prayers

Saint Richard Parish
November 25, 2007 • The Solemnity of Christ the King

ST. RICHARD PARISH NOVEMBER 25, 2007 PAGE 1
PARISH STAFF
Rev. Bruce Flannagan - Pastor
Fr. Henry Cunney - Parochial Vicar
Norm St. Hilaire - Deacon
Molly Kelley - Principal, St. Mary School, 774-0307
Sharon Thurston - Business Manager, 774-7575
Doreen Verda - Religious Ed. Dir., Gr. 1-10, 774-3715
Brenda Myers - Music Director, 774-7575
Irene Boudreau - Director, RCIA, 774-7575
Frances Manning - Religious Ed. Secretary, 774-6660
Dale D'Agnese - Secretary/Receptionist, 774-7575
Lorraine Bernier - Secretary/Receptionist, 774-7575
All Parish Offices Located at:
Notre Dame Center
20 Otis St., Danvers - 774-7575
Mon-Wed 9:15am-6pm; Thurs till 3pm; Closed Fridays
SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATIONS
BAPTISM
Community Celebration of Baptism - Sundays.
Please call the rectory
RECONCILIATION
Saturdays at 4pm. Anytime by appointment.
EUCHARIST
Saturday Vigil - 4:30 PM
Sunday - 7:30am, 9:00am Family Mass, 11:00am, 5pm
Weekdays, Monday-Saturday - 8:00 AM
MARRIAGE
Contact the Church at least 9 months prior to your date.
SACRAMENT OF THE SICK
Contact the Rectory when needed.
Visit our website at www.stricharddanvers.org
TODAY IN SCRIPTURE
First Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3
Second Reading: Colossians 1:12-20
Gospel: Luke 23:35-43
MASS INTENTIONS
Sat Nov 24 4:30pm Roland and Lauretta
Paquin
Sun Nov 25 7:30am John Benenato
9:00am John and Mary Costello
11:00am Ernest Gaudet
5:00pm Edward Hoy
Sat Dec 1 4:30pm Harold Sherman
Sun Dec 2 9:00am Ann, John and Bernard
Mitchell
11:00am Albert Crist
5:00pm Agostinho Coelho
PRAYERS
PRAYERS
The Rite of Christian Burial was celebrated recently
for:
Florence Bettle, Andover St., Tue., Nov. 20th
Please remember in your prayers the sick, homebound,
and those who are in nursing homes/rehabs:
Rita Andrews, Andrew Beal, Robert
Bertocini, Janet Bocinski, Dorothy
Clark, Joseph Collins, James A. Daley,
Gerry Eggleston, Robert Faneuf, Helen
Flynn, Dianne Gauthier, Dan Hussey,
Anthony Juliano, William McMahon,
Andrew Murphy, Anastasia Nickole,
Ciara O’Connell, Martha Ogasian, Vincent Picillo,
Mona Prescott, Joseph Rao, Annette Ross, George
Saluto, Scot St. Hilaire, Sr., Kelley Sullivan, Michael
Tripoli, Elaine Young
MOHEGAN SUN TRIP
Our parish trip to Mohegan Sun Casino and the Garde
Theatre in New London, CT, will leave from the
parish parking lot at 7:30am on Tuesday, November
27th. We will return to St. Richard’s by 7:30pm that
evening.

34TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME NOVEMBER 25, 2007 PAGE 2
KINGDOM OF THE SON
Week by week the Liturgy has been preparing us
for the revelation to be made on this, the last
Sunday of the Church year. Jesus, we have been
shown, is truly the Chosen One, the Messiah of
God, the King of Jews. Ironically, in today's Gospel
we hear these names on the lips of those who don't
believe in Him - Israel's rulers, the soldiers, a criminal
dying alongside Him. They can only see the
scandal of a bloodied figure nailed to a cross. They
scorn Him in words and gestures foretold in Israel's
Scriptures (see Psalm 22:7-9; 69:21-22; Wisdom
2:18-20). If He is truly King, God will rescue Him,
they taunt. But He did not come to save Himself,
but to save them - and us. The good thief shows us
how we are to accept the salvation He offers us. He
confesses his sins, acknowledges he deserves to die
for them. And He calls on the name of Jesus, seeks
His mercy and forgiveness. By his faith he is saved.
Jesus "remembers" him - as God has always
remembered His people, visiting them with His
saving deeds, numbering them among His chosen
heirs (see Psalm 106:4-5). By the blood of His
cross, Jesus reveals His Kingship - not in saving
His life, but in offering it as a ransom for ours. He
transfers us to "the Kingdom of His beloved Son,"
as today's Epistle tells us. His Kingdom is the
Church, the new Jerusalem and House of David
that we sing of in today's Psalm. By their covenant
with David in today's First Reading, Israel's tribes
are made one "bone and flesh" with their king. By
the new covenant made in His blood, Christ
becomes one flesh with the people of His Kingdom
- the head of His body, the Church (see Ephesians
5:23-32). We celebrate and renew this covenant in
every Eucharist, giving thanks for our redemption,
hoping for the day when we too will be with Him
in Paradise.
CHRISTMAS WREATH &
KISSING BALL SALE
Boy Scout Troop 58 wil be selling Christmas Wreaths and Kissing Balls again this year
after all the Masses on Sunday, Nov. 25th. Wreaths are 12 inches with red ribbon and are
$10 each. Kissing Balls are 12 inches with a choice of red, burgandy, plaid or blue ribbons
and are $25 each. Orders are to be pre-paid and will be delivered to your home during the
week of December 2nd. Thank you.

34TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME NOVEMBER 25, 2007 PAGE 3
THANKSGIVING DRIVE TOTALS
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! You have broken all records this year for our Thanksgiving Drive. We distributed 124
turkeys, donated by you, to families and Shelters in Danvers, Beverly and Salem. Also, you gave $815 in Gift Cards,
$369 in cash and loads and loads of food stuffs! God bless you all for your generosity. Thank you!
BOOK OF REMEMBRANCE
For the Catholic community, the Feast of All Souls is a
time to remember those who have died. Each year on
this day, we give thanks to God for the
life of our loved ones and remember
that Jesus Christ conquereed death and
we await the resurrection of the just on
the last day. During the month of
November, we have our Book of Remembrance placed
in the sanctuary area under the podium in which you
may personally enroll the names of your deceased family
members.
The altar is aglow in beautiful candlelight during our
Memorial Mass celebrated in honor of our loved ones who
passed away and received the Rite of Christian Burial
from St. Richard Parish during the past year.
Some of the children who attended our 9am Halloween Mass on Sunday, October 28th pose in costume!

- ST RICHARD ‘S NEWS FROM THE NOTRE DAME CENTER -
RITE OF ACCEPTANCE
Have you ever been intrigued by a travel brochure or the
travel section of the Sunday newspaper? They lay before
us all the marvels and wonders of distant and different
lands. They may show us places and things that we’ve
never seen; they hint at adventures that can’t fully be described.
Usually we spend a minute or an hour imagining
what the journey might be like and then we turn the page or
set the brochure down.
Those who come to us to find out about the Catholic church
begin with a period of inquiry. The period of inquiry might
be compared to reading a travel brochure. What kind of
journey might this be? What might we encounter on the
way? Where might we end up? These are important questions,
but asking them is not the same thing as taking the
journey.
The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens—
celebrated at the end of the period of inquiry—is something
like sign-up day. At this liturgy, the inquirers who have
asked the questions and now are ready to embark on the
journey arrive at our door. We greet them and ask them
what they want. They want what we told them that we
could help them discover: faith, baptism, eternal life. We
mark them with the cross, for this is the sign of all who are
on this journey. We give them the holy scriptures: It is the
guidebook that we use on the way. We promise to be with
them on this trip, for we are still on it ourselves. And we
give them wise guides—sponsors, catechists, pastors and
many others—to surround them and support them as they
learn the ways of the road.
Any good travel agent will tell you that she or he cannot
guarantee how a journey will end, or what exactly will happen
along the way. We can’t say, either, what will happen
along this way. But in faith we can say that if we and those
we invite on this journey are faithful to the one who has
called us to make it, then the end of the journey will be
more marvelous than we imagined at the onset.
Copyright 1997 Archdiocese of Chicago
RIGHT OF ACCEPTANCE
The RCIA team has been meeting for the past few months
weekly with Ilya Craig, Christi Causey and Shaina Renzoni.
They came to our parish with many questions about
the Catholic faith. They have now come to the decision to
start their journey of faith. On Sunday, November 25th, at
the 11:00 Mass we will have the Rite of Acceptance and as
a parish family we welcome them into our community.
They will need our prayers and support until they are finally
fully initiated into the Catholic faith at the Easter
Vigil. A reception for them will follow after the Mass
since this is a time to celebrate! Please join us for a cup of
coffee and introduce yourselves to them and welcome them
into our parish.
JOURNEY OF CONVERSION FOR THE PARISH
The bishops want the RCIA to be a priority in the parish
precisely because it does (or at least it can) renew parish
life. The RCIA is a journey of conversion for the person
participating in the initiation process, and by extension it
can be a journey of conversion for the whole parish!
That is, conversion happens if the parish fully embraces the
process of initiation and walks the journey of faith with the
candidates for initiation.
Let’s look closer at this notion of conversion. The Rite
tells us that those requesting initiation “seek the living God
and enter the way of faith and conversion.” This indicates
that those folks who come to our parish doors saying, “I
want to be Catholic,” are indeed “seeking” something. Although
they may not articulate it as such, what they really
seek is God. So, the parish invites them to into this wondrous
process whereby they develop, deepen and enrich
their relationship with this loving God in Christ Jesus
through the Holy Spirit.
Now, if RCIA rally is this wondrous journey of conversion
to God in Christ, then the sponsors who walk with the candidates—supporting
them, praying for the, witnessing to
their faith, guiding them along the path cannot help but experience
some kind of conversion themselves. Likewise,
the Christian community that supports, prays for, guides
and celebrates with the candidates also renews its own conversion
to God in Christ.
CHRISTMAS WREATH AND KISSING BALL SALE
• Wreaths are 12 inches with Red Ribbon $10.00 each
• Kissing Balls are also 12 inches with a choice of red,
burgundy, plaid or blue ribbons. $25.00 each
Orders are to be prepaid and will be delivered to the purchasers
home the week of Dec. 2nd.
Boy Scout Troop 58 will be taking orders after masses on
Sunday November 25th.

- ST RICHARD ‘S NEWS FROM THE NOTRE DAME CENTER -
MY PRAYER,
BY THE 6TH AND 7TH GRADERS
Dear God,
Thank you for my loving family and my gifted talents.
You gave me them for a reason and I will use them to my
full extent.
Also, I would like to thank you for my nurturing environment
and shelter in which I receive good food and a good
education. Overall… Thank you.
Amen
Dear God,
I pray for the less fortunate people of the world. I pray for
cancer victims who are suffering. I hope that they will be
cured. I pray for the people who are starving and have little
food. I pray for the homeless who live on the streets. I pray
for people who don’t have enough money to meet their basic
needs, like food and clothing. I pray for the children in
orphanages, who have no parents, to find a family of their
own. I pray for babies, like my cousin, who was born prematurely
to get better and live to be like all the other kids. I
pray for the kids with special needs who get made fun of. I
pray that someday everyone in the world will find their
own happiness and live a peaceful life. I pray for everyone
else out there who are suffering and are in need. I pray that
someday there will be peace on Earth.
Dear God,
I am thankful for my family, I pray that they stay healthy.
I am thankful for my education, I pray that I lead a good
life one day.
I am thankful for my fortunate lifestyle, I pray for the less
fortunate.
I am thankful for my safety, I pray for those in danger.
I am thankful for people who have come home safe from
the war, I pray for world peace.
I pray, Amen
Dear God,
I pray for a good life. I am very thankful for what I have
(friends, family, shelter, food) I want no more no less.
Thank you for giving me a good education and some
laughs. You have given me hopes and dreams. But most
of all you have given me the chance to live. Thank you
God. Amen
MY BROTHERS TABLE
St. Richards Church serves at My Brothers Table on the
first Sunday of every month. If you or your family and
friends are interested in serving please contact Doreen
Verda to sign up. (978)774-3715 or SRDRE@aol.com. A
total of 12-15 volunteers are needed for each date. Below
are some of the upcoming available dates.
Sunday’s
May 4th 1:30-4:30
June 1st 1:30-4:30
July 6th 1:30-4:30
August 3rd 1:30-4:30
September 7th 1:30-4:30
FIRST HOLY COMMUNION/ CONFIRMATION
Mandatory two year requirement
There will be no student allowed to skip or “make-up” first
grade, or ninth grade First Holy Communion and Confirmation
are both two year programs.
Although, we do have the “re-entrance” fee for students
who have missed a grade level, this will not apply to
Grades 1-2 or 9-10.