Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Saturday, July 11
4:00 PM Russell Pizzoglio
Sunday, July 12
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:45 AM Edmund Capodilupo
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S MASSES
Saturday, July 11
4:00 PM Fr. Connelly
Sunday, July 12
9:00 AM Fr. Fr. Connelly
10:30 AM Fr. St. Martin
11:45 AM Fr. Fr. Imbelli
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, July 11 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR THE FIFTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Amos 7:12-15
Second Reading Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel Reading: Mark 6:7-13
BLACK AND NATIVE AMERICAN COLLECTION
Next weekend we will have our annual collection to support programs for Black and Native American populations. Proceeds from this collection are distributed as grants to dioceses supporting and strengthening evangelization programs, which would otherwise be in danger of disappearing among the Black, American Indian, Eskimo and Aleut communities of the United States. Your generosity is appreciated.
2009 CATHOLIC APPEAL
We still have $5,886 to raise before we reach our parish goal of $45,500. Thank you to the 116 families who have already contributed. If you have not yet given, please consider a gift today. Remember, our parish will receive 25 percent of all funds we raise above our goal. So each gift has the potential to increase parish revenue while still supporting the ministries funded by Catholic Appeal. The Appeal is to the Archdiocese what the offertory is to our parish. You can pick up information packets at the Church entrances or for more information, please call 617-779-3700, or visit www.BostonCatholicAppeal.com. Every gift matters. Thank you!
ST. FRANCIS HOUSE
Items needed for July are condiments – salad dressings, mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc. Donations may be placed in the cart or the containers at the church entrances.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
We have many committed catechists and many wonderful ideas for religious education programs for our children and families. So we need parents and parishioners to get involved and share your talents and gifts to build up our faith and parish family life! In God’s house “there are many mansions” and therefore many roles you can play in our Religious Education program. Right now, we are looking for new teachers for both our Tuesday and Sunday program. Will you share your gifts of faith, hope and love with our children? Please contact the religious education office now, so that we can plan for this upcoming year. I look forward to hearing from you by phone or email: religious.education@sacredheart.ws!
We are also in need of TAT and KCS instructors for the upcoming year. These individuals are responsible for teaching the catechists how to implement the personal safety/abuse prevention education programs in the classrooms. If you are interested in learning more about this important and necessary part of our CCD program and would like to become a “trainer to train the trainers” please contact the religious education office by phone or email.
CCD registration forms have been sent out this week to families. Please return them before you forget about them for the summer! Early registration helps plan for how many CCD teachers we will be needing for the upcoming year. If you have not received a registration form and would like to receive one, please call the Religious Education office. Also there are registration forms and calendars for the new 2009-2010 CCD year in the back of the upper and lower church and at all side entrances. Please pick one up and return it soon!
Our 1st Communion pictures have arrived and they are beautiful! Don’t forget to pick them up before you leave for vacation! They can be picked up during regular business hours, at the rectory.
Michelle Solomon, Director of R.E.
MIKE LOWELL TO APPEAR ON CATHOLICTV
“This is the Day” Talk Show on Catholic TV will feature Red Sox 3rd baseman Mike Lowell at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, July 7 with rebroadcast at 8 PM and also streamed live at www.CatholicTV.com.
ARISE
TOGETHER IN CHRIST
SEASON 3 – In the Footsteps of Christ
October 4 – November 13
Registration: September 12 – 20
Save the dates and spread the word!!
THE PERFECTION OF LOVE
The apostles were so much like ourselves, or perhaps I should say – we are so much like the apostles. We want to follow the Lord Jesus; we want to do the Father’s will; we know this means love of God and love of neighbor, that is, love even for those who do not love us in return. Does not the Lord Jesus say to us – If you love those who love you, what’s so special about that; even the pagans do that. Love of enemy is at the heart of the Lord’s teaching. It seems to be a uniquely Christian teaching.
This came to mind recently as I read in the pages of the Magnificat some words, both humorous and right to the point, of St. Thomas More who was put to death under the reign of King Henry VIII. Thomas More writes:
“Bear no malice or evil will to any man living, for either the man is good or wicked. If he is good and I hate him, then I am wicked. If he is wicked, either he will amend and die good and go to God, or live wickedly and die wickedly and go to the devil. And then let me remember that if he be saved, he will not fail (if I am saved too, as I trust to be) to love me very heartily, and I shall then in like manner love him. And why should I now, then, hate one for this while who shall hereafter love me forevermore, and why should I be now, then, an enemy to him with whom I shall in time be coupled in eternal friendship?”
We can now listen to St. Augustine writing in his commentary on the Gospel of John. The subject of this particular reflection is the title of our column – “The Perfection of Love”:
“Dear brethren, the Lord has marked out for us the fullness of love that we ought to have for each other. He tells us: No one has greater love than the man who lays down his life for his friends. In these words, the Lord tells us what the perfect love we should have for one another involves. John, the evangelist who recorded them, draws the conclusion in one of his letters: As Christ laid down his life for us, so we too ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. We should indeed love one another as he loved us, he who laid down his life for us.
This is surely what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon: If you sit down to eat at the table of a ruler, observe carefully what is set before you; then stretch out your hand, knowing that you must provide the same kind of meal yourself. What is this ruler’s table if not the one at which we receive the body and blood of him who laid down his life for us? What does it mean to sit at this table if not to approach it with humility? What does it mean to observe carefully what is set before you if not to meditate devoutly on so great a gift? What does it mean to stretch out one’s hand, knowing that one must provide the same kind of meal oneself, if not what I have just said: as Christ laid down his life for us, so we in our turn ought to lay down our lives for our brothers? This is what the apostle Paul said: Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we might follow in his footsteps.
This is what is meant by providing “that same kind of meal.” This is what the blessed martyrs did with such burning love. If we are to give true meaning to our celebration of their memorials, to our approaching the Lord’s table in the very banquet at which they were fed, we must, like them, provide “the same kind of meal.”
At this table of the Lord we do not commemorate the martyrs in the same way as we commemorate others who rest in peace. We do not pray for the martyrs as we pray for those others, rather, they pray for us, that we may follow in their footsteps. They practiced the perfect love of which the Lord said there could be none greater. They provided “the same kind of meal” as they had themselves received at the Lord’s table.
This must not be understood as saying that we can be the Lord’s equals by bearing witness to him to the extent of shedding our blood. He had the power of laying down his life; we by contrast cannot choose the length of our lives, and we die even if it is against our will. He, by dying, destroyed death in himself; we are freed from death only in his death. His body did not see corruption; our body will see corruption and only then be clothed through him in incorruption at the end of the world. He needed no help from us in saving us; without him we can do nothing. He gave himself to us as the vine to the branches; apart from him we cannot have life.
Finally, even if brothers die for brothers, yet no martyr by shedding his blood brings forgiveness for the sins of his brothers, as Christ brought forgiveness to us. In this he gave us, not an example to imitate but a reason for rejoicing. Inasmuch, then, as they shed their blood for their brothers, the martyrs provided “the same kind of meal” as they had received at the Lord’s table. Let us then love one another as Christ also loved us and gave himself up for us.”
Father Connelly
POST-COMMUNION PRAYER FOR
THE SOLEMNITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI
Lord Jesus Christ, you give us your body and blood in the Eucharist as a sign that even now we share your life.
May we come to possess it completely in the kingdom where you live for ever and ever.
ATTENTION GARDENERS
We all enjoy the lovely plants and flowers in full bloom around our property. Barbara Hatem is our wonderful gardener and keeps the flowers watered and nourished. However, Barbara is asking for help with the watering. If you have the time to help her with this task, will you please call her at 617-969-2567?
MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
Give your marriage a well deserved vacation. Plan to go on a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend and come back with a marriage that is refreshed and full of energy! The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends in New England are July 17-19, September 25-27 and October 23-25. For more information call Ralph and Jane Becker at 1-800-710-WWME or visit our webpage at www.wwmeMA.org.
CCSB SPONSORS A DAY AT TANGLEWOOD
Sunday, July 26 at 10:30 AM the bus leaves St. Bernard’s parking lot to head to Lenox to hear Harris Symphony No. 3, Thompson’s Five Songs from William Blake, Barber Songs with Orchestra, Bernstein Symphony No 2, The Age of Anxiety Conductor – David Robertson. Bus and Entrance fee is $47 per person. Bring your lunch or purchase on site. Reservations can be made by calling Claire Palmer at 617-332-4913. Leave a message with name, phone, and number of tickets. Make check payable to CCSB Parish with Tanglewood bus trip in notes section. Bring or mail check to Corpus Christi-St. Bernard Parish, 1529 Washington St., West Newton, MA 02465. Deadline July 5, 2009.
BETHANY HOUSE MINISTRIES
On September 26th Bethany House Ministries will hold an auction at St. Thomas Parish Hall in Millis. We are looking for donations of an eclectic ensemble of treasures such as jewelry, antiques, vintage books, furniture, china, kitchenware, household items, tools, collectables, and bric-a-brac. All proceeds from the auction will help to support Bethany House Ministries, our non-profit charitable organization. The event promises not only to be a fun and friendly experience but also an investment in the future of someone in need. If you can help us, please contact either Sr. Kathleen or Ruth at 508-376-9923 or email us at bethanyosfop@aol.com. All donations can be dropped off at our Bethany House Hope Chest at 1134 Main Street in Millis. Pick ups can be arranged by calling either Gary or Vy at 508-376-0824.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Because of the Independence Day holiday, our Bulletin had to go to press before the weekend of June 27/28. Income information for both weekends – June 27/28 and July 4/5 – will be reported in next weekend’s Bulletin.
“SIGNINGS”
Good People,
To think that we can limit God's power to save us seems wrong. And yet this is what seems to come across in the Gospel.
We can limit God's power to save us, however. Why? God lets us. He does not force us to do his will. A young man might long for the love of a special young woman but he can't force her into love. Love is freely chosen.
We can choose to complain and become stubborn against God. We can refuse to accept that when it happens and we can refuse God's ever ready mercy. God permits us to do that. He does everything possible to stop us of course. He is madly in love with us so he even sacrifices His Son for us. What could be more amazing than that?
We, however, can and do reject Him all the time. We refuse and prevent His saving love all the time. We choose misery instead of joy. We choose our own personal hell instead of Heaven all the time.
Why? I do not know. Jesus experienced our stubbornness in his own home town more than in other places. I think we can be like that sometimes too. We can be friendly to people we don't know and mean to the people in our own family. We need to be careful of that.
God will not force us to love Him. Jesus did not force the people of His home town to believe in Him. If we choose hell, we choose it. If we choose to reject His love, our choice is made.
Who does that, you might ask? We do it when we refuse to receive his forgiveness in the sacrament of reconciliation or when we refuse to go to Sunday Mass.
In Christ,
Fr. St. Martin
CALENDAR NOTES
COFFEE HOUR AFTER THE ASL MASS:
Sunday, July 5 – 11:30 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS:
Wednesday, July 8 – 8 PM – Convent (DR)
COFFEE HOUR:
Friday, July 10 – Following 9 AM Mass – Parish Center
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY:
Saturday, July 11 – 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church
COFFEE HOUR AFTER THE ASL MASS:
Sunday, July 12 – 11:30 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center