SACRED HEART. N e w t o n. December 18, 2016

Transcription

1 SACRED HEART N e w t o n December 18, 2016

2 PARISH RESOURCES SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION Saturday: 2:30 to 3:30pm or anytime by appointment BAPTISM Arrangement for this Sacrament of Initiation may be made by contacting the Rectory. MARRIAGE Arrangements for Marriage should be made with the parish priest at least eight months in advance to allow for adequate preparation. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAM Grades 1 through 5 - Tuesdays 4:00 to 5:15pm Grades 6 through 10 - Tuesdays 7:00 to 8:30pm VISITATION TO THE SICK We are eager to help anyone who cannot celebrate Mass with us in Church. If you wish to receive the sacraments of Confession, Communion, or the Anointing of the Sick, please call the Rectory. Please notify us of any hospitalization so that we may help. MASSES Weekends (Upper Church) Saturday: 4:00pm Sunday: 9:00am, 11:00am in ASL (also Voiced) 12 Noon (Lower Church) Weekdays (Lower Church) Monday Saturday: 9:00am Saturday following Mass: Rosary, Exposition, Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, concluding at 10:30am Holy Days (Upper Church) 7:00am at Our Lady Help of Christians 9:00am at Sacred Heart 12:00 noon at Our Lady Help of Christians 7:30pm at Sacred Heart. This Mass is in both English and ASL Holidays (Lower Church) 9:00am WEBSITES : WELCOME: If you are new in the parish, please introduce yourself after Mass or at the rectory office. We want to know and serve you. OFFICE MAILING ADDRESS 1321 Centre Street, Newton, MA OFFICE HOURS Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, 9:30am to 5:00pm. Fridays 9:00am to 12:00pm. PHONE AND Rectory Office Pastoral Associate Religious Education MacKenzie Center Fax Our Lady Help of Christians sacredheart@sholnewton.org jsassani@sholnewton.org dsheehan@sholnewton.org rblaney@sholnewton.org amilik@sholnewton.org mbuckley@sholnewton.org bniemiec@sholnewton.org msolomon@sholnewton.org mbliss@sholnewton.org jenna.kish@bostondeafcatholic.org pmiller@sholnewton.org STAFF Rev. John Sassani, Pastor: Rev. Robert J. Blaney, P. Vicar: x212 Rev. Adrian Milik, P. Vicar: x224 In Residence: Rev. Michael Hahn In Residence at OLHC: Msgr. Dennis Sheehan Mr. William B. Koffel, Deacon Mrs. Marie Buckley, Pastoral Associate Mr. Brian Niemiec, Pastoral Associate Mr. Michael Bliss, Business Manager Mr. Manny Lim, Interim Director of Music Mrs. Michelle Solomon, Religious Education Director Mrs. Margaret Miller, Administrative Associate Mrs. Marisa Cimino, Activities Coordinator, MacKenzie Center Mr. David Nahabedian, Facilities Manager 2

3 OUR COMMUNITY NEWS MASS INTENTIONS Sunday, December 18 9:00am, Parishioners of Sacred Heart 12:00 Noon, Andreana Simonetti CELEBRANTS FOR NEXT WEEK Saturday, December 24, 4:00pm: Fr. Milik, 7:00pm Fr. Carey; 10:00pm Fr. Sassani; Sunday, December 25, 10:00am: Fr. Milik SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS WEEK Sunday December 18, Fourth Sunday of Advent Isaiah 7: 10-14; Ps. 24: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6; Romans 1: 1-7; Matthew 1: Monday, December 19 Judges 13: 2-7, 24-25a; Ps. 71: 3-4a, 5-6ab, 16-17; Luke 1: 5-25 Tuesday, December 20 Isaiah 7: 10-14; Ps. 24: 1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6; Luke 1: Wednesday, December 21 Song of Songs 2: 8-14; Ps. 33: 2-3, 11-12, 20-21; Luke 1: Thursday, December 22 1 Samuel 1: 24-28; Ps. 1 Samuel 2: 1, 4-5, 6-7, 8abcd; Luke 1: Friday, December 23 Malachi 3: 1-4, 23-24; Ps. 25: 4-5ab, 8-9, 10 and 14; Luke 1: Saturday, December 24 2 Samuel 7: 1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16; Ps. 89: 2-3, 4-5, 27 and 29; Luke 1: Sunday, December 25, Christmas Isaiah 52: 7-10; Ps. 98: 1, 2-3, 3-4, 5-6; Hebrews 1: 1-6; John 1: 1-18 CALENDAR NOTES Extended Coffee Hour: Sunday, December 18, 10:00am 1:00pm, Parish Center Young Family Gathering: Sunday, December 18, 10:30am, Parish Center coffee hour Mass for the Sick: Mionday, December 19, 6:30pm, Our Lady s Lower Church Adoration, Taize Prayer, Reconciliation: Wednesday, December 21, 6:30-8:00pm, Lower Church Prayer Group: Wednesday, December 21, 7:30pm, Convent Chapel Coffee Hour: Friday, December 23, Following 9:00am Mass, Parish Center 3 Liturgy, Holy Hour, Rosary: Saturday, December 24, 9:00am 10:30am, Lower Church CHRISTMAS FLOWERS It is not too late to make a donation for Christmas flowers in honor or memory of loved ones. Just be aware that these names may not appear in the Christmas Bulletin as there is an early deadline for submission. Just put your donation and list of names in an envelop marked Christmas Flowers and send to the rectory or drop it in the collection basket. CHRISTMAS COLLECTION This Christmas, the collection will once again benefit the Clergy Health and Retirement Trust which cares for the needs of our priests. Our priests are always there for us; they share Christ s good news, perform good works, and build communities of good faith. All are welcome to learn more and make a gift online at clergytrust.org. And don t forget to find the Trust on Facebook by Thank you in advance for your prayers and support. END OF YEAR DONATIONS Donations of appreciated securities can support Sacred Heart Parish and may provide tax benefits to you. If you would like to make a gift of securities before the end of the year in order to receive full tax credit, please contact Michael Bliss at:mbliss@sholnewton.org and we can provide you with information to share with your broker. Thank you for your generosity! CHRISTMAS MASS SCHEDULES As you prepare your travels and celebrations this month, please see below the Mass times for Christmas 4:00PM (12/24) Our Lady's 4:00PM (12/24) Sacred Heart 6:00PM (12/24) Our Lady's 7:00PM (12/24) Sacred Heart (American Sign Language with voice interpretation) 10:00PM (12/24) Sacred Heart 12:00AM (12/25) Our Lady's 10:00AM (12/25) Our Lady's 10:00AM (12/25) Sacred Heart THERE IS NO MIDNIGHT MASS AT SACRED HEART! THE VIGIL IS AT 10:00 PM!

4 RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS Let us rejoice: Jesus is almost here! Joy grows as we watchfully wait and prepare for Christ to be born in our hearts at Christmas. Our prayer, sacrifices, receiving the Eucharist and Reconciliation and forgetting ourselves and looking out for others makes Jesus alive and at home in us. Will there be room for Jesus in the inn of our hearts at Christmas? This past week our students prepared beautiful Christmas cards for our homebound parishioners and those in nursing homes and for families receiving Food bags. We thank our parishioners for their generosity in helping Dorchester families to have a wonderful meal at Christmas by donating many bags of groceries. Our students lovingly prepared those bags and prayed for the families who would receive them. Religious Education classes will not be in session for Christmas break. Classes resume on January 17, On January 8, 2017 our Religious Education Teachers are asked to attend a Teachers Workshop from 6-8pm in the Convent. Please confirm that you will be in attendance! O Come O Come Emmanuel! Michelle Solomon, Director of Religious Ed ADVENT ADORATION, TAIZE PRAYER, AND RECONCILIATION Enter more deeply into the Advent season with Taize Prayer, Adoration, and the opportunity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Wednesday December 21st from 6:30-8:00pm.at Sacred Heart (Lower Church). FATHER BOB ON YOUTUBE If you were unable to attend Father Bob s show, you can now watch and share it online on YouTube.com using the search words A Musical Encore with Father Robert Blaney. And while you re there, you might also want to check out Interview with Fr. Bob Blaney which documents his journey into the priesthood, reminding each of us that we re all called in unique and particular ways to respond to God s invitation to share His Good News through our own lives. YOUNG FAMILY GATHERING All families with young or recently baptized children are invited to gather at Coffee Hour after the 9:00am Mass this Sunday, December 18th, in the MacKenzie Center. There will be activities for the kids, and food and fellowship for all. THANK YOU, THANK YOU Sacred Heart Parish has been gifted with some lovely new Altar cloths. A set for the lower church has been generously donated in memory of Rodrigo and Aurora Rausa who worshipped at Sacred Heart by the families of Gloria Rausa Thompson and Ermelinda Rausa Arriola. A set for the upper Church has been lovingly donated by the Guild of St. Francis. We are deeply grateful to these benefactors. The cloths will be used for the first time at the Christmas Masses. SACRED HAPPENINGS What a wonderful Advent party we celebrated on Sunday, December 11. The hall was full of families and all seemed to enjoy the varied array of food and beverages. Children were occupied with Christmas crafts and cookie decorating and Santa made an appearance along with one of his elves. The gifts for our Advent Giving were received, sorted, and then transferred to the convent with the help of some of our Confirmation students. IMMIGRATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT TALK ON LINE The Social Justice Forum this past Sunday afternoon, featuring Fr. Brian Hehir and Carolyn Woo speaking on immigration and the environment respectively, can be viewed by going on line using the search words Archdiocese of Boston Social Justice Convocation Thank you to all those who attended the forum. CANCELLATION POLICY FOR WEEKDAY MASSES If the Newton schools are closed because of weather, there will be no Mass celebrated that day at Sacred Heart Parish. Please check your TV and radio announcements for the Newton school cancellation. ST FRANCIS HOUSE With so much going on these past weeks, we neglected to mention the December needs at St. Francis House. Please donate instant coffee and tea to fill up the bins at the church entrances! FOOD CARDS Our supply of food cards for the needy people who come to our door have been depleted. If you are able to help out with a grocery card or two we would not have to turn away anyone who needs a little extra help for Christmas groceries. 4

5 SACRED HEART HISTORY: So you think regifting is new read this! Back in 1943, when then-auxiliary Bishop Cushing was also the pastor of Sacred Heart parish, he gave all the Sacred Heart High School students copies of Archbishop Spellman s Action this Day--Letters from the Fighting Fronts, a current bestseller. As reported in a Boston Daily Globe article published in 1944, Cushing did not write a personal message in the gift copies. Instead he told the students, I know how it is. Sometimes you run short of presents-- sometimes you need to lay hands on one in a hurry well, there you are! So here we are, Sacred Heart Parishioners of Take heart that the late Cardinal Cushing approved of re-gifting some 70 years ago! (source: Boston Daily Globe October 9, 1944). A SH History group member feels so happy to hear youngsters at Sacred Heart! Kids in church mean a full community!! Makes us think of a St. Philip Neri pastor, Fr. Charlie McCoy; who used to say from the altar: kids who talk out in church probably have more to say than I do, anyway and every time we hear a child cry or giggle or fuss in church we should say a prayer for those parents who chose to bring that child into the world and to be brave enough to raise them! Welcome youngsters and their parents at Mass; your own special sacred choir!! MASS FOR THE SICK The next Monthly Mass for the Sick, sponsored by the Faith-Based Cancer Support Group of Sacred Heart and Our Lady Help of Christians Church, will be on Monday, December 19 at 6:30 p.m. at Our Lady s Church. Fr. Bob Blaney will celebrate the Mass and Anointing of the Sick. Following Christmas cookies and punch, we will enjoy a sing-along of familiar carols. The evening is designed to bring joy, hope, and peace to those who are affected by illness, including family and friends. The Mass and program will both be held downstairs at Our Lady s church, located at 573 Washington Street in Newton. For questions or more information, please contact Pat Enright at pme1130@aol.com, or Lorraine Higgins: or higlor1@msn.com,or the parish offices. All are welcome! FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT Today s readings are so full of hope! and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means God is with us. This week will see the darkest / shortest 5 day of the year, but then, second by second, each day is longer. Even in the darkness, God is with us - Emmanuel. The world is moving at warp speed shop, buy, return, shop, buy again, wrap. The noise is constant and not all from celestial angels. But, God is with us. Like Paul, we are called to be disciples, and set apart to share the gospel the Good News - of God December 25 ~ The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas) The Lectionary gives four different sets of readings for this great feast: the Vigil Mass, Mass during the night, at dawn, and during the day. The readings are very familiar: the genealogy in Matthew, the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, stories of shepherds and angels in Luke, and the magnificent Prologue to John s Gospel, In the beginning was the Word Whatever readings you hear, try to hear them with new ears and give thanks for the greatest gift. Awesome is so overused but it doesn t even begin to describe Christmas. God loved us so much, He sent His Son to be with us, to be one of us, to redeem us. Just think about that and give thanks. We should all be like the angels, singing, Glory to God in the highest And, if singing, isn t your thing, at least be ready to share your story of God s goodness and how Jesus has worked in your life with at least one other person this week. DAYS OF PRAYER FOR PASTORAL VISITORS In collaboration with the Chaplaincy Office, the Office of Spiritual Life offers Days of Prayer for Pastoral Ministers and Ministers of Communion to the Sick. The Day of Prayer consists of a conference common prayer, quiet time and time for fellowship. Companions in Christ is offered at Our Lady Help of Christians Church on February 25 from To register, call the Office of Spiritual Life at or spiritual_development@rcab.org. MONSIGNOR HADDAD MIDDLE SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE JANUARY 29, 1 3 PM - Come learn what makes Monsignor Haddad Middle School such an amazing place! MHMS is a Catholic, standalone middle school that is part of St. Joseph Parish in Needham and draws from 20 communities. Join us for an Open House on Sunday, January 29th from 1 3pm. Meet the teachers, tour the campus with our student leaders, and learn more about why MHMS is a great choice for middle school.

6 Excerpt from Pastoral Letter Jesus Eager Desire: Our Participation in the Sunday Mass November 20, 2011 Cardinal Seán Patrick O' Malley, OFM Cap. Some of you have drifted away from the Church and have been waiting for a good time to return. I pray that you will consider this the time to join us on our faith journey toward Heaven. The sacred teachings of the Church offer guidance, direction and meaning in a world where so many cannot find their way. Our faith points us to Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Some of you have made a choice to stop coming to Church because you have been hurt by the actions of someone in the Church or because of a difficulty with a Church teaching. From my first day as archbishop of Boston and perhaps for the rest of my days, I will always be asking the forgiveness of all those who have been hurt by the actions, or inaction, of people and leaders in the Church. Please do not let those experiences and memories separate you from the love of Christ and of our Catholic family and prevent you from receiving the grace of the sacraments.... A reporter [once] asked me what I would say to Catholics who do not attend Mass because they disagree with, or have questions about, Church teaching. I answered that our teaching does not change because people disagree with it; our faith comes from Christ s own teaching in the Scriptures and through the teaching authority of the Church throughout the ages. We recognize, however, that many struggle to reconcile Church teaching with social norms in American society today; to them, we say that we want to engage in a meaningful conversation with you. We want you to know that you are part of our family. We want to assure you that God loves you and waits for you at Sunday Mass. The best place to begin a conversation is by gathering with the family of believers in the worshiping community. To those who consider themselves unwelcome at Mass because of some irregularity or moral struggle, please know that you are always loved by God and the Catholic community desires your presence with us. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. An inability to fulfill all aspects of Christian worship or to receive Communion should not keep you from Mass. In fact, the habit of being faithful to the Sunday obligation can provide the actual grace, if you cooperate with it, to give you the strength to overcome current obstacles and find paths of reconciliation. We stand ready to help you. 6