St. Nicholas ASL 2007

Christmas People,

I hope you are still enjoying the Christmas Season.  It started with the great Mass of Christ's Birth on the 25th and now continues all the way to the Epiphany.  I hope we keep celebrating for the entire time!  What a pity to miss out on all the joy the Church directs us to have for these weeks.

There are many things developing in these last few days.  We are going to try to finallize things for the trip to World Youth Day this Monday.  Four of us from Boston will represent you all before the Pope and the young Catholics of the World.  We can't wait to meet the young deaf catholic communities of the world!  We are also working with BC TV to have their popular rosary program captioned.  Say a prayer that we get this to work.  Ghislain has been welcomed well by you all and will fly back on the 4th.  It has been great to have him here.  Not only have I enjoyed his preaching but I have been happy to have his advice as I work to serve you.

This Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this Sunday that is, it is my hope to try to pray more of the prayers from the middle.  I got some good feedback that it would make sense to pray from there.  I agree.  I wasn't leading the prayers from the chair at the beginning for any particular reason.  It is so good to get feedback.  Please keep it coming.

It has been great to have Shawn our seminarian with us.  I hope that you see his interview on the website as well as Deacon Ghislains.

Confirmation Class continues to go well.  We invite you to come and visit sometime if you are interested.  You can sit with the parents to see what class is like. We welcome Tyler our newest student

We also have good news about our help of Fr. Joseph Kadavil from India.  I am going to visit him today to get the details of how we can send him money to support his school for the deaf in India.  The confirmation students has the chance to interview him last Sunday.  They were very interested.  One comment was interesting.  One of the students said that his school sounded just like the one in India.  One difference was daily prayer.  In India they have Mass every morning and Rosary every night.

If you would like to contribute directly you can do so through the address:

Our Lady's Peace Home for the Blind and Deaf
Enathu P.O.
Adoor (via), Kerala-691526
India

Make Checks payable:

Fr. Joseph Kadavil


Sincerely in Christ,

Fr. St. Martin

Interview with Seminarian Shawn Carey

Candy Cane - Why is it designed?

My friend Colby likes this video. I like it myself. Hope it brings you closer to our Lord, born for us in a kind of farm house, why? to save us.

Deacon Ghislain Hello

Advent People,

 

We are looking forward with hopeful hearts to the great celebration of Christmas.  It is wonderful to see you all so excited.  I must say again how great it has been to see you all working so hard to care for the poor at this time of year!  Jesus is with us especially in the poor.  We are truly worshiping him at Mass.  How do we know this?  He is giving us his spiritual gifts to bring about His kingdom on earth.  You are showing the results of the Spirit by the generosity and kindness that overflows from the gifts God continues to poor out upon you through the sacraments.

 

There are two things among a million that I will have time to share at this time.  First:  Deacon Ghislain is a great blessing.  He has helped us by helping encourage and teach our Catechumen Mr. James Jones.  He has helped us by encouraging Mr. Jones's sponsor Mr. Bruce Bucci and his family.  What a great family and what a great experience to be able to see Deacon Ghislain meet and encourage them.

 

The second thing has to do with an upcoming event after Christmas.  Here are the details:

 

New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, Cardinal Sean O'Malley O.F.M. will celebrate Mass on New Year's Eve for the Feast of Mary, Mother of God, 10:30 p.m.(Adoration) and 11:30 p.m. (celebration of the Eucharist). A reception will follow.
For more information call 781-891-1730 or 617-997-8025 for ASL questions.

 

All the diocese is invited to this so I there will be access for people who are deaf.  There will be an interpreter.  I think this will be a good thing for all of you to enjoy.

 

Check the website for all the different Masses available that will be interpreted on the Celebration of Christmas.

 

Deacon Ghislain says, "I am happy to visit you in your homes.  I am looking forward to visiting Concord.  I am happy to meet people who would like to meet me.  Please come visit the seminary in California if you are ever around.  Christmas is close.  I hope you all have a good experience of yourselves and God through Jesus this Christmas. Thank you all."

 

I have the best news by the way.  The seminary in California has formally approved our stay in the seminary before we fly to Australia for World Youth Day!  Things are coming together.

 

What a great Christmas present!

 

In Christ who is coming soon and very soon,

 

Fr. St. Martin
 

Christmas Mass in American Sign Language
Mass Celebrated in ASL

December 24, 2007 -7:00PM

Sacred Heart Church, Newton Centre

Interpreted Christmas Mass

December 24, 2007

St. Bonaventure, Manomet-4:00PM

St.Partick Church, Stoneham-4:00PM

Holy Ghost Church,Whitman-6:00PM

Sacred Heart Church, Middleborough-6:00PM

Closed Captioned

CTV-December 25, 2007-9:00AM

Mass with Sean Cardinal O'Malley

Please join us !

Telephone or Text-617-746-5645

Senior Deaf Wellness Program January 08 - Google Docs

Senior Deaf Wellness Program January 08 - Google Docs

Cardinal Seán’s Blog » Beginning our Bicentennial Year

Albert prays a prayer of the faithfull at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross to help mark the celebration of the Archdiocese's 200th Anniversary!

The green link above will get you to the full story if you scrool down a bit.

Christian People,

 

I have been so happy to see the charity you all have shown through your generous and quiet giving of things to the poor.  This shows that you trully believe!   It shows so many things.  Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and it shows that you believe that he is just that.  How are you showing it?  It might be that you are showing it and you don't even know how exactly. 

 

First you must think about who the long awaited Messiah was supposed to be like.  The Old Testement Phrophets spoke of the Divine King who would be universal and eternal.  He would be the cosmic King who would establish God's Kingdom forever; overcome all evil for ever, bring the peace, justice, love that we all long for.  He would be God with us.

 

Sencond think of how this Messiah came.  He came as baby.  He was of a powerless family.  He was poor.  And yet we believe that this poor baby born in a kind of barn was the eternal King of King; that He is indeed God with us.  This is a strange think to believe from a certian point of view.  What kind of Savior King is poor and week?

 

But by grace we know and rejoice in it.  And it does change the world.  Now in an instant we know that the poor of this world are not being punnished by God, they are not cursed, they are not, despised by God.  We know now in an instant that weekness, vunlnerability, poverty are in some mysterious way a fitting, somehow, the most fitting trappings of the Messiah.

 

If we really worhip the Christ Child we will be attentive to  the words He will speak later in through the Gospels.  They tell us that he really does come for the poor.  He comes for the sinner.  He comes for the week and the lowely.  He come to with them.  This really is powerful and it has begun the kingdom of God here on Earth more then we know.  Now we see the poor and the week and the sinner and we see an opportunity to love.  Did you know that outside of Christ this is not what we have done or do as regards to the poor and the week and the sinner?

 

Outside of Christianity the plight of the poor has been and is neglect, abandonment, isolation, and exploitation.  The same happens now more and more in the places of the world that fail to recongnize Christ.  In our own city the poor are seen more as a problem to be solved rather than as persons to be loved and cherished.  Think of the poor public school girl who becoming pregnant is ushered through a system of guidence councellors and social workers that tell her they will help her become free and independent by killing her child.  This is the twisted logic of a world that cannot love.  It is the same world that rejects Christ and his Church.

 

But you have not.  You prepare now to bend your knee and, full of faith, worship God born for us as a baby.  You have been saved by Jesus born for us.  And you have, with excitement, played a part in bringing His Kingdom about by lovingly serving Him as you tried to lovingly be part of helping the poor this Christmas Season.

 

God Bless,

 

Fr. St. Martin

Santa is Coming!

ASL Santa Is Comming.  Snow is NOT a problem for him!  He might be a little late but that is O.K.  We can wait.

See you Soon

Holy Deacon Ghislain Has Arrived!

Christmas-Epiphany liturgical Schedule

SACRED HEART PARISH

NEWTON CENTRE

ADVENT/CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY SEASON

DECEMBER 2, 2007 – JANUARY 13, 2008

ADVENT: " Be Watchful, Be Alert"

December 16 Sunday Parish Advent Party, P.C., 10-1pm

CHRISTMAS: "Today is born our Savior, Christ the Lord"

December 22/ 23 Saturday/ Fourth Sunday of Advent; regular Mass schedule

Sunday

December 24 Monday Christmas Eve: Masses: 4PM (E),U.C., L.C.

7PM (ASL), U.C.

December 25 Tuesday Christmas: Masses: 12:01 AM, 10:00 AM (E),

(U.C. = upper church)

December 29/30 Saturday/ Feast of the Holy Family; regular Mass schedule

Sunday

2008

January 1 Tuesday Mary, Mother of God; Mass at 10:00 AM (E), U.C.

EPIPHANY: "The glory of the Lord shines upon you"

January 5/6 Saturday/ Feast of the Epiphany; regular Mass schedule

Sunday

January 12/13 Saturday/ Baptism of the Lord; regular Mass schedule

Sunday

CHANNEL 7 will CC the televised Mass at 9:00 am on Christmas Day.

Catecetical Congress

Part One of Catechetical Talk in 2007.mov

34 min 1 sec - Dec 12, 2007

Description: About Religious Education. This was from a conference given in the Archdiocese of Boston annually called "The Catechetical Congress" The speaker was a professor from Harvard University. He talked about the need for a personal relationship with Jesus. We need to know Him and Love Him so that we can know Him in a way to teach Him. This might be my personal spin on the ideas contained in this video however.

Senior Deaf Wellness Program

Click on the following link to view the video. I posted it so that you could see a prayer that is done in ASL halfway through. A member of our Deaf Community here in Boston did it and we are thankful for his good work:

Click here.

If the link does not work, please copy and paste this into your browser:
http://www.catholictv.org/Default.aspx?videoID=464

Hopeful People,

We are full of hope, especially as this time of Christ's Birthday Celebration approaches. The Children will be here at the parish Advent Party over at the Hall in great numbers. As little reminders of the Christ Child they serve us by being the joy filled receivers of gifts! Today we are so thankful to be able to give them our very own St. Nicholas! He is great at ASL! What a feat to be able to arrange his visit at such a busy time of year! I told him that if he needs any help getting presents to the children we might be able to help as long as he can keep track of what it they might be hoping to get.

In today's Gospel Jesus tells us that he is the fulfillment of the prophecy made by Isaiah over 400 years before his coming. He is the one that John the Baptist was preparing everyone for. How did it show at first? People started to understand God more fully. Jesus began to reveal the loving, and fantastic plan of God's loving salvation for us. People's minds began to open. They began to be set free from the broken spirits that left them crippled. They began to share in the joy of God's Kingdom.

We too are caught up in the continual unfolding of the Kingdom. The Trinity is working now to continue to enlighten our minds, to open the ears of our understanding, and set us free from the tyranny of sin.

I am looking forward to celebrating the mystery of Christmas with you even more because of our special guest. Ghislain! He is our Christmas Deacon, generously shared with us from the Diocese of San Francisco. I hope that you all take turns showing him a good welcome. We wouldn't want him returning to the West Coast with anything but praise for God in his heart.

Lastly, I have decided what I want for Christmas: A Helicopter. It would be so much fun to have one and would really make my commute to Braintree a breeze. Please let St. Nicholas know.

Yours,

Fr. St. Martin

On November 4, I was away for about 10 days. I went to Chile! The Franciscan Friars had a conference about issues of social justice and making peace. They call these issues "JPIC issues." There were Franciscan Friars from all over North America and South America. There were people who spoke Spanish, Portuguese and English. Some of the friars have worked for many years in the rainforests of Brasil and South America. As a group, we wanted to find a way to work together.

There is much pain in the world, and God calls Christians to help heal that pain. When we visited Villa Grimaldi we remembered this. At Villa Grimaldi the former dictator of Chile held and tortured people who opposed his government. Our guide, himself, was held there in the 1970's. It was a powerful, moving experience. My visit there inspired me to reflect on how I can challenge injustice in the world.

People's current relationship to the environment is a source of injustice. The conference heard God's call to consider global warming. It affects the whole world. What we do here in the United States also affects the North Pole, India, South America and other places. It is easy to let economic or political systems run the world. Economics and politics are not evil, but we have to use them with love. Sometimes we make decisions based only on how much money we can make. At those times we can forget that other people are involved. Many companies here in the United States and even the government make decisions about resources in South America. Sometimes we think that the world is good because people can use it and its resources. At those times we can forget that it is also good in its own right. We forget that God plans to save all creation and to bring it to fulfillment.

While we were at the conference, we were able to share in our work. But we also shared a lot of fun. We visited Santiago, the capital of Chile. We saw many sites and some of the Franciscan churches. We visited a vineyard and got to try some Chilean wine... VERY GOOD! As good Franciscans we spent some fun time in the evenings singing and chatting.

Kathy Carey has sorted all the candles you all ordered and they are ready to be picked up. I will have them for you all over in the convent this Sunday. Thank you Cheryl Johnston, Anne Folkard, Jason Botelho, Norma Tourangeau, Marge Tucker, Andrew DeFrancesco, Ronald St. Martin, Kathy Carey, Catherine Hanna, and Ms. Desimme. You did a great job. We raised about $600 for the community!

In Christ,

Fr. St. Martin

Wreaths!

Repentant People,

Today the Gospel tells us to repent.  I think of our 200th anniversary in the Archdiocese of Boston.  Sometimes our recient history in the Archdiocese can be leave us discouraged.  Sometimes we might see that in ourselves and we definitely have seen that discouragement in others around us.  This discouragement has contributed to some people's not coming to Church.

One thing that the two hundred year anniversary can help us to do is become more familiar with the bigger picture of our own history.  Did you know that there was a time in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when it was illegal for a Catholic priest to even be here at all.  If one was discovered he was forced to leave and if he turned up again he could be killed!  Did you know that at first we only had about three priests.  The culture in the beginning of the Archdiocese was against us for sure.  Their used to be annual public protests against the Pope in Boston Common.  If my memory serves, I think it was the first convent, or at least one of the first, that was burned to the ground by anti catholic people and the sisters inside died.

The history of our young 200 year old diocese seems to be one with internal and external problems.  The internal problems are before us all the time now.  What does all this mean?  I find it helpful to look into the longer world history of the Church.  When you look at that you see that from the begging we were plauged by the same kinds of problems. 

We should remember that the Church's struggle with problems both external and internal is nothing new.  In our own lives the same is true.  We are a pilgrim people.  We are in a battle in this life.  This is the ordinary state of things in this world.

Today in the Gospel we need to repent.  We are not called to give up.  We need to set a good example for those who may have fallen by the way side.  We need to strengthen ourselves by standing again without fear before our merciful God and believe in his goodness.  He can help us back from anything.  He is God.  He made us.  He has shown us through his son that he can even bring us back even if we die.

Let us look again at our own sins.  Let us look at our own faults and try again as members of His Church to turn away from all that is bad and learn anew to do good.  Make this Advent a time of renewal for yourselves and you will help others to see the light of God's goodness once again.

Pray for our Catechumen, James Jones, and our confirmation students as they prepare to receive the full outpouring of the Spirit.  With them we will help to make history in such a way that many will be converted and know the love God has shown us in his beloved Son.

In Christ,

Fr. St. Martin

Food for our neighbors in need

Sacred Heart Parish in Newton Center is collecting food items. Please bring in food items for people in need. Sunday, December 9 Sacred Heart Parish will collect food. What do we need?

- Bottle of Cooking Oil

- Bag of Rice

- Box of Spaghetti

- Jar of Spaghetti Sauce

- Box of Cereal

- Jar of Peanut Butter

- Jar of Jam or Jelly

Could you bring one of these things in? If you want, you can bring more than one. Please bring them this coming Sunday, December 9 at Sacred Heart in Newton Center. This Sunday is the last day because the food will need to be delivered soon.