Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Saturday, November 7
4:00 PM Dorothy T. Cullen
Sunday, November 8
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:45 AM Pasquale and Nazarena Merolli
Monday, November 9
12:05 PM Bronislawa Drozzowska
Wednesday, November 11
9:00 AM Francis and Thomas Drinan, Fr. Robert Drinan, Catherine Braun and Jim McAnaney
Friday, November 13
12:05 PM The Myette Family
Saturday, November 14
9:00 AM Sally Cunneen
4:00 PM Deceased Members of the Knights of Columbus, Crozier Council
Sunday, November 15
9:00 AM Kathleen Johnson
10:30 AM Irene R. (Hanley) Delrossi
11:45 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S MASSES
Saturday, November 14
4:00 PM Fr. Imbelli
Sunday, November 15
9:00 AM Fr. Collins
10:30 AM Fr. Carey
11:45 AM Fr. Connelly
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, November 14 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR THE THIRTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Daniel 12:1-3
Second Reading: Hebrews 10:11-14, 18
Gospel Reading: Mark 13:24-32
VETERANS DAY
Wednesday, November 11, is Veterans Day. Mass will be celebrated at 9 AM in the Lower Church.
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS SPAGHETTI SUPPER
Once again, in appreciation for the support of the Parish toward the Council, the Knights of Columbus will hold their annual “Spaghetti Supper” on Saturday, November 14, after the 4 PM Liturgy. The Liturgy will be a Mass for the Deceased Members of Crozier Council. The dinner will be served in the Parish Center from 5 to 8 pm. All are invited. There is no charge.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
All Confirmation II students should make up any classes missed this term. Make-ups will be held prior to the next CCD class at 6:30-7 pm in the lower church. Please contact the Religious Education Office to report that your son/daughter will be attending the make-up session.
We are seeking aides in the classrooms during the Sunday and Tuesday programs. Due to large class size, additional help is needed to keep order and provide effective instruction. Please contact the Religious Education Office if you would like to offer your services.
Michelle Solomon, Director of Religious Education
HOLLY HARVEST FAIR
12 Days to Go – Are you ready?
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If you have any donations for the Raffle or Silent Auction, please let us know by November 16.
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We are still accepting donations for Grandma’s Attic. They can be brought directly to the gym on Friday, November 20, if more convenient.
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Have you selected your recipes for the Bake Table? (Please label – name of item and whether nuts, chocolate, etc. included.) Pies – food without nuts or chocolate – cookies, cupcakes, cakes – breads, fudge and jellies are popular.
We will be transferring items from the school to the gym on Thursday, November 19 at 2 p.m. We will really need help on Friday, November 20, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. setting up tables and decorating. All help will be greatly appreciated.
If you can help during the Fair on Saturday and/or Sunday, please call us. We hope to see you all November 21 and 22 – bring a friend and enjoy shopping and meeting friends at the Fair.
Barbara Hatem, Gloria Rausa-Thompson
617-969-2567, 617-969-2054
PROJECT RACHEL
Do you know someone who is carrying grief and sorrow over past abortions? Project Rachel is the post-abortion ministry of the Catholic Church to help those dealing with the pain of abortion. The Archdiocese of Boston Project Rachel will offer a “Come to the Waters” post abortion healing retreat on Saturday, November 21, 2009 from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm. For more information and/or registration, email help@projectrachelboston.com or call 508-651-3100 or visit projectrachelboston.com. All calls are confidential.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Weekend of October 31/November 1 $5,690
ALL SAINTS --- ALL SOULS
Last Sunday, we kept festival in honor of All Saints. We joined with the angels in joyful praise to the Son of God. Our Preface Prayer gave us an excellent summation of our celebration. It told us in words addressed to God the Father – "Around your throne, the saints, our brothers and sisters, sing your praise forever. Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us in your Church gives us inspiration and strength, as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith, eager to meet them." The Feast of All Saints underscores two fundamental truths:
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Our basic vocation, our very reason for existence, is holiness of life; and
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We are a pilgrim people. We have here in the Garden City no lasting home. Our destiny in history is God and his gift of eternal life.
Last Monday, we celebrated the Feast of All Souls. We remembered our loved ones who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. We said in prayer to God – "You are the glory of believers and the life of the just. Your Son redeemed us by his dying and rising. Since our sisters and brothers believed in Christ’s resurrection, let them now share in the joys and blessings of the life to come." The Feast of All Souls underscores two fundamental truths:
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Each one of us must say – "At some particular moment I shall die; at any particular moment I could die"; and
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Though we cannot choose the circumstances of our death, we can and will choose the sort of death we will die.
We can and we will choose the sort of death we will die. What does this mean? God takes the initiative in this love-drama of salvation by moving us from sin to the grace of faith. In other words, he justifies us and through the sacraments takes away our sins. This is God, out of no motive other than love, working within us and for us but without our cooperation. Then God works in cooperation with our freedom as he works from the grace of faith to the good works of faith. In other words, in spite of God’s initiating love, we are not forced to do good works. Good works, in other words, means growth in love of God and love of neighbor.
One significant truth to mention on the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls is the Doctrine of the Communion of Saints. Until the coming of the last day, the Church on earthly pilgrimage struggles through history, yet some members of the Church are already gathered up into the presence of the risen Christ or are at least assured of final victory. Between them and ourselves there is genuine communion. This teaching is hardly some new belief. Right from its very beginning, the Church has understood that the apostles, the martyrs and especially S. Mary are united with Christ in heaven and with all of us still on pilgrimage. While we do not have detailed knowledge of the present condition of the saints in heaven, we surely believe these sisters and brothers are irrevocably united with the risen Christ. Because this is so, they contribute to the upbuilding of the Church on earth through their holiness of life and their prayers. For our part, our faith finds inspiration from their lives, our path is made more sure by their example. Our response is to love these friends of Christ, to imitate their virtues, to ask for their prayers and to praise God in their company, especially during the Eucharistic Liturgy. As S. Augustine put it centuries ago when he was preaching on the feast day of two young martyrs, Perpetua and Felicity – "Let it not seem a small thing to us that we are members of the same body as Perpetua and Felicity. We marvel at them; they have compassion for us. We rejoice for them; they pray for us. Yet together we all serve one Lord, follow one Master, attend one King, we are joined to one head, we journey to one Jerusalem, we follow after one love, we embrace one unity."
As we reflect on the feasts of All Saints and All Souls, perhaps we can raise the question – What should we take with us on our final journey from death to life? When we move from city to city, we collect our possessions in a moving van. When we go on a picnic we bring with us some wine, cheese and other goodies for the road. The food that we must take on our final journey when the Lord calls us to himself is the Eucharist – our Bread of Life, food for the journey that death involves. What we cannot take with us, as we all know so well, are the treasures that we are able to assemble for ourselves this side of the grave. It was the great St. Augustine who said to us – “You have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you”. We know this truth because we could fill our hearts with all sorts of goods this side of the grave and never fully satisfy ourselves. In other words, our minds and hearts transcend everything created as they search for what is true, what is good, what is perfect truth, what is perfect good. This means that we wittingly or unwittingly are always seeking God.
“In his discourses on Psalm 127, this master of the spiritual journey distinguished between the more superficial desires reflected in human experience and the deeper, perhaps even unconscious desire that impels us on our journey through life. Imagine that God said to you that you could have anything you want in the world. You may have all the pleasure, honor, power, and wealth that you want. Nothing would be forbidden to you, and nothing you do would be a sin. You may have all this not only for a brief time, but forever. Only one condition is attached to this. You will never see God’s face. “Why is your heart struck when you hear ‘You shall never see my face’?” If you abound in the goods and pleasures of this world, what more do you desire? Augustine answers: ‘One thing I ask of the Lord, and only this do I seek: that I might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life’.” (Cf. Visions of the Future by Z. Hayes)
SIGNINGS
Good People,
Jesus warns us who to watch out for: "the scribes." Who are they in our world today? The description is simple. They love public honors. They are seen as people of education. They like to use a lot of words and they do all this at the expense of the poor.
Who is that in our world today? It would help to know what group fits that description so that we might not be overcome by them. This is not easy to discover. It is the quality of doing what is done at the expense of the poor that makes it hard to figure out.
Who is taking advantage of the poor so as to fund their worldly prestige? The cult leader who gives people false hope for wealth and cures and then tricks the poor and desperate out of their money? The highly-paid politician or professor who travels the world in gas guzzling jets giving long talks that force the third world into foregoing the benefit of cheap electricity to run much needed health clinics? These sound like benefits for a hypocrite and loss for the poor.
The answer is controversial. There are many different points of view. Some would say the Church leaders are themselves the group that best fits Christ's description.
One thing is for sure. We are rich in some ways and poor in others. When we follow Christ we become poor in the process because we pour out the riches we have to help those who are poor in the ways in which we are rich.
For those who make a profit off the poor, especially if they are in roles of service to those same poor - we should be very wary of them.
One lady I know was a nun for many years in an order of women who became MD's. They worked as doctors in Muslim countries in which there were many women in need of medical attention but who could not be seen by men. These religious women really gave generously and dramatically to do great good for others. Their loss of family and the comforts of life gave countless women in these foreign lands great benefit. Many of these countries now allow their women to become doctors for other women and the sister that I know lives in a Benedictine monastery now serving through prayer. She is not rich or famous from her dramatic service. She is a real Christian hero. She is generous. People who get rich and famous off the poor are not our heroes. They are to be suspected.
In Christ, Fr. St. Martin
CHANGING TABLE WANTED
Does anyone have a changing table in good condition that could be donated to Sacred Heart for use in the Parish Center? If you can help, call the rectory at 617-969-2248.
APARTMENT WANTED
A parishioner is looking for a large studio or a one bedroom apartment with parking and storage, preferably in the Newton/Watertown area. She would like to move by December 1. Rent is negotiable. If you have an apartment available, please call Maria at 617-243-0821.
ST. FRANCIS HOUSE
Thank you for your donations during the month of October. During November we are asking for condiments (mayonnaise, ketchup, salad dressings, etc.) You may drop these off during the month at the entrances to the Church.
SOCIAL JUSTICE FORUM NOVEMBER 22
The 18th Social Justice Forum on Sunday, November 22 at 7:30 PM will feature Professor Andrew Bacevich speaking on “The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. Andrew Bacevich is professor of history and international relations at BU, a graduate of the US Military Academy with a PhD in American diplomatic history from Princeton. Admission is free. Open to the public,
AUSTRIAN DELIGHT PASSION PLAY TRIP
A play of life and death, promised in a moment of mortal threat – so began the history of the Oberammergau Passion Play in 1633. Corpus Christi-St. Bernard Parish of Newton will sponsor a trip to the Passion Play, including visits to sites in Germany and Austria, from August 24-September 1, 2010. Cost for the trip is $3,899 per person/double occupancy. An information session will be held on Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 PM in Father Moore Hall at St. Bernard Church, 1529 Washington St., West Newton. For more details call 617-244-0608.
CALENDAR NOTES
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR:
Sunday, November 8 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – GRADES 1-5:
Sunday, November 8 – 10:30 to 11:45 AM – Lower Church
BOY SCOUTS:
Monday, November 9 – 7:30 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – Tuesday, November 10
GRADES 1-5: – 4:00 to 5:15 PM – Lower Church
GRADES 6-10: – 7:00 to 8:30 PM – Lower Church
GUILD OF ST FRANCIS “HOLLY HARVEST W/S”:
Tuesday, November 10 – 7:00 PM – Guild Room
PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING:
Thursday, November 12 – 7:30 PM – Convent (Library)
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY:
Saturday, Nov. 14 – 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS “SPAGHETTI SUPPER”:
Saturday, November 14 – 5-8 PM – Parish Center
WOMEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP:
Sunday, November 15 – 10:30 AM – Convent (DR)