Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Sunday, May 23
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:45 AM James O’Donaghue
Wednesday, May 26
7:00 AM Bronislawa Drozdzowska
Friday, May 28
12:05 PM Maria Bautista
Sunday, May 30
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
10:30 AM First Communion
11:45 AM Mary and Biagio Morelli
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S MASSES
Saturday, May 29
4:00 PM Fr. Connelly
Sunday, May 30
9:00 AM Fr. Imbelli
10:30 AM Fr. St. Martin
11:45 AM Fr. Connelly
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, May 29 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR TRINITY SUNDAY
First Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31
Second Reading: Romans 5:1-5
Gospel Reading: John 16:12-15
GUILD OF SAINT FRANCIS MASS, COMMUNION BREAKFAST AND GENERAL MEETING
The Mass for the living and deceased members of the Guild of Saint Francis will be celebrated at 9 AM on Sunday, June 6, followed by a Communion Breakfast and Annual Meeting at the parish center. The guest speaker this year is Dr. Maura D. Iversen, Professor and Chair of the Department of Physical Therapy at Northeastern University, and Assistant Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. She will be speaking on “Exercise and Physical Activity: New ‘Medicine’ for Arthritis”. The cost is $15 per person and reservations must be in by June 2nd. We will not be able to accept guests at the door without a reservation. Please call Sally Daly at 617-527-4468 or Mary English at 617-332-8656 for questions or reservations. All family members are invited. Please send checks made payable to Guild of St. Francis to Sally Daly at 138 Lincoln Street, Newton Highlands, MA 02461.
SAINT FRANCIS HOUSE
Please remember our ongoing support of St. Francis House. The item needed for the month of May is sugar.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
Last week our 1st Communicants received the Body and Blood of Christ for the first time! As the church overflowed with families and friends, the 1st Communicants became one with Christ and with His Church in the Holy Eucharist. It was both solemn and joyful. We pray they and their families will come to His table always, to receive the strength and holiness for living a happy life.
Here is a list of our 1st Communicants:
Alejandro Begaro-Criado, Adam Bernhardt, Ysabella Dacanay, Danielle DiNisco, Bjorn Dittrich, Jurgen Dittrich, Henry Harkins, Elizabeth Hoppe, Lucy Jrolf, Ethan Kuo, Maximillian Lustig, Matteo Marino, Jorge Martinez, Claire Masterson, Albert Materdey, Caroline Murray, Diego Segura, Sebastian Stuparich Novel, Alisha Stadnicki, Andrew Stadnicki, and Maggie Winters.
The parish-wide celebration in the MacKenzie Center echoed the joy of this occasion! Thanks to Paulette Adams and Ginny Adams for their organization and planning of this event, and for the help of Stephanie Bucci and our own Confirmation students, all of whom made this event so special for the parish and families of 1st Communicants. The food was bountiful and delicious!
The Grade 7 CCD class will be collecting items to be sent to Haiti through the Catholic organization Moving with the Spirit. The items will be distributed to an orphanage, school and health clinic in Haiti. All items will be sorted by the Religious Education classes. If you have any new or gently-used children and adult summer clothing, shoes, personal hygiene items, general first aid items, small toys, stuffed animals, sport balls and Tonka trucks, please drop them off in the lower church in front of St. Anthony during regular business hours or until 7 pm on Tuesday, May 25th. A more complete list of items needed is on a flyer in the back of the church. Thank you for your generosity to our brothers and sisters in Haiti!
Our Confirmation II students will attend an all day retreat on Saturday, June 19 at St. Mary of the Hills Parish in Milton from 10 am-4:45 pm. All students must attend in order to prepare to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on October 23, 2010. Please call the Rel. Ed office to confirm that your son/daughter will be attending. We are in need of parents who will help carpool.
CCD classes will be ending for the summer – the Sunday program on May 23, and the Tuesday classes on May 25th.
Michelle Solomon., RE Director
OFFERTORY INCOME
Weekend of May 15/16 $5,320
GOD DOES HIS DIVINE THINGS SO HUMANLY!
The best way to understand the mystery of faith being celebrated in the Liturgy at any given time is to reflect on what we call the Preface Prayer. There are two Preface Prayers for the celebration of Christ’s glorious ascension into heaven.
“Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. Today the Lord Jesus, the king of glory, the conqueror of sin and death, ascended to heaven while the angels sang his praises. Christ, the mediator between God and man, judge of the world and Lord of all, has passed beyond our sight, not to abandon us but to be our hope. Christ is the beginning, the head of the church; where he has gone, we hope to follow. The joy of the resurrection and ascension renews the whole world, while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory: Holy...”
“Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks through Jesus Christ our Lord. In his risen body he plainly showed himself to his disciples and was taken up to heaven in their sight to claim for us a share in his divine life. And so, with all the choirs of angels in heaven we proclaim your glory and join in their unending hymn of praise: Holy...”
The Preface Prayer that we will be using today, the Feast of Pentecost, goes as follows: “Father, all-powerful and ever-living God, we do well always and everywhere to give you thanks. Today you sent the Holy Spirit on those marked out to be your children by sharing the life of your only Son, and so you brought the paschal mystery to its completion. Today we celebrate the great beginning of your Church when the Holy Spirit made know to all peoples the one true God, and created from the many languages of man one voice to profess one faith. The joy of the resurrection renews the whole world, while the choirs of heaven sing for ever to your glory: Holy”
Saint Augustine speaks of the Lord’s Ascension in these words: “The Lord Jesus did not leave heaven when he came among us at the first Christmas; and he did not leave us when he returned to heaven on the day of his glorious ascension.” The Lord Jesus did not go away on some well-deserved vacation. He now remains more active then ever and is no longer bound by time and geography as he works what the Father wills for all believers all over the Catholic World. This is what our Opening Prayer last Sunday was all about: “Father, help us keep in mind that Christ our Savior lives with you in glory and promised to remain with us until the end of time.”
In the light of the above, we might seek to develop our understanding of these matters by asking three questions from the Compendium of the Catholic Church.
In what way is God the Father the source and goal of the Liturgy? Through the liturgy the Father fills us with his blessings in the Word made flesh who died and rose for us and pours into our hearts the Holy Spirit. At the same time, the Church blesses the Father by her worship, praise, and thanksgiving and begs him for the gift of his Son and the Holy Spirit.
What is the Lord Jesus doing in the Church’s celebration of the Liturgy? In the liturgy of the Church, it is his own paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. By giving the Holy Spirit to his apostles he entrusted to them and their successors the power to make present the work of salvation through the Eucharistic sacrifice and the sacraments, in which he himself acts to communicate his grace to the faithful of all times and places throughout the world.
What is the Holy Spirit doing in the Liturgy of the Church? The very closest cooperation is at work in the liturgy between the Holy Spirit and the Church. The Holy Spirit prepares the Church to encounter her Lord. He recalls and manifests Christ to the faith of the assembly. He makes the mystery of Christ really present. He unites the Church to the life and mission of Christ and makes the gift of communion bear fruit in the Church.
Father Connelly
PRAYER TO THE BLESSED TRINITY
Omnipotence of the Father,
help my weakness
and draw it out of the depth of it misery.
Wisdom of the Son,
direct all my thoughts,
words, and actions.
Love of the Holy Spirit,
be the beginning
of all the operations of my soul,
so that they may always
be conformed to the Divine good pleasure.
Let us fervently desire the Holy Spirit;
where the Spirit of God reigns,
holiness is found.
Saint Therese Couderc
Foundress of the
Cenacle Congregation
SIGNINGS
Today we remember that day a year ago when God gave us a new priest, Fr. Shawn. We will also remember this season as a time to celebrate First Communion. We remember today as the first time the Church experienced the fire of the Holy Spirit about 2000 years ago. That was the day the Church was born. The birthday of the Church!
All these gifts to us fill us with joy. Fr. Shawn's priesthood has been a great gift to all of us. I have had the privilege of sharing my gift of hearing with him. He has shared with me and the people we serve the rare and wondrous gifts that come from being deaf. He has shared his "deaf eyes" with me, often acting as a deaf interpreter for me. He has also continued to share the language of ASL with me so that I can be a better priest. We have been on the road preaching the Gospel and this has brought many to believe! What a gift!
First Communion candidates are given the gift of Jesus as their life-long friend and strength and they look forward to the gift of the Holy Spirit to be fully given in Confirmation.
We all rejoice because of that gift of the Holy Spirit which gives Fr. Shawn his priestly power and makes the Eucharist present in the Church.
The Holy Spirit lives in us this day. It gives different gifts to each one. Each one, then, is dependent on the other. We need to depend on each other's gifts so that all of us become one in Christ, through the Holy Spirit's power, for the Glory of God the Father. Amen!
In Christ, Fr. St. Martin
PREACHING TO CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNITIES
The Church in the 21st Century is sponsoring a free workshop for priests, deacons, religious, catechists, laity and those interested in preaching to cross cultural communities on Thursday, June 17, at Boston College, Heights Room, Corcoran Commons, from noon to 4:30 pm. To register, email church21@bc.edu or call 617-552-0470.
MONTROSE SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAM
Come improve your writing and grammar skills, prepare for Algebra I, discover how much fun math really is, or jump-start your college search this summer at Montrose School. Girls in grades 5-12 are encouraged to explore four summer courses being offered in two sessions (Session I: July 19-23 and Session II: July 26-30) All courses are from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM and cost $300. Find out more at http://www.montroseschool.org/summer%20program.html or contact the Summer Program Director Mrs. Kim Lynch at klynch@montroseschool.org
MASTER OF ARTS IN MINISTRY SUMMER PROGRAMS
Come and learn more about your Catholic faith. Tuesday evenings from 6-9 pm, Sessions I and 2 start May 25, Session 3 begins June 16. Visit www.sjs.edu for registration or call 617-779-4104.
CHRIST SPEAKS IN THE CITY SCHEDULE
Wednesday, June 2, 2010, Rev. Roger Landry, Executive Editor of The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River and Pastor, St. Anthony of Padua Parish in New Bedford will speak on: “How Everyone Profits from the Year for Priests: St. John Vianney’s Down-to-Earth Wisdom For Every Catholic.”
SUMMER BIBLICAL STUDIES SEMINAR
To commemorate the Year for Priests Prof. Celia Sirios will teach a summer seminar on the Priesthood of Christ in the Letter to the Hebrews. This series is offered at no cost on the four Mondays of June from 7-9 PM at 147 Washington St., Brighton at the Master of Arts in Ministry Program of St. John’s Seminary. Please spread the word and consider attending. Visit www.sjs.edu or call 617-779-4104 for more information.
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY
A reminder that the prayer shawl makers will meet on Tuesday, May 25 at 7 PM at the home of Peg Miller. Newcomers are welcome. Email peg.miller@sacredheart or call 617-969-2248 for directions or more information.
CALENDAR NOTES
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – Grades 1-5:
Sunday, May 23 – 10:30 AM to 11:45 AM – Lower Church
SOCIAL JUSTICE FORUM:
Sunday, May 23 – 7:30 PM – Lower Church
BOY SCOUTS:
Monday, May 24 – 7:30 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – Tuesday, May 25:
Grades 1-5 – 4:00 to 5:15 PM – Lower Church
Grades 6-10 – 7:00 to 8:30 PM – Lower Church
PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY:
Tuesday, May 25 – 7 PM at the home of Peg Miller
PRAYER GROUP:
Wednesday, May 26 – 7:30 PM – Convent Chapel
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS:
Wednesday, May 26 – 8:00 PM – Convent (DR)
COFFEE HOUR:
Friday, May 28 – Following 9 AM Mass – Parish Center
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY:
Saturday, May 29 – 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR:
Sunday, May 30 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center