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Just Bursting This Week

October 2, 2020

Dear Friends on the Journey,

I feel that this Missive is bursting with so much information that few will read it to the end. Please read all of it, so much important information. At the Paulist Center, many people are busy about many things, and, in some ways, far from slowing down, the Fall seems to have blossomed with many initiatives. So pardon me for a more “bullet point” approach to my communication with you this weekend.

September has become the Month when our very active Care for Our Common Home Committee invites us to recommit ourselves to caring for our environment as part of our Christian examination of conscience. To that end, please note

· Sunday’s 10am Mass will have elements of Care for our Common Home prayers and reflections (Sunday is coincidentally the Feast of St. Francis);

· Immediately after, and at, the livestreamed mass, the Committee will share a 4 minute consciousness raising film;

· On Wednesday, October 7th, 7pm, the Committee invites us to prayer with them for a half hour. Here is the Zoom link: Wed. Oct 7 Begins @ 7 PM (please join between 6:50 and 7:00pm)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/92774439368?pwd=ZjFYcGlVaGxxYkRRcFBiaUZIVThlQT09

Meeting ID: 927 7443 9368
Passcode: 028551

As we conclude this Season of Creation, we pray with Pope Francis:

All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.

Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.

O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.

Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.

Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.

We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love, and peace.

Here I wish to note that this Wednesday Half-Hour Prayer Service will be the first of what we hope will be a biweekly lay-led, half-hour prayer service. This will “leapfrog” with the very special Wednesday biweekly LGBTQ Prayer Service).

A few of the staff have lamented that, for certain reasons, we haven’t been able to benefit from the insights and reflections of lay members of our Community in a public way (exceptions, of course, e.g., the Sunday Family Liturgy, LGBT Prayer). So this biweekly prayer service (a work in progress) will address things like “how does my faith help me during this time?” or “Tools for the Journey” and other themes, It is not a teaching as such but a Prayer Service, which is reason enough to gather but also as a way of staying connected. Various sectors of our community will take turns in leading this service.

We continue to be committed, as a Community, to address racism in ourselves, in our Church, and in our society. Some have said to us, “I want to go deeper” than the very worthwhile one-hour conversations we have already had. So on this last Wednesday, you should have received a Newsletter from the Paulist Center dedicated solely to an invitation to sign up, with other Paulist Center members, for JustFaith Ministries’ FAITH AND RACIAL EQUITY. Beginning on October 22nd, this 8-session program is designed for participants who are willing to wrestle with hard questions and to take an honest look at their own attitudes, assumptions and choices. Through spiritual grounding and community-building, participants will find support and belonging throughout their journey to personal transformation and learn how to take action on this critical issue. To receive the more detailed description again, just email michael@paulistcenter.org or susan@paulistcenter.org. Don’t let finances get in the way. If you need a fee waiver, please contact me.

A few weeks ago, I said that the Adult Education Committee was putting together an opportunity to explore how our faith may inform our voting. For a few reasons, that will not happen BUT I refer you to a webinar that our friends at a Faith that Does Justice. The session is entitled “Faith and the National Elections: A discussion of How our Faith informs our Voting.” Wednesday, 7 October, 6:30-8pm. Zoom, You must Preregister at this link. Link Free.

Cardinal O’Malley has asked that his Statement on the State Bill expanding abortion access be distributed to all the faithful. Here is the link.

Please remember in your prayers cherished Paulist Center Community member Margaret Rocchio who died this past week. May she rest in peace!

If any member of the Paulist Center Community would like to serve on our Pastoral Council, please contact me, and I’ll let you know what the next steps would be.

Worshiping In-Person at the Paulist Center Chapel
(imperative if you will be worshiping with us) …

We continue our reentry into the Paulist Center Chapel. Please reserve a place for either the 5pm Mass on Saturday or the 10am on Sunday.

How to reserve a place?

Call the Center (617.742.4460) Wednesday through noontime Friday during business hours (10am-5pm).  Sal, our receptionist, will take your name and contact information (either email or phone number. We need this information so that we can contact you should we become aware, after the liturgy, of a person with Covid who attended your Mass).

Again, please read the Procedures carefully and watch the video [both links below]).  Of special note:

• The doors open 10 minutes before the service.
• Masks must be worn at all times in the Chapel.
• Please follow the directions of the hospitality ministers when entering, exiting, and at communion.
• Once seated, please stay in place.
• We invite you to hum along with the songs (no singing).

Procedures:

1) Here are the expectations and requirements: Procedures
2) A wonderful YouTube Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5A6uzhJH-Y&feature=youtu.be

If you can assist with welcoming, seating, and directing people into and out of the Chapel, we would love to hear from you! If you are not in a vulnerable group with regard to COVID-19 and are willing and able to assist in this very important ministry, please contact Peter Ghiloni at peter@paulistcenter.org.

1.) 27th Week in Ordinary Time, Sunday, October 4, Live Streamed Liturgy/Mass from the Chapel, at 10am (available as recording at same link after 11:15pm):
Here’s the link: https://youtu.be/kF9oRUgq-G8

2) Paulist Center Families Prayer Service, 10 am, Sunday
New Zoom meeting ID.  See the emailed weekly Missive from Fr. Mike McGarry for the link.

Please note that this service – to which all are invited – is only live. That is, you can join only at 10am. The recording of the live-streamed Mass can be viewed anytime: “live” at 10am or recorded any time after 11:15am, same link.

4) Biweekly Paulist Center Prayer Gathering, this week organized by the Care for our Common Home group. Zoom Link:
https://zoom.us/j/92774439368?pwd=ZjFYcGlVaGxxYkRRcFBiaUZIVThlQT09

Meeting ID: 927 7443 9368
Passcode: 028551

Mark your Calendars: the Paulist Fathers Nationally invite you to: “Hope Coast to Coast: A Virtual Groundbreaking with the Paulists.”
Saturday, October 17, 8:30pm. More next week, but for a sneak preview, go to Hope

Ways of Giving:

Our “Community Gift” is our tradition of giving away 5% of our weekend offerings, averaged out over the whole year, to a group outside of ourselves.

We are so very grateful for your support during this time of uncertainly and financial peril. Here are two ways to give:

1. To make a one-time or recurring donation using your bank account or credit card, click on the following link: https://tinyurl.com/DonatePaulistCenter
   Giving by text: Text 844-899-7511 with the amount you would like to donate (whole dollars only). Donations collected this way will be designated as part of the “Weekend Offering.”
2. Giving by text: Text a whole dollar donation amount to 844-899-7511; this will be designated as your “Weekend Offering.”

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I conclude with the wise words of St. Teresa of Avila:

Nothing can trouble,
nothing can frighten.
Those who seek God shall
never go wanting.
Nothing can trouble,
nothing can frighten.
God alone fills us.

And let us pray for/with one another.

Michael
Michael McGarry, C.S.P.
Director, the Paulist Center

Along with Patty, Chuck, Susan, Peter, Dorothy, John, Barbara, Rob, Alvaro, and Sal. Please feel free to call upon your Pastoral Ministers if you wish.

I will be sending out something every Thursday or Friday as the “shut down” continues.