St. Louis de France Church

56 Buffington Street

Swansea, MA 02777

Phone: 508-674-1103

E-mail: sldfo@comcast.net

Web Site: www.stlouisdefrance.net

Saint Louis de France Church

April

6 CFL MEETING 7:00 PM Church mtg. room

9 FIRST COMMUNION BANNER ACTIVITY / 10:30 AM - Church

9 CFL CHICKEN PIE SUPPER / 5:00 PM Hall

9 & 10 CCA VIDEO at all Masses

10 CONFIRMATION REHEARSAL / 6:00 PM - Church

17 PALM SUNDAY Children's Mass / 9:30 AM

17 CONFIRMATION REHEARSAL

21 HOLY THURSDAY : grade 2 students participate in Mass

22 GOOD FRIDAY : grade 9 students participate in the STATIONS OF THE CROSS / 7:00 PM Church

23 EASTER VIGIL 7:00 PM : grade 10 students participate in Mass

26 CONFIRMATION 7:00 PM

30 FIRST COMMUNION REHEARSAL / 11:00 am Church

MAY

2 WOMEN'S MINISTRY BUSINESS MEETING / 7:00 PM Church Meeting Room

3 ST. VINCENT DE PAUL Conference Mtg. / 6:30 PM Mass followed by meeting in Hall

4 CFL MEETING 7:00 PM Church mtg. room

7 FIRST COMMUNION 11:00 AM

14 & 15 WOMEN'S MINISTRY BAKE SALE

15 FINAL CHILDREN'S MASS 9:30 / Family coffee hour following Mass

17 DIOCESAN YOUTH AWARDS / ST. MARY'S CATHEDRAL

24 JOINT MEETING OF PARISH COUNCIL &

FINANCE COMMITTEE Church mtg. room

JUNE

1 CFL Mid-Year Dinner Meeting

2 ASCENSION THURSDAY: Holy Day Masses at 7:30 AM & 7:00 PM

24,25,26 CLI Diocesan Sponsored Workshop

For Youth Catholic Leadership Institute

Parish Events

NONPROFIT ORG

US POSTAGE PAID

SWANSEA MA

PERMIT NO. 1

70th Catholic Charities Appeal

2011 Appeal Dates:

May 1st to June 21st

SURRENDER is a dirty word in our controlled-focused culture.

Surrender smacks of defeat and failure. Surrender is to give up, to admit that we have made a

mess of things, to let go of our dreams and wants, to see our self-respect and pride disinte-

grate before our crushed spirit. Only losers surrender.

But true surrender is not capitulation. The Latin root of our English word “surrender” means

to “give back.” In surrendering, we give back to God what is not ours. We entrust to God the

ultimate “control” of our lives in order to embrace and be embraced in the love of the God

Who is the Author of all life.

Surrender takes many forms. We surrender to the truth of a situation, rather than resist it. We

surrender our own need to be in control for the best of another. We may

surrender our own agenda for the greater good.

On Golgotha, Jesus does the hardest thing anyone can do: He surrenders, He gives back

everything to God. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus uses the word “commend.” St. Paul, in his letter to the Philippians uses the

more compelling word “empty.” For the fulfillment of God’s reign, for the sake of us all, Jesus surrenders, empties Him-

self, gives back to God what God has given, out of complete and selfless love.

Holy Week which is almost upon us calls us to “surrender” as Christ surrenders to God. We are asked to empty ourselves

of our own needs and wants for the sake of others. We cannot hope to experience rebirth and transformation in our lives

until we “empty” ourselves of our self-centered wants, until we “crucify” those attitudes and approaches that make us

less than what we want to become in the eyes of God, until we surrender ourselves to the compassion and justice of God.

MAY WE ALL HAVE A TRANSFORMING HOLY WEEK AND RESPLENDENT EASTER REBIRTH!

From the Pastors Desk

Saint Louis de France Church

Our Parish Community

April May June Newsletter 2011, Issue 6

Rev. Richard R. Gendreau

Theology on tap is a discussion series to help single and married young adults in their 20s and

30s learn about and grow in the Catholic faith. Admission is free and attendees are welcome to

order from the restaurant menu.

Theology on Tap will be held on Tuesday April 12, Olive Garden, Rte. 140 Taunton from

6:30-8:30 pm.

For more information, contact Crystal Medeiros at 508-678-2828 or via email at

cmedeiros@dfrcec.com or visit the Office of Faith Formation website at

www.fallriverfaithformation.org.

Theology on Tap

Inside this issue:

A Historical Look 1 2

Who is St. Louis de France

2

Business-person’s Psalm

2

Why Not ? 3

Kid’s Corner 3

Parish Events 4

"Healthcare, End of Life and the Catholic Faith" with Susan Collamati

Who is St. Louis de France? When Pope Boniface VIII canonized Louis IX of France on April 11, 1297, he publicly recognized the

eminent virtues of an outstanding king and extraordinary Christian.

Born on April 25, 1214, the son of King Louis VIII and Blanche of Castille, he ascended the throne at the

age of 12. In 1234 he married Margaret of Provence; they had eleven children.

Both in foreign relations and in domestic administration of the kingdom, Louis demonstrated strength and

skill. It is said that he made France the strongest monarchy in Europe. With the nobles he reasserted royal

prerogatives and centralized political and economic power; with the clergy he firmly opposed any

intrusions, even by the pope, into secular affairs. Always deeply religious, Louis had acquired a reverence

for the sacred character of kingship. To fulfill its obligations was for him a religious duty. He was ever

aware of the demands of justice.

In Louis’ time Paris was becoming renowned as the seat of a great university which attracted scholars from all parts of Europe. It

was under his support that Robert Sorbonne founded the “College de la Sorbonne” which became the seat of the theological faculty

of Paris. The city was also famous for its buildings, especially the new Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the Sainte Chapelle, an

architectural gem built by Louis to accommodate the relic of the Crown of Thorns.

King Louis fasted and prayed a great deal, dressed plainly, ministered personally to the underprivileged and maintained a playful

spirit and good humor. In 1248 he led a crusade to the Holy Land. He was defeated in Egypt and taken prisoner but later released. He

organized another crusade in 1270 but died in Tunis when a plague broke out in his army.

St. Louis is remembered on August 25 in the yearly liturgical calendar.

Our Parish Community

Page 2

O Lord, Chairman of the Highest Board,

The grandest buzz does You little justice.

From Your penthouse suite You call us to an all-hands meeting.

We long to follow Your best practices

You anoint us with a skill-set that will out-perform our grandest vision.

With Your deep pockets of grace, only the dead-wood fail to buy-in.

Here in the brick-and-mortar world we end up with one disconnect after another.

Our temptation burn-rate grows out of control and You call us on the carpet.

“Why have you failed to deliver the goods?” You demand. “I gave you all the bandwidth you need.”

Instead we put on a dog-and-pony-show. We want to simply apple-polish our way to a raise.

You insist that we drink the kool-aid; Get down and dirty with the bottom line.

You send us your prophets, priests, angels, and saints as Your change agents.

You Word disambiguates all Your action items for us.

You generously give us Your love and mercy and ask us to share it carte blanche.

Though we still have trouble drinking from the firehose of Your wisdom and truth,

We know that as we approach our drop-dead date, you keep us forever on Your short list.

A Historical Look; Part One

As we pass through the present into the future it benefits us to know the roots and history of St. Louis de France throughout our jour-

ney. This is the first in a series of articles designed to give all parishioners a deeper knowledge of the annals of the parish and a

heightened sense of pride for all that has been done, is current, and being planned for the future. The historical information is cred-

ited to the publication that was created for the fiftieth (50th) anniversary of the parish

21st Century Business-person’s Psalm

Contributed by Charles Demers

Why Not ?

Page 3

Newsletter 2011, Issue 6

Easter Word Scramble:

Unscramble these words about Easter and

spring!

Kid’s Corner

I have always loved Science Fairs. When I was in school I always participated and even won a prize once. One day I was thinking:

Why don't we don't have fairs about our faith? Well why not; and so the St. Louis de France Faith Fair was born. We just completed

our fourth annual fair and it too was a success.

The children in grades seven and eight are asked to take part. They are put in teams of 2 or 3 and choose a topic. They then begin

the research portion and begin to build a display. They are allowed class time and some students work at home also. They really

enjoy the process and become experts in their particular category.

On a given date, they display their work at the parish hall and are responsible to answer questions pertaining to their display data.

Three judges award points for visual presentation, originality, verbal presentation and factual content of their display board.

This year the Faith Fair was held on Feb. 27, 2011

This years 1st place winners were:

7th Grade - “The Vestments:” Zachary Fingliss, Nathan Melanson, & Timothy Moreira.

8th Grade – “The Sacrament of Marriage:” Sydney Chase, Hannah Lavoie, Kelsey Mendes, & Jessica Wilding.

1. teskab ______________

2. slfwero ______________

3. dcooler sgeg ______________ ________

4. ccteaoloh ______________

5. ybnnu ______________

6. yljle seabn ______________ ________

7. ayduSn ______________

8. geg tnhu ______________ ________ Answers: 1. basket,2. flowers,3. colored eggs,4. chocolate,5. bunny, 6. jelly

beans,7. Sunday,8. egg hunt

Been away from the Church and want to come back?

Interested in becoming Catholic?

Have a question about a Church Teaching? visit www.catholicscomehome.org

By Paulette Normandin D.R.E.