To ensure the parish continues to serve the needs of parishioners, a parishioner-led team is   developing a three-year plan.  The plan will guide us on how to best use the resources and energy of the parish.  While Our Lady of Sorrows is spiritually and fiscally strong, it is important to     understand what matters to you. Help shape our parish plan.

Lay participation has always been critical to OLOS’s identity. It is even more important today. Tell us what is working. Tell us what you care about. If you are in any way a part of our community, even if you’re not a registered parishioner, we need to hear from you. We encourage everyone from high school and up to participate, one survey per person. Surveys need to be submitted by October 21st.  Click the link to begin : SURVEY 

As part of the process of developing the plan we will be holding focus groups to explore themes that emerge through this survey. If  you would like to participate in a focus group, please reach out to anyone on the Pastoral Plan Writing Team or leave your name at the rectory. You also have the option of providing your name and contact information at the end of the survey

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MASS AT THE LAKE
Thank you to all who participated in and helped with the Mass at the Lake last Sunday. It was a beautiful day, a beautiful setting and an all-around beautiful expression of our community of faith. Special thanks to Lynn and all the volunteers she enlisted, to the readers, Eucharistic ministers, servers and our wonderful choir.
“COOL THE LIGHTS, SAVE THE POWER”
Thank you for your generosity. We have concluded this brief campaign. Through your generosity, we realized twice our goal of $10,000 and so will be able to do some other things as well. Thanks.
VATICAN II
On my time off, I have been participating in a course on Vatican II at the Boston College School of Theology. It’s so interesting for me. I was a student in Rome during the third and fourth sessions of the Council in 1964 and 1965. I was taught by scholars who had important input to the documents and the thinking of the time. The class at BC of approximately 19 is made up mostly of men and women faithful studying for their Master’s or Doctorate degrees in theology. For someone in my place on the continuum of life, they are a sign of great hope for the Church.
 
This week we spent some time on the document on the Liturgy. It was the first document issued by the Council and perhaps the one that has had the most impact on all our lives. We had a lively, at times passionate  discussion about a controversial liturgical practice that is common in many parishes but thankfully, not here. You’ve been there especially at large parishes when it comes communion time and hosts consecrated previously are brought from the tabernacle. There is no question that these previously consecrated hosts are indeed the body of Christ but this is not preferred liturgical practice for a number of reasons.
 
The General Instruction of the Roman Missal addresses it this way. “It is most desirable that the faithful, just as the priest himself is bound to do, receive the Lord’s Body from the hosts consecrated at the same Mass and that, in cases where this is foreseen, they partake of the chalice, so that even by means of the signs, Communion may stand out more clearly as a participation in the sacrifice actually being celebrated.”
 
Deacon Mike and the Eucharistic ministers do a good job of calculating the numbers of people attending each Mass so that we don’t have to go to the previously consecrated very often. However, we do have the habit of bringing the ciborium of previously consecrated hosts from the tabernacle and placing it front and center on the altar along with a pyx (small container) with gluten free hosts.
 
For pastoral reasons, we will continue with the pyx. But to emphasize the “most desirable” practice of receiving communion consecrated at the Mass being celebrated, we’ll discontinue the practice with the ciborium. Why? Is this best practice or is it just insider baseball?
 
First, the hosts consecrated at the Mass we celebrate together are an integral part of that celebration. All of us by virtue of our baptism, are invited to participate fully. It is at the Eucharistic celebration that we are in our hearts and our core, the universal church, the “people of God” gathered in our time and place. Second, the Eucharist isn’t just something we get. Years ago I was with someone who excused himself from a reception so that he could run to a nearby church and get communion. The Eucharist is the ultimate participation here on earth in the “paschal mystery” that is in the death resurrection and ascension of the Lord. How privileged we are to participate in that eternal reality which calls to us in the promise of Christ to have the mystery fully revealed in our own experience when time shall pass away. Thirdly, I always thought that one reason we worship in community is so that as we move about in the Church, we can be inspired. We see the family worshipping together and being what has been called the “domestic church”, we see someone who has brought an elderly neighbor out of isolation to church, we see parents giving their lives for a disabled child, we see little kindnesses and courtesies which are all too rare in our society and we see people battling   illnesses with courage and faith. How can we escape that we too are called to carry this goodness forward so that the Eucharist is not merely a celebration but it is motivation and actual grace to be as Pope Francis has said: “permanently in a state of mission.”
 
In the coming weeks, I’ll share more of this wonderful learning experience with you. We are not just learning, we are experiencing and savoring some of the great gifts Christ has given his church. That’s a form of prayer.
 
~ Fr. Frank

Registration for our PreK-Grade 5, Middle School and Confirmation programs is now open.  Click here to register electonically, or print a paper registration form to mail in to the parish office.  Faith Formation orientations and classes will begin at the end of September.  Visit the PreK-Grade 5, Middle School, and Confirmation pages of the parish website for complete calendars.  

The OLOS Book Group will resume meeting on Sunday, October 14th from 2-3:00 p.m. in the Bullock Center.  All are welcome.  We will be discussing My Life with the Saints, by James Martin, S.J..  Please come ready to discuss the book.  If you have any questions, be in touch with Teresa Coda or Monica LaFond.

About the book: My Life with the Saints is James Martin’s story of how his life has been shaped by some surprising friends—the saints of the Catholic Church. In his modern classic memoir, Martin introduces us to saints throughout history—from St. Peter to Dorothy Day, St. Francis of Assisi to Mother Teresa—and chronicles his lifelong friendships with them. Filled with fascinating tales, Martin’s funny, vibrant, and stirring book invites readers to discover how saints guide us throughout our earthly journeys and how they help each of us find holiness in our own lives.

Sing with the OLOS Children’s Choir (PreK-Grade 5) or Youth Choir (Grade 6-Grade 12)!  The Children's Choir will sing at two special 8:45 a.m. Masses this year on Sunday, September 30th and Sunday, November 18th and will enliven our annual Christmas Pageant as the Choir of Angels. The Youth Choir will sing at the 8:45 a.m. Mass once per month (dates TBD).  Rehearsals will be scheduled with the input of interested families. Contact our Music Director Daesik Cha for more information or to sign up.

If your child has made their First Communion and is interested in serving in this special ministry please come to the Altar Server Training on Saturday, November  3rd at 3-4 PM in the Church. Please RSVP by October 27th. If you have any questions please contact Lynn Jacobs  or by phone: 781-784-2265 OR Monica LaFond  or by phone: 617-909-9258. 

Thank you to everyone who has donated to support the Salmeron Family, refugees from El Salvador who are here waiting for their asylum case to move forward.  They found housing in Norwood; between donations from the OLOS community and others involved in Sharon Interfaith Action we have worked together to furnish their apartment! We continue to seek monetary donations to help support the family.  Thank you to those who have already contributed. To date we have raised $610 and $625 in gift cards.  Contributions may be made out to OLOS with Salmeron Family on the memo line and dropped in the basket or sent to the Parish Office. 

On August 19, instead of preaching on the daily readings at Mass, Fr. Daly read excerpts of Cardinal Sean’s statement regarding the most recent exposure of clergy abuse through the PA Grand Jury report released on Tuesday, August 14 and spoke about it in the context of OLOS.  Following the Mass, parishioners gathered to share in fruitful discussion about the statement, the trifecta of abuse current scandals in the church (McCarrick, St. John’s Seminary, PA Grand Jury Report) and the appropriate response of the laity.  Click here for notes from the homily and the conversation.