Welcome! REGULAR MASS SCHEDULE SACRAMENT

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1 Saint Thomas More Parish 15 Caledonia Road Dartmouth, NS, B2X 1K7 Tel: (902) Fax: (902) Website: hp://stm-parish.com Office Hours Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday 9:00am - 5:00pm Tuesday & Friday 9:00am - 2:30pm Lunch Break 12:00pm - 1:00pm REGULAR MASS SCHEDULE Lord s Day Masses Saturday 4:00pm; Sunday 8:30am; 11:15am Weekday Masses Monday - No Mass; Tuesday 12:15pm Wednesday-Friday 9:00am Summer Hours Saturday: 4:00pm; Sunday: 10:00am Sacrament of Reconciliaon Tuesday By appointment Saturday 3:00pm - 3:45pm SACRAMENT Marriage Please contact the parish priest at least 8 months prior to planned wedding date. Marriage preparaon course is required. Sacrament of Bapsm Preparaon - First Wednesday of the month at 7:00pm at the church. The Sacrament of Bapsm will be celebrated on the last Sunday of the month at the 11:15am Mass. Prayer Meeng Every Tuesday at 7:00pm in the Sacred Heart room. Weekly Adoraon The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for Adoraon aer the 9:00am Mass on Thursday. All are invited to spend some me with Jesus. Thank You for Coming to Our Church In St. Thomas More Parish, we believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we try to give faithful witness to the power of the Holy Spirit in us, both in our worship together and in our service to the local community. We desire to be grateful for the gifts God has given us as a parish family and to readily share them in our ministries. Welcome!

2 TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDNIARY TIME JUNE 25, 2017 PARISH STAFF & MINISTRY CONTACTS Parish Priest: Father Toochukwu Okafor Deacon: Danny MacDonald Deacon: James McLevey Catechist, Primary-6: Shereen Daniels Catechist, Jr. High: Diane Gibbons Office Administrator: Catherine Gonsalves Music Director: Kim Sampson, Pastoral Council Chair: Brian McIntyre Catholic Women s League: Marguerite Fougere Responsible Ministry-RoseAnn Hetherington Finance Chair: Maggie Pereira Knights of Columbus: Gary Moore St. Vincent de Paul:Martin Delaney Property & Mass Coordinator: Wayne O Leary Liturgy: David Chiddenton toochukwuokafor@yahoo.com dannymacdonald@chalice.ca mclevey@ns.sympatico.ca sdreligioused267@gmail.com diane.juniorhigh@gmail.com officeinfo@ns.aliantzinc.ca kimplusmusic@gmail.com macintbj@eastlink.ca hfougere@ns.sympatico.ca ra.hetherington@ns. sympatico.ca mpereira@eastlink.ca gmooresr@mooreandcormier.com delaney1@ns.sympatico.ca linway@bellaliant.net david.chiddenton@gmail.com EVENTS AND MEETING Sunday, June 25-Deacon McLevey Celebration-after 11:15 Mass Sunday, June 25 Bingo-Fundraiser 2pm Hall Tuesday, June 27 The Gift Program 7pm Hall Thursday, June 29 Adoration following 9 am Mass Church Friday, June 30 -Youth Group 7pm Hall MASS INTENTION SCHEDULE Saturday, June 24 4 pm Gerald Brown FINANCIAL NEWS: June Sunday, June 25-8:30am Ginette Halman - 11:15am For Parishioners Monday, June 26 Souls in Purgatory Tuesday, June 27 12:15 Patricia Hemeon Wednesday, June 28 9am Michelle Orichefsky Sunday Offering Collection : $ Building Fund Collection: $ If you wish to offer your Sunday Offering using Direct Deposit, please contact the parish office for information. Thank you. SCRIPTURE READINGS For this weekend: Thursday, June 29 9 am Paul Carver Friday, June 30 9 am Mary O Neill 1st Reading: Jeremiah Rs. Psalm: Ps , 13+16, 32-33, 35ab 2nd Reading: Romans Gospel: Mathew

3 STM NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS Summer Mass Schedule Effective Saturday, July 1, there will be only two Masses celebrated on the weekend. Saturday at 4 pm and Sunday at 10 am. Weekday Mass schedule will remain the same. Thursday Adoration at St. Thomas More When days are busy and we are overwhelmed, let us make time to get away and just be with Jesus to receive His rest, His comfort and His Grace. Visit Him on Thursdays when we have Adoration to receive His Peace and Blessings! Adoration starts after the 9 am Mass and continues until 5 pm. Celebrating Deacon Jim McLevey: Our parish will be celebrating Deacon McLevey 's 40th anniversary to the diaconate on Sunday, June 25th after the 11:15 Mass in the church hall. All are welcome to come and congratulate Jim McLevey on his loving service to our parish and significant contribution to the Archdiocese over the years. Thank You from Danny Perera I want to thank all our parishioners and friends who came out to support my mission the night of the concert. With your generosity, I was able to fundraise over $3,500. In addition to this, I also received a generous donation from the parish, the CWL and the KOC. I greatly appreciate all the love and support I've been receiving both financially and prayerfully. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I continue with my fundraising and move on in my faith journey. Thanks again from the bottom of my heart! - love, Danny! A fundraiser Bingo A fundraiser Bingo will take place on June 25th from 2-4 in the hall in aid of the Nigeria Medical Clinic. Cash prizes and canteen services will be available. Please come and join us for a fun afternoon! Bring along a friend! Archdiocese Mission Collection The Mission collection for the Archdiocese is ongoing.. If you have not received an information package in the mail, please pick up an envelope from the church foyer. For more information, contact Lydia at lhood@halifaxyarmouth.org or (902) ext 401 Evening Staff Position Thomas More is recruiting a part time office Receptionist/Clerk to work on Mondays and Thursdays from 6 8 pm. This position is open to the Youth. The expectation is a commitment of at least 2 years. Applicants are requested to drop off their resume to the Parish Office latest by Friday, June 30. The position will start in September. We remember Eileen Carter whose funeral service was held here Monday, June 19th. May her soul rest in peace. The parish offers their heartfelt condolences to her family and we have them in our thoughts and prayers. May God give them the strength to bear the loss of their loved one The Gift Our Lady of Grace Prayer Group will have the program "The Gift" at 7:30 pm. Meet and Greet starts at 7 p.m. The Program offers us the opportunity to grow deeper in our relationship with Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. You are welcome to attend! STM Website: Please visit our website to see what is happening at St. Thomas More Parish. We now have a link to a few external websites: Archdiocese of Halifax, Vatican website and Dynamic Catholic. We also have our activity calendar on the website. Our Youth activity is also available on the web. If you have any suggestion for our website, please call the parish office or send us an . Thanks! Fr. Toochukwu s CD Love the Universal Language is available from the parish office for $ All profits go to the Nigeria Medical Clinic fund. Good music, good cause, good man please show your support and purchase a CD.

4 Heroes For The Faith! REFLECTION CORNER While reflecting on this bible passage, I can t help but think about some of the heroes of our faith. They are our heroes because they lived or are currently living out this week s Gospel passage, in the sense that their relationship with Jesus is so strong that they are willing to endure the hardships and violence of this world, in order to maintain their life in Christ. There are three examples of this that come to my mind. The first is the horrible video from a deserted beach where Coptic Christians were beheaded for their faith. The amazing thing about this video is that you hear the victims professing their faith right up to their last moment. They all are shouting Jesus is Lord over and over as they enter their martyrdom. Were they scared? I m sure they were, but their desire was more to be in relationship with Jesus, than worrying about those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Another example comes from our own patron, St. Thomas More. In his life, he endured tremendous suffering. In, fact he lost everything. He lost his family, his home, his reputation, and was put in prison in defiance of King Henry VIII. At the same time though, he was a normal person, so losing everything would have had an incredible impact on him. I m sure he was scared, and hurt, and broken, but still he endured, because his priority was relationship with Jesus. He was willing to lose it all to maintain and deepen his relationship with Christ. Truly a hero for our faith. Most of us thankfully won t have to face these challenges in our lives, but that doesn t mean there aren t heroes today, who share their faith and face many challenges because of it. I am thinking of our youth, who want to share their faith with others, but often are ridiculed or excluded because of their faith. I was at a youth event recently and one young lady shared how difficult it has been in school, to even be allowed to talk about Jesus without being made fun of, and left off being invited to social events because of her faith. I was so impressed with her because she said that she has now graduated, but she offered to help anyone who is in a similar situation, and help them deal with the bullying. To me, this young girl is another hero of our faith, and our young people need to be supported as they make their way through school. They are willing to endure pain and suffering in favor of being deeper in relationship with Jesus. God bless you all Deacon Dan MacDonald PRAYER Lord, let my faith be full and unreserved, and let it penetrate my thought, my way of judging Divine things and human things. Lord, let my faith be joyful and give peace and gladness to my spirit, and dispose it for prayer with God and conversation with men, so that the inner bliss of its fortunate possession may shine forth in sacred and secular conversation. Lord, let my faith be humble and not presume to be based on the experience of my thought and of my feeling; but let it surrender to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and not have any better guarantee than in docility to Tradition and to the authority of the magisterium of the Holy Church. Amen!

5 DEACON JIM MCLEVEY CELEBRATES HIS 40TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE DIACONATE Deacon Jim Mclevey was ordained on June 25th 1977 at St. Thomas More Parish by Archbishop Hayes. He has served as Deacon in St. Thomas More Parish, St. Andrews s Eastern Passage, St. Michael's Spryfield. He served as Chaplin at the Port of Halifax for eight years. His Diaconal Ministries include liturgies, homilies, administering the sacraments of Baptism and Marriage; teaching catechetics; marriage preparation, baptismal preparation; RCIA; visiting hospitals, nursing homes and home visits. On a Diocesan level, he worked on marriage preparation programs, instructing couples on the Billings natural family planning method and also on a couple to couple basis, teaching approximately 650 couples in three dioceses. He was on the Board of WOOMB-Canada where he was secretary for 14 years and he was the chairperson of the Natural Family Planning Association of NS for a number of years. As a certified teacher of BOM he was involved in the training of couples from PEI. Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to become certified teachers in the Billings method. He has also been a guest speaker at several Pro-Life conferences. Deacon McLevey 's last appointment was as Chaplin at the Port of Halifax where he ministered to seafarers. Currently he has come full circle back to St. Thomas More. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING REPORT The Annual General Meeting for the Pastoral Council took place on Sunday, June 18th following the 11:15 am Mass, attended by approximately 40 parishioners. Cyril Muise, Chair provided a chronological report on the work undertaken by the council over the past year. Many initiatives have come to successful conclusions: the sale of the parish lands at Lethbridge and Belvedere; the roof has been completed; mini heat pumps have been installed in the rectory. The launch of the Archdiocesan Pastoral plan will be mirrored by our own planning which is well under way. We hosted a successful mission again this year which was well attended. The catechetical program has been very active this year with many of our youth achieving milestones in their faith journey such as First Communion, First Reconciliation and Confirmation. Maggie Pereira, Chair, Finance Committee, fielded questions referring to the recently published parish financial statement. The committee recommends the use of pre-authorized contributions by parishioners to help maintain a more consistent cash flow for the parish. The council has three retiring members who have served for three years. Thanks were extended to Betty Cutcliffe, Michael Curry and Jim Boyd for their commitment and service. New members that have been appointed to the council are Jeanette Smith, Francis Forbrigger and John Woods. The new Chairperson for the Pastoral Council will be Brian McIntyre. We thank the parish council for their dedication and achievements and the parishioners for their support. We are looking for more parishioners to use their talents in serving on our different ministries and to make our parish more vibrant, dynamic and missionary as we help to build God s kingdom here on earth. To achieve this, and to begin our Pastoral year in a spiritual mood, we will be having a mini retreat on Saturday October 14 from pm followed by 4pm Mass and a Ministry Fair after the weekend Masses. All the ministries and parishioners are encouraged to attend. Different ministries will be showcased. Please mark your calendars. Our goal in the Fall is to work with all parish members to deepen our personal and communal faith by implementing the three areas proposed in the Pastoral plan by our Archbishop Anthony Mancini - Mission, Community and Formation.

6 Steubenville Atlantic is Coming! We re less than a month away from Steubenville Atlantic! On July 7-9, we will welcome over 600 young Catholics, chaperones, and volunteers to Dalhousie University Campus for our eleventh Steubenville Atlantic conference. This year s conference theme is Elevate, based on Revelation 21:5, Behold, I make all things new. The theme speaks to the reality that God calls us higher and raises us beyond things of this world. It s hard to explain what makes Steubenville Atlantic such an amazing experience. We always say that the best way to understand the conference is to experience it for yourself... so here s your chance! Everyone is welcome to join us for our annual Come and See on Friday night for the opening session, and on Sunday morning for the closing Mass. ARCHDIOCESE OF HALIFAX-YARMOUTH NEWS Come and See: Friday, July 7, 6:30-9:30 pm Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Dalhousie Arts Centre (6101 University Ave) Please report directly to the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium balcony entrance, fourth floor Closing Mass: Sunday, July 9, 10:00 am Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, Dalhousie Arts Centre (6101 University Ave) Please report directly to the Rebecca Religious Education News Primary-Grade 6 Registration for Catechism classes for grades Primary to Grade 9 will continue after the weekend Masses. Please try to register your child/children early. Registration can also be done during my office hours: Tuesday & Wednesday: 9-2 pm Thursday: 9-1 pm Friday: 9-12 pm Chalice Can Thank you so much to the children and parishioners who make it possible for us to sponsor, Priscilla. Sofia, Maksym, Cristobal & Marcelin. Please continue to support these children especially during the summer months. May God bless you for your generous donations. Total collected last week: $38.30 Spanish Mass! There will be a Mass in Spanish on Sunday, June 25 at 3:00 pm at Saint Peter s Parish, Dartmouth (10 Maple St). At this Mass there will be the special intention for peace and justice in Venezuela. After Mass, there will be a reception in the parish centre. Annual Masses for the Faithful Departed Mark your calendar Please find the list of Masses being celebrated in our Catholic Cemeteries over the coming months. All are welcome to join us for one or more of these Masses as we remember our faithful brothers and sisters who have gone before us. Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Lower Sackville Thursday, August 17, 7:00pm In the case of rain, Mass will be at St. John Vianney Church, 4 Beaverbank Rd., Lr. Sackville. Mount Olivet Cemetery, Mumford Rd,. Halifax Saturday, September 9 at 10:00am In case of rain, Mass will be at St. Agnes Church, 6903 Mumford Rd., Halifax. Mass of Remembrance for the victims of the Halifax Explosion buried at Mount Olivet. Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel, Holy Cross Cemetery, South Park St., Halifax Friday, September 15 at 5:15pm Mass of Remembrance including the 50+ victims of the Halifax Explosion who are buried in Holy Cross and to commemorate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Memorial Mass for the 100th Anniversary of the Halifax Explosion Wednesday, December 6 at 12:15 Saint Mary s Cathedral Basilica, Halifax Mass of Remembrance for those who lost their lives in the Halifax Explosion in Inspirational Quote but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31