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Parish Communities St. Mary & St. Philip Benizi Pastor: Rev. Leo LeBlanc x24 • [email protected] The Birth of the Church
Parish Communities St. Mary & St. Philip Benizi
Pastor: Rev. Leo LeBlanc x24 • [email protected]
The Birth of the Church
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St. Philip & St. Mary Parishes of Grafton
St. Philip & St Mary
St Philip May 31– Eugene LeBlanc requested by Carole June 7—George Stratton requested by Ida & Hank June 14– Mary O'Hara requested by parish June 21– Helen LaPan requested by parish June 28– Parishioners of St Philip July 5– George Stratton requested by Stanley & Gail Dagil Please continue to pray the end of the virus and for
the good health of all.
Thank you for your contin-
ued support We ask that you still con-tinue to show your sup-port by either mailing , flock notes, website or doing online banking.
Thank you for your under-standing.
May 30, Saturday: 4:00pm - Memorial John McCartney by Catherine Ryan, memorial Marian Mazzaglia by her Son May 31, Sunday: 7:30am - 5th Anniversary Rhoda Flem-ing by the Family 10:30am - Mother’s Day remembrance and 7th anniversary Malvina Killoran by her Daughter Eliza-beth Monday – 8:00am Mass Tuesday – 7:00pm Mass Wednesday – 3:00pm Mass Thursday – 8:00am Mass June 6, Saturday: 4:00pm – Memorial John McCartney, anniversary Tom and Rosa Jackson by Family June 7, Sunday: 7:30am – Holy Souls in Purgatory 10:30am – 3rd Anniversary Phyllis Dorr by the Family, Me-morial Frank Dorr by the Family
Sunday Offertory
St Mary May 21-27 $ 2285.00
St. Philip May 21-27 $1335.00
Please be assured that all Mass intentions will be offered up by Fr. Leo on your loved ones behalf.
We have listed the dates below so please remember them in your prayers.
Turns out, despite the challenges, some things never change…um, like the ways of our Savior.
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Partners in Charity:
Thank you to all who have made their gift to the 2020 Partners in Charity Appeal.
St. Philip is 44% towards their goal of $33,200. St. Mary is 43% towards their goal of $65,000. You can make a gift or pledge online by visit-
ing www.partners-charity.net or text the word donate to 84576 to pledge on your phone.
Thank you for your continued support.
We Miss You! Stay connected to get the latest
details from our parishes. You will find us on the web at:
stphilipsgrafton.org stmarysgrafton.org
Please sign up for Flocknotes on our website for continuous
updates on your phone or email. You will find us on Facebook at
stmary.stphilip.of.grafton.ma You will find our recorded weekly Mass on your local ca-
ble channels at 6:30am and 6:30pm Daily on
Channel 191 for Charter or Channel 34 for Verizon
Electronic recycle day and bicycle collection Sat. June 6th 9am to 2pm at
Saint Philip Church, 12 West Street, Grafton Its time to recycle all those old electronics! All towns welcome .No resi-dent requirements. Clean out your basement or garage and bring your
items to the church parking lot! The following is a list of recyclable items, including, but not limited to:
Computer towers, laptops, VCR, copiers, DVD, stereo equipment, microwaves, dehumidifiers, radios, small electronics of any kind, lighting, vacuums, any appliance such as stoves, washers, dryers, etc. Exercise equipment, lawn mowers, snow blowers, small engine items, empty pro-
pane tanks $10. TVs up to 18" $15 each; TVs 19" to 24" $20 each; TVs 25" to 31" $25 each; TVs 32” to 35”
$30 each; TVs 36” and larger, wood console, and projection TVs $40” each.
CRT monitors $15 each; flat panel monitors $15 each, AC units and dehumidifiers, $15; Microwaves $10 each; Small dorm refrigerators, $1; Washers, dryers, stoves, $20 each; Large refrigerators,
$25; Lawn mowers, ride on included, snow blowers, $20 each; Grills $10 each; Any kind of exercise equipment, $10 each, treadmill $20
(rain or shine) (cash or check)
Keyboards, car batteries, cell phones, circuit boards, no cost any questions [email protected] Bicycle Recycle same day and time. Please bring any and all unwanted or under used bikes to the parking lot. We will be accepting any model of bike: mountain, road, BMX, etc., in any condition. Our aim is to
keep bikes from being thrown out when they can be reused.
If you still need to register your child, please do so soon. You can register and pay online at https://stmarysgrafton.org/re-registration. If your child is
NEW to the program and was NOT baptized at St. Mary or St. Philip, please forward us a copy of his/her baptismal certificate. If you know a family with a child entering Grade K or Grade 1 next Fall, please extend an invitation to them to enroll their child in Religious Education.
Congratulations to Brayden Ciesluk who will be baptized this weekend after the 4pm Mass. We wel-come our new brother in Christ to our parish family and pray that he will continue to grow in faith and love of God. First Communion Rehearsals Tuesday June 2 4:00pm for June 6th Liturgy Thursday June 4 4:00pm for June 7th Liturgy
Catechist Training Echoes Emmaus Online Courses towards Basic Certification
The Office of Religious Education, through RCL Benziger’s Echoes 4.0 Emmaus Edition program, is pleased to offer online courses towards Basic Catechist Certification. Take courses in the comfort of your own home, log into the courses any time of day or night, and share ideas with other catechists from through-out the Worcester Diocese through the interactive discussion board. Upcoming courses include: Catholic Morality will be offered from May 31-June 29, 2020 with instructor, Judi Brennan The Creed, I Believe/We Believe will be offered from July 12-Aug. 9, 2020 with instructor, Darleen Farland To Register: Go to https://worcesterdiocese.org/echoes-40 to complete the online registration form. We will reimburse registration costs for these courses after successful completion for anyone who volun-teers as a catechist or aide in our religious education program.
Deacon Tim has introduced a new page
"The Deacon's Bench" which includes vide-os on prayer and worship. A new feature on our website!
Our Shelters Need Your Help!
St. Mary & St. Philip are making a plea on behalf of the shelters we serve. Since organizations sup-
porting the shelters cannot bring their meal dona-tions, the shelters are running short on food! We
are asking anyone who can purchase grocery store gift cards to drop them off under the office door or send them to St. Mary's Parish office for distribu-tion to the shelters. Please mark on the envelope
"For Soup Kitchen". We still need help for May and June at minimum.
Please help us help those in most need!
Please help us help others
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May 31, 2020 Pentecost
THE CHURCH’S MISSION: TO SET HEARTS ON FIRE
Pentecost, the Birthday of the Church, is cause for celebration. This is the story of God’s Life-breathing Spirit, and the power and triumph of God’s Love. He is rightly called Fire because He is Love. The spiritual life of the Christian is primarily the penetration of our soul with that Divine Fire. The Holy Spirit possesses our soul and it burns, that is, it loves. St. Gregory of Nyssa says that the glory of God is the Holy Spirit. He is the Sacred Bond that creates unity in God’s very Being, and in us with God through Christ. O, that little by little the divine penetration would be effected, and that our souls gradually burn more thoroughly and more profoundly. This Divine penetration becomes so perfect, and the spir-itual combustion becomes so complete, that each soul in a way becomes deified, that is, it is changed into fire, into love. This penetration or combustion is described by St. John of the Cross using the metaphor of a log of wood that becomes totally transformed by fire, so much so that it becomes the fire itself. Pentecost sets us on fire to become the fire of God for the world. How we respond to the out-pouring of the Holy Spirit will determine how vibrant or lukewarm we are as Church. Father James Mallon, author of the book Divine Renovation, reflects that in a Christendom culture, you built a church, posted Mass times, unlocked the doors, and people showed up. Those days are gone. He insists that longtime members in parishes should be moving toward spiritual maturity. This means deepening one’s prayer life, understanding the Scriptures and the Mass, along with a growing willingness to serve and pass on the faith. Such parishes have a great majority of mem-bers pursuing holiness and mission. (Holiness and mission, I believe, are very much at the heart of our small faith sharing groups.) Fr. Mallon urges parishes to foster five areas of vibrancy that we find in many lay movements of the Church: 1) worship through the Mass; 2) commitment to evangelizing; 3) discipleship; 4) the experience of community; 5) and a passion for serving. (Unfortunately, most Catholics have no experience of Catholicism besides weekly worship at Mass.) WE NEED MISSIONARY DISCIPLES. The Sacred Liturgy must be preceded by evangelization, faith and conversion. If there is no conversion of heart, if sacraments are treated as cultural rites of passage for people who have a vague belief in God, we have failed. Like the four men who brought the paralytic and put him at Jesus’ feet, we must do the same. No amount of preaching will bring results if people’s hearts have not been set on fire. When people are evangelized, that is, brought to experience Jesus Christ, then the Holy Spirit brings about a change in their hearts that is lasting. WE NEED TO HELP PEOPLE ENCOUNTER JESUS AND EXPERIENCE THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
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“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues,
as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim.” (Acts 2:4) Dear friends in Christ, Our mission as the Catholic Church relies on our ability to proclaim – to com-municate – the Good News of salvation. Pentecost reminds us that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to get out from behind closed doors and to have the courage to share God’s love with others by our words and our deeds. I am sure it has occurred to you as it has to me that recently we have been living our lives like the Apostles who were locked away in the upper room after Jesus ascended into heaven. Public safety measures have not only encouraged “stay at home” measures but prohibited gath-ering as a community to be fed by the Word of God and the Blessed Sacrament. Now, while following proper precautions, we are beginning to gather responsibly as a community. What kept us feeling like we were part of a parish family while we were isolated? Communications: emails, social media, websites, videos, conference calls, even bulletins and letters in the mail; all served as means by which we combatted social and spiritual isolation and by which we were at least fed by the Word of God while fasting from the Eucharist. Next weekend I invite you to participate in the nationwide Catholic Communications Campaign. Half of that collection is used to support the national office whose voice represents the Church in the national media and provides interdiocesan communications. The remainder serves as an important part of a multi-faceted funding for our local communications which provide, among other things, a framework for parish and diocesan-wide email, websites, online and ca-ble Masses, and local representation in secular news outlets. Had it not been for the Communi-cations Ministry set in place nearly three years ago, it would have been very difficult for us to have been so connected and informed throughout this pandemic. In the “New Normal” of parish and diocesan life, we will be stronger still, thanks to improved social communications. Please accept my sincere thanks for any contribution you can make for the Catholic Communi-cations Campaign in your parish collection on the weekend of June 7th, or online at worcester-diocese.org. My fervent prayer this Pentecost is that the Holy Spirit will bestow on each of us “the joys that never end.” With every prayerful best wish, I remain Sincerely yours in Christ Most Reverend Robert J. McManus Bishop of Worcester May 28, 2020
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Website for both parishes www.stmarysgrafton.org
Parish Staff
Deacon Tim Cross: ext. 29 [email protected]
Business Manager: Lisa Stewart x11 [email protected]
Director of Religious Ed St Mary/ St. Philip–
Darleen Farland x12 [email protected]
Administrator of Religious Ed St. Mary/St. Philip Carole LeBlanc [email protected]
Dir. Music/Organist/St. Mary Pamela Cross
Music Coordinator, Organist: Brittany Dyer St Philip [email protected]
Parish Secretary /Safe Environment Coordinator St. Mary: Jill Sullivan x10 [email protected]
Parish Secretary /Safe Environment Coordinator St. Phil-
ip Carole LeBlanc [email protected]
Custodian– Ron Dennis [email protected]
St Vincent de Paul Society of St Philip/St Mary at 508 839-3993 x 35. All information is kept strictly confi-
dential .
St Mary Prayer Line 508-839-3393 X18
Youth [email protected]
St. Mary Office - 508-839-3993
17 Waterville St, N Grafton, 01536
St. Philip Office - 508-839-3325 12 West St. Grafton, 01519
BULLETIN NOTICES: To Carole by 6:00 PM Mondays. Email [email protected] SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION: 3-3:30 PM on Saturday and by appoint-ment. Monday - Thursday, following the 8:00 AM Mass. SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM: The sac-rament of Baptism is celebrated at ei-ther the 4pm Saturday Mass or the 10:30 Sunday Mass at St. Mary& 9am Mass Sundays at St. Philip. Please speak to Fr. Leo after Mass. ( The sac-rament may be celebrated at another time for serious reason.) SACRAMENT OF MARRIAGE: Con-tact Fr. Leo at least one year prior to the tentative wedding date. CARE FOR THE SICK: The Visiting Eucharistic Ministers of St Mary/St Phil-ip Benizi Parishes are available to bring the Eucharist to you at home or your rehab facility. Please call the church office at 508-839-3993 or call Noreen McConville (VEM coordinator) at 508-839-5313 to schedule home visits. NEW PARISHIONERS: Please intro-duce yourself to Fr. Leo, Deacon Tim or a greeter after Mass. Visit the office or log into the website . We want to know and serve you. We hope that you will become members of our parish com-munity. R.C.I.A.- Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults Contact Darleen at 508-839-3993 X 12 for more info. Share this notice with someone you know who may be inter-ested.
Thank you for supporting your Parish Communities Use your smartphone camera to scan this QR Code to make an online contribution. Using this method,
you have the option to set up weekly, monthly, or annually recurring contributions
To donate to St. Philip, scan below: To donate to St. Mary, scan below:
