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WEEKLY BULLETIN August 19, 2007
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FROM FATHER RICK
SUMMER MASS SCHEDULE
Saturday – 4:00 PM Sunday – 8:00 AM & 10:30 AM This Mass schedule will be extended this year to include the weekend after Labor Day – September 8/9.
PARISH FEAST DAY SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Friday, September 14 6:30 PM – Weekend Opening: Combined Choir Concert Americana Refreshments (substantial) in the Gathering Space
Saturday, September 15 4:00 PM – Feastday Mass 5:00 PM – Italian Fiesta with Entertainment immediately following Mass
Sunday, September 16 7:30 AM – Feastday Mass 8:30 AM – Euro Breakfast
9:30 AM – Feastday Mass 10:30 AM – Euro Breakfast
11:30 AM – Solemn Feastday Mass 12:30 PM – International Food Festival
If you would like to help with the Italian Fiesta, please let me know and I’ll have Arleen Puccia contact you. If you have an ethnic dish that you would like to share at the International Food festival, please call or email me.
HOW DO I BOOK A MEMORIAL MASS?
This question has come up a number of times over the past couple of weeks, and the answer is simple. To request a memorial Mass simply call Irene at the Parish Office or stop by. Weekends are booked through the beginning of 2008. We advise folks to book about a year in advance of the date or dates they desire.
One note: as the month of November is dedicated to the Faithful Departed, we dedicate all the Masses to that intention for this month, including in a special way the names of those who are entered in the Book of Remembrance, which is displayed in the sanctuary for the month.
OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS
Please check out a couple of other announcements in this bulletin. There is a need for hospice workers and Lazarus House is announcing its annual walk. These two very worthy projects deserve your attention.
Have a great week, If you want peace – work for justice (Pope Paul VI), 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 Jim McKain at 978-475-7931 or visit the website at www.kofc.org.
August Meeting: there will be one meeting only in August, which will be held on Wednesday, August 22nd, at 7:30 PM in Driscoll Hall.
Money Matters On the weekend of August 11/12
Weekly donations $2,412.00 Monthly donations $1,840.00 ParishPay August $7,780.00
Catholic Appeal Goal $39,500.00 Catholic Appeal to Date $53,172.00
Stewardship Reflection
“Do you think that I have come to establish peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided…” Luke 12:51-52
As Jesus predicted, stewardship can often cause division in a family as we struggle to define what are our needs and what are our wants. It might be helpful to remember that we all NEED to give back a fair share to God before we start trying to fulfill all of our material wants. For the Christian, giving is a need, not a luxury.
Special Collection This Weekend Catholic Home Missions Appeal
The second collection this week is the Catholic Home Missions Appeal. It supports missions here in the United States. There are many places in America—Appalachia, the Deep South, the Southwest, the Rocky Mountain States—where the Catholic Church struggles just to keep parishes open and to educate children in the faith.
Last year, Home Missions gave more than $3 million to the dioceses along the Gulf Coast devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Please God, there will no repetition of these disasters. But Catholic parishes in rural America still struggle to offer Mass, sacraments, and religious education. Some dioceses are terribly short of priests, sisters, and the money needed to run parishes. Please give generously to help your fellow Catholics here in America.
The Catholic Home Missions Appeal also provides funding to the Global Archdiocese of Military Services, which sends 982 chaplains to offer Mass, sacraments, counseling, and the comforts of faith to American Catholic soldiers and their families on 220 military bases around the world. The Appeal helps build community within the Church in the United States and works for the common good of Catholics. For more information, please visit www.usccb.org/hm.
Mass Schedule and Intentions
Saturday, August 18, Vigil, 20th Ordinary Sunday 4:00 pm: Robert Baggeroer; **Baptism of Allora Ramos Martineau
Sunday, August 19, 20th Ordinary Sunday 8:00 am: John Sudol 10:30 am: Margaret M. Kane
Saturday, August 25, Vigil, 21st Ordinary Sunday 4:00 pm: Leonard Bailey; Benjamin Woodring
Sunday, August 26, 21st Ordinary Sunday 8:00 am: Henry Chemaly 10:30 am: Tom Daley; **Baptism of William Thurston Griffin
Readings for the Week of August 19, 2007 Sunday: Jer 38:4-6, 8-10/Heb 12:1-4/Lk 12:49-53 Monday: Jgs 2:11-19/Mt 19:16-22 Tuesday: Jgs 6:11-24a/Mt 19:23-30 Wednesday: Jgs 9:6-15/Mt 20:1-16 Thursday: Jgs 11:29-39a/Mt 22:1-14 Friday: Rv 21:9b-14/Jn 1:45-51 Saturday: Ru 2:1-3, 8-11; 4:13-17/Mt 23:1-12 Next Sunday: Is 66:18-21/Heb 12:5-7, 11-13/Lk 13:22-30
Question of the Week Twentieth Ordinary Sunday
Question for Adults: Share about a time when life’s struggles were so difficult for you that you nearly “threw in the towel.” What signs did you see then that God remained with you?
Question for Youth: We are assured that God will be with us as we go through life, so what strategy do you use to keep God in mind as you deal with the ups and downs of life as a young adult?
Question for Children: What is one way you can be closer to Jesus today?
Generations of Faith Registration
Registration for the parish faith formation program (Generations of Faith)—including sacramental preparation—will take place on the following dates:
Tuesday, September 4, from 4-8 PM Saturday, September 8, after the 4 PM Mass Sunday, September 9, after the 8 and 10:30 AM Masses Wednesday, September 12, from 4-8 PM
Registration will take place in Driscoll Hall and must be done in person.
In Service
Maj. Kurt O’Rourke Mark DuPont, USCC, Kevin Grace, USA, Lyle Shackelford, Jaime Ray Seluk, USN, Pvt. Alexander Sabu, USA, Lt. Col. Paul Severance, USAF, Gen’l. R. Steve Whitcomb, USA, Lt. Col. Brian P. Bedell, USA, Capt. Lauren Whitcomb, USA, Col. Patrick J. Donahue, USA, Col. Brian P. Donahue, USA, Cpt. Michael McGaffigan, USA, Beth Carriere, Nurse, USA, Steve Comstock, Pilot, USN, Lt. Jesse Salisbury, USAF, Sgt. Maureen Galvin, USA,SpOps, Lt.J.G. Kevin B. O’Brien, USN, Miko Belonia, Maj. Tony Hoffman, USA, Maj. Ross Coffman, USA, Maj. Garth Howe, USA, USA, Chief Warrant Officer II, Michael Morris, Captain Matthew Mancini, USA, Sgt. Ellen Barnes O’Connor, USA, Pvt. Adam James Mazza, USA, Pvt. Joseph D. Gagnon, USM, Col. Joseph Albanese, USA, Cpt. Eric Eckberg, USA
Reminder…
The summer Mass schedule (4:00 PM on Saturday; 8:00 and 10:30 AM on Sunday) will run through the weekend of September 8/9.
Thanks From Neighbors in Need
“I want to express my heartfelt thanks to your members and friends for your donations of food. We have received over 115,000 pounds of food this year.
We are particularly grateful for the food received in the spring and summer months when donations are often lower—and the need greater! Our families are even more dependent upon the food pantries when school is out and the children are not receiving breakfast and lunch at school.
Through your generosity we have distributed food to over 1,400 people a week in our eight food panties and home-bound deliveries to FINA House, the YWCA shelter for teen mothers and abused women, and Windsor House, a new housing program for home-bound, disabled men who were formerly homeless.
Fresh produce is a special treat for our clients and very hard to come by. If you, or your friends, have surplus from your garden, we would be thrilled by a donation! Please call the Neighbors In Need office at 978-685-8321 to make arrangements for pick-up.”
Workshop on Visiting the Sick
Starting Thursday, September 20, and running for six weeks, a workshop on Pastoral Care to the Sick and the Homebound will be offered at St. Athanasius Parish in Reading from 7:00 to 9:00 PM in the Parish Activity Center.
Nan Bouchė, a Certified Chaplain and former Coordinator of Catholic Pastoral Services at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth, will teach the course. The workshop will include a review of communication skills, the basics of pastoral visitation, key illness issues, spiritual needs and concerns, grief, loss, and dying, and caregiving issues.
Eucharistic ministers, pastoral visitors, parish nurses, and others are encouraged to attend. Fee: $40. Registration information is available in the Parish Office or call 617-746-5843. Please pre-register by September 17.
Hospice Volunteers Needed
Hospice Care, Inc. (HCI) is seeking volunteers to provide companionship to patients, respite time for family members, help with errands, and bereavement support to family members. A strong need exists for daytime volunteers, but help is also needed on weekends. HCI provides training and on-going support.
The next training session begins October 1, 2007. All sessions are held from 6:00 to 8:30 PM on Monday nights at the HCI office on Sylvan Road in Woburn. For more information, please contact Lisa Palais at 781-569-2888 or lpalais@vnab.org. You can learn more about HCI at www.hospicecarema.org.
Lazarus House Ministries Hike for Hope “Bringing the Homeless Home”
The 8th Annual Hike for Hope will take place on Sunday, September 30, 2007, rain or shine, starting at 1:00 PM. The five-mile pledge walk (one-mile route also available) begins and ends at Merrimack College and winds its way through downtown Andover. The walk will be followed by an afternoon of fun, great food, and entertainment for all ages.
This is a very special year for the Hike for Hope, as this year’s participants will be walking and collecting pledges on behalf of the families who will be moving this October into the recently-completed transitional housing complex Capernaum Place.
Pre-registration fee is $15 now through September 26. Onsite registration on the day of the walk is $20. Free Hike for Hope t-shirts are available for all pre-registered walkers. For more information or to register, go to www.hikeforhope.org or contact Lana Schofield at 978-269-5206 or lana@lazarushouse.org.
Preschool Teacher Needed
The Andover Country Day School Monday-Thursday 8:30-12:30
If interested and you would like more information, please call Patricia Kozik at 978-686-2777.
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR NEXT WEEK–TWENTY-FIRST ORDINARY SUNDAY
A reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah 66:18-21
Thus says the LORD: I know their works and their thoughts, and I come to gather nations of every language; they shall come and see my glory. I will set a sign among them; from them I will send fugitives to the nations: to Tarshish, Put and Lud, Mosoch, Tubal and Javan, to the distant coastlands that have never heard of my fame, or seen my glory; and they shall proclaim my glory among the nations. They shall bring all your brothers and sisters from all the nations as an offering to the LORD, on horses and in chariots, in carts, upon mules and dromedaries, to Jerusalem, my holy mountain, says the LORD, just as the Israelites bring their offering to the house of the LORD in clean vessels. Some of these I will take as priests and Levites, says the LORD.
A reading from the Letter to the Hebrews 12:5-7, 11-13
Brothers and sisters, You have forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as children: “My son, do not disdain the discipline of the Lord or lose heart when reproved by him; for whom the Lord loves, he disciplines; he scourges every son he acknowledges.” Endure your trials as “discipline”; God treats you as sons. For what “son” is there whom his father does not discipline? At the time, all discipline seems a cause not for joy but for pain, yet later it brings the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who are trained by it.
So strengthen your drooping hands and your weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be disjointed but healed.
+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 13:22-30
Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” He answered them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ He will say to you in reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ And you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.’ Then he will say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’ And there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out. And people will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south and will recline at table in the kingdom of God. For behold, some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
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