FROM FATHER RICK

 

DEAR FRIENDS,

 

CATHOLIC APPEAL

The Catholic Foundation of the Archdiocese, which oversees the annual Catholic Appeal, has changed the starting and ending date of the campaign after consultations with a number of pastors in the archdiocese. This year’s Appeal begins this weekend, March 1/2, and concludes in June. I spoke last weekend about the needs which this Appeal embraces. Our assessment for this year is $44,500. This is an increase of $5,000 over last year. We would also like to increase the number of donors this year as we did last year. Please consider your part in this important effort of our parish and the archdiocese.

 

THREE “KNIGHTS” EVENTS

I call your attention to three events over the next couple of weeks that are being sponsored by our Parish Council of Knights.

 

Thursday, March 6

Community Blood Drive

 

Saturday, March 8

Saint Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance

 

Friday, March 14

Second Lenten Fish Bake

 

This has been a very busy month for our Knights. Please support them in these parish efforts. You also might want to thank them for all they have done in the past month or so.

 

EASTER TRIDUUM

As it comes so early, it’s not too soon to start making plans for Easter. This year, there are no “vacation weeks”, holidays, etc., so I hope that we will see an increase in the attendance at all three major celebrations of the Sacred Triduum. This is the heart of our year as Catholic Christians. The schedule for this year:

 

Holy Thursday, March 20

7:30 pm—Mass of the Lord’s Supper

 

Good Friday, March 21

3:00 pm—Celebration of the Lord’s Passion and Death

 

Holy Saturday, March 22

7:30 pm—Solemn Easter Vigil

followed by reception

 

Easter Sunday, March 23

Masses celebrated at 7:00—9:00—11:00 am

 

LENTEN WEEKDAY MASS

Weekday Mass is celebrated during Lent on Monday through Friday at 12:10 pm.

 

Have a great week,

If you want peace – work for justice (Pope Paul VI),

Fr. Rick

 

 

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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. For more information about the parish council or upcoming events, contact Jim McKain at 978-475-7931 or Jim_McKain@NLTek.com, or go online to www.saintroberts.net/kofc.htm.

 

Next Meeting: Wednesday, March 5, 7:30 pm, Driscoll Hall

 

 

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Money Matters

On the weekend of February 23/24

 

Weekly donations $3,860.00

Monthly donations $990.00

 

 

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Stewardship Reflection

 

“Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

 

How often do we invest our time, talent and treasure in creating an appearance that does not matter at all to God? We strive to impress with our clothing, home, career, possessions, car and other marks of distinction. But none of these illusions of greatness will impress God. Instead, He will look into our hearts to see how much we loved Him, how much we loved others and how we showed that love by the way we used our time, talents and treasure here on earth.

 

 

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Job Opening at Neighbors in Need

 

Administrative Assistant, part-time, 20 hours per week, M-F, 8:00 am to noon. Provides administrative and fundraising support for the Executive Director and all program operations. For more information or to receive a copy of the full job description, contact Neighbors in Need at 978-685-8321 or neighborsinneed@verizon.net.

 

 

 

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LENTEN GOSPEL GIVING

 

The traditional foundation for Lenten practice rests on three supports: PRAYER–FASTING–ALMSGIVING. To assist families in the third of these supports, we again participate in LENTEN GOSPEL GIVING. Each week all members of the parish are asked to bring one item with them to Mass.

 

THIS WEEK

March 1/2—Fourth Sunday of Lent

 

"We must do the deeds of him who sent me while it is day. The night comes when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9)

 

Light–please bring a package of LOW ENERGY LIGHT BULBS (60-75 watts) for Sojourner House.

 

 

NEXT WEEK

March 8/9—Fifth Sunday of Lent

 

"The dead man came out, bound hand and foot with linen strips, his face wrapped with a cloth." (John 11)

 

Linens–please bring DISPOSABLE DIAPERS (all sizes) for Sojourner House.

 

 

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Mass Schedule and Intentions

 

Saturday, March 1, Vigil, 4th Sunday of Lent

4:00 pm: Alice & Denis McCarthy

 

Sunday, March 2, 4th Sunday of Lent

9:00 am: Bill Millerick

11:00 am: Fiore Trapane

 

Monday, March 3, Lenten Weekday Mass

12:10 pm: Eric Begg

 

Tuesday, March 4, Lenten Weekday Mass

12:10 pm

 

Wednesday, March 5, Lenten Weekday Mass

12:10 pm: Thomas & Dorothy Reynolds

 

Thursday, March 6, Lenten Weekday Mass

12:10 pm: Madeleine Peront

 

Friday, March 7, Lenten Weekday Mass

12:10 pm: Marian Julie Banville Koch

 

Saturday, March 8, Vigil, 5th Sunday of Lent

4:00 pm: Robert Sullivan

 

Sunday, March 9, 5th Sunday of Lent

9:00 am: John Sudol

11:00 am: Angelo Coco

 

 

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Prayers requested for

 

Long time parishioner Annie Guillmette

 

Leroi A. Benson, father of parishioner Eric Benson

 

 

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Readings for the Week of March 2, 2008

Sunday:            1 Sm 16:1b, 6-7, 10-13a/Eph 5:8-14/Jn 9:1-41 or 9:1, 6-9, 13-17, 34-38

Monday:            Is 65:17-21/Jn 4:43-54

Tuesday:           Ez 47:1-9, 12/Jn 5:1-16

Wednesday:      Is 49:8-15/Jn 5:17-30

Thursday:          Ex 32:7-14/Jn 5:31-47

Friday:              Wis 2:1a, 12-22/Jn 7:1-2, 10, 25-30

Saturday:          Jer 11:18-20/Jn 7:40-53

Next Sunday:    Ez 37:12-14/Rom 8:8-11/Jn 11:1-45 or 11:3-7, 17, 20-27, 33b-45

 

 

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In Service

 

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, 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, Chief Warrant Officer II Michael Morris, USA, Captain Matthew Mancini, USA, Sgt. Ellen Barnes O’Connor, USA,  Pvt. Adam James Mazza, USA, Pvt. Joseph D. Gagnon, USM, Cpt. Eric Eckberg, USA, SFC John B. Nicholas, USA, LTCD Chris Stopyra, USN

 

 

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Question of the Week–Fourth Sunday of Lent

 

Question for Adults: Share how you, as a child of the light, in the power of Christ, produce goodness, justice, and truth for the world. What specific actions do you take to do this?

 

Question for Youth: Jesus helped a blind man see—and he helps each of us see the world differently. How do you see differently because you believe?

 

Question for Children: What are the things that Jesus wants you to do as his friend?

 

 

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Please note that the date for the blood drive was incorrectly

listed in last week’s bulletin as March 14!

The correct date is as below, March 6.

 

 

COMMUNITY BLOOD DRIVE

THURSDAY, MARCH 6

2:00-8:00 PM, DRISCOLL HALL

 

Please call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE

to make an appointment.

 

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Thank you from Sojourner House…

“Thank you very much for your donation of diapers in May 2007. We are very appreciative of all the support we get from the community for the homeless families that live here and are grateful for your kindness.”

 

 

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This Week in Our Parish

 

Monday, March 3

12:10 PM  Lenten Weekday Mass, Church

5:00-8:00 PM  Generations of Faith Festival, Driscoll Hall

 

Tuesday, March 4

12:10 PM  Lenten Weekday Mass, Church

7:00 PM  Scouts Committee Meeting, Bellarmine Room

 

Wednesday, March 5

12:10 PM  Lenten Weekday Mass, Church

7:30 PM  Knights of Columbus, Driscoll Hall

 

Thursday, March 6

12:10 PM  Lenten Weekday Mass, Church

2:00-8:00 PM  Blood Drive, Driscoll Hall

5:00 PM  Youth Cantor Practice, Church

5:30 PM  Youth Choir Practice, Church

6:30 PM  Scouts, Driscoll Hall

7:30 PM  Adult Choir Practice, Church

 

Friday, March 7

12:10 PM  Lenten Weekday Mass, Church

 

Saturday, March 8

6:30 PM  St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance, Driscoll Hall

 

Sunday, March 9

10:00-11:00 AM  First Communion Preparation, Driscoll Hall

 

 

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Operation Rice Bowl Reflection

Fourth Sunday of Lent—Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers

Jean Denis and François are neighbors in Coteaux, Haiti. For years they barely supported their families through subsistence farming. In 2002, they joined an agricultural cooperative organized by Catholic Relief Services and began to see change. They received and planted better seed, diversified their crops, found better techniques for raising livestock, learned to combat erosion, and generated surplus crops to take to market. Now their families no longer face hunger or malnutrition. As Jesus transformed the life of the blind man, so CRS transforms the lives of rural farmers. By giving through Operation Rice Bowl and purchasing Fair Trade products, you support the dignity of workers by ensuring just wages and economic self-sufficiency.

 

 

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SPRING FORWARD NEXT WEEK!

Daylight Saving Time begins on Sunday, March 9.

Don’t forget to turn your clocks forward one hour before you go to bed on Saturday, March 8!

 

 

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The Knights of Columbus St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Dance is next week!

 

 

Saturday, March 8

Driscoll Hall

 

6:30 pm cocktails—7:30 pm dinner

$15 per person

 

Don’t miss out!

Contact the Parish Office by March 5 at

978-683-8922 or ibonner@comcast.net

to reserve your table!

 

Presented by our parish council of the Knights of Columbus

 

 

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Fair trade coffee and cocoa will be available for purchase in the Gathering Space

after all Masses this weekend, March 1 and 2.

 

 

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Save the date for our 2nd Lenten Fish Bake!

 

Friday, March 14

 

Serving continuously from 5:30-7:00 pm, Driscoll Hall

$10 Adults; $5 Children 12 and under; $30 Family Cap

 

Chowder–Baked White Fish–Green Vegetable–Potato–Cole Slaw–Bread–Cheese Pizza also available

 

Contact the Parish Office by March 12 at 978-683-8922 or ibonner@comcast.net to reserve your place!

 

Presented by our parish council of the Knights of Columbus

 

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SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR NEXT WEEK–FIFTH SUNDAY OF LENT

 

A reading from the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel 37:12-14

 

Thus says the Lord GOD: O my people, I will open your graves and have you rise from them, and bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and have you rise from them, O my people! I will put my spirit in you that you may live, and I will settle you upon your land; thus you shall know that I am the LORD. I have promised, and I will do it, says the LORD.

 

A reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans 8:8-11

 

Brothers and sisters: Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh; on the contrary, you are in the spirit, if only the Spirit of God dwells in you. Whoever does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the spirit is alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.

 

+ A reading from the holy Gospel according to John 11:1-45

 

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”

 

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

 

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”

 

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, He cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

 

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

 

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