Sat., August 31 4:00 PM … Joan Foley by Connie Raymond

Sun., September 1 Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 AM … Our Parish Family 9:30 AM … Denny Smith by Sandra Powers 5:00 PM … Alice Carignan (22nd Anniv) by Armand & Kathy Carignan Mon., September 2 9 AM … Richard Chapdelaine (living) by Dawn Herman

Tue., September 3 Saint Gregory the Great 12 PM … Herb Wood (living) by Dawn Herman Wed., September 4 12 PM … Irene Goudreault (5th Anniv) by Nelson & Lillie Duquette

Thur., September 5 Saint Teresa of Calcutta 8:30 AM … Rev. Andrew P. St. Hilaire (living) by P. Jerome Fri., September 6 6:00 PM … Joseph Handy by Gregory Hand Sat., September 7 4:00 PM … Katherine Jaskolka by Al & Barbara Heidenreich

Sun., September 8 Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time 7:30 AM … Carrie Kohler (20th Anniv) by Armand & Kathy Carignan 9:30 AM … Heather Cashin (28th Anniv) by Joe & Sue Cashin 5:00 PM … Our Parish Family

XXII Sunday in Ordinary Time

Mon, September 2 Food Pantry CLOSED due to holiday Tue, September 3 12:45 PM … Parish Nurse

September 1, 2019

Sanctuary candle The sanctuary candle burns this week for Aime Brault by Flor ine Breault.

READINGS FOR THE WEEK of September 1, 2019 Monday: 1 Thes 4:13-18; Ps 96:1 and 3, 4-5, 11-12, 13; Lk 4:16-30; Tuesday: 1 Thes 5:1-6, 9-11; Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14; Lk 4:31-37; Wednesday: Col 1:1-8; Ps 52:10, 11; Lk 4:38-44; Thursday: Col 1:9-14; Ps 98:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 5-6; Lk 5:1-11; Friday: Col 1:15-20; Ps 100:1b-2, 3, 4, 5; Lk 5:33-39; Saturday: Col 1:21-23; Ps 54:3-4, 6 and 8; Lk 6:1-5; Sunday: Wis 9:13-18b; Ps 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14 and 17; Phlm 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25-33

On Monday, August 26, the SRP Food Pantry served 20 families and gave out 42 bags of groceries. The food

pantry needs plastic and paper grocery bags, canned baked beans and spaghetti sauce.

We welcome produce from your gardens to give to clients of the SRP Food

Pantry on Monday evenings. If you have veg-etables to share, please drop them off at the rectory Mondays before 4 PM. Thank you!

Year C Hymnal #993

Goal: $23,000

Raised: $14,195

Balance: $ 8,805

There are so many people facing challenges they have no control over or could never have predicted. With your support they have access to Catholic Charities programs and services. Families, children and adults – including our fellow commu-nity members need your support more than ever. Please consider moving lives for-ward with a gift to Catholic Charities this year. You’ll provide comfort, ed-ucation, mentoring, and most im-portantly, hope for those who are facing difficult times.

Weekend of August 25, 2019 Regular Offertory $3,517.00 Loose Offertory 448.00 Online Offertory Prev Wk 675.00 Total Offertory $4,640.00

Stewardship Make up $ 95.00

Holy Day Make up $ 105.00

Food Pantry $ 560.00 ********************** Last Year: Wknd of August 26, 2018 Total Offertory $4,248.00

Thank you for your sacrificial gift!

ROUTES/ROOTS OF

FAITH 2019—QUEBEC -

Deadline Extended! We

are planning a weekend pilgrimage to Quebec City, one of the most Old World cities in North America, on Columbus Day Week-end, Oct 11—14. 2019. Infor-mation can be found on our web-site. Registration deadline has been extended to Sep 5. If you have questions, please call the office at 623.2604.

Anniversary Cel-ebration Bishop Peter A. Libasci invites all couples celebrating

an anniversary in 2019 of 5, 25 and 50 years, to attend the Fall Wed-ding Anniversary Mass. This cele-bration will be held on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019 at 2 PM at Saint Joseph Cathedral, Manchester. To register, please contact the parish office by Sep. 20. The par ish of-fice will gather and submit all nec-essary information. Once registra-tion has been completed by the parish office, all registrants will receive an invitation to this special celebration. (Couples celebrating anniversaries of 10, 15, 20, 30, 35, 40, 45 or 55+ years will be asked to register later for a spring celebra-tion.)

Blessing of Back Packs All students are invited to bring their back packs for a special blessing on Sun-

day, Sep 7 at the 9:30 AM Mass.

Bishop Peter A. Libasci of Manchester cordially invites members of law en-forcement, firefighters, EMTs and other first responders and their fami-lies and communities to the 2nd annual Blue Mass on Sunday, Sep. 22, at 10:30 AM at Saint Joseph’s Cathe-dral. Mass will be followed by a free

breakfast in the Cathedral Church Hall. To register for the breakfast, please visit the diocesan website at www.catholicnh.org or contact Alyse Hlasny at ahlasny@rcbm.org or 603.663.0108.

Welcome back to

our Saint Benedict

Academy faculty

and students! Spe-

cial welcome to new

principal, Brandy Houle. The SBA

community will celebrate weekly

Mass at the parish at our Thurs-

day 8:30 AM Masses throughout

the school year.

Congratulations to Nadia Therese Campbell, daughter

of Nathan and Kathy (Savard) Campbell, who was

baptized Aug. 25, by P. Jerome, O.S.B., our pastor. Let

us strive, by our word and example, to create an envi-

ronment for them to come to know the love of God and the

meaning of “being church.”

I always say that people suffer or suffer more, because they don’t have a theory of suffering; they don’t have a perspective that enables them to make any sense of their suffering or see anything constructive in it. Suffering will always in the end be a mystery that Chr istians must confront; however, I think people’s suffering is made worse in the social-media age, wherein everyone is trying to present themselves as living their best, most fabu-lous and enviable life. In such a world, it is more difficult for people to acknowledge their suffering and are left to think that they have hopelessly failed because they experience suffering. One of the things I find most helpful about Christianity is that it frankly acknowledges suffering and then asser ts that suffering can be redemptive. Christ suffered because he was faithful to the mission given to him by his Father, and yet his death overcame sin and death. Martyrs suffered because they were faithful to their Christian belief and prac-tice, and yet they earned unending joy in heaven, so beautifully depicted as a light and music-filled garden in the visions giv-en to the third-century martyr Perpetua before her death. But the martyrs’ heroism didn’t only benefit themselves; through their fidelity unto death to their Christian commitment, they inspired others to em-brace Christianity so that they could too could enjoy the salvation Christ brought. In fact, there’s some evidence in the historical record that the examples of the martyrs’ witness to their Christian faith in their very public execu-tions had the exact oppo-site effect from the one the Roman government hoped persecution

would have: instead of deterring people from Christian conversion, it actually en-couraged it. And so there was some move to stop throwing Christians to the lions or making them fight with gladiators while thousands looked on, lest persecution ag-

gravate the very “problem” it was trying to solve. So here’s the takea-way from this medita-tion on what many con-temporary American Christians may see as an alien part of the Chris-tian tradition, a relic of less enlightened and more primitive time. We may never be threatened with the hot seat or the

hangman’s butchery. But we all suffer in one way or another. If we are faithful to our Christian belief and practice in the midst of that suffering, we, too, in our way, are martyrs. We are giving witness in our homes, our workplaces, and our wider communities to the belief that in Christ, all suffering of mind or body will ultimately be overcome in communion with God and one another in heaven. Parishioner Kelley (McCarthy) Spoerl, Ph.D., teaches theology at Saint Anselm College. This is the second part of a two-part series that began last week on the topic of martyrdom.

Guest Columnist: Kelley Spoerl

Martyrs show 21st century believers how to suffer, and how to use suffering

Fund-raising the bar. A simple way to help our parish! That’s right! The Affinity Membership Program is com-

mitted to helping us grow and reach our fundraising goals. The more members who bank with TD Bank, the

more money we earn! There are no costs involved! In fact, it actually pays you to belong! New customers who

open a bank account receive $25 and we receive $50. Existing customers need only to mention Saint Raphael Parish to have your

account linked to us and we receive $10. It’s that easy! So next time you’re banking, please mention Saint Raphael Parish!

Two different depictions (above and below) of the martyrdom of Saint Perpetua, a 3rd Century

A.D. Christian, who, with Saint Felicity, enjoyed wide recognition an d popularity in the Early

Church. Their names still appear in the First Eucharistic Prayer (the Roman Canon) in the Mass.

It is time once again to plan for a fabulous Christmas Festival! Last year was a resounding success, and we can all take a part (large or small) to help make this year even better! The festival will be Nov. 15 and 16, 2019. There will be arts and crafts, music, a bake sale, children’s activities, a penny sale, an Elephant Table, Christmas Canteen, raffles and

more! Please contact the rectory if you have an interest in helping with any of these areas. Committees are already meeting to plan and organize the festivities. Call the office at 623.2604 or email Christmas.festival@st-raphael-parish.org with questions or more info.

Did you

know?

All active parishioners of Saint

Raphael Parish receive compli-

Holy Family Acad-

emy Open House

Wednesday, Feb.

7, 2018 from 4—

5:30 PM for pro-

spective students, parents, and an-

yone interested in learning about

the academy. Holy Family Acad-

emy, an affordable Catholic

school Grades 7-12 in the classi-

Parish Pastoral Coun-

cil We welcome

Discovering Christ

returns this week! Dis-

covering Christ is an ex-

citing initiative de-

signed to help men and

women encounter the

person of Jesus Christ and accept his

invitation to know Him in a personal

relationship. Share a meal, listen to a

dynamic presentation, and explore an-

swers with others on these questions of

purpose, faith and life. 47 men and

women have already experienced this

exciting course and beginning May 10,

we will be offering it again on Thursday

mornings immediately following the

8:30 AM Liturgy. We hope you will con-

sider learning more about this endeav-

Thanks! Shout out to Norm & Angela Courchesne and Bar-bara Miles for maintaining

our courtyard garden this season.

ROUTES/ROOTS OF FAITH 2018—DANUBE

CRUISE The Saint Raphael trip to will be

Oct. 27-Nov. 7, 2018. We still have a couple

of rooms available! Please contact Kerri

Stanley at Saint Raphael Rectory at 623.2604

Altar Server

Investiture will take

place on Sunday, Dec

2 at the 9:30 AM

Mass. We will recog-

nize those celebrating their 4th

anniversaries of serving and wel-

come in new altar servers. If you

are interested, please contact

Kerri

Winter weather policy If the Man-

chester Public Schools are closed

due to weather conditions, all parish facilities are closed. Classes and practices are also canceled.

Sunday, May 5, 7:30 AM—12 PM: Breakfast following morning Masses. Wednesday, June 5, 6:30 PM: Confirmation @ Saint Raphael Parish Questions? Please call Lynne at 603.533.4574 or email jlphotiades@comcast.net.

Book Discussion Group Please join the SRP

Book Group on Thursday, May 16, at 7 PM for a discussion of Sr. Helen Prejean's Dead Man Walking. Copies of the book and discussion questions are available at the parish office for $10.

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Esther J. (Trask) Cashin, who died May 11 and whose funeral Mass was celebrated by P. Jerome, O.S.B.,

pastor, last Friday,