Saints Mary & Joseph Parish March 17, 2019 Our Mission Statement: Discover God’s Love so we might Love God; Love Others; and Grow as a Community of Disciples. Mary Queen of Peace Church 200 Lawrence Road Salem, NH 03079 MASS: Sat: 4:00pm Sun: 9:30am w/KidsChurch Sun: 11:00am RECONCILIATON: Sat: 3:00pm—3:50pm or by appointment St. Joseph Church 40 Main Street Salem, NH 03079 MASS: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri: 7:15am Sun 7:30am & 5:00pm STATIONS of the CROSS Wed: Noon (Followed by soup) Parish Office 603-893-8661 200 Lawrence Road, Salem, NH Fax: 603-890-0292 Mon-Thu 9:30am-2:30pm Fri 9:30am-12:30pm by appt. Email: [email protected] Website: www.saintsmaryandjoseph.org Facebook: Sts Mary and Joseph Twitter: @StsMary_Joseph Instagram: Stsmaryjoseph March 17, 2019 —The Second Sunday in Lent St Patrick, Man or Myth?? Actually, a bit of both! St. Patrick was born in 389 AD so that is A LOT of centuries for tales to be told! They don’t call it the blarney stone for nothing! For example, St Patrick supposedly rid Ireland of all its snakes. While it is true that there were no snakes after Patrick converted the country - there were none there to begin with! And so, the stuff of legends is made! So who WAS this man we celebrate every March 17th? Patrick was born in Bonavern, Britain. At 16 years old he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland, where he would work the land for 6 years, before he finally escaped. During that time, Patrick’s life was marked by intense prayer. He was repulsed by the Druid’s human sacrifice, magic spells and superstitions, and so he committed himself fully to God. After his escape, he prayed that God would allow him to eventually go back to Ireland to spread the Good News of Jesus to the Druids and the Celts. Finally at age 40, God did send Patrick back to Ireland, with 12 holy Monks as well. And although they did not chase away snakes from the country, they did open 300 churches and Baptize over 120,000 people! What was the key to Patrick’s success? At the time, missionaries would go to different lands and begin to “civilize” the people. It was common thought and teaching that someone could not understand Christianity if they were “barbaric.” Patrick understood that God has written a sense of Himself into the heart of every human being. He learned about the culture of the Celts. He had the freedom to start evangelizing the culture as he found it. For example, the Celtic people had a sense of a divinity’s closeness to them, they believed in an afterlife and they had a great love of creation. Patrick explained these truths anew, according to the Bible, showing them how their beliefs were fulfilled in God’s revelation, and ultimately in the person of Jesus Christ. Bottom Line: He accepted people where they were at! He didn’t try to make them be British, or Roman or learn Latin. He had the freedom to leave the culture as it was, and show them that Christianity was compatible with the conditions of their heritage and they could thrive greater with Jesus in their lives. What an example for us today! Our culture seems far from God, but we can bring God into the culture as it is. We can have the freedom to love others we view as “uncivilized” or even “barbaric”. With the love of Christ in our hearts, we can bring His love to the hearts of our culture. People say that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. But wouldn’t it be great if everyone were like St Patrick on St Patrick’s Day? If instead of, “Hey, Let’s find a bar and have a green beer!” We’d say, “Hey! Let’s find a bar, buy a round and talk to the folks about Christ and His Church.” Justine Dufour Lenten Observances: FRIDAYS of Lent: All Fridays of Lent are days of full abstinence from meat for all who are 14 years of age and older (unless prohibited for reasons of health.) Fasting, almsgiving and prayer are the three traditional disciplines of Lent that should be taken seriously in a spirit of penance and preparation for baptism and renewal of baptismal promises at Easter. Stations of the Cross Each Wednesday during Lent, we will have Stations of the Cross at noon at St. Joseph Church. A light lunch of soup and bread will follow downstairs in the Family Room. March 20 The Way of the Cross March 27 A Contemporary Way of the Cross with Jesus Today April 3 Praying the Stations of Mercy with Pope Francis April 10 Close to Jesus to the Last If you would like to lead the prayers one of the weeks, or offer your gift of preparing soup one week, please contact Justine at the office. March 17, 2019 —The Second Sunday in Lent Youth Happenings: All activities are held at Youth Center, 40 Main St., Salem, NH, Behind St. Julie Hall Faith Formation Schedule: What’s Happening at KidsChurch at MQP Option 4:00: March 16 during the 9:30 am Liturgy ….. Option 9:30B: March 17 Option 9:30C: March 24 MARCH FINDS US....TREASURED BY GOD! The little ones enjoyed listening to the story: Patrick, Patron Saint of Ireland by Tomie dePaola. They learned all about how a little boy named Patrick who lived in Great Britain, was captured by pirates Lenten Youth Ministries and taken to Ireland. While working as a slave, taking care Mondays in the Youth Center of sheep in the mountains, he spent much of his time pray- ing to God. He was able to escape from Ireland. Once back home, he decided to become a priest. Later he became a Taking up our CROSS and offering up: bishop and returned to Ireland to teach the people about C omfort (Sacrificing) Jesus. He used a green shamrock that grew in the country- R esources (Rice Bowl) side to teach the people that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Patrick was a good man. He was even kind to his March 18: ptions (Choosing NOT to be seen) O enemies. He wrote many prayers and he built the first March 25: S chedule (Making Time for God) Christian church in Ireland. April 1: S elf (Being for Others) Shamrock Trinity Poem Just like the leaves on each shamrock I see, There are three parts to the Holy Trinity. First is God The Father, Gr K-2 Fun in the Son meet 4-5 Then Jesus, His only Son, Gr 3-5 The Jesus Kids meet 5-6:30 With the Holy Spirit, Gr 6-8 CIA (Christians in Action) Together, they are Three In One. Meets 6-7:30 March 17th: St. Patrick And The Shamrock Dawn Pavlini, Director of Kids Church [email protected] Dinner for Grades 3-8: Meatless March! Join the L.O.L. Love Out Loud: teens in action! March 18: Top your own Baked Potato 5:00pm Mass at St. Joseph Church March 25: Cheese Pizza 6:00pm Dinner in Youth Center 6:30pm LOL Time A Free Will offering helps offset meal costs… March 17 Permanent Markers Thank YOU!!! March 24 Plan In Action As we transition to the Restored Order of Baptism, Confirmation and then First Communion, youth in grades 3, 7-12 and their siblings are being prepared for Confirmation this Spring. Next year we will prepare the remaining youth. We have received our dates for Confirmation from the Bishop’s Office! Wednesday, March 20th (rehearsal on Tuesday, March 19th at 5:00 pm) Friday, March 22nd (rehearsal on Thursday, March 21 at 5:00 pm) Confirmations will begin at 6:00 pm and will be held at the Mary Queen of Peace campus. March 17, 2019 —The Second Sunday in Lent Welcome New Parishioners! Slice-of-the-Pie March Winners! Through Baptism on March 3: Cameron Michael Bouchard Michael Gervino #79 Anna Rosalie Cioffi Charlotte Louise Desrosiers Carole Haggerty #86 Annika Marie Siok Vivienne Elise Siok May God richly bless you as each of you grow in faith. Vincent Balukonis #8 Through Registrations: Robert & Susan Ricci Each receives a check for $125.00! Nicholas & Arianne Sangermano & Family Craig & Julie Parsons & Family Stephen & Teresa Lagace & Family Kevin Esposito Nicole Stuhlmiller Family-to-Family Easter Basket Project Next weekend, March 23 & 24, we will begin giving out information after all Masses for families that need to be adopted for Easter meals. The information will include family size and suggestions of items to include in the basket. If you would like to adopt a family and you know you will be away that weekend, you can email Justine Dufour at [email protected] and the family info will be emailed to you. All baskets need to be dropped off at Mary Queen of Peace on Saturday, April 13 between 9 –11am.Thank you for your continued generosity and giving spirit. 19th Annual Diocesan Catholic Men's Conference at Assumption College Men (of all ages, including teens and college students) are invited to this important annual Conference, scheduled for Assumption College on Saturday, April 6th. Visit the conference website at www.firstmensconf.org for information and to purchase tickets online and elsewhere. Come and hear dynamic talks from outstanding Catholic leaders: Kevin Dunn, Trent Horn, Mike Aquilina, Eric Mahl, Bishop McManus, Francesco Cesareo and Father Warren Savage.