Liturgy & Church

Read more: Catechism of the Catholic Church

At St. John’s

Liturgy

“Yours is the task of telling our family story, the story of salvation…
You proclaim a word that heals and comforts and consoles…
Yours is the ministry of the table of God’s word, which feeds the hungers and the longing of our hearts for truth…
Yours is to offer the story of the “great things the Lord has done for us,” that we might turn to the table of Eucharist…
Come to your work in awesome reverence of the word you proclaim: it is the Lord’s word.”

from: Yours is a Share: The Call of Liturgical Ministry, by Austin Fleming, 1985. The Pastoral Press, Washington, DC

Communion Ministers are laypeople who volunteer to bring the Body and Blood of Christ to the community. Ministers serve as needed at liturgies, assisting the priest and/or deacon in distribution of Communion. They visit sick or homebound parishioners, bringing them Communion and making them feel a part of our parish community. Parishioners in nursing homes and hospitals are also visited by our homebound ministers.

Youth Altar Servers – At a special Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross (on October 17, 2007) to honor Altar Servers, Cardinal Sean O’Mally had this to say to Altar Servers: “Every time you serve at Mass you are helping Jesus to perform a miracle — He could perform that miracle without us, but he wants us to be a part of it,” and “At Mass, you are serving the greatest King of all.” “Jesus calls each of us to a lifetime of service… We are blessed to have so many young people so willing today to become active members of their parishes and to share their energy and talents with our Catholic faith community. Today we celebrate their accomplishments and their love of the Church through their important commitment to the Mass and parish life.”

There is a need for more boys and girls, fourth grade or older, to serve Mass on weekends and holydays. For more information about becoming an Altar Server at St. John’s contact Fr. John MacInnis.

Adult Altar Servers - Adult volunteers serve an hour or two a month, assisting our priests at funerals. Experience is not necessary, just a willing heart! Contact Phyllis Murphy 978-531-0007.

Ushers/Greeters are the doorkeepers in the house of the Lord, a friendly and welcoming presence to those coming to worship. This team of volunteers welcome parishoners, distribute worship aides and bulletins, take up collection and attend to parishioners needs at Mass.

Church

Sanctuary Team Schedule: May – Dec 2009 Schedule (PDF)

Linens/Vestments Care Team launder small and large linens used at Mass (corporals, etc.) and altar server albs, check the cleaning status of priest’s vestments, etc.

Linen Team Schedule: May – Dec 2009 Schedule (PDF)

Baptismal Robes Team make robes given to children at baptism. Rita April is the contact person, and can be reached at 978-535-4380.

Seasonal Church Decorators help in the decorations of the church for seasonal and for special liturgies.

Flowers and Plants Team (Green Team) care for the plants and flowers in the upper and lower churches, i.e., watering, pruning, fertilizing, etc.

Faith in Art

“The windows in the upper church contain images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (left side, center) and the Immaculate Heart of Mary (right side, center. In the other windows are depictions of apostles and evangelists: Saints John, Thomas, Phillip, Bartholomew, James, Mathias, Peter, Paul, Simon and Jude. Beneath each face are two symbols which we will explain. There are a variety of other windows around the church and painted images of the saints higher above the nave or main body of the church.

Why do we use art in our churches?

The art and architecture of Catholic churches reflect our belief in the beauty and goodness of the human person, created in God’s image and likeness. There have been times in history when people have wanted to eliminate all religious images for fear that they would be worshipped as idols. This was known as the iconoclast movement, literally “image breaking.” Certain Protestant churches reflect a belief that images detract from the purity of faith which depends only on hearing the word of God. In extreme reactions, this thinking resulted in the destruction of priceless works of Christian art. However, the understanding and appreciation that has prevailed in the Catholic church is rooted in the implications of a central tenet of our faith: the Incarnation.

Jesus took on our humanity, our flesh and blood and our way of living in the world in every way but sin. The fullness of his humanity became a kind of window through which we can see God who is otherwise invisible and transcendent. We believe that Jesus intended to keep his church alive and growing through people, most of all the saints who help us to know God and his ways through their words and actions.

We also believe that Jesus continues to be known and experienced through our senses, such as sight, touch and smell. He even wants us to receive him as food and drink. The primary elements we use to encounter the risen Christ are those we find in the seven sacraments. But there are other things we call sacramentals: a crucifix, candles, the rosary, medals of the saints. These are not amulets or charms with magical powers, but reminders of God, the saints, and the ways that God has entered our world of time and space.

Clearly we need to avoid superstition or an attachment to religious objects that takes away from true faith in God, but these aberrations should not prevent us from being able to find God in works of religious beauty and inspiration.

The more we know about our tradition and its many beautiful expressions of true faith, the more we can be lifted up through our mind, our heart and our senses and feel closer to God and closer to the centuries old family of faith, the church, to which we belong. Consider this an invitation, in a sense, to “see what we believe.” In heaven we will see God face to face. But here on earth, he has given us our imagination and our senses as gifts not only to behold his goodness in the world of nature, but also to enable us to catch a glimpse of his grace and majesty in the works of our human hands.”

Look around our church to see our faith illustrated in art, and view the art in detail in the attached web pages, which will be archived, and made available for you to enjoy any time you wish. There is a zoom feature which allows the viewer to really get up close to the lovely details in each window, and even to see the name of the donor at the bottom of each window. If you spot the name of a donor you know, please give us details to add to our archived history of the Parish.

After we have completed a review of the main windows in the church we will begin to review the Circle Portraits of Saints found over the main body of the church, Sacramental Artifacts, Church Symbolism (in the smaller windows) and also our Stations of the Cross. So visit often. Your eye will behold much that is beautiful and faith filled.

Main windows

St Paul
St Thomas

Volunteer opportunities!
Unless otherwise noted, contact Deacon Leo Martin at Parish Center (978) 531-0002
or submit the volunteer form below.