October 29, 2006
30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Weekend Mass Intentions
Saturday,  October 28
    6:00 PM   For the parishioners of St.Paul
Sunday,  October 29
    9:30 AM  For Julie Boisvert by Richard & Madeleine Bilodeau
Saturday,  November 4
   6:00 PM   For the parishioners of St.Paul
Sunday,  November 5
   9:30 AM For Julie Boisvert by Richard & Madeleine Bilodeau

Parish News and Notes

Parish office hours
    Our parish office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The Pastoral Associate is in most afternoons until 4:00 PM.  If you need to come in the PM please give us a call to make sure someone is here. Messages can always be left on the answering machine. 

Are you registered?
     Are you new to our parish?   If you are, please pick up a registration form in the vestibule of the church. Registration is very important.  Just drop it in the basket or mail it to our office.  Thanks!  We are always happy to receive new parishioners.  We welcome you and pray you will be happy here with us.

Please use church envelopes 
    Envelope users provide the bedrock of our financial support.  Please consider using them.  New packets of envelopes are mailed every three months. If you would like to receive some but you are not yet on the mailing list, please call Jeannine to give her your name and address. Thank you!

Envelope Request Form ____ I want to support our parish on a regular basis. Please add me to the envelope list. Name ______________________________ Address___________________________ Town ________________,NH Zip ________

Christian Formation News

Grades K – High School     If you have children of age for Religious Education, please remember to pick up a registration form for Religious Education for the coming year.  All children from grade K – the end of Confirmation must register.  The registration does not roll over from one year to the next.  You can pick up a form in the back of the church or you can visit the parish office Monday – Thursday during office hours or give us a call at 483-8481 and ask us to mail you a form.  We would be happy to do this Grades K- 3  Classes for children in these grades will resume on the weekend of September 16/17. Grades 4 – 10 +    Last year we initiated a new program for the children in these grade levels.  The classes are held once a month and the program is geared to the entire family. Parents are strongly urged to attend the sessions as there is an adult component to the program which helps them to deepen their knowledge of the faith as well as making it possible for them to compliment the practice of the faith in the home. Our first class was held on Sunday, October 15, 2006.  Our next class is scheduled for November 12th.   This year, the classes will be held from 4:00 – 6:00 pm here at St. Paul’s.        2006-2007 Schedule (click here)

Question of the Week
30th  Sunday in Ordinary Time
Theme: (Eyes of Faith)
Reading Jeremiah 31: 7-9 (I Will Console Them)
Reading II: Hebrews 5: 1-6 (Christ Glorified)
Gospel:  Mark 10: 46-52 (Bartimaeus)

Question for Adults: What are the blind spots that keep me from seeing the humanity of my neighbor??  My greatest fear when I am driving on a highway is to miss a possible blind spot when attempting to change lanes?  Not being aware of our blind spots in our spiritual lives can be just as dangerous as they are on the road.  We all have blind spots and they are called that precisely because we are not aware of them.  Their position in our lives are so “hidden” that we could easily go through life without ever being aware.
    What are some of these spots in your life? Sometimes our upbringing is a potential cause for blindness.  We have been so programmed to think in certain ways that we have great difficulty being open to new insights.  Other possible areas of “blindness” are our pride, our competitive nature, our personal ambitions, our tendency to judge a book by its cover. You may even think of others.

Question for Children? If I was blind and asked Jesus to heal me, what is the first thing that I would want to see?  Having our sight is something that many if not most of us take for granted.  Consequently we fail to appreciate the beauty all around us.  If we truly see, we would always be in awe of the beauty of God’s Creation. 
Ask you children to think of things they really appreciate looking at in nature, at home, at school.  Be sure to encourage them to think of relational aspects such as a person’s smile, their sadness etc.

Just 4 Teens. . .How exactly is the word blind being used in the Gospel?  Although the story is speaking of a man born  physically blind the story is using the expression to help us understand that God wants to cure us of our other blindness. We can be “blind” when we fail to see the pain of some of our friends or classmates or even our parents or teachers. We are “blind” when we fail to see the real reasons for the pain and suffering in the world, i.e., greed, dishonesty and selfishness .  We can be “blind” when we fail to see how our behavior is affecting  the people we love or people who sacrifice the most for us.  The point of the Gospel is that “blindness” can be cured if we have FAITH

Community News