RECONCILIATION:  Saturday, 1:00 p.m.

BAPTISM:  Baptisms are scheduled once a month on Sunday afternoons except during Lent.  Expectant parents are asked to contact the rectory to schedule an appointment at least three months before the desired date of the Baptism.  Parents must attend a special catechetical session prior to the Baptism.

 MARRIAGE:  Couples should contact the rectory one year in advance of the proposed wedding date in order to allow for the proper pre-marital preparation.  At least one person must be a registered parishoner of Holy Family.

 ANNOINTING OF THE SICK:  This is a sacrament not only for those who are at the point of death.  As soon as anyone begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, we encourage you to call for a priest in the rectory.

 HOLY ORDERS:  Women and men who feel called to the religious life, and men called to Holy Orders should contact the Vocations Office at (973) 497-4365.

BAPTISM:  The baptism of John the Baptizer is thought to stem from the rabinical custom of baptizing proselytes who had converted to the faith of Isral.  This seems to be a remembrance of the baptism of the Jewish people received in crossing the sea to acquire the law at Sinai and to attain the promised land.  The events of the Exodus foreshadowed the iminent coming of the Lord.  Jesus himself underwent baptism to inaugurate his mission.  He thus became one with the Jewish people and took personal charge of them.  In this sense, baptism was a preparation for the cross.  After the Redemption, baptism became a sacrament for entering a new state of grace, the way of regeneration to the divine life.