How Music Leads Us through Lent to the Joy of Easter
Monday, April 3 at 7:30pm
St. John Powers Hall
The Second Vatican Council in her Sacrosanctum Concillium said “The musical tradition of the universal Church is a treasure of inestimable value, greater even than that of any other art. The main reason for this pre-eminence is that, as sacred song united to the words, it forms a necessary or integral part of the solemn liturgy.” Come and acquaint yourselves with some of the treasures that have help guide the faithful through Lent, and how this music can deepen your communion with our Lord and His Passion.
Monday, April 3 at St. John: Lenten Lecture Series with Michael Meraw
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Posted in Adult Faith Formation, Lent
Week 4 – How Can We Help?
Over the past three weeks, we have begun to learn about the tragedy of human trafficking and the healing work of The Bakhita House. If you have found yourself thinking “I had no idea” while reading these stories over the past few weeks, you are not alone. There is very little awareness among most people in this country that human trafficking even exists, let alone in the United States; when it is recognized, it is usually thought of as something that happens in other places, to other people who are very different from us. It is startling to learn that the 41 women served by The Bakhita House since it opened in 2011 were rescued from trafficking situations here in the Boston area, and that while some were brought here from other countries, the majority were born in the U.S. So, now that we know, how can we help?
The current staff of The Bakhita House includes five religious sisters from three different religious orders, who work in pairs to be able to staff the house 24-7. The staff coordinates a team of over 30 volunteers from a variety of religious congregations as well as lay volunteers, who are critical to the mission of The Bakhita House. Volunteers provide a range of services to guests, including transportation, on-site life skills and social skills training, and tutoring. Volunteers also help engage in advocacy efforts and in fundraising. Volunteers receive training and are encouraged to be non-judgmental in their interactions with guests, providing an additional layer of care, support, and community at Bakhita House. If you might be interested in helping as a volunteer or advocate, please visit the website for more details and contact information: www.thebakhitahouse.com
Financial donations enable The Bakhita House to provide emotional support, food, shelter, and clothing, as well as an environment that assists guests to rebuild their lives, and help as they transition to a new and stable life beyond the shelter. Next weekend, April 1-2, we will take up a collaborative-wide special second collection for our Lenten Gift, which will allow each of us to share in easing the suffering, and to answer Lent’s clarion call to love extravagantly.
For more information, please visit our Lenten Gift page.
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Posted in 2017 Lenten Gift, Christmas & Lent, Service Commission
Monday, March 27 at St. John: Lenten Lecture Series with Donna Maria Ticchi
Art as narrative, memory, and prayer: ‘Christ Carrying the Cross’ at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Monday, March 27 at 7:30pm
St. John Powers Hall
Christ Carrying the Cross, painted by the Circle of Giovanni Bellini in the early years of the High Renaissance, was Isabella Stewart Gardner’s favorite painting. We’ll discuss the background of this painting and the stories it tells us. We’ll look at why the placement of this painting at her Museum was so important to Mrs. Gardner and what that reveals about faith and memory. Lastly, we’ll consider how Mrs. Gardner’s relationship with this painting demonstrates how the affective nature of art helps us to be more fully human. We’ll see how art – as a meditative tool – opens our hearts to God.
CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK TO LISTEN TO A PODCAST OF THIS LECTURE: Lenten Lectures 2017: “Art as narrative, memory, and prayer: ‘Christ Carrying the Cross’ at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum” with Donna Maria Ticchi (3/27/17)
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Posted in Adult Faith Formation, Important Announcements, Lent, SJSP Collaborative, SJSP Collaborative Programs and Events, Special Events
Week Three – Voices from Bakhita House
This week we have ‘witness statements’; the first one is from a parishioner who is a physician who works at Massachusetts General Hospital, and volunteers at the MGH/Freedom Clinic one day/week. The MGH Freedom Clinic was launched in April, 2015 to care for victims and survivors of human trafficking in the Boston area. The Clinic offers free primary and preventative care for victims and survivors of human trafficking ages 13 years and older.
“I have been privileged to meet the residents of Bakhita house as patients. Through my work as a primary care physician at the MGH Freedom clinic I see many young women who have found refuge at Bakhita house. Their feelings are a mix of fear and relief. For some they have come straight off the streets – extracted from the hands of an abusing trafficker. For others – they have been saved from servitude in a job they were never paid for and worked 7 days a week. All are damaged. They have a deep mistrust in the health system because often times they may have been seen by a nurse or doctor who failed to see the signs that they were victimized.”
“One young woman had come to the US to work as a nanny. She had her passport taken away as soon as she arrived and the host family neglected to pay her, for months. She worked 14 hour days and was given no time off. She had hoped to make some money to send home to her family in the Philippines, but was unable to even communicate with them as her phone was taken away too. Thanks to her own savvy – this young woman called the Human Trafficking hotline (1-888-373-7888) and was freed. She stayed at Bakhita House where the nuns provided a loving home while she healed from her ordeal. She is now living in her own apartment, working a paying job, and sending money home to her family.”
“Another young woman, a New England native, was part of a forced prostitution ring. She was freed thanks to local law enforcement cracking the case and was brought to Bakhita House. She is still fragile. Her past life included opioid addiction and she is now trying to leave that behind. I work with wonderful counselors who also help these women recover from their trauma. The journey to recovery is long.”
“I treat sore throats and asthma flares, nightmares and addiction, and have learned volumes about the vulnerabilities and needs of this special population, all from the survivors themselves. I am continually impressed by their grace and strength. For many, faith plays a role in the ongoing hope. As one survivor writes: ‘To Love is to Believe. May we so love as to believe!'”
The second statement is from a guest at the Bakhita House. It attests to the unique ambiance of the house, created by the wonderful sisters who provide 24/7 coverage at the house, every day of the year.
“The Bakhita safe house is a one of a kind, as are the women who run it. They can be tough as nails and yet offer a soft place to land. They are well prepared for the challenge of working with girls like us: the ups and the downs that we go through are challenging! Some days we can be angry and defensive and some days we just need a shoulder to cry on; some days we want to run away or give up. When I moved in, they made me realize I was now a part of something – I became like family to them. When I need something they are a phone call away.”
“I honestly don’t think I would be where I am today without them. When you come out of a situation like being trafficked, you are skeptical of everyone, but you can count on the women who staff Bakhita House. And anyone they trust I trust! The volunteers they select are the cream of the crop. If you let them, they’ll be with you every step of the way no matter how scary it can be. This isn’t a shelter this is a family & I hope it never dies.” Rhonda (not actual name)
PLEASE VISIT OUR COLLABORATIVE LENTEN GIFT PAGE FOR MORE INFORMATION
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Posted in 2017 Lenten Gift, Christmas & Lent, Lent, Service Commission
Attention Young Singers! Sunday is the Last Chance to Sign Up!
Children in grades 1-8 are invited to participate in the St. John’s Easter Youth Choir. High School Assistants are welcome. There are 5 rehearsals: 3/12, 3/19, 3/26, 4/2 and 4/9 at 10:50-11:50 a.m. in the Chapel. The children will sing at the 9:00 a.m. Family Mass on Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017. Sign up and first rehearsal is March 12, and registration closes March 19. For more information and to register call Maria Wardwell 781-237-2148 or maria.wardwell@stjohnwellesley.org.
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Posted in Music, Youth Choir
An Invitation from the St. John Parish Choir
St. John’s Parish Choir wishes to extend an invitation to all that have a voice to raise (high school age and beyond) to join us as we prepare to celebrate the extraordinary liturgies of Lent, Holy Week and Easter.
Since our varied worshiping communities come together to celebrate one Mass each day on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday – our desire is that everyone is included – and that no voice is quiet. Rehearsals are held Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm in the Music Office. Sunday morning rehearsal is at 9:30am in the Music Office.
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Posted in Music, Parish Choir
Monday, March 20 at St. Paul Church: Lenten Lecture Series with Fr. Arthur MacKay
“Breathing Underwater – The Art of Snorkeling”
Monday, March 20, 7:30pm at St. Paul Church
Fr. Arthur MacKay’s lecture continues our theme of “Up From Water.” The ancients believed water to be life giving and life taking. The divers of antiquity defied the death of going into the water for something more valuable. John the Baptist gives us a preview of facing our own death to sin to be open to a new life with the one who is mightier. The discussion will ponder snorkeling in the water of Baptism, the Ten Commandments and the Book by Fr. Richard Rohr, “Breathing Under Water” to find meaning in our Lenten spiritual journey.
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Posted in Adult Faith Formation, Important Announcements, Lent, SJSP Collaborative, SJSP Collaborative Programs and Events, Special Events
Religious Education: It’s Time to Register for 2017-2018!
![Religious-Education-REGISTER](https://saintjohnwellesley.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Religious-Education-REGISTER.jpg)
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Our Collaborative Lenten Lecture Series “Up From the Water” Continues
Monday, March 20 at 7:30pm at St. Paul Church: FR. ARTHUR MACKAY
“Breathing Underwater – The Art of Snorkeling”
Monday, March 27 at 7:30pm at St. John Powers Hall: DONNA MARIA TICCHI
“Art as narrative, memory, and prayer: ‘Christ Carrying the Cross’ at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum”
Monday, April 3 at 7:30pm at St. John Powers Hall: MICHAEL MERAW
“How Music Leads Us through Lent to the Joy of Easter”
Monday, April 10 at 7:30pm at St. Paul Church: FR. JIM LAUGHLIN
“When All Seemed Lost: Waiting for the Third Day”
(The audio will be available online a few days after each lecture, so please visit our Podcasts page to listen – or listen again!)
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Posted in Adult Faith Formation, Important Announcements, Lent, SJSP Collaborative, SJSP Collaborative Programs and Events, Special Events
Week Two – What Is The Bakhita House?
In 2001, when 800 leaders of congregations of Catholic sisters from 77 different countries gathered in Rome, the Sisters from Asia and Africa raised awareness about the phenomenon of human trafficking and the suffering of its victims. In 2007, the Boston unit of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) established an Anti-Trafficking Coalition. A year later, Boston (LCWR) established a task force and met with law enforcement and social agency personnel to learn how to help trafficked women. The Sisters learned that the greatest need for these women was a safe house. In October, 2011 Bakhita House (BH) opened. At the time it was the first and only safe house in New England for victims of human trafficking. It is supported and funded by 21 religious congregations including two congregations long associated with St. Paul’s and St. John’s: the Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of Notre Dame.
The Bakhita Community, staffed by a core community of live-in Catholic Sisters and several volunteers, provides emotional support, clothing, food and shelter and services for victims of both domestic and international trafficking. The community’s goal is straightforward: namely, to create a home for these women with unconditional love. Remember, the victims of trafficking have been deeply traumatized and have absolutely no support system so the Sisters, in effect, become family to these young women. Ultimately the Bahkita Community creates an environment that assists guests to rebuild their lives; in effect to transition ‘up and out’.
It starts with providing comfortable private rooms and convenient accommodations. The community has protocols and rules that focus on safety and confidentiality, all in a warm and caring environment. The community emphasizes and validates the guests’ strengths, adaptations and resilience. BH has adopted an empowerment model that enables guests to experience a renewed sense of control in their lives. Working with a case manager, each guest creates her own goals.
During its six years of operation, BH has cared for 41 young women; most of whom have been sexually exploited. The House can accommodate up to 3 guests at a time and the length of stay varies and can extend for up to 1 year. An important part of the stay is to integrate the women back into society and toward this end the Sisters help the women find jobs. BH is conveniently located near the T and Bus Lines for easy access to job opportunities. The Sisters are also responsible for connecting the women to critical and comprehensive services from government and social service organizations. In addition to paying rent for BH and purchasing/preparing meals for the House, the Sisters provide cell phones, monthly bus and T passes and other sundry expenses for the women.
When each guest is ready, the Sisters help them transition back into an independent life. To help ease the financial burdens of starting life anew, the Sisters provide the first and last month rents for each guest, as well as locating donated furniture and other needs for apartment living. Not surprisingly, the Sisters stay in touch with the guests once they are living independently and continue to provide emotional and financial support to the best of their ability.
Please visit our 2017 Collaborative Lenten Gift page for more information.
To learn more about Bakhita House, please visit their website: www.thebakhitahouse.com
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Posted in 2017 Lenten Gift, Christmas & Lent, Lent, Service Commission