St. Mary's - 11Nov07 Bulletin

Sophie's clear path to health; Laurie's full recovery from colon cancer, Jeremiah to receive long lasting help for severe head pain, Avis's recovery from complications following surgery, safe travel for two families, Dan's mom after her loss, support for Renee's mission, Lucille's suffering and a softening of her heart, safety for Carrey's son, a bitter woman to find some peace, everyone in an abusive relationship, especially S., BA, and D., Kathryn parks for successful surgery and follow up care, Dan safe trip and continued recovery from illness, J. healing from a serious illness, a woman with depression, Cindy cancer to be cured, Heather's wellness, and an ease of suffering for all those who were personally touched by loved ones who've died in the war in Iraq. Continued prayers for: Tom, Cody and Yorkie, Louanne, Linda, Elizabeth, AB, SP, Beth, Frances, Cindy, Elliot, Lynn, Helen, Fran's grandson, George, Kendra, Bob and Pat B., Mike M., Baby Gabe, Joanne, a family, a woman, Keith, Annie, Kathleen, Mary and Dottie Thanksgiving for: The Commission for Women's recent conference and for all those who participated in it's preparation, Matt’s successful surgery, Bill, safe travel for T., and for many prayers answered.

Prayer Line: Tracy at 508-842-2279 or Susan at 508-934-0133 or susanbk@townisp.com

Will you be here for Christmas Eve? Something SPECIAL is coming for 7:00 p.m. Christmas Eve Mass! All children ages 5-18 are invited to join us! More details to come!! Lots of Fun is planned for everyone!

Welcome Deacon Peter Faford, Director of the Worcester Diocese Mission House in Les Cayes, Haiti, will preach at all of the Masses next this, November 10 & 11. Last November Sr. Judith Dupuy, a Haitian Sister of St. Anne and the Director of the Haitian Apostolate for the Diocese of Worcester, spoke to us about the unique covenant between the Dioceses of Worcester and Les Cayes, Haiti. Deacon Peter will speak to us about the twinning relationship St. Mary’s has with St. Michel’s parish in Roche-a-Bateau. Each month he meets with Fr. Brutus Gulber, the pastor of St. Michel’s, and gives him the monthly check that we have sent. You are invited to join Deacon Peter for coffee following the 7:30 & 9:00 Sunday Masses.

Envelopes for donations to support our “sister” parish in Haiti will be available this weekend. Our covenant with St. Michel’s is $800 a month which enables the parish to do a great deal that would not be possible without our assistance.

Please join us and bring a bag of nonperishable food to be brought forward to the altar and distributed later to people in need through St. Anne’s Human Services.

Many thanks to all the youth, families and members of our parish who participated in the CROP WALK. It was a beautiful fall day and $1000 was raised to combat local and worldwide hunger.

St. Mary School would like to invite the seniors of the parish to the annual luncheon on Friday, November 16, 11:30am to 1:30pm. Please join us for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Space is limited so please reserve early! R.S.V.P. to Paula Hayeck @ 508-869-9990 (pachayeck@yahoo.com) or Beth Farrell @ 508-872-6563 (bethafarrell@yahoo.com) by Monday, November 12. Thank you.

On behalf of the entire St. Mary’s Parish I would like to thank you for your outstanding service and commitment weekend after weekend in our liturgical celebrations. I am thankful to God for calling you to serve His people as Lector and/or Extraordinary Minster of Holy Communion. Each one of you gives your time and your talents to continue to build a faith and joy filled community.

As in any other ministry or service, we always need time and opportunities to be re-energized and to reaffirm our commitment. Two years ago Fr. Robert Johnson led a workshop on the current practices for Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion and the attendance was magnificent. This year all of us will be blessed by having Mr. Paul Covino. Paul is currently an Associate Chaplain and Director of Liturgy at the College of the Holy Cross. Paul received his master's degree in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame and served for eight years as associate director of the Georgetown Center for Liturgy where he continues to serve on the adjunct staff. Paul He is the editor of Celebrating Marriage: A Workbook for Engaged Couples and the author of the weekly ritual suggestions column in Today's Liturgy and numerous articles.

This workshop will take place on Thursday, November 29th from 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM in the Church. I highly recommend your participation in this workshop and I ask that you make every effort to be with us for what will be a very informative evening. Please RSVP by calling or emailing our parish secretary at 508-845-6341.

Thursday, November 15, 2007, 7:00 – 8:30 PM and 11 subsequent sessions scheduled to fit participants’ needs in the Pastoral Center.

Walking this journey with you will be Viola Jefferson and Corinne Hetzler, each experienced in bereavement support and personal loss. We will establish an atmosphere in which participants can share according to their own comfort level. Each person’s confidentiality will always be respected. Please call the Health Ministry Office at 508-845-2193 to confirm your participation or get more information.

On Saturday morning, the families of those parishioners who have died since last All Souls Day gathered for a beautiful Mass of Remembrance. Following Mass, everyone in attendance was invited to a breakfast buffet in the parish hall. Once again the expense of the breakfast was paid for by a very generous donation from Britton Funeral Homes. Each year, Shannon Henry, of Britton's comes to the Mass and breakfast to offer her support, as well. The parish extends it deepest gratitude to Britton Funeral Homes and to Shannon Henry and David Bellerose for their generosity and support in making this event possible.

St. Mary’s Social Justice Ministry
Tuesday, November 13 at 7:15 PM - Pastoral Center. - All are Welcome

At this meeting, we’ll prepare for our December 14 Holiday Benefit Concert where great music will help us celebrate the Christmas spirit while reaching out to those in need. We’ll prepare for the November 17 and 18 bake sale and raffle to provide operating funds for the Little Brown House. And we’ll plan our annual Heifer Project International drive to provide economic support through our gifts of animals to families and communities in developing countries. We’ll get updates on our furniture drive, Haiti weekend, parish garden, and share the bounty project. We’ll also review our goals and our plans for 2008 and beyond—and discuss other justice concerns—from fair trade to the environment, peace, and global solidarity. These are serious issues, but at our social justice ministry, joy and laughter mingle with concern and a commitment to making a difference.

Can you help support our neighbors in the Main South area of Worcester served by The Mustard Seed, a center that serves meals—including some prepared by parishioners—for the hungry, and Matthew 25, a project that rehabs rundown buildings to provide housing for low-income families.

We are looking for 4 complete twin bed sets for refugee families from east African nations. We’re also looking for parish members with carpentry skills to rebuild the side stairs at The Mustard Seed. If you can help, please contact David Lizotte, director of Matthew 25 and St. Mary’s parishioner, at 508.845.9716.

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

There is a line strung across America - the poverty line - and one in eight Americans hangs below it. There are thirty-seven million of them today. The poor in America struggle to meet the needs of their families and better their lives. Our faith in the Lord impels us to help them and to work for an end to the injustice of poverty.

The Catholic Campaign for Human Development helps people rise above the poverty line by funding programs that focus on the root causes of poverty.

CCHD is committed to helping people change the conditions that keep them living in a state of poverty. These compassionate projects in our diocese and throughout the U.S. support low-income people as they work together to improve educational opportunities, create jobs, and improve access to services for the disabled.

The bishops of the United States established this important campaign thirty-seven years ago to help people end poverty not for just a day, but for a lifetime. Through the support of parishioners in dioceses across the country, the bishops were able to grant $9 million in 2006 to anti-poverty, social justice projects in 47 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

I urge you to give generously to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development next weekend, November 17-18. We commit 75% of the donations to the national office to support their projects across the country. We keep 25% here in the diocese to fund local self-help initiatives to benefit communities in Central Massachusetts and awarded many grants just a few weeks ago.

By joining in solidarity with Catholics in parishes across our country, you lend strength to efforts already underway to end the vicious cycle of poverty. May God bless you for your generosity.

With every prayerful best wish, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Robert J. McManus
Bishop of Worcester

3rd Annual Bake Sale and Raffle to benefit the LITTLE BROWN HOUSE after all Masses Nov. 17 & 18. We are gratefully accepting donations of BAKED GOODS. Please bring goodies to the Pastoral Center on Friday from 9 – 2, Sat. from 9 – 12, or to the Bake Sale tables before any of the Masses. Thank you for helping us keep the family in the Little Brown House warm and comfortable this coming winter. Call Sindhu 508-842-1009 or Cecile 508-829-5422 of the Social Justice Committee for more info.

Francis Kavanagh will be offering family portraits on November 17&18th. Sign up for a time slots after mass or contact Sheila Plifka (508)845.5866 /plifkas@yahoo.com

You may remember Paul Wilkes’ visit to St. Mary’s in July, when he spoke the need for a new building at Home of Hope, the poor orphanage for girls in India. Well, your donations were part of a total of $60,000 that was raised, which Paul was able to take to India, so that construction on the new building can begin. The girls won’t be sleeping on a concrete floor too much longer, thanks to your generosity and the generosity of other Catholics from Massachusetts to California.

Now, here’s another way to help those orphan girls. Through a unique program, your used books can be the means to higher education for the orphan girls at Home of Hope. These neglected, abandoned and unwanted girls, the poorest of the poor, earnestly want to break the cycle of poverty and they can do it through higher education – which you finance simply by donating your used books. The program is called Used Books, New Lives and it is beautifully simple. All you do is go to the orphanage website www.homeofhopeindia.org and click on the “Used Books, New Lives” link or go directly to

http://www.homeofhopeindia.org/usedbooksnewlives.php There, you will send the girls a list of used books you are willing to part with. They do the rest. A team of orphan girls research the resale market, set a price, and then lists the books on Amazon.com. When the book sells, you receive instructions and a shipping label. And, a tax deduction for the purchase price. So, you are partners with the orphan girls. They learn valuable skills and “earn” money for their education. Go to www.homeofhopeindia.org and you’ll see the details. It’s a great family project. (And a great way to clear out those dust-gathering books!) Or, if you just want to pack up a bunch of books and send them off, Paul will take care of the rest:

Mass	Servers:
4:30	K. Burke, M. Burke, A. Puthanangady, R. Puthanangady, D. Wassef, M. Wassef
7:30	A. Amatucci, A. Amatucci, W. Hayden, B. Kleister
9:00	A. Berard, D. Cabrera, M. Cabrera, K. Clougherty, M. Lemoine, M. Snow
11:00	C. Black, E. Black, K. Hirtle, B. Saxe, A. Smiley, M. Terry
5:30	D. Buricatu, K. Harrington, C. Kenefick, K. Looney, D. Shine, M. Shine

Mass	Lectors:	Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion:
4:30	S. Puthanangady	M/M Bellerose, M. Damico, R. Ferrante, S. Gallerani, M. Law, A. Lo, H. Reynolds, M. Serafin, W. Tomaiolo
7:30	F. Nugent	M. Blute, S. Cote, M. Lemoine, R. Mungovan, M. Wassef
9:00	S. Landry	M. Benbenek, M/M Coghlin, K, Jefferson, P. Kelly, E. Lemoine, M/M Nelligan, L. Shuba
11:00	A. Amato	M/M Berkowitz, M/M Cote, S. Howard, E. Korpi, E. Page, M/M Pratt, R. Sanguinet
5:30	J. Forts	V. Anthony, M. Beaudry, P.J. Beaudry, P. Forts, A. Figuieredo, J. Fouhy, C. Holland, M/M Loboprabhu, R. Shine