Registration for the 2023-2024 program is now open.
PLEASE REGISTER NOW.
The registration period will extend through May 31. Registrations received after May 31 will incur a $25 late fee per child.
To register please visit: https://sjspwellesley.org/religious-education/
Of all the seven last words, the words, “It is finished” sound more like words of self-reflection than any others. They are not like the interactive words spoken to Mary and John; neither are they like the reconciling words spoken to the repentant thief; nor, it seems, are they like the words of anguish and committal addressed to the Father. Instead, these words seem to be those of a man who, at the point of dying, looks back at his living to see it as a unified whole. He has come to do the will of the One who sent him. Here are some thoughts and questions for your consideration this week:
Can you look back on your life and see a pattern? Can you see how God’s will has been at work in it?
On the lawn immediately following the 9:00am Family Mass at St. Paul Church on Easter Sunday –
All Welcome!
Here are some thoughts and questions for your consideration this week:
Try to set aside fifteen minutes.
“Pick a time, pick a place, and then show up.” (Timothy Jones in Workaday Prayers)
Reread the above gospel selection. Be attentive to the scene, imagining it, putting yourself at the foot of the cross. You may want to speak with Jesus.
Be grateful for the Spirit’s gift: that you desire to pray.
Recall the deep relationship Jesus had with his Father.
Consider world events. Focus on one picture or one story that touches your heart and pray for those people, entrusting them to God’s care.
Whenever you feel that life is beating you, you might find consolation in Psalm 31.
Taizé is an ecumenical monastic order in Burgundy, France, with a strong devotion to peace and reconciliation through prayer, meditation, and song.
The repetitive sung simple prayers draw you deeply into communion with the Holy Spirit and allows the clutter of your thoughts to subside. Holy Scripture and silence are interwoven in the experience in order for worshipers to be attentive to God’s voice. There will be opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation throughout.
There can be no better way to prepare for Holy Week than to approach it full of God’s abundant grace.
Throughout Lent, the Service Commission shared the story of City of Goodness with you. We’ve told you how, on February 24, 2022, people all around Ukraine woke up to air raid sirens and bomb explosions and their lives changed forever. We told you how, in response, City of Goodness has transformed from a social service and support center into a shelter for Ukrainians fleeing war and violence.
This is our opportunity as a Collaborative to show Christ-like love for our neighbors in distress, and for each of us to answer Lent’s clarion call to love extravagantly. On behalf of the Collaborative Service Commission, we ask that you be as generous as your means will allow.
Checks can be made payable to your parish, with “2023 Lenten Gift” noted in the memo, and can be placed in the special second collection this weekend of mailed/dropped at either parish office. You may also contribute online by scanning the QR code on the posters in both churches or by visiting the Collaborative Lenten Gift page on our website.
Here are some thoughts and questions for your consideration this week:
Try to set aside fifteen minutes. Distractions in prayer are as normal and ordinary as they are in any relationship. Don’t get discouraged.
Read the selection from Luke 23:39-43 above. Try to imagine that scene, putting yourself at the foot of the cross.
Recall how your own attitude toward suffering or toward a difficult situation has either helped or hindered you.
In the Hail Mary, we ask her to intercede for us “now and at the hour of our death.” Does that particular line hold much meaning for you?
Reflect on the love that Jesus has for us, that love that invites us to be with him…
(Please note the new date – Monday, March 27.)
Please join us Monday evening, March 27 for this important lecture with Fr. Bryan Hehir on the current situation in Ukraine.
This lecture is especially timely in light of our Lenten Gift supporting City of Goodness in their work to shelter and care for displaced women with children, orphans, and elderly people from all over Ukraine.
Please note: Fr. Hehir’s lecture will be livestreamed for those who cannot attend in person: https://sjspwellesley.org/sj/live/
Since the onset of war over a year ago, City of Goodness has become a shelter, a home that gives security, comfort, and love for women with children (and their pets!), elderly and disabled people, and evacuees from orphanages – children from birth to 7 years. They are now in the process of constructing additional buildings so hundreds more children and moms can be safe.
This place will become a rescue for those who lost their home due to war… for those who have no parents waiting for their loving families… for those who need home and comfort… While our buildings are looking for their patrons and are built brick by brick, hundreds of children, dozens of mothers, several elderly, our rescued pets are waiting in the already created and functioning buildings… they are waiting for food, medication, rehabilitation, treatment, psychologist services after experiencing terrible events… and every day we provide residents with everything they need, because they are our family and our great responsibility… All of us together are building a new history of the City of Goodness… brick by brick… window by window…
All women of the Collaborative are cordially invited to a Lenten program on Tuesday, March 21 at 6:00pm at St. John the Evangelist Church. Our program will begin in the Upper Church, where we will walk the Stations of the Cross through Mary’s eyes.
Following the Stations, Kelly Meraw will offer a short Lenten reflection. (The Stations and Reflection will be live-streamed for those unable to attend in person: sjspwellesley.org/sj/live/)
After the program, we will share a pot-luck dinner downstairs in Powers Hall. Please plan to bring a dish to share and RSVP by clicking here: sjspwellesley.org/evening-for-women/