The New Jersey Catholic Conference of Bishops has agreed to lift the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass, as of the celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi (June 6).  Please read the announcement.

Back in 2010, Tyler Clementi left Ridgewood to start school at Rutgers, New Brunswick. Prior to leaving home, he informed his parents that he is gay.  One night, he invited a man back to his dorm room and his roommate, unknowing to Tyler, live streamed this very private encounter online. Tyler was a very shy and private young man and was just beginning to share his orientation publicly.  As Tyler continued to read the jokes and comments online about his encounter, his reality spiraled out of control and he made a permanent decision to a temporary situation.  On September 22, 2010 Tyler died by suicide.  After a period of grieving, his parents Jane and Joseph Clementi formed the Tyler Clementi Foundation. Jane is now the CEO. She will be our June Zoom guest on Tuesday, June 22, 2021, and speak about the need to end all online and offline bullying, in schools, workplaces, and faith communities.  Email the parish  at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for the Zoom link, which arrives the day before.

We invite you to sign an LGBTQ youth anti-bullying pledge on our website, www.olghoboken.com. Cardinal Tobin was among 18 members of the church hierarchy to sign it. Your name is kept private.

"As Catholic Bishops in the United States, we join with the Tyler Clementi Foundation in standing up for at-risk LGBT youth in our country. As we see in the Gospels, Jesus Christ taught love, mercy and welcome for all people, especially for those who felt persecuted or marginalized in any way; and the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that LGBT people are to be treated with respect, compassion and sensitivity.”

We invite all our LGBT brothers and sisters, their family and friends to join us for our 4th Annual Pride Mass on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at 10:30 Mass at Our Lady of Grace Church, 400 Willow Ave., Hoboken. Please reach out to others and let them know they are welcome.

We began our parish LGBT outreach called, “LGBTQ at Grace,” after our archbishop, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, welcomed a gay pilgrimage to our Sacred Heart Cathedral in Newark in May 2017. The following year he invited 20 LGBT Catholics to the cathedral for dinner and a discussion. Our LGBT leader, Gary Stavella, and Christine Zuba, our May parish Zoom chat guest speaker, attended. Since then, we have held meetings pre-COVID and now on Zoom.

People ask me, “Why do you have a Pride Mass?” Because we believe the lives of all people are worth dignity and respect and we have failed as a Church to do that with our LGBT brothers and sisters. That is part of our official catechism.  Pope Francis has asked us to go to the peripheries to find people who have been estranged, disenfranchised or rejected and bring them into the fold.  As we prepare to celebrate our Fourth Annual Pride Mass, we reflect on how inclusive Jesus was and how we need to bring that quality to our parish and Church.

Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin has written a beautiful pastoral letter on the Eucharist.  You can access it in English and in Spanish here:  www.rcan.org/cardinal-joseph-tobin-pastoral-letter

Tickets for the parish's bimonthly raffle are available after Mass. The next winner will be drawn on June 28.  You may take some tickets home to sell to family, neighbors and co-workers. Or contact Socorro Martinez at the Parish Center (201-659-0369), and she will mail them to you.  Thank you for your support!

Please consider making a Mass or memorial intention for 2021 at Our Lady of Grace or St. Joseph.  You may reserve 2021 Mass intentions by calling OLG at 201-659-0369 or stopping by the OLG Parish Center (411 Clinton St.).  For St. Joseph, please call 201-659-0221.  You may also complete the form on the church tables and mail it in or drop it in the collection or at the Parish Center or St. Joseph Rectory.