MISSION STATEMENT

St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church is a welcoming community in a tra-ditional and Eucharistic setting fo-cused on prayer, service, and life-long faith formation on the values and teachings of Jesus Christ and His Church.

Parish Office: 673-1311 Fax: 673-3687 Faith Formation: 673-4797

Website: saintpatrickmilfordnh.org

PASTORAL STAFF

Rev. Dennis Audet, Pastor daudet52@gmail.com Patti Hendrickson, Pastoral Associate pattih2015@comcast.net Diane Bergeron, Secretary diane.st.patoffice@gmail.com Sue Pasquale, Faith Formation re@saintpatrickmilfordnh.org Pauline Nepveu, Accountant pnepveu54@gmail.com Christopher Maynard, Music Director music.saintpatricksmilford@gmail.com Jerry Guthrie, Cemetery 672-1254

Welcome! We are delighted to welcome each and every one who has come to worship with us. Our parish is here to assist all who wish to know God more deeply.

SACRAMENTS: Baptisms: We rejoice with parents at the birth of a new child. Parents are encouraged to initiate preparation for bap-tism prior to the child's birth. Call the Parish Office at 673-1311 for information and pre-baptism instruction. Marriage: Weddings are a special time of joy and promise for a bride and a groom. Engaged couples are invited to contact the pastor personally (preferably 6-12 months) prior to the desired wedding date to begin their preparation. Cou-ples should not make any commitment with a reception ven-ue prior to the 1st meeting with the pastor. Reconciliation: Individual confessions are held every Sat-urday from 3:00-3:45 P.M. in the reconciliation room at St. Patrick Church or during the week by personal appointment with the pastor. Sacrament of the Sick: If you are anticipating surgery or experiencing health issues and would like to be strength-ened with the Church’s sacrament of healing and hope, please contact the pastor personally to arrange for the Anointing of the Sick.

Saint Patrick Catholic Church 34 AMHERST STREET, MILFORD, NH 03055

Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 9am-Noon & 1-5pm & Friday 9-Noon

SEPTEMBER 7-13, 2020

MON - 9/7 - Weekday (LABOR DAY, OFFICES CLOSED) 7:30AM: NO MASS TUES - 9/8 - The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary— NO MASS WED - 9/9 - St. Peter Claver 5:30PM: Dot Lorden by Jane Provins THURS - 9/10 - Weekday 7:30AM: All Souls FRI - 9/11 - Weekday 7:30AM: Mary Turner by Joyce Nelson SAT - 9/12 - Vigil of the 24th Sunday of Ordinary Time— 4:00PM: For the RCIA elect & candidates SUN - 9/13 - 24th Sunday in Ordinary time — 8:00 AM: Dot & Francis Lorden by Jane Provins 10:30AM: Donald Knowlton by Kathy Marchocki

Your weekly donation can be dropped off in the mail slot near the glass door.

or E-giving is available to all parishioners. This is a safe and

easy way to give to the parish. Go to our website saintpatrickmilfordnh.org

under NEWS & EVENTS and scroll to “giving” then follow the instructions.

This is very helpful for parishioners who want to give on a regular basis regular basis.

Collection weekend of Aug 30, 2020 $3,530.

GIVE+ONLINE

FACE MASKS REQUIRED

SOCIAL DISTANCING PRACTICED

READINGS 9-13-2020 Sir: 27:30, 28:7 Rom: 14:7-9 Mt: 18:21-35

St. Patrick Catholic Community Welcomes You!

Are you or someone you know interested in be-coming Catholic? The Catholic Church invites you to the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) process for those who are:

Unbaptized and recognizes a need for spirituality in their life

Baptized and raised in another Christian tradition but interested in learning about the Catholic faith

Baptized in the Catholic faith or another Christian faith tradition, but never received any formal faith formation.

Inquirers please contact Patti Hendrickson at 673-1311 or pattih2015@comcast.net.

The Sanctuary Lamp will burn this week in memory of Betty & Jim Irr by the Sharkey & Carter family.

CEMETERY PLOTS AVAILABLE

St. Patrick Parish has a cemetery on Merrimack Road in Amherst. It is always the right time to invest in a plot and pre-pare for your final resting place. Jerry Guthrie, our Sexton would be happy to show you different available sections at the cemetery. To schedule an appointment call 672-1254.

Pope Francis' Prayer for Spiritual Communion:

My Jesus, I believe that you are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things and desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramental-ly, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be sepa-rated from You. Amen!

Next weekend at the 4:00PM Mass, 9/12 we will welcome our Elect and our Candidates during a long-postponed celebration of the sacra-ments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist.

NON-TRIVIAL PURSUITS

Weekly challenge from your Faith Formation Team (9/6/2020)

Speaking of controversies about Church teachings, many non-Catholics believe that the practice of having statues, icons, stained glass pictures and other such images as aids to worship violates what they call the Second Commandment. (Some other religions also raise this objection.) How would you respond to these assertions? What other religions hold this “iconoclastic” view?

Answer to last week’s question (8/30/2020)

The Ten Commandments, you will recall, were given to Mo-ses after the Israelites escaped from slavery in Egypt. The list appears in a couple of places in the Old Testament. The First Commandment, as recorded in Exodus 20:2-3 is: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before (or “besides”) me.” When asked to name the greatest Commandment, Jesus quoted Deut. 6:5, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.” In Deuteronomy this statement is part of Moses’ explanation to the people of what the com-mandments require. A few verses later Moses instructs the people, “take heed lest you forget the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve him, and swear by his name. You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are round about you.” When Jesus responded to Satan’s temptations, He cited these verses: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” (Luke 4:13) The first commandment demands that we worship only God, and Catholic teaching always emphasizes this. We honor the saints because of the way they served God. We pray to ask them to pray with us and for us as we seek to serve God as well. We distinguish between “adoration” (which is worship and due only to the Triune God) and “veneration” which honors human beings who have heroically served Him.

Discipleship: keeping and restoring community relationships

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus' everyday ministry. This week's readings focus on maintaining and restoring re-lationships within the believing community. Matthew's gospel is from Chapter 18, Jesus’ “sermon on the church.” Jesus addresses the believing commu-nity’s responsibility to care for its members, even those who offend or hurt the community. This week, Je-sus teaches about restoring relationships to preserve the ekklesia’s unity. Human process in community reconciliation. Living in relationship with others is hard work, whether in a biological family or in a socially constructed family. An offense, real or imagined, disrupts family life. Jesus rec-ognizes that sin is an interpersonal offense and pre-sents a three-step process (first, private reconciliation; second, multiple witnesses negotiation; third, communi-ty intervention) for reconciling conflicts. The process helps an offender objectify and “own” his or her sin, and calls the offender to restore his or her community rela-tionship through metanoia (change of mind/heart). This process probably reflects Matthew’s community’s prac-tice; the same or similar processes existed in the Qum-ran community and in Jewish synagogues. God’s role in community reconciliation. Jesus’ say-ings about binding/loosing (Mt 18:18) and two or three gathered in his name (Mt 18:19-20) provide a theologi-cal foundation for community decisions: God stands behind the decisions, and Jesus remains-in-relationship within the community gathered in his name. In Jewish law, binding and abolishing/loosing describes the el-ders’ or a rabbi’s authority to teach or to give or with-hold forgiveness. In Christian thought, the community itself can choose to accept or to exclude offending members from participating in community life. This week's readings ask us to think about relationships within our communities. God charges Ezekiel with warn-ing each person to keep God’s law. Paul reminds disci-ples that their debt to God also requires them to love one another. Jesus teaches that a community mem-ber’s sinful words or actions require the community’s corrective response. As disciples, how to we respond to damaged community relationships? Do we treat it as “not my problem,” or do we act privately and personally to understand the hurt? Do we speculate with others about causes, or are we ready to act to broker a solu-tion? Do we walk away from damaged relationships, or do we choose to reconcile? --Terence Sherlock Read the full reflection and subscribe at: LectionaryInContext.WordPress.com

Prayer Line call: Diane or Patti 603-673-1311

OFFICES WILL BE CLOSED ON

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH

PASTORAL COUNCIL MEMBERS

President: Will McGrath

Peter Arnoldy, Jerry Guthrie, Jude Lorman, Irene Prunier, Steve Santinelli

NON-PERISHABLE ITEMS ONLY

Pancake Mix & Syrup, Condiments, Cooking Sauces & Seasonings, Cooking Oil, Jelly, Cold Cereal. These items can be dropped off at the SHARE office. PLEASE CALL FIRST: 673-9898. Thank you for your donations.

To register for FORMED – A gift for you

Go to FORMED.org – sign up Click on “I belong to a parish or organization” Enter 03055 and choose St. Patrick Church 34 Amherst St. Enter your name and the email you will be using. For questions please call the Faith Formation office at 673-4797. Saint Teresa of Calcutta Movie: Mother Teresa Audio: Face of God – St. Mother Teresa Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Movie: Mary of Nazareth Children: Movie: Cat. Chat, Episode1: Celebrating Mary Movie: Mary: Handmaid of the Lord

If you have not registered your child(ren) for the Faith Formation Program, this is the time to do so by calling Sue at 673-4797 or email your questions to: re@saintpatrickmilfordnh.org

Registration form is on our website: saintpatrickmilfordnh.org

Classes will resume the

week of September 13th via Zoom

Steve Santinelli, Normand & Fleurette Laquerre, Patti Fay McDonagh, Donna Thomas, Doris Fay, William Law-son, Lillian Esielionis, Bill & Kevin Duffy, Joyce Nelson, Tiffany Brown, Jeanne Jacques, the Staff & Residents of all Milford long term care facilities, Dr. Ray Roberge, Brendan Zubricki, Rita LaJeunesse, Alison Caiado, John Coleman, Bruce Gade, Dorothy Gates, Eleanor Botelho, Rita Rose, Richard, Paul, Laura, Skip, Betty, Ken Jal-bert, Bill Loscocco, Stephen Swallow, Pamela Wood, Sean, Jonathan Niquette, Hope Kelly, Rick Corron, Patricia Barrett, Cameron Conley, Lexz Bragdom, Timothy Russell, Maureen Belair, Marty, Leo Barriault, Nancy Moro, Mary Ann Hower, Connor Sillowy, Eva, Carolyn Hassett, Bettina Mace, Thomas Burkardt, Ben, Anne Marie, Jef-frey, Lisa, Susan Yorio, , William, JoAnn & John, Gus Dreher, Irene Dion, Eugene Callahan, Andrea, Sophia La-marche, Brundage family, Genie Stone, Coralee Smart, Marie, Frances, Arlene, Georgian, Jeanne, Sue, Dennis Creedon, Paul Golch, John Foss, Rob Erickson, Dan Nelson, Liz Richer, Luke LaVallee, John, Mike Paxton, Isa-belle Miller, Marc Belanger, Helen R., Claudette Blais, Kim Beebe, Anne Ronsov, Scott Dickinson, Jack Daniels, John Knott, Joseph Koprek, Lillie & Damien, Benjamin Smith, Patti Patenaude, Cheryl Williams, Ken Hower, Jeff MacMartin, Mindy Kane, Linda Lewis, Richard Copeland, Wayne Cormier, Robert Merley, Jeffrey Bryant, Crystal Heaney, Leah Stigliano, Philip McPhee, William Thompson, Sammy Tinaglia, Joseph Sherlock, John Sullivan, Alice & Lloyd Eskins, and for the men and women who are serving our country.

Milford Medical Center and Saint Joseph Hospital are proud to partner with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services to provide COVID-19 community testing. Community members can visit Milford Medical Center at 442 Nashua Street in Mil-ford, NH to be tested for COVID-19 daily between 11:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. To schedule an appointment to be tested, please call 603-884-4454, Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Interpreter Services will also be available. Most insurance plans cover testing in full; however, if financial assistance is needed, applications will be available.

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (A-2020)

Conflict resolution is a hot topic in many spheres of hu-man life! Even though we may all approach an issue with good intent, since we are human beings, conflict will naturally arise. As hard as it may be to believe, even in churches—communi-ties dedicated to the love of God and the service of neighbor—we experience conflict. Such conflict in the church is unfortu-nately nothing new. Matthew’s gospel today tells us how conflict resolution is to take place in a community of believers. It should be noted that conflict resolution is to be applied to a member of the community (“a brother”). Matthew is not giv-

ing instructions on how to resolve conflicts with outsiders. These rules apply only to fel-low Christians, members of the church. Each disciple is empowered to correct any oth-er when there is the occasion of sin. But this correction is to be done privately as a way to honor the reputation of the one being corrected and in light of the familial relation-ships that are the model for this community of disciples. Only if this one-on-one correction fails does the circle widen to include others, echoing Mosaic Law. If this, too, fails, the matter comes to the “church.” Significantly, this and Matthew 16:18 are the only verses in the gospels (Matthew and otherwise) where the term “church” appears. Matthew envisions the church acting collectively and punishing a sinner by treating him “as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.” That is to say, the sin-ner is to be cast outside the community. This advice might sound odd to us, but it reflects the Jewish roots of the Matthew’s community. Similar advice is found in Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians. Thus, when we join a community of believers, it’s not that we’ve found heaven on earth, or a community of perfection. Instead, we have a community of human be-ings—with faults, failings, and even sin. The church, and even in-dividual believers, has an obligation to act when faced with sinful actions. Wouldn’t it be so much better if we could all get along? Our lives would be hap-py, and joy would mark our existence. But the church is not like that. Even the most secure and safe families—individuals raised in the same household, for whom love may be a given—have challenges with one another. As long as we are living in the pe-riod before the coming of Christ, we will ex-perience sin and the fragmentation and fracturing of relationships. How do we respond when this inevitably happens? Certainly not in violence or revengeful acts. Matthew gives us some practical steps to follow.

Fr. Dennis

On our website, we now have a section titled “Pastor’s Notes” in that section you will find the past weekend Homilies and other messages from Fr. Dennis.

saintpatrickmilfordnh.org