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ST. JAMES’ - GROTON ☩ ST. JOSEPH’S - PEPPERELL ☩ ST. JOHN’S - TOWNSEND
St. J’s Collaborative Our Lady Of Grace & St. John The Evangelist Parishes Glorifying The Lord In The Towns Of Ashby, Dunstable,
Groton, Pepperell & Townsend In The Roman Catholic Archdiocese Of Boston
Page 2 ☩ December 20, 2020 ☩ Fourth Sunday of Advent ☩ www.stjs.page
Requiem Aeternam Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the family and friends of Jared Allen. Through the mercy of God, may they rest in peace, Amen. ~Fr. St. Martin on behalf of the Staff and Parish
Sunday Masses 9:00 a.m. - St. John the Evangelist, Townsend12:00 p.m. - St. Joseph's, Pepperell3:00 p.m. - St. James, Groton
Daily Masses 7:10 a.m. Monday & Friday - St. Joseph’s, Pepperell Tuesday & Saturday - St. James, Groton Wednesday - St. John’s, Townsend
Rosary Tuesdays - St. Joseph's - PepperellEvery Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. Reciting of the Rosary and Divine Mercy. ~Cotty Reid
Rosary and Adoration - Tuesdays - St. John’s -TownsendEvery Tuesday 10 a.m.- 11a.m.~Sue Ann Woolfrey
Knights of Columbus Council #14842 In service to One. In service to all. Members of St. John the Evangelist Council 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, Nick Joy Visit www.townsendkofc.org
Knights of Columbus Council Sr. Lydia LongleyMadeleine #13140 [email protected] Monthly Council Meeting & Social Third Thursday 7:30 – 9:00pm [email protected]
St. James’ Church - 13 St. James Ave., Groton, MA 01450 ☩ St. Joseph’s Rectory and Church - 28 Tarbell St., Pepperell, MA 01463 ☩ St. John’s Rectory and Church - 1 School St., Townsend, MA 01469 ☩ Cemetery - Jersey St., Pepperell, MA 01463
IntentionsOffered at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
Saturday, December 26 St. James 7:10 a.m. Carol Anderson and Kris Vaz
Sunday, December 27 St. John’s 9:00 a.m. St. Joseph’s 12:00 p.m. Wayne Gray St. James 3:00 p.m. Pedro Perez-Sanchez
Monday, December 28 St. Joseph’s 7:10 a.m.
Tuesday, December 29 St. James 7:10 a.m.
Wednesday, December 30 St. John’s 7:10 a.m. Friday, January 1, Happy New Year! St. Joseph’s 7:10 a.m.
Saturday, January 2
St. James 7:10 a.m. Floyd & Nelle Kinsella 5thAnniversary
Sunday, January 3 St. John’s 9:00 a.m. Jared Allen St. Joseph’s 12:00 p.m. St. James 3:00 p.m.
Page 3 ☩ December 20, 2020 ☩ Fourth Sunday of Advent ☩ www.stjs.page
Fourth Degree Assembly: #396 Bishop Beaven
Matrimony Contact the rectories.
Daughters of Isabella Mother Teresa CircleUNITY, FRIENDSHIP and CHARITYAttention all Catholic women 16 years and above.Membership meeting is once a month on aThursday evening. There are information packets at the mainentrance to the Church. Join today.Email: [email protected]
Legion of Mary Wednesdays 1:30 PM - St. Joseph’s Rectory (covid suspension of meeting for now.) ~Mrs. Carroll
ConfessionConfession is available before and after Mass. Also, call to set up an appointment. We are having confessions everyTuesday from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. as well, in the parking lot at St. John’s in Townsend. I sit in my car and when youpull up in yours. I will keep my eyes closed to provide anonymity if you would like. ~Fr. St. Martin
St. John’s Rectory and Fr. Jeremy As you have most likely heard, the Rectory at St. John’s in Townsend burned to the ground early Monday morning. Fr. Jeremy was taken to the hospital for burns to his hands as he was trying to put the fire out with a fire extinguisher. He was released from the hospital and will be fine. We ask for your continued prayers for Fr. Jeremy and for St. John’s and the Collaborative as we go forward into the New Year. ~Cotty Reid
Sunday Reading Reflection Merry Christmas, Thank you for all the love and support foreach other and for me. Mary Best is typing this because myfingers are in gauze. My fingers are fine. The fire alarmwent off in the middle of the night, that is to say, last night inrelation to the writing of this article. I tried to put the fireout and burnt my hands a little bit. After that, the goodfiremen and women came to help. All the emergency
workers and the people of Nashoba Valley Hospital were so good to me. Many of them I knew. An old colleague, Shyna Apple, former pastor of the Congregational Church came to help me. He drove me to the other Rectory in Pepperell, where Deacon Chuck Kelley was there with a big hug. Since then, the diocese and towns that I serve have been nothing but helpful. It makes me so grateful to God to be a minister of his Church, to call myself a Christian and be a citizen of this good Country. It is really true that people are good. God's goodness is shining brightly with Christmas. I am going to go take a nap now.
Other Notes Please pray for the soul David Udelsman.
In Christ, ~Fr. St. Martin
St. James’ Church - 13 St. James Ave., Groton, MA 01450 ☩ St. Joseph’s Rectory and Church - 28 Tarbell St., Pepperell, MA 01463 ☩ St. John’s Rectory and Church - 1 School St., Townsend, MA 01469 ☩ Cemetery - Jersey St., Pepperell, MA 01463
Page 4 ☩ December 20, 2020 ☩ Fourth Sunday of Advent ☩ www.stjs.page
~ Cotty Reid
Religious Education Here are our updated student counts in the religious education programs across both parishes:
St. James’ Church - 13 St. James Ave., Groton, MA 01450 ☩ St. Joseph’s Rectory and Church - 28 Tarbell St., Pepperell, MA 01463 ☩ St. John’s Rectory and Church - 1 School St., Townsend, MA 01469 ☩ Cemetery - Jersey St., Pepperell, MA 01463
Page 5 ☩ December 20, 2020 ☩ Fourth Sunday of Advent ☩ www.stjs.page
● St. John’s: 85 ● Our Lady of Grace: 224
Even though we have many more children out there in our parishes who are not enrolled in classes, this reflects the strength of our parish commitment to religious education. Despite the difficulty in gathering and organizing groups, we are happy to offer a fully-functioning faith formation program this year. Praise God! And thank you for all yoursupport! Stay tuned for more information in the New Year about First Communions (Spring 2021) and Confirmations (Spring & Fall 2021).
Please send me your own creations of good humor by emailing them to me at [email protected] .~David Flournoy
Financial UpdateThanks to your generosity and some creative cuts to our budget both of our parishes have been able to survive these past few months without the full monthly offertory we are used to. However, the oil and snow bills are on their way, so please give generously to our Grand Annual fuel collection and consider increasing your weekly contribution by a small amount such as $5. Every little increase that everyone contributes regularly goes a long way to keeping our programs, ministries, and our three churches alive and well. Weekly reports on the Sunday collection totals will be returning soon! Thank you for your patience. ~David Flournoy
Fifteen Ways to Gain an Indulgence in the Year of St. Joseph
By Courtney Mares
Rome Newsroom, Dec 10, 2020 / 08:30 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis has decreed a Year of St.Joseph in which Catholics will have the opportunity to obtain a special plenary indulgence.
Until December 2021, there are many new waysthat Catholics can receive an indulgence, including entrusting their daily work to the protection of St. Joseph the Worker or reciting the rosary with their families.
These acts must be accompanied by sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the pope’s intentions, the usual conditions toobtain any plenary indulgence.
Plenary indulgences remit all temporal punishment due to sin and must be accompanied by fulldetachment from sin.
According to the decree issued by the Apostolic Penitentiary on Dec. 8, there are 15 ways toreceive an indulgence in the Year of St. Joseph:
1) Participate in a spiritual retreat for at least one day that includes a meditation on St. Joseph.
2) Pray for St. Joseph’s intercession for the unemployed that they might find dignifying work.
3) Recite the Litany of St. Joseph for persecuted Christians. Byzantine Catholics have the option of an Akathist to St. Joseph.
4) Entrust one’s daily work and activity to the protection of St. Joseph the Worker.
5) Follow St. Joseph’s example in performing acorporal work of mercy. These include feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, visiting the imprisoned, visiting the sick, and burying thedead.
6) Perform one of the spiritual works of mercy, such as comforting the sorrowful, counseling the
St. James’ Church - 13 St. James Ave., Groton, MA 01450 ☩ St. Joseph’s Rectory and Church - 28 Tarbell St., Pepperell, MA 01463 ☩ St. John’s Rectory and Church - 1 School St., Townsend, MA 01469 ☩ Cemetery - Jersey St., Pepperell, MA 01463
Page 6 ☩ December 20, 2020 ☩ Fourth Sunday of Advent ☩ www.stjs.page
doubtful, instructing the ignorant, admonishing the sinner, bearing wrongs patiently, forgivinginjuries, and praying for the living and the dead.
7) Pray the rosary together with one’s family in order that “all Christian families may bestimulated to recreate the same atmosphere of intimate communion, love and prayer that was in the Holy Family.”
8) Engaged couples can also receive an indulgence from praying the rosary together.
9) Meditate for at least 30 minutes on the Lord’sPrayer, because St. Joseph “invites us to rediscover our filial relationship with the Father, to renew fidelity to prayer, to listen and correspond with profound discernment to God’s will.”
10) Pray an approved prayer to St. Joseph on St. Joseph Sunday, the Sunday after Christmas in the Byzantine Catholic tradition.
11) Celebrate the feast of St. Joseph on March 19 with an act of piety in honor of St. Joseph.
12) Pray an approved prayer to St. Joseph on the 19th of any month.
13) Honor Joseph with an act of piety or approvedprayer on a Wednesday, the day traditionally dedicated to St. Joseph.
14) Pray to St. Joseph on the Feast of the HolyFamily on Dec. 27.
15) Celebrate the feast of St. Joseph the Worker on May 1 with an act of piety or prayer.
“All the faithful will thus have the opportunity to commit themselves, with prayers and good works, to obtain with the help of St. Joseph, head of thecelestial Family of Nazareth, comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations that today afflict the contemporary world,” the decree signed by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza said.
The elderly, the sick, and the dying who are unable to leave their homes due to thecoronavirus pandemic also have special permission to receive an indulgence by “offering with trust in God the pains and discomforts” of their lives with a prayer to St. Joseph, hope of thesick and patron of a happy death.
The decree noted that in this instance the person must have the intention of fulfilling, as soon aspossible, the three usual conditions for an indulgence, as well as a detachment from sin.
The Apostolic Penitentiary permits any prayer toSt. Joseph approved by the Church, mentioning in particular the “To you, O blessed Joseph” prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII:
“To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also. Through that charity which boundyou to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which JesusChrist has purchased by his Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities.”
“O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family,defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ; O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence; O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and fromheaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness.”
“As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadlyperil, so now protect God's Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity; shield, too, each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your exampleand your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in heaven. Amen.” ~Cotty Reid
St. James’ Church - 13 St. James Ave., Groton, MA 01450 ☩ St. Joseph’s Rectory and Church - 28 Tarbell St., Pepperell, MA 01463 ☩ St. John’s Rectory and Church - 1 School St., Townsend, MA 01469 ☩ Cemetery - Jersey St., Pepperell, MA 01463
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