An Important Message about Music at the St. John-St. Paul Collaborative

An Important Message about Music at the St. John-St. Paul Collaborative

Over the course of the almost 9 years since our parishes came together as a Collaborative in 2015, we have worked to establish a Collaborative Pastoral Council, Collaborative Adult Faith Enrichment and Service Commissions, and Collaborative Religious Education and Youth Ministry programs. This work has made our Collaborative, and our parishes, even stronger and more vibrant.

Now, in 2024, the time is right to put the last piece of the collaborative puzzle in place by creating the new role of Collaborative Director of Music, replacing the current structure of separate parish music directors. Reporting directly to the pastor, the Collaborative Director of Music will have responsibility for and oversight over all facets of music ministry within the Collaborative, including the music of every Mass as well as our adult, teen, and children’s choirs.  Over time, we have created unique musical cultures at each of our Masses, and our desire is to honor and retain that uniqueness moving forward…

Announcement Regarding Lowering Age of Confirmation

Announcement Regarding Lowering Age of Confirmation

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sets the ordinary age of Confirmation between the age of discretion (around age eight) and about sixteen years of age, as determined by the local bishop. In the Archdiocese of Boston, the ordinary age has been Grade 10. Recently, the Archdiocese of Boston announced that Cardinal Seán has approved a proposal that will lower the ordinary age of Confirmation within the Archdiocese of Boston from Grade 10 to Grade 8, to be implemented over the next 2-3 years.

Why is this change being made? For some time, the Archdiocese has been involved in an extensive consultation on a question of great importance: how to strengthen the participation of young people and their families in the life of faith in Jesus Christ lived out in our parishes, schools, and communities…

Celebrate Catholic Schools Week!

Celebrate Catholic Schools Week!

Catholic schools have an irreplaceable role in the Church’s evangelizing mission. Building on the central goal of Catholic schools to form saints, Catholic schools teach and embrace the whole person, body, mind, and spirit. The fact that all members of a Catholic school community share the Christian vision of faith that Christ is the foundation of Catholic education is what unites the school as a faith-filled community.

This week, we celebrate Saint John School in a special way…

Sister Colleen Gibson, SSJ featured on “Catholic Women Preach” for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Sister Colleen Gibson, SSJ featured on “Catholic Women Preach” for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time

This weekend, Catholic Women Preach is featuring Sister Colleen Gibson, the Collaborative’s Coordinator of Pastoral Care, as she preaches on the readings for the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In her reflection, Sr. Colleen invites us to delve deeper into our Gospel call while sharing about her own vocation as a vowed woman religious. Focused on how we are all called to embrace who we are and who God calls us to be, Sr. Colleen invites us to open our hearts to God’s abundant love, so that we might respond in kind.

Check out Sister Colleen’s preaching by visiting this link…

In Case You Missed It: Recording of “Two Wars: One Moral Framework” with Fr. Bryan Hehir

<i>In Case You Missed It:</i> Recording of “Two Wars: One Moral Framework” with Fr. Bryan Hehir

On Thursday evening, January 25, Fr. Bryan Hehir shared a lecture, “Two Wars: One Moral Framework”, on the current conflicts in the Middle East and Europe.  Fr. Hehir discussed the history of these conflicts, and of war itself, from secular, moral, and faith perspectives with a large and very appreciative audience.

If you were not able to attend Fr. Hehir’s lecture (or tune in to the livestream), the recording of the stream is now available…

Want to Continue Learning about Synodality and What it is Calling Us to as a Church?

Want to Continue Learning about Synodality and What it is Calling Us to as a Church?

Join world-renowned speakers Timothy Radcliffe, OP, Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ, Arturo Sosa, SJ, Phyllis Zagano, and Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich (among many more) for a Massive Online Course (MOOC) set to launch in March! All videos will be facilitated virtually during the month of March 2024 and will be offered at no cost to participants worldwide.

Mark your calendars for this exciting opportunity to continue on the synodal journey with people around the world while growing in mind and heart as we learn to listen more deeply to the work of the Holy Spirit in us and among us at this important moment in our church! More information available…

Monday, January 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Monday, January 15: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

As Pope Francis writes, “Dr. King’s dream of harmony and equality for all people, attained through nonviolent and peaceful means, remains ever timely. ‘Each one of us is called to be an artisan of peace, by uniting and not dividing, by extinguishing hatred and not holding on to it, by opening paths of dialogue’ (Fratelli Tutti, 284). In this way we will be able to see ourselves, not as ‘others’, but as neighbors, in the truth of our shared dignity as children of Almighty God. Only by striving daily to put this vision into practice can we work together to create a community built upon justice and fraternal love.”

Please Note: The St. John-St. Paul Collaborative Offices will be closed on Monday, January 15th in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

God Calls… Are We Listening?

God Calls… Are We Listening?

In this Sunday’s readings, we hear two stories of call – God’s call of Samuel and Jesus’ calling of the first disciples. In both stories (as in our own lives), it is God who takes the initiative to call, inviting those who hear to respond.

“What are you looking for?” Jesus asks the disciples of John the Baptist. Their response is to follow Jesus and, ultimately, to invite others to do the same. When Andrew brings his brother Simon Peter to Jesus, Christ calls him by name. So too with Samuel, who is awakened by the call. “Here I am” he responds to Eli, who soon realizes that it is God who is calling…

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