Sacred Heart Parish Bulletin - November 14, 2004

There is a famous scene in the movie Dead Man Walking. It is the last encounter of the condemned and his family. This is the time to share feelings, to cry and to express the deepest regrets of a life lost. I interpreted this scene to mean that all these people, this whole family, was alienated each from the other and had nothing to say. There seemed to be no connection or nothing to bind this family together. On further reflection, I realized that the moment was too profound to say anything. What could one say? A death in the family was inevitable and there was no power to turn things around.

I feel somewhat like that. At this writing we have not received our letter from the Archbishop telling us we are officially closed. We cannot make our written appeal until we receive that letter. Meanwhile we sit around finding it difficult to find things to talk about. Some of our members, however, are planning to stay on after our church closes. They have something to say. They do not want to feel powerless. They want to express to the Archbishop, and to others, that the emerging laity have something to say and some business to perform in the conduct of Church affairs. Whatever the outcome of this “prayer vigil” remains to be seen.

Other parishioners have made up their mind to move on to other churches or simply to go home until the dust settles. They, too, are angry but find the closing out of our hands.

It is a terrible shame that the closing of parishes came all at once. Under Cardinal Law some 45 parishes were closed without too much fanfare because these were closed after years of deliberation with the people of the parishes and their clusters. This go-round of closings called reconfiguration was necessary for the sake of the whole diocese, but most people—priests included—feel it was done extremely poorly. There are over 100 dioceses in the country going through the same process. I hope they learn something redemptive from the Boston experience.

So here we are a family being split asunder with some going here and there and others praying in protest and protection. Like that family in Dead Man Walking we find it hard to say anything because the pain is personal and profound. In the words of de Chardin, “Let us believe that God’s hand is leading us and accept the anxiety of feeling in suspense and incomplete.”

Readings for the Week of November 14, 2004

Sunday:    Mal 3:19-20a; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21:5-19
Monday:    Rv 1:1-4; 2:1-5; Lk 18:35-43
Tuesday:   Rv 3:1-6, 14-22; Lk 19:1-10
Wednesday:    Rv 4:1-11; Lk 19:11-28
Thursday: Rv 5:1-10; Lk 19:41-44
Friday:           Rv 10:8-11; Lk 19:45-48
Saturday: Rv 11:4-12; Lk 20:27-40

Next Sunday: 2 Sm 5:1-3; Col 1:12-20; Lk 23:35-43

This week we ask you to pray for those who are ill, including, Brianna Cimino, Rosemary Harvey, Regina Jones, Andrea Hynes, Joyce Amos, 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, Kath Rodriegas, Estelle Szalajeski, Nancy Driscoll, Dante DiManna, Margie Levine, Doug Phillips, Andrew Day, Peggy Sue Grow, Mary Serpa, Deborah Miller, Dorothy Lee, William MacKinnon, Mary Jefferson, Elizabeth Conte, Shane McCarthy, Mildred Wood, Violet Caldaroni, Frank Cote, James Bresnahan, Ann Mulray, Rita Mahan, Connie Perrotta, Jackie Sullivan, Jean Babbin, Gerard Sarno, Dorothy Grant, Gretin Cervantes, Marisol O’Brien, Paul Pantano, Fran Ressetar, Cecelia Hines, Margaret Wright, Renee Chapman, Peter Bellini, Christine Gainer, Chris Ann Colletti, Helen McLaughlin, Paul Doherty, Mary Dawson, Jorge Loayza, Joseph Brault, Lauren Forgette, Chuck Kiernan, Bill Attaya, Margaret Coughlin, John McCarthy, Don Sabatand, Laura Mac Aulay, Stella Guarino, Bill Graham, Bob Remeika, Mary Hosford, Jose Rubiero, Robert Devlin, and Dorothy Barton .

Father Eugene Curtin has invited Father John Baldovin, SJ and Father James O’Donohoe to preside at Liturgy at St. Brigid Parish. Both Fr. Baldovin and Fr. O’Donohoe have accepted Fr. Curtin’s very kind invitation.

Again this year we are soliciting turkeys for St. John/Saint Hugh families for Thanksgiving. If you would like to contribute a family-size frozen turkey, please deliver it to the side door of the church at the Masses on Saturday, November 20^th or Sunday November 21^st, or if you would like to make other delivery arrangements, please call Ted Heuchling at 781-729-4962 or Bob Ludwig at 781-861-7231.

Parishioners who are new to Sacred Heart might like to understand better the relationship of St. John/St. Hugh parish in Roxbury and Sacred Heart. St. John/St. Hugh have been sister parishes for decades. Once a month the families that belong to the envelope system send an offering to St. John/St. Hugh. On Mondays, for many years, Sacred Heart parishioners helped to serve a hot lunch in the basement of St. John/St. Hugh Church to the parish’s needy friends and families. That meal has been discontinued in recent years. Every third month Sacred Heart sends its monthly food collection to St. John St. Hugh food pantry.

Flowers for this weekend are in memory of James M. Burke given by Pauline Burke.

The annual Lexington Interfaith Thanksgiving Service will be held Tuesday, November 23^rd, at the Lexington Methodist Church, 2600 Massachusetts Avenue. People of many faith traditions will be participating, and all are welcome. The service is at 8:00pm, and if you wish to participate in the choir, rehearsal is at 7:00pm. All are welcome to sing in the choir.

Next Sunday, November 14^th, Bishop Francis Irwin will confirm 37 of our young people at a special 12:00 Mass. We congratulate all of them for their hard work and commitment, especially as they are members of the largest Confirmation class at Sacred Heart in 15 years!

Thanks also to the catechists who have accompanied them over the last years: Kim Hogan, Peter Kimball, Maryellen Leelman, Dave Mislan, Leslie McCafferty, and Cathy Phillips. May the Holy Spirit pour out special blessings on all of you!

While all are welcome to attend the Mass and the reception that will follow, we will need to save some seats for the Confirmandi and their guests.

The Espousal Retreat House will host the following two retreats the weekend of November 19 - 21:

Lakota children in Kindergarten through grade 8 would be very grateful for presents. Gifts in the range of $5 to $10 are suggested. Ideas include art supplies, sports T-shirts, matchbox cars, books, hairbrushes and barrettes, dolls of color, etc. Send to: American Horse School, c/o Principal Gloria Kitsopoulos, PO Box660 or 100 Main St. Allen, SD 57714. Packages must be sent by December 1.

We often call the responsorial psalm the "response" to the first reading. That's true, but it's really "responsorial" since it has a responsory a refrain that occurs with each verse.

The psalm is indeed a response or a comment on the first reading. In ordinary time, the Gospel text we hear falls in the Bible somewhere between last Sunday's Gospel passage and next Sunday's Gospel. The first reading leaps from some place in the Old Testament because its theme resembles the Gospel. The psalm echoes the reading we just heard. It's sort of a grandchild to Sunday's Gospel.

In the Book of Psalms, very few psalms have a refrain. (See Psalms 46 and 67, for example.) But on Sundays we treat them all alike. We give them refrains which we put in the mouths of our assemblies, often changing them into first person.

The refrains that appear in the lectionary, incidentally, are part of the official texts of the Mass. The verses may be drawn from several different translations. That's why often the refrain doesn't match the wording of the verses.

We have quite a bit of freedom with the psalm. Since psalms were written as songs, the church urges us to sing them at every Mass. But because some assemblies struggle with new music, they can learn one or a few psalms for a whole season. Although easier to sing, their rapport with the first reading may suffer.

If we substitute, it's important to replace the psalm with a psalm. It's really not supposed to be a popular hymn, or even a song with a refrain that's drawn from, say, one of the epistles.

The reason has to do with how Christians use psalms. Jesus, a good Jew, surely prayed them daily. Many passages of the New Testament quote the psalms to show their fulfillment in the life of Christ. And they have proven useful for prayer in virtually every culture and age of history.

We also have freedom to change the structure of the psalm. It doesn't have to be responsorial. We can sing it all together, like a hymn.

Listen carefully to the first reading and figure out its connection to the psalm. Then we can really pray the psalm while we sing.

Copyright (c) 1997 Resource Publications, Inc., 160 E. Virginia St. #290, San Jose, CA 95112, (408) 286-8505. Paul Turner, pastor of St. John Regis Parish in Kansas City, Mo., holds a doctorate in sacramental theology from Sant' Anselmo University in Rome. His e-mail is PaulTu@aol.com.


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