Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin

The Transition Teams from Sacred Heart and Saint Brigid’s Parishes met for the first time last Sunday. We began with prayer to the Holy Spirit since it is the Spirit who is the source of unity in the Church. “May you come into our hearts and disperse the divisions of word and action,” we prayed.

Kathleen Heck, from the Archdiocese facilitated this first meeting. She broke the nearly 30 people into groups of three from each parish. She then asked each group to discuss the question: “What are the top three concerns of each parish?” There were various answers, of course, but similar for each table and from each parish. Those gathered wanted the sense of community Sacred Heart has to flow over into Saint Brigid’s Parish without losing anyone in the process. Because of the larger size of Saint Brigid’s will everyone feel they belong to the parish? There is a desire to meld the various ministries and add some new ministries from Sacred Heart. All the groups wanted more meaningful liturgies and homilies. What were the top three concerns for the new parish? The answer came under three headings: 1) Community, 2) Liturgy, and 3) Ministry.

What are the three hopes for the future? Again, the small groups came up with nearly the same dreams. They all wanted a unified Catholic Community for Lexington with more challenging liturgies and a renewed sense of energy, leadership and parishioner involvement. With an appreciation of each other’s gifts Sacred Heart parishioners should be made to feel at home and not simply visitors. The question was asked, what would it take to build a new church? There was a sense of excitement and hopefulness in our coming together.

In subsequent meetings the Transition Team will create sub-committees—liturgy, education and faith formation, communication, volunteer ministry and outreach. Three members from Sacred Heart Parish Council will join Saint Brigid’s Parish Council. A member of the Finance Council of Sacred Heart will join Saint Brigid’s Financial Council. These groups will start meeting just after Labor Day and will continue into 2005.

I will keep you informed as we continue our process of closing and entering into the new Saint Brigid’s Parish. In the meantime, pray that the Lord’s work will be done. As the author of Hebrews writes to us in today’s second reading: “If we learn to obey we will do right and live at peace. Now stand up straight! Stop your knees from shaking and walk a straight path.”

Readings for the Week of August 22, 2004

Sunday:    Is 66:18-21; Heb 12:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30
Monday:    2 Th 1:1-5, 11-12; Mt 23:13-22
Tuesday:   Rv 21:9b-14; Jn 1:45-51
Wednesday:    2 Th 3:6-10, 16-18; Mt 23:27-32
Thursday: 1 Cor 1:1-9; Mt 24:42-51
Friday:    1 Cor 1:17-25; Mt 25:1-13
Saturday: 1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 25:14-30

Next Sunday: Sir 3:17-18, 20, 28-29; Heb 12:18-19, 22-24a; Lk 14:1, 7-14

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, 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, Kath Rodriegas, Estelle Szalajeski, Nancy Driscoll, Dante DiManna, Margie Levine, 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, Rita Mahan, Connie Perrotta, Jackie Sullivan, Jean Babbin, Gerard Sarno, Dorothy Grant, Gretin Cervantes, Marisol O’Brien, Paul Pantano, Fran Ressetar, Cecelia Hines, Margaret Wright, Renee Chapman, Peter Bellini, Christine Gainer, Chris Ann Colletti, Helen McLaughlin, Paul Doherty, Jorge Loayza, Joseph Brault, Lauren Forgette, Chuck Kiernan, Bill Attaya, Margaret Coughlin, John McCarthy, Don Sabatand, Laura Mac Aulay, Dorothy Barton and Gerry Dingavin.

“Married Deacons in the Catholic Church: The Future Present and Future” will be the topic presented by Deacon and Mrs. Joseph Conova and Deacon and Mrs. Art Keefe on Monday, August 30^th @ 7:30pm at St. Eulalia’s Church, Winchester.

The Archdiocese’s Respect for Life Program is seeking mature, articulate, grounded Catholics willing to be trained to deliver presentations regarding God’s Plan for life, love, relationships and sexuality to challenging middle and high school students in parishes throughout the Archdiocese. Training will be held at the Creagh Library at 2121 Commonwealth Avenue, Brighton, MA on: Tuesday, September 21^st from 5:30pm – 8:30pm for Respect for Life presentation and Thursday, September 23^rd, from 5:30 – 8:30pm for Respect for Human Sexuality presentation. Please pre-register by calling Deb O’Hara-Rusckowski, Program Coordinator, at 617-746-5860.

Evenings of reflection with Father John J. O’Brien, C.P. will present Topic: Women of Inspiration. Along with Father O’Brien will be Dorothy Day, an activist, Jessica Powers, a poet, and Annie Dillard, an environmentalist three American women of inspiration, insight, and courage. This series will look at their spiritual vision for those that care about the world and that seek a spirituality of connectedness and rich interiority. The sessions will be held Thursdays, September 16^th, October 21^st and November 18^th. The requested donation is $10 per session or $25 for the series. It will be held at the Calvary Retreat Center, 59 South Street, Shrewsbury, MA, 01545. Please call 508-842-8821 to register for this series.

Matignon High School is participating in the tuition incentive program for students in grades 9 – 12, sponsored by the Catholic Schools Foundation. The Foundation has made funds available to select schools in the Archdiocese. Matignon High School is one of the schools participating in the program. Any student who has not been previously enrolled in a Catholic high school is eligible for this tuition program. Students enrolling at this time are eligible for a one third tuition discount, enabling a student to attend Matignon High School during the 2004-2005 school year for $4700. Interested families can learn more about the program by calling the school at 617-876-1212 x11.

Grades 1-6

Sunday 8:50–9:50AM

Tuesday 3:45-4:45PM

Tuesday 5:15-6:15PM

Wednesday 3:45-4:45PM

Grades 7-8

Please return your Registration and Class Placement Forms to St. Brigid’s Parish as soon as possible as enrollment is on a first-come first serve basis – the earlier you register, the more likely you are to receive your first preference.

If you have a child entering First Grade or you are new to the Religious Education Program please call Linda, at 781-862-8724.

All parish volunteers, notably those working with the elderly and/or with children, are required to attend the Protecting God’s Children (VIRTUS) program. Here are some dates in neighboring parishes. If you plan to volunteer in a ministry, you need to attend this program. It is necessary to register in order to have enough materials on hand.

Coordinator of YM: Maureen McKeown

The long days of summer are coming to an end. And the journey to St. Brigid’s for our parish family is just beginning.

Our T.L.C. (Teen Leadership Crew) teens will be meeting with teens from St. Brigid’s within a few weeks. Everyone on team will be notified personally. Dates for planning meetings should be available in the bulletin next weekend

All will be welcome to come, meet Kate Doherty (YM at St. Brigid’s) and plan for the months ahead.

Youth Mass is a #1 priority on the agenda. The date for the opening Youth Mass is Sunday, October 3 @ 5:00 P.M. There will be some brief talks by teens from Sacred Heart explaining the programs they took part in this summer.

Food and fun will be plentiful! This will be an opportunity to come together with other young adults (many of whom you already know) and decide how you can strengthen your personal commitment to your new faith community.

With the unprecedented growth of our youth program this past year, we have the opportunity to grow “bigger and better”!

Take a minute to think about this quote from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal. (Maybe paste it on your mirror!)

“Indeed, they form one body, whether by hearing the word of God or by joining in the prayers and the singing, or above all by the common offering of Sacrifice and by a common partaking at the Lord’s table”.