Reflection for 4th Sunday of Lent: Come home, please come home. Do we ever resist reconciliation? Charles Dickens called today’s Gospel story the most touching story in all of literature. Today’s Gospel is an invitation for each of us to look at, not only the attitudes of all three people in the Gospel, but also our own attitudes toward forgiveness. Forgiveness takes time and effort; but it does not do us any good to spend the rest of our lives hurting or bitter or hating people because of something that happened in the past. Our God sets the example by His generosity, His hospitality, and His love. Can we show others the same? Jesus’ welcoming of sinners makes visible the love and mercy of God our Father and a love and mercy we all need because we are sinful.

| March 14th, 2010 | more letters ...

Please take a look at the bulletin for other activities and events that are coming in the next few weeks:

• Bible Classes – Mar 15
• Sew What? – Mar 16
• Senior Social Club – Mar 17
• Prayer Group – Mar 17
• WINGS – Mar 17
• Lenten Day of Prayer and Reflection – Mar 20
• Palm Path & Easter Egg Hunt – Mar 28
• Amy’s Book Club – Mar 30
• Spring Clean-up Day – April 10
• Living the Journey – April 10
• Mass. Citizens for Life Convention – April 10
• Marriage Renewal Weekend – April 16
• Boston Catholic Men’s Conference – Apr 17
• Eucharist Weekend Retreat – Apr 23-25
• Project Rachel Retreat – Jun 5
• Parish Trip to Oberammergau – 2010
• World Youth Day – August, 2011

Or call the rectory for more information.

| March 14th, 2010 |

CALLING ALL CHILDREN AGES 1 TO 12 YEARS OLD

ARE YOU READY?!

The Palm Path and Easter Egg Hunt are just two weeks away!! Learn about Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Walk the path of palms. .And… hunt for Easter eggs!! Practice your skills! Be ready!!

| March 14th, 2010 |

Saturday April 10th Each year students form the Religious Education program come to the homes of parishioners who are older, or with physical mobility limitations to do indoor or outdoor clean up such as yard work, (leaf raking, pruning, early spring planting, etc.) as well as windows, house cleaning etc. Please call the rectory if you would like to make use of this FREE service.

| March 14th, 2010 |

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Religious Education:

Next class for K-6th grade March 15th

Personal safety program will continue one more week for grades 1-6.

All students in 3rd - 10th grade will attend the Sacrament of Reconciliation during class on March 22nd during class time. Parents are welcome to take this opportunity for themselves as well.

Kudos!

• Congratulations to our 2nd graders who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation this weekend, may they be graced with the Lord’s mercy.
• To Ms. Martin’s class for a wonderful puppet show at Community Sunday last week. There was a nice large crowd but you all did phenomenally!

To the students who helped with the St. Patrick’s Day party, thank you for sharing your love and kindness in our parish.

Activities:

Altar Servers: We will start training for new Altar Servers after Easter. Please contact Melisa Hughes (melisahughes@comcast.net) to sign up and indicate preference for training days and times. Altar Servers are open to boys and girls 4th grade and up. It is a fun way to participate and learn about the liturgy and an important ministry for our parish.

Sign up for the newsletter:

| March 14th, 2010 |

Sharing: Time Talent Treasure

THE MIRACLE OF THE SEED

In front of our altar a few seeds were planted in a pot the first week of Lent. As we have watched, God once again acts through His creations to enable us to see the miracle of something growing. From a tiny seed we now see the abundance of the plant. And it is still growing. How abundant has our growth been this Lenten period so far? Have we done anything to increase our relationship with and knowledge of our Lord?

Everyone over 60 remembers the phrase “the Easter duty”. It means that the Church requires us at least once a year and during the Easter season to receive the Sacrament of Penance/Reconciliaton and the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist. Quite disturbing is the recent conclusion from a study that of the many “good” practicing Catholics who attend Mass regularly on the weekend, 45% of them have NOT been to confession in 10 years! WHY? What are we afraid of? What don’t we believe in relative to this holy sacrament? Do we think that we do not need God’s love and forgiveness? Or do we see the priest as just a man to whom we do not wish to tell our troubles, our sins? The latter is a great mistake. He is no “just a man”. Jesus gave Peter a specific directive that as His Apostle he would be the founder of His church and “the sins you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and the sins you forgive on earth will be forgiven in heaven”. The priest in confession today is speaking as God’s chosen representative on earth, just as Peter was.

Only one opinion poll exists in the Bible. When Pontius Pilate asked the crowd what he was to do with Jesus, they cried “Crucify Him”! Do we today think we can listen to the suggestions of others or make up our own as to what Jesus taught us relative to what His Father wants? There is only one absolute truth -and that is God. By the word of God we must live. “He, who claims to know Me, must live by My Commandments or he/she does not know Me”. God is an all-merciful and loving God. But He is also a just God. He knows it all and is only waiting for us to ask for His forgiveness. Jesus spoke of hell more than anyone else in the Bible-12 times. He spoke of eternal damnation 90 times. This says to us that we are accountable for our life. When we wish to reunite ourselves with Him, He is all-forgiving and merciful in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. We cleanse our bodies constantly; and it lives for only a finite time. Cleanse your soul for your eternity this Lent.

Stewardship Questions: Kathy Reilly 781-444-0862
Email: kreilly15@yahoo.com

If anyone needs a ride to any Lenten service or wishes a home Communion visit, please call.

| March 14th, 2010 |

WINGS (Women in God’s Spirit) invites you to join us on Wednesday, March 17th. The speaker will be Fr. Bob Masciocchi, CCS who will speak on “Reducing Stress through Christ.” Join us as we learn stress reduction techniques with Fr. Bob, Director of the Espousal Retreat House and Conference Center in Waltham. WINGS is a spiritual group for women of all ages. This is your opportunity to be refreshed, renewed and enthusiastic about life. We meet in the Linse Room at St. Joseph’s Parish, Needham each Wednesday morning from 9:45-11:30 am. Newcomers are always welcome and babysitting is available. We hope you consider joining us this spring—whether you can attend each week or just some of the weeks.

| March 14th, 2010 |

“Where Do We Go From Here?” in health care, physician-assisted suicide and other legislation, bioethics, population studies, law, and medicine. The convention is on Saturday, April 10th, at Boston College Law School from 8:30 am-4:00 pm. Register at www.masscitizensforlife.org, by mail with coupon in MCFL News or by calling 617-242-4199.

| March 14th, 2010 |

Operating Results July 1- December 31, 2009

Dear Fellow Parishioners, It gives us great pleasure to share with you an overview of the Operating Results for the Parish for the six month period ending December 31, 2009. Those interested in the details of the Parishes’ financial operation can find the complete report on the Parish web site at www.stbartholomew-needham.org.

On the income side, due to your continued generosity, our revenues from planned sources were slightly in excess of budget. We all appreciate this. Moreover, we benefited from two unusual items of revenue, one by bequest and the other due to a credit back from the Archdiocese on previous period items. The Finance Council strongly believes that this extraordinary revenue should be regarded as non-recurring revenue .There is no reason to assume that the Parish will be receiving comparable sums on a regular basis in the future .Consequently, we believe that this revenue should be credited to our surplus account and not relied upon to fund the day-to-day operations of the Parish. The Parish needs your continued generous support if it is to fulfill its mission of developing our faith community and helping all our parishioners to live Christ and the teachings of our Catholic faith.

Parish expenses for the six month period were also below budget. Actual staffing levels were lower than anticipated in both the clerical and non-clerical areas due to staff resignations and the time delay in filling these positions. These shortages placed unacceptable burdens on both our clerical and lay personnel, and we hope to address these shortages going forward. Non-personnel expenses ran below budget for the period as well, due primarily to timing issues on anticipated expenses. We expect that most of this shortfall will be made up in the next six months and that these expenses will be close to the anticipated budget by year-end.

In summary, our Operating Results for the six month period ended December 31, 2009, were strong. With your continued generous support and the disciplined efforts of Father Phil and the Parish Staff, we expect to stay on or somewhat ahead of budget for the entire year. This will enable us to enhance our Pastoral Ministry Program offerings as well as adding to the Surplus Account in order to address needed maintenance and improvement projects.

Respectfully submitted,
St. Bartholomew Finance Council

December 2009 Financial Summary

| March 9th, 2010 |

At our meeting in January, your Parish Pastoral Council adopted a new Mission Statement for our Parish. It is the culmination of a more than two year process of contemplation, discussion and prayer by and among the members of the Council. As stated by Msgr. Vincent J. Grimalia, “every community has a purpose for its existence” and, he continued, “the parish mission statement will give a succinct focus, direction and motivation to the parish community”. In addition, we strove to capture in our Mission Statement what Pope Benedict XVI has described as our Church’s “three-fold responsibility: of proclaiming the word of God…, celebrating the sacraments…, and exercising the ministry of charity”.

Our new Mission Statement is set forth below. We think it captures the essence of our Parish and what we try to be and do as a community. We believe that it will guide us well as we move forward and grow this year and in the coming years. As always, Fr. Phil, our Parish staff and your Council members appreciate your comments.

Our mission is:

• To be the spiritual and physical focal point of a community joined together and inspired in our thoughts, words and deeds by our Catholic faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ.
• To enrich our spiritual lives through the sacraments, especially daily and Sunday Eucharist, prayer groups, educational opportunities, retreats and other programs.
• To live Christ through active stewardship by encouraging and enabling each other to contribute our time, talent and means to help others and to promote justice, peace and charity.
• To develop the bonds within our community through social activities that bring together women, men, young and old to take joy in life and each other.
• To be welcoming and helpful to all, regardless of whom it is that “knocks on our door” or why.

We implement our mission through many programs, and all that we do is intended to develop our faith community and help us to live Christ and the teachings of our Catholic faith.

Adopted January 5, 2010

| January 24th, 2010 |