SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME              +                      FEBRUARY 12, 2012

 

    From the Pastor…..With only a few weeks before we enter into the season of Lent, I wanted to announce that part of our Lenten devotions this year will be a Parish Mission. This mission will begin on the First Sunday of Lent (February 25th & 26th) at all the weekend masses. There will be three sessions for the Mission: one on Sunday night (2/26th), Monday night (2/27) and Tuesday night (2/28). The priest leading the mission will be Fr. Marc Montminy, who is the pastor of St. Michael Parish, Exeter.  The theme for our mission is Arise from Darkness: A Lenten Retreat for those who want a second chance. Each night there will be confessions from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm. We will pray the rosary as time allows following confessions. The Mission Talk and Prayer will be from 7:00 pm to 8:15 pm. The first evening talk is titled Find An Elusive God. The second evening talk is Surrendering and the third evening is titled Rekindling the Fires. The purpose of any parish mission is a renewal of heart, especially in the Season of Lent. It is to help all of us re-focus and concentrate on the grace of this Season of Lent. Lent's purpose is a conversion of the heart, mind and spirit by rooting out sin in our lives and becoming more faithful to our baptismal vocation, "I live, not I but Christ who lives in me," as St. Paul says.  On that first weekend of Lent, Fr. Marc will preside and preach at all the Masses. I will be taking Fr. Marc's place at St. Michael, Exeter. It is my hope and prayer that this Lenten Mission will be a time of grace for our parish and I encourage, as your schedule allows, to participate in this Mission.

Blessings,

     Fr. Michael

 

PARISH NURSE:  Thursday from 3:30-5:30 pm. 

 

OFFERTORY:   $7,998. 

 

SACRIFICIAL GIVING:  In today’s second reading, St. Paul urges the Corinthians to “do all for the glory of God.”  If we follow that advice in everything we do, we cannot help but be good stewards!

 

PALMS:  Please bring in your blessed palms from last Palm Sunday and leave in the container at the entryways to church or on the back porch of the rectory NO LATER THAN SUNDAY, FEB. 19.

The palms will be burned and the ashes will be used on Ash Wednesday.

 

CHRISTIAN FORMATION NEWS

K-3: Dismissals at all Masses.

GENERATIONS OF FAITH:  This Sunday, Feb. 12, from 4:00-5:30 pm (Gr.4-10 and parents)

CONFIRMATION II Class:  This Sunday, Feb. 12. Students are asked to attend the 10:30 am Mass, followed by class until 12:30 pm.

 

COFFEE AND DONUTS:  Next Sunday, Feb. 19, following the 8:00 am Mass, sponsored by our Knights of Columbus

 

PASTORAL COUNCIL MEETING:  February 14,

Tuesday, at 6:30 pm, Parish Hall Conference Room.

 

FINANCE COUNCIL:   Meeting Tuesday,

February 21, at 6:30 pm, Rectory Conference Room.

 

 

 

 

 

PLEASE REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS those who died last week, and especially long-time parishioner Bernard Devine.

 

 

ST. PETER CHURCH WOMEN’S GUILD: Our annual Valentine’s Day Bake Sale is this weekend after all Masses.  We will also be selling tickets for the adult’s Sweetheart Basket. We will also give away baskets for children, one for a girl, and one for a boy.  Any donations of baked goods may be left on the back porch of the rectory or downstairs in the kitchen by 1:00 pm on Feb. 11.  Thank you.

NEXT MEETING: Feb. 21, at 6:30 pm. Pot luck supper.  Parish Hall Conference Room.  The minutes of the last meeting can be found on the table at the entryway to church.

 

EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS WORKSHOP:  Please attend on Monday, February 20, at 7:00 pm in church. 

 CHOIR:  Our music ministry is beginning to prepare for the Lenten Season, Holy Week and the Easter Season. Won’t you consider joining them and sharing the talent with which God has blessed you, whether it be singing or playing an instrument? Anyone in the parish age 16 and older can join them. The rehearsal schedule is as follows: Wednesdays, Feb. 15, March 14, 21, 28. Time: 7:00-8:30 pm. Place: St. Peter Church (please use the back entrance). You may contact Helene Belanger (541-1486).

 

 

STEWARDSHIP REPORT FOR JANUARY, 2012

Our offertory for January totaled $30,638.83. The tithe of $3,064, added to our carryover of $794 from December, totals $3,858.

New Horizons of NH                           $500.

Sonshine Soup Kitchen                      $500.

Kid’s Café, Salvation Army                  $500.

American Red Cross:                          $800.

The balance of $1,558 will be carried over to our February tithe.  Our young parishioners donated $26., one half of which was sent to St. Charles Children’s Home, and one –half to our offertory.

 

 

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS:  Last chance to donate to the Manchester Battered Women’s Shelter.  Deadline is Feb. 13, Monday.  Items may be left on the back porch of the rectory.  A list of items needed can be found at the entryways to church, and on the bulletin board.

KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS MEETING:  Thursday, February 16, at 7:30 pm, Parish Hall.

 

GOOD GRIEF ! Children’s Bereavement Program

Do you have a child, or know of one, who is grieving the loss of a parent due to death or divorce?  New Hampshire Catholic Charities and CMC’s Parish Nurse Program will be co-sponsoring a six-week bereavement program for children called GOOD GRIEF !  The Program will begin later this Winter and is presented free of charge.  Sessions will take place on Wednesday afternoons after school.   The Good Grief ! Program will be led by MaryAnn Christie, RN of the Parish Nurse Program, and Steven Knight, MA a Pastoral Minister and Outreach Coordinator with NH Catholic Charities.   To register your child, or for more information, please contact Steven Knight at Catholic Charities at 624-4717, ext. 12 or at sknight@nh-cc.org

 

SUPPORT GROUP for the unemployed or underemployed who are searching for employment or a better job, meets Monday evenings from 6:30-8:00 pm in the Parish Nurse Room, Parish Hall.

 

RESPECT LIFE:  A society is truly human when without reservations it protects and respects the dignity of every person from conception until the moment of his or her natural death. However, should it decide to “get rid” of its members in the greatest need of protection,…it would be behaving in a profoundly inhuman and also distorted manner with regard to the equality – obvious to every person of good will – of the dignity of all people, in all the stages of life. Pope Benedict XVI, Address to the Hon. Reinhard Schweppe, Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Holy See, Nov. 7, 2011

 

 

MASS INTENTIONS

Feb. 13,    Mon.          7:00 am      Cassandra Karpinski (5^th Ann.) by the family

Feb. 14,    Tue.          7:00 am      Intention of the celebrant

Feb. 15,    Wed.          7:00 am      Intention of the celebrant

Feb. 17,    Fri.            7:00 am      Intention of the celebrant

Feb. 18,    Sat.            4:00 pm      Armand Beaudin by his wife Theresa

Feb. 19,    Sun.          8:00 am      Francis Laforge (25^th Ann.) by the family

Feb. 19,    Sun.       10:30 am       For all parishioners of St. Peter Church

 

 

 

 

DO YOU NEED ASSISTANCE  THIS WINTER?  If you are having difficulty making ends meet this winter, please call Fr. Michael at 623-5429.  Fr. Michael will talk it over with you for a few minutes and determine the level of assistance. The matter will be held in the strictest confidence. 

 

Prayer Service for the Unborn:  St. Joseph Cathedral's Respect Life Committee will host a Prayer Service for Life for the Unborn on February 14th at 7 pm in the Chapel on 145 Lowell Street.  Please join us this month, as Julie Laughner, the coordinator of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants, will give witness to the power of prayer in advocating for the lives of the unborn and ending abortions in our community.  Contact Louise Welsch at the parish office at 622-6404 for more information.

 

 

February 14