Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Sunday, December 26
9:00 AM Louisa H. Murphy
11:45 AM Salvatore Lombardo, Judith and Nicola Lombardo
Monday, December 27
12:05 PM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
Sunday, January 2
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:45 AM Robert and Timothy Groden
READINGS FOR THE FEAST OF EPIPHANY
First Reading: Isaiah 60:1-6
Second Reading: Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
Gospel Reading: Matthew 2:1-12
SOLEMNITY OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
Saturday, January 1, is the Feast of Mary, Mother of God. Mass will be celebrated in the upper church at 10 AM. There will be no 4 PM Mass.
MASS SCHEDULE FOR EPIPHANY AND
THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD
On Sunday, January 2, Mass will follow the regular Sunday schedule of 9 AM, 10:30 AM (ASL) and 11:45 AM.
On January 8/9, the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we will return to the normal weekend schedule of Saturday Vigil Mass at 4:00 PM and Sunday Masses at 9:00, 10:30 (ASL) and 11:45 AM.
INTENTIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR THE MONTH OF JANUARY
General Intention: That the riches of the created world be preserved, valued and made available as God’s precious gift to all.
Mission Intention: That Christians may attain full unity, witnessing to all the universal fatherhood of God.
MASTER OF ARTS IN MINISTRY PROGRAM
FOR LAITY – Saint John’s Seminary
Learn more about your Catholic faith. Attend graduate evening courses for the laity. Register now for Spring classes which begin Tuesday, January 11, 2011. Classes will be held at 149 Washington Street, Brighton. For more information, call 617-779-4104 or visit: www.sjs.edu.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Because of an earlier than usual deadline for submission of the Bulletin no figures were available for the donation to the Clergy Fund. Our contribution will be reported at a later date. Thank you all for your generosity in caring for those who have served the Lord.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
There will be no CCD classes on Sunday or Tuesday during the Christmas break. Classes resume for the Sunday program on Jan. 16th and Tuesday, Jan. 18th. Please note that there will be no classes on Jan. 2nd and Jan 9th for the Sunday program and no classes for the Tuesday program on Jan 4th and 11th!
There will be a workshop for all CCD teachers on Sunday, Jan 9th from 5-7:00pm in the Convent. We will have a special guest. All please attend!
A Blessed New Year to All.
Michelle Solomon, Dir. of RE
COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE
The College of Saint Mary Magdalen in Warner, NH is pleased to offer a four year, academic, full tuition scholarship in honor of Pope Benedict XVI to be awarded to an eligible incoming freshman who has written a compelling essay in response to one of Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclicals – Deus Caritas Est, Spe Salvi, or Caritas In Veritate. Submission deadline is January 15, 2011. In order to be considered, the student must also have been admitted to the College or have submitted the necessary information for admission by January 15. For eligibility requirements, contest details or to schedule a visit, go to www.magdalen.edu and contact Lauren Hardegen in the Admissions Office at 603-456-2656 or Admission@magdalen.edu.
Thomas More College in Merrimack, NH invites all high school seniors to join us through the “2011 Faith and Reason Essay Contest” in pondering how the rich heritage of the Church’s culture can offer hope to the world today. To learn more, visit www.ThomasMoreCollege.edu or contact the Director of Admissions, Mark Schwerdt at 800-880-8308.
PILGRIMAGE TO POLAND
March 4-12, 2011
Once again, the faculty, students and staff of St. John’s Seminary will be traveling on pilgrimage to Poland from March 4 to 12, 2011. They will be visiting the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, the former concentration camp at Auschwitz, as well as places associated with Pope John Paul II, St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Faustina. The trip will include daily Mass at historic locations. Cost of the trip is $2,899 per person (double occupany).
For additional information, please contact Dr. Aldona Lingertat – Director of M.A.M. at 617-779-4104.
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
MARRIED COUPLES - IT'S NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION TIME. Resolve to start a new love affair with your spouse that's beyond your wildest dreams. It can happen on a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. Sign up soon so you can renew your love for one another. The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends in New England are January 14-16, February 11-13, and March 18-20. For more information call Ralph & Jane Becker at 1-800-710-WWME or visit our webpage at www.wwmeMARI.org
SAVE THE DATE!
The next Social Justice Forum will take place on Sunday evening, January 30, at 7:30 p.m. in the lower church. The speaker will be Gordon Martin, who will talk about his new book – “Count Them One by One: Black Mississippians – Fighting for the Right to Vote”.
SIGNINGS
Jesus comes to us from heaven and takes on our human nature in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He is born into our world at Christmas and now we see in the Gospel today he becomes the child in the adventure of a human family.
Many people think that being in a family is constraining, holds us back, stifles our ambition and options, and is boring but they are all wrong. It is only in the family that we have freedom, adventure, meaning, drama, and any real success or failure, tragedy and triumph. Outside the family we have only rules and bland disappointment. Inside the home we have challenges that will turn our hair white and make us saints.
The Holy Family that Jesus was born into shows us this drama and adventure. Their plans for a nice quiet life are like all families’ plans for a nice quiet life upended. They end up in great danger without support of family and friends. Holiness didn't protect them from danger, it gave them more danger than they would have had if they were not a family and not a holy family.
If you are looking for adventure, love, meaning, satisfaction, the best things, live your family life to the fullest and become the holy family. If you are looking for boring regiment, a life of futility leading to the everlasting pit; flee the family and certainly do not try to be the holy family.
We have two choices: one is great, the other awful. Do not be afraid to be afraid and enter anew the dangerous family you are in as Jesus enters the danger of ours anew at this Christmas Season.
In Christ, Fr. St. Martin
HELP NEEDED FOR ILL PARISHIONER
Homemaker needed in January for ill female Sacred Heart parishioner. Part-time, paid position, 5 days a week. Please contact Dr. Catherine Mintzer at 617-864-0029.
CALENDAR NOTES
FEAST OF THE HOLY FAMILY MASS SCHEDULE:
Sunday, December 26 – 9:00, 10:30, 11:45 AM
NO COFFEE HOUR IN THE PARISH CENTER:
AFTER THE 9 OR 10:30 AM MASSES
PRAYER GROUP:
Wednesday, December 29 – 7:30 PM – Convent Chapel
HOLYDAY MASS – MARY, MOTHER OF GOD:
Saturday, January 1 – 10:00 AM – Upper Church
NO 4:00 PM MASS
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR:
Sunday, January 2 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center