From the Pastor

An Important Message!

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Change is in the air at St. Catherine’s Rectory. We have said goodbye to Fr. Britto, and we are now saying goodbye to Fr. Mark Shimave as he moves to BC to continue his studies- we will have a collation soon to thank him for his dedicated and loving service to our parishes. We have added Msgr. Felix to the house and Fr. Tony remains here, but their primary responsibilities are outside Charlestown and must be respected.
I’m looking at some adjustments here- I have already been approached by folks here very concerned that I’m working too hard.
Changes will begin with the daily Mass. The weekend Mass schedule will be looked at again closely- I will be working with our worship committee and our councils to craft a schedule that addresses the needs of the community in a reasonable way.
As much as I value the ministry of visiting priests to help on occasion, the presence of the pastor at our collaborative Masses is crucial to build what we’ve begun here, and although long-held traditions are valuable, I’ve learned that hanging on to some purely for the sake of continuity doesn’t help anyone.

Through this period, I ask your prayers and thank you for your patience.
Yours in Christ, Fr. John

Click Project Rachel icon for more information.

An amazing year

In 2024, our collaborative- our parishes- offered hundreds of weekend and daily Masses, celebrated scores of baptisms and brought over a hundred people to their rest in Jesus Christ, including our beloved Fr. Mahoney.

We married dozens of happy couples, brought three young adults into the fullness of the Catholic Church, and gave first reconciliation and communion to more than 40 boys and girls and celebrated as two dozen young men and women received the sacrament of Confirmation. We watched great movies, learned about our faith through Symbolon and prayed for our country on Election Day before the Blessed Sacrament.
We fed thousands of people week after week at Harvest on Vine and made the lives of hundreds easier with more dignity through our St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Giving Trees and a mind-blowing collection of cereal and socks, rejoiced in the years of faithful ministry of Sr. Nancy, said goodbye and hello to priests in residence, prayed the rosary in honor of our Blessed Mother, and heard confessions and celebrated the Sacrament of Anointing countless times.

We went on a 10-day odyssey to Italy and kicked off the Christmas season early with the Rockettes at Radio City, hosted concerts and a world-class actor for a Lenten Mission- and excellent speakers and welcomed a new regional bishop and Archbishop, and that was just prelude for what lies ahead.

It was a year for the record books, and now we look up and look ahead to what the Holy Year 2025 has in store for us. I am grateful to our staff members, ministers, councils and committees, volunteers, donors, and everyone for every gift given this amazing year.

May God bless you and all you love as we wait in joyful hope for the blessings heading our way. Mary, Queen of peace, bless our parishes, our collaborative.

Pray for us all.

Jubilee Year 2025

As the Universal Church celebrates the Jubilee Year 2025 (the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord), we support the Holy Father in this “event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church.”

Pope Francis stated in his February 2022 letter announcing the Jubilee 2025: “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision. The forthcoming Jubilee can contribute greatly to restoring a climate of hope and trust as a prelude to the renewal and rebirth that we so urgently desire…”

The Jubilee Year will offer the faithful opportunities to participate in various jubilee events at the Vatican and in their own dioceses. The great tradition of opening the Holy Door began when Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica on December 24, 2024.

Other holy doors will be opened at the Rome basilicas of St. John Lateran, St. Mary Major and St. Paul Outside the Walls. For pilgrims who cannot travel to Rome, bishops around the world are expected to designate their cathedrals or a popular Catholic shrine as special places of prayer for Holy Year pilgrims, offering opportunities for reconciliation, indulgences and other events intended to strengthen and revive faith.

-United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Jubilee Prayer from Pope Francis

Father in heaven, may the faith You have given us
in Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us
the blessed hope for the coming of
Your Kingdom.
May Your grace transform us
into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within
both humanity and the whole cosmos
in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when,
with the powers of Evil vanquished,
Your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us,
Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace
of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
To You our God, eternally blessed,
be glory and praise for ever. Amen!

Thank You !
Thank you – to all of those who took time out of their busy holiday schedules, and/or used their talents and treasure to help out
with the Christmas activities of Saint Francis de Sales Parish and
Saint Mary – Saint Catherine of Siena Parish.
To those who helped clean and decorate
our Churches for Christmas…
To those who picked up the flowers
and delivered them to our church –
For the Advent Wreaths in our Churches and chapel –
For the wreaths that are on the front doors of our Churches –
To all of you who pulled a tag from the giving trees
and/or donated a gift to someone in need.
To those who so generously donated
to Harvest on Vine food pantry
To those who helped deliver the gifts –
To all the Altar Servers, Eucharistic Ministers, Greeters, Lectors,
Musicians, Singers, and Ushers who assisted in our Liturgies –
To Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, and Santa –
To all who celebrated Christmas with us,
and those travelling who kept us in prayer.
Your generosity is a true reflection of Christ!

My dear brother and sisters:

It has been an incredible, sometimes exhausting 2024- so many changes, so many opportunities to rejoice, to grieve, to say goodbye, and say hello.

We said a powerful goodbye to Father Mahoney and saw Sr. Nancy retire, and Allison Buff and Fr. Britto said adieu as they set off to other shores and adventures. We celebrated an astonishing amount of funerals, baptisms and weddings, brought three young people through the sacraments of initiation into the loving arms of the Church, set off an amazing adventure to Italy and took a bite of the Big Apple, we marveled at the spellbinding power of actor Frank Runyeon, and were encouraged and challenged by compelling witnesses of faith, hope and love. We were, and continue to be, inspired, entertained and challenged by movies for kids and grownups, through bible studies, discussion groups, and Symbolon. There’s more to come.

I begin, as always, in gratitude for our staff, each one I have asked more and more each day, and each has responded with faith, hope and love. To James, Dianne, John, Tom, Paul, Oscar and Cynthia, Joan & Kenny and Tim – I am grateful, beyond words.

Through this year, we built a great Finance Council and now we are in the process of rebuilding our Pastoral Council. We have introduced a new committee- Worship – and we’re off to a great start. It’s hard work, but much has been accomplished already and I look forward to what the new year will bring to these and the many other groups that will come. I’ve been meeting with folks as well to build a Family Outreach group- with all the young families in this town- the potential is limitless, and I intend to bring it to bear.

We are blessed to have priests at St. Catherine’s Rectory with me who love our collaborative, and help in many ways- thank you, Frs. Tony & Mark, and our newbie, Msgr. Felix! I am very grateful for our Eucharistic Ministers, musicians, lectors, sacristans, ushers, counters, and all those who lead and assist us in the many Masses we have celebrated. Thanks to those who pitch in to make our buildings and grounds so fresh and attractive- I see and hear the changes every day- and I’m far from alone.

Our Faith Formation program has taken on new challenges, particularly our K-4 with me, and I’m thankful for our incredible teachers and their generosity- I look forward to First Communion on May 3 & 4 and Confirmation on May 10. They share the future lovingly and faithfully- we are blessed.

Through the hundreds of Masses, anointings, confessions, the rosaries and adorations, the happy and chaotic sound of children’s laughter, song and prayer, the times we gathered to give thanks to God, and even in the quiet times when we struggled, the tens of thousands of families we reached out with food, love and abiding respect through Harvest on Vine, the heart of our Collaborative, and great work of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, we’ve experienced and shared the tender, loving, strong presence of God. We grew closer all the while, and now we look up and look ahead, together- to the challenges and the opportunities that the new year will bring.

This year has brought great change for us all- a new Bishop and Archbishop- and more to come as we walk boldly to the year ahead- especially a 250th celebration to take place! Now, the time has come- it must come true, sometime soon, somehow. Our salvation comes, the most beautiful and potent power in the world- the love of a Child- our Savior. May God bless you and your family this holy Christmas season and through the New Year! Look up. Look ahead.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. John

Great ways to give!

Donate Stock

Support the Parish and save on capital gains taxes. The gift of common stock or mutual fund shares is a valuable way to make a contribution to the Parish and receive tax benefits based on the value of the stock(s). By donating the stock, the charity receives more than it would receive if you first sold the stock and then donated the proceeds after deducting capital gains taxes. Also, you receive a greater tax deduction by giving the stock directly to the charity and avoiding the capital gains tax. For more information on how to donate stock, please contact James Santosuosso, Business Manager at 617-242-4664, or JSantosuosso@charlestowncatholic.org.

Corporate Matching!

Some companies such as John Hancock, Fidelity, and many others, have “Charitable Gift” funds that will match, or partially match gifts donated to non profit organizations, which include Churches. Some parishioners are using this to match their Grand Annual Donation. If your company will match your contributions to the Parish, please consider contacting them for more information.

Thank you for your most generous support of our Parishes!

Just a reminder that if you took a tag from the Giving Tree …. .. all gifts are due by the 20th of December. You can bring them to the Parish Office 46 Winthrop Street weekdays from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

A Season of Healing and Hope

Join us for an Advent Prayer Mission
Dec. 2-4 as we prepare our hearts,
minds and souls for the coming King!
Monday 6:30 pm @ St. Mary’s Church

Advent Penance Service
Tuesday 6:30 pm @ St. Francis Church

Mass with Sacrament of Anointing
Wednesday 6:30 pm @ St. Francis Church
Joanne Grota Mercier on Hope

Ushers & Greeters Needed

Both Parishes will need Ushers and Greeters for
Christmas Masses. Please let Fr. John know if
you would like to help out.

ALL HANDS ON DECK!

Both Parishes could use some helping hands to clean the interior of the Churches for Christmas.
Saturday, December 21, 9 am—St Mary Church
2 pm—St Francis de Sales Church
Come join us for this important activity! If you can spare some time,
please let us know – 617-242-4664 or email dludy@charlestowncatholic.org

Coming soon!

The Giving Tree is up

Help us to reach out to make Christmas
happier and warmer for those in need!

The concert is free with a suggestion of donations to
Harvest on Vine Food Pantry.
The Beatrice Master Singers will bring another popular hour-long program of familiar carols and anthems in interesting arrangements, mostly by David Wilcocks and John Rutter.
An organ solo, and the congregational singing in the carol
“Deck the Halls” and the hymns “O’ Come All Ye Faithful” and
“Hark, The Herald Angels Sing,”
will once more ring in the festive season.
Come join us!

SUNDAY, DEC. 8th
IS THE FEAST OF THE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION.
This year we will celebrate the Feast on that Monday
with 9 am Mass at St. Mary Church
and 6 pm Mass at St. Francis de Sales.
It is a Holy Day of Obligation

Welcome, Monsignor!

We welcome Msgr. Felix Ojimbo to the rectory!
A native of Nigeria, he is the chaplain of Faulkner Hospital
and will be helping us out as his schedule permits.
We welcome him and look forward
to all he will share with us!

Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who came to see Cabrini!
Our next grownup movie will be Nov. 15:
Entertaining Angels, the Dorothy Day story!

When my heart finds Christmas…
On Friday, Nov. 22, we’re going to New York
City to see the incredible Radio City Music
Hall Christmas Spectacular, starring the
Rockettes! We’ll leave by motorcoach
at 7 am, attend the 2 pm show and have
a few hours to take in the Big Apple
We’ll be back by midnight!
Tickets are $225 per person.
Call Dianne at 617-242-4664-
Questions? See Fr. John!

And so, we begin…
We now begin Faith Formation classes! This
Sunday, Oct. 6, the 6 pm Mass at St. Mary’s
moves back upstairs as Confirmation prep and
Youth Group meet afterward, and on Tuesday,
Oct. 8, we start K-4 classes in the Collaborative
Center at 46 Winthrop.
Registration is at charlestowncatholic.org and
the fees remain the same as last year.
We’re looking for teachers- if you care for kids and want to
share your faith, this is a perfect time and place to help!
Please see Fr. John and help us bring
about something special!

Welcome, your Excellency!
As we welcome Bishop Richard Henning as our new
Archbishop, let’s pray that God will give him every good
gift of the Holy Spirit he will need. His installation will
take place on Thursday, Oct. 31 at the Cathedral

Thanks!
Thanks to everyone who came to see Cabrini! Our next
grownup movie will be Nov. 15: Entertaining Angels, the
Dorothy Day story! Thanks also to those who came on
Saturday to our Blessing of the Animals!

Look up. Look ahead.

Monday, Oct. 7– Men’s Discussion Group
7 pm @ St. Catherine’s Chapel

Please note!
Fr. John will be in Italy Oct. 14-24.
The Franciscans at St. Anthony’s Shrine
will help with funerals.
Mass will be suspended Tuesday, Oct. 15 & 17
& Thursday, Oct. 17 & 24.

Next Sunday October 13 we celebrate World Mental Health Day
World Mental Health Day is October 10. Join the novena on the USSCB web site from Oct. 10 and ending
Oct. 18 (feast of St. Luke). The daily texts for the novena can be found online at
https://www.usccb.org/mentalhealth.
The three primary goals of the National Campaign: (1) to raise awareness of the mental health crisis, (2) to
combat stigma surrounding the topic of mental health, and (3) to advocate for all those impacted by the crisis.
The mental health crisis is a profound challenge to the Church and to society. Catholics can respond with generosity, hope, and compassion to everyone who needs help. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
(USCCB) invites all people of good will to pray for mental health and wellness with a special nationwide novena beginning on World Mental Health Day (Oct. 10).

RESPECT FOR LIFE SUNDAY-
First Sunday in October
October is Respect for Life Month
Bishop Burbidge Calls on Catholics to Renew Commitment to Life
Chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities calls on Catholics to renew their commitment
to the legal protection of human life, to support policies and service ministries that assist mothers,
and to extend compassion to those suffering from participation in abortion.

Navigating “the Change”: A Workshop by Women for Women
Join retired OB/GYN, Dr. Patricia Jay and certified NFP instructor, Amy Dyke, to discuss how to
navigate the changes of the female body throughout perimenopause and menopause. Throughout
this virtual workshop, she will walk us through the biology and theology of our femininity and the
beauty of new beginnings that “the Change” brings us. Register at bit.ly/NavigateTheChange

Symbolon meets Monday, Sept. 23
at 7 pm at St. Catherine’s Chapel!
Bring your hearts, bring your minds, bring your souls,
bring yourselves, bring someone you love.

Please note!
Daily Mass schedule: Monday- Friday at 8 am and Saturdays & holidays at 9 am
in St. Catherine’s Chapel returns The 6 pm Sunday Mass will remain at
St. Catherine’s Chapel for the time being.

Welcome, your Excellency!

As we welcome Bishop Richard Henning as our new Archbishop, let’s pray that God will give him every good
gift of the Holy Spirit he will need. His installation will take place on Thursday, Oct. 31 at the Cathedral.

Such an easy and generous way to give!

Please consider online giving to help us pay our bills and plan for the future. Give us a call or drop us a note and we’ll walk you through the process. Thank you!

When my heart finds Christmas…

On Friday, Nov. 22, we’re going to New York City to see the incredible Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes!
We’ll leave by motorcoach at 7 am, attend the 2 pm show, and have a few hours to take in the Big Apple- we’ll be back by midnight!
Tickets are $225 per person. 16 are available for each parish- maximum of 4 tickets per family. Call Dianne at 617-242-4664- Any questions? See Fr. John!

A New Committee

Recently, our newest committee- liturgy- met for the first time, and it was a very helpful and lively conversation. We talked about Masses here at St. Mary’s and St. Francis and what’s done in other parishes
near and far, calling upon the Holy Spirit to stoke the fires of creativity for our parishes and our Collaborative ways to express our faith, hope and love for Christ!
An initiative from the group will involve the joy that October brings as we celebrate the month dedicated to the Rosary! Soon, we will announce a beautiful way for us to join our prayers for us, our Town, our city, our Church, and the world!

Catholic Appeal update

St. Francis and St. Mary- St. Catherine have both hit
over 100% of our Catholic Appeal assessments!
The Appeal helps our parishes, Collaborative and our Archdiocese! Please give and help us build the
ministries so many around us need. Go to catholicappeal.com and answer the call!

September 14/15
Today’s second collection will benefit Clergy Trust which provides programs and support to care for the health and well-being of all active and senior diocesan priests in good standing. This collection is an important source of funding for our priests, so a gift of any amount is greatly appreciated. On behalf of myself and all my brother priests who benefit from the support of Clergy Trust, thank you for your generosity.

Look up. Look ahead.

Monday, Oct. 7 Men’s Group @ 7 pm @ St. Catherine’s Chapel

Friday, Sept. 20 Family Movie Night 6:30 pm @ St. Francis Hall.

Look up. Look ahead.

Sunday, Sept. 29- Harvest on Vine
Fundraiser @ 12-2 pm @ Brewer’s Fork

Saturday, Oct. 5- Blessing of the Animals
10 am @ Blessed Mother statue across from St. Francis

Monday, Oct. 7- Men’s Discussion Group
7 pm @ St. Catherine’s Chapel

Stewardship

Let’s look ahead to how we all can get involved in our Collaborative, at St. Francis de Sales and St. Mary- St.
Catherine. Take a look at some of the ministries that will benefit from your involvement in committees:
Baptism Prep, Wedding, St. Francis Hall, Stewardship, Social, Spiritual, Family, Social Justice, and
Adult Confirmation/RCIA. Please share your talents with us!

Consider a Priestly Call…Take a risk for God! Enter the mission field where bold action meets lasting outcomes. Over 750+ priest alumni discerned a sacred call later in life. Maturity with God’s grace can move
mountains. Can you leave it all to follow Christ? Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary, Weston, MA is offering the latest in its “First Friday Visits” program on October 4th at 5:00 pm. Holy Hour and Evening Prayer. Option to attend in person or virtually. In person includes dinner with the seminarians and a tour. Virtual includes a Zoom visit following Holy Hour. Make a resolution to be courageous. Consider a priestly call. Contact: firstfriday@psjs.edu or 781.899.5500 ext.

Something special is coming MONDAY
at 7 pm at St. Catherine Chapel!
Bring your hearts, bring your minds,
bring your souls, bring yourselves,
bring someone you love.

Look up. Look ahead.
Monday, Sept. 16 Men’s Group
@ 7 pm @ St. Catherine’s Chapel

Friday, Sept. 20 Family Movie Night
6:30 pm @ St. Francis Hall.

Friday, Oct. 4 Movie Night
Cabrini @ 7 pm @ 46 Winthrop St.

Welcome, your Excellency!

As we welcome Bishop Richard Henning as our new
Archbishop, let’s pray that God will give him every good
gift of the Holy Spirit he will need. His installation will
take place on Thursday, Oct. 31 at the Cathedral.