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Our Lady of Hope Parish05Finance and AdministrationWeekly Offertory ReportYour Gi s of StewardshipJuly 09 / July 10, 2022First Collec on ‐ 8,307.10 envelopes - 156Second Collec on Parish - 758.00 envelopes – 41Second Collec on Diocese - 820.00 - envelopes –69Weshare:(1stCollec on Parish)- 2,392.08 Users – 78Weshare: (2nd Collec on Parish) - 523.36 Users – 14Weshare: (Diocesan) - 193.91 Users 7TOTAL Parish First Offertory was 10,699.18(In order to meet our budget for this year, our Firstcollec on needs to average 13,500.00 per week.)Thank you for your generosity—God BlessJune 2022Parish Poor Box Collec on 622.39St. Vincent de PaulProject Feed ‐ July 2022“Eternal Father, grant that Sebas an Rale, martyr ofthe faith among the Abenakis of Maine, will beraised to the altar of the blessed. Through his intercession, we pray that your divine favor will be manifest among us so that we may return praise to Youreternal glory. We ask this through Our Lord JesusChrist Your Son, who lives and reigns with You andthe Holy Spirit, One God, world without end. Amen”-July 25July 26July 28July 30July 30-Parish Weekly Collec ons ‐ Our the parishweekly offering is now being taken through the baskets placed at the church doorways. We are not"passing the basket" during Mass. Your support isessen al and appreciated. Any special gi s can alsobe placed in these baskets.Faith Forma on 2022‐2023Bea fica on of Fr. Sebas an Rale, S.J.MondayTuesdayThursdaySaturdaySaturdayComing 2nd Collec ons07-23/24-2022 — Maintenance Fund07-30/31-2022 — Maintenance Fund08-06/07-2022 — Peter’s Pence08-13/14-2022 — Snow Removal and Grounds Care FundIf you have any ques ons regarding yourenvelopes, please contact Linda at 207‐797‐7026Thank you for your con nued support and generousdona ons.We are gearing up for the next season of Faith Forma on for children who will be preparing, in theirfirst or second year, to receive their First Reconciliaon, First Communion, and Confirma on sacraments. Sessions will be held at the parish hall before Mass each Sunday from 8:45 - 9:20, followed bythe 9:30 Mass. The 9:30 Mass on September18th will be a Welcoming Mass, with the first session on September 25th. Stay tuned for more details in the bulle n throughout August, includingexci ng plans for year 3 and beyond.Up Coming Parish EventsAA - 12 Noon to 1:00 PMMass-Feast of St. Anne - St. Joseph ChurchAA - 12 Noon to 1:00 PMReconciliation - 3:00 PM - St. Pius X ChurchOutdoor Mass - 4:30 PM - St. Pius X ChurchThe Close of the Igna an Year ‐ A Celebra on—NEXT SATURDAYAs a Jesuit Ministry, Our Lady of Hope joins with others around the world in marking the close of theIgna an Year. While the special year comes to a close, the emphasis in finding God in all thingscon nues with great joy! We will be celebra ng the 4:30 Mass on July 30th OUTSIDE on the beau fulgrounds of St. Pius X on Ocean Avenue (weather permi ng) immediately followed by a cookout withburgers and dogs on the grill. How to be a part of it? We'll have a limited number of chairs set out for parishioners who benefit from thataccommoda on. Bring your lawn chairs and blankets. Children are welcome to sit up front on blankets, so they canfeel especially connected! Bring your beverages, sides, chips, and desserts (to share, if you'd like) during the cookout In addi on to our regular offertory, we'll have a free will offering to help offset the cost of burgers,dogs and bunswww.ladyo opemaine.org

06Seventeenth Sunday in OrdinaryGrowing & Harves ng Wild BlueberriesFor over 10,000 years, na ve wild blueberries have grown in the thin, acidic, glacialsoils of Maine and Canada, where they thrive in the cold, harsh climates and form alush, natural carpet across the land. For genera ons now, many of the independent, family-owned growers have grown and harvested wild blueberries from thesame barrens their ancestors did, using techniques handed down from genera onto genera on. Blueberries .that special treat of Maine. Produce of carefullytended, thin soil and, in days past at least, backbreaking labor. Tiny bursts of color and taste. Best of all, for thosewho know, in a “fresh blueberry pie”, not baked at all but topped with cream! Bless our fields, bless those whotend them, bless the workers who come to run the harvesters or, s ll, bend to pick. Bless the berries. Bless thesesummer days. Let us give thanks.Monthly Eucharis c Adora on - August 05th Each month our parish holds a "Holy Hour", a meof quiet prayer in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Deacon John leads the service assisted byBill Welch. This is a good opportunity for you to be with the Lord. The Holy Hour is open to anyonewho wishes to a end in person at St. Pius X Church at 3:00 ‐ 4:00 PM on the First Friday of eachmonth. The prayer is also available on the livestream connec on through our parish website.Weekend MassesThe new weekend schedule of Masses is working out well. We do need addi onal “Liturgical Ministers” at all ofthe Masses. This would be readers, greeters, Eucharis c Ministers, music ministers, altar servers (acolytes –adults are welcome to server). Speak to one of the priests a er Mass or contact the Parish Office if you areinterested/able/or have ques ons. We will adjust your serving schedule to your needs.Mass a endance has been up and down, o en around 530. That is s ll down no ceably from our pre-covid averages of 800-900. Extend a welcome to your friends and neighbors, especially if they have been away.July NotesFeast of Saint Anne – THIS WEEK - Grandmother of Jesus – Tuesday July 26th - Evening Mass at 7:00 PM at St.Joseph Church with procession. We give thanks for Saint Anne and for the grandparents in our parish and ourlives. All are welcome.Joint mee ng of the Parish Pastoral Council and Parish Finance Council - Wednesday July 27 6:30 PM at theParish HallCelebra on of the end of the Igna an Year – Saturday July 30 – the regular 4:30 PM Mass will be held outside onthe grounds of St. Pius X Church with a picnic to follow. In the event of rain the Mass will be in the Church.More details are found at page 5. .Time for Prayer By Lisa KellyHow hard can it be to take 10, 15, 20 minutes a day for dedicated prayer or reflec on and contempla on? Andyet the commitment to any regular prayer prac ce can o en feel like one more burden to “fit in” to our hec cschedules, one of those “shoulds” that my spiritual director o en cau ons me against. I o en feel like I just havetoo much to do today and that my mind is just too preoccupied to truly center. Prayer will come easier when I’mless rushed. I have so much important stuff to get done today, I reason. St. Igna us warned retreatants that therewould be mes prayer felt dry and unproduc ve. His prescrip on: double our efforts at those mes. When I feellike I can’t do 10 minutes of prayer, I need to do 20. I need to get back to the realiza on that it is only in thesemes of oneness with God when I can make sense of the preoccupa ons of my day.Our prayer me is when we put ourselves at the disposal of God. Igna us calls for a “great spirit and generositytoward their Creator and Lord,” when we approach our prayer me, “offering all their desires and freedom tohim so that his Divine Majesty can make use of their persons and all they possess.” (Spiritual Exercises Annota on#5) It is in offering that short 10, 15, 20 minutes a day that we truly offer the whole of our lives to the will of God.www.igna anspirituality.comwww.ladyo opemaine.org

Our Lady of Hope Parish07A Prayer of Blessing and Commitment to Welcome ‐ God our protector, who in Christ befriended the poor, themarginalized, the suspected, and delighted in their company as they did in his, bless the hospitality of this community. Let there be inclusion for those who have been ignored, company for those who have known loneliness andlaughter for those who have only known too many tears.Because the Kingdom of God is open to all, ours must be a community, a place where all can feel safe and welcome.Because the voice of God is beau ful and crea ve, the words we speak here must affirm, encourage and enliven allwho meet here.Because God loves and values people, the rela onships built and nurtured here must be rich in acceptance and apprecia on.Because God has created a world of plenty, this community must challenge inequality, serve the marginalized andencourage reverence for crea on.Because Jesus spoke of abundant life and showed how it should be lived, may all who live and work here, and allwho visit here, discover and show in word and ac on, the love, the jus ce and the joy and God’s kingdom.Peace, Fr. Paul SJThe Bap smal “Garment”There is an ancient tradion of dressing the newlybap zed in a whitegarment. In some familiesthe garment used at thebap sm of young childrenbecomes an heirloomtreasure, used genera ona er genera on. Our parishhas recently started thetradi on of presen ng the family with a whiteor cream-colored baby blanket. These beau fulblankets are kni ed or crocheted by membersof our parish. If you are a kni er or one whocrochets, would you like to become part of thetradi on and join others in crea ng these blankets? The families love them, and they are atangible sign of the love and support of our parish. To find out more, please contact Jane Driscoll at the Parish Office. Thanks!Joint Mee ng of Parish Pastoral Council and Finance Council this Wednesday ‐ July 27A special joint mee ng of our parish leadership Councils (Pastoral and Finance) is being held this Wednesday (July27). We are grateful that in the midst of summer, many of the Councils’ members are able to a end. We will reviewthe recommenda ons of our architectural consultants as we make important and prac cal plans for this year.Considera on will include the costs of needed repairs and renova ons, the need and use of our two sets ofbuildings, strategic need of our school as enrollment has grown and addi onal programs have developed. As wehave done throughout this mul -year planning process, we will share informa on with the parish as it becomesclearer. Our earlier reports have stated that change is inevitable. This year we should see the shape those changeswill need to take.www.ladyo opemaine.org

08Seventeenth Sunday in OrdinaryThis week July 24‐30The “old mers” used to say that “a er the fourth of July, summer’s over.” Let’s hope that is not the case but asalways, this season moves along quickly. This Monday (July 25) the Church remembers the Apostle St. James.James, the son of Zebedee, was called along with this brother John to be one of Jesus’s twelve apostles whowould accompany him on his ministry. James appears in the lists of apostles in the synop c gospels as well asActs. James and his brother John were given the nickname “Boanerges” (sons of thunder) by Jesus; some believethis was a reference to their tempers. The gospel texts offer no informa on on how old James might have beenwhen he became one of Jesus’ disciples. According to Acts, James was beheaded by Herod Agrippa I who ruledPales ne from 41 to 44 CE. This is the only biblical account of one of Jesus’s apostles being martyred for hisac vi es. James, like his brother John, came from a fishing village along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. A reference in Mark to “hired servants” suggests that their family was rela vely prosperous. A er joining Jesus’s ministry, James likely would have traveled throughout Pales ne. A 17th-century tradi on says that he visited Spainbefore his martyrdom and that his body was later brought to San ago de Compostela, s ll a shrine and pilgrimage site.On Friday (July 29) we celebrate the memorial of St. Martha, friend of Jesus, sister of Mary and Lazarus.Apparently Jesus was a frequent guest at Martha's home in Bethany, a small village two miles from Jerusalem.We read of three visits in Luke 10:38-42, John 11:1-53, and John 12:1-9. Many of us find it easy to iden fy withMartha in the story Luke tells. Martha welcomes Jesus and his disciples into her home and immediately goes towork to serve them. The next visit shows how well Martha learned this lesson. She is grieving the death of herbrother with a house full of mourners when she hears that Jesus has just come to the area. She gets upimmediately and leaves the guests, leaves her mourning, and goes to meet him. Her conversa on with Jesusshows her faith and courage. In this dialogue she states clearly without doubt that she believes in Jesus' power, inthe resurrec on, and most of all that Jesus is the Son of God.Dorothy Day said: "If everyone were holy and handsome, it would be easy to see Christ in everyone. But it wasnot Christ's way for himself. Ask honestly what you would do when a beggar asked at your house for food. Wouldyou give it on an old cracked plate, thinking that was good enough? Do you think that Martha and Mary thoughtthat the old and chipped dish was good enough for their guest? It is not a duty to help Christ -- it is a privilege." Inwhat ways do you serve Christ others grudgingly or sparingly? How can you serve them the way Martha servedChrist, pu ng her whole self into it?This Tuesday (July 26) is the memorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary, grandparents of Jesus.In the Scriptures, Ma hew and Luke furnish a legal family history of Jesus, tracing ancestry to show that Jesus isthe culmina on of great promises. Not only is his mother’s family neglected, we also know nothing factual aboutthem except that they existed. Even the names “Joachim” and “Anne” come from a legendary source wri enmore than a century a er Jesus died. The heroism and holiness of these people however, is inferred from thewhole family atmosphere around Mary in the Scriptures. Whether we rely on the legends about Mary’s childhoodor make guesses from the informa on in the Bible, we see in her a fulfillment of many genera ons of prayerfulpersons, herself steeped in the religious tradi ons of her people. Joachim and Anne—whether these are their realnames or not—represent that en re quiet series of genera ons who faithfully perform their du es, prac ce theirfaith, and establish an atmosphere for the coming of the Messiah, but remain obscure.This is the “feast of grandparents.” It reminds grandparents of their responsibility to establish a tone forgenera ons to come: They must make the tradi ons live and offer them as a promise to li le children. But thefeast has a message for the younger genera on as well. It reminds the young that older people’s greater perspecve, depth of experience, and apprecia on of life’s profound rhythms are all part of a wisdom not to be takenlightly or ignored.Devo on to Saint Anne began in the East but spread through Europe and due to the Jesuit missionaries, thedevo on to Sainte-Anne was an integral part of the French coloniza on in North America. In Quebec, on September 24, 1647, the construc on of the parochial church began. In this church, a chapel was dedicated to SainteAnne. Later, in 1658 , at St. Anne de Beaupré, then called Pe t-Cap, began construc on of a small church dedicated to Sainte-Anne, to provide for the devo on of the sailors, probably the fulfillment of a promise. The presentshrine church at Beaupre was built following a disastrous fire in 1922 which destroyed the previous church andeverything in it except the statue of Saint Anne.Join us as we pray to “Good Saint Anne” this Tuesday evening at a 7:00 PM Mass and procession at St. JosephChurch.www.ladyo opemaine.org

Our Lady of Hope Parish09How to Find Our Souls and See Things Anew By Gary JansenThe Spiritual Exercises of St. Igna us is a fitness program for our souls. But what is the soul, and how do we evenknow we have one? We can pinch an arm and realize we have a body by the sensa on we feel. We can readsomething, make sense of what we read, and know we have a mind. But the soul? It’s so—seemingly—unspecific. The soul is the spiritual part of who we are. Just as exercise and ea ng right help our physical bodies, andthinking right helps our mental and psychological states, spiritual prac ces like prayer and medita on help buildour awareness of the soul. All of us have thoughts throughout the day—thoughts of deadlines, our children, a parent’s health, or payinga bill might creep into the act at hand. These just came into my head: I never realized I liked the color yellow. BeesI get, but wasps? What purpose do they serve? I have to clean the dryer vent. What am I going to eat for lunch? There were others too, but you get the picture. So, this is what I want you to do. Listen to the voice inside your head right now. Take a moment to listen. Canyou hear your thoughts? Now, take a step back from your thoughts by answering this ques on: Who inside you is listening to thethoughts you are having? You are, right? Stay with this for a moment. Pay a en on to the part of you that is listening to your thoughts. You have athought, but that thought isn’t you. There is someone or something that can observe that thought inside you. Try this: Listen to the sound of someone’s voice or to a song you like. Or look at something in front of you,maybe a coffee cup. Just observe the music. Observe the coffee cup. Thoughts will creep into your head. That’sOK. Observe those thoughts, the music, the coffee cup. Now, take another step back and observe the one inside you—the one following your thoughts, the music, orthe coffee cup. Your soul is the observer. The true you, the you that transcends your body and mind, is your soul. You are not your thoughts. You are not the voice inside your head. You are the observer observing your thoughts. Not the fears you feel. Not the problems you have. All thosechange. The true you does not change. Your body gets older; you might acquire more knowledge; you mightmake more money or lose a job, but your soul never changes. You are always connected to something greater inall aspects of your life, mind, and body, but your soul has a very special connec on to the Eternal. Problems willcome and go, and when they do, remind yourself that the real you is the observer who o en forgets to be an observer.How can we cul vate this awareness of the soul? How ca

OUR LADY OF HOPE and ST. BRIGID SCHOOL A Jesuit Ministry July 23 / July 24, 2022 seventeenth Sunday in ordinary time www.ladyoopemaine.org Celebrating the Ignatian Year 2021-2022 www.ladyoopemaine.org Our Lady of Hope Parish