Christian Community

Happy Sunday, and Feast of Saint Edward!  Here’s a pre-blog-post challenge: try reading Romans 12 right now….  it's pretty short, you can do it!

Coffee hour was a wonderful time of fellowship this morning, and thanks to Father Graham for joining us, too! A number of people commented to me on (1) both their gratefulness for coffee hour (I reply: thanks TO YOU!), and (2) how well our protestant friends have mastered the concept of Christian fellowship… something that Catholics are still working on.

This is true! And who doesn’t need Christian fellowship? In our fast-paced lives which zip in and out of the secular world, it can be easy to lose focus on our Christian vocations, unless we have faithful friends to call us back to a prayer life with God.

In this respect, Christian fellowship can serve two great purposes:

1. Evangelizing via community and security: Much like a family who supports, forgives, and patiently allows for mistakes, discernment, and growth – a sincere Christian community can provide this necessity within our faith lives. A Christian fellowship should have an element of security which recognizes the sinful nature of man, yet welcomes each new member with grace and dignity. Knowing that we are loved regardless of our mistakes is important in coming to love the Lord. In line with Pope Francis’ recent challenges to Catholics, our Christian communities should be more concerned with recognizing each person as a sinner coming to Christ, and not concerned with just exactly which sins each individual struggles. The strength and security of a good Christian fellowship can provide this loving direction without the innate insecurities of a “Pharisee.”  It is in offering others this type of love that the Holy Spirit can call people to a higher dignity, true self-sacrifice, and sincere moral choices.

2. Challenge via example and prayer: In a healthy and diverse Christian community, we may also see many different examples of ways in which one can find Christ, draw closer to Him, create various devotions of prayer and study, and embody Christian life in daily life. We each see different models that speak to our hearts. We each need different challenges at different times our lives of faith.  A secure Christian community can recognize and provide these different models for Christian life within the various gifts of its members. Faith is both an act and a journey: and we can each find encouragement on our individual journeys via others in a Christian community.

“May the Lord always be with you, and may you always be with Him.”

-from the Blessing of Saint Clare-

Need more inspiration? See the great article on pages 13-17 of Franciscan Way Magazine, about 11 ways to build Christian community.

Catholic Reading Wednesday

With many thanks to our awesome curator, Karen Celano, you can delve into a faith-related news article each Wednesday! Karen writes:

Eighty percent of religious violence throughout the world is directed at Christians, making Christians the most persecuted religious group on earth, but you'll never hear those statistics from American secular media.  There are probably many reasons for the media's neglect of this issue, but what's more striking is that most American Christians are unaware of these facts as well.

I find this news humbling and challenging.  It's humbling to realize that the challenges we Christians in the U.S. face are absolutely nothing compared to what Christians endure in places like Syria or Pakistan.  It is also challenging to understand that we, as privileged American Christians, have an obligation to consider how our our country's foreign policy is affecting our Christian brothers and sisters in other nations.  I think we also need to ask ourselves if our self-centered political squabbling is blinding us to the suffering of our Christian family throughout the world.  How can we as Christians bring attention to this issue when we see our fellow members of Christ's Body in such desperate need?

Of course, one way to defend the principle of religious freedom throughout the world is to fight for its protection here in the United States.  But the recent government shutdown has thrown light on how shaky the ideal of religious freedom can be when a country is in political turmoil, as during the shutdown Catholic military chaplains risked arrest for saying Mass on military bases.  Such a threat is a blatant violation both of the rights of priests to fulfill their religious obligation to say Mass, and the rights of Catholic servicemen and women to worship freely.  This episode reveals that the U.S. is not immune to the political dynamics that occur in the rest of the world: where there is economic tension and political disarray, religious freedom is rapidly threatened.  Let us then pray for wisdom in our nation and peace in the world, for the sake of our Christian family both at home and abroad.

Weekly Digest

Welcome everyone!
This week at the parish:

• Tuesday - Saint Agnes Playgroup (10:30 am), Choir Practice and Fatima Apostolate (7 pm)
• Wednesday - Bereavement Meeting (7 pm)
• Friday - Prep for Boston Sock Exchange (7 pm)
• Saturday - Virtus Training (9:30 am), Boston Sock Exchange (11 am), Arlington Rosary for America (noon)
• Sunday - Knights of Columbus to collect donations for children with disabilities at all Masses.  Support their tootsie roll drive by bringing your donation along!

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Now that we are in summer mode, we will be holding Tuesday playgroups outdoors at nearby parks. To print a written schedule of our summer playgroup locations, please click here. To see a map of our summer park schedule, please click here.

This Tuesday, October 8th, we will meet at Magnolia Playground (36 Herbert Rd., Arlington) at 10:30 am.  This park has a some play structures, sand to dig in, a sidewalk for bikes, as well as a large field good for kites or soccer balls.  It is located RIGHT ON the bikepath, too!  Bring a lunch and join us!

**NOTE THAT our outdoor summer schedule is highly dependent on good weather. If the weather seems questionable, please check your email or the blog page before you leave for playgroup. In case of rain, our usual rain location will be at Fidelity House, 25 Medford St., Arlington. Thanks!**

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This Saturday, October 12th is the Boston Sock Exchange at 11:00 am! This ministry helps the homeless men and women of Boston, by distributing gifts of sandwiches and clothes near the Park Street T-Stop on the second Saturday of the month. Prep and packaging for the day is held in the parish center on Friday night, October 11th at 7:00 pm. Help and/or donations is a wonderful way to put your faith in action!  For more information, see the calendar to the right, or email Jennifer Hermanski at jennifer.hermanski [at] gmail.com.  The Boston Sock Exchange is currently in need of lots of SOCKS, baseball caps, tote bags, long sleeve shirts, jackets, umbrellas, and ponchos.  Thank you! 

"Here is what we seek: a compassion that can stand in awe of what the poor have

to carry, rather than stand in judgement of how they carry it." Fr. Gregory Boyle, SJ

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Virtus Training
Do you volunteer in the parish? Volunteers are required to attend a training program as part of our efforts to protect our children. The Parish Child Abuse Prevention Team has scheduled a training session this Saturday, October 12th from 9:30-11:30 am.  Please register by calling the Religious Education Office at 781-646-5579.

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Arlington Rosary for America

Join us in a public outdoor Rosary for the conversion of America and world peace through the 

intercessions of Our Lady of Fatima on Saturday, October 12 at 12:00 Noon in front of Arlington Town Hall. Last year over 9,000 rallies took place across America for this intention. This year marks the 96th anniversary of the miracle of the sun, which was witnessed by an estimated 70,000 people at noon in Fatima, Portugal on October 13, 1917. Folding chairs encouraged; some on-street parking available. For more information, contact Ginny Giurleo at 781-646-3958.

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Fall Clothing Drive - Saint Vincent DePaul Society
Do you have clothes which your children have outgrown, or which you no longer wear?  Would you like to see them be used for something meaningful and helpful?  Save them and bring them to the Fall Clothing Drive AT CHURCH, on the weekend of October 26-27th.

Representatives will be in the front of the Church to receive donations. Warm clothes, new socks, new underwear and toiletries are needed. Thank you for your generosity. May our tender God bless you, keep you and fill you with His abundant love. 

Jesus told His disciples, “When you have done all you have been commanded, say: We are unprofitable servants; we have only done what we were obliged to do”. Please help the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul to bring the love and mercy of Jesus to those who feel left out and abandoned, for indeed we are only doing “what we are obliged to do".

Catholic Reading Wednesday

With many thanks to our awesome curator, Karen Celano, you can delve into a faith-related news article each Wednesday! Karen writes:

Therese's Little Way and the Little Sisters of the Poor

After joining the convent at age 15, she lived an obscure, uneventful life as a cloistered Carmelite nun.  Nine years later, she died of tuberculosis.  Yet Pope Pius X, himself a great saint, called her the "greatest saint of modern times." Mother Teresa chose her religious name after her, and Pope John Paul II, who himself will be canonized in April, declared her a Doctor of the Church alongside St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Catherine of Siena.  On October 1, the worldwide Church celebrated her feast day.  

She was, of course, St. Therese of Lisieux, one of the Church's most beloved saints.  Her simple spirituality was built on the idea of approaching Jesus like a child - full of hope, love, and faithful trust.  Her writing is devoid of erudition, but full of wisdom.  And she teaches us that acts of heroic and saintly courage can be performed in the midst of everyday life.

In our own community, the Little Sisters of the Poor are living out such saintly heroism in their small acts of caring for the impoverished elderly.  Yet their ministry is being threatened by the demand that they comply with the HHS mandate to provide insurance coverage for contraception and abortion for their employees.  Currently, despite their order's poverty, they are engaged in a class-action lawsuit hoping to earn an exemption from the mandate.  When Catholic sisters are forced to choose between either violating the moral teachings of the Church or sacrificing their holy calling to serve the poor and needy, it's difficult to see how their religious freedom is being protected.  

Please pray to St. Therese on behalf of the Little Sisters of the Poor who are living out her "little way," and please consider how you can help support the Little Sisters' ministries and vocation.

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Parish Social this Saturday

Don't forget: this Saturday is the Saint Agnes Parish Social!  We will have games for the kids, cards for the adults, trivia with Fr. Graham, ministry information, and ice cream!  Come to enjoy a fun time and reach out to others in our parish.  If you plan to attend, or you are able to volunteer any type of help, please use the form on the right.  Marianne Hudelson, the Outreach Coordinator will contact you shortly.  Thank you!