The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph

December 28, 2014

Our Lady, Star of the Sea Marblehead, Massachusetts 01945

We see our community as one moved by Faith, led by Hope and united in Charity, seeking, as a caring family, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ by reaching out in welcome to all: the young, the old,

the stranger, and the neighbor. We commit ourselves to helping and healing, to feeding the hungry, to visiting the sick, and to consoling the bereaved as Jesus commanded in the gospels.

MASS SCHEDULE Saturday: 4:00 PM Sunday: 7:30, 9:00 and 11:00 AM Holy Days: As announced. Daily Mass: 9:00 AM—Monday, Tuesday Wednesday & Friday CONFESSIONS: Saturdays: 3:00 - 3:45 PM Also upon request, at any reasonable time. BAPTISM: To make arrangements for Baptism and Baptismal Catechesis, please contact the rectory at (781) 631-0086 - Mon - Fri 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM WEDDINGS: By personal appointment with a priest, six to eight months prior to the date de-sired. SICK AND SHUT-INS: Priests and Eucharistic Min-isters are available to bring Holy Communion to the home. Please call the Rectory. NEWS DEADLINE: All items for the Parish Bulle-tin must be at the Rectory in writing no later than Monday at 10:00 AM. NEW PARISHIONERS ARE MOST WELCOME Please make yourselves known to us at the Rec-tory. We want to know you.

PARISH STAFF Rev. Michael L. Steele, Pastor

Deacon John E. “Joe” Whipple

Rev. Philip Des Rosiers, Weekend Assistant

Mary J. Pagliarulo, Director of Music & Liturgy /

Director of Religious Education (DRE)

Julie Earp, Religious Education Assistant

Kathleen Nelson, Business Manager

Ms. Pat Caron, Parish Secretary

Maureen Merrigan, Church Bulletin Editor PARISH RECTORY: 85 Atlantic Avenue (781) 631-0086

Fax: (781) 631-5668

OFFICE HOURS: Mon - Fri 9:00-3:00

Sat. 12:30 - 4:00

PARISH CENTER/ RELIGIOUS ED. OFFICE: 80 Atlantic Avenue

(781) 631-8340 PARISH WEBSITE: www.staroftheseamarblehead.org

PARISH EMAIL: sosrectory@verizon.net

Religious Education Classes The final Religious Education Classes before the Christmas Break will be held on Sunday, December 21. Religious Educa-tion Classes will resume on Sunday, January 4.

Keeping Children Safe

The Religious Education Program is participating in a personal safety prevention program for grades 1-8 mandated by the Archdiocese of Boston. Grades 1-3 will begin using the Archdiocese of Boston program “Keeping Children Safe” - a program designed to address safety issues related to the needs of children in these age categories. Topics for the upper grades 4-8 will cover issues like safety while being home alone, babysitting, safety in public places, Internet safety, bullying, making responsible choices, and personal safety. Parents are welcome to join the class during their scheduled times.

Grade 3: Wednesday, November 19: 3:00PM and 4:30PM Thursday, November 20: 3:30PM

Grade 2: Sunday, January 11: 10:00AM Tuesday, January 13: 3:00PM Wednesday, January 14: 3:00PM and 4:30PM Thursday, January 15: 3:30PM

Grade 4: Sunday, February 1: 10:00AM Tuesday, February 3: 3:00PM Wednesday, February 4: 3:00PM and 4:30PM Thursday, February 5: 3:30PM

Grade 1: Sunday, February 8: 10:00AM Tuesday, February 10: 3:00PM Wednesday, February 11: 3:00PM and 4:30PM Thursday, February 12: 3:30PM

The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, & Joseph December 28, 2014

MASS SCHEDULE Saturday December 27 4:00 PM Manley / Benner Family Memorial Mass Sunday December 28 7:30 AM Special Intention 9:00 AM Mary and Dominic DiModica Memorial Mass 11:00 AM Charlene Rosemary Beaudoin Mem. Mass Monday December 29 9:00 AM Christopher Davis Memorial Mass Tuesday December 30 9:00 AM John and Gail Rodgers Memorial Mass Wednesday December 31 9:00 AM Barbara and John Mulcahy Memorial Mass Thursday January 1 9:00 AM Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary/ Mother of God/World Day of Prayer for Peace Friday January 2 9:00 AM Christina Rondinelli Memorial Mass Saturday January 3 4:00 PM Doris Kennedy Memorial Mass Sunday January 4 7:30 AM Jean Joseph Chalifour 13th Anniv. Mem. Mass 9:00 AM Murray Airheart 13th Anniv. Mem. Mass 11:00 AM John McCarthy Family Memorial Mass

WEEKEND MASS SCHEDULE

Saturday January 3 4:00 PM Fr. Steele

Sunday January 4 7:30 AM Fr. Des Rosiers (Deacon Joe preaching) 9:00 AM Fr. Steele 11:00 AM Fr. O’Keefe

The flu season is upon us. In the interest of safety, the Archdiocese of Boston has recom-mended that we not distribute the Precious Blood to the faith-

ful during Communion. We have initiated this pre-cautionary practice at all weekday and weekend Masses beginning Monday, November 10. We will return to the distribution of both species when we have been advised to do so.

For those whose allergies do not allow reception of the Body of Christ, a Eucharistic Minister will be available at the Side Altar with the Precious Blood to accommodate their needs. All Eucharistic Ministers may use the hand sanitizers that will be placed on the left side of the Altar where they stand to re-ceive the ciborium to distribute Holy Communion.

St. Vincent de Paul Society—Collection Boxes

Please remember that there are boxes at the doors of the Church for charitable donations for the benefit of persons in need who seek help from the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish. Thank you for your gener-osity.

11:00AM Sunday Mass Participants Due to an increased enrollment in our Religious Education pro-

gram, parking has become a concern for parishioners attend-ing our 11:00 Sunday Mass. Please note that there is addi-tional parking in the lot behind our Parish Hall. Please fol-

low the sign for Seaside Nursery which will direct you to our rear parking lot.

Our Lady, Star of the Sea

FR. STEELE’S REFLECTION: .“Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise

of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be con-tradicted...”

Luke 2: 22-40

Promises that can bend without breaking They have been married for 28 years. Theirs has been a happy life, filled with wanderlust and wonder. They both had fulfilling careers: he is a college professor, she is an accomplished weaver and textile artist. Their near-perfect life came to an end a year ago when they sold their home and moved into an independent living apart-ment for the elderly. He is only 50. She is 49. She is the reason they are now living in this situation. A series of seizures and strokes revealed brain tumors. Over time she became more absent-minded, more forgetful. Her lucid pe-riods are fewer and fewer. After the two surgeries and a painful recovery, he and she talked about the future and what they would do with their lives—but with the new, sobering realiza-tion that they would not live forever. Her dementia is comparable to a mid-stage Alzheimer’s. She rarely steps outside the surety of their apartment; he often has to remind her who he is and that they are married. He now remembers for them both. “In the past we’d had fun with ideal questions about the future: If we could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? or What would we do with a million dollars?” “This time it was more serious: What will we do if you don’t remember who I am? We agreed that staying together was the most important thing…” “Sometimes I think about the vows my wife and I made to each other 28 years ago and then again last summer. We’re dif-ferent people than we once were. Does that make the promise easier?” “Last summer I said to her: You can trust me. I’ll always tell you the truth about what’s happening. Today I tell her small, comforting lies. Some promises, though, aren’t just things you say or intend to do; they’re about what kind of per-son you are. That makes it easier to decide what’s right…” “When I look at my wife I still see the lovely younger woman in our photos and in my memory. Sometimes she looks back at me and smiles. Even though she may not know who I am.” (From “Modern Love: Promises That Can Bend Without Breaking” by Robert St. Amant, The New York Times, May 8, 2014)

Today’s Feast of the Holy Family reminds us that being a family is a journey of changes and challenges—and that it is the love of our spouses and children and brothers and sisters that en-ables us to negotiate and survive those changes, to confront and move on from those challenges. Our belonging to family means that each one of us—parent and child—reflects for one another the selfless, limitless and unconditional love of Christ, both in good times and bad. The Holy Family is a model for our own families as we struggle together to adapt and change and to deal with the many tensions and crises that threaten the stability, peace and unity, that are the joys of being a family.

COFFEE

There will be no coffee today, December 28, in observance of the Christmas Holiday. We will resume Coffee and Donuts on Sunday, January 4.

OFFERTORY COLLECTION

Due to the Christmas Holiday printing schedule, the Offertory Collection is not available this week.

PARISH PAY THE PREFERRED METHOD OF GIVING

We offer this alternative to parishioners of Our Lady, Star of the Sea. You have the option of making your weekly offering to our parish at the following website—www.parishpay.com

Father Steele, Deacon Joe,

Priests and the Staff of Our

Lady, Star of the Sea Parish

wish you a most blessed ,

happy, healthy and

peaceful New Year.

Grand Annual Appeal Your response to the Grand Annual Appeal con-tinues to be outstanding. Your contributions to date amount to $135,834.98. (71.5% of our Par-ish Goal). Please help us to increase this growing amount as we come so close to attaining our par-ish goal of $190,000.00.

We thank you sincerely for your generosity and continued support of Our Lady, Star of the Sea Parish.

Envelopes are available in Church pews & at Church exits.

Amount to Date

Our Goal

Peace Comes and Peace Goes Peace comes when we are at home with who we are and how we are, no matter what conditions of our life. This inner harmony is not an ef-

fortless accomplishment. We are often at peace one day and not the next. Unfortunately we can easily allow life’s ups and downs to steal peace from us. Much of our inner atmosphere depends on how we draw upon our faith and whether we lessen our control on making life evolve according to

our expectations. Peace flows steadily in the heart when there is acceptance.

A recent letter taught me a lot about how one can live peacefully even though life is not all one hopes it to be. My correspondent ws a man who has lived with the mental illness of schizophrenia for years. While medication usu-ally keeps his illness in check, it does not cure him of it. The letter was not directly about his illness but this man openly included some de-tails about this aspect of his life. I was touched by his willingness to do so and felt blessed to know someone who is a peace with his mental condition. Unfortunately, too many people in our society still see mental illness as a stigma and think less of themselves or oth-ers who are afflicted in this way.

Healing Christ, may your compas-sionate presence be a source of peace for those with illness of any kind.

Rupp, Joyce, God’s Enduring Presence: Strength for the Spiritual Journey, (New London: Twenty-Third Publications, 2008), p. 116

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary /

Mother of God World Day of Prayer for Peace

On Thursday, January 1, we will celebrate the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary / Mother of God. The title was given to Mary at the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D. In its teaching that that the humanity and divinity of Jesus could not be separated and that they exist in the one person of Jesus Christ, the Council rightly gave Mary the title of Mother of God. The feast is the oldest feast of Mary celebrated by the Catho-lic Church. It is a Holy Day of Obligation. Our Lady, Star of the Sea will celebrate the feast on Thursday, January 1 at 9:00AM. St. Anne’s Church, Salem will offer a Vigil Mass on Wednes-day, December 31 at 4:00PM.

New Year’s Day is also acknowl-edged as the World Day of Prayer for Peace.

Friends of the Unborn’s Annual March for Life, Washington

and Retreat

We will stay at Malvern Retreat Center, Malvern, PA January 20, 21, 22, 23, 2015

The 42nd Anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision legalizing abortion in our country—a sad day in American history

Please make reservations as soon as possible. For information, please call…

Friends of the Unborn at 617-786-7903

In this place I will give peace,

says the Lord of

hosts!

HAGGAI 2:9

Our Lady, Star of the Sea presents…

Alpine Lakes and Scenic Trains featuring cruises on Lake Zurich & Lake Como

and scenic trains in Switzerland & Italy

June 19 - 28, 2015

Explore the breathtaking beauty and charm of Switzerland and Italy aboard panoramic

European trains and stunning lake cruises.

The 10-day trip will include round-trip air fare from Logan Airport and 13 meals (8 Breakfasts & 5 dinners).

Brochures are available in the Rectory.

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Our Confirmation Students bright-ened the spirits of our Nursing Home parishioners with Christ-mas gifts and good cheer!