Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin - February 15, 2004

As Saint Brigid and Sacred Heart Parishes begin their cluster meetings to report to the Archbishop by March 8^th on Reconfiguration we have to ask our people to pray for an honest evaluation of what is and an intelligent report of what could be. We need to plan for the future of the Catholic Church in Lexington and the Archdiocese. William Bausch in The Parish of the Next Millennium has compiled a series of predictions. Those who minister in any capacity for God and for others might see in Bausch’s predictions both an agenda and a challenge for the future:

· The parish of the third Christian millennium will be lay-oriented, with shared and collaborative ministry with a closer male-female partnership.

· It will be grounded not so much in ordination and office as in baptism and charism, wherein the baptismal call to discipleship binds believers in a common mission, and leadership, conferred with broader input, is respectful of others’ gifts and ministries.

· It will be defined relationally rather than numerically or geographically or institutionally, with a more personal, communitarian sense of being church, moving away from divisive extremes to the more urgent agenda of finding God.

· It will complete the process of moving from pyramid to koinonia (servant) church with better balance between male and female spiritualities and influence, greater female representation in decision making; there will be married priests and communion with one another across the earth, those gone before and those to come after.

· It will stress the wisdom tradition rather than the intellectual, retrieve the mystical and return to a more holistic spirituality.

· It will see a new priesthood within and among the people, a common communion in ministry.

· In a pluralistic and multicultural society, the Christian community and all its ministers will speak from weakness rather than power; we will downsize, our poverty aligning us with the poor, our minority status moving us to witness, our humanity to practical ecumenism.

All of these predictions will not happen over night nor will they happen without prayer, the Holy Spirit and a lot of hard work and even agony. Nevertheless these give us some avenues for planning for the future in the church and in our parishes.

Please pray for the success of our cluster efforts here and throughout the diocese. We will not ask God to bless our efforts but to let our efforts be what God blesses.

Sacred Heart Parish has formulated its long-standing program of charitable donations. The program is called “The Sacred Heart Fund,” and it is administered through the Stewardship Commission. The fund’s monies ($10,000 annually) originate from a tithing of parish income. If we are asking our people to contribute a percentage of their income to the parish offertory then we, as a parish, ought to tithe a percentage for charities. Grants from the fund may be applied for by any parishioner on behalf of a worthy cause or organization. Grant guidelines are available from the parish office and on the parish web site.

Office Closed

The Parish Office will be closed Monday, February 16^th in honor of President’s day.

This week we ask you to pray for those who are ill, including, Brianna Cimino, Rosemary Harvey, Regina Jones, Andrea Hynes, Joyce Amos, James Reilly, Regina Wingard, Elaine Ring, Erin McMehon, Maria Aguis, George Beck, Dr. Kenneth Spengler, Josephine Murphy, Peter Bugda, Norma Berstein, Camille Michals, Rob Morway, Patricia Hassett, Paul McCann, William Francis, Lillian Davenport, James Fontaini, Henri Fradette, William Blair, Agatha Pals, Richard Gaudet, Kath Rodriegas, Estelle Szalajeski, Nancy Driscoll, Dante DiManna, Margie Levine, Ruth Pike, Doug Phillips, Ralph Tatro, Andrew Day, Peggy Sue Grow, Mary Serpa, Deborah Miller, Dorothy Lee, William MacKinnon, Mary Jefferson, Elizabeth Conte, Dave Rissmiller, Violet Caldaroni, Frank Cote, James Bresnahan, Ann Mulray, Bea Lingane, Rita Mahan, Connie Perrotta, Gerard Sarno, Dorothy Grant, Gretin Cervantes, Midge Moran, Marisol O’Brien, Matthew Gablor, Paul Pantano, Fran Ressetar, Lori Robbins, Cecelia Hines, Renee Chapman, Al Busa, Peter Bellini, Christine Gainer, Chris Ann Colletti Feener, Katherine Bingham, Elizabeth Marrisk, Joseph Brault, Lauren Forgette, Don Sabatand and David De Thomasis. Please also remember Margaret DiPietro, grandmother of Frank DiPietro who died this past week.

Many thanks to all who use the parish envelopes each week. You are the mainstay of our parish support. This week we received 145 envelopes from the 650 families that are sent envelopes each month.

Our Youth Group will be participating in another Sunday Bingo at Youville Place on March 14. Once again we ask your help in gathering small gifts for prizes. This is a very enjoyable day for the residents and our teens. One note: we cannot give candles as they are not allowed to be used in the rooms.

The East Lexington Community Association invites you to “Meet Your Town Meeting Members & Other Candidates” Tuesday, February 24^th at 7:30pm. The meeting will be held in the Parish Center please plan to attend the meeting and the reception that follows.

Sunday: Jer 17:5-8; 1 Cor 15:12, 16-20; Lk 6:17, 20-26

Monday: Jas 1:1-11; Mk 8:11-13

Tuesday: Jas 1:12-18; Mk 8:14-21

Wednesday: Jas 1:19-27; Mk 8:22-26

Thursday: Jas 2:1-9; Mk 8:27-33

Friday: Jas 2:14-24, 26; Mk 8:34—9:1

Saturday: Jas 3:1-10; Mk 9:2-13

Next Sunday: 1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23; 1 Cor 15:45-49; Lk 6:27-38

“Living the Christian Life” is a six-week adult education course beginning Thursday, February 26^th from 7:00 – 9:00pm at St. Brigid. This course will explore the distinctive Catholic moral vision. Specific consideration will be given to: the human vocation to happiness, the moral conscience, virtue and sin, life in community, and the Ten Commandments. The course will use the text The Good Life, by Gula ($10). Individual price is $125 pp. A parish price for 5 or more is $100 pp. Please call Jay Russo, 781-862-0335, at St. Brigid Parish to register for this course.

LENT 2004 begins on February 25^th (Ash Wednesday). Do you have any plans? Are you looking to do something different this Lent? How about doing “A Retreat into Everyday Life”. The book Moment by Moment offers a way to reflect and sift through one’s multiple life experiences and to discover in them the leading thread of God’s longing and desire to make us a holy people. The book is reflective of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola and can be used in a variety of ways. There are a limited number of copies of this book available. (The cost is $10.) If you are interested please contact Sister Mary Nagle (781-862-4646)

The Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Or Lady of Fatima will soon be visiting homes in the Lexington area. If you are interested in having the statue visit your home please call Mary Jane Toerjes at 1-888-460-7371.

Coordinator of YM: Maureen McKeown

CATHOLIC YOUTH RALLY: If you missed it last weekend, please see pictures and article on our youth’s participation at the Youth Rally last Saturday. The following teens presented a wonderful skit entitled “Where Everyone Knows Your Name”:

Sarah Andryauskas, Ryan Bell, Tori Cimino, Emily Coakley, Patrick Healey, Alex Laffey, Kurt Kugel, Johanne Matte, Lia McCarthy, Kathleen Ross, Kezia Testa, Sharaya Testa and Bridgette Trometer.

They are to be congratulated for the time and effort they put forth. Please congratulate them on their willingness to proclaim their faith before 1300 of their peers! We will be doing this skit for the parish on a date to be announced in March.

HOCKEY GAME: Providence-Bruins: Friday, March 5^th at 7:00 PM in Providence . Concert to follow (Christian music by Jill Parr). Tickets are $10 each. See flyer in today’s bulletin. Must have permission slip and money in by February 29^th. See Maureen if you are interested.

YOUTH RALLY: DRIVERS, CHAPERONES, MEALPROVIDERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, - Thank you to all the adults who provided help and support for our teens attending last week’s Youth Rally! Truly, we could not have done it without you!

ANOTHER CHANCE TO PLAY BINGO AT YOUVILLE PLACE!!: If you missed out last time, set aside SUNDAY, MARCH 14 from 1:30 to 3:30 if you would like to participate. (See pictures on board outside YM Office in the Parish Center).

COME AND SEE ROB SURETTE BRING CHRIST TO LIFE: SUNDAY, MARCH 21 @ 7:00 PM @ Regis College. This will be a regular component of the 9/10^th grade program (replacing class for the week). Tickets have been purchased for this group plus 20 Adult (teachers/chaperones). Anyone 7 or older is welcome to attend. To purchase go on line at www.AmazingHeroArt.com. Bus transportation will be available for all. (Over half the tickets to the performance have been sold).


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