Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Saturday, December 19
4:00 PM Lewis Manfredi
Sunday, December 20
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
10:30 AM Joseph L. Schafer
11:45 AM Frances and Charles Gale
Monday, December 21
12:05 PM Aurora Rausa
Saturday, December 26
9:00 AM Louisa Murphy
4:00 PM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
Sunday, December 27
9:00 AM Father Charles McCoy
11:45 AM Salvatore Lombardo, Nicole Lombardo and Judith Maria Panetta
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, December 26 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
CHRISTMAS COLLECTION –
CLERGY BENEFIT TRUST
At all our Christmas Masses, our only collection will be to support the retirement, medical and financial needs of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston. On behalf of all of our priests, thank you in advance for your generosity.
MASS SCHEDULE FOR THE FEASTS OF CHRISTMAS, THE HOLY FAMILY AND OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
The Feast of Christmas is celebrated on Friday this year. The Mass schedule for the Vigil of Christmas and Christmas Day is as follows:
Thursday, December 24 – Vigil of Christmas
4:00 PM (English)
7:00 PM (American Sign Language)
Friday, December 25 – Christmas
12:01 Midnight (English)
10:00 AM (English)
The 4:00 PM Mass in the upper church is always crowded; the maximum number of seats is 500 with no saving seats or standing permitted. People are invited to celebrate Mass in the lower church at the same time. Please plan ahead.
December 26/27 – Feast of the Holy Family
Regular weekend Mass schedule
January 1, 2010 – Mary, Mother of God
10:00 AM (Upper Church)
CHRISTMAS GIFT DRIVE
Thank you to all of our incredibly generous parishioners for once again making the Christmas gift drive a tremendous success. We collected over 300 gifts for St. Ambrose Family Inn, Julie’s Family Learning Program, New England Home for the Deaf and The Learning Center for the Deaf’s Walden School. The staff and volunteers at the agencies were as always overwhelmed by your generosity.
A special thank you to the rectory staff for collecting the gifts dropped there; to Michelle, Marty and Christopher Solomon and members of the Confirmation class for help checking in and organizing the gifts as they were received at the party; to members of the Deaf community who helped with the transfer of gifts to the convent; to Nadine Gan for her invaluable help at the end when all gifts must be reconciled with the lists; and to Winnie Murphy for help and support throughout the process. The true spirit of Christmas sharing and giving is manifested every year in this project!
Beverly Spencer
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
The excitement for Christmas morning is growing daily as our students yearn to receive that perfect present! We try to keep their minds and hearts on giving their own presents by making cards for those families who will receive the food bags donated by the parish, and on cards for our parishioners who are homebound or in nursing homes. On our way to Christmas morning, we will stop at the Nativity scene and ponder how our Savior, the Son of God, is truly our most perfect gift hidden in the lowly wrappings of a tiny infant lying in the manger of a stable. If we have taken the time to prepare and ponder this great mystery, we won’t be disappointed on Christmas morning!
CCD Calendar through mid-January:
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Sunday, Dec. 20 & Tuesday, Dec. 22: CCD classes held as usual.
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Sunday, Dec. 27 & Tuesday, Dec 29: No CCD classes
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Sunday, Jan. 3 & Tuesday, Jan. 5: No CCD classes (Teacher workshop instead)
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Tuesday, Jan. 5th: Teacher’s workshop for all teachers in Convent from 7-8:30 pm.
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Sunday, Jan. 10 & Tuesday, Jan. 12: All CCD classes resume.
Have a happy and holy Christmas Season!
Michelle Solomon, Director of Religious Education
BENEDICT XVI: MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY OF PEACE (JANUARY 1, 2010)
If You Want To Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation
1. At the beginning of this New Year, I wish to offer heartfelt greetings of peace to all Christian communities, international leaders, and people of good will throughout the world. For this XLIII World Day of Peace I have chosen the theme: If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation. Respect for creation is of immense consequence, not least because “creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God’s works”, and its preservation has now become essential for the pacific coexistence of mankind. Man’s inhumanity to man has given rise to numerous threats to peace and to authentic and integral human development – wars, international and regional conflicts, acts of terrorism, and violations of human rights. Yet no less troubling are the threats arising from the neglect – if not downright misuse – of the earth and the natural goods that God has given us. For this reason, it is imperative that mankind renew and strengthen “that covenant between human beings and the environment, which should mirror the creative love of God, from whom we come and towards whom we are journeying”.
2. In my Encyclical Caritas in Veritate, I noted that integral human development is closely linked to the obligations which flow from man’s relationship with the natural environment. The environment must be seen as God’s gift to all people, and the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all humanity, especially the poor and future generations. I also observed that whenever nature, and human beings in particular, are seen merely as products of chance or an evolutionary determinism, our overall sense of responsibility wanes. On the other hand, seeing creation as God’s gift to humanity helps us understand our vocation and worth as human beings. With the Psalmist, we can exclaim with wonder: “When I look at your heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and the stars which you have established; what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps 8:4-5). Contemplating the beauty of creation inspires us to recognize the love of the Creator, that Love which “moves the sun and the other stars”.
3. Twenty years ago, Pope John Paul II devoted his Message for the World Day of Peace to the theme: Peace with God the Creator, Peace with All of Creation. He emphasized our relationship, as God’s creatures, with the universe all around us. “In our day”, he wrote, “there is a growing awareness that world peace is threatened … also by a lack of due respect for nature”. He added that “ecological awareness, rather than being downplayed, needs to be helped to develop and mature, and find fitting expression in concrete programmes and initiatives”. Previous Popes had spoken of the relationship between human beings and the environment. In 1971, for example, on the eightieth anniversary of Leo XIII’s Encyclical Rerum Novarum, Paul VI pointed out that “by an ill-considered exploitation of nature (man) risks destroying it and becoming in his turn the victim of this degradation”. He added that “not only is the material environment becoming a permanent menace – pollution and refuse, new illnesses and absolute destructive capacity – but the human framework is no longer under man’s control, thus creating an environment for tomorrow which may well be intolerable. This is a wide-ranging social problem which concerns the entire human family”.
4. Without entering into the merit of specific technical solutions, the Church is nonetheless concerned, as an “expert in humanity”, to call attention to the relationship between the Creator, human beings and the created order. In 1990 John Paul II had spoken of an “ecological crisis” and, in highlighting its primarily ethical character, pointed to the “urgent moral need for a new solidarity”. His appeal is all the more pressing today, in the face of signs of a growing crisis which it would be irresponsible not to take seriously. Can we remain indifferent before the problems associated with such realities as climate change, desertification, the deterioration and loss of productivity in vast agricultural areas, the pollution of rivers and aquifers, the loss of biodiversity, the increase of natural catastrophes and the deforestation of equatorial and tropical regions? Can we disregard the growing phenomenon of “environmental refugees”, people who are forced by the degradation of their natural habitat to forsake it – and often their possessions as well – in order to face the dangers and uncertainties of forced displacement? Can we remain impassive in the face of actual and potential conflicts involving access to natural resources? All these are issues with a profound impact on the exercise of human rights, such as the right to life.
(To Be Continued)
PREFACE OF ADVENT II
Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord.
His future coming was proclaimed by all the prophets. The virgin mother bore him in her womb with love beyond all telling. John the Baptist was his herald and made him known when at last he came.
In his love Christ has filled us with joy as we prepare to celebrate his birth, so that when he comes he may find us watching in prayer, our hearts filled with wonder and praise.
And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise: Holy, holy, holy...
SIGNINGS
Good People,
The supreme point of today's gospel message is happiness. The word blessed is an excellent way to say happiness. Mary is a happy person. She is happy in God. Living in God is happiness. God is supremely happy. He made us to love and so to be happy. He is love and is therefore loving and eternally and fully happy. God is blessed indeed.
Mary is happy because she knows God is happy. She therefore wants to do what God wants. That is so simple. Her cousin says it. Mary is blessed, happy, because she has trusted God. Mary does what God wants with enthusiasm. Clearly, that makes supreme sense. God is good after all.
In the second reading we see Jesus as the one who proclaims Himself the one who has come to do the will of God. That is to say that Jesus knows God is God, indeed He is Himself God, and knows as man that therefore the meaning of happiness, freedom, joy, fullness of life, utter fulfillment, i.e. blessedness is eagerly doing the will of the Father.
As we draw closer to God again this Christmas we are coming to be healed of our unhappiness and with eyes wide open look with joy more and more to do the will of the good God and become happy and blessed indeed.
In Christ,
Fr. St. Martin
ON-GOING GIVING OPPORTUNITIES
Bridge Over Troubled Waters: It is not too late to send in or deliver a check made out to Sacred Heart Parish to support our Arise initiative to furnish a room for an 18-year-old pregnant young woman.
Giving Tree: Write the name of person you wish to honor on a paper ornament and hang it on the Giving Tree in the gathering space. Place your donation in the box provided. All donations will be used for the youth of the parish – both hearing and deaf – to honor the memory of Roy Monroe.
St. Francis House: For December – instant coffee and tea.
Save the Date: February 6, 2010 for a Beatrice Family Fund Dinner Dance. Go to www.beatricefamilyfund.com for more information.
LABOURÉ COLLEGE
Labouré College, 2120 Dorchester Avenue, Boston, MA 02124 is offering information sessions on their Associate Degree Program in Nursing on Wednesdays, January 6, February 3, March 3 or April 21, 2010 at 2 p.m. or 5:30 p.m. For further information or to reserve a space, please contact the Admissions Office at 617-296-8300, ext. 4016 or visit: www.laboure.edu.
CHILDREN’S KARATE PROGRAM
We will offer a class on Tuesdays at the MacKenzie Center from 5:30 – 6:15 PM for beginner and returning students. New session begins January 5, 2010 and ends February 9, 2010.
The karate class consists of learning the basics of karate which include punches, kicks, and blocks. Games are used to incorporate and practice skills learned. Stranger danger skills including basic self defense skills such as verbal boundary setting and physical self defense against hand grabs, pushes, etc.
Cost for new students is $90.00 which includes 6-week session and uniform. Returning student cost is $60.
Instructor is Marisa Cimino, Fourth Degree Black Belt in Shorin-Ryu Karate. Please call 617-332-7220.
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
Married Couples: The greatest gift you can give your children is two parents very much in love with each other. The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend in New England is January 8-10. For more information, visit www.wwmeMA.org. or call Ralph & Jane Becker at 1-800-710-WWME
OFFERTORY INCOME
Weekend of December 12/13 $5,405
CALENDAR NOTES
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR:
Sunday, December 20 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – GRADES 1 TO 5:
Sunday, December 20 – 10:30 to 11:45 AM – Lower Church
BOY SCOUTS:
Monday, December 21 – 7:30 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – Tuesday, December 22
Grades 1-5: – 4:00 to 5:15 PM – Lower Church
Grades 6-10: – 7:00 to 8:30 PM – Lower Church
PRAYER GROUP:
Wednesday, December 23 – 7:30 PM – Convent (Chapel)
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS:
Wednesday, December 23 – 8 PM – Convent (DR)
CHRISTMAS VIGIL MASSES:
Thursday, December 24 – 4:00 PM – Upper and Lower Ch.
7:00 PM – ASL – Upper Church
CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULE:
Friday, December 25 – 12:01 AM – Upper Church
10:00 AM – Upper Church
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY:
Saturday, December 26– 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR:
Sunday, December 27 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center