Please Join the St. Paul Pilgrimage on 6/22/2013!
Cost: $40.00 (includes lunch and transportation)
Departure: 7:00am Return: 7:00pm
Contact: Kay Kociuba stpaulassociate@verizon.net
Comments Off on St. Paul Pilgrimage to Divine Mercy Shrine June 22
Posted in Important Announcements
Fr. Powers and our Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils have decided to move forward with a parish-wide Planning Study to formulate a plan to address some on-going maintenance needs at our parish. For the past year and a half, our Building and Grounds Committee has been evaluating our parish facilities and assessing deferred maintenance. We are in the process of prioritizing these needs and estimating the total cost for the work. During the next several weeks, every parish family on our mailing list will be contacted and asked to take part in a study process to be conducted by Cornerstone Fundraising, a professional Catholic fundraising firm. Members of the Cornerstone team will be conducting one-on-one personal interviews and focus groups with randomly selected families and individuals of the parish. A direct mail study questionnaire will be mailed to every home as well.
Focus Group meetings are open to all parishioners. The Cornerstone staff will be conducting these meetings in the Social Hall: Thursday, June 13th 1:00pm and 7:00pm and Monday, June 17th 1:00pm and 7:00pm. Please make every effort to participate in the survey process so that we may complete this study with your open and honest input.
Comments Off on Capital Campaign Update
Posted in Capital Campaign, Finance Council, Important Announcements, Parish Pastoral Council
Registration
Religious Education registration packets for the 2013/2014 school year were mailed to all families. If you have not received a packet in the mail, it is available for download on the Religious Education page on the Parish website.
Confirmation
The Parish’s Confirmation preparation is a two year program beginning in grade 9. Except for those enrolled in Catholic schools, all students must complete the two year program prior to being confirmed. All 10th grade Catholic school students planning to be Confirmed in May 2014 must fully participate in the second year of the Parish Religious Education Program. If you have any questions, please email Jane Leonard or call 781.237.0141.
Teachers
We are always looking for teachers who are willing to teach any of the grades 1 – 10. If you are interested, please contact the Religious Education Office at 781.235.5337 (Grades 1– 6) or 781.237.0141 (Grades 7 – 10).
Comments Off on Summer 2013: News from Religious Education
Posted in Important Announcements, Religious Education Program
Please help others while you do your spring cleaning! Every year in June, St. John’s conducts a Men’s Clothing Drive for St. Francis House, the largest day shelter in New England serving over 800 men and women on a daily basis. St. Francis House is the largest distributor of clothing to the poor and homeless in Greater Boston, distributing more than 750 changes of clothing every month. To help meet this ongoing need, we will be collecting men’s gently-used everyday clothing such as jeans, shirts, sweatshirts, and hats, as well as new socks for their Foot Clinic, which provides foot care and new socks to homeless clients. Donations may be dropped off over the weekend of June 15-16 in the garage (behind the church) any time during the day (until 5pm.) The St. Francis House Wish List includes:
Men’s Items
Jeans: Sizes 32×32, 34×32, 36×32, 38×32, 40×32
Belts: All sizes
Casual Short Sleeve Shirts: M, L, XL, 2X, 3X, 4X
Shoes and Sneakers: Sizes 7-15
Spring/Fall Jackets: M, L, XL, 2X, 3X
Hooded Sweatshirts: M, L, XL, 2X, 3X, 4x
Baseball Hats
*New* Socks
Other Items
Plastic shopping bags
Backpacks
Ponchos
Questions? Please email Shilan Yeung or call 781-707-8290.
Comments Off on Coming June 15-16: The St. Francis House Men’s Clothing Drive
Posted in Important Announcements, Seasonal Initiatives
Looking to meet other parents from St. John’s or make a friend for your little one? We are looking to start a new group for parents this fall. A group organized by parents where they can stop by for a play group in the Social Hall, at the park, where ever! We are open to any ideas and suggestions! Whether you’re going to have a new baby, have a newborn or preschool age kids already -we’d love to hear from you. Email Chrissy Cassa at chrissy.cassa@stjohnwellesley.org
Comments Off on For New Parents and Parents of Little Ones
Posted in Children, Family Mass, Important Announcements
Beginning Sunday, June 3 Sunday Masses will be at 7:30am, 9:00am, and 11:00am (No 5pm on Sunday)
Comments Off on Summer Mass Schedule Begins Sunday, June 2
Posted in Important Announcements, Special Mass Schedule
As was announced last weekend, Fr. Powers and our Parish Pastoral and Finance Councils have decided to move forward with a parish-wide Planning Study to formulate a plan to address some on-going maintenance needs at our parish. For the past year and a half, our Building and Grounds Committee has been evaluating our parish facilities and assessing deferred maintenance. They have reported that sections of the original part of the church, most notably the tower, are in need of significant repair and reconstruction. Our heating and cooling systems need updating and our parking lot needs repaving and improved lighting. These are just some of the projects that have been deferred over the years because we are unable to address them through our regular operating budget. We are in the process of prioritizing these needs and estimating the total cost for the work. Careful consideration and thoughtful planning is required for us to move forward. This is why input from our parishioners is of the utmost importance at this time. Your opinions and suggestions will enable us to formulate a final plan that will help meet the needs of our entire parish. During the next several weeks, every parish family on our mailing list will be contacted and asked to take part in a study process to be conducted by Cornerstone Fundraising, a professional Catholic fundraising firm. Members of
the Cornerstone team will be conducting one-on-one personal interviews and focus groups with randomly selected families and individuals of the parish. A direct mail study questionnaire will be mailed to every home as well. Please make every effort to participate in the survey process so that we may complete this study with your open and honest input. Thank you for your continued support.
Comments Off on St. John the Evangelist Capital Campaign
Posted in Capital Campaign, Finance Council, Important Announcements, Parish Pastoral Council
Don’t forget to include time for Mass in your travel plans. There is a free iPhone App (coming soon for Android!) that not only tells you the Mass times, but can detect your current location, show you nearby churches, give you Mass times, address, phone number, and website of a nearby parish, connect you to a map and give directions, give readings for the day and the saint of the day, and unbelievably, play for you the Catholic TV Mass for the day or any of the days of the last few weeks! It is called The Catholic Directory, and can be found in the App Store on your iPod or iPhone. Why not give it a try? For more information visit The Catholic Directory.
You can also find the Mass schedules of churches throughout the world online at masstimes.org.
Comments Off on Traveling? There’s an App for That!
Posted in Important Announcements
Everyone is welcome
to join us in the Church for this beautiful prayer service with the children of
Saint John School!
Comments Off on Crowning of Mary – Wednesday, May 15 at 9:00am
Posted in Important Announcements, Saint John School
St. John was fortunate enough to have Summer assistance from the Society of Missionaries of Africa (SMA) from 2005 until 2010. Fr. Nongo, whose homeland is the Central Republic of Africa, was the first SMA priest to arrive at St. John’s. At that time Fr. Nongo was studying in Strasbourg, France. Last July, he was appointed Bishop of the Diocesan of Bossangoa located in the North West section of the Central Republic of Africa. Below is another letter we received from Fr. Nongo which mentions the tremendous suffering and faith of his Nation. We request your prayers for him and for the citizens of the Central Republic of Africa.
Hi Father,
Human nature seems to be crazy when we consider some of the behaviour people put up. The recent happenings in Boston during the marathon and the socio-political crisis in the Central African Republic stand as proof to that.
Mostly for economic reasons, human dignity has been neglected. Some of the so called democratic countries have sponsored rebellions to get rid of a man, the ousted president. The coup has been followed by a lot of atrocities: raping, kidnapping, looting, destruction of private and administrative proprieties, getting hold of people’s houses, killings/murder, maiming and the like. The rebellions have been organized by the French who used the president of Chad. Most of the rebels are mercenaries from Chad and Sudan.
Beyond the political agenda, the real intention of those who got to power is to establish sharia law in the country. They want to destabilize the catholic church. That is why they committed a lot of destruction to our various institutions: theft of cars, garage and technical materials, destruction of clinics, schools, radios… In my diocese, there are parishes and religious communities where every thing has been stolen. The priests and sisters don’t have a place to lie their head. Even spoons, forks, and knives have been taken away. The situation is near to chaos. There seems not to be a solution to this crisis so far; those who consider themselves to be the leaders persist in falsehood and lie. We keep on praying for peace so that God will help overcome this crisis.
I wish to record my appreciation to you for the financial help you sent me for the development of my diocese. I intended using this money to complete the donation I received in view of establishing a dental clinic in Bossangoa. In the present situation of instability, I’d better wait a little bit. My regards to all the parishioners from Saint John the Evangelist. – Nestor
Comments Off on Letter from Fr. Nestor Nongo from the Central Republic of Africa
Posted in Important Announcements
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
FAITH DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNITY
