Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
Saturday, November 27
4:00 PM Joseph Scichilone
Sunday, November 28
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:45 AM Gerard Paglia
Saturday, December 4
4:00 PM Enrico & Annunciata Tonelli
Sunday, December 5
9:00 AM Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:45 AM Pasquale Nuzzi
CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEKEND’S MASSES
Saturday, December 4
4:00 PM Fr. Imbelli
Sunday, December 5
9:00 AM Fr. Connelly
10:30 AM Fr. Carey
11:45 AM Fr. Connelly
CONFESSIONS
Saturday, December 4 – 2:00 to 3:30 PM – Fr. Connelly
READINGS FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
First Reading: Isaiah 11:1-10
Second Reading: Romans 15:4-9
Gospel Reading: Matthew 3:1-12
ADVENT SEASON
A new Church year begins this weekend with the FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT. We enter Cycle A in our Scripture readings and follow the gospel of Matthew.
Here at Sacred Heart Parish, we offer our Advent Giving Program as an opportunity to respond to the needs of our neighbors – near and far.
Gift Card selections for St. Ambrose Family Inn in Boston, Julie’s Family Learning Program, Dorchester, New England Home for the Deaf in Framingham
Giving Tree located in the gathering space accepts donations to help support youth activities for deaf and hearing in the parish
Food collection for the Missionaries of Charity in Dorchester for distribution to needy individuals and families. This is coordinated through the religious education program.
We encourage all parishioners to support at least one of these outreach opportunities.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Because of an early publication deadline, figures for the weekend of November 20/21 were not yet available.
SACRED HEART FAMILY PICTORIAL DIRECTORY
Remember to sign up now for your picture session for our Parish Directory. The first photo sessions are this Monday and Tuesday Nov. 29/30 in the Convent Library. Spaces are still available for the sessions on Dec. 17/18, and Jan. 4-8 from 2:00 to 9:20 pm in the lower church. Participants will receive a free portrait and directory. Call Peg at the rectory 617-969-2248 if you have questions.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS
There will be no CCD classes today due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
Stay awake and be ready this new Advent season! Help us to lead our children away from another year of getting presents as the way to happiness. The season of Advent beckons us to something more than marathon shopping trips, parties and getting what we want; for when this season is over we and our children will inevitably feel empty in spite of all we have gotten.
This season get or make an Advent wreath and place it in a central place as a daily reminder to turn away from the culture. Use the lighting of the Advent wreath to keep your family thinking of the mystery of God coming to be with his people to show us the way to true happiness. Light the candles and read the story of our Savior coming in poverty and humility rather than pomp and riches. Christ shows us that the source of all happiness is His love. There are Advent wreath packets for families to take home at the entrances of the church and at CCD classes. Happy Advent!
Please consider sharing your wealth with those who are suffering this season. Our CCD classes will be collecting food bags to give to the Missionaries of Charity in Dorchester. They will distribute them to families in need. There are many more families in need this year than ever before.
Please fill the food bags with the following items and bring them down to the lower church by Tuesday, December 14, 2010:
1 bottle of vegetable oil
1 bag of rice
1 jar of Spaghetti sauce
1 box of pasta
1 box of cereal
1 jar of peanut butter
1 jar of jelly
1 can each of: peas/carrots/corn
1 can of cranberry sauce
1 can of gravy
Michelle Solomon, Director of RE
’TIS THE ADVENT SEASON
Advent has a two-fold character: as a season to prepare for Christmas when Christ’s first coming to us is remembered, and as a season when that remembrance directs our mind and heart to await Christ’s second coming at the end of time.
HYMN
On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Awake and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of kings.
Then cleansed by ev’ry heart from sin,
Make straight the way of God within;
O let us all our hearts prepare
For Christ to come and enter there.
For you are man’s salvation, Lord,
Our refuge and our great reward;
Once more upon your people shine,
And fill the world with love divine.
To God the Son all glory be,
Whose advent set all nations free,
Whom with the Father we adore,
And Holy Spirit ever more.
Let us listen to an ancient catechetical instruction. The author is St. Cyprian, Bishop of Jerusalem.
“We do not preach only one coming of Christ, but a second as well, much more glorious than the first. The first coming was marked by patience; the second will bring the crown of a divine kingdom.
In general, what relates to our Lord Jesus Christ has two aspects. There is a birth from God before the ages, and a birth from a virgin at the fullness of time. There is a hidden coming, like that of rain on fleece, and a coming before all eyes, still in the future.
At the first coming he was wrapped in swaddling clothes in a manger. At his second coming he will be clothed in light as in a garment. In the first coming he endured the cross, despising the shame; in the second coming he will be in glory, escorted by an army of angels. We look then beyond the first coming and await the second. At the first coming we said: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. At the second we shall say it again: we shall go out with the angels to meet the Lord and cry out in adoration. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
The Savior will not come to be judged again, but to judge those by whom he was judged. At his own judgment he was silent; then he will address those who committed the outrages against him when they crucified him and will remind them: You did these things, and I was silent.
His first coming was to fulfill his plan of love, to teach men by gentle persuasion. This time, whether men like it or not, they will be subjects of his kingdom by necessity. Malachi the prophet speaks of the two comings. And the Lord whom you seek will come suddenly to his temple: that is one coming.
Again he says of another coming: Look, the Lord almighty will come, and who will endure the day of his entry, or who will stand in his sight? Because he comes like a refiner’s fire, a fuller’s herb, and he will sit refining and cleansing.
These two comings are also referred to by Paul in writing to Titus: The grace of God the Savior has appeared to all men, instructing us to put aside impiety and worldly desires and live temperately, uprightly, and religiously in this present age, waiting for the joyful hope, the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Notice how he speaks of a first coming for which he gives thanks, and a second, the one we still await.
That is why the faith we profess has been handed on to you in these words: He ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.
Our Lord Jesus Christ will therefore come from heaven. He will come at the end of the world, in glory, at the last day. For there will be an end to this world, and the created world will be made new.”
Father Connelly
GROWING OUR FAITH
USCCB provides on line resources for the Advent and Christmas Seasons with suggestions for daily prayer, reading, reflection and action. Go to www.usccb.org/advent.
BC School of Theology and Ministry is cosponsoring with the Institute of Carmelite Studies and the Church in the 21st Century Center a lecture by Fr. John Sullivan, O.C.D. on Edith Stein – St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross on Saturday, December 4, at 10 AM in the Law School, East Wing 120 of the Newton Campus. This event is free and open to the public. Register at www.bc.edu/stmce.
SIGNINGS
The Last day will come. Many people become easily obsessed with this idea. We can be terrified of that day of the Lord and want to try to predict it so that we can have some sense of control. The Book of Revelation becomes a fascination for some because they read this or that series of books and start to think that the Book of Revelation tells us the end is near. Some think it is going to happen in 2012.
The Book of Revelation is about the end times. It shows us what in the end will be our joy in heaven. It tells us about a place where there is unity and people cry out together falling down before the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. In the Church we act out and memorize the Book of Revelation when we go to Mass. We "eat the scroll" which is both bitter and sweet. (Rev 10:8-11) We consume the paschal mystery and read the whole bible without cutting out the parts that might turn our stomach. We cry out as the Book of Revelation describes: Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord!
At Mass the last day comes. We are in heaven. We have one foot in the fullness of the kingdom and we see today's first reading happening. All the nations stream toward the Lord. This happens at Mass and only at Mass.
We do not know the hour when the Son of Man will come. We have a way of being fascinated by that idea. Jesus preached against it. St. Paul preached against it. The Church has preached against it for two millennia. But we still have that tendency. The good thing to do is to find out how the Book of Revelation is a book which is like the rules for sacred liturgy. That is fascinating. It is the right kind of fascinating and it helps us to see that in some mysterious way the end is here. Christ is coming now in the liturgy of the Eucharist. This is it. "The Last Day is at hand". Ready or not, here it comes.
In Christ,
Fr. St. Martin
ADVENT WREATH SALE
Be sure to purchase your living Advent Wreath this weekend after Mass to support the youth of the Deaf Catholic Community attending World Youth Day.
INTENTIONS OF THE HOLY FATHER FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER
General Intention: That our experience of suffering may help us better understand the pain of the many people who are alone, sick, or aged, and stir us to generous help.
Mission Intention: That the peoples of the earth may open their doors to Christ and to his gospel of peace, brotherhood, and justice.
24TH SOCIAL JUSTICE FORUM
Join us on Sunday, Dec. 5 at 7:30 PM in the lower church to hear Rev. David Couturier, OFM.Cap., Director of Pastoral Planning for the Boston Archdiocese, speak on Justice, the Church and the Great Recession: A Franciscan Perspective.
PART-TIME INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY POSITION AVAILABLE
St. John the Evangelist Parish, Wellesley, is searching for a part-time (15-20 hours/week) Information Technology individual. Duties to include website maintenance, support of web projects, work with various groups, committees and staff, and implement ideas; must possess proven web design skills and be creative. If interested, please call 781-235-0045.
CHRISTMAS FLOWERS
It has been our happy custom here at the Parish to accept donations for Christmas flowers in memory of deceased relatives and friends. Please include the names of those you would like listed in the bulletin. All of the people will be remembered during the Masses on Christmas Day and through Epiphany on Sunday, January 2nd. Checks can be made payable to Sacred Heart Parish and forwarded to the rectory.
2010 CHRISTMAS GIFT DRIVE
Our Christmas gift drive continues. Please pick up a card for St. Ambrose Family Inn, Julie’s Family Learning Program, New England Home for the Deaf, or Walden School for the Deaf. Gifts should NOT be wrapped and should be dropped off with their cards at the parish Advent celebration on Sunday, December 12.
CALENDAR NOTES
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR/ADVENT WREATH SALE:
Sunday, November 28 – 10 AM to 1 PM – Parish Center
BOY SCOUTS:
Monday, November 29 – 7:30 PM – Parish Center
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION – Tuesday, November 30
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, December 1 – 7:30 PM – Convent Chapel
PANCAKE BREAKFAST:
Friday, December 3 – Following 9AM Mass – Parish Center
LITURGY, ADORATION AND THE ROSARY:
Saturday, December 4 – 9 AM to 12:30 PM – Lower Church
EXTENDED COFFEE HOUR:
Sunday, December 5 – 10 AM – 1 PM – Parish Center
WOMEN’S DISCUSSION GROUP:
Sunday, December 5, 10:30 AM – Convent
SOCIAL JUSTICE FORUM:
Sunday, December 5 – 7:30 PM – Lower Church