pastor’s corner
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Hello folks,
The Lord be with you!
This past Saturday’s Italianfest at Saint Joseph’s was wonderful with great food and fellowship. It was the Groton Knights first time back to such suppers since the Pandemic (although there have been some smaller events, as well as cooperation in the bigger collaborative brunches). It was great for me to see people from other Mass times and churches gathering together. For the last few years, there has been increasing cooperation across the two parishes, e.g. the Groton Knights have sold tickets in Groton and Pepperell for the Townsend Knights’ Lenten Fish Fries and helped out there, and this time tickets for this event were also sold at the Townsend Masses.
The Knights of Columbus in both parishes do excellent work and I encourage men to consider joining them. Examples of their great work include this Saturday evening (November 9) at 7:30pm in Saint Joseph’s, the (Groton) Knights are a showing of a movie about Saint Teresa of Calcutta open to all (12 years and older); there is the Catholic men’s formation that alternates between Townsend and Pepperell, the monthly coffee and donuts recently started in Townsend, the charitable activities they undertake in both parishes and much more. Next weekend, the Townsend Knights will have a membership drive. Men: consider joining!
As a little follow-up to last week’s encouragement to engage in the spiritual work of mercy of praying for the souls of the faithful departed (i.e. the holy souls in purgatory), we have books of remembrance where you can write in the name of deceased loved ones in all three churches for the month of November, and we include prayer for those enrolled there regularly in Masses throughout the month.
On the side of corporal works of mercy, I want to thank those who are helping PACH Outreach by “selling” turkeys to parishioners attending the Our Lady of Grace churches to allow some of our poorer neighbors to enjoy a turkey at Thanksgiving. We have also received a request for help from the TEO (Townsend Ecumenical Outreach) for items not covered by food grants such as household and paper products and personal care items (although they have sufficient bars of soap); they will also need volunteers to help with upcoming food drives. Please contact our office or the TEO directly.
I often try to mention events or perhaps facilities updates that are happening in both parishes, sometimes at the same time, and sometimes alternating between both. Nonetheless, I think some people still feel I should be exclusively in “their” parish and not be involved in the other place at the same time. These very occasional comments about everything always happening at the other parish weigh heavily on me, as they do on all priests in similar situations. I wish I could have the gift of not just bilocation, but perhaps tri- or quad-location so that I could be around all three churches and maybe somehow the fourth church that is long since closed and sold off (not the mention the school church where we do have Mass during the academic year, and the towns where we don’t have a church but which are an integral part of our pastoral territory and ministry) in order for people to feel that we care for them and are investing our time and love in them. However, not even the priest can fill the God-shaped hole in all our hearts. Please ask the Lord for a sense of His closeness, and pray for your priests to not be discouraged when seeing or hearing things that weigh heavily on our hearts. If I may ask, can you please pray in a special way for the children and their families in the religious education program, particularly for those who don’t seem to encounter Jesus in the Eucharist. Thank you for your support in this missionary activity!
God bless,
Father Maher