THIS WEEK’S READINGS
Exodus 16:2-4,9-15, Psalm 78:23-29, Ephesians 4:1-16, John 6:24-35

THIS WEEK'S WORSHIP SCHEDULE

Sunday
10 AM The Holy Eucharist (bulletin)

Wednesday
10 AM The Holy Eucharist

This Sunday we welcome the Rev. Pamela Bakal as our visiting priest. 

SUNDAY SCHOOL . . . will meet on August 11 at 10 AM for grade school age children (kindergarten to 5th grade). After their lesson and activity, the children will join the congregation for communion. 

THE CHILDREN'S SERVICE . . . will resume in September.

ABOUT THE SEASON AFTER PENTECOST . . . The Season after Pentecost is the “ordinary time” of the Church, the time of the Church’s pilgrimage on her way to the Kingdom of God. During these weeks between Pentecost and Advent the Church explores her life, role and place in the narrative that began with Creation (and the fall) and leads to the Redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ and the empowerment of the Church by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost to be Christ’s Body, carrying out Christ’s mission, until his coming again.

UPDATE FROM FR. ANTHONY . . . 

August 1, 2024
 
Dear friends,
 
The summer months are moving by quickly as they always seem to do. I miss all of you, and I think about our church community every day. These past few months have been challenging, insightful, strange and joyful. I have learned new things and met some wonderful people.  But, I am ready to come home to Grace Church and Westwood.
 
I have entered the final phase of the course. I have completed and passed the academic requirements, the Army Combat Fitness Test, the 7.5-mile ruck march and the height and weight standards. Only a handful of students who began the course have had to drop out, but thankfully they can attend the course again next summer.
 
The final graded event is our capstone project which is a four-day field test. We will be expected to provide religious support, pastoral care, and basic medical assistance in a battlefield environment with limited sleep in a quick-moving, high-stress environment. The final test of the field exercise will be a 10-mile ruck with all of our gear. 
 
If I complete the capstone project, I will graduate on August 16.  The Bishop of the Armed Forces and Federal Ministries, The Right Rev. Ann Ritonia, and the New Jersey State Chaplain, Lieutenant Colonel Heather Simon, will attend the graduation ceremony for which I am grateful. The ceremony will conclude at 11 AM and I will be on a flight home at 3 PM.
 
I will take a two-week vacation when I return home. The Puca 3 will do some local traveling and visit family. I will return to Grace Church on Tuesday, September 3. I appreciate the patience, love, and support all of you have given me and my family.  I can’t wait to celebrate the Holy Eucharist together on Sunday, September 8. We have a good year ahead of us. 
 
Peace,
Anthony+

FATHER ANTHONY WILL BE ON MILITARY LEAVE . . . from May 10 to August 16 as he attends the Chaplain Basic Officer Leadership Course at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. Father Anthony will learn skills expected of every officer in the US Army in addition to training specific to chaplains. He will return to Grace Church right after Labor Day. Please hold Father Anthony, Paula and Anthony III in your prayers.

Almighty God, we commend to your gracious care and keeping Father Anthony Puca, our priest, rector and friend. Bless him every day with your heavenly grace; strengthen him in all the trials he may face, fill him with the joy of new learnings and new friendships and grant him the sense of your abiding presence in all of his endeavors.  Then at the end of his service, bring him safely home, so that, surrounded by the love of this community, he may with renewed vigor continue the work of your kingdom at Grace Church. All this we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.