense of welcome and a place to have their faith nurtured through the various ministerial opportunities that occur throughout the year.

“We all have a variety of activities and pursuits that compete for our time and attention … ” by Darrin Nelson

Recently I was able to spend some time with my wife Margie visiting a small area of the Pocono Mountains. It was a wonderful experience in many ways, the beauty of the area, an opportunity to slow down and be with each other and most importantly a time away from all the ‘noise’. Of course there was the normal noise of life at various times. The noise I am referring to is everything that competes for my heart and minds attention. I could site so many different marketing reports about how many ads and messages we receive in one day that would boggle your mind. But I give you two: The New York Times reported that the average internet user sees 11,000 ads per month. And the average Facebook user spends 50 minutes a day on Facebook and they receive 111 marketing impressions a day. This is the noise I am talking about. My heart and mind felt cleansed. Is it difficult for you finding time to receive ‘messages’ from God? Imagine if we became a little more willing to ‘Facebook’ with God or ‘Snapchat’ some of our favorite Gospel stories highlighting the words and deeds of Jesus. In one of the stories heard during ‘Be My Witness’ a woman Ginny speaks about how an obsession of hers became her “religion” because it offered her a deep sense of peace and solitude. Slowly she came to realize that these ‘other messages and means’ used to fill the empty spot inside of her left her feeling even emptier. Did you know that God ‘thirsts’ for us to know him. You can read it in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 2560. We can experience this when we move away from all the other ‘activities and pursuits that compete for our time’ and find the time to speak and pray with God. Be My Witness, a small faith group experience of conversations and prayer, helps you start to create this opportunity in your life. You will hear how others have become more in tune with how God is present in their daily lives and turn down a little of the distracting noise in your life. * * * * * We will begin Be My Witness at the end of September. You can sign up now by contacting our staff member Darrin Nelson at dnelson@stmaryswatchung.org. 

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“We all have a variety of activities and pursuits that compete for our time and attention … ” by Darrin Nelson