Category Archives: Important Announcements

Posts that need to appear on the front page of the website go in this category.

Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (NPH) are coming to the St. John-St. Paul Collaborative!

The St. John-St. Paul Collaborative is welcoming this group of students from the NPH home in Guatemala to be with us at Masses on the weekend of October 7-8, giving testimony, dancing, and helping to lead the music at some of the Masses. The students will be staying in Wellesley from October 3-10 with families from our parishes.

NPH USA supports Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos (NPH, Spanish for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”), which works to transform the lives of orphaned, abandoned, and disadvantaged children in Latin America and the Caribbean. Currently, NPH is raising more than 3,200 children throughout nine homes in Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru. An additional 2,300 students who live outside the homes receive scholarships, meals, and health care. NPH’s outreach services assist more than 100,000 people every year. Truly, this organization is changing lives for the better.

The organization was started in 1954 by a Catholic priest, Fr. William Wasson, in Cuernavaca Mexico. Fr. Wasson was called to the police station in Cuernavaca, where the police had arrested a young boy who had stolen from Fr. Wasson’s church collection plate. When Fr. Wasson met the young boy, he asked him why he stole, to which the boy replied that he was trying to get money to feed himself. Fr. Wasson decided not to press charges, but told the police he would take the boy back to the parish, where he would give him a home and everything he needed so that he wouldn’t have to steal anymore. By the end of the month, the police had given Fr. Wasson seven more children to take care of in the same way – children they had arrested or taken off the street where they had nothing.

Fr. Wasson gave these children a home, and more importantly, gave them hope for a better life. By the end of the year, Fr. Wasson had to buy property to take care of all the children he was given by the authorities. And NPH was officially born!

NPH’s mission is quite simple:

Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos™, inspired by Christian values, strives to create a loving and safe family environment for vulnerable children living in extreme conditions. Through comprehensive education, healthcare and spiritual formation we give the children the opportunity to develop their potential, shaping better futures for themselves, their families and their communities.

To learn more, here are some helpful links and videos for you to check out:

NPH International website

www.nphusa.org

Cardinal Sean on NPH USA

NPH Family: Celebrating 60 Years

NPH Path to Success

 

 

 

We Need Your Help to Welcome NPH – Our Little Brothers and Sisters

As you know, the NPH Pequeno Tour is coming to Wellesley in a few short weeks! The students will be with us at all Masses on the weekend of October 7 – 8, giving testimony, dancing, and helping to lead the music at some of the Masses.  We are anxiously awaiting this visit as a time that will surely bring our parish community closer and enrich our parish culture in a truly special way.

Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos (Spanish for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”) supports over 3,000 orphans and abandoned children in Latin America and the Caribbean, and we are hoping to encourage some of our families to sponsor a child who is living in an NPH home.

As we begin planning for this tour, we need your help! For three weekends, we will have sponsorship tables set up at both St. John and St. Paul, promoting NPH child sponsorships. We are looking for volunteers to run the tables and help make sure the sponsorship campaign is a success! The tables will be set up on the weekends of Sept. 30 – Oct.1, Oct. 7-8, and Oct. 14-15. Please click on the link below to sign up now for any and all Masses that you would be available to help. Remember, if you have kids, this is a great chance to get them involved with a wonderful organization – they can help you at the sponsorship table!

You will receive an email from Courtney O’Brien from NPH who is coordinating the tour with instructions about running the table. It is very easy but we do need someone for every Mass so please help by volunteering to take one or more Masses.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support as we prepare to welcome the pequeños from NPH Guatemala into our parish family!

 

Religious Education Classes Begin Sunday, September 17

Religious-Education-Contemporary_SMALLClasses for all grades will begin as follows:
Grades 1–6: Sunday, 9/17 from 10–10:45am or Wednesday, 9/20 from 3:30–4:45pm
Grades 7–10: Sunday, 9/17 from 6–8pm

In an effort to make our opening days for Religious Education as successful as possible for our staff, students and teachers we will NOT be accepting new registrations/students on opening day. Please register immediately if you plan on having your children attend Religious Education and you have not done so already. We are still in need of teachers for our Sunday evening program, so if you are available to teach please contact Ronda Dew as soon as possible.

All registered families should have received an email detailing opening day procedures with links to the final calendar and program information on the Parish website. If you registered and did not receive the email please contact Linda Messore.

Cluster Families: The opening meeting for those registered as clusters will be held on Tuesday, September 26, at 7:00pm in Philbin Hall, in the basement of St. John’s school. Lesson plans will be distributed.

If you have any questions regarding our Cluster program or the opening meeting, please contact Andrea Fay.

Teen Mass: The 5:00 pm Sunday Teen Mass features contemporary music appealing to teens and young adults and their families, and will include teen participation in the various ministries of the Mass. If you are interested in becoming involved as a Eucharistic Minister or Lector please contact Ronda Dew.

Where are you on your faith journey?

RCIA is the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. It the process by which adults enter full communion with our Church, through the sacraments of Initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and Eucharist (Communion). RCIA can help you along your faith journey if:

  • You want to join the Church, and have never been baptized.
  • You have been baptized in another Christian faith tradition, but want to join the Catholic Church.
  •  You have been baptized in the Catholic Church, but never had your First Communion or Confirmation.

If any of these describes your current situation and you seek full membership in the Catholic faith family, consider joining our Collaborative RCIA program. We meet weekly throughout the school year, with culmination in the celebration of the Rites of Initiation at the Easter Vigil in spring. RCIA begins in the autumn with a no-obligation period of exploration and discernment.
If you think RCIA might be for you, contact either parish office by phone, or email rcia@sjspwellesley.org. We’d love to hear from you!

It’s Welcome Weekend!

WelcomeSeptember 16-17

During “Welcome Weekend” we lift high the banner of WELCOME to one and all as we celebrate the life of this community and the countless ways this life continues to grow and deepen in faith and love and service. Each September is always a new beginning! Come, join us to make this year the best!

Parish Family Fun! Sunday, September 17 from 10:00am – 12:00pm

parishfamily_funPlease join us Sunday morning for coffee and breakfast goodies, along with lots of fun for the kids: pony rides, a petting zoo, and much more! Many hands make fun for all – we can put you to work as needed when you drop by to enjoy the morning! Help with set-up and clean-up is especially needed. Please email Chrissy Cassa if you can help – just a few minutes will make a big difference! We look forward to seeing you there!

Diana Doyle to Perform at CatholicTV Telethon

On Friday, September 15 and Saturday, September 16, the CatholicTV Network will hold its 26th Telethon, featuring a musical performance by St. John cantor, Diana Doyle, with Todd Gordon.

Doyle and Gordon’s performance will air on Friday, September 15 at 1pm ET (time subject to change). CatholicTV is available on cableCatholicTVLIVE.comRoku, Apple TV, or your mobile device.

The Telethon is CatholicTV’s most important fundraiser to support its ministry of providing programming that inspires and educates Catholics in the United States and around the world. In addition to the performance by Doyle and Gordon, this year’s Telethon will feature other live entertainment, highlights from CatholicTV’s most popular shows, and special guest appearances.

Update from the Archdiocese regarding this weekend’s Special Collection for Disaster Relief

Last week, Cardinal Seán announced a special collection in support of Catholic Charities USA’s relief efforts in areas devastated by Hurricane Harvey. Based on recent forecasts, the Archdiocese has amended the collection to include Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, as well as other natural disasters that may affect the United States this year. The power and size of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma are of historic proportion. Their arrival on back-to-back weeks will stretch the capacity of relief efforts.

Give today using ParishPay – you do not need to be a regular user of ParishPay – anyone can make a one-time donation by credit card. Just click the ParishPay link below (or on our website), choose Start Giving, and select Special Collection for Hurricane Disaster Relief under Secondary Collections.

Give at Mass this weekend – donations may be placed in the regular offertory basket at all Masses this weekend.  Please make checks out to St. John Parish and be sure to note “Hurricane Disaster Relief” in the memo. Cash donations should be placed in an envelope marked “Hurricane Disaster Relief”.  

Donations may also be mailed to or dropped at either parish office through September 15.

Please note: any checks/envelopes previously noted “Hurricane Harvey” will be included in this collection – there is no need to change the designation.

Catholic Charities USA is the official agency of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to deal with national disaster relief. While not a first responder that will have vehicles and personnel wading through flood waters, it is an agency that will look after the immediate short-term and long term needs of shelter, food and other recovery needs of families and individuals no matter what their background or religious beliefs. Because Catholic Charities USA is rooted in the community through local dioceses and parishes, this enables the organization to assist people through the various stages of the recovery process over a long period of time.

Please also remember all of our brothers and sisters in the afflicted areas, as well the first responders working on the relief efforts, in your prayers. On behalf of the Cardinal, thank you for your attentiveness to this important collection and expression of our solidarity with those who are suffering.

Our Family Mass Program Resumes this Sunday, September 10

Family Mass_AltarWith the return of our regular Mass Schedule, our Family Mass Program also returns from summer vacation. What does that mean? It means our music, readings, & homilies will be geared towards families with young children. There are also a lot of helpers – families and children bringing up the gifts to the celebrant, children helping with the collection baskets, parent lectors. If you think you or your child would enjoy helping during the Family Mass – we’d love to have your help! Please contact our Family Mass Coordinator, Chrissy Cassa.

And, yes, right after the Family Mass there is our Donut & Coffee Social Hour downstairs in Powers Hall. Please consider helping one Sunday this year. It’s easy – everything is delivered to the church you just need to set-up and clean-up. The kids love to help out! Please contact our Family Mass Coordinator, Chrissy Cassa.

September 9-10: Special Collection for Hurricane Harvey Humanitarian and Recovery Efforts

Cardinal Seán has authorized a special collection this weekend, September 9-10, in all parishes in the Archdiocese of Boston, in support of the relief efforts to those areas devastated by Hurricane Harvey. There has been loss of life, property, and livelihoods. The funds collected will support the humanitarian and recovery efforts of Catholic Charities USA, the official domestic relief agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, and will provide pastoral and rebuilding support to dioceses in those areas impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Donations to this special collection can be made now using ParishPay.  You do not need to be a regular user of ParishPay – anyone can make a one-time donation by credit card using the Start Giving feature. Just click the ParishPay link below or on our website, choose Start Giving, and select Special Collection for Hurricane Harvey Humanitarian and Recovery Efforts under Secondary Collections.

 

Donations may also be placed in the regular offertory basket at all Masses on the weekend of September 9-10, or they can be mailed to or dropped at either parish office through September 15.  Please make checks out to St. John Parish and be sure to note “Hurricane Harvey Collection” in the memo. Cash donations should be placed in an envelope marked “Hurricane Harvey Collection”.

Please also remember all of our brothers and sisters in the afflicted areas, as well the first responders working on the relief efforts, in your prayers. On behalf of the Cardinal, thank you for your attentiveness to this important collection and expression of our solidarity with those who are suffering.