St.Francis of Assisi Parish |

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Welcome New Parishioners We are so happy to have you
at St. Francis of Assisi Parish. We recently changed
our registration process. All you need do is either
fill out the back of the Welcome flier in each of the
pews or directly call the Parish Office at 978-355-2228.
If when you call our office manager, it directs you to
voice mail, leave your name and a telephone number
and he will call you back.
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Dear Catholics and Supporters of Religious
Freedom,
ACTION ALERT!
As you probably heard Bishop McManus is being
severely attacked for defending our Catholic Schools in
his Worcester Diocese. Please read Catholic Action
League 's President C. J. Doyle recent letter to the
editor at
https://www.catholicactionleague.org. From this
home page you can also read other recent news releases
on this vital subject including:
HOMOSEXUAL RALLY DEMANDS
SUBMISSION FROM CATHOLICS and LEAGUE HAILS BISHOP
McMANUS FOR HIS DEFENSE OF CATHOLIC TEACHING
Below is C. J. Doyle's current letter asking us to
SUPPORT BISHOP MCMANUS who
can not be thanked enough for us and has done so much to
defend our church and religious freedom.
The Bishop of Worcester, the Most Reverend Robert J.
McManus, is the target of a vicious, mendacious and
defamatory smear campaign orchestrated by media wolves,
LGBT militants and pro-abortion politicians.
In
the last two weeks, there have been, at least, twenty
hostile newspaper articles and biased television news
reports maligning him. The Bishop has even been
accused---absurdly and unjustly---of "perpetuating
violence." His only crime: upholding moral sanity,
biological reality and perennial Catholic teaching in
his own diocesan schools. The Bishop's courageous
instruction on gender and sexuality---rooted in Divine
Revelation and Natural Law---exhorts students to the
Christian virtue of modesty and the capital virtue of
chastity, prohibits expressions of same sex attraction,
and expects students to conduct themselves at school in
a manner consistent with their biological sex. For
this, Bishop McManus is being slandered, vilified and
demonized. There is relentless, mounting and
organized pressure on the Bishop, and upon his
Superintendent of Schools, Doctor David Perda, to revoke
or water down the instruction. It is vitally
important that Bishop McManus and Doctor Perda know that
they are not alone in this controversy, that faithful
Catholics, other Christians who believe in Biblical
morality, and many persons of goodwill support them in
preserving Christian principles in Catholic schools.
Please contact Bishop
McManus and David Perda and tell them that you support
them, commend them and stand behind them! Please tell
them that you want them to go forward with the new
instruction announced on the Feast of the Assumption,
August 15th! You may reach Bishop McManus at
bishopsoffice@worcesterdiocese.org or at
508-929-4345.
Doctor David Perda may be reached at
dperda@worcesterdiocese.org or at
508-929-4317. August 28th was the Feast of
Saint Augustine, the Doctor of Grace, who reminded us,
1,600 years ago, that "Whoever wishes to be a friend of
this world, says Scripture, will be reckoned an enemy of
God." Bishop McManus has demonstrated that he would
rather endure the enmity of this world than lose the
friendship of God. Please let him know that you
support him. Thank you. C. J. Doyle
catholicactionleague@gmail.com
www.catholicactionleague.org Catholic Action
League of Massachusetts PO Box 112, Roslindale, MA
02131-0004
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Tilling the Ground with
Prayer A Three O’Clock Challenge
In
1935, our Lord revealed to St. Faustina Kowalska that
the most holy hour of the day is 3pm, the hour of Mercy,
and that prayer during this time releases profound and
powerful graces, as it was the moment Jesus offered
Himself to the Father in expiation of our sins.
The celebration of the Eucharist allows us to join
Christ in that offering to His Father and commune with
Him. Unfortunately, many no longer respond to Our Lord’s
invitation to remember his passion, death, and
resurrection in the Eucharistic Celebration.
Jesus describes such a heart as barren ground; no longer
fertile, as the seeds of his grace struggle to penetrate
deep and take root so that they may bring about the
transformation necessary to prepare for eternal life.
In an effort to till that ground and allow grace and
inspiration to flourish once again, our parish is
launching, “Tilling the
Ground with Prayer,” |
Continued
where parishioners will be
invited to join in prayer during the holiest hour of the
day between 3pm and 4pm for loved ones who have fallen
away.
Fr. Jamie will pass hour cards with a
simple prayer and explain this effort to help our loved
ones come back home to God.

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Tuesday, November 28th 1:00PM St. Joseph's Hall
Finalizing Plans for Saturday, December 2nd 10am -
2pm Christmas Open House at St. Joseph's All Women
of the Parish are Welcome Contact Mary Ann Jordan via
email at
mjordan92557@gmail.com or via phone/text at
978-808-3371 for more
information. |
The Three O'clock Hour Challenge Back in September
Fr. Jamie introduced us to the fact that the 3 0'clock
hour is said to be the holiest hour of the day. He
passed out cards with the 3 O'clock prayer and
challenged us to sign-up to pray the 3 O'clock Prayer
and offer the sacrifice of being silent for 3 minutes
for the intention: for all who have left the practice of
the Faith .... At the time we had 34 people sign up
to take this challenge If you didn't have a chance to
sign-up, we have brought back the sign-up sheets in the
back of each of our churches. You can pick-up a copy
of the prayer too! For all who have signed up - Keep
Persevering! You are not alone. If you find that you
miss a day a two, or those 3 minutes seem like forever.
Keep Going! Our prayers are tilling the hearts of our
loved ones. |

Sign up After All Masses Order Yours Today
Deadlines are Approaching Poinsettias $15.00
Cemetery Baskets $20.00 Poinsettia are from Hartman's
Farm BAKERS WANTED * CHRISTMAS OPEN HOUSE * 12/2
CONTACT MARGARET MERTZIC @
978.355.2703
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December 2nd
· Luncheon · Cemetery Baskets · Poinsettias ·
Raffles · Bake Shoppe · Hot Cocoa Bar · Make an
Advent Calendar . Fun Games & Prizes for Kids
10AM to 2PM We Need
Your Help to Make Our First Christmas Open House a
Success! Looking for Cooks, Bakers & Many Memory
Makers!
PLEASE CONTACT
Margaret Mertzic - Bake
Shoppe 978.355.2703
Shelly Clark Activity
Volunteers 508.208.4417 For More
Information Mary Ann
Jordan 978.808.3371 |
In October of 2023, Pope
Francis will convene in Rome the XVI Ordinary General
Assembly of the Synod of Bishops to examine the topic:
"For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation and
Mission." The Holy Father has asked every diocese in the
world to provide input for that synod. The Diocese of
Worcester has developed website resources at
worcesterdiocese.org/Synod-2023 that cover the
following: • What is a synod? • What have previous
Synods focused on? • What is synodality? • Local
input efforts in the Diocese of Worcester for Synod 2023
• Examples of Local Consultative Experiences The
Synod preparatory documents acknowledge the difficulties
of convening consultative groups in the time of a
pandemic. We will not be convening a large Diocesan wide
gathering but ask each parish to solicit input through
means each pastor judges most effective given parish
circumstances and capabilities. Those means can include
physical or virtual gathering(s) of parishioners or
simply sharing the link to the Individual survey in
bulletins or by Flocknote. We have two online survey
response tools which are on the website and accessible
with the buttons below.
The Group Survey will capture the results of in
person or virtual gathering using the pdf below to
facilitate the meeting.
The Individual Survey can be shared with
parishioners via the bulletin, parish website or
Flocknote in lieu of gatherings. A group facilitator
can print the questionnaire
Here to lead discussions and then input the group
responses on the online GROUP survey on behalf of the
group
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St Aloysius Catholic
School in Gilbertville is in search of substitute
teachersfor both the regular school day and
for our after
school program.If you enjoy working with
children in a caring environment please reach out toRoberta
McQuaid via email at
rmcquaid@staloysiuscatholicschool.com or
call the school at
413-477-1268 for more information. |
Have you ever considered a Catholic education for your
child? If so, please take a look at what
St. Aloysius Catholic School in nearby
Gilbertville has to offer. Focusing on faith, strong
academics and a commitment to the community, an
education at St. Aloysius is truly affordable. There
are select openings to join our school family for the
upcoming school year, with a waitlist for preschool
students. Please inquire via email to
director@staloysiuscs.com Check out our Facebook
and Instagram pages for recent school happenings. |
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Daily mass . Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday 9AM . St.
Thomas A Becket Daily Masses are canceled when school is
delayed/canceled due to weather |
Please remember St.
Francis of Assisi Parish has an Emergency Fund* to help
those in need. If you as a parishioner, or if you
know of anyone in the Barre/Oakham area that may need
assistance please call the Parish Office at 978-355-2228
and leave a message for Deacon Scott at Ext. 3. All
inquiries are strictly confidential. |
BEREAVEMENT
COMMITTEE The Women’s Guild
Bereavement Committee will be re-organizing so that once
again we will be able to offer lunches for families at a
time of loss. These lunches take a lot planning and
co-ordination, so a lot of help is needed!
The lunch
menu consists of a selection of four filled sandwiches,
fruit cup, relish tray, chips baked goods and coffee for
a cost of $5.00 per plate.
We will be looking for
donations of fillings, of egg salad, tuna salad, ham
salad or turkey salad, baked goods, and kitchen help on
the day of the event.
If you are able to help in any
of these areas, please sign up with your name, phone
number and indicate the areas where you could help. Sign
up sheets are in the back of the church. Thank you!
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Photo's of St. Joesph & St.Thomas Becket courtesy of
https://statues.vanderkrogt.net
Church of
St.Thomas-a-Becket and St. Joseph Chapel Are Wheelchair
Accessible
Diocese of Worcester ©Copyright St.Francis
of Assisi Parish 2013-2023. All rights reserved. 398
Vernon Ave., P.O. Box 186 South Barre, MA 01074 fax
(978) 355-0042 • Office phone
(978) 355-2228 |
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