Happy Thanksgiving!

11-20-2020Letters From Fr. BrianRev. Brian F. Manning

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Mary’s,

Last week’s letter was only a few sentences, so this week is a little bit longer with all sorts of good news and information!

This very Sunday, November 22 at 7 in the evening, the Interfaith Council of Franklin will be hosting our Annual Thanksgiving Service via ZOOM. I invite you to participate in this beautiful service of giving thanks for the many blessings and gifts that are in our lives. To be sure this is a different way for us this year to mark this moment of gratitude in our lives, but it can be a prayerful and enriching moment for us in our faith journey. Lest we forget, we need to pause and remember. As people of faith, we walk in the light of our God. So we need to see the grace, light and beauty which surround us. I am including in this email the Zoom link for you to make it as easy as possible for you to join in, pray and reflect with other members of our Parish and Town Community:

Franklin Interfaith Council - Annual Thanksgiving Service - Sun, Nov 22 at  7:00pm https://us02web.zoom.us/j/5085285348

I am most pleased to write again the announcement that starting with next Sunday - the First Sunday in Advent, November 29 aka the Sunday after Thanksgiving (technically the Church’s New Year), we will begin celebrating a NOON Mass each Sunday. Our attendance at weekend Masses continues to increase. The trending numbers of attendance suggest that we should begin the Noon Mass at that point in time. Our Mass schedule will be: Saturday 4:00pm and Sunday 7:30am, 10:30am and 12:00pm. Live Stream will be for Saturday 4:00pm and Sunday 10:30am and 12:00pm Masses.

We will also begin that weekend “announced Mass Intentions” (beginning with Saturday, 4:00pm Mass, Nov 28). We are requesting all “active” Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors and Ushers (Ambassadors of Hospitality) to return to service when they return to weekend Mass. All the Intentions since the start of COVID have been honored by Missionaries of the Propagation of the Faith Society. Please realize that it is better to email the office at secretary@stmarysfranklin.org) to arrange this. You are welcome to call 508-528-0020 ext. 11, but the COVID Office Hours are: only open 9:00am-12:00pm Mon-Thu. When we return phone calls to people, almost no one ever answers the call anymore! Thus, email is an effective means of communication. You are now welcome again to request an announced Mass Intention at these masses: 4:00pm Saturday, 7:30am & 10:30am and 12:00pm Masses on Sundays. This should work well because of the six Masses we usually only had on average four Masses with public intentions.

On the weekend of the new Mass Schedule (Nov 28/29), the First Sunday in Advent) we will be returning to the custom of praying for our beloved dead at Sunday Mass in the Prayers of the Faithful. This List will include those who have died in the past week and any request for a deceased loved one that you make for that particular weekend. This request must be made by email to secretary@stmarysfranklin.org by 12:00pm, Wednesday proceeding that weekend. If you wish for your beloved deceased to be prayed for more than that one weekend, you should place that name on the St. Mary Prayer Wall in church or on our website. If someone is ill, you should place that name on our Prayer Wall in Church or on our website Prayer Wall. At this time we will not be able to list that name in our weekend Masses’ Prayers of the Faithful.

Our dedicated Saint Vincent de Paul is asking for your special assistance in providing through our electronic Christmas Giving Tree for those who are in need. Our website will assist you with the details in how to help. Please consider your personal financial support for those who are in need. In addition, our wonderful Sacred Heart Knights of Columbus have come up with a wonderful plan to help the Saint Vincent’s with food. The Christmas Annual Stop and Shop Card Sale is taking place on our website. Your support of this greatly helps our Saint Vincent’s with food supplies during this coming winter season. Check out our website and assist the Knights in helping the Saint Vincent’s mission in caring for the needy and hungry.

Our Christmas Schedule and Plans for Masses from Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, the Sat-Sunday after Christmas (the Feast of the Holy Family), New Year’s Eve and Day (Mary, Mother of God) all the way through the Sunday of Epiphany (January 3, 2021) have been reviewed by the Parish Pastoral Council and will be soon published. Lectors, Eucharistic Ministers and Ambassadors are needed to help fill many roles during this time. Please consider if you are now attending Mass, or plan to attend during this Christmas Season, to sign up for volunteer roles at Mass. The Ministry Scheduler will be available by this weekend for you to sign up for helping.

I am most grateful to the many Parishioners who are faithfully supporting our Saint Vincent de Paul in their service to those in need. I personally appreciate all of you who support our Parish and its Holy Work by your faithful online giving, by mail or Rectory mail box. You personally are helping in keeping us afloat with our Masses, Services, Live Streaming, Zooming and all the other newer tech ways we must now purchase and employ to do the work of the Church.

We always remember we are a parish dedicated to Mary, the Mother of God, whose special Feast Day is fast approaching. We are blessed that our special patron, Saint Rocco intercedes to bring us healing and hope. Faith does not make the problems and difficulties of life disappear, but faith makes it possible for us to carry them with strength, courage and peace of heart.

God bless,
Father Brian

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