The Catholic Community of Sacred Heart is hosting the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. It will be held this Wednesday January 16th at 7:00 P.M in the church followed by refreshments in the parish center at 8:00 P.M. This is a joint venture of the Hopedale School Community and the local parish communities. At this event we present the “Power of One Award” recognizing an individual, family, committee or group for an extraordinary contribution in the area of community improvement or social justice during the past 5 years.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all! I wish to begin this New Year with a heart filled with thanks to all those who are on the faith journey with the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart. With the joyous spirit of that community, all involved in ministry pulled together throughout the year to worship fully as a community of faith. The last days of the Advent Season were a beehive of activity as we witnessed the young children of our parish in the Christmas Pageant. Then everyone moved into action as chairs were put in place to welcome all those who would attend the 4:00 P.M vigil Mass for Christmas. People worked together to decorate the church for Christmas, the children’s choir practiced in the hall, the Sacred Heart Beats in the Conference Room and the Adult Festival Choir in the Church. Behind the scenes readers prepared to proclaim the word, altar servers practices, ministers of Holy Communion came forward, homilies were prepared, many gifts were bought for the needs that hung from the Giving Trees, people feasted at the Mustard Seed, donations made to the Food Pantry. That was just the month of December. This community action and working together takes place all year long here at Sacred Heart and we should all thank God for the gift we are to one another.
We continue this Christmas Season as we gather for the feast of the Holy Family. I pray that your Christmas Season is relaxed, safe and filled with all the hopes and dreams you have held in your heart. Our celebration continues, as we gather on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day to honor Mary as the Mother of God and celebrate Word Day of Peace. On the Feast of Epiphany, we hear the story of the wise men and their journey of faith, which parallels to our own. To close the Christmas Season, we celebrate the Baptism of the Lord.
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem stands as an ancient witness to the birth of Jesus Christ. For some on the outside, the Church of the Nativity, battered, fortress-like and unattractive to the eye, is disappointing. Even to some on the inside, the neglect is disheartening.
Many people are busy with many things at this time of the year. Yet, there was much “stewardship in action” on and off the Sacred Heart Campus. Several individuals and families assisted at the Trinity Supper on Friday evening, preparing and serving food to those in need. Our aging creche has been brought back to life with new pressure treated flooring and new roof through the efforts of Mike Chaisson, Bill Parent, Larry Bonetti, Rob Callahan and Tony Claro. Mike Chaisson also fabricated a new audio/visual table in the loft so that the new streaming equipment installed by Rob Russell and Ed Lavallette has sufficient space for those who will be operating the equipment. In the meantime, Phil, Casey, Riley and Rory Goyette cleaned all the wood out of the basement and will cut it up for my fire pit. Now shelving will be installed for storage. It is great to get this all cleaned.
How are you doing with the Advent Conspiracy? I am finding the prayer card helpful. On Sunday after the Masses I drop the collection into the night deposit at the bank and there was a person in front of the drive through that was out of their car and trying to work the ATM with little success. So, guess what, I had to “wait!” As I was there I decided, instead of getting anxious at waiting, I took out the prayer card and as soon as I was done praying, the lady got back into her car with her cash and was happily on her way. I realized the opportunity the card offered me to realize “Emmanuel-God is with us!”
Last weekend on the Feast of Christ the King of the Universe I introduced the “Advent Conspiracy.” We are planting the seeds to enter more fully in the days, weeks, months and years ahead the ways Christmas, and we as Christians can change the world.
With hearts filled with Thanksgiving, and bellies filled with turkey we join in celebrating the Feast of Christ the King. Yet, for many Catholics who commemorate the Feast, it is just one more celebration which we go through every year at this time. It becomes “another thing” happening in our very busy schedules that overwhelms us so that we can’t wait for the holiday season to be over.
Stewardship is certainly in action here at Sacred Heart. Many of you have commented on how great the trees surrounding the parking lot look. The branches were getting very low and needed major pruning. The cost was overwhelming. However due to the pooling of time and talents the work was all taken care of at no charge. Ernie Chaplin got the ball rolling and things started happening. Tony Claro secured access to a bucket truck to get the branches down around the parking lot and Ernie made a call to Dana Wilson who owns “Bump Your Stump.” Dana, who is not a parishioner, came with his woodchipper for the whole day and chopped up all the branches with the help, and strength of time of Bob Maconochie, Bill Parent, Gerald Maurais, Rob Russell and Ernie. A job that would have cost $10,000.00 was taken care of through the stewardship of time and talent!
This Veterans Day is no ordinary celebration in honor of all Veterans. It is one-hundred years ago on the eleventh day, the eleventh month at the eleventh hour in 1918 that the Armistice was signed between the allies and Germany bringing the end of the World War. Of course, it wasn’t called World War I because they did not know that twenty years later there would be an ever greater war than the first. The British called it “The Great War.” In the United States, before we entered the war we called it “The European War.” France called it “La Der des Ders” “The last of the Last (Wars).” Once the U.S. entered the war we began to call it a World War. Woodrow Wilson in 1919 on the first anniversary referred to World War I as the “The War to end all wars.” Little did we know human nature.
We are all hearing about early voting. I can’t wait till the mid-term election results are in and my hope and prayer is that it will be good news. I decided to vote early and couldn’t believe the number of people at the town clerk’s office Friday. Several people said, “This is important, and I want to make sure my voice is heard loud and clear!” I was feeling the same way. Being heard is very important and I want to be heard.
I wish to thank all those who have submitted their Commitment cards so far. For those of you who have yet to do so remember you can fill them in on our website. There are also cards and catalogs of ministry descriptions at the doors of the church. Please make your pledge to our Catholic Community known, we count on all of us to walk this journey of faith together.
Anyone listening to the pledge drives for NPR or WCRB will hear how important listener support is as it provides 70% of their budget. Through our Annual Stewardship Appeal pledge drive, pooling our resources of time, talent and treasure provides 100% of our support. We do not have resources from outside the parish to fill our ministries, our pews or pay our expenses. It requires the support of each and every one of our parishioners for us to function as a parish community.
We are in full swing with events happening here at Sacred Heart. A reminder that this weekend October 14 and 15 is “Fill-a-Ford,” we are collecting snack items, quick breakfast foods and meals for those students in Hopedale who are in need. The truck in front church will be there both days to collect food items. Every bit helps those in need.
Many of you know how much I love to travel and what an adventurous traveler I am. After returning from Russia, several of you asked where I was off to next. Oberammergau, Germany for the 2020 Passion Play is next on my list. “Can we come? We would love to travel with you!”
Now that faith formation is in full swing, I want to invite the adults in the community who have not completed their sacraments of initiation; those who have been baptized as Catholics, to consider completing their journey of faith here at Sacred Heart. I also want to invite those who are married in a civil service to consider getting their marriage blessed.
As the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart we offer several opportunities throughout the year for people to meet one another outside of Mass. This helps us to deepen our bonds as a people of God, support each other intergenerationally and strengthen our faith community.
Bishop McManus has invited all the priests of our Diocese to attend one of three meetings with him and Dr. Katie Kelly to speak and share how we are doing regarding the recent Grand Jury report on clergy sexual abuse in the dioceses of Pennsylvania. Twenty-six of us gathered at St. Mary’s in Uxbridge this past Tuesday afternoon. I was so happy that we had this opportunity to listen to the bishop’s feelings and reactions about the present sexual abuse crisis in the church and to share and listen to my brother priests.
We are entering an exciting year of Faith Formation with concentrated coordination of the elementary aged students by Tara Corcoran and the Junior and Senior High students by Lee Maleno. With each of them dividing the work I am sure we will have a dynamic year ahead. Pam and I will spend coordinated effort on on-going Formation for the larger community working with the message shapers; the weekly homily series and the materials for small groups. We continue to focus on “one Church, one Message.”
The Summer of 2018 comes to an end, and so does our summer schedule. Many have mentioned they love the feel of the one Mass on Sunday with so many people attending. I, too feel the same way, but we move onto the two Masses on Sunday. There are many plusses with the single Mass, in that there is a fuller house, and there would be more time for Faith Formation and longer time to build community during Coffee and. However, there are many who have sports and other activities that require us to move back to the two Mass schedule. If I hear otherwise from you, I am more than happy to accommodate the needs of the community.