Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS
Monday, December 26
9:00am, Louisa H. Murphy
Saturday, December 31
9:00am, Mary Sullivan & Thomas Edward Sullivan
4:00pm Theresa & Owen Keefe
Sunday, January 1
9:00am, Parishioners of Sacred Heart
11:00am, William DesRoses
12 Noon, Robert & Timothy Groden
READINGS FOR THE FEAST OF MARY, MOTHER OF GOD
First Reading: Numbers 6:22-27
Second Reading: Galatians 4:4-7
Gospel Reading: Luke 2:16-21
CHRISTMAS SEASON MASS SCHEDULE
Sunday, December 25—Christmas Day
12:05am Midnight (English), Upper Church
10:00am (English), Upper Church
Monday, December 26
9:00am, Lower Church (NO 12:05pm Mass)
Saturday, December 31, 4:00pm, Upper Church
Sunday, January 1, 9:00am, 11:00am ASL, UC
12:00 Noon, English, Lower Church
OFFERTORY INCOME
Target Weekly Offertory $5,500
Weekend of December 17/18 $5,963
MERRY CHRISTMAS
from all the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston. The Christmas Collection supports the retirement, medical and financial needs of priests of the Archdiocese of Boston. These priests have given their lives to faithfully serve Christ, the Church and you. Please be generous to this important collection. Visit www.CareForSenior Priests.org. for more information.
CALENDAR NOTES
No Coffee Hour in the Parish Center this weekend or next
Holiday Mass Schedule:
Monday, December 26, 9:00am Mass in Lower Church
Prayer Group:
Wednesday, December 28, 7:30pm, Convent Chapel
Knights of Columbus:
Wednesday, December 28, 7:30pm, Convent Dining Room
Coffee Hour:
Friday, December 30, Following 9am Mass, Parish Center
Liturgy, Adoration and The Rosary:
Saturday, December 31, 9am to 12:30pm, Lower Church
ST. FRANCIS HOUSE
Thank you for your contributions during the month of December. Requested items for January are canned vegetables. You may leave donations at any time during the month in the bins provided at the church entrances.
HOSPITALITY THANKS
A big thank you to the Hospitality Committee for all their hard work in putting together the Advent Party on December 11 which included a visit from Santa and Signing Santa. We would also like to thank all of the parishioners who contributed food items for our tables. The assortment of goodies was impressive!
GIVING TREE
The Giving tree located in the gathering space in our upstairs church is in memory of Roy Monroe, a valued member of the Deaf community throughout Massachusetts and a cherished member of the Deaf Catholic Community in the Archdiocese of Boston. He did much to help senior citizens as well as deaf youth. This year the proceeds of the tree will be divided among the deaf and hearing youth groups of Sacred Heart Parish. Any donation is welcome. Put the name of someone you would like to honor, living or deceased, on the paper ornaments and hang them on the tree and put your donation in the box. May the tree be decorated beautifully to welcome Christ on this Christmas Day.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
The day of our Savior’s birth is here and it is no wonder we are bubbling with excitement and rejoicing! The celebration of Christ’s birthday is to wonder at the ultimate gift the Father gave us of His very own Son. It is to wonder at the gift Christ gave to us of his own life in order to save us from sin! God’s selfless generosity is imitated in a small way by our gift-giving at Christmas. We pray that the lesson of Christmas will lead us to give of ourselves for the joy of another!
There will be no CCD during Christmas break. The new year for Religious Education will resume on Sunday, Jan. 15th and Tuesday, Jan. 17th so that the love of God for his sons and daughters may continue to be spread through out the world!
CCD teachers are asked to attend a Teacher’s workshop on Sunday, Jan 8th in the Convent from 7-9pm. Please call to confirm your attendance.
May Christ’s coming at Christmas bring to each one of us that peace and joy he desires to give us. “O come let us adore Him!”
Michelle Solomon, Director of RE
O ANTIPHONS
On December 17 and running through December 23, the Church says the Vesper antiphons which we call popularly the “O Antiphons”.
December 17:
O Wisdom. O Holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.
December 18:
O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai Mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.
December 19:
O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.
December 20:
O Key of David, O royal Power of Israel controlling at your will the gate of heaven: come break down the prison walls of death and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.
December 21:
O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.
December 22:
O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.
December 23:
O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.
SIGNINGS
Jesus is born from a long line of ordinary people. He is born from an ordinary family, He is born in an ordinary place. He is born at an ordinary time. The long list of people that are his ancestors were ordinary people with ordinary problems and lives. One was an ordinary King chosen because he was ordinary and he had the ordinary successes and failures of an ordinary king. The list has a variety of kinds of names, long and short, and the shape of the names change with a diversity that marks the ordinary history of us all. Jesus comes into the world like all of us, he comes like a grand surprise. It is the most ordinary thing in the world to be born into it. In fact there is no other way not even in science fiction. Even there there must be a womb even if it is an artificial one there must be one. There must be a coming forth. As strange as science fiction writers might imagine some artificial way of coming into the world there is nothing that could ever trump the reality of motherhood. The fact of this most ordinary miracle is unbeatable and never loses its power. Mary as we know gives a human body to the King of Kings in her womb in an uncommon way. God is the Father of this little one.
This is the reason why we are transformed. It is the reason why the world can't help but be transformed. The reality of this birth can't but compel the world to goodness. We have to be good by the very power of love flowing from this child. We have to be generous, be our best, love our family, our neighbors, the poor, everyone. We have to sing to the little king. We have to pray and become holy. We have to put away bitterness and evil. We have to love all that is wholesome and beautiful. We can't help it. Even the most devolved agnostics have to put a sock in it for a minute and hang a sock up with some goodies.
We have all been transformed now. We have found that our ordinary world is noble; that ordinary things are heavenly now. Our normal is really noble. God is good and we are good because He is. We are born again in Him as He is born again into our world as we all were, as babies.
In Christ, Fr. St. Martin
WORLDWIDE MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER
God gave us the greatest gift of love when He sent His son to redeem us. He asks us to love one another as He loves us. Take the time to grow deeper in love with God, your spouse and your family at a Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekend. The next Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends in New England are January 13-15 and February 10 - 12. For more information call Ralph & Jane Becker at 1-800-710-WWME or visit www.wwme.org.
MONTROSE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE
Montrose School (29 North Street, Medfield, MA 02052) will host an Open House on Thursday, January 12 from 7:00 - 9:00 PM. Take a tour of campus, meet current families and faculty, and hear from our Head of School and senior scholar at Boston University's Center for the Advancement of Ethics and Character, Dr. Karen E. Bohlin. A nationally recognized School of Character, Montrose is an independent college preparatory day school with a Catholic tradition, for girls in grades 6-12. Montrose collaborates with parents to educate the whole person and graduates young women of deep faith, strong character and far reaching vision.
WALKING AND WEIGHTS
Join the “Over 55” winter workout program on Sunday afternoons from 12:00-2:00pm at the Newton South Recreation Complex. Offered by the Newton Parks and Recreation Department, the program begins on January 8th and runs through February 12th. Suggested donation $2 per visit. For more information call 617-796-1506.
BOSTON ARCHDIOCESAN CHOIR SCHOOL
Do you know a 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade boy who likes to sing? For a friendly and positive singing audition please come to one of the following venues: Jan. 21 at the Boston Archdiocesan Choir School, 29 Mount Auburn St., Cambridge, February 25 at St. Julia Church in Weston. The Choir School offers a fulltime Catholic day school for boys grades 4-8 with rigorous academics, unparalleled music education and small class sizes. For more information please contact John Robinson, Director of Music, jrobinson@choirschool.net. or 617-868-8658.
COVER ART NOTES
Albrecht Dürer is the famous German artist whose work you no doubt are familiar with and, if not, you have before you some fun research to do. This work shows the Savior born into the beautiful yet broken framework of our world and all creation, the angels, the animals, the poor and the rich experience a rebirth with the surprise of this Boy from above.
Fr. St. Martin