Dear Friends,

Happy Easter!

Today we celebrate the Sixth Sunday of Easter.

Today we continue our celebrations of Christian Initiation with First Holy Communions at the 4:00 pm Mass.

This weekend we also celebrate Our Baccalaureate Mass at the 11:00 Mass on Sunday. There will be four high school senior recipients of the Parish Scholarships: two for the Betty Pendergast Scholarship, one for the Colleen Griggs Scholarship & one for the Father Fitzgerald Scholarship

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Please don’t forget to spend some time discussing and praying about the "Question of the Week". This question is a way we as a community can together engage the Sunday Scripture Readings.

May 17

Thursday of this week is Ascension Thursday - a Holy Day of Obligation. Masses will be celebrated at 12:10 noon, and 5:30 pm. As has become our custom supper will be served immediately following the 5:30 Mass in Driscoll Hall (Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn and salad. Please email or call Irene at the Parish Office if you plan to join us for supper.

May 18 - 20 – 21

Generations of Faith Festival – The focus for this festival is "The Mass". This festival will prepare us for the Event: The Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi). The sessions for this Festival are only three. As of this writing there are openings on Friday evening and Monday evening:

Friday – May 19 – 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Sunday May 21 – 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Monday May 22 – 5:00 – 8:00

As always the Festival begins with a communal meal which this month will be a cookout.

May 27 - Pentecost Sunday

10:00 am Mass only

Parish Pig & Lamb Roast

Please return the envelope you received with the count so that we can contact the caterer.

I wish you a happy and holy Easter Season

We continue to pray for Christ’s first resurrection gift of Peace,

Fr. Rick

Imagine being part of an organization that fills your heart and your mind with the joy of giving to others and the feeling that comes with making a difference. Knights are Catholic men, 18 years of age and older, who are committed to making their community a better place, while supporting their Church. Being a Knight is more than camaraderie; it is being involved with your community; it is supporting your local Catholic Church, while enhancing your own faith and setting a good faith example; it is about protecting and enhancing your family life.  You can volunteer as much as you like or as little and on your own schedule. If you want to find out more, contact John Perigaut (978-975-8015) or Mike Carman (617-240-0005) or visit the website at <www.kofc.org>.

On Sunday, May 20, we will be serving breakfast in the Driscoll Hall Café from 8 – 11 am. Please join us and share a cup of coffee, plus with other parishioners.

On the weekend of May 5/6

Special Collection – THIS weekend

Communications Collection

This annual campaign affords us the opportunity to continue the mission of bringing the word of God to a world longing to hear it. The media in today’s society is a powerful influence and this is one opportunity for the Church to share the Good News of the Lord with the world around us. As you may, or may not know, half of this collection is sent to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to support many activities in the field of communications carried on by the national conference. The other half remains in the Archdiocese to support the efforts we are making to communicate the message of the gospel here in the Archdiocese. Your support of this collection will help those initiatives that we are confident will aid the mission of the Church locally.

(John 14:27)

The Academy also has some limited openings at other grade levels, K2-12, and is still accepting applications for the 2007-08 school year. Contact Mrs. Barbara Clougherty, Director of Admissions for additional information online at www.ndatyngsboro.org  or at 978-649-7611, Ext 327.

The Academy, sponsored by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and based on the educational philosophy of their foundress, St. Julie Billiart, is a member school of the National Catholic Education Association and is fully accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges.

Sunday: Acts 15:1-2, 22-29/Rv 21:10-14, 22-23 or Rv 22:12-14, 16-17, 20/Jn 14:23-29 or Jn 17:20-26

Monday: Acts 1:15-17, 20-26/Jn 15:9-17

Tuesday: Acts 16:22-34/Jn 16:5-11

Wednesday: Acts 17:15, 22-18:1/Jn 16:12-15

Thursday: (Easter Weekday) Acts 18:1-8/Jn 16:16-20

Friday: Acts 18:9-18/Jn 16:20-23

Saturday: Acts 18:23-28/Jn 16:23b-28

Next Sunday: Ascension of the Lord: Acts 1:1-11/Eph 1:17-23 or Eph 4:1-13 or 4:1-7, 11-13/Mk 16:15-20

Sandra Pothier writes "With love and thanks"

Hi Amanda,

Thank all of the folks who were praying for my Aunt and her family (Joanne Crane). My Aunt passed away last evening. Her surviving children and grandchildren and her husband were all there. St. Robert's prayers and communion meant a lot to her and to our family.

At the 4:00 Mass

On Wednesday, May 16 (Ascension Thursday Eve) a liturgy will be celebrated at 7:00 pm in honor of St. Peregrine at the Immaculate Conception Church on East Merrimack Street in Lowell. St. Peregrine is the Patron Saint of cancer patients, and is the Saint many cancer patients, family members, and friends pray to for comfort and strength. Saint Peregrine, who lived in the 14th century, was a member of the Order of the Servants of Mary. He was afflicted with cancer of the leg and was miraculously cured the evening prior to an operation to amputate his leg. During this Mass the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick will be offered to cancer patients and any who wish to partake of this Sacrament of God’s healing.

9:30 am GOF Homekit Assembly – Bellarmine Rm

7:00 pm Intercessory Prayer before the Blessed Sacrament - Church

12:10 pm Weekday Mass - Church

7:30 pm Knights of Columbus Meeting – Driscoll Hall

Ascension of the Lord – Ascension Thursday – Holy Day Masses celebrated:

12:10 pm (noon)

5:30 pm

Supper will be served immediately following Mass in Driscoll Hall

10:45 am Adult Enrichment – Bellarmine Rm.

12:10 pm Weekday Mass – Church

5:30 pm Faith Formation Festival - Assemble in Driscoll Hall

No Scheduled Activities

8 – 11 am Parish Family Breakfast

10:00 am Bread & Roses Preparation – Driscoll Hall Kitchen

12:00 pm Outreach Group Meeting – Sacristy (time approximate – immediately following the 11 o’clock Mass)

5:00 pm Faith Formation Festival - Assemble in Driscoll Hall

Look for further details elsewhere in the bulletin or contact the program directors of each activity for more information.

After the mass today, we will be distributing baby bottles from The Pregnancy Care Center of The Merrimack Valley & Southern New Hampshire (PCC). Please take one per family.

We are asking that you take the bottles home. As a family, fill them with checks (made payable to PCC), cash or coins, and return them to the church no later than Sunday, June 10^th. As you will see from the insert inside the bottle, you may list the name and address of a special mother you wish to honor. The PCC will send a card to her showing that you have made a gift for life in her honor.

The Baby Bottle Campaign is used to fund Pregnancy Care Center programs that provide sexual integrity education, help women in crisis pregnancies with positive alternatives to abortion and offer post abortion recovery. For Mothers Day this is your opportunity to partner with your local ‘home town mission’ as they honor motherhood and celebrate God’s gift of LIFE

Please keep in mind:

On Sunday, May, 20th we will prepare the meal for the Bread and Roses hospitality house in Lawrence to be served on Monday, May 21st.

We plan to prepare BEEF TACOS with a tossed salad and dessert. Food items needed are: cooked ground beef, soft tacos (large size please), packages of shredded cheese, packages of taco seasoning, jars of salsa, lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, large cans of fruit salad, cookies or brownies. Please use the sign up sheet on the clipboard in the church lobby.

Kitchen helpers meet on Sunday at 10:00 AM. Call Betty Bufano 978/851-5682 or Lisa Lattari 978/749-3736 for further information.

Guest Speaker, Mildred F. Jefferson, MD

"Protecting the Most Defenseless Members of our Human Family… God’s Unborn!!"

Monday, May 14 at 6:45 pm, followed by Holy Mass at 7:30 pm

30 East Street, Methuen: 978-683-2959

Come to the Waters of Healing

Day of Post-Abortion Prayer and Healing. The Project Rachel ministry of the Archdiocese of Boston will sponsor one-day retreat on Saturday, June 2 to help women hurting from past abortions experience the personal love of Christ and find hope for healing. The format will offer a loving and confidential environment to share Scriptural stories of Christ’s healing love; spend quiet time in prayer before God; and to hear stories of post abortion healing. Sacramental Reconciliation (Confession) will be available. The program begins at 9:00 am and concludes with a 4pm Mass. For more information, contact Project Rachel at 508-651-3100 or help@projectrachelboston.com

"Thank you for donating juice boxes recently to Bread & Roses. Our guests enjoyed the treat and we appreciate your kindness and caring."

Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and Stephen said, "Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together. They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul. As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them;"and when he said this, he fell asleep.

I, John, heard a voice saying to me: "Behold, I am coming soon. I bring with me the recompense I will give to each according to his deeds. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." Blessed are they who wash their robes so as to have the right to the tree of life and enter the city through its gates. "I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star." The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let the hearer say, "Come." Let the one who thirsts come forward, and the one who wants it receive the gift of life-giving water.

 The one who gives this testimony says, "Yes, I am coming soon." Amen!  Come, Lord

Lifting up his eyes to heaven, Jesus prayed saying: "Holy Father, I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you,

that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And I have given them the glory you gave me, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may be brought to perfection as one, that the world may know that you sent me, and that you loved them even as you loved me.

Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me, because you loved me before the foundation of the world. Righteous Father, the world also does not know you, but I know you, and they know that you sent me. I made known to them your name and I will make it known, that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I in them."