St. Paul's Church, Candia, NH

May 3, 2009
4th Sunday of Easter
Alleluia! Alleluia! He Is Risen!
Weekend Mass Intentions
Saturday, May 2
   6:00 PM For Mr. & Mrs. Clement Berthiume By Marcel & Joyce Lebel
Sunday, May 3
    9:30 AM For Parishioners of St. Paul
Saturday, May 9
    8:00 PM For Mr. & Mrs. Charles Skehan By the Laughner Family
Sunday, May 10
    9:30 AM For Parishioners of St. Paul

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 ________

Update on Parish Income

Weekend of April 26, 2009
St. Paul, Candia
Envelopes   $1496
Loose           334
Total    1830

Last weekend envelope users contributed 82% of our income.

(Amount tithed for the poor and needy last week: $109.84)
Thank You so much for your Generosity.

Important Notice: On Saturday, May 9, 2009, we will be celebrating the 1st Communion of our children. In order to accommodate the families, the Mass will be at 4PM instead of 6 PM. There will be NO 6 pm Mass on that day.

A Special Thank You: I would like to thank all the members of the Pastoral Council who so generously contributed to the beautiful basket and Mass intentions on the occasion of my mom’s passing. It was very kind and generous of all of you. I was truly touched. Thank you all so very much.

Notice: If you participated in the Rice Bowl project during Lent and you have not yet returned your boxes, please do in the next couple weeks. Thank you very much for your generosity toward the needy of our world.

Holy Apostle Paul, help me at the beginning of this new day to offer my body and the whole of my life as a living sacrifice to God. Do not permit me to conform myself to this age but rather, by your intercession, may I be transformed by the renewal of my mind. Through this renewal help me to judge what is God’s will, what is good, pleasing, and perfect. For the one whom I seek and serve is who is the Lord, Jesus Christ, now and forever. Amen

Christian Formation News

Class Schedule (click here)

All children from k – 10 must register for Religious Education each year. The registration does not roll over from one year to the next. We will be mailing a registration form through e-mail in the near future. If you have not received a form by mid-August it is because we do not have your e-mail address or perhaps you are not yet registered in the parish so we do not have any pertinent information related to you family. You can call the office between Monday –Thursday at 483-8481 to update your e-mail info or you can pick up a registration in the entrance of the church.

Grades K- 3 The children in grades K – 3 attend classes during the weekend liturgies. We use a Lectionary Catechesis which is based on the Gospel of the week. Kindergarten students are not obliged to attend regularly. However beginning with grade 1, students must attend classes on a weekly basis during the Mass, as the program for 1st Communion is a two year program. The program for the school year 2008-2009 will begin on the weekend of September 20th and 21st. Classes are held during both weekend Masses.

Grades 4 – 10 +, Generation of Faith    This program is designed for both parents and children. Parents who have children in grades 4 - 10 are asked to attend these monthly sessions. The adult session gives them an opportunity to refresh their memory on important matters of the faith as well as giving them the chance to share with other adults on pertinent issues of faith. All GoF classes are held on Sundays from 4 – 6 pm. See you all next fall.

Confirmation Program:
    The Confirmation students will begin their two year program on Sunday, October 5, 2008. Classes are held from 11:00 am to 12 noon. Students must be registered in the program and must be registered members of the parish. If you have not yet registered your child for classes please call the office to speak to Lorette.

             Schedule of Classes

4th Sunday of Easter
Theme: (Jesus the Good Shepherd)
Reading I: Acts 4: 8-12 (Salvation Through Christ)
Reading II: John 3: 1- 2 (We Shall See Him As He Is)
Gospel: John 10: 11- 18 (Giving Life for the Sheep)

Question for Adults: Do my motives and actions reflect Christ’s presence within me? All to often we think that our inner thoughts and motives are not detectable by others. When we stop and think about it we realize that this is false. A person’s actions and attitude toward things or other people is often detected in a variety of ways. We must be careful not to allow ourselves to fall into this false type of thinking. We must remember that our actions belie our faith regardless of what we say. Our motives are more difficult to guess but they are not impossible to detect over a long period of time.
Question for Children: What other Bible stories do I know about shepherds? The theme of the Good Shepherd is a very popular on in Scripture. Being a sheep herder was very important to the survival of the people in Jesus’ time and hundreds of years before him. They understood the metaphor very easily. Taking good care of their sheep was essential to survival. Being indifferent to their sheep was very costly. One very popular story is the one of King David. And, of course, there is the Christmas story when the shepherds came to visit. If you have a children’s bible you might want to go through it and find pictures of such stories.

When do we know it’s time to let go?
To answer this question it is important to remember that your children are God’s children! This is often difficult for parents to admit especially when it means that we cannot be over controlling of their future. The Baltimore Catechism stated, “God made me to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world, and to be happy with him forever in heaven.” As parents, we cannot pull our children down paths of our choosing, assuming we know God’s plans for them. Children. . .contribute to the growth in holiness of their parents.” (CCC#2227) One reason is because we must trust in God; we just aren’t sure how everything is going to turn out! We pray, “If today you hear God’s voice, harden not your hearts.” We teach our children to pray and to listen for God’s voice. Then we must let them learn how to respond to God in their daily lives and let go.

Community News

Food Pantry for April: Please help our pantry if you can. Your generosity is always greatly appreciated. This month our pantry shelves continue to be in need of Canned Fruit, Instant Rice, Dessert Mixes, Canned Pastas, and Evaporated Milk . We always need juices. Thank you very much for all you do for God’s people.

An Opportunity to Help your Parish and have fun all at the same time. Our parish is in the process of reorganizing our Social Committee and we need people who can help in a variety of ways. If you like greeting people, serving meals that have been prepared (by someone else), socializing or cooking, then the Social Committee is maybe a good place to be. You can do it once, twice or three times a year, whatever your time allows. The more people we have the more fun it will be and the easier it will be for everyone. Think about it and sign up.

A Look at Upcoming Events

Candia Garden Club’s Annual Sale
The Candia Garden Club will be holding their third annual plant sale on Saturday, May 16th from 9 am to 12 noon at the Masonic Hall on South Rd. We will have a variety of perennials, some will be dug from the member’s gardens, bulbs, and a large variety of colorful annuals. There should be something for everyone. We will also have hanging baskets, houseplants, and a silent auction with raffle tickets. Proceeds from the sale are used to buy and plant flowers and shrubs throughout the town gardens. Please come and support us.

Refugee Assistance: We are looking for caring persons to support and guide refugee families in the Manchester community. Informational Meetings will be held at Ste. Marie Parish, Manchester on Monday May 18th at 7pm and at St. Catherine Parish, Manchester on Tuesday May 19th at 10am. Please call or email to register for one of these meetings: Sr. Irene-Marie 623-8809 ext. 23 or Pam Gordon 432-9371 / pandergo@aol.com.

St. Anthony School located at 148 Belmont St. in Manchester has openings available for the 2009-2010 school year. New for next year the school will offer various half day Pre-kindergarten along with our full day Pre-kindergarten program. We offer comprehensive Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies and daily religion classes. In addition all our students from Pre-K through Sixth Grade enjoy introductory Language Instruction in Spanish, French and Chinese, Computer, Art, Library , Music and gym. We also offer Before and After School Programs. City school bus transportation is available for those who qualify. There is also bus transportation for outlying areas such as Candia, and surrounding towns. For more info visit us on the web at www.stanthonyschool-nh.com or call us at 622-0414 for a tour.

Soles4Souls on Barefoot Sunday
Soles4Souls is planning the 2nd annual celebration with thousands of congregations across the country. They have a simple mission – to collect new and “gently worn’ shoes to donate to victims of natural disasters and those living in extreme poverty. One of the core groups that help transform its mission from a simple idea into a living example of God’s love is the church. Last year, hundreds of congregations across North America participated in “Barefoot Sunday,” where people left their shoes on the altar to be donated to the poor. Barefoot Sunday is a unique opportunity for people to remove their shoes and walk out of worship services barefoot.
“Barefoot Sunday will be on June 7, 2009.

Bake Sale: Our Group Work Camp teens who will be going to Port Jarvis in June are having a Bake Sale on the weekend of May 3, 2009. If you would like to donate a bake item, please bring your goodies to church immediately before the Mass. If you want to drop them off earlier, please call the rectory to make sure someone is home to receive you. Thank you so much

Care Net Pregnancy Center of Manchester and Nashua is hosting its annual Walkathon on May 9, the day before Mother’s Day. Registration is at 9:30 am at Veterans’ Memorial Park, Elm St. Manchester, with the walk to begin at 10:15am. Call 623-5534 for more information

Healing the Wounds of Abortion The NH Catholic Charities Project Rachel program offers counseling, reconciliation, and support services for individuals and their families who have experienced the pain of abortion. This program provides a means for people to begin the healing process and experience reconciliation with the Church. It presents a caring, hopeful approach towards peace with the parents, the unborn child, the family, the church, and God. Call us today. . .603-669-3030.

CURRENT PRAYER REQUESTS

Please remember the following people and intentions in your daily prayers:

Our sick parishioners and friends…

Please pray for the following people: Josephine Stout, Frank Huard, Cecile Gendron, Kimberly Mirolo, Rita Sullivan, Kathy Gauthier, Jean Swindler, Roger Plante, Joseph Gesel, Jacob Desrocher, Cindy Huard, Deborah McGovern, Ethel Thomas, Gordon Gladden and Carol Sheperd.

For peace in the world, especially in the Middle East…
For those serving in the armed forces...
For families experiencing stress due to financial, emotional or relational problems
For our sister parish in Haiti...
For vocations to full-time ministry, especially the priesthood, the deaconate, religious life lay ministry...

If you would like to add a person or intention, please let us know. If people on the sick list are no longer in need of prayers, please let us know.