Dec 25 08.pub - St. John the Baptist Parish

Dec 25 08.pub - St. John the Baptist Parish

CHRISTMAS
2008
St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
Parish Directory
Guía Parroquial
We welcome all who seek to know,
love and serve God in the Roman
Catholic Church. We invite you to
come and join us in worship,
learning, and building our
community of faith.
Les damos Ia bienvenida a todos los
que buscan conocer, amar y servir a
Dios en Ia lglesia Católica. Los invitamos a que asistan a la Santa misa
y a construír nuestra comunidad
de fé.
Parish Staff
Pastor
Párroco
Parochial Vicar
Vicario Parroquial
Senior Priest in Residence
Sacerdote Jubilado
Parochial Vicar
†
Rev. John E. Maclnnis
978-531-0002
Rev. Paul F. Coughlin
978-531-0002
Rev. Francis O’Sullivan
978-531-0002
Parish Staff
Spanish Religious Ed.
Catequesis Grados K-8
(en Español)
Deacon Valentín Rivera
978-531-0002
Director of Music/
Organist
Mr. Patrick Abraham
Office: 978-826-7523
Home: 978-681-0412
Parish Secretaries
Deacon
Diácono
Rev. Carlos M. Gomez
978-826-7541
Deacon Leo Martin
978-826-7515
Deacon
Diácono
Deacon Valentín Rivera
978-531-0002
Property Manager
Director of Religious
Education
Mr. John Stueve
978-531-0002
Mrs. Karen Hinton
978-532-1586
Business Office
Brooksby Village
Pastoral Assistant
Sr. Nancy Rowen, S.N.D.
978-536-7808
Ext.7047
Mrs. Betty Armstrong
Mrs. Lisa Gagliano (School)
978-826-7502
(Spanish Only)
Secretarias Parroquiales
Mrs. Alice Caron
Mrs. Mary Latorella
Mrs. Jane Richard
978-826-7544
Fax: 978-531-5199
Saint John School
Principal—Directora
Phone: 978-531-0444
Parish Office Hours:
Ms. Maureen Kelleher
Fax: 978-531-3569
Monday – Friday, 9 A.M. - 5 P.M.
or by appointment
Parish Pastoral Council
Phone: 978-531-0002
Fax: 978-531-5199
17 Chestnut Street, Peabody, MA 01960
Parish Email: [email protected]
For parish information and bulletins go to:
http://www.stjohnspeabody.com
Rev. John MacInnis
Rev. Paul Coughlin
Deacon Leo Martin
Deacon Valentín Rivera
Lenny Pienta, Vice Chair
Mike Bettano
Joanne Eagar
Ministerio Hispano
Rev. John E. Maclnnis
Rev. Carlos M. Gómez
Diácono Valentín Rivera
978-531-0002
978-826-7541
978-531-0002
Rich Gagnon
Gloria Gutierrez
Asilis Mejia
Margarita Merced
Thomas Serino
Eleanor Sumner
Rick DeSanctis
Parish Finance Council
Rev. John MacInnis
Louis Chinappi
Maureen Chiu
Robert Hinton
Henry Labrecque
Horario del Centro Parroquial
Lunes – Viernes, 9 A.M.. – 5 P.M.
Para una cita llame al 978-531-0002
2
Peter McGinn
John Slattery
Brent Wilkinson
Eileen Zoldak
John Regan
St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
A Blessed and Joyous Christmas
to all our parishioners
and all who worship with us today!
From the clergy and staff of Saint John the Baptist Parish.
Christmas is celebrated in a variety of ways around our parish and around the
world. All of us have particular traditions that remind us of Christmas past or
present. This year I asked four of our parishioners to tell us what they do - or
have done - that sheds some personal light on this holy season. Pauline Brennan
describes her collection of Christmas mangers. Charlie Lawrence writes about
preparing toys for children in need. Margarita Merced takes us to Christmas in
Puerto Rico, and Netty Lyons recalls what happens in Peru. Let me start with a
tradition I discovered many years ago.
The Legend of La Befana
In the United States we would never confuse Santa
Claus with a witch. But when I was living in
Rome, Italy as a young seminarian I learned about
the strange legend of La Befana. We all know
about the three Magi who left their country to bring
gifts to the newborn king, Jesus. Well, as they
passed through various countries people ran to
meet them and join them on their journey. One old
woman welcomed them to her home and wanted to
join them but changed her mind and stayed at
home. She felt sad the next day and tried to reach
the Magi, but they had gone too far. And so the old
woman never met the Christ child. Ever since,
however, she goes out and visits every house to
give the good children all the gifts she didn't give
to the Holy Child. She flies on an old broom with a
big canvas sack on her shoulders. She travels on
the night between the 5th and the 6th January, the
night she failed to follow the Magi and the star.
Befana got her name from this eve of the feast of
Epiphany – Epifania in Italian - the day of gift
giving in many countries of the world.
Three “Befanas” in Italy
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St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
Nativity Sets and Crèches
My fascination began with nativity sets and crèches
started in grammar school at St. John’s. I still have
three that were given out at Christmas time. I now
have approximately 175 collected from all over the
world made in every size, shape, and material
imaginable.
This year’s additions are one made from the
maobab tree in Madagascar, one from Portugal,
Russia, St. Marten, and Aruba, and another made
from acorns.
This year my ceramic set which took 5 years to
make will be used at the 4:00pm Mass in the
school gym on Christmas Eve.
-Pauline Brennan
From her collection of mangers, Pauline
Brennan will lend this handmade crèche
for Christmas Mass in the school .
Christmas in Puerto Rico
In Puerto Rico the celebration of Christmas lasts
longer than anywhere else in the world. Like the
rest of the world, the most important times are
Christmas Eve (the “Good Night”) and Christmas
Day, New Year’s Eve and Day, and the Feast of
the Three Holy Kings. But in Puerto Rico we
have something further, called the eight days and
octave. These are two weeks of continuous celebration when families enjoy las parrandas –
times for going house to house caroling and enjoying typical Puerto Rican foods. I remember
my mother decorating the Christmas tree which
adorned the patio, not inside the house. The
whole family went to midnight Mass and celebrated the arrival of the Baby Jesus. We did not
receive gifts at Christmas but on January 6, the
feast of the Three Kings. It does not matter which
country you come from or different traditions;
what matters is how we are going to receive Jesus and how we prepare for his coming!
Margarita Merced and her
daughter at Christmas.
Margarita Merced
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St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
San Vicente de Pablo
Each year the Society of St. Vincent de Paul carries out its
Christmas program of providing gifts to the children of St.
John's Parish and beyond.
A signup book is made available at the Parish Center
where the parents are invited to come in and complete a
registration form which allows them to list each child's
gender and age. This assists the SVDP volunteers to
choose and bag the proper gift(s) for each child registered, which are then picked up later at the Parish Center
on a prescribed date and time indicated on the registration
form.
The gifts are provided to the Society of St. Vincent de
Paul mainly by the Essex County Toys for Tots program
Charlie Lawrence, Ruth Louf, and Bob Quinn
operated by the Marine Corps Detachment League, the
Toys for Needy Families with Children program operated by the Peabody Police Department, handmade articles of
clothing prepared by residents of The Peabody House and other contributions from organizations and parishioners.
I personally feel that I and my fellow volunteers are doing God's charitable work and fulfilling our obligation
as Messengers of Peace and Goodwill, especially during this time of remembrance of the birth of Christ, our Savior,
and remembering Mary, His Mother. May God shower us all with His Holy blessings during this Christmas season.
~Charlie Lawrence
CHRISTMAS IN PERU
My name is Netty Lyons and I was born in Chiclayo, Peru, S. A. a city on the Northern Pacific Coast of
Peru, a country which is 90% Catholic.
I have very fond memories of my childhood and growing up as we celebrated Christmas. The most important day for us was Dec. 24th, Christmas Eve or “Nochebuena,” not December 25th, Christmas Day. I
don’t remember seeing so many Christmas trees like here, but I do remember how most families took
great pride in the nativity sets in their
homes. They consisted of the Virgin Mary, Joseph, and the baby
Jesus. Everyone used their own talents to make a stable, house
or crèche, to accommodate the Holy Family. Ours was made of
hard cardboard, simulating a rugged cave and had figures of
shepherds and their animals.
In the days before Christmas day, you could hear everywhere
Christmas songs and hymns about the baby Jesus and his holy
family. Then we all attended Christmas Eve midnight Mass
called Misa del Gallo. After Mass, we returned home to exchange very simple but meaningful gifts and hugs with family
and close friends. Then we would all sit down to enjoy traditional Christmas foods which included “panettone,” hot chocolate, tamales, roast meat or chicken and special sweets and
candies.
We did not have the distraction of frantic shopping and buying
of many gifts in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas.
For us Christmas was always a very religious celebration.
The nativity scene at Netty’s home in Peru
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St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
Schedule for Mass & Sacraments
Herminia Pereira Pinto
Please join us often!
Sunday Masses:
Saturday, 4:00 PM
Sunday, 8:00AM, 10:00AM, 11:30AM (Spanish), 5:00 PM
Weekday Masses:
Monday – Saturday, 6:45 AM
Reconciliation:
Saturdays, 3:00 – 3:30 PM
December 31, 2008
Domingos (Spanish): 10:45 AM; Viernes: 6:00pm
=
MONDAY
6:45 AM
December 29, 2008
TUESDAY
6:45 AM
WEDNESDAY
6:45AM
THURSDAY
December 30, 2008
HOLY DAY
Solemnity of Mary,
Mother of God
10AM
FRIDAY
6:45 AM
SATURDAY
6:45AM
Rosa Gomes &
Manuel d’ Arnajo
Baptisms for Children:
2nd Sunday of Month, 2:30 PM
Call parish to register for Baptism.
Personal Intention
January 1, 2009
Bautizos en Español ver pagina 9.
Adult Baptism and Confirmation
Call to prepare for these sacraments.
Marriage:
Call to arrange at least 6 months ahead.
January 2, 2009
Jeff Paul (7th Anniversary)
January 3, 2009
Thanksgiving to Our Lady of
Immaculate Conception
THIS WEEK AT SAINT JOHN’S
~Rest in Peace~
For details please call 978-531-0002
Our parish calendar can now be viewed
online. Visit our website for more
information about events listed below.
Please remember in your prayers the repose of the
soul of Patricia Harris whose funeral Mass was
celebrated in our parish. May she and all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in
peace, Amen.
Memorial Gifts for the Eucharist
This weekend the gifts of Bread & Wine are
donated in memory of Delores Carter by her loving family.
The Sacramental Candles are donated in memory
of Delores Carter by her loving family.
Sun.
Dec. 28
Feast of the Holy Family
9-11am Sp. Music Practice
12:30-2pm Sp. Altar Servers
Mon.
Dec. 29
7-9pm Rosary Prayer Group
with Adoration & Benediction
Tues. Dec. 30
6-7pm English Lessons
Wed.
7-9pm Choir/Cantor Practice
Dec. 31
Thurs. Jan. 1
HOLY DAY
Scripture for the week of December 28, 2008
28
29
30
31
1
2
3
4
SUN
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
SUN
Sir 3:2-7, 12-14 or Gn 15:1-6; 21:1-3
/Col 3:12-21 or 3:12-17 or Hb 11:8,
11-12, 17-19 /Lk 2:22-40 or 2:22, 3940
1 Jn 2:3-11/Lk 2:22-35
1 Jn 2:12-17/Lk 2:36-40
1 Jn 2:18-21/Jn 1:1-18
Nm 6:22-27/Gal 4:4-7/Lk 2:16-21
1 Jn 2:22-28/Jn 1:19-28
1 Jn 2:29—3:6/Jn 1:29-34
Is 60:1-6/Eph 3:2-3a, 5-6/Mt 2:1-12
6
Fri.
Jan. 2
Sat.
Jan. 3
5:45-6:45am Liturgy of the
Hours~Magis Christi
10am Mass-Feast of Mary
Mother of God
11am Parish New Year
Reception at the Rectory
3-4pm Bible Players Dress
Rehearsal
7:00pm Spanish Mass
7:30 Spanish Prayer Group
Music Practice
7:15am First Sat. Devotion
3-3:30pm Confession
7-9pm Spanish Prayer Group
St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
Una bendita y feliz Navidad a
todos nuestros feligreses y todos los
que adoran con nosotros hoy!
Desde el clero y el personal de la Parroquia San Juan Bautista.
Navidad se celebra en una variedad de formas en torno a nuestra parroquia y
en todo el mundo. Todos nosotros tenemos particulares tradiciones que nos recuerdan de la Navidad pasada o presente. Este año he pedido cuatro de nuestros
feligreses que nos digan lo que hacen - o lo han hecho - que arroja cierta luz personal sobre esta temporada santa. Pauline Brennan describe su colección de pesebres de Navidad. Charlie Lawrence escribe sobre la preparación de los juguetes
para los niños necesitados. Margarita Merced nos lleva a la Navidad en Puerto
Rico, y Netty Lyon recuerda lo que sucede en el Perú. Permítanme empezar con
una tradición que descubrí hace muchos años.
La Legenda de La Befana
En los Estados Unidos nunca confundir una bruja
con Santa Claus. Pero cuando yo estaba viviendo
en Roma, Italia, aprendí de un joven seminarista
acerca de la extraña leyenda de la Befana. Todos
sabemos acerca de los tres Reyes Magos que salieron de su país para llevar regalos al recién nacido
rey, Jesús. Mientras pasaban por distintos países la
gente corrían a reunirse y a unirse con ellos en su
viaje. Una anciana los acogió en su casa y quería
reunirse con ellos, pero cambio de mente y se quedó en su casa. Se sentía triste al día siguiente y trató de unirse a los Reyes Magos, pero ellos se habían ido demasiado lejos. Y por lo cual la anciana
nunca se reunió con el niño Cristo. Desde entonces,
sin embargo, ella va y visita a cada casa para dar a
los buenos niños todos los regalos que ella no dio
al Santo Niño. Ella vuela sobre una escoba vieja
con un gran saco de lona sobre sus hombros. Ella
viaja en la noche entre el 5 y el 6 º de enero, la noche que no siguió a los Reyes Magos y la estrella.
Befana obtuvo su nombre de la víspera de la fiesta
de la Epifanía - Epifanía en italiano - el día de regalos en muchos países del mundo.
Tres“Befanas” en Italia
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St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
Natividad colección de Pesebres
Mi fascinación comenzó con la colección de pesebres del nacimiento que comenzó en la escuela
primaria en St John's. Todavía tengo tres que se
dieron en tiempo de Navidad. Ahora tengo
aproximadamente 175 recogidos de todas partes
del mundo hechos de diferente tamaño, forma, y
materiales imaginables.
Este año, las adiciones de mi colección son
hechas del árbol de maobab en Madagascar, de
Portugal, Rusia, Santa Marta, y Aruba, y otro a
partir de bellotas.
Este año mi colección de cerámica que se tomo 5
años para hacerlos se utilizarán en la Misa de las
4:00 pm en el gimnasio de la escuela el día de
Nochebuena.
-Pauline Brennan
De le colección del pesebre de Pauline
Brennan estná en la misia en el ginasio
NAVIDAD en Puerto Rico.
En Puerto Rico las fiestas Navideñas duran más que
en cualquier parte del mundo. Los días más importantes durante estas fiestas al igual que en otros países
del mundo son: Noche Buena, Navidad, despedida de
año, El Año Nuevo y los Tres Santos Reyes. Pero en
Puerto Rico tenemos algo adicional al resto del mundo: tenemos las octavas y las octavitas. Estas son dos
semanas de continua celebración después de la fiesta
de los reyes magos. Donde las familias disfrutan de
parrandas o asaltos navideños, donde van casa por
casa cantando villancicos, aguinaldos y disfrutando de
platos típicos Puertorriqueños. Recuerdo mi madre
adornando la casa y el albor de Navidad, el cual se
adornaba en el patio y no dentro de la casa. Para la
Noche Buena toda la familia asistía a la santa misa y
luego a celebrar a esperar a llegada del Niño Jesús.
En ese tiempo no recibíamos regalos en la Navidad;
los recibíamos en la fiesta de Reyes que se celebra el
6 de Enero. No importa de que país vengas, o cuan
diferentes sean las tradiciones; lo que importa es como vamos a recibir a Jesús y como nos hemos preparado para su llegada.
Margarita Merced y su
Hija en Navidad.
Margarita Merced
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St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
St. Vincent de Paul
Cada año, la Sociedad de San Vicente de Paul lleva a cabo
su programa de Navidad que da regalos a los niños de San
Juan de la Parroquia y a otros fuera de la parroquia .
Un libro de registro está disponible en el Centro Parroquial,
donde los padres están invitados a venir y completar un
formulario de registro que les permite apuntar en la lista a
cada niño incluyendo su sexo y edad. Esto ayuda a los voluntarios para elegir y preparar un buen regalo para cada
niño matriculado, que luego pueden recoger más tarde en
el Centro de la Parroquia en la fecha y hora indicada en el
formulario de inscripción.
Los regalos son donados por la Sociedad de San Vicente
de Paúl, principalmente por el Essex County Toys prograCharlie Lawrence, Ruth Louf, and Bob Quinn
ma de regalos que es dirigido por el Cuerpo de Marines de
la Liga de Destacamento, de Juguetes para familias necesitadas con niños por el Departamento de Policía de Peabody, prendas y ropa preparadas a mano en la casa por los residentes de Peabody y otras contribuciones de organizaciones y feligreses.
Personalmente, creo que mis colegas y yo estamos haciendo voluntariamente la labor de Dios y el cumplimiento de
nuestra obligación como Mensajeros de la paz y la buena voluntad, especialmente durante esta época del recuerdo
del nacimiento de Cristo, nuestro Salvador, y recordando a María, su madre. Que Dios nos llene a todos nosotros
con su Santa bendiciones durante esta temporada de Navidad.
-Charlie Lawrence
NAVIDAD EN PERU
Mi nombre es Netty Lyon y nací en Chiclayo, Perú, SA, una ciudad en el norte de la Costa del Pacífico de
Perú, un país que es 90% católico.
Tengo muy buenos recuerdos de mi infancia y crecimiento como celebramos la Navidad. El día más importante para nosotros era el 24 de diciembre, la víspera de Navidad o "Nochebuena", no el 25 de diciembre, Día de Navidad. No recuerdo ver tantos árboles de Navidad aquí, pero yo sí recuerdo cómo la mayoría de las familias tenían gran orgullo en
sus conjuntos (sets) de la Natividad en sus hogares. Que consistía en la Virgen María, José, y el bebé Jesús. Todo el mundo
utiliza sus propios talentos para hacer sus establos, casa o
guardería, para dar cabida a la Sagrada Familia. La nuestra se
hizo de duro cartón, simulando una cueva accidentada y había
figuras de pastores y sus animales.
En los días antes de Navidad, usted puede escuchar todas las
canciones de Navidad y de himnos sobre el bebé Jesús y su
sagrada familia. Entonces todos asistían a la misa de la medianoche víspera de Navidad misa llamada del Gallo. Después de
misa, regresamos a la casa para el cambio de regalos muy simples pero significantes y abrazos con familiares y amigos cercanos. Entonces nos sentamos todos a disfrutar de los alimentos
tradicionales de Navidad que incluía "panetones", chocolate
caliente, tamales, asado de carne o pollo y el extraordinario de
dulces y caramelos.
La natividad en la casa de Netty’s en Peru
No teníamos la distracción frenética de compras y compra de
muchos regalos en los días y las semanas previas a la Navidad.
Para nosotros la Navidad es siempre una celebración muy religiosa.
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St. John the Baptist
Christmas 2008
Welcome Home for Christmas!
A warm welcome to all who are joining our parish
family for the first time (or coming back after being
gone a long time). Whatever your reason for staying away, and no matter how much time has gone
by, an open door and warm welcome await your
return to your Church. No need to be afraid, we
welcome you back. God never stops loving and
wanting you. You are important to Him and you
are important to us. Now is a good time to come
home to Him. Come and talk, and take your rightful place at His table. You are invited to join us
again in the new year. See our schedule below…
Thanks for Making our
Christmas Fair a Success
A big thank you for everyone who
planned, set-up, worked, shopped,
played, and ate at the Christmas
Fair! We had an overflow of happy kids
and shoppers with no empty parking
spaces in the lot! Special thanks to the
PTO for their expanded Children's
Corner and Santa's photo area, and for
the new raffle table of gift certificates
which was tremendously successful in
raising needed funds for the parish
and providing people with a lot of
fun...and practical prizes!
Christmas
Christmas Eve Masses: Wednesday, Dec. 24:
4pm (upper church), 4pm (school gym)
Come early!
Late Evening Mass: Wednesday, Dec. 24: 11pm
(upper church - bilingual)
Another note of thanks on behalf of the
charities that were represented for the
first time at our social justice tables:
Unicef, Macro Beads and Nidia's
house. Your kind and generous support of those in need inside and outside
of our parish honor our Catholic social
teachings.
Christmas Day Mass: Thursday, Dec. 25:
10am (upper church)
Note: One Mass only on Christmas day.
Feast of the Holy Family, Sunday, Dec. 28.
Saturday and Sunday Masses at usual times.
2009
We could not have made this happen
without the contribution of the planning
committee, school & parish staff, the
kitchen & church table coordinators &
their volunteers, the R.E. kids
the knights, the donators, charities, vendors and, above all, all the parishioners
and parents who came to support our
efforts and those of our parish, both
financially and in fellowship.
New Years Day, Thursday, Jan. 1, is a Holy Day of
Obligation; Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.
Their will be one Mass at 10am (bilingual, upper
church), all parishioners are invited to a reception following at the rectory.
Epiphany, Sunday, Jan. 4. Saturday and Sunday
Masses at usual times with children’s pageant at the
10am Mass.
Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 11. Saturday and Sunday
Masses at usual times. Welcome to all the newly
baptized at 10am Mass.
Now, as we look back on how it went,
we are also looking forward to next
year. Many people have already offered to help again, have thought of
new ideas for next year, and would be
willing to come to a meeting about forming a new planning committee for next
year's Fair. If you would be interested,
please email Debbie at
[email protected]. Also, if you
helped at the Fair but did not sign-in on
one of the volunteer info sheets, please
email your name, address, phone # and
email address so we can add you to our
volunteer list and thank you!
FOOD PANTRY
The St. Vincent de Paul Society
will be opening its food pantry in
the basement of the Parish Center on the last Sunday of every
month starting Dec. 28. The
pantry hours are 9:30am to
1:00pm. Contributions to the food pantry are always welcomed. For more information call John
or Lorraine Adams (978-532-2898).
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