Service and Outreach News

Since 2017, our Collaborative has been a part of the Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH) family, helping to transform the lives of vulnerable children throughout Latin America and the Caribbean through the generous support and sponsorship of our parishioners. Meaning “Our Little Brothers and Sisters” in Spanish, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos transforms the lives of children in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru. Partnering with NPH, families in our Collaborative sponsor over 100 children, helping them to overcome poverty and become productive, caring leaders in their own communities. To continue helping in the vital ...

We are truly blessed by the time and talents of our Collaborative volunteers, and we are so appreciative of everyone's ministry. In order to do God’s work, the Collaborative must adhere to the safeguards that have been established by civil and Archdiocesan authorities to protect our children and youth as well as other vulnerable parishioners. Each year in the Spring, all staff and volunteers age 18 and older (including Eucharistic ministers and lectors, choir members and musicians, members of councils and commissions, ushers and counters, other Mass volunteers, etc.) must complete an annual Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) background screening ...

Perhaps you (or someone you know) isn’t able to travel to Mass each weekend and would like a visit from a Eucharistic Minister? Or would benefit from a social visit at the holidays or on a weekly or monthly basis? Or might be interested in a pastoral visit from a parish member or member of the Collaborative staff? To help us gauge interest and build our list, interested individuals are invited to visit the Collaborative website (sjspwellesley.org/service/visitation) or contact our Pastoral Care staff (Kelly Meraw and Sr. Colleen Gibson) by calling the Collaborative offices (St. John: 781-235-0045 and St. Paul: ...

During Lent, the Service Commission has shared the story of Capuchin Mobile Ministries and the Capuchin friars who sponsor and staff the program - how it is born out of their charism of deep commitment to humble service with and for all people, put into action through spiritual caregiving to those on the streets. In 2019, the Capuchin Province of St. Mary began exploring how friars might minister visibly among the poor, the hungry, and the homeless in Boston, in a way that did not require people to come to them. They knew they needed to be out among the ...

The work of Capuchin Mobile Ministries is spiritual caregiving to our friends on the streets, those who are chronically homeless, hungry not only for food for their bodies but for things of the spirit - to feel part of the community. The focus is on being a ministry of presence, of building relationships, of showing people that they are not alone. Friars and volunteers go out in the Mobile Ministries van several times a week to locations in Cambridge and Boston where the homeless congregate, sharing food and drink, offering spiritual resources and directing them to social services, and listening ...