Good Shepherd Parish

Biddeford Lyman Old Orchard Beach Saco Office Hours: Monday-Thursday 8:30-4:30 / Churches listed inside

Mailing Address: 271 Main Street, Saco, ME 04072 • Tel: 207-282-3321 e-mail: GoodShepherd@portlanddiocese.org • www.goodshepherdparish.us

December 22, 2013

GOOD SHEPHERD PARISH

Most Holy Trinity Church St. Joseph's Church & Ste Anne's Chapel St. Margaret's Church St. Philip's Church 271 Main St 178 Elm St (Rte 1) 6 Saco Ave 404 Goodwins Mills Rd Saco, Maine 04072 Biddeford, Maine 04005 Old Orchard Beach, Maine 04064 Lyman, Maine 04002

St. Brendan's Chapel (seasonal) St. Luke's Chapel (seasonal) 40 Lester B. Orcutt Blvd, Biddeford Pool, Maine 04006 164 Saco Ave, Old Orchard Beach, Maine 04064 Rev. Msgr. Rene T. Mathieu, Pastor Rev. P. Antonydass, HGN, Parochial Vicar Rev. Jack Dickinson, Parochial Vicar Deacon Robert Parenteau Deacon Kevin Jacques

GOOD SHEPHERD PARISH www.goodshepherdparish.us December 22, 2013

Message from Monsignor René Mathieu

(1) Father Patrick Walsh, CSC served at Most Holy Trinity Church for

12 years before departing in October 2007. Even before clustering be-

gan, Father Pat, a native of Portland, generously stepped outside parish

boundaries to assist neighboring priests in need of additional help; he

was certainly among the most beloved priests in our community. Upon

learning of his death at Holy Cross House, Notre Dame University, Indi-

ana, on December 13, many parishioners were surprised and saddened. A Funeral

Mass was celebrated on Friday, December 20, in the Chapel of Mary at Stonehill

College in Massachusetts, and we plan to celebrate a memorial service here in Janu-

ary. An obituary is published on our parish website. May his soul and the souls of all

the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. (2) The schedule of

Christmas Masses is listed elsewhere in this bulletin. I remind everyone that the vast

majority of parishioners and visitors usually attend the 4 pm/4:30 pm Masses, so if

you prefer less crowded circumstances, you may want to attend other Masses. Again

this year, the 4:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass at St. Joseph will include large screen

remote video of the Mass for any overflow crowd in the newly renovated hall―1500

total participated last year. Rather than having large crowds standing out back (which

is an uncomfortable situation with related safety issues), people will be comfortable

in the hall with a printed program, a music leader, ushers, and seating; Eucharistic

ministers will distribute Holy Communion at the appropriate time. For safety rea-

sons, ushers will control access to the choir loft, up to seating capacity only, by

handing out admittance control vouchers. Reserving seats will not be allowed.

Fr. Ron Labarre, Fr. David Schlaver, and Biddeford natives Fr. Lee Descoteaux and

Fr. Daniel Gagnon, OMI will lead the celebration of some Masses. (3) No matter the

situation, all should assume that we will celebrate Mass every weekend, even when

the weather is bad. I have cancelled a weekend Mass only once in 36 years, and that

was last winter when the storm of the decade left more than 2 feet of snow in some

places in the parish. During the night of that storm our contractor had mechanical

problems with his snow plow that left St. Philip’s buried in snow with no access to

the parking lot, let alone the church. For a Mass in winter to start on time, priests and

sacristans have to be able to get out of their own driveways in order to get to church-

es on time. The same is true for volunteers and contractors in charge of clearing the

snow. We will do our best to make each location ready for Mass at the scheduled

time (and we even have a plan for an “abbreviated” Mass during weather emergen-

cies), but occasionally, Mother Nature will challenge us in our desire to satisfy our

Sunday obligation. In such cases, the situation of each parishioner is different and

you should consider your safety and the safety of others when deciding whether or

not to participate in Masses on days like last Sunday. (4) Repeated from last week:

As my father used to say when I was growing up: “Who left the door open?” If no

one is behind you, please be sure doors are secularly closed when you enter or exit

one of our parish properties, especially during the winter season. (5) Thank You of

the Week: To volunteers who helped shovel and clear snow from parking lots and

walkways last weekend. Thank you!

Jokes Priests Can Tell, Volume 4 by Msgr. Arthur Tonne: As little Betty sat on his

lap, Santa Claus asked her the usual question: “Have you been a good girl?” Without

a moment’s hesitation, and looking the bearded gentleman full in the face, Betty re-

plied: “No, but I’ve been to confession.”

Vocations: "When Joseph awoke he did as the

angel of the Lord directed him." Are you

prayerfully vigilant about discovering your

vocation in Christ? Might He be inviting you

to the priesthood or consecrated life? Call Fr.

Nathan March at 207-773-6471.

Apostolate of Prayer for Priests - December

22. †Rev. Richard Nadeau,

Rev. John McHugh OFM Cap

23. Rev. Mark Reinhardt

24. Rev. Mark Nolette, Rev. Alfred Jacques,

Rev. Daniel Gagnon OMI

25. Our Holy Father Francis

26. Fr. William Dinga Jr., Rev. Philip Cyr

27. V. Rev. Richard Malo,

Msgr. Joseph Goudreau

28. Rev. Andrew Bisson OFM,

Rev. Thomas Lequin

The Study of the U.S. Catholic Catechism for

Adults with Deacon Bob

The study of the Catechism with Deacon Bob

will not meet again until January 9, 2014.

May you enjoy the coming Holy Days with

your loved ones.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Deacon Bob

BIDDEFORD, SACO, OLD ORCHARD BEACH & LYMAN

Saturday, December 21

4:00 pm St. Joseph: (Fr. Ron Labarre)

Dorilas Roy / Joseph Drapeau

4:00 pm Most Holy Trinity: (Msgr. Mathieu)

Rose Lamb / Yvette Hebert (2nd Ann.)

4:00 pm St. Margaret: (Fr. Dickinson)

Keith Babbidge / Normand Auger (6th Ann.)

4:30 pm St. Philip: (Fr. Antonydass)

Marie Petit / Michael Roger

Sunday, December 22, Fourth Sunday of Advent

8:00 am St. Joseph: (French) (Fr. Ron Labarre)

Laure-Yvette Dumas / Paul E. Lambert

8:30 am St. Margaret: (Fr. Antonydass)

Joseph Garland (Ann.) / Sylvio LaCourse

8:30 am Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. Dickinson)

Jean Martel / Jean Guy Raymond

9:00 am St. Philip: (Msgr. Mathieu) George St. Amand /

For All People in Good Shepherd Parish

10:30 am Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. Dickinson)

John Mazeiko / Yvonne & Paul Guay

10:30 am St. Margaret: (Fr. Antonydass)

Robert J. McNally / Juliette Landry

11:00 am St. Joseph: (Msgr. Mathieu)

Normand Parenteau (35th Ann.) / Raymond Proulx

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Monday, December 23

9:00 am Most Holy Trinity: Bill Kerrigan / Brian St. Cyr

Tuesday, December 24, Christmas Eve

4:00 pm Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. Lee Descoteaux)

Anita Cloutier / Pauline Duprey

4:00 pm St. Joseph: (Msgr. Mathieu) Theresa Collard /

Lumina Pellerin (60th Ann.)

4:00 pm St. Margaret: (Children's Pageant) (Fr. Schlaver)

Annabelle DeMario / Marcel Gendron

4:30 pm St. Philip: (Fr. Antonydass) Robert & Muriel Poisson

6:30 pm St. Joseph: (Fr. Ron Labarre) Ruth Lamontagne Pruitt/

Edward Maxson (6th Ann.)

6:30 pm Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. Dickinson) Marcel Tremblay /

Joseph Niles Jandreau

9:00 pm Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. Antonydass) Marie Lagasse /

Leonard Sanborn (2nd Ann.)

Wednesday, December 25, Nativity of Our Lord

Midnight St. Joseph: (Fr. Dickinson) Janice Lizotte /

Douglas Joseph Angell

8:00 am St. Joseph: (Fr. Ron Labarre) Floriant Poissant /

Arthur Guay (11th Ann.)

8:30 am Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. David Schlaver)

Thomas E. & David Oscar Reed / Leonard Sanborn

9:00 am St. Philip: (Fr. Dickinson) For the Souls in Purgatory /

Lucy Dube & John Delaney, Jr.

9:30 am St. Margaret: (Fr. Antonydass)

Rachel Beauchesne (2nd Ann.)

10:30 am Most Holy Trinity: (Msgr. Mathieu)

Dr. Germain Binette / For All People in Good Shepherd Parish

11:00 am St. Joseph: (Fr. Dan Gagnon, OMI)

Mme Eva Spénard Carrier / Therese Bouthot

Thursday, December 26, St. Stephen

8:00 am St. Margaret: Michelle McDermott / David Boutet

9:00 am St. Philip: Richard Fearon

Friday, December 27, St. John 7:00 am Ste Anne: Priscille Nadeau

9:00 am Most Holy Trinity: Ed Cote / Lorraine Stewart

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Saturday, December 28

4:00 pm St. Joseph: (Fr. Antonydass)

Noella Perreault / Gilberte Pelletier

4:00 pm Most Holy Trinity: (Fr. Norman Richard)

Blanche Bouchard / Lance Vigneault (6th Ann.)

4:00 pm St. Margaret: (Fr. Dickinson)

Joseph Underwood (7th Ann.) / Garon Murphy

4:30 pm St. Philip: (Msgr. Mathieu)

Robert & Roger Binette

Sunday, December 29, The Holy Family

8:00 am St. Joseph: (French) (Fr. David Schlaver)

Pauline Martel / Lorraine Corriveau

8:30 am St. Margaret: (Fr. Dickinson)

Kenneth J. Murphy / Romeo Dube

8:30 am Most Holy Trinity: (Msgr. Mathieu)

For All People in Good Shepherd Parish /

Jeannette Boucher (2nd Ann.)

9:00 am St. Philip: (Fr. Antonydass)

Pauline & Gerard Cassette / Marie Jeanne Putney

10:30 am Most Holy Trinity: (Msgr. Mathieu)

Thomas Fleurent / Gerard Richard

10:30 am St. Margaret: (Fr. Dickinson)

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Bouffard / Bill Southwick

11:00 am St. Joseph: (Fr. Antonydass)

Donald R. Plante (2nd Ann.) / Raymond Boisclair

PARISH LITURGIES

Readings for the Week of December 22, 2013

Sunday: Is 7:10-14/ Rom 1:1-7/ Mt 1:18-24

Monday: Mal 3:1-4, 23-24/ Lk 1:57-66

Tuesday Vigil: Is 62:1-5/ Acts 13:16-17, 22-25/ Mt 1:1-25

Midnight: Is 9:1-6/ Ti 2:11-14/ Lk 2:1-14

Wednesday: Dawn: Is 62:11-12/Ti 3:4-7/Lk 2:15-20

Day: Is 52:7-10/ Heb 1:1-6/ Jn 1:1-18

Thursday: Acts 6:8-10; 7:54-59/ Mt 10:17-22

Friday: 1 Jn 1:1-4/ Jn 20:1a and 2-8

Saturday: 1 Jn 1:5–2:2/ Mt 2:13-18

Next Sunday: Sir 3:2-6, 12-14/ Col 3:12-21/

Mt 2:13-15, 19-23

Richard S. Bineau (born 1967)

Tyler Trottier (born 1986)

Diane Landry (born 1947)

Jon Moulton (born 1938)

A. Norman Sevigny (born 1925)

Sandra Linteau (born 1958) Royal M. Fournier, Sr. (born 1929)

Francis Kelley (born 1932)

May their souls and the souls of all the

faithful departed through the mercy of God

rest in peace.

DECEMBER 22, 2013

SAINT JAMES CATHOLIC SCHOOL

25 Graham Street Phone 207-282-4084

Biddeford, ME 04005 FAX 207-286-3693

E-mail GSPschools@portlanddiocese.org

Website www.goodshepherdschools.us

St. James School is SERVICE ACADEMICS FAITH EXCELLENCE

St. James School staff partners with parents, parishioners, and our community to provide students with opportunities to become faith-filled Catholics, creative and critical thinkers, life-long learn-ers, and confident contributors to the Church and society.

FAITH FORMATION

Christmas Break

We hope that you all have a blessed last week

of Advent and a merry Christmas! Our pro-

grams will take a break for the next two

weeks, and will all resume on January 5th and

6th (Sunday and Monday).

Youth Ministry

Middle School Retreat “Fit For a King,” Edge retreat for all 6-8th graders,

is coming up on Feb 1st. Registration deadline is

January 20th. See the parish website for more de-

tails. High school volunteers to help out are most welcome!

Christmas Open Mic Night!

Since this was cancelled last weekend, we will still

have the open mic portion of it when we meet again to kick

off the new year on Jan 5th after the Youth Mass. Options

would include anything from songs (bring special instru-

ments with you; we only have a piano and guitar), dances,

poems, skits or scenes from a play, karaoke or just singing

some good old fashioned Christmas Carols with us (it will

still be the Christmas season…)!

Children’s Ministry

Congratulations to our 2nd

Graders and

Sacramental Class

on making their First Reconciliation!

The blog has begun! Last chance to put the Advent advice

from our blog into action! And be

sure to watch out for our next post

after Christmas…

The Faith Formation staff has launched a new blog, with

the first post based on the Advent season. Staff members

will be posting blogs each month on a wide range of topics

related to faith and daily life as Catholics. Check the web-

site for a link to the blog and follow us!

www.GoodShepherdParish.us

For any questions, please contact the

Faith Formation office at 207-282-4812

Parents at St. James School have transformed a room into the

St. Nick Shop! In this room donated and purchased items were

marked with a small fee to allow students to buy Christmas

gifts for their families. Nothing was priced over $5.00, with

most only costing one or two dollars. The joy they had when

picking out just the right gift for their parents or their sister or

brother was exciting.

Parents worked hard setting up the room, wrapping gifts and

helping students shop. They left with a bag full of goodies to

hide until Christmas!

This is a great example of how parents and staff work together

for the best interest of children. St. James School embraces the

whole child.

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Worship & Spirituality

Advent Vespers: Scripture, reflection, prayer,

and sacred music led by fellow parishioners.

Sunday, December 22, at 4 pm in Most Holy

Trinity Church. Incense will be used.

Social Justice & Peace

Collection Report

Offertory Week Year to Date*

December 7-8, 2013 $ 25,045 $ 694,145

December 8-9, 2012 $ 29,408 $ 710,834

Difference $ (4,363) (16,689) -2.3%

Retired Religious $ 6,692

Immaculate Conception $ 895 *includes second collections

We continue to collect donations for local

food pantries at all our churches. Please

make your donations of nonperishables for the

needy of our area who depend on the food

pantries. There are collection boxes in all the

churches for your donations.

Online Giving System: Good Shepherd Parish now has an

online giving system called WeShare. For more information

and to set up your account, go to

www.GoodShepherdParish.us and then click Online Giving.

You can make a onetime or recurring donation using your

credit card, checking or savings account.

For Sale: Good Shepherd Parish has a condo for sale on Gar-

field Street in Saco. FMI please contact our broker,

Sandra Murray, with Keller Williams, 879-9800.

Mass Times While Travelling: Go to

www.masstimes.org to find locations & times of Masses at

Catholic churches in the USA and around the world―a

service of the Catholic Communications collection and

Mass Times Trust. For the Extraordinary Form:

www.ecclesiadei.org/masses.cfm.

Mass Schedule

Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God

Tuesday, December 31 - Anticipated

4:00 pm Most Holy Trinity

6:30 pm St. Margaret

Wednesday, January 1

9:00 am St. Philip

9:00 am St. Joseph

The parish offices will be closed

Wednesday, December 25,

Christmas Day

If weather keeps you from

getting to church…

and you don't get a bulletin…

you can read it online at

www.goodshepherdparish.us

Our parish website includes the weekly bulletin, upcom-

ing events, links to St. James Catholic School, the Portland

Diocese (with daily news updates), U.S. Conference of

Catholic Bishops, the Vatican & much more.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

www.goodshepherdparish.us

Flu Season: The diocese has issued recommendations sum-

marized here: Stay at home from church if you are sick.

Health officials recommend staying at home until 24 hours

after any fever resolves without use of medications. Cover

your cough by using tissues or by coughing into your

sleeve. Wash hands frequently. If you have a cold or the

flue, don’t drink from the shared cup or shake hands to

share the sign of peace. A smile or bow of the head is al-

ways appropriate. Also, church ministers including ush-

ers, servers, and ministers of the Eucharist are urged to

make use of the anti-bacterial solution available at all loca-

tions. Health officials recommend vaccination for everyone

aged 6 months or older.

Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Association of South-

ern Maine: Ready the way of the Lord…How better to

do that than by spending time in adoration before the Blessed Sacrament in our Adoration Chapel, 27 Thornton Avenue, Saco. The chapel is open all day, every day (except in case of stormy weather). Please drop in any time, sign in, visit with the Lord, and consider becoming a scheduled adorer. We await the coming of the Lord; He is waiting for us.

WOW…A SINCERE THANK

YOU!

Once again, you, the parishioners

Of Good Shepherd were most gen-

erous in giving to the children in our

communities at Christmas through

Toys for Tots. The Social Justice

Commission thanks and applauds

your efforts. More figures to come

at a later date.