MOST HOLY TRINITY + MAY 18, 2008
On the Way....
As I type this notice I am wearing a St. Peter t-shirt that was left over from the parish’s Golden Jubilee in 1998. So this year we are celebrating our 60th anniversary as a parish. The celebration will not be as elaborate as it was ten years ago, nevertheless, we wish to mark the event. A good way to do so is by getting together again for a parish picture directory. For those of you who have never had such an experience, this is how it works: any registered parishioner and family will receive, free of charge, the 2008 parish directory, as well as an 8 X 10" picture. The directory will also include several pages of candid photos taken over the years as well as a short history of the parish. All you have to do is make an appointment with the photographer, who will be in the parish hall this summer as well in the early Fall. These directories become great souvenirs, and they also help us identify who our fellow worshippers are. The company that has produced many directories in the parishes here in our diocese is Olan Mills. Even though they will offer other packages for you to buy pictures, you are under no obligation to do so. However, many parishioners do wait for these occasions to get their families together for a family photograph. We have scheduled two blocks of time for photographs - one will be in mid-August, which would be a good time for families with college-bound students, and the other will be in September. So watch the bulletin for more information, as we will start setting up appointments in July, for the August and September sessions. There will be several days and evenings available. You will even have the ability to make your appointment online. Stay tuned.....
PARISH NURSE: Friday from 7:30-10:00 am.
Weekly Offertory: $4,839
How did you hear the Good News today? This week’s collection supports the Bishops’ CATHOLIC COMMUNICATIONS CAMPAIGN (CCC). For more than 25 years, the CCC has been spreading the Gospel message locally and nationally on radio, television, in print, and on the Internet. It is only through donations from Catholic parishioners that the work of the CCC is possible. Please contribute generously to the Campaign in the upcoming parish collection. Half of the collection will remain in our diocese to fund local Catholic communication efforts. Visit www.CatholicCommunicationCampaign.org for national program information.
MY SACRIFICIAL GIVING: The Gospel today is sometimes called "the Gospel in miniature" because it so concisely sums up the Gospel message. In even more condensed form, "God loved...God gave..." it is the paradigm for stewardship - we give because we love.
MAY IS THE MONTH OF MARY: We will pray the Rosary in church at 6:30 pm on Tuesdays in the month of May.
PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS those who died recently, and especially Eleanore Coughlan, mother of Bill Coughlan of this parish, and Roberta Baril, sister of Hank Deshaies of this parish.
MYANMAR CYCLONE RELIEF: Bishop McCormack has asked that any parishioners who would like to make a free-will contribution to the cyclone relief in Myanmar may do so in the following way: Make check payable to RCBM - Myanmar Cyclone Relief, and send to the Diocesan Finance Office, PO Box 310, Manchester, NH 03105-0310.
CHRISTIAN FORMATION NEWS
The registration does not roll over from year to year. Please re-register by picking up a registration form for 2008-09 found at the entryways to church.
PLEASE NOTE: Shirley will be on vacation until May 27th.
Choir rehearsal: May 28, 7:00 pm in church.
Is your marriage tearing you apart? Call Retrouvaille at 1-800-470-2230 or go to www.retrouvaille.org
ALTAR SERVERS, SPECIAL MINISTERS OF THE EUCHARIST, AND LECTORS: We can now begin sign-ups for July-Labor Day (Sept. 1). If you would not be available for one or two weekends during those months, just let Shirley know which weekends you are unavailable. If you will NOT be available most of the summer, please give Shirley two or three dates when you could help out. You may call 623-5429, or e-mail Shirley at stpeteraub@comcast.net
Dear Parishioners,
We will be reprinting in the next few bulletins a very interesting report about the state of the Catholic Church in the United States. Some parishioners suggested that I share it with you in this way. Fr. Dumont
DATE: April 13, 2008
FROM: Sr. Mary Ann Walsh, RSM
Director of Media Relations
US Conference of Catholic Bishops
Washington, DC
POPE, BISHOPS GET HIGH MARKS FOR LEADERSHIP, CARA POLL FINDS
MILLENNIALS RESEMBLE PRE-VATICAN II CATHOLICS IN ATTITUDES, PRACTICES
WASHINGTON—More than eight of out of ten Catholics are satisfied with the leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, according to a poll of Catholic adults in the United States. More than seven out of ten are equally satisfied with the leadership of the U.S. bishops, a14-point jump, from 58 to 72 percent, since 2004.
The same poll found that among those who attend Mass at least once a month, Millennial Catholics (born after 1981) pursue religious practice with fervor akin to pre-Vatican II Catholic (born before 1943). However, 36 percent of Millennial Catholics (2.7 million individuals) attend Mass at least once a month compared to 64 percent of pre-Vatican II Catholics (5.5 million individuals.)
The results are found in "Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice among U.S. Catholics," a report from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA). The Georgetown University-based researchers polled 1,007 self-identified adult Catholics in February 2008 and compared responses from pre-Vatican, Vatican II (born between 1943 and 1960), post-Vatican II (born between 1961-1981) and Millennial Catholics.
......to be continued next week
REFLECTION OF THE WEEK
First Reading: Exodus 34:4b-6, 8-9
Second Reading: 2 Corinthians 13:11-13
Gospel: John 3:16-18
The Trinity is a great mystery of our faith. The only way that we can know that God is a Trinity is that it was revealed to us. We can meditate and reflect upon it all our lives, but we will never fully understand it. There is a story of how Saint Augustine was walking along the beach one day reflecting upon the Holy Trinity. He met a boy who was playing in the sand. The boy had dug a hole and was running back and forth from the sea, bringing buckets of water and emptying them into the hole. Saint Augustine asked the boy what he was doing. The boy answered that he was emptying the ocean into a hole. Saint Augustine told him that he could never empty the whole ocean into that hole, and the boy responded that he would empty the ocean long before Saint Augustine figured out the Trinity.
Reflection and activity for the week
Pope Benedict the XVI reminds us in his reflection on the Holy Trinity that we were baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Church made us Christians by calling on the Holy Trinity. >From the beginning, the Church has expressed in this way what She regards as the truly definitive mark of our Christianity: faith in the Triune God. "We find that disappointing. It seems so remote from our life. It seems so useless and so hard to understand. If there must be short formulas for expressing the tenets of our faith, then they should at least be attractive, exciting, something whose importance...for our lives is immediately apparent. Yet, in the last analysis, this is what we are saying here: Christianity is not primarily concerned with the Church or with human beings, but with God." So Baptism does not focus on our hopes or our fears, our wishes or desires, but focuses on God, his majesty and power. "We must, therefore, learn again to understand from God’s perspective, what being a Christian really means." So we became God’s children in Baptism, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Activity for the week: Take out your children’s baptismal pictures, recall with them the event, and trace the sign of the cross on their forehead, where they were anointed with Holy Chrism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you are an adult, celebrate your baptismal day by recalling, if possible, the parish where you were baptized, your godparents, your parents, then trace a cross on your own forehead, and thanking God for making you His child.
MASS INTENTIONS
May 19, Mon. 7:00 am Denise Barbeau by George and Sue Mercier
May 20, Tue. 7:00 am Blanche Gurall by Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Villemure
May 21, Wed. 7:00 am Anna Letendre by Mr. & Mrs. Gerard Villemure
May 24, Sat. 4:00 pm For all parishioners of St. Peter Church
May 25, Sun. 8:00 am Katie Carignan by Laurie and Mike Caron and family
May 25, Sun. 11:00 am Oscar Boisvert (8th Ann.) by his wife Dorothy and son Marc