All women of the Collaborative are warmly invited – dinner will be served and carpool arrangements are available.
WITH FACILITATOR SARA MILONE
Sisters of St. Joseph Spirituality Center
71 Walnut Park, Newton, MA
Registration required…
Monday, March 24
7:00-7:45pm at St. John the Evangelist Church
Music, Prayer, and Contemplation followed by the Sacrament of Reconciliation
All are invited for an evening of outstanding sacred music, scripture, and poetry that span the ages of our Catholic tradition. While these elements are woven together, participants will be guided into prayer and contemplation surrounding their personal Lenten journey.
Following the liturgy there will be an opportunity for those who wish to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
Christianity is the dominant religion in Cameroon (about two-thirds of the population), with Roman Catholics making up more than half of the Christian population. Cameroon faces numerous crises that threaten its social fabric, which are rooted in the country’s colonial history…
Archbishop Andrew Nkea Fuanya, who stayed with us and celebrated Mass at St. Paul Church last year while in the U.S. visiting the scholar priests from his diocese, said, “My churches are all bursting, and I don’t have space to keep the young people… and my shortest Mass would be about two and a half hours.”
Against this backdrop is Build the Faith’s new church project in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, the home diocese of Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley… Both have spoken about the needs of these flourishing faith communities to have physical spaces to worship and to serve as centers of community in these unstable areas…
This week’s readings about Abraham’s covenant with God and Jesus’s Transfiguration reveal that the divide between heaven and earth is sometimes smaller than we think. God is inviting us to listen and believe.
What promise is God inviting you to listen to and believe in this week? What prevents you from believing in the promises of God?
BUILD THE FAITH was inspired by the unwavering faith in God exhibited by Christina Dangond Lacouture, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in December 2012, at the tender age of 6. In the months and years after her diagnosis, Christina and her parents, Monica Lacouture and Fernando Dangond, members of our Collaborative, began to organize rosary groups and retreats. The family also heard of a proposed Catholic church in their home country of Colombia that was to be built in an area stricken with poverty and in need of funding. They held fundraisers and collected donations, and together made rosaries to sell for the cause. In 2016, they founded Build the Faith as a non-profit to “help build the Catholic faith around the world.”
In 2017, Christina and her family flew to Colombia to present the church with a check for $20,000, and in February of 2018, a month after Christina died, Monica flew back to Colombia to present the church with another check, this time for $25,000…
An open invitation to all teens – particularly those preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation this spring – to experience God’s love and mercy.
There will be music, a brief reading from scripture, a short reflection, and a walk through an examination of conscience. The Youth Ministry team will help guide you through all the steps to leaving a little lighter and filled with God’s mercy!
Interested, but not sure if you’ll feel ready to receive the sacrament? That’s OK, there will be no pressure – please come to the service anyway, and encourage your friends to come too!
This Lent, Young Adults in and around the Collaborative are invited to join us for “Theology at the Table.” A unique spin on Theology on Tap, using the dining room table the SJSP Young Adult Ministry has come to love, these dinners will offer an opportunity to gather with a special guest to discuss topics and grow in faith and community.
Our guest on March 22, Kayla August, a PhD Candidate at Boston College, will share with us about her own call as a preacher and to explore and reflect on the Burning Bush moments of our own lives. Our guest on April 4 needs no introduction – our pastor, Fr. Jim!
These dinners are open to young adults aged 21 to 40. Please register for one or both of these wonderful evenings by visiting…
Please join us on Thursday, March 20 at 7:00pm in St. John Powers Hall for “Turning Dreams into Reality with Build the Faith.” The evening will offer a comprehensive introduction to our 2025 Lenten Gift recipient, Build the Faith, and their current project which our gift will support – the building of a church in the Archdiocese of Bamenda, Cameroon.
Monica Lacouture and Fernando Dangond will share the story of Build the Faith, which was inspired by the unwavering faith in God exhibited by their daughter, Christina Dangond Lacouture, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at the tender age of 6.
Fr. Gabriel and Fr. Lesley, who both served as pastor in this community before joining us here in Wellesley, will share their experiences…
This year, as a Collaborative, each week in Lent we will offer a Question of the Week which will be related to the Sunday readings. The questions will be published in the bulletin and on the website, and proposed briefly before the final blessing at every Mass during the Lenten season. This is an opportunity for our Collaborative community to be praying in companionship with one another, while simultaneously examining our individual spirituality. Consider this a collaborative-wide Lenten mini retreat!
QUESTION FOR THE FIRST WEEK OF LENT: Our Responsorial Psalm today is a petition to God – “Be with me, Lord, when I am in trouble”.
In what area of your life do you most need God’s presence and when have you seen the Lord provide for you when you were in trouble? Do you consider your need for God a strength or weakness?