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Sunday, September 27, 2026
Hello folks,
The Lord be with you all!
Please pray again, perhaps as often as it comes to your mind, for the spiritual fruitfulness of the visit of Saint Margaret Mary’s Relics a week from now. As I mentioned previously, I do think that this could be an occasion of great grace, but what can we do to be receptive to the graces the Lord wishes to give?
One thing is to pray a novena to Saint Margaret Mary or directly to the Sacred Heart starting today and, where possible, with some fasting or other sacrifice. What is some sacrifice (not too extravagant, lest it lead to pride instead of holiness) that you can offer the Lord with these novena prayers? Again, ask the Lord and see what comes to mind.
So far, we have had about fifty people watch the movie that I am recommending you watch prior to the arrival of the relics. I would love to see many more watch it, but not reluctantly. Again, please ask the Lord if He wants you to watch the movie, and if He wants you to invite someone, perhaps a fallen away Catholic, to watch it with you. The movie contains several people’s stories of coming (back) to faith through this connection with the Sacred Heart and with the place of Paray-Le-Monial, from where Saint Margaret Mary’s relics are traveling to us. The relics will be available for public veneration at Saint John’s at least on Monday and Tuesday, October 5 and 6, from 6am to 10pm (please see bulletin).
Please also take the time to read the message from the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts, including our own Archbishop Henning, concerning the threat to life of the most vulnerable here in Massachusetts: the child in the womb. I had mentioned this a couple of times about a month ago and was seeking feedback and help about how to address this horrible and sad situation. Praise the Lord for granting us the guidance of these bishops! You will see they recommend that we pray, we witness, we speak up (and there will be more to follow on that one) and that “we walk with families.” At the 9am Mass this weekend, we commission the officers of our new Saint Vincent de Paul Conference which covers the territory of our pastoral collaborative. These officers/volunteers will be helping some of those families in difficulty and working with existing organizations in the area (e.g. TEO, PACH, Loaves & Fishes, etc., whom we also support) to make known God’s merciful love to those in need. Please consider how you can support them, and also how to support the efforts of our Pro-Life Group to inform and to concretely help in situations where the life of a not yet born child is in danger. Again, you will hear more about this during October, which is also known as Respect Life month, but read the bishops’ message first!
One facilities update. Mead Tree Services have worked with us to clear a lot of dead and weakened trees by the rear entrance to Saint Joseph’s, and finally this week, with the help of another company who can operate a large crane, brought down the Great Linden tree in front of the rectory. It was sad to see it come down, but necessary because of the internal rot that was hollowing it out (recall that a very large limb narrowly missed a group of people chatting after Thursday evening Holy Hour, which exposed the problem to us). Any help with the expense of this work is also appreciated.
God bless,
Father Maher
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