Welcome to Saint Theresa Parish
|
Church Hours
This week--
The church hours: Saturday, 4/4: 8-9 am, 4-5 pm Palm Sunday, 4/5: 8-9 am, 11:30 am-12:30 pm, 4-5 pm Mon-Wed, 4/6-8: 8-9am, 4-5pm Thu-Sat, 4/9-11: closed Easter Sunday: 8-9 am, 11-12pm Use Rectory door. Maximum of 10 people at a time. |
|
|
Please call the Parish Office (978-664-3412) if you need to make an appointment for Confession or Anointing of the Sick. If you want to be added to our parish email list, please send name and email to info@sttheresanreading.org. Please pray for the deceased, the sick, and the vulnerable workers of the parish whose names are on our Prayer Page.
|
|
|
Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
|
Bishop Mark's
Message for Children 4/09/2020 
|
Please donate to St. Theresa Parish!
Click below to go to the parish online giving website. You can register for an account to make recurring donations, or you can make a one-time donation through Quick Give. Under payment type, you can choose either Bank Account or Credit Card. Thank you for your generosity! |
|
Brenda Terranova – for April 10, 2020
(Readings: Is 52:13-53:12/Heb 4:14-16;5:7-9/Jn 18:1-19:42) Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion |
Perfect Love
If you work a lot with children, the question will come up over and over, “Why did Jesus have to die? If he is God, why didn’t he save himself?” What good and insightful questions our young people have!
What I tell the children is that the reason Jesus had to die has to do with his unique position as both fully God and fully human. As fully God, yes, Jesus could have saved himself. He could have done whatever He wanted. However, as fully human, the only way for Jesus to show complete and utter trust in God the Father was total abandonment of himself to his Father’s will, and dying is the only way that a human can fully give him or herself. As Saint John reminds us, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).
Through the examples of Jesus and his mother Mary, God calls each one of us to surrender our lives to His holy will. We see the complete fulfillment of this in the lives of the martyrs. We have St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was in a concentration camp during World War II. When the guard came to choose men to die, Fr. Kolbe asked to go in the place of a man who had a wife and children. We have St. Maria Goretti, who said she would rather die than give up her purity at the hands of a deranged man. These martyrs had the strength to do what they did because they believed God’s promise that the heavenly kingdom would await those who loved in His name.
God doesn’t call each of us to a martyr’s death (thankfully!), but he does call us to unite our will to his and to love others as perfectly as we can. He provides us the grace to do this through the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of the church and prayer.
Because God gives us each unique gifts, this perfect love looks different in each person. It can also look different over time for the same person. Some are called to heroic corporal works serving the materially poor. Others are called to valiant spiritual works in serving those in need of instruction, comfort, and counsel. Others are called for a time to minister to a growing family or to an aging member of the household.
It’s easy to be tempted to compare ourselves and our efforts to those of others. Sometimes this comparison is good, as it can help us to overcome inaction due to laziness. Other times, this temptation can be a barrier to our ability to use our own unique gifts -- if we give up before getting started because we feel that our efforts are somehow less than another’s.
So as we walk to Calvary with Jesus today, let us try to identify things in our own lives that interfere with our ability to love perfectly. Let us leave these things – maybe it’s jealousy, pride, fear, or something else – at the foot of the cross with Jesus. In doing so, we will be unburdened so we can best live the new life of perfect love that Jesus desired enough for us that he accepted death, death on a cross.
If you work a lot with children, the question will come up over and over, “Why did Jesus have to die? If he is God, why didn’t he save himself?” What good and insightful questions our young people have!
What I tell the children is that the reason Jesus had to die has to do with his unique position as both fully God and fully human. As fully God, yes, Jesus could have saved himself. He could have done whatever He wanted. However, as fully human, the only way for Jesus to show complete and utter trust in God the Father was total abandonment of himself to his Father’s will, and dying is the only way that a human can fully give him or herself. As Saint John reminds us, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn 15:13).
Through the examples of Jesus and his mother Mary, God calls each one of us to surrender our lives to His holy will. We see the complete fulfillment of this in the lives of the martyrs. We have St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish priest who was in a concentration camp during World War II. When the guard came to choose men to die, Fr. Kolbe asked to go in the place of a man who had a wife and children. We have St. Maria Goretti, who said she would rather die than give up her purity at the hands of a deranged man. These martyrs had the strength to do what they did because they believed God’s promise that the heavenly kingdom would await those who loved in His name.
God doesn’t call each of us to a martyr’s death (thankfully!), but he does call us to unite our will to his and to love others as perfectly as we can. He provides us the grace to do this through the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of the church and prayer.
Because God gives us each unique gifts, this perfect love looks different in each person. It can also look different over time for the same person. Some are called to heroic corporal works serving the materially poor. Others are called to valiant spiritual works in serving those in need of instruction, comfort, and counsel. Others are called for a time to minister to a growing family or to an aging member of the household.
It’s easy to be tempted to compare ourselves and our efforts to those of others. Sometimes this comparison is good, as it can help us to overcome inaction due to laziness. Other times, this temptation can be a barrier to our ability to use our own unique gifts -- if we give up before getting started because we feel that our efforts are somehow less than another’s.
So as we walk to Calvary with Jesus today, let us try to identify things in our own lives that interfere with our ability to love perfectly. Let us leave these things – maybe it’s jealousy, pride, fear, or something else – at the foot of the cross with Jesus. In doing so, we will be unburdened so we can best live the new life of perfect love that Jesus desired enough for us that he accepted death, death on a cross.
Father Reilly's Homily for Palm Sunday -- April 5, 2020
|
Readings for Palm Sunday -- The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem
|
Parish Registration
|
|
Pastor's Twitter Feed
|
Pastor's Instagram
|
2020 - 2021 Programs
____________________________________________________
Summer Program for Grades 6 - 8
Fall/Spring Programs for Grades 1 - 10 include
Faith Formation offerings for all grades
First Reconciliation/First Communion Prep
Confirmation Prep
Adaptive Class for Special Needs Students
Registration will open here in late April (we hope!) for all 2020 - 2021 Programs.
Summer Program Dates
|
SUMP 2020
Grade 8: July 6 - 10 Grade 7: July 13 - 17 Grade 6: July 20 - 24 |
Children's Camp 2020
(Ages 4 - 10) July 27 - 31 |