Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin

Today is the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. On Friday we will celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart. During our festivities this weekend, we want to remember our life together as a parish community. It is here that we have experienced the presence of our Lord. We are a community of worship and organizational activities, a network of people dedicated to building up the Body of Christ through the various parish ministries and beyond our parish boundaries.

Saint John Chrysostom wrote: “You cannot pray at home as at church, where there is a great multitude, where exclamations are cried out to God as from one great heart, and where there is something more: the union of minds, the accord of souls, the bond of charity, the prayers or priests and people” (De incomprehensibili).

The Sunday celebration of Eucharist is the heart of the parish’s life. This is a continuous tradition dating back to the Lord’s institution of the Eucharist which feast we celebrate this week and commemorate this weekend as we celebrate the life of our parish dedicated to the Sacred Heart.

We have been under the patronage of the Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a symbol of God’s love. This devotion reached its pinnacle with the revelations of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1673. We have a beautiful stained glass window on the Follen side of the church commemorating her visions.

The word “parish” comes from the Greek word “paroikia” and means “a pilgrim people.” This is a people on a journey to God. This church represents a beacon where people come to center, renew, and rededicate themselves to the spiritual journey at hand.

We will soon continue our spiritual journey in another place. But for now, we celebrate our life together. For what has been we give thanks and for what is to come we give thanks.

Our prayer is: Gathered together in this church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus we ask the Lord to increase in us his divine love. We ask the Lord for the blessing of good health, in mind and body, for all the members of our parish. May the Sacred Heart of Jesus give us peace and harmony with each other.

Father in heaven, we have received many graces from the heart of your Son Jesus. Open our ears to hear the words of the gospel and our hearts to love others as Jesus has loved us. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Readings for the Week of June 13, 2004

Sunday:    Gn 14:18-20; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11b-17
Monday:    1 Kgs 21:1-16; Mt 5:38-42
Tuesday:   1 Kgs 21:17-29; Mt 5:43-48
Wednesday:    2 Kgs 2:1, 6-14; Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Thursday: Sir 48:1-14; Mt 6:7-15
Friday:           Ez 34:11-16; Rom 5:5b-11; Lk 15:3-7
Saturday: 2 Chr 24:17-25; Lk 2:41-51

Next Sunday: Zec 12:10-11; 13:1; Gal 3:26-29; Lk 9:18-24

Our appreciation goes out to all parishioners who have made a gift to the 2004 Catholic Appeal. To date we have $11,419 from 50 donors and are at 15% of our parish target of $77,661.

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, 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, Dorothy Lee, William MacKinnon, Mary Jefferson, Elizabeth Conte, Dave Rissmiller, Violet Caldaroni, Chrysostom Blanchard, Frank Cote, James Bresnahan, Ann Mulray, Rita Mahan, Connie Perrotta, Jackie Sullivan, Jean Babbin, Gerard Sarno, Dorothy Grant, Gretin Cervantes, Marisol O’Brien, Matthew Gablor, Paul Pantano, Fran Ressetar, Elizabeth Landman, Cecelia Hines, Renee Chapman, Peter Bellini, Christine Gainer, Chris Ann Colletti, Jeff Kalil, Helen McLaughlin, Paul Doherty, Jorge Loayza, Joseph Brault, Lauren Forgette, Bill Attaya, Margaret Coughlin, Margaret Bronson, Lea Vetter, Gerry Abegg, John McCarthy, Don Sabatand, and Pauline Briggs.

Congratulations to Terry Coyle from Woburn, a member of the Haiti Committee, who was the winner of the quilt raffled off at the Women’s Club Brunch last Sunday.

During next weekend, June 19^th & 20^th, we will have Rev. Jerry Flater from the Oblates of Mary Immaculate with us at each of the Masses. Please be as generous as possible to this Mission collection

The Young at Heart Chorus invites you to a concert of varied selections. The concert will be held at the Lexington Senior Center on June 22^nd at 2:00pm. Refreshments will be served.

Looking for high school or college girl to baby-sit for family of four during July and part of August. Must be a responsible, hard worker who will have fun and will be paid well. Duties will include going to pool to help watch the kids, outings with the kids, and babysitting at times. Please call Tricia O'Brien at 781-674-2337 if interested. Thank you.

Private Rooms are available for self-care ELDERLY the Jeanne Jugan Residence 186 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA 02143. The Criteria for admission is: 60 years of age or older, Alert & independent and limited financial assets. Assistance with bathing is available. If interested, please call Social Worker at 617-776-4420.

The manner in which we begin and end each day becomes a lens through which we view the rest of the day. This is no contemporary wisdom. As long as human beings have been around to greet each new sunrise and pause in wonder at the setting of the sun, the need to mark the day’s beginning and end has been in our bones.

The church, too, acknowledges the natural rhythms of the day by inviting us to share in the prayer called the Liturgy of the Hours. In recent centuries, the Liturgy of the Hours was commonly understood to be the domain of priests and nuns. Readers over forty may recall seeing their parish priests and religious praying what was then called the Divine Office from a book called a breviary. As a result of the Second Vatican Council, the Liturgy of the Hours has been restored to its proper place as an integral part of the church’s public prayer for all who have been baptized.

For most of us, the Sunday Eucharist is our primary gathering for prayer each week. The Liturgy of the Hours invites us to pause during the course of each day, especially at morning and evening, to offer prayers of praise and petition to the God whose loving care permeates our days. Again, readers may recall praying the morning offering or the angelus, traditional prayers that were closely connected to particular times of day.

In the Liturgy of the Hours, Morning Prayer calls us to offer praise and thanks to God for the wonders of creation and the great mystery of the resurrection. With psalms and hymns and a short reading from the scriptures, we acknowledge our dependence upon God’s mercy and seek God’s blessing on the day ahead. We might bless ourselves with holy water at Morning Prayer. We seal our prayer with the Lord’s Prayer and the sign of peace. At Evening Prayer (also called vespers), the church gives thanks for the day’s joys and sorrows and begs for God’s continuing protection. We might begin with a service of candle lighting. We might also burn incense and sing Psalm 141: “My prayers rise like incense.” We seal our prayer with the Lord’s Prayer and the sign of peace.

Ideally, Morning and Evening Prayer are celebrated in common, but individuals are encouraged to mark the beginning and end of each day with prayer even if they cannot gather with others. At its heart, the Liturgy of the Hours calls us to a simple and repeated pattern of prayer, prayer that readily springs to our lips because it is already rooted deep in our hearts.

Greetings – The past year has been one of unprecedented (and unpredictable!) growth for the Youth Ministry program at Sacred Heart. It is always amazing how the Spirit moves to bring about changes we could not foresee!

Due to the dedication of the T.L.C (and the continued commitment of the YM Adult Commission), we have much to rejoice and be proud about in our community.

Many adults and youth are realizing the opportunity that has been so newly spawned. This gives us ground for building a strong community for young adults in the future.

Saint Brigid’s staff and in particular Kate Doherty, the Youth Minister, has extended a most gracious welcome. A few adults have said they will work to help to maintain the continuity of our program. I know this is what is needed. The Church is the people. Our young adults are looking to us to guide them on this unexpected journey.

They are excited about all they achieved here and are looking forward to continuing and expanding at Saint Brigid’s.

WE HAVE 3-4 CANDIDATES FOR C.L.I., 1 FOR CLIMB AND 3 FOR GOSPEL ROAD. This would be noteworthy during the most ideal times!

PLEASE NOTE: Any adult willing to chaperone Gospel Road or the Middle school Harbor Cruise, please call or e-mail Maureen. Thank you.

Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin - June 13, 2004

Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin - June 13, 2004