Pastor’s Letter

Parish Bulletin dated May 12, 2013

Fr. Brian

From the Pastor

This past week all pastors who were chosen to lead the new collaborative gathered at the pastoral center in Braintree for four days of training. We were joined by the fine support staff from the archdiocese as well as two trainers from the Catholic Leadership Institute located in Pennsylvania. In all there were about thirty people present, the twelve pastors and the others who will be supporting and guiding us along the way.

One theme throughout the week is how important pastoral planning, Disciples in Mission, is to the Church of Boston and how we should all be proud that our parishes were chosen to lead the way. St. Mary’s and Sacred Heart are being called to work together to evangelize in our community and to help lead people to grow in their relationship with Christ and to come join us in the celebration of liturgies. It is a challenging task that we face but by being open to the Spirit and to each other we all know that great things can happen. I and all the pastors are very excited about this opportunity and I pray that you are too. Please keep all collaborative, the teams and the parishes in your prayers as we begin this mission.

On another note, we all know that the condition of the drive in front of the Church is rather torn up and hazardous for many who walk our grounds. It was a part of our plan to redo the drive when we were repairing the steeple and towers and now we believe this work can be done. As I write this on Tuesday evening there are tentative plans to begin this work on Monday May 13. It is anticipated that the work will be completed in 10-14 days. During that time the drive will not be available under any circumstances. Priests and staff will all be parking in another location and we have spoken to other Catholic Churches in Lynn about using their buildings in case of funerals. Weekday Masses will be held in the Chapel as usual and weekend Masses held in the Church will continue to be so as we use the side doors along the main parking lot.

In addition to the driveway work we plan on creating a gathering space on the grassy area that you see as you exit the main doors of the Church. this will provide us with much needed space for fellowship at the conclusion of Mass.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this may cause but I think we all will be pleased when the project is completed. Thank you for your cooperation.

Don’t forget! Next week we celebrate Pentecost together with a special Mass at 11am. This Mass will be preceded by a pancake breakfast and following the Mass we will have some entertainment by the youngsters of the parish and light refreshments.

On Sunday, June 2nd at 11am Fr. Gerry Souza will celebrate Mass here at St. Mary’s followed by a reception in the cafeteria. Please join us as we give thanks to God for Gerry’s presence here at St. Mary’s and wish him well as he departs for his new assignment. If you are interested in helping to plan the reception after for Fr. Gerry’s First Mass. Please contact the parish office to be added to the planning committee list.

Finally, we welcome Cardinal Sean as he joins us to close out our anniversary year with the celebration of the Mass on June 23rd at 11am. This Mass will be followed by a cookout on the parish grounds. Please keep an eye on the bulletin for more details.

God Bless,

Fr. Brian