St. John Neumann Church

Transcription

1 St. John Neumann Church 157 Middleboro Road / P.O. Box 718 East Freetown, MA (phone) (Fax) Rev. Gregory A. Mathias, Pastor Rev. Msgr. John J. Smith, (Assistant in Retirement) WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE Sunday: 8:00, 9:30, 11:00A.M. Saturday Vigil: 5:00 P.M. DAILY MASS SCHEDULE Monday Thursday: 7:30 A.M. SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Saturday: 4:00 4:30 P.M. or by appointment EUCHARISTIC ADORATION Mary, Mother of All Nations Chapel Weekdays: 8:00 A.M. 9:00 P.M. Mondays (except civil holidays) Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament PARISH OFFFICE / RECTORY YOUTH MINISTRY OFFICE contact@sjnfreetown.org NEUMANN HALL sjnyouthministry@sjnfreetown.org Monday Friday: 8:30 A.M. 4:30 P.M. (Closed holidays) Lisa Johnson Youth Ministry Mrs. Diane Whelan Parish Secretary JoAnn Violette Jr. Youth Ministry OFFICE OF FAITH FORMATION MUSIC MINISTRY NEUMANN HALL sjnreled@sjnfreetown.org Ms. Linda Johnston Director Mrs. Suzanne Medeiros Director Mrs. Anna Manny Coordinator for Confirmation MAINTENANCE AND FACILITIES Raymond Bedard SACRAMENTS AND CHURCH PROGRAMS PARISH ORGANIZATIONS AND MINISTRIES Please go the parish website or contact the office for more complete information. BAPTISM: Celebrated Sundays after 11:00 Mass on the 1 st and 3 rd Sundays of the month. Baptism Catechesis is required of all parents MARRIAGE: Please contact the pastor at least 8 months prior to the intended date and prior to other plans. MINISTRY TO THE SICK: Please notify us if a homebound or hospitalized family member would like a visit. PRAYER LINE: Call the rectory to include your intention. RCIA: We welcome adults who wish to complete their initiation into the Catholic Church. Please contact the office. WOMEN S GUILD: 1 st Mondays ST. VINCENT de PAUL: 1 st Wednesdays YOUTH MINISTRY: see website for events and times. Junior (Gr. 6 8): Every Tuesday Senior (Gr. 9 12) Every Monday COUPLES CLUB: Once a Month ADULT CHOIR: Rehearsal on Thursdays 7:00 P.M. PRAYER SHAWL MINISTRY: 1st Saturday of the month TROOP 333: Every Saturday Welcome to St. John Neumann Parish. Thank You for joining us in worship today. We hope you will join us on the spiritual journey, in ministry to all God s people. Please contact the parish office to register. Click on the QRC to connect to the parish website.

2 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time February 9, 2014 February 8: Vigil: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 5:00PM Archie Spoor 10th Anniversary by family February 9: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 8:00AM People of the Parish 9:30AM James L. Lopes by Regina Lopes 11:00AM Teresa Aliberti Amaral by family February 10: Saint Scholastica, Virgin 7:30AM John Laronda Sr by Charlie & Marlene Johnson February 11: Weekday 7:30AM Armand & Gertrude Charpentier by Ray Charpentier February 12: Weekday 7:30AM Benjamin Luzzo by John & Jan Bastoni February 13: Weekday 7:30AM John, Patricia & Gregory Gawronski by Karen Howard February 15: Vigil: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time 5:00PM Moreau Family February 16: Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time 8:00AM Louis Gauthier Sr. & Louis Gauthier Jr. by family 9:30AM Leo & Adrienne Allain by Gerald & Louise Boucher 11:00AM Teresa Thibeault by Jane & Tony Dube & family We will continue offering the "cup" at all Masses. We do ask that if you are experiencing flu or cold like symptoms that you refrain from receiving from the cup. My Brother's Keeper, a Christian ministry with locations in Dartmouth and Easton, MA, picks up gentlyused furniture couches; kitchen tables and chairs; dressers; and twin, full, and queen-size mattresses and box springs. Donations are never sold. All items are delivered free of charge to families in need in Christ s name. To schedule a pickup or to become a volunteer, please call My Brother's Keeper in Dartmouth at Stop in Neumann Hall after the 8:00AM and 9:30AM Mass and enjoy Coffee & Donuts!! Your Offertory Trust Thank you for your Parish Support through your Offertory Trust. Spectacular scenery and Grizzlies await you in the presentation of our 10,400 mile road trip to the Arctic Circle and to Alaska, The Last Frontier. Presented by Bob & Inez Roy on Friday, February 14th at 7:00pm in Neumann Hall. Refreshments will be served and desserts would be appreciated. BUDGET: $ MAINTENANCE: $ HOME MISSIONS: $ Thanking you for your continuing generosity. Second Collection: At all Masses this weekend is for the Energy Fund. Do you have a talent that you would like to share? We are looking for any form of entertainment to perform at the Lakeside Family Festival. Please call Sharon Jensen at if you are interested or would like more information. Call soon because space is limited!

3 Need healing? Or Know Someone That Needs Healing: Mass with Sacrament of the Sick World Day of the Sick on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes Tuesday, Feb. 11, Mass at Noon with the Sacrament of the Sick for those who wish to receive. All are invited to join us for this special day of prayer and remembrance for all who are sick and suffering. Held at St. Joseph s Chapel, 500 Washington St., N. Easton, MA For more information you can call Holy Cross Ministries at Pilgrimage to Italy: Msgr. Stephen Avila, along with Fr. Riley Williams and Fr. Jason Brilhante, will be leading a pilgrimage to Italy leaving Thursday evening, September 26 th and returning Friday evening, October 3 rd. The itinerary includes Assisi, Orvieto, Subiaco and ending in Rome where we will attend the ordination of the American deacons (including one from our diocese) at St. Peter s Basilica. Price is $3,250 pp dbl occ. For info, contact Fr. Steve at frsteveavila@gmail.com or visit Lakeside Family Festival Meeting There will be a general meeting on Sunday, February 16, 2014 at 6:30pm in Neumann Hall for all booth chairs and for anyone who may be interested in chairing a booth. This meeting is also open to any parishioner who may have new ideas or who would like more information about the festival. We strongly encourage you to attend this meeting and be part of our planning process as we work together as a parish community to achieve another successful year. If you have any thoughts about being more involved in the festival but don t know how to start or have any questions, please feel free to call Diane Whelan, Festival Chairperson at or There will be a steering committee meeting immediately following. Adult Confirmation Classes for 2014 The Diocese of Fall River will be offering Adult Confirmation Classes for The Anchor All parishioners are encouraged to subscribe to The Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River. This is a great means to grow in faith and stay informed of issues of relevant to the faith that secular newspapers neglect or distort. Subscriptions are only $20 a year. Anchor subscription envelopes are available in the Narthex. St. John Neumann Catholic Parish March 4 - April 1, 2014; Tuesdays from 6:30-8:30pm at Bishop Connolly HS Library, Fall River. March 8 - April 5, 2014; Saturdays from 10am - 12pm at Holy Family Parish, East Taunton. Please call the Rectory if you would like to register for this class. E-GIVING E-Giving is short for electronic giving. It is an automatic transfer program that allows you to make contributions without the hassle of writing checks. For more information on E-Giving, please visit our website at

4 Senior & junior YOUTH GROUP Are you Cleaning Out?? Bring your clean reusable items to the barn. Please do not leave any items at the barn. Please call Marlene Johnson at first to arrange time to drop off items. Our next sale will be March 8th. We collect items all year round. We are planning a snow tubing trip to Yawgoo Valley in Exeter, RI on Tuesday, February 18th. The bus will be leaving Neumann Hall at 3:00pm and will be returning at 9:00pm. It is very important that everyone confirm with Mrs. Johnson or Mrs. Violette by Monday, February 10th to reserve your seat. Permission forms and waiver forms must be signed by parents in order to participate in this trip For more information, please contact Mrs. Johnson at sjnyouthministry@sjnfreetown.org or Mrs. Violette at sjnjunioryouthgroup@gmail.com Prayer for Marriage Need Assistance?? Are you a parishioner in need of assistance? If so please contact the Saint Vincent DePaul Society by calling the rectory at The Sacrament of Confirmation 2014 Rev. Gregory A. Mathias will celebrate the Sacrament Of Confirmation for our Grade 9 students on Sunday, April 6th th at 2PM at St John Neumann Church. Heavenly Father, we thank You for your tremendous gift of the Sacrament of Marriage. Enable us to grow in our intimacy with You and with each other. Teach us the beauty of forgiveness so we may become more and more one in heart, mind and body. Strengthen our communication with each other, and help us become living signs of your love. Help us to be examples of commitment, love, and service to our families and children. Make us a sign of the unity which Jesus prays for at the last Supper. We open ourselves to the guidance of your Holy Spirit, who empowers us to love in Jesus name and walk in His footsteps. Amen Please mark your calendars!! Thank You!! Office for Child Protection Catholic Social Services Did you know that sexual exploitation, abuse and other forms of child endangerment can be conducted via the Internet? Perpetrators often pretend to be the same age as the child and may even try to initiate an in-person meeting with your child. For more information on how to keep your child safe, please call Debora Jones at (508) or at djones@cssdioc.org. Update on Msgr. John Smith Msgr. Smith continues to be very ill and will not be returning to celebrate weekend liturgies with us here at St. John Neumann. We ask that you continue to pray for Msgr. Smith. Any correspondence that you may like to send to Msgr. Smith, can be sent to the Cardinal Medeiros Residence, 375 Elsbree St., Fall River, MA

5 From the Pastor s Desk.. Reading the Bible #4 When we first enter the big wide world as young adults, one of the most fundamental mistakes we make is to assume everybody else is like us: I mean this in the sense that we think that they are operating from the same assumptions, priorities and values with which we were raised. Very quickly we learn that we can t insist on people thinking just like we do or being just like we are. If we are going to have any meaningful relationships outside of our immediate family, we need to accept legitimate differences in others. In fact, what we tend to do, over time, is to adapt ourselves to the differences in others. In doing this, we grow a human beings. The great father of Bible studies is St. Jerome and he teaches that ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. If what he says is true, then that means reading the Bible is essential to the life of faith! Nevertheless, as is true with human beings, we need to receive this Word of God on its own terms. The temptation is to read a few words here or there and to become instantly alienated from it and to think that it has nothing to do with me. We really want something that reads like a modern newspaper, novel or history book; but those forms really cannot be forced onto the books of the Bible. When we attempt to do so, we enter into a world fraught with troubles; Biblical Fundamentalism. A concrete example is necessary to illustrate the point I m attempting to make here. The most prominent example that comes to my mind is the first account of creation in the Book of Genesis, (Gen. Chapter 1). The story indicates that God created the whole world in six days. Right off the bat our knowledge of science collides with the text: How is it that scientists report that the planet is approximately 4.5 billion years old and that first modern human beings didn t arise until around 200,000 years ago. So is the Bible lying or are the scientists? God cannot lie, so perhaps we should put a bracket around this particular type of science, even though we trust our doctors and we are beneficiaries are all sorts of scientific developments. One solution Bible Fundamentalists have come up with involves a couple of cross-references in the Bible wherein it says that, for God, a thousand years are like one day, (Ps 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8). From this, it can be calculated that the creation of the world was completed in 6000 years. Hmm... we are still in conflict with the findings of science. We seem to be faced with the same dilemma: Are all paleontologists, geologists and archeologist scoundrels trying to lead us astray with their science? Is the Bible in error, (Bite your toungue!)? We are faced with this sort of conflict when we insist that the Bible be read like a newspaper description of events. Is not the fundamental message that there is one true God and he is the origin of all created things and that His creation came about through a gradual process which culminated in the creation of the human person in his image and likeness? The precise details don t really add or detract from this message. However, if the world is intelligible and we are given the abilities to comprehend it, then we have to find a way of reconciling what we learn and experience with Divine Revelation. Truth is true wherever we find it! Such a message may seem ho-hum compared with an imagined conflict between faith and reason, but it is an essential message to appropriate in life: There is a God and I am not Him. God is One; there is no other. Beneath and behind everything that exists is the One with the power to create everything out of nothing. Life is a gift, not a given. These are key elements of a Biblical Consciousness.. among the fruits of reading your Bible.