st thomas more - christ the king...
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Saint Thomas More Parish
SACRAMENT
MarriagePlease contact the parish priest at least 8 months prior to planned wedding date. Marriage prepara�on course is required.
Sacrament of Bap�smPrepara�on - First Wednesday of the month at7:00pm at the church. The Sacrament of Bap�smwill be celebrated on the last Sunday of the monthat the 11:15am Mass.
Prayer Mee�ngEvery Tuesday at 7:00pm in the Sacred Heart room.
Weekly Adora�onThe Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for Adora�on a�er the 9:00am Mass on Thursday. All are invited to spend some �me with Jesus.
Thank You for Comingto Our Church
In St. Thomas More Parish, we believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and we try to give faithful witness
to the power of the Holy Spirit in us, both in our worship together and in our service to the local community.
We desire to be grateful for the gifts God has given us as a parish
family and to readily share them in our ministries.
Welcome!
15 Caledonia RoadDartmouth, NS, B2X 1K7
Tel: (902) 434-4190Fax: (902) 435-7267
Email: [email protected]: h�p://stm-parish.com
Office HoursMonday, Wednesday, & Thursday
9:00am - 5:00pmTuesday & Friday 9:00am - 2:30pm
Lunch Break 12:00pm - 1:00pm
REGULAR MASS SCHEDULE
Lord’s Day MassesSaturday 4:00pm; Sunday 8:30am; 11:15am
Weekday MassesMonday - No Mass; Tuesday 12:15pm
Wednesday-Friday 9:00amSummer Hours
Saturday: 4:00pm; Sunday: 10:00am
Sacrament of Reconcilia�onTuesday By appointment
Saturday 3:00pm - 3:45pm
MASS INTENTION SCHEDULE
FINANCIAL NEWS: June 17-18
Sunday Offering Collection : $ 5913.15 Building Fund Collection: $ 668.00
If you wish to offer your Sunday Offering using Direct Deposit, please contact the parish office for information. Thank you.
Sunday, June 25- 8:30am - 11:15am
Monday, June 26
Tuesday, June 27– 12:15
Wednesday, June 28– 9am
Thursday, June 29– 9 am
Friday, June 30—9 am
Souls in Purgatory
Patricia Hemeon
Michelle Orichefsky SCRIPTURE READINGS For this weekend:
1st Reading: Jeremiah 20. 10-13
Rs. Psalm: Ps 69. 7-9, 13+16, 32-33, 35ab 2nd Reading: Romans 5. 12-15
Gospel: Mathew 10. 26-33 Mary O’Neill
Parish Priest: Father Toochukwu Okafor [email protected] Deacon: Danny MacDonald [email protected] Deacon: James McLevey [email protected] Catechist, Primary-6: Shereen Daniels [email protected] Catechist, Jr. High: Diane Gibbons [email protected] Office Administrator: Catherine Gonsalves [email protected] Music Director: Kim Sampson, 865-8543 [email protected] Pastoral Council Chair: Brian McIntyre [email protected] Catholic Women’s League: Marguerite Fougere [email protected] Responsible Ministry-RoseAnn Hetherington ra.hetherington@ns. sympatico.ca Finance Chair: Maggie Pereira [email protected] Knights of Columbus: Gary Moore [email protected] St. Vincent de Paul:Martin Delaney [email protected] Property & Mass Coordinator: Wayne O’Leary [email protected] Liturgy: David Chiddenton [email protected]
TWELFTH SUNDAY IN ORDNIARY TIME JUNE 25, 2017
PARISH STAFF & MINISTRY CONTACTS
EVENTS AND MEETING
Sunday, June 25-Deacon McLevey Celebration-after 11:15 Mass
Sunday, June 25—Bingo-Fundraiser —2pm—Hall
Tuesday, June 27—The Gift Program—7pm—Hall
Thursday, June 29—Adoration following 9 am Mass– Church
Friday, June 30—-Youth Group —7pm—Hall
Saturday, June 24– 4 pm
Paul Carver
Gerald Brown
Ginette Halman For Parishioners
Summer Mass Schedule
Effective Saturday, July 1, there will be only two
Masses celebrated on the weekend. Saturday at 4 pm
and Sunday at 10 am.
Weekday Mass schedule will remain the same.
Thursday Adoration at St. Thomas More
When days are busy and we are over-
whelmed, let us make time to get away
and just be with Jesus to receive His rest,
His comfort and His Grace. Visit Him on
Thursdays when we have Adoration to
receive His Peace and Blessings!
Adoration starts after the 9 am Mass and
continues until 5 pm .
Celebrating Deacon Jim McLevey: Our parish will be celebrating Deacon McLevey 's 40th
anniversary to the diaconate on Sunday, June 25th after
the 11:15 Mass in the church hall. All are welcome to
come and congratulate Jim McLevey on his loving
service to our parish and significant contribution to the
Archdiocese over the years.
Thank You from Danny Perera
I want to thank all our parishioners and friends who
came out to support my mission the night of the concert.
With your generosity, I was able to fundraise over
$3,500. In addition to this, I also received a generous
donation from the parish, the CWL and the KOC. I
greatly appreciate all the love and support I've been
receiving both financially and prayerfully. Please con-
tinue to keep me in your prayers as I continue with my
fundraising and move on in my faith journey. Thanks
again from the bottom of my heart! - love, Danny!
The Gift Our Lady of Grace Prayer Group will have the program
"The Gift" at 7:30 pm. Meet and Greet starts at 7 p.m.
The Program offers us the opportunity to grow deeper in
our relationship with Jesus through the power of the
Holy Spirit. You are welcome to attend!
STM Website: Please visit our website http://stm-
parish.com to see what is happening at St. Thomas
More Parish. We now have a link to a few external
websites: Archdiocese of Halifax, Vatican website and
Dynamic Catholic. We also have our activity calendar
on the website. Our Youth activity is also available on
the web. If you have any suggestion for our website,
please call the parish office or send us an email.
Thanks!
STM NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
A fundraiser Bingo
A fundraiser Bingo will take place on June 25th from 2-4
in the hall in aid of the Nigeria Medical Clinic. Cash prizes
and canteen services will be available. Please come and
join us for a fun afternoon! Bring along a friend!
Archdiocese Mission Collection
The Mission collection for the Archdiocese is ongoing. . If
you have not received an information package in the mail,
please pick up an envelope from the church foyer. For
more information, contact Lydia
at [email protected] or (902) 429-9800 ext 401
Evening Staff Position
Thomas More is recruiting a part time office
Receptionist/Clerk to work on Mondays and Thursdays
from 6—8 pm. This position is open to the Youth.
The expectation is a commitment of at least 2 years.
Applicants are requested to drop off their resume to the
Parish Office latest by Friday, June 30. The position will
start in September.
We remember Eileen Carter whose funeral service was held
here Monday, June 19th. May her soul rest in peace.
The parish offers their heartfelt condolences to her
family and we have them in our thoughts and prayers.
May God give them the strength to bear the loss of their loved
one
Fr. Toochukwu’s CD “Love the Universal Language” is
available from the parish office for $20.00. All profits go to
the Nigeria Medical Clinic fund. Good music, good cause,
good man—please show your support and purchase a CD.
Heroes For The
Faith!
While reflecting on this bible passage, I can’t help but think about some of the
heroes of our faith. They are our heroes because they lived or are currently living
out this week’s Gospel passage, in the sense that their relationship with Jesus is so
strong that they are willing to endure the hardships and violence of this world, in
order to maintain their life in Christ. There are three examples of this that come to my mind.
The first is the horrible video from a deserted beach where Coptic Christians were beheaded for their faith. The
amazing thing about this video is that you hear the victims professing their faith right up to their last moment. They
all are shouting “Jesus is Lord” over and over as they enter their martyrdom. Were they scared? I’m sure they were,
but their desire was more to be in relationship with Jesus, than worrying about “those who kill the body but cannot
kill the soul”. Another example comes from our own patron, St. Thomas More. In his life, he endured tremendous
suffering. In, fact he lost everything. He lost his family, his home, his reputation, and was put in prison in defiance
of King Henry VIII. At the same time though, he was a normal person, so losing everything would have had an in-
credible impact on him. I’m sure he was scared, and hurt, and broken, but still he endured, because his priority was
relationship with Jesus. He was willing to lose it all to maintain and deepen his relationship with Christ….
Truly a hero for our faith.
Most of us thankfully won’t have to face these challenges in our lives, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t heroes today,
who share their faith and face many challenges because of it. I am thinking of our youth, who want to share their faith
with others, but often are ridiculed or excluded because of their faith. I was at a youth event recently and one young
lady shared how difficult it has been in school, to even be allowed to talk about Jesus without being made fun of, and
left off being invited to social events because of her faith. I was so impressed with her because she said that she has
now graduated, but she offered to help anyone who is in a similar situation, and help them deal with the bullying. To
me, this young girl is another hero of our faith, and our young people need to be supported as they make their way
through school. They are willing to endure pain and suffering in favor of being deeper in relationship with Jesus.
God bless you all
Deacon Dan MacDonald
REFLECTION CORNER
PRAYER
Lord, let my faith be full and unreserved,
and let it penetrate my thought,
my way of judging Divine things
and human things.
Lord, let my faith be joyful
and give peace and gladness to my spirit,
and dispose it for prayer with God
and conversation with men,
so that the inner bliss of its
fortunate possession
may shine forth in sacred and
secular conversation.
Lord, let my faith be humble and not presume
to be based on the experience of
my thought and of my feeling;
but let it surrender to the testimony
of the Holy Spirit,
and not have any better guarantee
than in docility to Tradition
and to the authority of the magisterium
of the Holy Church. Amen!
DEACON JIM MCLEVEY CELEBRATES HIS 40TH ANNIVERSARY TO THE DIACONATE
Deacon Jim Mclevey was ordained on June 25th 1977 at
St. Thomas More Parish by Archbishop Hayes. He has served as
Deacon in St. Thomas More Parish, St. Andrews’s Eastern
Passage, St. Michael's Spryfield. He served as Chaplin at the Port of
Halifax for eight years. His Diaconal Ministries include
liturgies, homilies, administering the sacraments of Baptism and
Marriage; teaching catechetics; marriage preparation, baptismal
preparation; RCIA; visiting hospitals, nursing homes and home
visits.
On a Diocesan level, he worked on marriage preparation
programs, instructing couples on the Billings natural family planning
method and also on a couple to couple basis, teaching
approximately 650 couples in three dioceses. He was on the Board of
WOOMB-Canada where he was secretary for 14 years and he was the
chairperson of the Natural Family Planning Association of NS for a number of years. As a certified teacher of BOM he
was involved in the training of couples from PEI. Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, to become certified teachers in the
Billings method. He has also been a guest speaker at several Pro-Life conferences.
Deacon McLevey 's last appointment was as Chaplin at the Port of Halifax where he ministered to seafarers. Currently
he has come full circle back to St. Thomas More.
The Annual General Meeting for the Pastoral Council took place on Sunday, June 18th following the 11:15 am Mass,
attended by approximately 40 parishioners. Cyril Muise, Chair provided a chronological report on the work undertaken by
the council over the past year.
Many initiatives have come to successful conclusions: the sale of the parish lands at Lethbridge and Belvedere;
the roof has been completed; mini heat pumps have been installed in the rectory.
The launch of the Archdiocesan Pastoral plan will be mirrored by our own planning which is well under way.
We hosted a successful mission again this year which was well attended.
The catechetical program has been very active this year with many of our youth achieving milestones in their faith
journey such as First Communion, First Reconciliation and Confirmation.
Maggie Pereira, Chair, Finance Committee, fielded questions referring to the recently published parish financial
statement.
The committee recommends the use of pre-authorized contributions by parishioners to help maintain a more consistent
cash flow for the parish.
The council has three retiring members who have served for three years.
Thanks were extended to Betty Cutcliffe, Michael Curry and Jim Boyd for their commitment and service.
New members that have been appointed to the council are Jeanette Smith, Francis Forbrigger and John Woods.
The new Chairperson for the Pastoral Council will be Brian McIntyre.
We thank the parish council for their dedication and achievements and the parishioners for their support.
We are looking for more parishioners to use their talents in serving on our different ministries and to make our parish more
vibrant, dynamic and missionary as we help to build God’s kingdom here on earth. To achieve this, and to begin our
Pastoral year in a spiritual mood, we will be having a mini retreat on Saturday October 14 from 1 - 3.30pm followed by
4pm Mass and a Ministry Fair after the weekend Masses. All the ministries and parishioners are encouraged to attend.
Different ministries will be showcased. Please mark your calendars.
Our goal in the Fall is to work with all parish members to deepen our personal and communal faith by implementing the
three areas proposed in the Pastoral plan by our Archbishop Anthony Mancini - Mission, Community and Formation.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING REPORT
Steubenville Atlantic is Coming!
We’re less than a month away from Steubenville Atlantic!
On July 7-9, we will welcome over 600 young Catholics,
chaperones, and volunteers to Dalhousie University
Campus for our eleventh Steubenville Atlantic conference.
This year’s conference theme is “Elevate,” based on
Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I make all things new.” The
theme speaks to the reality that God calls us higher and
raises us beyond things of this world.
It’s hard to explain what makes Steubenville Atlantic such
an amazing experience. We always say that the best way
to understand the conference is to experience it for
yourself... so here’s your chance!
Everyone is welcome to join us for our annual “Come and
See” on Friday night for the opening session, and on
Sunday morning for the closing Mass.
Come and See: Friday, July 7, 6:30-9:30 pm Rebecca
Cohn Auditorium, Dalhousie Arts Centre (6101
University Ave) Please report directly to the Rebecca
Cohn Auditorium balcony entrance, fourth floor
Closing Mass: Sunday, July 9, 10:00 am Rebecca
Cohn Auditorium, Dalhousie Arts Centre (6101 Uni-
versity Ave) Please report directly to the Rebecca
ARCHDIOCESE OF HALIFAX-YARMOUTH NEWS
Spanish Mass!
There will be a Mass in Spanish on Sunday, June 25 at
3:00 pm at Saint Peter’s Parish, Dartmouth (10 Maple St).
At this Mass there will be the special intention for peace
and justice in Venezuela. After Mass, there will be a
reception in the parish centre.
Annual Masses for the Faithful Departed
Mark your calendar
Please find the list of Masses being celebrated in our
Catholic Cemeteries over the coming months.
All are welcome to join us for one or more of these
Masses as we remember our faithful brothers and sisters
who have gone before us.
Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Lower Sackville Thursday, August 17, 7:00pm
In the case of rain, Mass will be at St. John Vianney
Church, 4 Beaverbank Rd., Lr. Sackville.
Mount Olivet Cemetery, Mumford Rd,. Halifax Saturday, September 9 at 10:00am
In case of rain, Mass will be at St. Agnes Church, 6903
Mumford Rd., Halifax.
Mass of Remembrance for the 300 + victims of the
Halifax Explosion buried at Mount Olivet.
Our Lady of Sorrows Chapel, Holy Cross Cemetery,
South Park St., Halifax
Friday, September 15 at 5:15pm
Mass of Remembrance including the 50+ victims of the
Halifax Explosion who are buried in Holy Cross and to
commemorate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows.
Memorial Mass for the 100th Anniversary of the
Halifax Explosion
Wednesday, December 6 at 12:15
Saint Mary’s Cathedral Basilica, Halifax
Mass of Remembrance for those who lost their lives in the
Halifax Explosion in 1917.
Religious Education News– Primary-Grade 6
Registration for Catechism classes for grades Primary
to Grade 9 will continue after the weekend Masses.
Please try to register your child/children early.
Registration can also be done during my office hours:
Tuesday & Wednesday: 9 - 2 pm
Thursday: 9 - 1 pm
Friday: 9 - 12 pm
Chalice Can Thank you so much to the children and parishioners
who make it possible for us to sponsor, Priscilla. Sofia,
Maksym, Cristobal & Marcelin.
Please continue to support these
children especially during the summer
months. May God bless you for your
generous donations.
Total collected last week: $38.30
Inspirational Quote
“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their
strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will
run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint.” —Isaiah 40:31