News and Updates – Page 46 – St. John – St. Paul Catholic Collaborative

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.

Attention Current (and Future!) Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors

We are pleased to announce an exciting development in the way we organize the ministries of the Mass – a return to parish volunteers coordinating the schedules (the norm before the many disruptions caused by the pandemic!) Dorene Christie will be coordinating the schedule of Eucharistic Ministers and Lectors for St. John, and Anne Cremonini and Leah Cinelli will be scheduling for St. Paul. You will be getting an email from them shortly since September – and the new schedule – are just around the corner!

On behalf of you, the parishioners, we thank our new coordinators for their service and look forward to lots of active participation in our vibrant liturgies! Mary Campion (mary.campion@sjspwellesley.org) will continue to be the staff liaison so if you would like to be part of ministry at Mass, please contact Mary, Dorene, Anne or Leah…

Our Collaborative Synod Synthesis Report Submitted to the Archdiocese of Boston and the Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops.

Thank you to the many hundreds of people who engaged in the work of the Synod by sharing their faith, hopes, and dreams for the Church! We began our synodal journey in the fall of 2021, with the announcement that

August 7: Scenes from the St. Paul Church Bell Tower Project

We wanted to share some photos taken this week of the work happening at St. Paul.

The team has begun removing a few sections of precast stone from the parapet to send to Northern Design, an architectural precast stone firm, so they can begin building the molds and forms that will be used to precast the elements of the new parapet.

Stay tuned for more updates here on the website and in the bulletin!

July 31: St. Paul Church Bell Tower Financial Update

The work on the bell tower is now well underway!

As of July 20, a total of $63,750 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!

Want to Learn More About the Catholic Faith?

Have you been worshiping with us, but never officially taken the step to become Catholic?

Have you been away from the Church, and have now returned, but want to know more?

Have you been a Catholic all your life, but haven’t celebrated all the Sacraments of Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist)?

Have you joined us from a different faith background and would like to find out more about the Catholic Church?

We’d love to hear from you!

Fr. Jim Update – A Big Step Forward!

We are happy to let you know that after 7 long weeks, Fr. Jim has been cleared to continue his recovery and rehabilitation on an outpatient basis at the rectory.

As you can imagine, it is a great relief for Fr. Jim to finally be back home. It will still be quite some time before he will be able to resume his ministry, but this is a big step forward in his recovery.

Fr. Jim wanted us to share, again, how grateful he is for your prayers and support, and how much he appreciates the time and space you have given him to focus on his recovery.

We are sure that many of you will want to know how you can help Fr. Jim now. He asks only for your continued prayers, which have sustained him through this incredibly difficult time, and your patience as he transitions to this new phase of his recovery.

Please be assured that when Fr. Jim has more to share, we will share it with you!

July 24: St. Paul Church Bell Tower Financial Update

The work on the bell tower is now well underway!

As of July 20, a total of $63,750 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…

Pope Francis in Canada: July 24 – 29

From the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops:

Pope Francis will make a pastoral visit to Canada from July 24 to 29, 2022.

The Pope’s visit will provide a unique opportunity for him, once again, to listen and dialogue with Indigenous Peoples, to express his heartfelt closeness and to address the impact of colonization and the participation of the Catholic Church in the operation of residential schools throughout Canada.

The papal visit will also provide an opportunity for the shepherd of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics to connect with the Catholic community in Canada…

July 17: St. Paul Bell Tower Project in the News!

The St. Paul Bell Tower project was featured this week on The Swellesley Report! The post, St. Paul Church in Wellesley to bring back the ring of historic bell talks about the project and features some great photos and interesting history! The photos below were taken during the their visit to St. Paul last week, and we wanted to share them with you along with a bit of the bell’s history.

The bell was donated to the church in 1926 by Salvatore DeFazio and family. According to St. Paul parishioner Tory DeFazio, Salvatore’s grandson, Salvatore promised the pastor that he would donate a bell soon after the church opened in 1916. Pastor Edward Welch held him to it. “It took my grandfather about ten years to raise the money, but he did it,” said DeFazio…