saint john the evangelist€¦ · mondays 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m from a distance. prayer shawl...

Saint John the Evangelist Townsend, Massachusetts

* June 14, 2020 * The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) * townsendcatholic.org * 978-597-2291

Weekend Mass Schedule Outside-bring a chair or sit in your car Sundays St. Johns Church 9:00 AM Virtual Mass Fr. Jeremy’s Daily Masses are online. Go to our website and subscribe and then click the bell to get notifications. Fr. Jeremy is fulfilling all the Masses that were set up for special intentions and you can see these fulfillments there. The church is open daily for prayer. Please feel free to take home a “Breaking Bread” book to use. Fr. Jeremy makes his announcements on his YouTube site. You can access this by going to www.youtube.com & search Jeremy St. Martin & click on subscribe to get his announcements/ ”good news”.

Sunday Mass times and places 9:00 A.M. - St. John the Evangelist Townsend 12:00 P.M. - St. Joseph's Pepperell 3:00 P.M. - St. James Groton

Staff Rev. Jeremy St. Martin [email protected] Rev. Mr. Charles Kelley [email protected] Edward Kelly [email protected] David Flournoy Faith Formation & Business Manager [email protected] Katie (Cormier) Leger Youth Ministry [email protected] Sue Ann Woolfrey Parish Facilities

Mass Intentions

These intentions will be fulfilled (see website or call) Saturday, June 13 Sunday, June 14 9:00 a.m. Sean McCarthy Monday, June 15 Successful surgery and speedy recovery for Virginia McKniff and for Alexander Carr Tuesday, June 16 Justin Schertzer

Wednesday, June 17 Healing for Ray Bourque Friday, June 19 Sean McCarthy Saturday, June 20 Justin Shertzer Sunday, June 21 9:00 am Kris Vaz

Prayer-Line [email protected] * 1 School St., Townsend, MA 01469

mailto:[email protected]






Mary Best Office Assistant [email protected] Knights of Columbus In service to One. In service to all. Members of St. John the Evangelist Council #14842 Meet in Fr. Mealey Hall on the Second Monday of each month at 7:00 p.m. Catholic men over 18 interested in joining Contact Grand Knight, John Majeran Visit www.townsendkofc.org

Pope’s June Intention We pray that all those who suffer may find their way in life, allowing themselves to be touched by the Heart of Jesus.

Matrimony Contact the rectory.

Daughters of Isabella Mother Teresa Circle UNITY, FRIENDSHIP and CHARITY Attention all Catholic women 16 years and above. Membership Meeting Once a Month on a Thursday Evening. There are information packets at the main entrance to the Church. Join today. Email: [email protected]

Baptisms Contact Family Life Coordinator David Flournoy 978-597-2291

Mass Schedule Daily via live streaming (see website)

Confessions Call to set up or if in a jam confess directly to the Invisible High Priest, Jesus Christ.

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament Jesus is in the Tabernacle to be adored even from a distance.

Sunday Evening Prayer This and all prayer wherever you are.

Rosary & Adoration Mondays 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m from a distance.

Prayer Shawl Ministry Last Monday of every month (via means that vary)

PPC Meeting 2nd Tuesday of every month from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., on the phone.

Pro-Life Committee Quarterly.

AA Meeting See Police website

ASL Class Friday evening from 7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. in Room 8 of the Parish Center via online means.

Upcoming Holy Day of Obligation All Saints Day, Saturday, November 1, 2020 Requiem Aeternam Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the friends and family of Sean McCarthy. Through the mercy of God, may he rest in peace, Amen.

Sunday Reading Reflection Today is the great feast of Corpus Christi. It is also known as the great feast of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, or something like that. Today we celebrate the great mystery of the Eucharist. This is the sacrament of sacraments. This is the source and summit of our lives. Christ by dying on the cross opened the gates of paradise. The Eucharist is the representation of this sacrifice. It is the case that when we are at the Sunday Eucharist we are witnessing Christ offer his life to save us. We participate in Christ's life fully through our participation in this sacrifice. It is our call to offer our own lives, our very body and blood like he did, for the salvation of the whole world. Recently a man told me how he is praying now over and over again the great words " Holy God, Holy Almighty One, Holy Immortal



http://www.townsendkofc.org/


One, have mercy on us and on the whole world." He's been praying that over and over again every morning. He has been looking for a way to unite himself to God so that he too, like Jesus, can be the expression of God's love for the whole world. It is so obvious in these times of unrest and confusion that we need God to save us and to save the whole world. This is what Jesus does in the Eucharist in a sacramental way. It is what he did once and for all when he died upon the cross. It was there in the midst of all the uncertainty and dissension and weakness and evil that the unseen and seen world could give, he responded with nothing but love. He shows a love that never ends. And this has saved the world forever. When we know this and live out of it we are not undone, and we become in the midst of the world's brokenness a sign of that love. We become a sign of the cross. We become a way to transform all that is bad into the doorway for ultimate satisfaction, complete happiness and perfect joy. There's also talking to a young woman preparing for Confirmation. Like many of her generation they realize that if they don't take personal responsibility for their own formation they will not be okay. She and many in her generation have received the grace to say I want to be responsible for my own salvation. They don't want to just go along with the flow. They realize that if they work at it together with others they will be okay, and in fact, lights to the world. We also have many people who are returning to the church for marriage. I have right now a lot of people to help for sacraments of initiation. I am trying to rally the forces of people who can help out with this formation. Many people think that church is just about the sacred liturgy. The real heavy weight lifting work we have happens before and after mass. Mass, while it is the most important thing, is relatively easy. The thing that is difficult is forming Christians. To really help people go deep with Christ, to help someone really read the Gospels, is no small task. It is however super delightful and finds its source and summit in the Eucharist. A person who is really steeped in the four Gospels is a person who loves to go to mass and coming from mass, is ever strengthened. If you really want to help I need your help in helping people be formed as Christians

before and after mass. I'm not so much in need of people to help me do mass. The source and summit of our lives is the Holy Eucharist. I think what we need to do in order to make this truth a reality is think less about the Eucharist itself and more about what happens before and after. What has to happen before and after immediately is silence. The Eucharist is in its essence a time of recollection and silence. The time of quiet before and after mass helps us ramp up and have a cooldown. It helps us enjoy more the silence of the Eucharist. It is true that God comes in the silence. Recently I have been able to make it so that we have more of a time to get ready for mass and to enjoy the atmosphere of the mass longer after it happens. I have been able for instance to really meet people before and sometimes after mass for confession, for example. These are such important things to do. These things like confession or even just talking with another faithful person. In the church we need to have a sanctuary. It is a place where we can always be quiet with God, alone and together as a community. The virus allows us to practice ways in which we can have our churches open all the time. This is not just a neat thing that might help more and more. More and more I can see that it is a thing that is a critical need. If we are listening to the media all the time we will all go mad. The church is a place where we can escape sometimes from the media, sometimes from our own family, sometimes from our own inability to stop looking for entertainment. It is a place where we can be quiet and be with God. After mass and before mass, quiet and conversation outside the church is awesome. In the confessional a place to talk is provided and we have improved our access to those things as you will see when we come back to church. If you can help me by helping a person who is trying to come back to church at least with your prayers that would help me greatly. That would help the whole church. That would help give glory to God. This kind of work is a way in which all of us can show that patient never ending love that we are fed by in the Eucharist every Sunday. This will draw people to the Eucharist. This will help people understand the Eucharist. And this will help us all to be people who when the mass is ended go in peace to share that peace with the world.



Other stuff Again I find that things are very very busy. They are good busy. There are so many transitions going on in the world and in all of our lives it makes one's head spin. However I am not joking when I say it is the case that there are a lot of people who want to return to the church who have been away for a long time. Pray for them. Pray for me. Pray for those who are trying to help them. Pray for those who will come forward to try to help them. Pray for more workers in the vineyard. We have a great moment of growth before us if we do it right. The devil and his minions, the powers of evil, both earthly and spiritual, are very upset by all this. Dissension and factions and doubt and confusion and untruths and rumors abound. This is good news. It means we are doing something right. The truth is there is a great catch of fish available. Ask God to send out more laborers for his harvest. If we stay the course and do not get distracted we will be able to enjoy a rich harvest and great consolation. I love you all and I have enjoyed being able to speak more with some of the members of the PPCs and look forward to speaking with the finance councils and I am talking more and more with people at least one-on-one who are in music ministries. We have to be cautious now for there are some people who are still very freaked out about masks. However it is not kind to people who are overly concerned with wearing masks to pretend that they are right. We can't make reality match up with TV. TV is not reality. Sometimes TV is showing us a view of reality that is skewed. Sometimes TV, and of course I mean the media in general, especially if we watch it too often, gives us a skewed view of reality. Some people need to be shocked out of the unreality that is built up in their minds from watching or listening to too much TV. The truth is while it's shocking to see someone not wearing a mask from time to time we need to give people that little shock here and there. It is not the case that there is as much of an emergency as there used to be. And so we have to be willing to step out and calm down a little bit. Some people will find that upsetting. That's okay. Upsetting someone sometimes is love. We are going to keep on doing mass outside as it is safe and we have space to do that. We are going to keep on practicing our songs so that we know them by heart. It is so

nice to hear people singing by heart all three verses of Immaculate Mary and the Hail Holy Queen. It is so nice to hear people start to sing by heart songs like Holy God We Praise Thy Name, with its praise of the Trinity in the last verse. It is so nice to hear people sing by heart Come Holy Ghost. It is so nice to hear people say the entrance antiphon and the communion antiphon together in unison. It is so nice to hear people singing some of the songs we do for communion together. One of those songs is called Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence. It's something you can practice at home. There are many who are very upset about the political unrest in our country. I too am upset about it. What can I say? I listened to a radio station the other day. I listened to it the next day and the day after that. You may have heard of it. It was called NPR. I felt bullied afterwards. I felt as if I didn't say something then, I was going to be accused of the most evil kinds of things you could ever imagine. However one person said that this was all to get deeper discussion going. So here goes. I think that it is important to realize that when we have a human life we should realize it is sacred. Every human life is sacred. It is sacred by its nature. It is equal by its nature. Individual instances of human life are unequal in many ways (height, smarts, family support situation etc.) but if we don’t recognize individual instances of human life as equal in dignity based upon their nature there is no hope for working toward a more just society. Also we must remember that societies can only get imperfectly just because of the broken reality of each member in that society. The desire for people to protest in groups is good. It is the political instinct in each person showing itself. This is what the March for Life is for. It is the original and best black lives matters march. People with a lot of melanin in their skin are and have been intentionally and directly killed by people without a lot of melanin in their skin for a long time precisely because these people think those people don’t matter and more to the point is the problem and need to be “taken care of.” Look forward to the pro-life group and the March for Life offerings if you are really serious about politics. According to NPR everyone better speak up about the awful reality of people with a lot of melanin in their skin



being unjustly killed. And so, NPR, thank you for encouraging me to have the strength to “step out” and speak through this here article. Amen. Fr. St. Martin

Senior Scholarship Attention all high school seniors in the parish who are pursuing a college degree: in support of your dreams to earn a college degree and in appreciation for your service and devotion to our parish life, we are pleased to offer you the chance to go down in St. John’s history as a winner! Submit a written or typed response (of at least 2 paragraphs) to the following questions in order to be eligible for this year’s $800 prize: What is the difference between intelligence and wisdom? Recount one instance in which your involvement at St. John’s has helped you grow in intelligence, and another in which it has helped you grow in wisdom. What are your goals for growing in intelligence and in wisdom in college, and how do you plan on achieving them? All responses are to be submitted by Sunday, June 21st to the rectory via postal mail (Parish Scholarship, 1 School Street, Townsend MA 01469), via the white drop-off plastic bin on the front porch of the rectory, or in person. Please note on the envelope or package that it is for the parish scholarship. Good luck to all!

Hello from the Business Manager! What happened to the two bed bugs who met in the

mattress?

(see answer below…)

Greetings, all! What a blessing it is to see our beloved local restaurants open their doors for outdoor dining. After so much time with our world so obviously shut down on a visible level (storefronts shut, lights off, no cars in the parking lot, etc.), this return to life is even more dramatic than a return just to normalcy. Instead of restaurants simply

turning lights on and opening their doors again, they’re spilling out onto the streets! What a visible change! And what a great sign of life. Let’s all support our local businesses and build up our community again, especially by supporting those businesses who advertise on the back of this bulletin. Turn this page right now and look at the businesses who have ads there. These places and families have supported us! Pick one of these businesses and either pay them a visit or mention them in a conversation with a friend or neighbor this week. Last Sunday our offertory totaled $3337, with an additional $381 raised for our mortgage fund. Next Sunday our second collection goes towards paying our utilities, which include our regular oil, gas, and electric bills. Thank you for your support! And now for the big reveal…

They got married in the spring.

Or was it in the summer?... Gotcha! I bet none of you knows a better pun than that. If you disagree, I challenge you to prove it. Send in all your creative, spontaneous, and humorous whims and quips to [email protected]. God bless you all. ~David Flournoy Virtual St. John’s Masses Fr. Jeremy’s Masses are online. Go to our website and subscribe and then click the bell to get notifications. Fr. Jeremy is fulfilling all the Masses that were set up for special intentions and you can see these fulfillments there.



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saint john the evangelist€¦ · mondays 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m from a distance. prayer shawl...

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