THE CHURCH OF BONIFACE

P.O. BOX 195, 199 MASS. AVENUE, RTE. 2A, LUNENBURG, MA 01462-0195 (978) 345-0621 • (800) 395-5800 • FAX (978) 345-9482 Twenty-Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C www.chaptruck.com October 20, 2019 SERVING ST. BONIFACE FAMILIES WITH THREE CONVENIENT LOCATIONS (978) 342-9716 Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

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YWCA-Battered Women’s Resources (Exodus 17, 11) Helping area women, to survive, emerge from, A ‘Note of Thanks’ to these fine or heal from abusive relationships *Counseling *Court Advocacy *Emergency Shelter sponsors; without their support our *Community Education *24-hour hotline (978-537-8601) bulletin would not be possible. Please For more information call 978-537-2306, Ext. 19

thank them with your patronage. ST. BONIFACE For ad information call the parish PRE-SCHOOL & CHILDCARE 817 Massachusetts Ave. office 978-582-4008 Lunenburg, MA 01462 978-582-7110 Children Ages: Open 2.9 through 7 years 7:30AM-5:30 PM

From the Desk of the Pastor Church

817 Massachusetts Avenue, Lunenburg, MA 01462

Sunday Reflection: October 20 Parish Office: 978-582-4008 email: [email protected]

It is difficult at times to hold onto one’s faith! Discover St. Boniface ~ Visit our website: www.StBoniface-lunenburg.org The first reading and the gospel show us two examples of people who pray — one without tiring and the other Parish Office Hours with determination. Both achieve their goals, salvation for the people of Israel (Moses) and justice (the Monday / Wednesday / Thursday 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (closed 12:00 – 1:00 PM) widow). Only if we pray like them will we always be ready to accept the kingdom of God.

The Lord generally delays because his time is not ours, his ways are not our ways, his thoughts are not our The Celebration of the Eucharist thoughts. If we pray we will not lose hope and when the Lord comes to do justice, we will be found vigilant. Sunday: 8:00 AM & 10:30 AM Saturday Vigil: 4:00 PM

In the second reading we hear Paul’s counsel to Timothy, “study the Holy Scriptures!” Constant contact with Summer Sunday Mass schedule: 9:00 AM the word of God is the best prayer. (Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend)

Weekday Masses: 8:00 AM, Wednesday/Thursday/Friday Sunday Reflection: October 27 Before God we all stand empty handed. SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION (Confession) Saturday 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. or by appointment. SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM Adults are baptized at the Vigil as part of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA). Prayer is a relationship between the soul and God. In prayer we measure how we have responded to the Infant and child Baptisms are by arrangement. invitation to love God in every way we can. As we develop and deepen our relationship with God, our bad FIRST EUCHARIST Preparation begins in grade one and includes classes, retreats, and home instruction. Children receive First side gives way to our godly side. Eucharist in grade two. CONFIRMATION Our Confirmation program begins in the 9th grade; students are confirmed in the spring of the 10th grade. For A good prayer life brings about simplicity; humility; trust; faith and conversion. These qualities we see in the young adults who have been baptized but not yet confirmed, contact the parish office. tax collector but are lacking in the Pharisee. The Pharisee, instead of praising God in is prayer, praises himself SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY It is the policy of the Diocese of Worcester that a couple should contact the parish at least one for his good behavior. He proclaims himself righteous and holy even before God. He goes on to condemn a year prior to the anticipated date of their wedding to allow sufficient time to carry out the various steps of the marriage preparation fellow man in God's sight. process. It is important that arrangements be made with the church before plans are made with reception halls, caterers, etc. In the Our Father, Jesus first and foremost acknowledges God's holiness. Prayer is discovering our true self in ANNOINTING OF THE SICK Please call the parish office 978-582-4008 or email Fr. Anthony at [email protected] or Nancy Cieri 978-582-6983 [email protected] to arrange these visits. God. We cannot claim to be perfect and holy before God. God knows us through and through. Holiness is attained through God's grace and not human efforts and works only. Prayer makes us God's friends and PRAYER LINE MINISTRY If you or someone you know needs prayers or if you would like to be a part of this ministry of those who pray for the needs of neighbors, please contact Sue Cote 978-582-0404 [email protected] friends to others. KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS COUNCIL #16480 In Service to One. In Service to all. The members meet in the Parish Hall on the ~ Fr. Anthony first Wednesday of each month at 7 PM. Any Catholic men over 18 who are interested in joining the Knights should contact Grand Knight James Dijak (978) 534-7956 or Deputy Grand Knight Brian Cusick (978) 534-2326, or you can email the Council at [email protected]. ______

PLEASE NOTE: There will be no morning Mass on Thursday, October 31 or Friday, November 1. PARISH STAFF: ______Rev. Anthony Mpagi, Pastor 978-582-4008 [email protected] Jo-Anne Poirier, Administrative Assistant 978-582-4008 [email protected] Lucy Marcil, Religious Education Coordinator 978-502-7993 [email protected] Claire Garrity Neas, Music Ministry 617-823-4237 Join the Religious Education families at our Louise Nadeau, Sacristan PARISH SPAGHETTI SUPPER Jacquie Cronin, Ministry Schedule 978-582-7040 [email protected] Nina Charpentier, Dir. Early Childhood/PreK 978-582-7110 on October 26th after the 4 PM Mass.

The support we get will help purchase Newcomers to St. Boniface are invited and encouraged to formally register as members of the parish so that new tables and chairs for our Parish Hall. so that we can stay in touch with you via email with faith formation news, notice of special events, volunteer opportunities, and more. Registration forms are available at the doors of the church or on our website. THIS IS FOR YOU! Please note that you must be registered for at least six months before we can issue any verification of your status as a parishioner for godparent or sponsor letters.

MASS INTENTIONS To reach young people we must be honest about our broken Church. Joe Simoneau, by the Knights of Sat Oct 19 4:00 pm How do I guide high school students and young adults who want to grow in their faith in this imperfect, at times Columbus Council #16480 infuriating, church? It is a question I pray and ponder on every year at this time, as I welcome a new class to the Catholic Sun Oct 20 8:00 am Anne Rivard, by Michael Rivard high school where I have taught theology for five years in South Tucson, Ariz. The students at Lasallian San Miguel Cristo Rey High School are some of the most authentic human beings I have been blessed to teach. They are mostly Hispanic 10:30 am Our Parish Family and Native American; some come from refugee families. These young people are used to working hard for everything. There is no entitlement in them. They have a great sense of humor and are compassionate, even as they struggle with the Sat Oct 26 4:00 pm Our Parish Family cycle of poverty in their lives. Sun Oct 27 8:00 am Our Parish Family Life is not easy for many of these first- generation U.S. citizens. Every day they face 10:30 am Our Parish Family the fear of someone they love being deported. There are members of the Tohono O’odham Native American tribe, HANNAFORD REUSABLE BAG FUNDRAISER who have not given up hope of working to During the month of October, for every orange and brown reusable bag achieve their dreams despite the challenges purchased, the St. Boniface Social Action Committee will receive a $1.00 of alcoholism and gangs that plague their donation. Hannaford will also donate 4 meals to those in need for every bag community. The strong connection these sold. Please help support the SAC and those in need by stocking up on these young people have to their families and the very sturdy large bags (only the orange and brown). They are located on a support they give to each other enables the kiosk near the pharmacy and at each of the checkouts. Thank you! core principles of Lasallian education to resonate in their lives: They strive for “Faith VETERANS’ MASS in the Presence of God”; they experience A Veterans’ Day Mass will be celebrated on Sunday, November 10, 2019 at 8:00 AM at Saint Boniface to recognize “Inclusive Community”; they value “Quality Education”; they live “Concern for the Poor and Social Justice”; and they those who have and are currently serving our nation. All veterans and spouses of all religious affiliations are welcome practice “Respect for All Persons.” Even though they may not recognize that in their lives in this Catholic high school they to attend. The Mass will be followed by a breakfast sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, Saint Boniface Council. are participating in the church, I am convinced that a positive experience of church is found in their daily joys and struggles at San Miguel. All of us, students, faculty and staff, along with the Lasallian brothers, try to live out these core principles in The International Veterans’ Chorus will be singing during and after the Mass. Please join us as we honor our Veterans! everyday life. Still, many students are not convinced of what it means to be part of the church. I believe a new model of the church is needed if the faith is to be credible for my students and for all the people of God. Influenced and informed by

Cardinal Avery Dulles’s Models of the Church, I propose the paradigm of the “Church Penitent.”

Sinful but authentic and loved One of my former students summed up in a sentence what such a church would look like. Thanking me for being his teacher, he said: “You loved us, even when we disappointed you.” (I can add that my students love me, even when I disappoint them.) The relevance of church as an instrument of forgiveness and grace of the Holy Spirit has long been understood through the sacrament of reconciliation. But the theologian Robert Schreiter, C.PP.S., suggests there are times when the church has historically lost the right to be the mediator of reconciliation. He gives as an example the church’s failure to forcefully challenge apartheid in South Africa. When the church is not clearly on the side of the poor and suffering, it contributes to oppression, and as Fr. Schreiter explains, there can be no reconciliation without justice. Such historical events reveal the flaws of the church. Reconciling and rising above sin The sex abuse scandal is another event that has caused the church to lose the right to be the mediator of reconciliation. Honest self-examination results in identifying with the sinner, as the sinner. Fr. Schreiter writes that if the church has a sense of its own sinfulness and a sense of its own limits, it will find its place in the process of reconciliation. Living authentically is recognizing one’s limits and sinfulness while knowing that God’s love and forgiveness is more

powerful and available when we act with truth and honesty. Young people recognize this when it is part of their own October 31 Vigil experience, as do my students at San Miguel. When my students discover that they are loved even when they disappoint, All Mass, 6:30 PM they find themselves capable of loving those who fall short of their expectations.

November 1 Vigil To read the full article, please go to www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/09/12/reach-young-people-we-must-be- honest-about-our-broken-church. All Souls Mass, 6:30 PM Mary Ann Spanjers, O.S.F. – September 12, 2019 Mary Ann Spanjers, O.S.F., is a member of the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity. She has a graduate degree in theology and religious studies from St. John’s University in Queens, N.Y. She is currently teaching theology at San Miguel High School, Tucson, Ariz. SAINTS OF THE DAY October 21 - 25 SAINTS OF THE DAY October 26 - 30

Saint of Alcantara October 21. The life of a hermit living in the desert strikes many people as mysterious, if October 26 Saint Peter of Alcantara lived in the 16th century, a time of great Church not inexplicable. Yet this is what Saint Hilarion, and many others, sought and hoped for reform. He was confessor for Saint Teresa of Avila, another great reformer. Saint Peter was and, in some cases, fought for. They teach the value of solitude and prayer to our noisy and known for his life of penitance and the virtue of patience. He founded a branch of the busy world. Franciscans known as the Alcantarines.

Saint-Hilarion Church, Church place in Saint-Hilarion, France | photo by Lionel Allorge Saint Peter of Alcántara | Luis Tristán

Saint John Paul II Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza October 22. Born in Wadowice, Poland, Saint John Paul II had lost his mother, October 27. Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza, a Dominican, challenged the heresies of his father, and older before his 21st birthday. Then his promising academic career at day. Known for his ability to preach, he overcame his adversaries and helped his diocese Krakow’s Jagiellonian University was cut short by the outbreak of World War II, during become more loyal to Rome in a time when anti-papal feeling ran high. which he worked in a quarry and a chemical factory while attending an underground Statue of Blessed Bartholomew of Vicenza | seminary. Monastery of Saint Bartholomew-Saint Anthony, Vicenza, Italy | photo by Claudio Gioseffi

Pope John Paul II | old Yankee Stadium, New York City, in October 1979 | Library of Congress

Saint John Capistrano Saints Simon and Jude October 23. Born at a time when the bubonic plague had decimated the population and the October 28. Legend has it that Saints Simon and Jude traveled to Persia together where Church was split with two, maybe three, claimants to the papacy, Saint John Capistrano they were both martyred. This may explain why they share the same feast day. Saint Simon was a voice of strength and hope. He was known for his preaching and his ability to is usually referred to as "the Zealot,” and Saint Jude, also known as Thaddeus, is often reconcile warring factions. His talents were felt in the Church and in the Franciscan Order. considered the brother of Saint James the Lesser.

Saint John Capistrano | Stained glass window in the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC. | photo by Lawrence OP San Simón | Jusepe de Ribera / Saint Jude Thaddeus | Georges de La Tour

Saint Anthony Mary Claret Saint Narcissus of October 24. Anthony Claret was a missionary, religious founder, social reformer, queen’s October 29. Some speculate that Saint Narcissus lived well beyond 100; some say he lived chaplain, writer and publisher, archbishop and refugee. He was a Spaniard whose work took to 160. We don't know much about him, but a number of miracles are attributed to him. him to the Canary Islands, Cuba, Madrid, Paris, and to the First Vatican Council. Narcissus served as of Jerusalem in the late 2nd century.

Saint Anthony Mary Claret | Saints in Rome and Beyond Saint Narcissus of Jerusalem | in Caractâeristiques des saints dans l’art populaire | photo by Internet Archive Book Images

Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão Saint Alphonsus Rodriquez October 25. Born in Guarantingueta near São Paulo, Antônio attended the Jesuit seminary October 30. Saint Alphonsus Rodriguez lost his mother, wife, and daughter within a in Belem but later decided to become a Franciscan friar. Invested in 1760, he made final period of three years. He retired to his sister’s home, and after the death of his son, he profession the following year and was ordained in 1762. entered the Jesuit Order, where he served as college porter. Saint was a seminarian during Saint Alphonsus’ time at the college. Statue of Saint Antônio de Sant’Anna Galvão | Cathedral of Saint Anthony, Guaratinguetá | photo by Zééh.mané Detail | Vision of Alphonsus Rodriguez | Francisco de Zurbarán