We don’t often think of Saint Paul as a fundraiser, but today’s second reading (2 Cor. 8-15) addresses the question of the collection for the church in Jerusalem. You might remember that at the council of Antioch in 48 A.D. a grave concern was to aid the mother church in Jerusalem. The Christians there suffered grave persecution from the Jews. You also remember that, before his conversion, Paul led a persecution rounding up all who followed Jesus. Christians were cut off from business and marginalized because of their religion. When pagans became Christians they also were cut off from business associations. Charity for poor churches was therefore necessary from well-to-do ones. The collection Paul took up demonstrated solidarity between the gentile Christians and the Jewish Christians.
Paul emphasizes that the church in Macedonia (northern Greece) has already given from their need to the cause of poorer Christians. He states that the Macedonians are rich in joy while poor in material goods. Perhaps he hoped that this would serve as motivation to the Corinthians.
Just as Jesus emptied himself to enrich us, Paul urges the Corinthian Christians to part with some of their hard-earned money. Christ became poor so that we might become rich. Christianity is not a good religion for greedy people. It stretches our sense of who our brothers and sisters are, and allows us to know that all good gifts come from the Lord. No one of us can say: “I earned this, it is mine to do with what I want.”
As we think about our support of the parish and our mission, we can only hope that we might listen to Saint Paul, the fundraiser, today and make a prayerful response.
I would urge everyone to consider their generosity and God’s generosity to them. How can the parish grow if only a few are supporting the parish by sharing their gifts?
Saint Augustine, in the fourth century, said, all the church needs in order to grow is the Holy Spirit and money.
Readings for the Week Of Sunday, June 28, 2009
| St. Brigid Church |
| |
| 9:00am | Monday June 29th | Special Intention |
| 9:00am | Tuesday June 30th | James Carney |
| 9:00am | Wednesday July 1st | James, Mary Joseph and Hilda Green |
| 9:00am | Thursday July 2nd | Paul Donahue |
| 9:00am | Friday July 3rd | Emily Tropiano |
| 9:00am | Saturday July 4th | Monsignor John Keilty, Michael McLoughlin |
| |
| Sacred Heart Church |
| |
ALL SCHEDULED MASSES AND FUNERALS DURING THE WEEK WILL BE HELD AT ST. BRIGID CHURCH
Parish Council Elections
I will postpone placing new members on the two Parish Councils until September. I want to thank those people who were nominated for their willingness to serve. During the summer I hope to produce a series of Newsletters explaining the role of the Parish Council and the need to have this group develop the vision and mission of the Catholic Community in Lexington. I hope to encourage more people to come forward as candidates for the Council. During the summer months the present Council members will be educating themselves on the work being conducted in other parishes and dioceses, which might aid us in creating a vision and a mission plan for the next two to five years. We will be continuing the census of both parishes which will be a prelude to an evangelization plan to enrich the spiritual life of our community. Please keep all of us in your prayers.
Helping Hands
Helping Hands for the month of June is:
Judy McDonough – 781-863-0653
For July it will be Alice Mellican – 781-861-7226..
In Service For Their Country
Lt. John Schiavi, Sgt. Christopher Considine, Timothy Dunbar, Richard Rigley, 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, Lt. Cmdr. Michael P. MacLellan 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.
Looking For Support During Your Job Search?
Seasoned Human Resources and Marketing pros to lead the Lexington Job Support Group (LJSG) for the Catholic Community of Lexington and our friends. Learn and share job search strategies, resources and networking tips while getting support during your search for that next great opportunity. Meetings are the first and third Wednesday of the month, 7:30pm - 9:00pm at Sacred Heart Parish Center. Next meeting is July 1st. Informal, no need to sign up, come on the evenings you are free with a cup of coffee or supper, and invite a friend. If you have any questions, contact Bob Ludwig at 781-861-7231 or Donna Heuchling at dheuchling(3)
Office Closed
The offices of Sacred Heart and St. Brigid will be closed on Friday, July 3rd in observance of the Birth of our Nation.
Parish Trip
We are going to Oberammergau in 2010 to see the PASSION PLAY!
It is a 12 day trip, to see the play and then to the Dalmatian Coast, Medjugorje, where six young people from the village of Bijakovici in the parish of Medjugorje, claimed to have seen an apparition of the Blessed Mother and child and on to Dubrovnik, Croatia. We will visit four beautiful countries: Germany, Croatia Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. The date has been set!!! We will leave on July 14, 2010. We have set the date for the slide presentation on the trip for Tuesday, June 30th at 6:30pm in the Parish Center Hall at St. Brigid.
Homebound Parishioners
As always, if you know of anyone who is homebound and unable to get to church, please contact the office so that we can make sure they receive the Eucharist.
Most of us see the same people week after week at “our” Mass. If you find that you are not seeing a certain person or people who are always at “your” Mass, please call the office and we will be happy to call and check to see if they are in good health or if they need some help or a visit from our Ministers to the Homebound.
Life Snipits
God answers prayers—
not advice
Please pray for all who are in need of our prayers that God’s healing and comforting presence may be with them, especially Father William Smith, Helen Jenson, Father Thomas Nestor, Catherine Morley, Elaine Murphy, Deacon Bill Wildes, Joseph O’Brien, John Harper, Tina Durks, William McCarthy, Verner and Marie Dempsey,Pat White, Anita and William Gorham, Eleanor Mann, Gerald McCue, Kathleen Brown, Theresa A. Myles, Rev. James O’Donohoe, Betty Garrity, Marylou Merry, Josephine Siders, Kathleen Brown, Olivia Moran, Suzy Keating, Matthew Langone, and Brianna Cimino. Please also remember in your prayers all of our deceased parishioners especially Martha Kineen, Francis Campisi, John Ciano and Madeline Thompson.
Parish Census
Census forms are located at the entrances of both churches. Each family/parishioner is encouraged to take a few minutes to complete the census and either drop-off at the entryways to the churches or drop-off/mail to the offices at 2001 Massachusetts Avenue, Lexington, MA 02421.
We need this form even if you have been in one of the parishes for a “million” years. So, please, please pick up a form at the doors of the churches (or call the office and I will send one out). Then, complete and return the form to the office.
Your completion and return of the census will provide information that will help us to better communicate, serve and interact with members of each parish and to provide information on parishioners’ special skills, talents and interests. All of the personal information will be kept confidential and be filed in the parish offices.
For your convenience in returning the forms, boxes will be at the front doors of St. Brigid Church and at the side door of Sacred Heart Church.
The forms are also on the internet. Type "www.lexingtoncatholic.org" in your browser's address bar, followed by "/" and "census". Dont type the quote marks. We have not written this as a link in order to avoid having our census spoiled by spam. If you need help finding the online census, email webmaster "at" lexingtoncatholic.org..
Olive Branch Olive Oil
This great olive oil will be available for your summer needs: at St Brigid Parish in Keilty Hall on Saturday, June 27th after the 5pm Mass, and Sunday, June 28th after the 9.00am and 11.00am Masses. At Sacred Heart in the Parish Center on Saturday, June 27th after the 4.00pm Mass and Sunday June 28th after the 10.00am Mass. The price is the same bargain; $145.00 for a case of twelve bottles (to split with friends and family if you wish) and $12.00 per bottle. All proceeds, after costs, will go directly to Agencies and projects serving urgent needs in both Israel and Palestine.
Interfaith Garden
An Interfaith Garden is being planned for Lexington! The garden would provide an opportunity to give fresh fruits and vegetables to those in need along with an opportunity for our faith communities to work together on a joint effort. Rev. Dana Allen Walsh will host an interest meeting on Monday, June 29th at 7:30 p.m. at Hancock Church in the Kathie Stuart Room. At the meeting, possible locations, a timeline, models of operation, and the scale of the project will be discussed. Please RSVP if you will plan to be there 781.862.4220.
We have received a thank you note from Father Thomas A. Kopp, Archdiocesan Director for The Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Boston for the monies collected for the Missionary Cooperative Appeal earlier this spring. Thank you again for your generosity. As usual you out did yourselves!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Students leave for Catholic WorkCamp today. We wish them a safe journey and a wonderful week! Please keep them in your prayers.
2:30 – Baptisms at St. Brigid – Church
There will be Olive Oil for sale after the Masses this weekend at both St. Brigid and Sacred Heart Parishes
Monday, June29, 2009
NO EVENTS
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
6:30 – Collette Tours will conduct a presentation on the trip going to Oberammergau for the Passion Play and Medjugorje and Croatia in 2010.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
NO EVENTS
Thursday, July 2, 2009
NO EVENTS
Friday, July 3, 2009
OFFICE CLOSED
Saturday, July 4, 2009
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY
Water Prayers
Jesus meets the woman at the well and she asks him: “Give me living water always.” We can continue the prayer of the Samaritan woman, and like her, we can find Jesus at the edge of the waters that we encounter every day. For example, pray this line from Psalm 51 before you get into the shower or wash your face or hands: “Wash me with fresh water, wash me bright as snow.” Or use this line from Psalm 63 whenever you take up a glass of something to drink: “God, my God, you I crave; my soul thirsts for you.” Try this verse from Psalm 65 when you water the garden or even your houseplants: “With softening rain you bless the land with growth.” If you’re sloshing around in puddles these days, pray this verse from Psalm 147: “God speaks, the ice melts. God breathes, the streams flow.” And if you’re surprised by a spring ice storm, here’s your prayer, also from Psalm 147: “The Lord hurls chunks of hail. Who can stand such cold?”
Make up and write down a prayer giving God thanks for the gift of water or asking God’s protection from its dangers.
Copyright © 2002 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 1800 North Hermitage Avenue, Chicago IL 60622-1101; 1-800-933-1800; www.ltp.org. Text by David Philippart. Art by Steve Erspamer, sm. All rights reserved. Used with permission.
| St. Brigid |
| Offertory for June 20th & 21st |
$ 9,208.00 |
| Envelope Offerings |
$ 7,970.00 |
| Loose Cash |
$ 1,238.00 |
Out of the 548 envelopes we sent to St. Brigid parishioners, 243 have used their envelopes.
| Sacred Heart |
| Offertory for June 20th & 21st |
$ 4,226.00 |
| Envelope Offerings |
$ 3,420.00 |
| Loose Cash |
$ 706.00 |
| St. Katharine Drexel |
$ 336.00 |
Of the 265 envelopes we sent to Sacred Heart parishioners, 101 parishioners have used their envelopes this week.
Thank you to all who so generously contribute to our parishes each week!
—Fr. Colletti
Faith & Environment
“As long as the readiness (to share) is there, a man is acceptable with whatever he can afford; never mind what is beyond his means. It is a question of balancing “whatever happens to be your surplus now, against their present need, and one day they may have something to spare which will supply your own need.” 2 Corinthians: 8: 12-15. We hear much about the effects of Climate Change and how we can affect it. We can easily be overwhelmed at the tasks and changes that seem to be asked of us. St Paul in his letter reminds us that it isn’t the amount in giving that matters but the willingness to contribute and also the recognition that we are interdependent. When we read verses 9-12 we can see God’s economy. Humanity and the whole natural world are interdependent. Noting this in our everyday lives, we can address the challenges of coping with Climate Change with others, confident that though much is asked of us it is never beyond our means. Let’s think this week of one aspect of global climate change that we can affect by joining with others.
St. Katherine Drexel Food Pantry
St. Brigid And Sacred Heart
The weekend of July 4th and 5th is the collection of non-perishable food for St. Katherine Drexel in Roxbury. Please remember that during these economic times there is a great demand put upon food pantries and your contributions are needed more than ever before. These items are always needed: cereals, canned fruit and vegetables, soup, chicken broth, pasta, rice, peanut butter and tomato sauce. Cash, supermarket gift cards, and checks made payable to St. Katherine Drexel may be placed in an envelope and put into the offertory basket or dropped off at the Parish office. Thank you for your past generosity and support.
Holy Humor
I am NOT hard of hearing!
I am not hard of hearing but, sometimes… well, sometimes the words I hear just don’t seem to register quite right:
A group of us were enjoying coffee together and one of the ladies was excitedly sharing the fact she was getting a new Microwave Oven. But she didn’t say she was going to “buy” or “purchase” one – she used the word “acquire” – she was going to acquire a Microwave Oven.
The conversation wasn’t making a lick of sense to me and I blurted out, “What in the world are you talking about?!”
Startled, and puzzled, she wondered what the problem was. I explained, “I’ve got this vision of a choir loft full of Microwave Ovens with the doors opening and closing, the lights going on and off, and the buzzers buzzing…
Start The Holiday Weekend With The Lord!
Spend quiet time with the Lord this Friday and every Friday during the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament from 12:00 – 2:45pm at St. Brigid Church.
3 Projects Underway at St. Brigid’s
Work is underway on three projects at St. Brigid’s:
- Repair and refurbishment of the church’s steeple
- Replacement of the church’s two rear side doors and the center’s rear side door and repair of the parish center’s front door
- Replacement of the former rectory’s front porch. The architectural style and color of the steeple, doors and porch will not be changed.
The Fence
There was a little boy with a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, to hammer a nail in the back fence. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Then it gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us. Show your friends how much you care."
Sacrament of reconciliation
During the summer months we will not have the Sacrament of Reconciliation at St. Brigid on Saturday 3:30-4:30pm.
Most of our visiting priests have gone away for the summer, so we are limited on what we can do to keep the schedule the way it is when they are here to help out.
Please call the office to set up an appointment for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The numbers to call are 781-862-0335/4646 for an appointment.
Looking for Summer Reading?
Join
parishioners from Sacred Heart and
St. Brigid as they read My Life with the Saints by James Martin, SJ.
Our women’s book club
officially begins on Thursday, September 17th, but the group invites
you to savor their first selection as the less-chaotic days of summer unfold.
Here’s the scoop on the book:
James Martin has led an entirely modern life:
from a lukewarm Catholic childhood, to an education at the Wharton School of
Business, to the executive fast track at General Electric, to ministry as a
Jesuit priest, to a busy media career in Manhattan.
But every step of the way, he has been accompanied by some surprising
friends—the saints of the Catholic Church.
Martin's best-selling memoir encompasses saints throughout Christian
history—from St. Peter to Dorothy Day, St. Francis of
Assisi to Mother Teresa—and chronicles the author's
lifelong relationship with them. His
witty, vibrant, and stirring stories enable readers to discover how the saints
guide us throughout our earthly journeys and how they help each of us find
holiness in our own lives. Our
insiders tell us the book has short chapters, and is easy pick up for a short
time.
My Life with the Saints is readily available at your
favorite book vendor…for more information about the fledgling book club, contact
Maria Griffin at avempg(4)
or Beverly Good
at Beverly.Good
(1); 781-863-0319, ext. 20.
REGISTRATIONS FOR RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND CONFIRMATION CLASSES ARE IN THE MAIL. PLEASE COMPLETE AND RETURN THE FORMS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
Megan Chenaille, Director of Youth Ministry
E-mail: Megan Chenaille
781-862-8724
Catholic HEART Workcamp
11 teens and two adult chaperones will be leaving on Sunday, June 28, 2009 for Providence, RI for a service week. Please keep our youth and their adult leaders in your prayers this week. Thank you.
Please do not hesitate to call or e-mail with any questions or concerns. 
Taking a Vacation this Summer?
Here is a suggestion to ponder while you are soaking up sun and sand: Teaching a class in religious education in the Fall. We will welcome all volunteers; returning teachers; teachers who have been on “sabbatical” from teaching; volunteers looking for a new ministry. If interested, please call the Religious Education Office 781-862-8724. You can also email us. For grades 1-8, George Begin at george.begin(1). For grades 9 & 10 Megan Chenaille at megan.chenaille(1)