Fourth Sunday in Advent, Christmas celebration and more!
Pilgrim Catholic
Collaborative News
Biweekly Date: Dec. 26, 2021 / Issue 70 - The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph
May the peace and hope of Christ’s birth be with you now and the days ahead…
Merry Christmas From: Fr. Joe,
Fr. Michael,
Deacon Paul,
Deacon Jim,
Deacon Dick, Deacon Jonathan and the entire staff at our collaborative parishes!
Spotlight Article - Christmas is Coming
Christmas Eve is coming quick and this is just about the time many of us go into our “Christmas Freakout”
Our task for the week: seek the SMALL and the SIMPLE! Seriously … I’m not kidding … our motto for the week should be “Little Is Lovely!” If I had any power of any kind, I would declare it National "Little is Lovely" Week!
Christmas Eve is coming quick and this is just about the time many of us go into our “Christmas Freakout” and completely forget about the coming of a King! We have probably done some of our shopping, and now we start to worry about whether the gifts we’ve purchased are good enough or big enough or fancy enough to outdo what we gave last year. That’s where the trouble starts to brew!
Through a puppet show, Sarah and her friends remind you that God loves you and wants to show you the best way to live. That’s why he sent his only son, Jesus.
This Christmas, I ask that you honor these pastors and priests by making a gift to the Clergy Christmas Collection.
The healthcare and support my brother priests and I receive through the Trust is crucial to ensure our health and well-being so that we can continue serving you, our Church, and all those in need. On behalf of all diocesan priests who will benefit from your generosity, thank you so much for your consideration.
There are so many people to thank for making this year's giving tree so successful. Starting with all the volunteers who helped with the set up, all the generous parishioners that donated so many great gifts, Saint Kateri for sharing a large amount of toys with us, Mamma Mia's and Sullivan Brothers for donating so many presents, the people who donated pajamas and books every year and finally the Plymouth Knights of Columbus for the coat donations. St. Peter's was able to help 40 families that included 100 children. we are so blessed to have such generosity surrounding us!
Denise Noyes - St. Peter's St. Vincent de Paul.
From Our Lady of Lourdes and Saint Kateri: through the exceptional generosity of all our parishioners who donated gift cards for food and also for Christmas presents, we were able to make a wonderful and joyful Christmas for all our local families in need!
Spotlight on The Diaper Pantry
The Diaper Pantry wishes everyone a very Blessed Christmas season. Please keep in prayer the families in need that we serve, as well as our very generous parishioners, donors, and volunteers. Thank you!
Please continue to let folks in need of baby diapers know that we are here to help.
People Organized to Welcome Immigrants and Refugees:
An Update
Our Collaborative has been blessed this past year with the opportunity to help brothers and sisters from dangerous parts of the world to resettle here in our area. We’ve assisted with rides, mentoring, household goods, but most importantly through fellowship – we’ve welcomed our new friends at our Collaborative picnic, social gatherings, and even pitched in with preparation of Thanksgiving dinner! As always, volunteers participating receive much, much more than is given.
We expect to have additional opportunities in the New Year to meet and lend a hand to more families arriving in our area and would love your help. Please watch upcoming bulletins and our newsletter for more information on how to get involved. As St. Paul said, “…remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this, some people have entertained angels without knowing it.” (Hebrews 13:2)
As a Collaborative We Pray for:
Katherine Todd, Judy Joyce, Louise MacIver, Lauren Waithe, Marion, Pat Gallagher, Margaret Buckley, Baby Zelda, Lou Bush, John Harding, Michael Hawks, Samantha Grover, Domingo Thatcher, Barbara Fowler, Susan Clawson, Lisa Higgins, Scott Frier, Pat Beardsley, Olivia, Nick Samos, Rowan, Daniel McDonald, Jenn W., Edward McCaffrey, Marie Piepiora, Melissa Hayden, Eleanor Stein, Doris Gorman, Pat Gately, John Zaniboni, Jason, Tracey, Judith Detrani, Meghan, Peg, Louise M., Delores Simmons, Vera, Helen McDonough, Dave-Gabriel St. Germaine, Robert Gonsalves, Dan P., Elizabeth Costa, John Lopez, Will, Shane M. Americo Ventura, Marion, Helen H., Maelin, GK Joe Materazza, Michael Gillis, Baby D’Kadeese Dutton, Katelynn Dutton, Derrick Black, Pat Feeley, Barbara, Mark, Jillian M, Warren Morrissey, Janice Maciejewicz, Megan, Donald Mullen, Henry Camillo, Irene Figueroa, Kenny Rudin, Deb, Anna Maria Boccalini Lusko, Shawn Reynolds, Maggie & Tessie W. Juli, Joe C., Mary Swift, Janice C. Kristen, Jeanne Barreta, Karen Gallagher, Brenda Levesque, Rick Haslett, and for all parishioners who are ill.
We would appreciate it if you would keep us informed of their health and progress. Thank you for your help.
Spotlight on Advent
Fourth Week of Advent
The Messiah!
Christmas Activity & Coloring Book
Print out for your children to enjoy. Copies will also be available next week at Mass.
In many ways, it can be easy to drift away from Jesus without noticing. It’s easy to be preoccupied with the details of day to day life. (Even Mary and Joseph didn’t immediately realize that they’d drifted off from Jesus in their caravan!) And it can be easy to lose the awareness of where we are in relation to God. But there is a silver lining here:
As soon as you notice, God is waiting to be found.
So channel a bit of Mary and Joseph’s urgency and begin intentionally looking for God today starting with this short reflection from Matthew!
Click on this image to sign up for weekly Gospel reflections.
This week’s social justice prayer: We pray that humanity will end the divisions and find ways to work hand in hand to love, understand and help each other. We also pray for people from all walks of life who have risked themselves and their families to escape the suffering caused by political, environmental, and financial instability in their places of origin, and to find people along the way who care to help revitalize them.
Collaborative Bulletin
Our bulletin is now available on the new website at
Spotlight on a Beautiful Christmas song reminding us of the Gift of Jesus!
Life is Messy - a gift for you this Christmas
This Christmas we will be distributing a Christmas gift to all our families, Dynamic Catholic's Book entitled Life is Messy. Molly Garcia gives us a heartfelt and inspiring reflection on how truly messy life can be as she shares her personal reaction to the words of Matthew Kelly.
Nativity of the Lord
December 25th
All feast days celebrate, in one way or another, the gifts of God granted to us human beings. Today we celebrate THE gift─the Son of God made flesh. A gift granted to all people of all times and places. Truly we have been gifted.
With all of the Holiday craziness, it is so easy for all of us to get distracted from what the real meaning of Christmas is…Christ. Here are 5 ideas and ways to bring the true spirit of Christ into your home this Christmas. Click the link below:
Spotlight on Advent and Christmas in our Collaborative
If you were unable to make our Christmas Celebrations, The Nativity Play and Breakfast with Santa and Mrs. Claus, please check out all the fun we had in the video below!
Spotlight on The Prayer and Life Workshop
With a one-day retreat called “Desert”, held at Miramar Retreat Center, the first Prayer and Life Workshop (PLW) in our Collaborative concluded on December 4th 2021. The journey began in August with weekly sessions for 14 weeks and closed with this brief but powerful experience of the “Desert”. Twenty parishioners completed the Workshop and shared experiences, insights and transformations that took place in their lives over its duration.
“The Prayer and Life Workshop is a beautiful way to strengthen one’s relationship with Our Lord and learn new ways to communicate with Him.Best of all, we are prompted to incorporate our spiritual practices into everyday life in a consistent, effective way.”
“The Workshop has helped to enrich and improve my spiritual life. I got so much out of it! I enjoyed meeting others in our Collaborative and sharing this experience with them.”
“My husband died 6 years ago and on the morning that he passed he said to me, “I know that God truly loves me”. I was happy that he had this conviction, but I wanted the same feeling and knowledge. Well, all it took was the first lesson in the Prayer Handbook to shift my thinking and truly know that God also loves me. I have been wanting this gift for a long time and I am very grateful for it.”
A new PLW will be offered starting
the third week of January!
Give yourself time to go deeper into your encounters with God and let yourself be loved by Him. Learn how to make prayer a part of your life and be transformed by your friendship with Jesus.
To register, or for more information, please contact the Guide, Mary Crespo.
(a great message for parents of children in youth sports)
The purpose of coaching is to "unlock people's potential to maximize their own performance. It is helping them to learn rather than teaching or telling them what to do."
It is so important to instill a moral compass in our children today. Teaching them to respect those who "coach" them is vital. In today's world, oftentimes we see such a lack of respect from kids towards adults. Reminding our children to respect those who are teaching them, is something that we as parents must step up and do. Coaches are not just on the athletic field, they are teachers, bus drivers, doctors, fellow neighbors and friends. There are coaches all around us. Learning from those whom we respect, will result in a much better learning experience. Watch Matthew Kelly's video on "Coaching." What seems like such a small thing, like reminding our children to "listen to their coach" - is really such a big thing, especially as we get older.
