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THE WEEKLY MISSIVE
FEBRUARY 23, 2024
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God Is For Our Community.
Who Can Be Against?
Dear Friends,
Most of you have already read yesterday's special email message from Fr. Rich about the Paulist Fathers' current discernment process, determining which of their foundations they can continue to staff. If you haven't, please take the time to read it now; it's very important.
They say that with God, there are no coincidences. This weekend's Scriptures and this week's activities have some remarkably relevant lessons for us about what it means to be a community that is attentive to the Holy Spirit:
- Paul asks, "If God is for us, who can be against us?"
- We welcome another member to our community!
- We have a community-wide potluck to help us feel "at home."
- We gather online on Wednesday night to pray.
Most notable is our gospel passage about the Transfiguration. Jesus has told the disciples that he must go to Jerusalem to suffer, die, and rise after 3 days. But Peter, seeing Jesus' transfiguration, doesn't want to leave the mountain and head to Jerusalem.
With this week's news from the Paulist Fathers, we have no choice but to descend into a valley of uncertainty. The answers about the future of the Paulist Center will come soon enough. In the mean time, let us pray for one another within our Paulist Center Community and within our worldwide network of people collaborating & serving with the Paulists.
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Everything We Need For the Auction!
Addressing Questions & Seeking Input
Rick's Reflection on the Paulist Center Mission
Feeling "At Home" at the Paulist Center
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The Community That Prays Together...
Good News On the Financial Front!
- Our Shared Mountaintop Experience
- Upcoming Events
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Everything We Need For the 41st Paulist Center Auction! | | |
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Check out the insert in the bulletin this weekend — or visit this webpage — for all the things you can do right now to help us prepare for the Auction on Sat, Apr 27!
It explains all the ways we're looking for your assistance to make the Auction the biggest fundraiser and fun-raiser that it can be.
Thanks for your consideration!
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Donate an item or an experience to be auctioned off. (Popular items include week/weekend vacation home stays, Red Sox tickets, home-cooked meals, professional services, etc.)
Sponsor us financially at any amount. We'll list those who make medal-level donations in the program:
- Gold Medal: $300+
- Silver Medal: $200-299
- Bronze Medal: $100-199
Spread the word. Invite family & friends to join you, and suggest businesses and individuals that we can ask for item, experience, or financial donations.
Volunteer. Sign up here. Opportunities to stuff envelopes, make a fancy dessert, sell tickets after Mass, help decorate, work at the check-in table, etc.
Attend! Buy your tickets online now! (Paper tickets go on sale Sat, Mar 23.)
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If you can help in any of these ways, fill out this form online, or fill out the paper version on the back of the bulletin insert. To learn more, dash over to this page on our website. And if you have questions, email our Co-Chairs, Mairead Nolan & Maggie Keefe. Merci! | |
Feb 24 & 25: Addressing Questions and Seeking Input | |
Again, if you have not yet done so, we urge you to read Rich's email message from yesterday. Members of the Pastoral Staff and the Pastoral Council will be available after every Mass this weekend to address any questions that you may have about the Paulist Fathers' current discernment process. Also, we encourage you to email the Pastoral Council by the evening of Sun, Feb 25 if you have any recommendations on what we should write in a required report we'll be submitting to the Paulist Fathers General Council next week. Specifically: | |
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- How do we minister to women, people who identify as LGBTQIA, young adults, & racial minorities?
- How are we confronting toxic polarization?
- What ministries do we provide to people on the peripheries, and how many people are served in each of them?
- What else should the Paulist General Council know about the Paulist Center before making their decisions?
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How We Engage With Those Outside of the Church Walls | | |
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In light of the uncertainty surrounding what the Paulist Fathers will discern about the future of the Paulist Center and all other Paulist foundations, Fr. Rick has written a pastoral reflection this week about hope. He explores how the Paulist Center already lives out the Paulist mission, and his dreams of what else we can do in the future to reach out to the larger community. | |
3 Ways of Feeling "At Home" At the Paulist Center | |
On Sun, Feb 25 at the 6 pm Mass, Grace Terry (who's been in OCIA since January) officially becomes a confirmation candidate as we celebrate the Rite of Welcome with her! She, like Art Lajara-Diaz (who's been in OCIA since September) was baptized Catholic as a child, but she never received her other sacraments. Later on in the same Mass, we will celebrate the Rite of Penance with both Grace & Art. | |
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Immediately after the Mass, everyone is welcome to a Community Potluck Dinner hosted by the Young Adult Ministry! Our theme this month is Comfort Food. Be sure to RSVP here with what food you plan to bring by midnight tonight. | |
Young Adult Minister Gus Kellerman invites everyone ages 18-39 — whether or not they are Catholic or a member of the Paulist Center Community — to use this form to set up a 1-on-1 conversation with him. How's your faith journey going? What are your hopes & dreams? How can we help? Gus would be honored to accompany you along the way! | |
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Feb 28: The Community That Prays Together... | | |
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At 7 pm on Weds, Feb 28, our LGBTQIA Ministry will host another 30-minute lay-led prayer service on Zoom. (They will host similar services on Mar 6 & 13.) Invite your friends & family near and far to join us in what has become an annual tradition at the Paulist Center! The LGBTQIA ministry will also host an in-person service at 7 pm on Weds, Mar 20. | |
Good News On the Financial Front! | |
The Finance Committee met last Thursday to review the first 4 months of our financial year (Sept-Dec 2023). Our income was larger than projected in every major category except Marriage Preparation, and there have not been any major unexpected expenses. | |
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Thank you for your generosity, especially to everyone who was able to increase their giving in the past year! We are still projecting a deficit for Fiscal Year 2024, but at this rate, we hope it will be smaller than the ($160,000) we initially projected. Thank you for anything you can do to help make that happen. We plan to give you another update in mid-April. | |
Our Shared Mountaintop Experience | |
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We love to see you at our liturgies in person! If you can't get here this week for any reason, please join us on the livestream:
2nd Sunday of Lent
10 am Sun, Feb 25
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Remember: our livestreams are available in real time on our YouTube channel & available there afterwards as a recording. | |
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The most comprehensive listing of what's going on at the Paulist Center is in the bulletin. Check it out! Here's a summary of what else is in it:
- The Worship Committee's beautiful Lenten bulletin insert was so popular that we ran out of copies! Check it out online.
- A reminder that there are no Family Religious Education classes this weekend. Classes resume with our Lenten Family Social — open to all community members — next Sun, Mar 3.
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Creation Care has their next meeting online at 5 pm on Mon, Mar 4. All are welcome! Email them to get the Zoom link.
- Information on our Adult Confirmation classes, starting at 7 pm on Thurs, Mar 7. Contact Fr. Rick to learn more.
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In our Stewardship corner, we encourage you to sustain our vibrant liturgies and our mission of healing, reconciliation, and justice through your financial investment in the Paulist Center. We prefer that you donate electronically through our website, because that system gives you and us better tools for budgeting, stewardship, accounting, and taxes. If you don't need a record of your donations for tax purposes, you also now have the option to contribute to our general offertory using Apple Pay or Google Pay via DonorBox.
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This weekend's Community Gift recipient (receiving a share of the 5% of our FY 2024 annual offertory that we give to charitable organizations) is Catholic Relief Services.
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For updates, ongoing events, local events, and longer-range planning, here's additional information:
- Please pray for the 47 engaged couples doing online Marriage Preparation with us this weekend. We could reach even more couples — and have more of them become members of the Paulist Center — if we had more volunteers assisting Fr. Rick. Please email him to volunteer. Thanks!
- On the weekends of Sun, Mar 3 & Sun, Mar 10, we'll have envelopes available in the vestibule for the Archdiocese of Boston's Catholic Appeal. You can also go to the Appeal website to donate online; in parish drop-down menu, be sure to select "Chapel of the Holy Spirit, Paulist Center Boston."
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Around the community:
- Come to the Massachusetts State House on Sat, Mar 2 as part of the national Poor People's Campaign! Founded by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1967, PPC will march & rally to bring the demands of poor & low-wealth people for living wages, healthcare, housing, education, environmental justice, and voting rights directly to our lawmakers. The actual rally is scheduled for 11 am to 1 pm, but organizers are asking people to meet up at the Old State House at 9:30 am for a march to the State House. RSVP here.
- Join other members of the Paulist Center at Greater Boston Interfaith Organization's housing justice rally at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury at 3 pm on Sun, Mar 3. Specifically, they will be pressuring the state government officials joining them to support specific measures promoting improved public housing, expanded affordable home ownership & rental, and improved housing access for recently incarcerated people. Get more information on this flyer. Please register as a guest of Hillel Bnai Torah, and email Tom to let him know that you're going.
- Paulist Fr. Mark-David Janus, will be speaking to the Rainbow Ministry at St. Cecilia Parish (18 Belvidere St) at 6:30 pm on Thurs, Mar 14. All are welcome! Mark-David is President of Paulist Press and author of Mercy Not Sacrifice, the book we're using in our 2024 Lenten small groups.
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"Jesus is the chosen one,
living hope of ev’ry nation,
hear and heed him, ev’ryone;
sing, with earth and all creation:
Praise and glory, praise and glory,
praise and glory to our Lord!"
- from Ricky Manalo's "Transfiguration"
- text by Brian Wren
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Alvaro, Barbara, Dorothy, Gus, Norm, Patty, Rich, Rick, Rob, Sal, Susan, & Timmy | |
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