From Father Steven - September 18, 2022

CAR RAFFLE DRAWING
 
The CAR RAFFLE DRAWING, will take place this Sunday, September 18th, at 7:30 pm at the St. Mary of the Assumption Parish Gymnasium (301 Haverhill St. Lawrence, MA 01840; entrance thru White St.) The event will be broadcast live through the FACEBOOK LIVE of St. Mary's Parish: https://www.facebook.com/StMaryLawrence.  People do NOT need to be there in order to win. Once the winning tickets are drawn, the people from St. Mary’s Parish in Lawrence, will be in charge of communicating the news to the winners.
 Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
This week I would like to call the attention to something important, so we will pause our explanations regarding the structure of our parish. The Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference is about to take place on Saturday, October 1, 2022. They usually always sell out, so we would like to encourage women to participate in this year’s conference. Below is a witness experience of a parishioner who attended in the past and enjoyed it. Last year we had a strong presence from parishioners from IC Church. If you decide to participate, you can register and purchase the tickets online  https://wcwconference.com and if you would like to carpool, or go as a group, please call the parish office.
 
Also this weekend, we celebrate Catechetical Sunday. It is a moment in which we thank and pray for our catechists. They are men and women who serve the Lord by instructing the children and youth on the ways of God. Please keep them in your prayers as they begin another year of our Religious Education program. If you would like to be a catechist or volunteer in our CCD program, please contact Margie at the parish office.
 
God Bless,
Fr. Steven
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I have attended the Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference since the first one in 2018.  It was quite a leap of faith to attend in 2018.  I left the conference in awe of our wonderful Catholic faith.  The theme was “to know, Him, to love Him and to serve Him”.  
 
I have been involved in youth ministry and Religious Education for many years and it struck me at one point – if they don’t know who created them - nothing else matters so this really spoke to my heart.  The conference affirmed my conviction of how this was so important.
 
In 2019 the theme was “The Eucharist: Source and Summit of Our Faith.”   We hear this time and time again but what does this mean? The conference was so instrumental in helping us understand – everything flows from the Eucharist and goes back to the Eucharist.  What did this mean for my life?  I need to spend some time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.  I have a habit of bringing bags of stuff to adoration and God says “just come to Me”.  It is simple and He doesn’t require much – just being.
 
In 2021, the aftermath of Covid, the theme was “Joan Up with the Armor of God."  This conference was an eye opener to me.  St. Joan of Arc always seemed like someone I could not relate to however after the conference I felt more equipped and more convicted to go forth and “Be not afraid. I was born for this”.  I pray everyday now to put on the armor of God – the helmet of salvation…the breastplate of righteousness…the shield of faith…the sword of the Spirit (the Word of God)…..the belt of truth.  WE are in a spiritual battle.
 
We are now in 2022…..St. Therese is the patron Saint this year.  The theme is “Embracing the Cross”.  A homily that I have heard and gone back to often is – “Do you drag your cross or do you embrace it?  Please consider attending this conference.  You deserve it.  I feel every year afterwards to go forth and share the Good News.
 
I would encourage every woman to prayerfully consider attending this year’s conference.  You will be happy that you did. You owe it to yourself.