28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
The junior year religion teacher asked her class to do an experiment. Within a week, the students were to say ‘thank you’ at least 8 times a day and it had to be genuine. They were told to focus on how their thanks changed others—family members, friends and even strangers. Little did they anticipate that it would really change them. Almost to a person, they reported feeling more appreciative of others, realizing how fortunate they were, how kind other people could be, and how much they were motivated to do nice things for others. Giving thanks made them better people.
The word Eucharist means to give thanks and we claim to be a Eucharistic people. Not only do we receive the Body of Christ, and we are the Body of Christ, but we also should do what we say we are—give thanks. By doing so, we are changed. We become more aware of the Presence of God in our lives, the graces and blessings He offers us, and the ways in which we can express our faith by the way we live, act and speak. If giving thanks makes people better, Eucharistic thanks can make people holier. Isn’t that our goal? We want to be one with God, satisfied in our hunger for the spiritual, the holy, and the sacred. Let us do what we are meant to do, and be who we claim to be. Pray, believe, and act as Jesus taught. But most of all, let us give thanks.
~James Gaffney, © 2010 Karides Lic. to Pilot Bulletins
Annual Wedding Anniversary Mass (10/26)
All couples celebrating their 10th, 25th, or 50th wedding anniversaries or another special milestone are invited to a celebratory Mass on Sunday, Oct. 26th at 3:00 PM at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross, Boston. Couples will renew their marriage commitment and receive a special blessing. Family and friends are invited to attend. To register, visit https://bit.ly/WeddingAnniversaryMass2025.
For more info, please email Emily Elliott at marriageprep@rcab.org or call 617-746-5756.
Project Rachel Post-Abortion Healing Retreats (10/18)
Are you –or someone you know –seeking peace after an abortion? The Project Rachel ministry of the Archdiocese of Boston extends a special invitation to women experiencing regret from a past abortion to attend a Come to the Waters of Healing one-day retreat on Saturday, October 18. Locations are confidential. For more information on the retreats or other services, contact Project Rachel at 508.651.3100 or help@projectrachelboston.com
Is God Calling You –or Someone You Know –to be a Deacon? (through 10/28)
The Archdiocese of Boston is beginning its Fall 2025 Inquirer Program for men interested in becoming deacons with meetings across the Archdiocese. For more information, please go to
https://bit.ly/BostonDeacon2025
If your family will attend a scheduled Mass and would like to bring up the gifts,
please let us know before the Mass.
— Side Altar—
St Mary Church
October 16
Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, (1647 – 1690) a French Visitation nun and mystic is known as the “Apostle of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus”. She is known for promoting devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus through her mystical visions of Christ’s heart. She is the patron saint of devotees of the Sacred Heart, as well as those suffering from polio and the loss of parents.
Jesus’ main message to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was a desire for His Sacred Heart to be honored and loved, with promises of abundant graces, peace, and refuge for those devoted to it. Key words included: “I have a burning thirst to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament” and the promise that his heart would “dilate to pour out abundantly the influences of its love”.
He also requested practices like the First Friday Devotion and the Holy Hour, and asked that a Feast of the Sacred Heart be instituted.
One hundred and seventy-four years later her body was exhumed as part the beatification process. Her head was completely intact.
Saint Margaret Mary’s bones are kept in a wax figurine on display at the Visitation Monastery in Paray-le-Monial, France. Her incorrupt heart is kept in a reliquary inside the cloister, away from public view. Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque was canonized by Pope Benedict XV on May 13, 1920.