I suppose everyone likes to read bumper stickers. We would not put them on our cars.  While waiting for a light to change we have some interesting reading.  Some stickers are advertisements for a radio station or a beer.  Others are plugging some cause such as keeping Hanscom commercial free or more pay for teachers, and on and on.  Some are meant to be humorous and some philosophical.

In today’s first reading from Joshua (24:1-18) we have a wonderful bumper sticker or front door plaque.  Joshua has taken over for Moses who, after leading the people through the desert for forty years, will see the Promised Land but die before entering it.  Joshua will lead the people across the Jordan River.  Later on Jesus—Joshua and Jesus are the same name—will emerge from the Jordan at that very spot after his baptism to begin a new people in a new covenant.

Joshua gathers all the people together to tell them to remember the goodness of the Lord and all his benefits to them as a covenant people.  You will be among people who do not know God.  Because these people seem to be rich and prosperous you will envy them.  You will intermarry and take on the pagan gods.  Saint Paul saw the same problem with the early Christian church when he wrote to the Ephesians (4:17-24): “You must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.”

Joshua said to the people: “If it does not please you to serve the Lord, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are now dwelling.  As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

This is the sticker or plaque I would like on every doorpost: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Offertory for August 16th & 17th                 $4459.00

Envelope Offerings       $4010.00

Loose Cash                          $449.00

St. John/St. Hugh               $340.00

Many thanks to all who use the parish envelopes each week.  You are the mainstay of our parish support.  This week we received 106 envelopes from the 650 families that are sent envelopes each month.

9:00 – Monday, August 25^th            Vincent G. DiSilva

9:00 -Tuesday, August 26^th Donato & Pierro Families

9:00 – Wednesday, August 27^th           Memorial Fund

                                                           Members

9:00 – Saturday, August 30^th                Edward Ruane

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, Audrey Finn, Dorothy Lee, William MacKinnon, Mary Jefferson, Elizabeth Conte, Dave Rissmiller, Violet Caldaroni, Ruth McAleer, John McAleer, Monica Cotter, Frank Cote, Kathy Smith, Harold Johnson, James Bresnahan, Ann Mulray, Bea Lingane, Rita Mahan, Paul Bentley, Connie Perrotta, Jo Ciccarelli, Gerard Sarno, Dorothy Grant, Marisol O’Brien, Matthew Gablor, Ted Baird, Peter Bellini, and Don Sabat.  Please also pray for Doris Larson who died recently.

Cub Scout Pack 197 will hold registration for new families on Tuesday September 9^th at 7:00pm at the Sacred Heart Parish Center, 21 Follen Road.  Boys in grades 1 through 5 are invited to register.  Pack 197 typically draws from the Bowman/Harrington school districts, and local private schools (Waldorf and Lexington Montessori) but is open to all comers. If you cannot attend the formal registration night, please contact John Woodhouse 781-863-0271, Leo Villari 781-674-1124 or Susan Navia 781-861-7557 to obtain registration materials or answer questions.

FIRST COMMUNION PICTURES ARE IN!!

Pictures may be picked up in the Lower Hall classroom #2 (where you ordered them).  If you forgot to order yours, they may still be ordered—go to the same classroom.

Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA)

The RCIA is a process of welcoming adults into full communion with the Catholic Church.  It involves weekly instruction leading to the sacraments of Christian Initiation—Baptism, Eucharist and Confirmation.  The process is open to non-baptized individuals, baptized Catholics who have not received the sacraments of Eucharist and Confirmation, and those who were baptized in other Christian traditions.  If you or someone you know, fall into one of these categories, and have an interest in the Catholic Church, please contact Sister Mary Nagle at 781-862-4646.

The Price of a Smile

A smile costs nothing but gives much.

It enriches those who receive,

without making poorer those who give.

It takes but a moment, but the memory of it

sometimes lasts forever.

No one is so rich or mighty

that he can get along without it,

and no one is so poor

but that he can’t be made rich by it.

A smile creates happiness in the home,

fosters good will in business.

and is the countersign of friendship.

It brings rest to the weary,

cheer to the discouraged,

sunshine to the sad,

and is nature’s best antidote for trouble.

Yet it can’t be bought,

begged, borrowed, or stolen,

for it is something that is of no value,

to anyone until it is given away.

Some people are too tired to give a smile.

Give them one of yours,

as no one needs a smile so much,

as he who has none to give.

It is God’s gift to man.

Before You Said Amen

During the Eucharistic prayer at Mass today, what were you thinking about?  What was on your mind from the moment the presider invited everyone to: “Lift up your hearts!” until you sang the “Amen” before the Our Father?

We Catholics say: This is the most holy time. But what does “holy” mean here, and how do you spend that holy time?

Most of us would admit that we tend to wander off a bit at this time on Sunday.  Yes, we sing the “Holy, Holy” pretty well, perhaps, with a strong “Hosanna in the highest!”  But sometimes we don’t focus back in until it’s time for the Our Father.  Where did we go?

We’re pretty good at getting on board for the song that begins the liturgy, and sometimes very good at giving full attention to at least one of the readings and maybe the homily.  But if someone were to tap you on the shoulder during the Our Father and say: All right, where were you the last five minutes?  How would you answer this question?

This is not to ask: What did the priest just do?  (We know that!) The crucial question is: After I said “yes” to the invitation to lift up my heart, after we all said “yes” to that, what happened to those hearts? Did they stay “lifted up”?

Come at it this way.  What happens in your life, happens with some regularity, that grabs and holds your whole attention—and grabs and hold you?  That’s what is asked when we are told to lift up our hearts.  We are asked not simply to be quite and attention (that can happen at a good movie or concert).  For us as baptized people, we are asked to lift up and give to God our whole selves, engaged with all these other selves, around this altar.  What’s it like to be totally involved in some deed even for a few minutes?  Next time, can you enter into the eucharistic prayer in this way?

Copyright © 2001 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622‑1101; 1‑800‑933‑1800; www.ltp.org. Text by Gabe Huck. Art by Luba Lukova. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Coordinator of YM: Maureen McKeown

781/861-8385 X21 - email: nychick1@att.net

SCRIPTURE STUDY: A small group of teens have been meeting regularly for several weeks in a relaxed atmosphere to read Scripture (God’s word) and reflect on the meaning of the passage in their lives.  The Gospel of John is their focus.  They meet following the 10:00 Mass on Sunday morning.

Youth Ministry Leadership Team

It is long overdue for Sacred Heart Parish to form a leadership team.  Any 9^th—12^th grader who would be interested in meeting once a month to plan for this year, please contact Maureen.  It cannot happen without you.

We need you – you are welcome.  Please give thought and prayer to how your gifts can enrich our entire community.

GREAT OPPORTUNITIES:  (Training provided!) 

Do you want to be:

            a READER

             a GREETER

             a PEER MINISTER FOR RETREATS

             a MEMBER OF A LEADERSHIP TEAM

             a CUP MINISTER (After Confirmation)

Call Maureen and it can be arranged!

“CUT THIS COLUMN OUT AND POST IN ON YOUR BULLETIN BOARD”

Bulletins	Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin - Aug 24, 2003	Home