Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Saturday, February 6
4:00 PM Henry, Mary & Paul Brisette
Sunday, February 7
9:00 AM Michael J. Fairley
10:30 AM John Augustine Riley
11:45 AM Leo and Ann Waters
Monday, February 8
12:05 PM Irene Sontag
Tuesday, February 9
7:00 AM Giovanni, Bica and Fernando Santini
Wednesday, February 10
7:00 AM Christina Marsh
Saturday, February 13
4:00 PM Donald J. Burke
Sunday, February 14
9:00 AM Markham H. Lyons, Sr.
11:45 AM William R. Murphy and Laurinda Herlihy
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S MASSES
Saturday, February 13
4:00 PM Fr. Connelly
Sunday, February 14
9:00 AM Fr. Connelly
10:30 AM Fr. St. Martin
11:45 AM Fr. Imbelli
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, February 13 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR THE SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Jeremiah 17:5-8
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15:12, 16-20
Gospel Reading: Luke 6:17, 20-26
PARISH PASTORAL PLANNING
Did you read your letter from your Parish Pastoral Council? Pastoral planning is the process of praying and thinking together about the pastoral needs and projects of Sacred Heart Parish. This entails a realistic assessment of the present, looks toward the future and establishes goals and concrete actions to move the parish forward. The PPC has been working on a Mission Statement that speaks of who we are and what we do. The draft statement follows:
Sacred Heart is a welcoming and diverse Catholic parish called by our Risen Lord Jesus Christ to a common mission of Discipleship. We gather to celebrate the Eucharist, live the Gospel and serve others in His name.
Join in the conversation...what are your thoughts on present and future?? Contact your PPC members.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
There will be no Sunday, Feb 14 CCD classes or Tuesday, Feb 16th CCD classes due to the Winter Vacation. However, all classes will be held for the Sunday CCD program on Feb. 21st. Grade 2 Sacramental preparation students particularly need to be present on this date in order to be sufficiently prepared for receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Please mark your calendars.
Our Confirmation Speaker Series continues this week on Tuesday, Feb 9th from 7-8:30 pm with Mr. & Mrs. Paul Collela from the Marriage Ministry of the Archdiocese of Boston, who will speak on the Sacrament of Marriage. Any parents of CCD students and all parishioners are warmly invited to join us! The complete speaker schedule is on tables at all entrances of the church. Come and learn with us!
Michelle Solomon, Religious Ed. Director
GUILD OF SAINT FRANCIS NEWS
DON’T FORGET the Guild of St. Francis will hold a “Book and Bake Sale” this Sunday, February 7, in the Parish Center during Coffee Hour.
SAVE THE DATE! The next Guild event will be Family Night on Saturday, March 13th. More information will follow next week.
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
Valentine’s Day is coming soon. Need a special gift for your spouse? Why not enjoy a special weekend of communication, reflection and time away from your hectic schedule? The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends in New England are February 12-14 and March 5-7. For more information call Ralph & Jane Becker at 1-800-710-WWME or visit the webpage www.wwmeMA.org.
INTENTIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY
General Intention: That scholars and intellectuals, by sincere search for the truth, may come to know the one true God.
Mission Intention: That the Church, aware of its missionary identity, may strive to follow Christ faithfully and to proclaim his gospel to all peoples.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Weekend of January 30/31 $4,431
Collection for Haiti (as of 1/31/10) $9,754
“THE LIGHT IS ON FOR YOU”
Over the next few weeks, this column will be suggesting a few thoughts about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or the Sacrament of Penance as I prefer to call it. Some folks must think there is something wrong with the Sacrament because so few find it an important factor in their life in Christ. I’m not denying that there is something wrong with the Sacrament, but I want to say that, if there is something wrong, it is not on God’s part. Well, who’s at fault? My own thought is as follows. Yes, confessors are certainly to blame, and people are to be blamed, and the purpose of my columns will be to see why they are to blame and what can be done to remedy the situation.
Meanwhile, I would like to introduce the readers of this column to a new initiative which our bishop has asked us to follow during the season of Lent, specifically, on the Wednesday evenings of February 24, March 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31. The bishop’s letter reads as follows:
“Allow me this opportunity to share with you that in the coming year the Archdiocese will begin a new initiative ‘The Light is on for You,’ in support of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. This follows from discussions that took place during the Presbyteral Council meetings earlier this year and my acceptance of a recommendation made by a committee chaired by Bishop Robert Hennessey. Both the Council discussions and the committee report came to the conclusion that the bishops and priests of the Archdiocese can, with a focused effort, bring about a renewal of the sacrament in our Archdiocese. Similar initiatives in other dioceses, notably Baltimore and Washington, D.C., have achieved this goal.
Essential to the success of this plan is that all of the bishops and priests in the Archdiocese participate, and that confession be heard in every worship site in the Archdiocese at specified times on specified dates. For this reason, I am asking you to join me in being available to hear individual, private confessions, at your parish or a nearby worship site, from 6:30 to 8:00 PM on the Wednesday evenings of Lent 2010 (Feb. 24, March 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31). The auxiliary bishops and Archdiocesan priests not assigned to parishes (e.g., seminary faculty, central ministries, will be invited to hear confessions on each of the designated evenings. Also, I am encouraging senior priests and religious order priests who are not assigned to parishes to participate. As part of our own preparation, the auxiliary bishops and Fr. Coyle will be scheduling a time and place in each region for priests to have a particular opportunity for individual, private confession in the weeks leading up to February 24, 2010.
We will publicize this initiative, to raise awareness and encourage participation, and you will be provided catechetical materials, for parish use and distribution, in advance of February 24, 2010. In the coming weeks we will be contacting you, concerning scheduling the auxiliary bishops and priests not assigned to parishes, the availability of priests for parishes with multiple worship sites, and other information pertaining to the program.
Thank you for your attention to the planning for this program and scheduling your participation at the designated times. This initiative will provide us an important opportunity to fulfill one of the most sacred duties given us at ordination, absolving people of their sins, in the name of Jesus Christ. In this Year for the Priest, through the intercession of St. John Vianney, may we follow his example of service to those whom the Lord has entrusted to our care.”
When growing up in St. Peter’s Parish in Dorchester, everybody, it seemed to me, went to Mass on Sunday, everybody went to the May Procession, Corpus Christi Procession, and Candlemas Procession; the confessional lines were very long. In many households on Saturdays, people were as faithful to the weekly confession as they were to the weekly bath. We should discuss some of these matters when we have more space.
One of the other items in Catholic culture which was high on everybody’s list was the Blessing of the Throats on February 3, the Feast of St. Blaise. Some folks will probably find this latter item incredible. If you have a sore throat, you go to the doctor but, if anybody thinks that the blessing of throats is presented as a substitute for a flu shot, then what we call the widespread ignorance about the faith seems even more widespread than anyone would have thought. I think in the next week or so, I will talk about blessings and the blessing of throats at greater length. Perhaps I could set the scene for it at this time. We should remember, as the Church teaches us, that “Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems that trouble the human spirit. Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with greater courage....Part of the plan laid out by God’s providence is that we should fight strenuously against all sickness and carefully seek the blessings of good health, so that we may fulfill our role in human society and in the Church.” This quote from the Book of Blessings is at the root of the mystery of faith, that is, we render to God the power and glory that belongs to God. This means that blessings center above all on giving glory to God as we seek quite legitimately through prayers of petition the good things God gives us. Every human being, given the fact of sin and given the fact as well that the world is set in sin, is very much concerned with the problem of evil. So this is why, as one writer suggests, when throats are blessed, God is praised, healing for body and soul is implored, strength to fight the good fight against evil is given to us and thus gospel-witness continues in the world. More on this later.
Father Connelly
SIGNINGS
Good People,
Peter is ready to leave it all and follow Christ. Like Isaiah in the first reading, Peter is a man who knows he is not worthy for the job. He does not submit his resume. He does not give Christ his "best sell." Peter, like Isaiah before him, does the opposite.
Imagine finding the dream company, your dream job. Imagine you have always wanted to become a pilot for a 747. Imagine that there is a new fleet ready with the best 747's ever made and so after graduating from 747 school you approach the company for the job.
We all know what we would normally do in that situation. But if we were like Isaiah or Peter we would find the owner of the company and fall down at the feet of this man and say, "do not ask me to fly these planes. I am not worthy. I am a terrible pilot. I am a plane crasher from a long line of people who know only how to crash planes."
The analogy doesn't fly straight, but the point is that the proclamation of the Kingdom of God is so wonderful and good, the only response to it that any one of us can make when asked to help is: "I am not qualified."
Recognizing one's infinite inability to be worthy of the task is itself the qualifying characteristic. And it makes us ready to be made ready through God's mercy, His grace, His love. We are not worthy and we cannot make ourselves become worthy, but God can make us worthy and will do so.
So Peter and Isaiah were a great success. Really it was God who was a great success in them. They were humble and in touch with their unworthiness.
If you too are in touch with your unworthiness, you are a perfect candidate for hire in the work of proclaiming the Kingdom of God.
If you think you are worthy to be chosen, you got it all backwards.
In Christ, Fr. St. Martin
ST. FRANCIS HOUSE
Thank you for your continued generosity to St. Francis House. The items needed for February are hot cereals. You can place your donations in the shopping cart or in any of the boxes located at the Church entrances.
PANCAKE BREAKFAST AT CCSB TO BENEFIT HAITI DISASTER RELIEF
Sunday, February 7 from 8 AM to 1 PM, CCSB will have a pancake breakfast at Corpus Christi Parish hall, 41 Ash Street, Auburndale. Admission is $4 per person, $10 per family.
THOMAS MORE COLLEGE OPEN HOUSE
On Monday, February 15, Thomas More College is hosting its annual Winter Open House. All high school seniors, juniors, and their families are encouraged to attend classes, have lunch, converse with students, and meet with professors. Located in scenic Merrimack, NH, Thomas More College provides a Great Books education that is firmly rooted in the Catholic tradition. All students learn Iconography in our unique Way of Beauty program and spend a full semester on our Rome campus at no extra cost. Tuition is low and scholarships are available. For more information, and to register, please contact the admissions office at 1-800-880-8308 or email us at admissions@ThomasMoreCollege.edu. Overnight guests are welcome.
RETREAT FOR YOUNG ADULTS – March 5-7
Young Adults need Jesus Christ Today! If you are seeking truth, joy and love, they are found in the heart of Jesus. Join with other young adults in their 20s and 30s for a weekend to open up, rekindle or deepen your relationship with Christ. The retreat will combine Mass and Adoration, inspiring talks and witnesses, personal prayer and many opportunities to meet other young adults throughout the Greater Boston area. The retreat is co-presented by the Antioch Retreat Group and y.H.o.p.e (Young Heralds of Pauline Evangelization) and will be held at the beautiful Daughters of St. Paul Retreat House in Billerica. It begins on Friday evening, March 5 and ends Sunday afternoon, March 7. For more information or to register for the retreat, email Bernadette Michaud at Bmich777@hotmail.com or Fr. Michael Harrington at Mharrington527@gmail.com.
CALENDAR NOTES
GUILD OF ST. FRANCIS “BOOK AND BAKE SALE”:
Sunday, February 7 – 10 AM to 12:30 PM – Parish Center
WOMEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP:
Sunday, February 7 – 10:30 AM – Convent (DR)
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – GRADES 1-5:
Sunday, February 7 – 10:30 to 11:45 AM – Lower Church
BOY SCOUTS:
Monday, February 8 – 7:30 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION: Tuesday, February 9
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, February 10 – 7:30 PM – Convent
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS:
Wednesday, February 10 – 8:00 PM – Convent (DR)
PARISH PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING:
Thursday, February 11 – 7:30 PM – Convent (Library)
COFFEE HOUR:
Friday, February 12 – Following 9 AM Mass – Parish Center
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY:
Saturday, February 13 – 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church