News and Updates – Page 45 – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

Important Religious Education and Youth Ministry News!

Program information for our 2022-2023 program, including the schedule of classes and full calendar, has been sent to all registered families this past week. If you did not receive the email please check your spam folder – if you don’t find it please email Linda at Linda.Messore@sjspwellesley.org to resolve any communication issues.

Please Note: We are still looking for teachers for Wednesday afternoon – there are only 10 classes which meet from 3:30-4:30pm. Please consider sharing your faith with the young people in our program, it is a very rewarding experience. Please email Linda at Linda.Messore@sjspwellesley.org if you can offer your time and talents for this very special ministry.

We are excited to announce the addition of two new staff members to the Religious Ed and Youth Ministry team: Eve Schwartz and Dominique Bailey…

Coming Soon- Raffle to Support Our Young Pilgrims Going to World Youth Day 2023 in Lisbon!

We are excited to announce that the St. John-St. Paul Collaborative will be sending a group of teens to World Youth Day Lisbon 2023!

The week-long event, taking place August 1-6, 2023, culminates in a special Mass with the Holy Father. Our young pilgrims will be departing in less than a year!

They will begin fundraising for the trip this September with a Closed End Raffle. Tickets will be available from our pilgrims after Masses as well as online – only 500 tickets will be sold so be sure to get yours early! Tickets are $100 each and you could win…

August 28: POWIR Update

We are pleased to share with you that the 3 young adult men who came to Massachusetts from Afghanistan in January of 2022 are doing very well. One of them had some dental education in Afghanistan and his dream is to be a dental assistant. A big thank you to the Drs. Ali of Wellesley Dental group for the onsite educational opportunity they have been offering for several months now. They are also guiding him along the path to become a dental assistant and he is almost there.

The young man who loves to cook is working in a restaurant as an assistant in the kitchen and can now make salad, pasta and pizza. The third works in a grocery store while studying IT through a special program sponsored in part by Google. We are grateful to all 3 employers for their welcome of these 3 refugees…

August 22: A Message from Fr. Jim!

I hope that you are enjoying these last beautiful weeks of summer! It seems hard to believe that it has now been twelve weeks since the accident that upended my life – and by extension, life here at the Collaborative. I am progressing well in my physical therapy, and am so happy to be back in my home environment. I am now able to walk short distances with a forearm crutch – a big step forward from wheelchairs and walkers! As I continue to get stronger you may see me walking about the property or around town as part of my therapy and healing process. After so many weeks confined to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and then the rectory, I am still getting used to being able to go outside – but I am thoroughly enjoying it!

The other part of my recovery is working through the invisible effects that impact anyone who has been through a traumatic, life-threatening accident…

August 21: St. Paul Church Bell Tower Financial Update

As of August 17, a total of $73,545 has been received toward the total budgeted amount of $487,200 – a great start!

To donate now please visit the St. Paul Bell Tower Fund Giving Page

Donations may also be made using the reply envelope that was mailed to all registered St. Paul parishioners.

Additional envelopes are also available in the back of both churches.

Thank you!

Our Collaborative Mass Schedule for the Fall

Since Fr. Jim’s accident in early June, our Collaborative staff have worked tirelessly to assure Mass coverage for our Collaborative, with support and guidance from Fr. Hehir. It was not easy, but we were able to maintain our typical Summer Weekend Mass Schedule of four Masses thanks in large part to the outpouring of support for Fr. Jim from his brother priests. We understand, however, that their availability will decrease drastically come September, as their own demanding parish and academic schedules return.

As you know, it will still be many months before Fr. Jim is able to resume his ministry here at the Collaborative. As we approach the end of summer and what would normally be a return to a Regular Weekend Mass Schedule of seven Masses, we must recognize that it is simply not possible to maintain that number of Masses with one priest in residence (Fr. Hehir) and assisting priests. Given this reality, we must suspend the 7:30am Sunday Mass at least for the fall…

Save the Date! Celebrating the Feast Day of St. Vincent de Paul

The SJSP St. Vincent de Paul Conference will be celebrating Saint Vincent de Paul’s Feast Day the weekend of September 24-25, 2022. Please follow notices here on the website and in the bulletin over the next several weeks to learn more about his life, the work we do guided by his vision of service to God through service to the poor in our community, and the details about our celebrations of our community.

On Sunday, September 25, we will culminate the festivities with a “community walk.” All parishioners are invited to join us as we walk from St. Paul Church to St. John the Evangelist Church after the 11:00am Mass at St. Paul.

Following the walk, we will welcome all parishioners back for the fall season with a barbecue lunch in the Saint John School parking lot after the 12:00pm Mass at St. John.

STAY TUNED – MORE DETAILS TO COME!

Monday, August 15: The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Mass Schedule

9:00am at St. Paul Church

7:00pm at St. John the Evangelist Church

Whenever the solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary falls on a Saturday or on a Monday, the obligation to attend Mass is lifted.

The faithful, however, are encouraged to attend Mass on those days.

August 14: St. Paul Church Bell Tower Financial Update

As of August 10, a total of $70,695 has been received toward the total budgeted amount of $487,200 – a great start!

To donate now please visit the St. Paul Bell Tower Fund Giving Page

Donations may also be made using the reply envelope that was mailed to all registered St. Paul parishioners.

Additional envelopes are also available in the back of both churches.

Thank you!

From the Office for Homeschooling, Archdiocese of Boston

Thinking about homeschooling? Know someone who is? If you are new to home schooling, thinking about it, or know someone who is in either of those situations, you are invited to attend a Zoom meeting to talk about how to get started. Several experienced Catholic homeschooling parents will discuss letters of intent, legal issues, HSLDA, curricula, how you keep your home and marriage going while homeschooling, and more.

Register to attend this Zoom meeting on Tuesday, August 30 at 7:30pm: www.chimehomeschool.com/getting‐started‐at‐homeschooling‐meeting/

For more information, please feel free to contact Fr. Ed Riley, Spiritual Director for the Office for Homeschooling at: eriley@rcab.org.