February 25, 2007
1st Sunday in Lent

Weekend Mass Intentions
Saturday,  February 24
   6:00 PM   For Parishioners of St. Paul
Sunday,  February 25
   9:30 AM  For Julie Boisvert by Richard & Madeleine Bilodeau
Saturday,  March 3
    6:00 PM  For Parishioners of St. Paul
Sunday,  March 4
    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 has resumed 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 March 18.   Tthe classes are held from 4:00 – 6:00 pm here at St. Paul’s.        2006-2007 Schedule (click here)

A Lenten Experience. . .
    Did you know our church has a library?  It has many wonderful books, videos, and audiotapes for adults and children.
    For Lent this year, perhaps you are trying to be a better parent, maybe becoming more patient or more understanding.  I found an audiocassette series in the library that I would recommend.
    “Every Parent Can Have Happy Kids” is a series of talks given by Dr. Jud Smith, a psychologist from Maine.  The series is about two hours long.  The tapes are set up in a question and answer format.  They address seven broad parenting issues, including communication, childhood stresses, school concerns, and divorce.
    Dr. Smith’s advice is easy to understand and use.  His advice is mainly common sense.  It is not a new approach to raising kids.  Instead, he gives practical advice to make a parent’s job easier.  His tips are mostly reminders of ideas I have heard before.
    Listening to the tapes encouraged me to continue trying to raise happy, successful children.
            Patty Stuart


Question of the Week
First Sunday of Lent
Theme: (Proclaiming Faith)
Reading  Deut. 26: 4-10 (Brought out of Egypt )
Reading Romans.10:8-13(Call on the Name of the Lord)
Gospel: Luke 4:1-13 (Jesus in the Desert)

Question for Adults: How does my faith in God’s presence with me help me deal with struggles to live my life in Christ? 
    As Christians, it happens all to often that we separate our “faith” in God and the whole idea of God’s presence in our lives.  Although they are meant to be one entity, we often seek ways, albeit unconsciously, to keep the two separated and well compartmentalized.  For example, we go to church on Sunday to worship him because we believe in him.  However, when we find ourselves in a crisis or some sort of struggle in life, we ask, “where are you God?”  Even worse, we ask the question in the third person, “Where is God when I need him?”  We ask these questions as if God is far away and is in no way connected to our lives?
    In this week’s Gospel we see that Jesus truly believed that God was with him despite the pain, the hunger, the temptations.  He did not ask where God was.  He knew that God was right there with him and Jesus made his decisions with that belief in mind.  Do we do this? 
    This being said,  there are times when we actually do believe that God is with us.  These are the times when our lives seem to take on a whole new dimension, a life of its own.  We know however, that there are always times when we fail to believe, when we doubt that God is there.  Lent is an excellent time to pray for an increase in Faith.  Let’s take some time to reflect on our need for Faith  

Question for Children? What can I do this week to remember that God is always with me as I try my best to live as a disciple of Jesus?
    Since children are very concrete in their thinking, perhaps it would be a good idea to make something for them to see or touch, something that will remind them of God’s presence
    A good symbol of Jesus’ love and God’s presence is the Cross.  Making a cross out of plain or construction paper is fairly simple yet very beneficial to the young person. As they try to live each day this week, they can glance at the cross on their wall and be reminded that Jesus is with them always because he loves them   

Community News