Saint Cecilia. Fourth Sunday of Lent. 10 March The Prodigal Son Rembrandt (c. 1669)

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1 Saint Cecilia P A R I S H Fourth Sunday of Lent 10 March 2013 The Prodigal Son Rembrandt (c. 1669)

2 our community news Ministers of the Liturgy Saturday 5:00 p.m. Rev. Peter Grover, OMV, celebrant Chris Orrell, lector Sunday 8:00 a.m. Rev. George Winchester, SJ, celebrant Bob Mann, lector Sunday 9:30 a.m. Rev. Thomas Gariepy, CSC, celebrant Victoria Maria Klyce, Catherine Horsley, & Tom Nicolini, lectors special intentions Saturday, March 9 5:00 p.m. Walter Parmenter, Memorial Sunday, March 10 8:00 a.m. Michael & Cathrine Gardiner, Memorial Sunday, March 10 9:30 a.m. Rev. Msgr. John F. Cox, Fourth Anniversary Sunday, March 10 11:15 a.m. Francesca Schettino, Memorial Wednesday, March 13 8:00 a.m. Kristiana Serras, Month's Mind Sunday 11:15 a.m. Rev. John Unni, celebrant Maggie Loh, Christopher Loh, & Caitlin Keeton, lectors Sunday 6:00 p.m. Rev. John Unni, celebrant Laura Dennison & John Eliot Jordan, lectors today s readings Joshua 5:9a, Corinthians 5:17-21 Luke 15:1-3, next sunday s Readings Isaiah 43:16-21 Philippians 3:8-14 John 8:1-11 God s forgiveness is unconditional; it comes from a heart that does not demand anything for itself, a heart that is completely empty of self-seeking. It is this divine forgiveness that I have to practice in my daily life. It calls me to keep stepping over all my arguments that say forgiveness is unwise, unhealthy, and impractical. It challenges me to step over all my needs for gratitude and compliments. Finally, it demands of me that I step over that wounded part of my heart that feels hurt and wronged and that wants to stay in control and put a few conditions between me and the one whom I am asked to forgive. Henri Nouwen Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming 2

3 Prayers & Occasions Our Sick Please pray for all our sick and for those who are in need of our prayer, especially Josephine Parker, John Saulenas, K. Champoux, Patricia Hoggard, Jennifer Serpico, Christine St. Pierre, Harold Williamson, Jessica Rivieccio, Earl Chilcote, Colonel Robert C. Tashjian, Kim Murray, Heather LoRe, Rudy Kikel, Herbert Simmons, Peggy Furey, Janice Mascia, Pamela D Ambra, Sue Lucas, Suki Coughlin, Bridget Spence, Annette Kulas, Sam Gowan, Rhea Richard, Pil-Yun Son, Mary Yanez, Ed Langlais, Bob McLaughlin, Steven Whitkens, Diana Slaton, Leo Garcia, Joe Ford, Danny Cotter, Natalia Chilcote, Amy Sweetland, Jim Keyes, Michael Zawikowski, Patricia Macdonald, Elvera Dowsky, Frank Ackley, Fred Haslee, Lorraine Haslee, Paul Flaherty, William Louttit, Lucie Kelly, Bro. Adam Zielonka, O.C.S.O., Amy Duarte, Karen & Rick, Phyllis Porras, Jim Linderman, Mark Amerault, Sr. Nuala Cotter, R.A., Kristen DeFranco Martinez, Michele Crowley Tippens, Pete Huttlinger, Anthony Simboli, Lisa Caputo, Darlene McLendon, Jeanne Tibbs, Deidre Sullivan, Roosevelt Brown, Mary O Donnell, Ginny L Abbe, Steve Chamberlain, Matt Penchuk, Carrie Penchuk, Christy Cosgrove, Jacques Romberger, John Scaife, Maureen Sullivan, Alyce Haley, Joe Capizzi, David Walsh, Joe Huenke, Kaylin Marcotte, Avito Pacifici, Charlotte Egan, James Noone, Keith Plaster, David & Paula Fillion, Sarah Sweeney, Susan Shea, Bill Croke, Ettore Bergamaschi, Ryan Delaney, Manuela Almeida, Ilda Almeida, Joe Farrell, Sophie Gagnon, Earl Meyers, Kathleen A. Meehan, Anne Frenette Handly, Jan Igras, Cheryl Sabin, Trish Mullen, Thomas Corrigan, Fernando Luis Riganti, Frank DeMare, Carmela Franchi, Little Tommy Sullivan, Kathy K., Julie Zaino, Ruth Frost, Benedicto Lopes, Elie Prevost, Roséa Aubrey, Patricia Dunham, Bella Cashman, Chuck Campion, Bob Kenney, Brenna Smith, Mildred McLaughlin, Robert Gregory Sr., Hannah Mai Devery, Susanne Coyne, John Gilman, Ken Bennett, & Vincent Fiorda. Welcome to Saint Cecilia! We are pleased to welcome the following newly registered members of our parish: Ryan Gelchion of Brookline; Jim Burke of Boston; Courtney Wahle of Hull; Meghan Rhatigan of Boston; Joseph Holmes of Dorchester; June and Connor Casey of Waltham; Patrick Reynolds of Brighton; Heather Perez of Jamaica Plain; and Margaret Gambale of Brookline. If you have not previously registered with the parish, there are forms in the narthex for this purpose or you can register on-line at Lenten Speaker Series This Wednesday This Wednesday evening at seven o'clock we are delighted to welcome Father George Piggford, CSC who will be speaking on the topic, "On Being Liked: LGBT Catholics." For more details, please see page 5. Wednesday Evening Mass During Lent Please join us for Mass on Wednesday evenings during Lent at six o'clock. Confessions will be heard following Mass. Confessions This Wednesday We are participating in the Archdiocesan Lenten initiative, "The Light Is On For You" and will be open for confessions this Wednesday evening and all Wednesday evenings of Lent, from six thirty to eight o'clock. There are good preparation materials on the Archdiocese's website, but rest assured, our priests will guide you through the sacrament and there's no need to be nervous about the structure of the rite. Come celebrate the sacrament of God's mercy and healing love this Lent. For more information, visit Evening Prayer This Thursday Please join us for Evening Prayer this Thursday at six thirty. Coming to Evening Prayer during Lent is a great way to prepare for Easter. Taizé Prayer for Lent This Friday Lent invites us to quieter prayer and reflection. Taizé prayer is a quiet, simple way of prayer designed for people of all Christian traditions. These meditative candlelit services include simple chants sung repeatedly; rich silence; and prayers of praise and intercession. Please join us for Taizé Prayer this Friday evening, March 15, at six-thirty. Following the service you are invited to join us in the Parish Hall for a simple Lenten supper. Please invite a friend. For the Cardinal-Electors Pray that the cardinal-electors will be guided by the Holy Spirit as they prepare to begin the conclave to elect a new Bishop of Rome and leader of the Church. There are 115 cardinal-electors from 50 countries participating in the papal conclave. 3

4 The Second Scrutiny At the eleven-fifteen liturgy we celebrate the second scrutiny of our Elect. We pray that, like the man born blind, the eyes of these fourteen men and women are opened to the salvation offered by Christ. Keep them in your prayer as they continue this period of Purification and Enlightenment in preparation for the celebration of the Easter sacraments. Bake Sale Today Our high school Young Neighbors in Action are preparing for their June service learning trip to Gallup, New Mexico and are hosting a bake sale this morning following the nine-thirty and eleven-fifteen liturgies. Bake sale proceeds will be used to defray the cost of the YNIA trip. Please stop by and show your support of their efforts. There is also a water jug nearby for loose change and dollar bills. This jug will be in the narthex for the next several weeks, so please bring your loose change and help out our high school parishioners. Laetare Sunday Today is traditionally known as Laetare Sunday. The word "Laetare" is the first word of the Introit (also known as the entrance antiphon) for the Fourth Sunday of Lent and is the Latin word for "rejoice." Before we started singing hymns to begin Mass, the Introit was normally chanted in Latin as the priest approached the altar. Certain Sundays throughout the liturgical year have taken their names from the first word of the Introit. Laetare Sunday is one of these. Easter is fast approaching and the Fourth Sunday of Lent is marked by a spirit of joy. We are much closer to the renewal of our baptismal promises and to celebrating the Easter sacraments with our fourteen Elect. The optional use of rose colored vestments today symbolizes our joy at the nearness of Easter. easter flowers You are invited to remember your loved ones by donating towards our Easter flowers. In the narthex there is a basket with envelopes that you can use for this purpose. Please be sure to PRINT clearly and either drop the envelope in the collection basket or hand it to a member of the parish staff. The names of those remembered will be printed in the Easter bulletin. hearing assistance in church The church is equipped with an FM listening device. Small receivers are available for anyone who may have trouble hearing the sound system. Simply request a receiver from one of our greeters before Mass. drivers needed Each month parishioners have the opportunity to pick up donated meat, dairy products, and produce from a South Shore supermarket and baked goods from Whole Foods and deliver it to Catholic Charities' Haitian Multi- Service Center in Dorchester along with the packaged food items donated at Saint Cecilia. This vital ministry takes place at seven-thirty on Sunday mornings and can be completed in time to attend the nine-thirty parish Mass. We need four cars each time we deliver to Catholic Charities. Here are our upcoming dates: March 17 and March 31 April 14 and April 28 If you have a car and are interested in volunteering, please contact Mark Lippolt at mlippolt@hammondre. com. get involved in the opportunity of a lifetime You are invited to join Chris Callanan, Ros Kane, and John Timmerman on a trip to Educador, taking place from April 27 to May 3. Participants will be working with volunteers of Rostro de Cristo, a Catholic program whose mission is to provide spiritual and educational opportunities for people of faith to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ together with the people of Ecuador. This is a great opportunity for folks from our parish to visit, work, and pray in conjunction with the volunteers and members of the local community of Guayaquil. This retreat will provide participants an opportunity to deepen their understanding of the reality of a developing country, and to make a difference by committing to service, faith and social justice. If you would like more information, please contact Ros, Chris, or John at: roskane@comcast.net; ccallanan@smcattorneys.com; or jctimm16@gmail.com. 4

5 it's catholic appeal time! Your support of the 2013 Catholic Appeal helps countless people of all ages and backgrounds through 50 ministries of the Archdiocese of Boston. Thank you to all who pledged their support of the 2013 Catholic Appeal at Mass last Sunday. If you have not yet participated in the Appeal, you can make your pledge by completing one of the forms available in the narthex. You may also pledge your support to the parish campaign at Thank you for your participation. greeters needed for palm sunday & Easter As you know, the church is bursting at the seams on Palm Sunday and Easter. We are looking for more greeters to help out for the liturgies of the Easter Vigil (Holy Saturday at 7:30 p.m.) and Easter Day (8:00, 9:30, and 11:30). If you are willing to pitch in and help us by distributing bulletins and music programs, helping people find seats, answering questions and providing directions, keeping the doors closed, & helping to tidy-up the pews between the liturgies, please contact Maureen Deery by phone ( ) or Please know that volunteering to help at one of these liturgies does not imply a long-term commitment. Travel to italy & switzerland with Father john You are invited to travel on a twelve day trip to Italy and Switzerland with Father John next October. DATES October 5-17, 2013 WHERE Rome, Sorrento, Capri, Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, Tuscany, Florence, Venice, Lake Como, Milan, & Switzerland COST $4,499 (airfare and all-inclusive) For more information or to sign-up, please contact Maureen Sullivan (msullivan@stceciliaboston.org). Lenten Speaker Series "ALL WHO LOVE LIVE IN GOD" The parish's annual Lenten Speaker Series will begin this Wednesday evening, March 13 at seven o'clock. The theme of this year's series is "All Who Love Live in God." Our first speaker is Father George Piggford, CSC. Father Piggford was born, raised, and educated in Pennsylvania until he moved to Montreal to pursue his doctorate in English literature and French theory at the University of Montreal. He spent two years teaching at Tufts before entering formation for the Congregation of Holy Cross, which included theological study at the University of Notre Dame and led to his ordination in In 2004, he joined the English faculty of Stonehill College. His research and teaching interests include modernism and post-modernism, gender, and questions of transcendence in literature. Father Piggford directs the Moreau Honors Program and is involved in the "It Needs to Get Better" movement at Stonehill. His topic on March 13 will be "On Being Liked: LGBT Catholics." The second Lenten Speaker event will take place on Wednesday evening, March 20 at seven o'clock. Father John Savard, SJ's topic will be "There's No Place Like Home!" During the season of Lent, we remember the Exodus from Egypt, when the Israelites wandered for years before finding their way back home. For them, home was a tent. Sometimes the GLBTQ community can identify with the nomadic experience of wandering, pitching their tents, and finding a home wherever they are. After graduating from Fairfield University, Father Savard entered the Society of Jesus in After twelve years of formation, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1991 and his first assignment brought him to the Jesuit Urban Center where he spent four years as director of liturgy and HIV/AIDS ministry. As part of the community's ministry to people living with HIV/AIDS, Father Savard coordinated the Last Tuesday Dinner program which grew during his tenure until there were over 100 regular participants. Following his service at the JUC, Father Savard was sent as a missionary to Honduras and later taught at Boston College and the University of San Francisco. Father Savard currently teaches in the education department at the College of the Holy Cross and is the rector of the Jesuit community there. At Holy Cross he finds his greatest joy in encouraging students to immerse themselves in the lives of the poor and the marginalized. The Saint Cecilia Rainbow Ministry will be hosting receptions after the two speaker events. 5

6 Lenten progress halfway home! With only two-and-a-half weeks before the end of Lent and the beginning of the Paschal Triduum, it s a good time to pause and ask ourselves how Lent is going. If you haven t already entered into the spirit of the season, it s not too late. Here are some ways that you can still prepare well for Easter. ATTEND MASS We celebrate Mass here on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings at 8:00 and on Wednesday evenings during Lent at 6:00. Saint Clement Eucharistic Shrine offers Mass Monday through Friday at 7:00 a.m. & 12:10 p.m. Saint Francis Chapel offers weekday Masses at 8:00 a.m., 12:05, 12:35 and 4:45 p.m. OPERATION RICE BOWL Connect the Lenten practices of fasting and almsgiving with the superb work of Catholic Relief Services by putting the money you save by eating more simply into the Rice Bowl. Rice Bowls are still available in the narthex. When you come to the Evening Mass of the Lord s Supper on Holy Thursday, bring your Rice Bowl with you. If you won t be with us that evening, there will be a designated Sunday during the Easter season when you can return your Rice Bowl to church. FRIDAY ABSTINENCE AND FASTING We are asked to abstain from meat on the Fridays during Lent. We are also asked to fast on Good Friday by taking only one full meal and two other smaller ones, eating nothing between meals. Holy Saturday is a day of fast for the Elect. While fasting is not required of all the faithful, observing the Paschal fast on Holy Saturday is an ancient tradition and a good way to be in solidarity with those who are to be baptized at the Easter Vigil. SAY GRACE Say Grace before meals, thanking God for the bounty in your life, praying for the poor and for those whose work on land and sea brings food to your table. PRAY FOR OUR ELECT & CANDIDATES We are grateful to God for our fourteen Elect and five Candidates preparing for initiation at the Easter Vigil. Keeping these men and women in your prayer is a good way to prepare for Easter. CELEBRATE RECONCILIATION The Sacrament of Reconciliation is a wonderfully powerful celebration of God s mercy and love; sadly, however, the sacrament has gotten a bad rap. If you ve been away for a long time (or even a very long time!), consider taking advantage of the sacrament this Lent. We are participating in the Archdiocesan The Light Is On For You Lenten initiative and the church is open for confessions on all the Wednesday evenings of Lent from 6:30 to 8:00. PRAY WITH US Join us for Evening Prayer on the remaining two Thursdays of Lent (March 14 & 21) and on the Solemnity of Saint Joseph (March 19) and consider coming to Taizé Prayer for Lent this Friday evening, April 15. All of these services will begin at 6:30. ATTEND OUR LENTEN SPEAKER SERIES We are having two wonderful guest speakers this Lent (March 13 and 20). See page 5 for more details. BRING FOOD FOR THE POOR ON SUNDAYS We have committed to providing food for the Catholic Charities' food pantry twice each month. Consider making it your Lenten (and beyond) practice to bring some food for the poor with you when you come to Mass each Sunday. The items that Catholic Charities needs are: Cheerios or cornflakes; peanut butter; white flour spaghetti; macaroni & cheese; canned tuna fish; canned chicken breast; tomato sauce; and juice boxes. COMMIT TO ATTENDING THE LITURGIES OF HOLY WEEK Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, March 24, and finds its fulfillment on Easter Day, is the most significant and hallowed time of the Church s year. It is a spiritual journey in which we relive liturgically the events of the last week of Jesus life those events which culminated in his Resurrection and our Salvation. Therefore, like the Mass, it is an anamnesis a re-presenting of those events. They are made present to us in the liturgies of Holy Week so that we may enter into them mystically and may be given deeper insights into their meaning. Over the centuries, Christians have found that when they observe the liturgies of the Paschal Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter), they are changed and their faith is deepened. Participation in the Great Vigil of Easter is also a good way to show our support of the Elect and Candidates who will become full members of our community that night. 6

7 The Fruits of Doubt By KATHERINE TOWLER In the 1856 edition of Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman writes: "I do not doubt that whatever I know at a given time, there waits for me more which I do not know." This is a potent summation of our human state, so readily defined by the unknown, and of our relationship with the divine. We proceed from moments of knowing to moments of unknowing, again and again; often they are the same moment. I struggle with doubt every time I sit down at the desk to do my work as a writer. It used to be the blank page, now it's the blank screen, but it amounts to the same thing: bringing something out of nothing, and questioning whether the effort is worth it. A more profound doubt takes hold when I attempt to pray. To whom am I praying and why? The very idea of God defies plausibility. All too easily, I find myself agreeing with those who say that we have created God because we need the idea of God as a bulwark against loneliness and death. Yet, theologians through the ages remind us that doubt is integral to belief and even to prayer. Paul Tillich argued that "doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith." Accepting doubt means moving beyond an either/or proposition to a complex understanding of both God and self. Too often, however, I am seduced by the dualistic thinking of my age. Either God exists or God does not exist. Either prayers are answered or they are merely our attempts to console ourselves. On Election Day, I volunteered to drive voters to the polls. My first assignment was to pick up a couple in their late eighties. She walked with great difficulty using a cane, and her husband and I had to practically lift her in and out of the car. If the weather had been better, she told me, her husband would have pushed her nearly a mile to the polling place in her wheelchair, but it was too cold that day. She had a lot of trouble finding their winter coats, in fact. Her daughter had packed the winter clothes in boxes because she thought her mother was not coming home again. The woman explained that she had spent four months in the hospital and undergone two heart surgeries. "My kids thought this was the end, but it wasn't the end. God spoke to me. He said, 'It's not time yet. You're going to be here for a while.' When God speaks to me, I listen." How much I admired this woman's faith. She has a relationship with God that is direct and real. Her words were not so much a statement of belief as they were a statement of felt experience that made doctrine and creeds irrelevant. When my co-editor and I interviewed the poet Fanny Howe for A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith, she said: "As it is in the liturgy, so it is in the world: Truth is as fleeting as a sunbeam, and each time you go to Mass you see truth drop in a place it hasn't before." A practicing Catholic, Howe describes her relationship with the church as a marriage that, like all marriages, has its moments of love and boredom, disappointment and joy. And of course doubt. In an essay titled "Doubt," Howe speaks of the moment when "doubt shows itself to be the physical double to belief the invisible engine behind every step taken." She describes doubt as "a mesmerizing and glorious force" to be welcomed and mined rather than feared and avoided. By facing doubt, we own up to what we do not know and cannot control, and in doing so, may be (Continued on next page) 7

8 (Continued from previous page) granted a glimpse of grace. If we follow where doubt leads us, we may discover the twin force of a faith that is not fixed in a brittle way but alive, open to hearing God's voice. "People wish to be settled; only so far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them." So Ralph Waldo Emerson put it in his essay "Circles." We live in unsettled times which give us the opportunity to test Emerson's claim. But the unsettling demands of lives defined by technology and materialism, in a capitalist culture whose only god is wealth, appear to make many of us run for absolutism. Fundamentalism has its appeal because it offers the appearance of certainty. Give me a formula to pray and a set of rules easily followed. As much as I long for predictability, though, I recognize that a formula does not offer a lived experience of faith. God is present in our doubt as much as our certainty. It's the moments when I am most unsure, most paralyzed by doubt, that light breaks through. Giving in to doubt allows for the eyes and ears to open. "Are you a person of faith?" the woman asked me as we drove to the polling place. No, I might have answered, I am a person of doubt and hope, making my way through a landscape shaped in equal measure by both. Katherine Towler is co-editor with Ilya Kaminsky of A God in the House: Poets Talk About Faith. She is author of the novels Snow Island, Evening Ferry and Island Light. She teaches in the M.F.A. Program in Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. Is the Holy Spirit Responsible for Who Gets Elected? In 1997, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) was asked on Bavarian television if the Holy Spirit is responsible for who gets elected during a papal conclave. This was his response: I would not say so, in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the Pope. I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair, but rather like a good educator, as it were, leaves us much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. Thus the Spirit's role should be understood in a much more elastic sense, not that he dictates the candidate for whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined. He continued: There are too many contrary instances of popes the Holy Spirit obviously would not have picked! PRAYER DURING THE CONCLAVE Come, Holy Spirit! Come to the Church in our time of need: Heal, cleanse, and renew us. Be with the cardinals who will soon gather in conclave to elect a new leader for the Church. Raise up for us a prophetic leader, a humble, compassionate shepherd, with wisdom to read the signs of the times in the light of the Gospel. Come, Holy Spirit, with the wind and fire of a new Pentecost. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love. You send forth your Spirit, and they are created, and you will renew the face of the earth. 8

9 Parish RESOURCES Parish Office & Mailing Address 18 Belvidere Street, Boston, MA Hours Monday Friday, 9:00 a.m. 6:00 p.m. Phone Fax Website Parish Staff Rev. John J. Unni, Pastor, Mark Donohoe, Pastoral Associate for Administration, Scott J. MacDonald, Director of Faith Formation and Leadership Development, Jeanne Bruno, Coordinator of Pastoral Outreach, Richard J. Clark, Director of Music and Organist, Maureen Sullivan, Administrative Assistant to the Pastor, Genevieve Fiorente, Office Administrative Assistant Assisting Clergy Rev. Thomas Gariepy, CSC Rev. Peter Grover, OMV Rev. James Shaughnessy, SJ Rev. George Winchester, SJ Schedule for Liturgy Wednesdays During Lent 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, & Friday 8:00 a.m. Lord s Day Sat 5:00 p.m.; Sun 8:00, 9:30, 11:15, & 6:00 p.m. Holy Days 8:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Reconciliation By appointment at any time and Wednesday evenings from 6:30 8:00 during Lent. Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is the communal process through which non-baptized men and women become members of the Catholic Church. It is also suitable for those baptized in different faith traditions who are interested in becoming Catholic, or, for those who were baptized Catholic, but have yet to receive the sacraments of eucharist and confirmation. For more information, please contact Mark Donohoe. Baptism for Infants Infant baptism is celebrated on the first Sunday of the month. For more information, please contact Mark Donohoe. Faith Formation for Children To register your child for our Faith Formation Program, please contact Scott MacDonald in the parish office. Marriage Couples who wish to prepare for marriage should contact Mark Donohoe in the parish office at least six months in advance. Care of the Sick To arrange for the Sacrament of the Sick, for Holy Communion to be brought to those unable to attend the Sunday celebration, or for Viaticum for the Dying (Holy Communion for those in danger of death), please contact the parish office. It is always possible to anoint the sick during regularly scheduled liturgies. Order of Christian Funerals The parish is prepared to celebrate the Vigil (wake) in the church. Please contact the parish office for more information. Child Abuse Prevention (CAP) Team The CAP Team is responsible for training all parish staff and volunteers in mandated reporting laws and the Protecting God s Children program (VIRTUS). They also provide consultation and support to anyone in the parish who has concerns about reporting child abuse and neglect. Please contact Lois Flaherty (loisflaherty@gmail.com), Maria Roche (maria.roche15@gmail.com) or Letitia Howland (l_howland@hotmail. com) if you have any questions or concerns. The Archdiocese of Boston has in place a vigorous program to protect children from harm and to educate its ministers and faithful about the nature of abuse, with a goal of increasing knowledge, creating a safe environment for children, and recognizing and reporting potentially dangerous situations. The full text of the policy is also available in the narthex and parish office, as well as on our website. For Those with Celiac Disease If you have celiac disease, please let us know. We have a supply of low-gluten altar bread available for those who cannot tolerate gluten. Hearing Assistance in Church The church is equipped with an FM listening device. Small receivers are available for anyone who may have trouble hearing the sound system. Simply request a receiver from any one of our greeters before Mass. Access for the Disabled The church is accessible by elevator. Parking Reduced-rate parking is available Sundays at the Prudential Center parking garage; LAZ Parking (53 Belvidere Street maximum of three hours); and at the Hilton Boston Back Bay. Be sure to have one of our greeters validate your parking ticket before returning to your car. Joining Our Community We re happy that you re with us! Our community offers a warm, spiritual home for a diverse group of Catholics. We come from many neighborhoods in and around Boston but also have parishioners from as far afield as Marlborough, Newburyport, and Stow. Please introduce yourself to a staff member, drop in for coffee on Sunday, or fill out a new parishioner form in the gathering space. No matter what your background, please know that you are always welcome at Saint Cecilia. 9