Today’s gospel is from Mark, (1:29-39), and relates: “Rising early the next morning, Jesus went off to a lonely place in the desert; there he was absorbed in prayer. Simon and his companions managed to track him down; and when they found him, they told him, ‘Everybody is looking for you!’”
There are several things in this passage for us to think about. First, we must consider how important prayer was for Jesus and how he gave an example for us to find time for uninterrupted prayer. Second, look at the effort of others to bring them to Jesus and Jesus to them. Simon did not do this alone but had companions.
All this says something to me about priesthood and about the parish. I just celebrated my 47th anniversary of ordination. I heard of another who was ordained sometime after me and when he went to his first parish the people made presentations to him at his first Mass. The first brought the new priest a basket of food, handed it to him and said; “Now you are a priest. You are to feed your people.” The second brought him a wooden staff and said, “Now you are a priest. You are to lead your people.” The third brought him a hat with a bird feather on it and said, “Now you are a priest. You are to be a man of the Spirit.” I hope and pray that this is what I have been doing all these years. Thinking about all the changes in me and in the Church over the 47 years I am drawn to the people, in my thoughts and prayers—and always with gratitude.
I am so very glad that I am a parish priest. My role and the role of the parish are changing rapidly. The parish of the future needs to prioritize what it will do and do it with excellence. The parish, I think, will become more like a retreat center for spiritual growth and opportunity for adults. It will not be as child-centered as it has been in the past. The spiritual life of the parish as a whole should be the primary consideration. From the fullness of a spiritual life will come the works Christ wants us to perform for each other and the world.
Today’s newly ordained experience a tug-of-war between the continued implementation of Vatican II and returning to an earlier time in the Church. Pastors will be priests ordained for less than 10 years. Rather than finding a serene and settled parish where they can learn the ropes, newly ordained priests will be quickly thrown into positions of heavy responsibility. The skills needed now are primarily leadership, management, conflict resolution, ministry training and collaboration.
The Holy Spirit is edging us toward a new paradigm, a new definition of priesthood and parish. As we meditate on the scripture passage given above, we realize that to live by a new vision and be moved by a mission we will have “to track him (Jesus) down” and do all this with others until we can say: “Everyone is looking for you!”
Readings for the Week Of Sunday, February 08, 2009
| St. Brigid Church |
| |
| 9:00am | Tuesday February 10th | Frank Marcucci, Sr. |
| 9:00am | Thursday February 12th | William Bair |
| 8:00am | Saturday February 14th | Ralph & Nellie White
Neal Harold |
| |
| Sacred Heart Church |
| |
| 9:00am | Monday February 9th | Jean Thiel |
| 9:00am | Wednesday February 11th | Thomas O’Leary |
| 9:00am | Saturday February 14th | Donald Barnes |
An Evening In Venice
Dinner/Dance Fundraiser (Adults ONLY)
We are having a dinner/dance to sponsor the YOUTH Scholarship Fund, Work Camp Costs, and other Youth Events (such as guest speakers, like Sean Forrest and community building activities). The date of this event is Saturday, February 28th from 7:00pm to ll:00pm in Keilty Hall. We will enjoy a Chicken Florentine dinner, wine, dancing and great fellowship all to support the Youth of our parishes. Tickets are $25 per person will be available in the Religious Education Office after January 25th and after all Masses THIS weekend.
Helping Hands
Helping Hands for February is
Dorothy Martin, 781-862-6389
Lexington Interfaith Concert
There will be a special Lexington Interfaith concert held at St. Brigid Church on Sunday, February 8th at 4PM. The concert will feature the choirs of St. Brigid, Sacred Heart, Church of the Redeemer, Temple Emunah, Temple Isaiah, First Baptist, and the United Methodist Church. Each choir will perform two pieces and will join together at the end for a combined selection, Haleluyah, by Louis Lewandowski. The Reverend Arnold Colletti, Pastor of St. Brigid and Sacred Heart parishes, will give an informative talk on the architecture and windows of St. Brigid church. A reception of light refreshments will follow in Kielty Hall at St. Brigid. The concert is open to the public and is free of charge.
In Service For Their Country
Lt. John Schiavi, Sgt. Christopher Considine, Timothy Dunbar, Richard Rigley, Timothy Busa, Chris Cullen, Caitlin R. Battell, Robert McLaughlin, Sean Maddigan, Rev. Paul Passamonti, Airman Jason Cunha, Mark Zarnecki, Patrick J. Nordahl, Scott and Michael Donahue, Lt. Brian Casey, and 1st Lt. Brian Geary.
Lord Jesus, watch over our sons and daughters in the service of their country. Give them the courage to serve their country with honor and dignity and grant that when their service is finished they may return to us, sound in mind, body and soul.
Please pray for all who are in need of our prayers that God’s healing and comforting presence may be with them, especially Father Smith, Deacon Bill Wildes, Nancy Grossimon, Bill Kenney, Joseph O’Brien, John Harper, Donald Marhefka, Ruth McAluffe. Tina Durks, Pat White, Marylou Merry, Josephine Siders, Philip Johnson, Olivia Moran and Brianna Cimino. Please also remember all of our deceased relatives and friends especially Spiridon Balulescu, Yolanda Fahey and Elizabeth Scotney.
Save the Date
Remember to save Saturday, March 14th at 6:00 PM for our annual Irish Night in Keilty Hall at St. Brigid Church. We will have Corned Beef and Cabbage from Marty’s Caterers, Irish Music and Step Dancers.
Tickets: Adults $20; Kids under 12 $5. Tables of 8 available. Tickets will go on sale the weekend of February 14/15 after Mass in Keilty Hall or at Parish Office. For more information contact Marie Hill at 781-862-6456 or to rcn.com, address "mimi716".
Faith & Environment
“Let the earth bless the Lord, every thing that grows on the earth! Bless the Lord: give glory and eternal praise to him. “ Book of Daniel 3:74-76
In this season trees are stripped of their leaves but not of their beauty. Their shapes and the delicacy of their branches are clear to see, especially against the evening sky with the winter afterglow on the horizon. Many of the ways to address global warming, climate change and ‘walking lightly on the earth’ require a certain stripping: of wasteful habits, heedless use of resources, and ‘me-first’ egocentricity. This week let’s think of one way we are drawn to simplify our lives and lifestyles, acknowledge that it requires some letting go but also rejoice in the beauty revealed. Let meditation on a tree (or some other gift of nature), bring us a joy that leads us to sustain this gift.
Lexington Food Pantry Collection At St. Brigid And Sacred Heart
The weekend of February 14th and 15th is the collection of non-perishable food items. Please check the expiration dates. Especially needed at this time are low sodium chicken broth, hot and cold cereals, peanut butter, canned fruits and vegetables. The food pantry also accepts non food items such as hygiene items (toothpaste, toothbrushes, bar soap, deodorant, shampoo, etc.) and paper products (toilet paper, tissues, paper towels, napkins, etc.). Food stamps cannot be used for these items. These items may be left in the food bins at the entrances of St. Brigid or on the altar at Sacred Heart. Cash, supermarket gift cards and checks made out to the Lexington Food Pantry are also accepted. These may be placed in an envelope marked Lexington Food Pantry and placed in the offertory basket or dropped off at the parish office. Thank you for your past generosity and support of this endeavor.
Wings: Liturgy of the Hours This Week!
Guest speaker Anne Willhite’s presentation on Liturgy of the Hours this week will close the WINGS Winter Series on Prayer. Ms. Willhite will bring us through the monastic origins of this prayer to its contemporary forms and uses. Join us this Thursday, February 12, at 9:30 – 11:15am, in the hall at St. Brigid Parish Center. For transportation, contact Carol Flynn at 781-862-1637. For child care during the session, contact Janet Fraser at 781-862-6853 or jfraser at alum dot mit dot edu. Membership in WINGS is not required to attend this or any WINGS program.
Center for Reflection, Education and Action
Please join Sister Ruth Rosenbaum, TC, PhD from the Center for Reflection, Education and Action as she leads a social justice study group. The topics are current and are in keeping with the CREA mission statement which is as follows--"Believing that the earth is home to all, CREA facilitates analysis of human, social and economic policies from the perspective of their effects on human lives beginning with the lives of those who are poor." The meeting takes place this month at St. Brigid in the parish library on Monday, February 9th , at 7:15pm.
All are welcome.
Travel To Greece And Its Islands
A few more seats have opened up for our Greece trip!!! The seats are available on a first come, first serve basis. Please call 781-862-0335/4646 for details. If there is an interest, we will have another presentation by Collette Tours on the trip!
We are planning a trip to Greece and its islands beginning April 23, 2009. This will be a 14 day trip starting in Athens, going to the island of Mykonos for 3 days, then we are off to the island of Santorini for 3 days. We will fly back to Athens to begin exploring classical Greece.
Congratulations and Thank You!
Again, Saint Brigid and Sacred Heart parishioners with some help from the Grey Nuns signed about 800 letters in support of 3 Prisoners of Conscience. These letters will be sent on through Amnesty International. Please continue to pray for the release of three persons who simply exercised the rights that we all take for granted.
Life Snipits
Get rich quick—
Count your blessings!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
8:45 – 11:00 – RCIA – St. Brigid Library
9:00 Mass - Children’s Liturgy of the Word
11:15 – Religious Education Classes – Sacred Heart
4:00 – Interfaith Choir – St. Brigid Church
6:00 – Youth Mass/Grade 7 Mass – Sacred Heart Church
7:30 – 8:30 Youth Group Meeting – Sacred Heart PC
Monday, February 9, 2009
7:15 – 8:30 - Confirmation Classes – St. Brigid – PC
7:15 – CREA Meeting – St. Brigid Library
7:00/30 – Sacred Heart PPC – Sacred Heart PC
Tuesday, 10, 2009
3:45 - Religious Education – Grades 1-6 - St. Brigid PC
5:30 - Religious Education Grade 7 - St. Brigid PC
7:15 – Confirmation Classes - Sacred Heart PC
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
3:45– Religious Education – Grades 1-6 - St. Brigid PC
5:30 – Religious Education – Grade 8 - St. Brigid PC
5:15-6:00 – Children’s Choir - Sacred Heart Church
7:30 – Choir Rehearsal - Sacred Heart Church
Thursday, February 12, 2009
9:30 – WINGS - St. Brigid PC
4:00-5:00 – Youth Choir Rehearsal - St. Brigid Church
7:30 – Faith & Environment Mtg. - SH Parish Center
7:30 – Choir Rehearsal - St. Brigid
Friday, February 13, 2009
7:30 – Baptism Class - Library
Saturday, February 14, 2009
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY
Habitat For Humanity Volunteers & Sponsors Requested For 2/28/09
On Saturday, February 28th Sacred Heart & St. Brigid parishioners are invited to help support a work day for parishioners to help build two Habitat homes for low income families in West Newton. Habitat for Humanity Greater Boston has built more than 75 homes in the greater Boston Area More than 200 parishioners have worked on Habitat homes over the years and we are grateful to all who have supported this work so generously in the past.. All workers must be 16 years or older. Prayers and donations are particularly requested for anyone wishing to support this effort. We hope to raise $800 to help provide materials for the work on February 28th. Make checks payable to the parish with memo Habitat for Humanity. For information and sign ups call Bob Ludwig (781) 861-7231.
Holy Humor
LOT’S WIFE
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, ‘My Mommy looked back once while she was driving,’ he announced triumphantly, ‘and she turned into a telephone pole!’
HIGHER POWER
A Sunday school teacher said to her children, ‘We have been learning how powerful kings and queens were in Bible times. But, there is a Higher Power. Can anybody tell me what it is?’
One child blurted out, “Aces!”
Dealing With The Hurts & Stresses In Life
Rev. Bob Masciocchi, CSS will focus on the hurts we have experienced and on the common stresses in our lives. This program will be held on Sunday, February 15th from 10:00am – 5:00pm at the Espousal Retreat Center, Waltham, with registration at 9:30am. The day will include talks, small groups, private reflection time, inner healing prayer and Mass.
| St. Brigid |
| Offertory for February 1st |
$ 9,585.50 |
| Envelope Offerings |
$ 8,270.00 |
| Loose Cash |
$ 1,315.00 |
| Grand Annual Collection to date |
$117,215.00 |
Out of the 548 envelopes we sent to St. Brigid parishioners, 267 have used their envelopes.
| Sacred Heart |
| Offertory for February 1st |
$ 5,506.00 |
| Envelope Offerings |
$ 4,825.00 |
| Loose Cash |
$ 681.00 |
| St. Katharine Drexel |
$ 535.00 |
| Grand Annual Collection to date |
$71,352.00 |
Of the 265 envelopes we sent to Sacred Heart parishioners, 116 parishioners have used their envelopes this week.
Thank you to all who so generously contribute to our parishes each week!
—Fr. Colletti
Thank You!
We received a thank you note from Msgr. Paul V. Garrity, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Lynn for St. Brigid’s assistance with their Christmas present program. Monsignor Garrity related his special thanks to Hallie Wells, Mary Harvell and Linda Rosa for all of their help in collecting the hundreds of donations.
Sunday at Sacred Heart: 11:15 – 12:15 – Gr. 1 – 7
Tuesday at St. Brigid: 3:45 - 4:45pm – Gr. 1 - 6
Tuesday at St. Brigid: 5:30 – 6:30pm – Gr. 7
Wednesday at St. Brigid: 3:45 - 4:45pm – Gr. 1 - 6
Wednesday at St. Brigid: 5:30 – 6:30pm – Gr. 8
We have scheduled two more days for Olin Mills to come back to Lexington. We are hoping that those of you who did not have your photos taken during the summer and early fall will be able to make the new dates. Olan Mills will come back to St. Brigid on Friday, March 6th, and Saturday, March 7th. The sign up sheets should be at the doors of the church this weekend, please take the time to sign up.
Boston Catholic Television
Daily Mass can be seen LIVE on CatholicTV and Boston’s WBPX, Channel 68 weekdays at 9:30 a.m, at 7:30 p.m. or midnight (all times Eastern). The Daily Mass is also rebroadcast on CatholicTV at 7:30 each evening and midnight. You can also celebrate it LIVE or "on demand" here at CatholicTV's web site, www.CatholicTV.com.
Sacred Heart 75th Anniversary Speaker Presentations Available
DVD's of the popular 75th Anniversay Speaker series at Sacred Heart are available on loan in the parish office. They include the presentation by Paul Lemieux entitled God In Us and Rev. Bryan Hehir's presentation entitled The Well-formed Conscience.
Arise Together in Christ
ARISE PRAYER COMMITMENT WEEKEND is an opportunity for all parishioners to be part of the ongoing spiritual renewal of the parishes by participating in the ARISE prayer network. These are people who commit to pray for the renewal of the parishes before and during the ARISE Together in Christ process. At Mass this weekend, you can put in writing your intention to pray during Lent, asking God to renew us! Look for the “response” sheets.
Healing Service
There will be a Healing Service, Febuary 15th at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, 300 Haverhill St., Lawrence. The service will begin at 2:30pm conducted by Father Albert MacPherson, OSA, with adoration followed by anointing with blessed oil. Everyone is invited to come and feel the healing touch of God’s hand. For more information please call 978-685-1111 or 617-884-1360.
Campion Health Center
The following positions are available at Campion Health Center in Weston, MA. Campion is a Jesuit Community with 34 nursing home beds and 36 rest home beds. We are also a deficiency free, 5-star nursing home!
RN & LPN-Per Diem:: We are seeking per diem nurses for all shifts. Candidates must have a State RN or LPN license. Experience in long term care preferred.
HOUSKEEPER: We are seeking a full-time housekeeper with experience. The shift is 11:00am to 7:00pm. Weekend differential pay applies to this position. Great benefits, vacation, sick and holiday pay.
Interested applicants for the above positions should send a resume to: Deborah Carey, Human Resource Manager dcarey a t campioncenter do t org or call 781-788-4761, FAX: 781-788-6890.
All children are invited to join in the Children’s Liturgy of the Word, a special weekly presentation and discussion of the day’s scripture readings. After a blessing and dismissal by the priest before the first reading during St. Brigid’s 9:00am Mass, the children proceed downstairs to Keilty Hall to participate in this program. They rejoin the Mass after the homily. Note: We will not have CLW next Sunday (February 15), the beginning of school vacation
week.
An Invitation From Our Seventh Graders!
Our parishes’ Seventh Graders cordially invite you to join them at their grade-level Mass next Sunday, February 8, at the 6:00pm Youthful Mass at Sacred Heart Church.
Adoration
Send a valentine to the Lord: your presence at Adoration! The Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament is every Friday from 12:00 – 2:45pm at St. Brigid Church. Please consider visiting during the first hour of Adoration – the Lord longs for more company then.
Movie and Soup
Mark your calendars for the Saturdays during Lent when we will again have our Movie and Soup night beginning at 6:00pm at Sacred Heart Parish Center on February 28th. Each week there will be a movie relating to the weekend scripture readings. Please plan to join us for movies and soup!!!
Megan Chenaille, Director of Youth Ministry
E-mail: Megan Chenaille
781-862-8724
Food Fast
Mark your calendars:
March 27-28. More information coming soon
Catholic Heart Workcamp
June 28-July 3, Providence, RI
For High School students entering 9th thru 12th grades
Meet other Catholics your age from around the country, help others, and grow in your faith. A $75 deposit is required to hold your spot. Please sign up soon! Spaces are limited.
Please do not hesitate to call or e-mail with any questions or concerns. 
