Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Friday, February 13
9:00 AM - Giovanni and Fernando Santini
Saturday, February 14
9:00 AM - William R. Murphy and Laurinda Herlihy
4:00 PM - Markham H. Lyons, Sr.
Sunday, February 15
9:00 AM - Judy McAvinn
10:30 AM - Kiran Ramanathan and Paul Shea
11:45 AM - Frances Small
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S MASSES
Saturday, February 14
4:00 PM - Fr. Connelly
Sunday, February 15
9:00 AM - Fr. Connelly
10:30 AM - Fr. St. Martin
11:45 AM - Fr. Imbelli
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, February 14 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Leviticus 13:1-2, 44-46
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:40-45
GUILD OF ST. FRANCIS’ "BOOK AND BAKE SALE"
Sunday, February 8, 2009
The Guild of Saint Francis will hold a "Bake and Book Sale" this Sunday from 10 AM to 12:30 PM. Donations of baked goods are welcome and can be dropped off before the 9 AM Mass at the kitchen door entrance to the Parish Center.
PRAYERS FOR RELIGIOUS VOCATIONS
You are invited to join the Missionary Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception to pray for Religious Vocations on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 from 2–3 pm. at Mount Alvernia High School Chapel, 790 Centre St., Newton MA. All are Welcome.
ST. FRANCIS HOUSE
The items needed for St. Francis House for February are hot cereals. You can place your donations in the shopping cart or any of the boxes located at the Church entrances.
OFFERTORY INCOME AND SPECIAL COLLECTION
Weekend of January 31/February 1 $4,777.
Church in Latin America $ 859.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
Please note that CCD classes will not be held on Feb. 15th, the first Sunday of winter vacation. However, CCD classes will be held on the last Sunday of winter vacation, Feb. 22, 2009! There will be no Tuesday CCD classes for the afternoon or evening program on Feb 17th during winter vacation week.
There will be a meeting for all parents of students receiving 1st Communion on Thursday, Feb 12th in the Convent from 7:30-8:45 pm. At least one parent needs to attend this workshop. Please mark your calendars for this important event!
Michelle Solomon, Religious Ed. Dir.
HELP YOUR NEIGHBORS
One of our Arise Groups last season purchased gift cards at local supermarkets for us to distribute to the needy who come to the door of the rectory. The supply is no longer adequate for our needs. Anyone willing to contribute to this worthwhile cause is invited to drop off gift cards at the rectory. In these difficult times some people must choose between heat and food when their funds do not cover both.
CALENDAR NOTES
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Sunday, February 8 – 9:00 AM (ASL) – Lower Church, Sunday, February 8 – 10:30 AM – Lower Church
GUILD OF ST. FRANCIS "BOOK AND BAKE SALE": Sunday, February 8 – 10 AM to 12:30 PM – Parish Center
FIRST PENANCE WORKSHOP: Sunday, February 8 – 10:30 AM – Parish Center
WOMEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP: Sunday, February 8 – 10:30 AM – Convent (DR)
LETTERS OF ST. PAUL: Monday, February 9 – 7:30 PM – Convent (Library)
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – GRADES 1-5: Tuesday, February 10 – 4 to 5:15 PM – Lower Church
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – GRADES 6-10: Tuesday, February 10 – 7 to 8:30 PM – Lower Church
PRAYER GROUP: Wednesday, February 11 – 7:30 PM – Convent (Chapel)
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS: Wednesday, February 11 – 8 PM – Convent (DR)
PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING: Thursday, February 12 – 7:30 PM – Convent (Lib.)
FIRST COMMUNION MEETING: Thursday, February 12 – 7:30 PM – Convent
COFFEE HOUR: Friday, February 13 – 9:45 AM – Parish Center
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY: Saturday, February 14 – 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR: Sunday, February 15 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center
CATHOLIC-JEWISH DIALOGUE
On Sunday evening, January 25, 2009, the 14th Social Justice Forum here in the parish focused on "Vatican II – Nostra Aetate – Social Justice Implications". The two Latin words in this title are the first two words of the first paragraph of the Vatican Council’s "Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to non-Christian Religions". That paragraph reads as follows: "In our time, when day by day mankind is being drawn closer together, and the ties between different peoples are becoming stronger, the Church examines more closely her relationship to non-Christian religions. In her task of promoting unity and love among men, indeed among nations, she considers above all in this declaration what men have in common and what draws them to fellowship."
The Christian-Jewish dialogue in general and the Catholic-Jewish dialogue in particular are tremendously important matters of concern. The issues involved are deeply theological and must be dealt with as such. Perhaps in this column we could talk about some of these theological issues over the next few weeks. To start with we all ought to have the chance to read the official text from the Second Vatican Council. In the first paragraph, the text points to the fact that all peoples comprise a single community and have a single origin since God made the whole human race to dwell over the entire face of the earth. One also is their final goal: God. His providence, His manifestation of goodness and His saving design extend to all peoples everywhere. The document then goes on to make brief reference to our Hindu brothers and sisters, and to our Moslem brothers and sisters. In paragraph four it begins a more extended reflection on our Jewish brothers and sisters. What follows is the rest of the document.
"As the sacred synod searches into the mystery of the Church, it remembers the bond that spiritually ties the people of the New Covenant to Abraham's stock.
Thus the Church of Christ acknowledges that, according to God's saving design, the beginnings of her faith and her election are found already among the Patriarchs, Moses and the prophets. She professes that all who believe in Christ-Abraham's sons according to faith-are included in the same Patriarch's call, and likewise that the salvation of the Church is mysteriously foreshadowed by the chosen people's exodus from the land of bondage. The Church, therefore, cannot forget that she received the revelation of the Old Testament through the people with whom God in His inexpressible mercy concluded the Ancient Covenant. Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles. Indeed, the Church believes that by His cross Christ, Our Peace, reconciled Jews and Gentiles. making both one in Himself.
The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen: "theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh" (Rom. 9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish people.
As Holy Scripture testifies, Jerusalem did not recognize the time of her visitation, nor did the Jews in large number, accept the Gospel; indeed not a few opposed its spreading. Nevertheless, God holds the Jews most dear for the sake of their Fathers; He does not repent of the gifts He makes or of the calls He issues-such is the witness of the Apostle. In company with the Prophets and the same Apostle, the Church awaits that day, known to God alone, on which all peoples will address the Lord in a single voice and "serve him shoulder to shoulder" (Soph. 3:9).
Since the spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews is thus so great, this sacred synod wants to foster and recommend that mutual understanding and respect which is the fruit, above all, of biblical and theological studies as well as of fraternal dialogues.
True, the Jewish authorities and those who followed their lead pressed for the death of Christ; still, what happened in His passion cannot be charged against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today. Although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures. All should see to it, then, that in catechetical work or in the preaching of the word of God they do not teach anything that does not conform to the truth of the Gospel and the spirit of Christ.
Furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.
Besides, as the Church has always held and holds now, Christ underwent His passion and death freely, because of the sins of men and out of infinite love, in order that all may reach salvation. It is, therefore, the burden of the Church's preaching to proclaim the cross of Christ as the sign of God's all-embracing love and as the fountain from which every grace flows.
We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that
Scripture says: "He who does not love does not know God" (1 John 4:8).
No foundation therefore remains for any theory or practice that leads to discrimination between man and man or people and people, so far as their human dignity and the rights flowing from it are concerned.
The Church reproves, as foreign to the mind of Christ, any discrimination against men or harassment of them because of their race, color, condition of life, or religion. On the contrary, following in the footsteps of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, this sacred synod ardently implores the Christian faithful to "maintain good fellowship among the nations" (1 Peter 2:12), and, if possible, to live for their part in peace with all men, so that they may truly be sons of the Father who is in heaven."
Father Connelly
P.S.: Recently Pope Benedict XVI made the following remark during his weekly General Audience: "While I renew with affection the expression of my full and unquestionable solidarity with our Jewish brothers, I hope the memory of the Shoah (Holocaust) will induce humanity to reflect on the unpredictable power of hate when it conquers the heart of man". The Holocaust, he added, must be a "warning against oblivion, negation or reductionism because violence against even one human being is violence against all". In the light of this quotation from our Holy Father, it should seem obvious to all that anyone who claims to be a Catholic Christian and is not striving with all his or her might to affirm what the Holy Father has affirmed may in some way be a sociological Catholic-Christian but has no share in God’s Gospel.
INTENTIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY
General Intention: That the Church’s pastors may be ever more docile to the action of the Holy Spirit as they teach and serve the people of God.
Mission Intention: Guided by the Second Special Assembly of the African Synod of Bishops, may the local Church find effective ways to promote reconciliation, justice and peace.
LIFT – CATHOLIC WORSHIP FOR A NEW GENERATION
Join us for LIFT – an exciting monthly worship event which includes vibrant praise and worship music, dynamic, challenging speakers and Eucharistic Adoration. On Tuesday, February 17 we welcome Cardinal Seán O’Malley as speaker. The evening takes place from 7:00–9:00 PM at Fontbonne Academy, 930 Brook Road, Milton. For directions or more information go to www.liftedhgher.com.
SIGNINGS
Parish news, especially of interest to our deaf parishionersGood People,
Paul teaches us about what we should expect from all our work.
Paul worked very hard to make the Church grow. He was a famous Church worker in the early days of the Church.
He compared himself to a slave! That is how hard he worked. He didn't take a lot of vacations. He was traveling around all the time teaching and helping people to pray to Jesus and to form his community of love on earth – the Church.
He wrote lots of letters to help people from a distance when they became confused or discouraged. He never stopped working.
Now we try to work too. We travel to Mass and bring our children to religious education classes. We bring them up to be people of prayer. We support each other by being there for each other in difficult times and by sharing good times together too. Some of you help out with Mass as readers and by helping to distribute Communion when that is needed. Some of you drive older members of our community to Church. Together we do fundraisers to help support the church and the institutions of learning that help the Church such as the Friendship Cup. Some of you live your marriage and care for your kids in times of need with a love that inspires us all. Some of you pray more than you need to for yourself and that helps us all.
What should we expect will happen from all our sacrifices and prayer and work?
What did Paul say he expected? He thought that some people would be saved. He expected that from all his work a few people would be truly connected with God and live the life of heaven. He thought that there would not be big numbers of people who would benefit from all his work.
So why should we? We should not be surprised if our work does not have a big effect in many people’s lives. But isn’t this discouraging?
Why is St. Paul not discouraged? The value of even one person turning to really become united with Christ as he draws us to himself through His Church is worth everything.
That is what St. Paul understood from Jesus. He gave his whole self on the cross even if it meant just saving you. You are worth that much. Let’s keep working. Even if we save one it is all worth it.
In Christ,
Fr. St. Martin