"Love God. You can't find anything better to love." ~ St. Augustine
The Healing of the Man Born Blind
Reflection on this Sunday's Gospel by Fr. Jon DelloRusso, OSA
 
“I once was blind but now I see.” The ecstatic words of the man born blind who now can see.  Imagine his excitement as he sees light, then his parents, his neighbors and the world around him for the first time. He probably said these words over and over again trying to convince his neighbors that he was indeed the man who had been born blind.
He had lived his entire life in darkness. Yes, he had probably adapted to his condition and could get by, but he would always be a beggar, a man with a handicap.   In addition to the physical darkness there was the darkness of the mind and heart – the doubt, the question – “Why me?” “What sin did I commit before I was born?”, “What did my parents do that I was born blind?” He had probably heard the belief that this blindness is punishment for someone’s sin. There was also the darkness of isolation as ... (read entire reflection in this week's bulletin)
St. Augustine Church remains open from 8 AM - 5 PM every day and the parish office will be open for it's regular hours of Monday-Thursday 8:45 AM - 4:30 PM and Friday 8:45 AM - 2:30 PM. Our clergy and staff are still working and are eager to minister to you. Please don't hesitate to contact us at 978-475-0050 or info@staugustineparish.org.
Spiritual Communion - Some of you may have seen a prayer for spiritual communion floating around on social media this week in response to the suspension of all Masses and liturgies. But what is a spiritual communion and what is it's origin? Find out here with this article from Our Sunday Visitor...
Our Director of Music, Cynthia Arsenault, has made available recordings of some of the hymns regularly sung at Masses and by our School Choir. To listen, visit our music gallery
Read more in our weekly bulletin
Resources :
There are a lot of great resources for keeping the faith while we are unable to physically participate in the celebration of Mass. Here are some recommendations:
Live-stream Mass:

FORMED, an online platform for streaming (or downloading) great faith content, is available to all our parishioners for FREE! Go to formed.org - click on sign-up to register and follow the instructions or click on sign-in if you already have an account. This week's picks at FORMED:
The upkeep of our facilities and the salaries paid to our staff are dependent upon your generous donations to the regular offertory. While Mass is suspended, we are still working to serve you. Your offertory can be sent in by mail to St. Augustine Parish, 35 Essex St., Andover, MA 01810 Attn:Offertory or sign up for online donations here. Thank you, as always, for your generous support!
Visit our website at  www.staugustineparish.org

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