Looking out at the Catholic Community assembled at each Mass on the weekend, I am reminded of the Parable of the Lost sheep. It appears in the Gospels of Matthew (Matthew 18:12–14) and Luke (Luke 15:3–7). It is about a shepherd who leaves his flock of ninety-nine sheep to find the one which is lost. As I look out I am noticing and recalling the names of people who are no longer sitting among us; as their children get older they absent themselves from the pews
There are so many things happening here at Sacred Heart, that sometimes one thing or another fall through the cracks, or we think they are so far off that we will take care of it later. I do want to bring to your attention the Parish Pilgrimage to Austria and Germany featuring the Passion Play of Oberammergau which is only held every 10 years. I have 16 spots put aside for us and 11 of them are spoken for. I can add more spaces if necessary. I need to know by the end of February the exact number of people from Sacred Heart that will be going. If we have open spots I need to offer these spots to people from outside the parish.
Spring is in the air as temperatures more than double from the negative temperatures we have had for several days in a row. Many of us take this time to go through our closets and attempt to weed out clothes that we do not wear anymore for various reasons. I am hoping that when this occurs, or when a loved one dies, and we are packing up their clothing or small household items we remember our own parish thrift shop; The Twice Blessed Thrift Shop, located in the parish center. The all-volunteer staff has been very dedicated for the 40 + years that the thrift shop has existed They collaborate with St Vincent de Paul Thrift Shops in providing clothes and household items throughout Worcester County, that may not be needed in the Hopedale-Milford area.
In this homily series, we are looking at “What does it mean to be Spiritual?” We hear many people say that they are spiritual but not religious. What does that mean? For some, I’m told that they believe in God and the message of Jesus but don’t like the rules of a formal religious organization. In the letters to St. Paul to the Corinthians that we have been focusing on the last several weeks, we hear that one cannot be spiritual without belonging to a faith community. We hear that being spiritual and religious go hand in hand. During the first week, St. Paul tells us that we all have spiritual gifts and that we need to use them for the common good. Each one of us has different gifts; if we all had the same gifts the world would be a really boring place. Last week, St. Paul tells us that we can do nothing unless we work as a team – just like the Patriots!
With the impending storm last weekend, it was so nice to see so many at the 4:00 P.M. Mass. We had 8 at the 8:30 and 13 at the 10:30 Mass and had nice intimate Masses in the Manella Day Chapel. When ever there is a weekend storm we will have Mass but I want people to be safe, so all those who are scheduled for ministry please just come on the best day and don’t worry about finding a replacement for ministry. When we gather during a stormy weekend we will do the best we can. If there is a state of emergency declared by our Governor, we will receive a cancellation message from the Diocese of Worcester and pass it on through e-mail and Facebook.