Sacred Heart Parish
MASS INTENTIONS
Saturday, January 14
5:30pm, NCOD Mass with Cardinal Seán
Sunday, January 15
9:00am, Parishioners of Sacred Heart
12 Noon, Sharon Claire Smith
Monday, January 16
9:00am, Mary Elizabeth Cogswell
Saturday, January 21
4:00pm, Parishioners of Sacred Heart
Sunday, January 22
9:00am, Anne and Russell Harney and Agnes & John Walsh
READINGS FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Jonah 3:1-5, 10
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Gospel Reading: Mark 1:14-20
HOLIDAY MASS SCHEDULE:
On Monday, January 16, we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, a civil holiday. Mass will be celebrated at 9:00am in the lower church. There will be no 12:05pm Mass.
OFFERTORY INCOME
Target Weekly Offertory $5,500
Weekend of January 7/8 $5,127
CATHOLIC CHARITIES SPECIAL COLLECTION
Next week’s special collection benefits Catholic Charities’ services. Like the Apostles in this Sunday’s Gospel reading, Catholic Charities shares a sense of urgency to spread Christ’s love to others by helping those in our communities who are hurting and struggling. Last year alone, Catholic Charities served over 200,000 of your neighbors across the Archdiocese. At Catholic Charities, we strive to help people become self-sufficient by providing for basic needs, supporting children and their families, and welcoming and educating newcomers. Your generosity is essential to Catholic Charities’ ability to fulfill its mission to care for our neediest neighbors, whether or not they are Catholic. Please consider making a donation to the January 22 special collection or visit www.ccab.org to donate online. Thank you in advance for your generous support.
CALENDAR NOTES
NCOD Mass:
Saturday, January 14, 5:30 pm, UC
Coffee Hour:
Sunday, January 15, 10am to 1pm, Parish Center
Boy Scouts:
Monday, January 16, 7:30pm Parish Center
Liturgy Committee Meeting:
Tuesday, January 17, 7:30pm, Convent
Prayer Group:
Wednesday, January 18, 7:30pm, Convent
Coffee Hour:
Friday, January 20, Following 9am Mass, Parish Center
Liturgy, Adoration and The Rosary:
Saturday, January 21, 9am to 12:30pm, Lower Church
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION CCD classes will resume today, Jan. 15th, the day before Martin Luther King Day!
At the start of this New Year, as our Grade 2 students begin preparation for receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation, let it become a reminder for all of us that God’s greatest gift to us is His mercy. Have we sought to receive His gift? He died that we might have it!
1st Reconciliation will be held on Saturday, March 3rd from 10:30-11:45 AM in the lower church.
All parents of students preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time are asked to attend a Parent Workshop on Sunday, Feb 5 from 10:15-11:45 AM in the Convent after 9AM Mass. At least one parent must attend. If you are in need of childcare, please notify the Religious Ed. Office as soon as possible.
We are looking for an aide to assist the Grade 1 teacher in class in the Tuesday program. Please consider offering an hour and 15 min. of your time to assist in the important mission of passing on the faith. No experience is necessary!
Michelle Solomon, Director of RE
NEXT SOCIAL JUSTICE FORUM
The 31st Social Justice Forum will be held on Sunday Evening, January 22, 2012 from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM. Our speaker will be Ellen Bruce, JD, Director of the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston. The topic for the evening will be "Social Security and Medicare: Protecting the Most Vulnerable in an Era of Cuts". Free admission - Open to the Public. Refreshments follow the presentation. If you need transportation, call Jini Fairley at 617-964-3966.
SACRED HAPPENINGS
As many of you know, Sister Pat Gallagher has moved from Sacred Heart parish to be with her community of Sisters of Mercy in New Hampshire. If you would like to send her a card or a letter, here is her address:
Sister Patricia Gallagher
21 Searles Road Rm 270
Windham, NH 03087
She claims that she is not that far away and visitors are also welcome!
NEWTON COMMUNITY CELEBRATION
You are cordially invited to attend the 44th Annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Newton Community Celebration on Monday, January 16, 2012 at 10:00am at St. Bernard’s Church, 1523 Washington St., West Newton, MA 02465. Please bring non-perishable food items for donation to the Newton Food Pantry.
AN EVENING OF PRAYER AND SONG
featuring the Archdiocese of Boston Black Catholic Choir. On the eve of the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Sunday, January 15, you are cordially invited to St. Katharine Drexel Church, 5617 Blue Hill Ave., Dorchester at 7:00pm. A reception will follow the prayer service.
ANNUAL BLOOD DRIVE
sponsored by the Office for Cultural Diversity Office for Black Catholics and the American Red Cross to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday, January 16 from noon to 5 pm at St. Katharine Drexel Church Hall, 517 Blue Hill Avenue, Dorchester.
PARISHIONERS SEEK CHILDCARE HELP
We are looking for an experienced driver with clean driving records to drive children from and to schools, Monday-Friday 2:30-3:30pm and 4:40-4:45 on Mondays and Wednesdays. If you are interested, please send an email to tmaterdey@yahoo.com or leave a message at 617-287-6435. Thank you.
REELABILITIES BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL
Films from around the world about people with disabilities will be presented February 2-8 by the Boston Jewish Film Festival. Opening night, February 2 is at the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown at 6:30pm. Tickets are $10 general admission or $6 per person for groups of at least 10 (must be purchased in advance) and are available at www.bjff.org. Brochures about the Festival are available at Church entrances.
TIME TO REPLENISH SCHOOL SUPPLIES
Our parish-wide project to provide Mother Caroline Academy students and teachers with school supplies will run from January 21 through January 29. For two weekends, baskets will be placed at church entrances for collection of these new needed items:
AAA batteries xerox paper
index cards 3-ring notebook paper
tri-fold poster boards markers
glue sticks highlighters
colored pencils graph paper
white board markers (black, colors) and erasers
Drop off donations in the collection baskets January 21/22 and January 28/29. Monetary donations also accepted. Any contribution you could make to MCAEC would be profoundly appreciated. Your support makes it possible for much-needed educational opportunities to a disadvantaged community, ultimately helping many families to break free from the cycle of poverty.
If you would like to learn more about the school or make a donation online, the website is: www.mcaec.org. If you prefer to mail in a donation, the address is: Mother Caroline Academy, 515 Blue hill Ave., Dorchester, MA 02121.
Thanks in advance for your generosity!!!!
Margaret LeBlanc and Jane McGuire
CHRISTIAN REMEMBER YOUR DIGNITY
Dear Friends,
Last Monday, with the Feast of the Baptism of Jesus, the Church brought to an end the Advent/Christmas/Epiphany cycle. Once again we enter for the next six weeks that period we call “Ordinary Time”. Ordinary, in this context, is a strange word. The Gospel is far from ordinary. It calls us to holiness of life. It calls us to heroism and love of God and love of neighbor. We are to live now the mystery of Christmas in the everyday circumstances of our so called ordinary lives. Pope Leo the Great writing in the fifth century reminded each one of his parishioners, as we see in the title of this column: “Christian remember your dignity”. He is talking of course about that marvelous exchange that Christmas represents. God the Son, acting out of pure love, takes on our humanity so as to give us a share in his divinity. As we move into the period of ordinary time we should keep in mind some of the lessons and truths we have learned at Christmas time. One deep truth that comes center stage concerns Trinitarian life. Our Catholic way of life is nothing other than our sharing in the life proper to our Three-Personed God. What a remarkable exchange we celebrate: “In the beginning, before all ages, the Word was God; that Word became a man to save the world.” A second truth tells us that Jesus who is Son of God became servant for our sake—servant to his heavenly Father, servant to his sisters and brothers. Does it not follow that we who have been baptized into Christ are servants also, first to God and then to our sisters and brothers? Listen now to a few words from Pope St. Leo the Great speaking to his parishioners in the fifth century.
“Dearly beloved, today our Saviour is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.
No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life.
In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God’s wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind.
And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this marvellous work of God’s goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?
Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation. Let us throw off our old nature and all its ways and, as we have come to birth in Christ, let us renounce the works of the flesh.
Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God’s own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom.
Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.”
Father Connelly
SIGNINGS
Dear People,
When you read this you will be in the middle of the National Catholic Office of the Deaf Conference. I thank those of you who have been praying and volunteering for this Conference. During this time I have been busy at my new assignment and Fr. Shawn has been taking care of most of the setting up for the Conference. I thank the planning committee and those who donated their time and money. The beautiful tee shirts were designed by Katie Southern and buying one will help defray the cost of the Conference. You will notice that there is a little symbol of Sacred Heart Church on the back of these tee shirts.
This column has often been a summary of my homily in the past. This week it is not going to be a summary of my homily but announcements. I am continuing to work together with Fr. Shawn, Fr. Connelly, Jennie, Fr. Michael Harrington, Mrs. Janet Benestad, Winnie Murphy, Betty Whitaker and many others to make the continued work of the Office of the Deaf a success here at Sacred Heart and throughout the diocese. Your faithfulness your perseverance, kindness, patience, self-control, willingness to forgive, knowledge of the faith, your hopes and your love are what make this work a success. I hope you will enjoy the play. Dylan is playing the Sacred Heart. I hope all of us continue to draw closer to Christ’s Sacred Heart because that is the only thing that will draw us closer to each other.
Fr. St. Martin
ECUMENICAL PRAYER SERVICE FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
Please join an assembly of Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox believers for an ecumenical prayer service in observance of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Our local prayer service will take place on Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 PM in St. Joseph Church, 1360 Highland Ave, Needham. Most Rev. Walter Edyvean will preside with guests Rev. Laura Everett, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Council of Churches, and a representative from the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Boston. A reception will follow.
ECUMENICAL SING AT ST JOSEPH, MEDFORD
The St. Joseph Parish music ministry invites you to join them on Saturday afternoon, January 21, at 3:30pm (warm-up/rehearsal at 3pm) in the upper church, 114 High Street, Medford, for an Ecumenical Sing in conjunction with the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. Reverend Brian Dixon from the First Baptist Church in Medford will be preaching at the 4pm Mass immediately following the Sing. For further information, contact Betsy at 781-391-1457 or stjosephmusic@msn.com.