Mary, Queen of
Martyrs Parish News
Biweekly Date: March 3, 2024 / Issue 123
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst;"
UPCOMING CLASSES
            
March 3, 2024
8:15 AM - 9:15 AM St Peter Grades K-5
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM St Kateri Youth Mass Confirmation I & II
 
March 4, 2024
3:30 PM - 7:30 PM OLOL Grades 6-8 Edge

March 5, 2024
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM St Kateri Little Lenten Family Journey Retreat

March 9, 2024
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM St Kateri Confirmation II Retreat

March 10, 2024
8:15 AM - 9:15 AM St Peter Grades K-5

Patsy Gillespie
Director of Faith Formation
Mary, Queen of Martyrs Parish
(508) 746 - 0663 ext. 206

 
"For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me" (Jeremiah 29:11-14).
LITTLE LENTEN FAMILY RETREAT
Everyone is invited to an afternoon Lenten Retreat on March 5, 2024 between 3:00 PM and 6:00 PM at St. Kateri. Confessions will be available between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM. We will have activities and crafts in the hall to help children, teens, and families work together to make this Lent a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Put together and bring home your own Resurrection Eggs, help prepare for the Easter Egg Hunt, create a prayer jar for the kitchen table, take some time in quiet prayer in the Church, and go to Confession.
EASTER EGG HUNT DONATIONS
Baskets will be in the rear of the church through March 17th to collect candy and Easter trinket donations for our annual Easter Egg Hunt. All donations should be able to fit in a normal size Easter Egg. Last year we had a great turn out with plenty of eggs. We look forward to having another great event this year on Palm Sunday. 
YOUTH MASS
Everyone is welcome to join us for the March Youth Mass on March 3rd at 5:00 PM at St. Kateri. After Mass all in high school are welcome to stay for soup and to learn more about God’s covenants with
King David.
VBS PLANNING MEETING
Calling all volunteers! We are looking for adult leaders to help plan this summer’s Vacation Bible School. We have already purchased a program, similar to last year’s, but with a different theme and we have a lot of great games and activities planned. Please join us on March 11, 2024 at 6:00 PM at Our Lady of Lourdes to get started. This year VBS will be held July 22-26, 2024 in the mornings. If you are not ready to make a commitment, but are interested in learning more, please stop by! We are looking for volunteers to lead: 
Small groups; Snack; Games; Faith; Crafts; Music
Spotlight on Activities
Giving Yourself to God 


Reflect
Scripture tells us quite often that God is not in need of our sacrifices. Not our tithes, not our penances, not even our Lenten fasts. But giving yourself to God may not look the same for everybody. For Mother Teresa, it meant going to live with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta. For Thomas Aquinas, it meant study and the life of an academic. For Zellie and Louis Martin, it meant marriage and children. If you gave your life to God, what would that mean? How would it change the way you lived?

Pray
Heavenly Father,
I come before you with all that I am.
All that I have, and all that I need comes from you.
Here I am, Lord.
I am yours.

Act
Set aside time today to ponder what it means to give yourself to God. Hold nothing back; offer God your work, your family, your dreams, and your disappointments.
Save the Date:
Pilgrimage to Ireland and Medjugorje

Just a few spots left!

Join Fr. Joe Raeke and Deacon Jim Greer on an 11 day journey of faith on June 3-14, 2024. It is an escorted pilgrimage with flight, meals and lodging included. We have Mass every day on the pilgrimage.

The cost is $3595.00 per person based on double occupancy.

For more information, please call Deacon Jim & Terri Greer at 774-283-1061 or email at faith8486@verizon.net.
DeColores!

Our next MQM Ultreya is

Sunday
March 10, 2024
5:00pm
at
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
126 South Meadow Road
Plymouth, MA 02360

Celebrant: Fr Joe Raeke
Witness: Bill Farrell

AMAZING Music with Kerry & Tim Campbell, Laura Grant, Mark Carey   

We hope you will join us & bring a friend, especially new Cursillistas or those hoping to learn about the wonderful Cursillo Retreat experience  & faith community- all are welcome! Come and enjoy Mass, listen to amazing music, hear an inspiring witness, and share faith, fellowship & great refreshments!

Please bring a snack to share if the Spirit moves you. For any questions, please call Patti & John DeAngelo at 617-678-4306.

Our Schedule is:

March 10th, April 14th & May 19th.

Cursillos at Holy Cross Retreat House will be:

March 21-24, 2024 (men)
April 25-28, 2024 (women)

Please feel welcome to come and bring a friend to share this blessed Cursillo Community/Faith Family!
Knights of Columbus
St. Patrick's Day
Corn Beef & Cabbage Dinner
When: Sunday, March 17, 2023 @ 6PM
Where: St. Peter's Parish Hall
What: Corn Beef & Cabbage Dinner with
Live Irish Sing-Along Performances
 
Enjoy a corn beef and cabbage dinner followed by a cake desert, with live Irish sing-along songs performed by the choir! There will be free parking behind Memorial Hall.
 
Tickets are $25 per adult. Children under 14 are $10.
 
Tickets will be sold after each Mass starting March 2nd.
 
Please contact Greg Krantz with questions at 781-254-4379 or gpkrantz@gmail.com
A 12-Step Program Based in the Upcoming Sunday Scriptures
 
All Are Welcome
 
Mary, Queen of Martyrs Parish
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Church
126 South Meadow Road
Plymouth, MA 02360
 
Weekly meetings on
Wednesdays
6:30 PM—7:30 PM
 
Please contact Deacon Jim Greer for more information at 617-645-7915
 
Catholic in Recovery is a nonprofit organization that seeks to serve those suffering from addictions and unhealthy attachments (including alcoholism, drug addiction, pornography addiction, sex and relationship addiction, compulsive overeating and food addiction, gambling addiction, codependency and the impact on family, and general fear,
control, and anxiety).
Winthrop Parish Hosts Blessed Carlo Acutis Relics, Exhibit
Wes Cipolla
FRIDAY 19TH OF JANUARY 2024

WINTHROP -- Fannie Massa reached out her hands, curled them around the gold reliquary and lifted it off of its pedestal. In her hands were two first-class and two second-class relics belonging to Blessed Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old computer programmer and devout Catholic who was beatified in 2020. She contemplated each small fragment housed within the reliquary -- a piece of Carlo's skin, a strand of his hair, a thread of his clothing, and a fragment of his original coffin. Beside the reliquary was a picture of Carlo in his new glass coffin in Assisi, allowing him to be viewed by the pilgrims who come to venerate him. In eternal rest, the boy wears his now-iconic windbreaker, jeans, and sneakers.

"I believe in miracles," Massa told Eileen Wood, who received Carlo's relics from his mother Antonia.

Massa prayed that Carlo's intercession would heal her carpal tunnel syndrome. She and dozens of others visited St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Winthrop on the weekend of Jan. 13 and 14 to venerate Carlo's relics and see the extensive exhibition on Eucharistic miracles that he compiled before his death from leukemia in 2006.

"It's super cool," said St. John's Youth Minister Michelle Benne. "I just love that there is tangible evidence of our faith aside from the Eucharist. The saints are here to pray for us."

Benne said that such an exhibit is one of many ways to introduce the faith to young people. She was wearing a t-shirt parodying merchandise from Taylor Swift's latest tour, with images of Pope St. John Paul II replacing the pop star.

"I feel like a lot of the time, the kids feel that the faith is something that is 2,000 years old," she said. "To have such a young saint in this millennium is really cool, for the kids to realize that sainthood is achievable for them. That is the mission of the church. That we're all called to sainthood, that we're all called to holiness."

"It's indescribable," said Kelli Gaynor, who prayed for Carlo's intercession to heal a medical ailment. "I've never felt anything like this before."

The Vatican International Exhibit of Eucharistic Miracles has appeared on five continents and in dioceses throughout the U.S. Wood and her husband have traveled across New England with the exhibit, which was researched and written largely by Carlo himself.

"It's an honor for me to be able to do this," Wood told The Pilot. "It's busy, but it's good. At this point it's every weekend."

Wood has led perpetual adoration at St. William of York Parish in Tewksbury for 17 years. She started displaying Carlo's exhibit in 2011, five years after his death.

Father Chris O'Connor, pastor at St. John's, encouraged her to bring the exhibit to his church.

"Carlo Acutis is someone that we want everyone to know about," he told The Pilot. "His great love for the Eucharist fosters in us an even greater love."

Demand for the exhibit has skyrocketed since Carlo's beatification and the National Eucharistic Revival, established by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2022. Carlo and St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia are the patrons of the revival, which will conclude in 2025.

"They just had a deep love and commitment for the Blessed Sacrament," Wood told The Pilot, "and it's a great example for all of us to deepen our commitment to the Eucharist. To remind us that Jesus is truly present in the Blessed Sacrament."

First-class relics of St. Manuel Gonzalez Garcia were also on display next to Carlo's relics. Such relics are extremely rare, Wood said, because when his tomb was opened up, his bones were almost completely disintegrated. His last remaining bone fragment crumbled when touched by human hands. The bone dust had to be collected to make a relic.

"We're a Eucharistic community here," Father O'Connor said. "The Catholic bishops have signaled that we need to emphasize that Jesus is really, truly, wholly present in the Blessed Sacrament. This was just a way to greater capitalize on the Eucharistic presence that we find."

In a lecture given in the church following Mass, Wood said that Carlo is significant because, as a holy person who lived in the modern day, he is approachable to young people.

"People feel like they can practically touch him," she said. "He is so real in our lives."

Carlo was born to a wealthy Italian family in London in 1991. Despite his privilege, he lived humbly and eschewed name-brand clothing.

"In many ways he was an average, normal, everyday kid," Wood said.

He liked to play video games, eat Nutella, play soccer, and hang out with his friends.

"We have home movies (of him), and he had a cell phone," Wood said. "How many saints had a cell phone?"

He played the saxophone and got decent grades in school, and excelled in his computer classes. He used his computer skills to create a website documenting eucharistic miracles. He was curious about Catholicism from a very early age, and his Polish nanny taught him about the faith. From age seven, he wanted to attend Mass daily. He said the rosary and attended eucharistic adoration every day. He went to confession every week. He befriended his classmates who were bullied or who sat alone at lunch. He personally delivered food and sleeping bags to the homeless.

"He just loved everyone and looked to people through the eyes of Christ," Wood said.

Early in the new school year, 15-year-old Acutis was starting to feel sick. A week later, he was in the hospital dying of an aggressive form of leukemia. He told his mother that he was not afraid to die, because he knew that he didn't do anything that was displeasing to God.

"What an amazing thing to say, right?" Wood said. "Wouldn't it be beautiful if we could all say that?"

His body was severely swollen. When the nurses and doctors asked if he was in pain, he told them that others were suffering more than he did, and he offered his suffering for the pope and the Catholic Church. He expected that he would go directly to Heaven and not spend any time in purgatory. He promised his mother that he would give her signs that he was with Jesus. Four years to the day after his death, his 44-year-old mother gave birth to twins.

Wood said that Carlo's dying words should be an invitation for Catholics to "start from scratch" and live more faithfully.

"How many of us want to be saints here?" she asked those listening to her lecture. "All of our hands should be up. All of us should want to be saints."

After we die, she said, "there's only two choices: Heaven or not Heaven."

Shortly after his death, Carlo's cause for sainthood was opened. He was determined to have lived a virtuous life but a miracle was required for beatification. That miracle came in the form of a young Brazilian boy named Matheus. Matheus was born in 2009 with a deformed pancreas. Unable to digest solid food, he weighed 20 pounds at age four. Any surgery would have killed him. The boy venerated a second-class relic of Carlo Acutis.

"As soon as he touched the relic," Wood said, "he was instantly and miraculously cured."

That night, he ate a steak dinner with his family. His doctors were baffled.

"When they did all the medical testing, the pancreas looked normal," Wood said.

For Blessed Carlo to be canonized as a saint, another miracle must be verified by the church.

"Someone here tonight, you could be the one," Wood said. "You could be the one that has some kind of miraculous cure that helps Carlo become St. Carlo."

Wood said she has documented four potential miracles that she attributes to Carlo's intercession, and has seen one of them firsthand. On Oct. 12, 2022, the 16th anniversary of Carlo's death and his feast day, she was displaying his relic at St. Rita Parish in Lowell. A Knight of Columbus removed his gloves to look through a book about Carlo, revealing a pair of swollen, chafed, and wounded hands.

"Everything was cracked," Wood said. "His hands were a mess."

He touched his scapular to the relic and prayed for "a deeper commitment to the Blessed Sacrament." According to Wood, his prayer for healed hands was an afterthought. The next morning, his skin was like normal, and he could bend his fingers again.

To her, the only explanation is a miracle.
St Vincent de Paul Poor Boxes are located near the doors of all three churches. Through your generosity we will be able to continue to help the residents of Plymouth and Carver with their heat, electric and rent. Thank you for your support!
Spotlight on Food Pantries
St. Vincent de Paul at St. Peter’s
 
The SVdP Food Pantry is held every Friday from 2:30-4:00 PM at the St. Peter Parish Center, 10 Memorial Drive. Thank you to our friends and parishioners who have so kindly remembered the Society, and those we serve, through your generous private gifts, and donations left in the church donation boxes, located at each door of the church. Your kindness helps many.
We are currently in need of: Pasta Sauce, Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Granola Bars, Cranberry or Apple Juice, Cream of Mushroom or Chicken Soups, and Chicken or Beef Ramen. Donations may be dropped off at the Parish Center or at the church.
If you are in need, please call the office at 508-746-0663 Ext. 307 and leave a message. We can help with resources and aid. You may also call us at this number if you are interested in volunteering for SVdP. 
The Saint Kateri Food Pantry
 

Tuesdays from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
 
The Food Pantry is always in need of any non perishable food items such as canned soups, pasta and sauce products, baking goods, cereals, canned tuna or chicken, boxed meals such as Hamburger & Tuna Helpers, canned vegetables and canned fruit and fruit juice. Liquid dish detergent, Kleenex, paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning products are very much needed. Personal hygiene products, such as deodorant, body wash/soap and shampoos are staples in every household and always appreciated!!
 
Thank you for your continued support of the food pantry!
 
Saint Kateri Parishioners, we need your help! On the 3rd Tuesday of each month, we receive a large order of food delivered from the Boston Food Bank. This delivery is generally about 3,000 lbs. Our staff is older and unloading this amount of products is difficult for the small group of people who usually help.
 
PLEASE consider taking an hour of your time to come by the church around 8:30 AM that day to help unload. We meet every third Tuesday of the month!
“THE THRIFTY LILY” News
 
We welcome your donations of new or gently used goods to sell, but can only take them during the hours we are open!

Please, do not leave any items at the door outside of our business hours.
 
Every Monday 2PM to 5PM
Every Wednesday 10AM to 2PM
Every Thursday 10AM to 2PM
First Saturday of every month
from 10 AM to 2PM
 
If you like to bake, please consider baking some of your delicious recipes for our bake sale. 
Allison Jean Felton
Child of
Jeremy and Elizabeth
Henry Davis Dean
Child of
Joseph and Stephanie
Were baptized at Mary, Queen of Martyrs Parish on February 18, 2024. May your baptism be full of love and wonder as you embark on your journey with Christ.
God Bless +
The Weekly Gospel

John 4:5-42
"Give me a drink."
Reflection for March 3, 2024, Third Sunday of Lent
Deacon Greg Kandra
WEDNESDAY 28TH OF FEBRUARY 2024

Incredibly, we're already entering the third week of Lent. The ashes are a distant memory. We've gotten used to grilled cheese and Filet-o-Fish sandwiches on Fridays and we've mustered the self-control to resist having that candy bar at 3 p.m.

Maybe we've settled into the rhythm of Lent and become used to it. But have we yet embraced what it's really about?

If we needed a reminder, the reading from Exodus lands like an elbow to the ribs. The first command from God should make all of us sit up and take notice: "I, the Lord am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery. You shall not have other gods besides me."

With that, suddenly, we are shocked back to reality. You want a summary of what Lent is all about? This is it.

It's about remembering our priorities.

This is a time of purification and penance, of prayer and fasting, of giving alms and giving of ourselves, of doing without and turning away from the distractions of life to rediscover what it means to love God and love our neighbor -- all in anticipation of the greatest feast on our calendar, Easter.

And so, this week, just when a lot of us might need it, we hear once again God's commandments -- challenging us, humbling us, maybe even convicting us. The first commandment we hear should have all of us wondering: "Wait. 'Other gods?' I don't have other gods in my life. Do I?"

Well, maybe. Think about it.

Maybe those other gods don't speak from mountaintops. Maybe they're closer than that. Maybe we're hearing them in the next cubicle, in the elevator, or in emails and texts that arrive after hours. Maybe we're worshiping our careers, or we're enamored with status and influence. Maybe we've carved mythical statues in tribute to our own success, or we worry too much about the opinions of others.

The other gods that clutter our lives can even be closer than that -- in the kitchen, in the bar, in the garage. What takes up our time and attention, and pulls us away from our walk toward holiness?

Lent is a good time to ask whether we need to turn away from those empty gods and turn toward the God who loves us, comforts us, uplifts us, redeems us.

It's fitting that this reading from Exodus is paired with the gospel account of Jesus cleansing the temple -- spilling the coins of the money changers and overturning their tables. He wanted to rid his Father's house of the mercenary distractions that cheapened that sacred space. Well, Lent is a moment for us to turn over the tables of our lives and stand before God as penitent people, seeking to be made new.

How is that going? Are we consumed with zeal for him -- or are we obsessed with other things, other distractions, other gods, instead?

It can be tempting amid the busy-ness of daily life to lose sight of what really matters, and to forget The One who makes it all matter. This week, as we near the halfway point of Lent, we can take a breath and take stock.

Are we making the most of this season of opportunity and introspection, this time of self-examination and self-discovery?

It's alright to ask ourselves if we're doing all we can to (as we heard on Ash Wednesday) "repent and return to the Gospel."

The gospel reading is more than simply a dramatic confrontation in the temple. It's a call to action -- to drive out the things within us that might be keeping us from drawing closer to God.

Because, whether we realize it or not, every now and then we need to flip over the tables in our own lives.

- Deacon Greg Kandra is an award-winning author and journalist, and creator of the blog, "The Deacon's Bench."
Spotlight on Mass
Mass Streaming

streaming St Peter Sunday 11:30AM

streaming St Kateri Saturday 4PM

streaming Our Lady of Lourdes Sunday 10AM
9:00 am Weekday Mass Schedule is as Follows:

Mondays & Thursdays at
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
 
Tuesdays & Fridays at
Our Lady of Lourdes

Wednesdays & Saturdays at
Saint Peter’s

Mary, Queen of Martyrs Bulletin


Our bulletin is now available on the new website at



Soup and Stations at 6:00 p.m.
 
Friday, March 1st at St. Peter’s
Friday, March 8th at St. Peter’s
Friday, March 15th at Our Lady of Lourdes
                                                (Stations Only)
 Friday, March 22nd at Our Lady of Lourdes
LENTEN REGULATIONS:
 
Abstinence: Catholics over 14 years of age are bound to the obligations of abstinence. Abstinence is to be observed on Ash Wednesday and all the Fridays of Lent. On days of abstinence, meat may not be consumed at all. (Meat includes poultry, but not animal products, such as milk or eggs.)
  
Fast: Catholics over 18 up to their sixtieth year are bound to the obligation of fasting. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are the days of mandatory fasting. On these days, only one full meal is allowed. Two other meatless meals, sufficient to maintain strength, may be taken according to each one’s needs, but together they should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals is not permitted, but liquids, including milk and fruit juices, are allowed. In addition, voluntary fasting is a praiseworthy Lenten tradition over and above Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.
Weekly Eucharistic Adoration
and Confessions
 Please join Fr. Paul for a Holy Hour with Confessions every Tuesday from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM at St. Peter's Church (upstairs church and sacristy).
Fr Paul will also lead the Holy Rosary
(15 decades) after the Holy Hour from
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM in the upstairs church. All are welcomed to attend.

 

Email adoration@maryqueenofmartyrs.org to receive occasional updates about this Holy Hour, in event of cancellation, etc.
Lenten Penance Service

March 18, 2024
7:00 PM

Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
126 South Meadow Rd
Plymouth, MA
Children’s Liturgy of the Word will be held at the 9:30 am Mass at St. Peter’s Parish. We look forward to seeing the children again this year!
Children's Liturgy of the Word is being offered at Saint Kateri at the 10:00am Mass. We are very excited to be sharing the Word of God in a special way with the children at Mass. We are still looking for volunteers to help on a rotating schedule. Thank you to those who have signed up already!
Bible Study Anyone?
Fr. Joe’s Monthly Bible Study will have it's next session on Thursday, March 21, 2024 from 12:00pm to 1:30pm (lunch is included) at St. Peter’s Parish Center. It is once a month for 9 months.  Please contact Kathy at 508-746-0663 ext. 401 if you would like to register for the sessions.
Parishioners and Friends of Mary, Queen of Martyrs Parish can now make a one-time or recurring gifts directly on our parish website. Stop worrying about weekly envelopes or mailing in special donations or ministry program fees. Instead, give a gift at any time (from any device that connects to the internet) using a current email and checking account/credit card. It’s simple and secure. You can even turn your tithe into an automatic gift that gives when and how often you’d like with your own online donor account.

Visit maryqueenofmartyrs.org/give
to see how easy it is!
A message from Cardinal Sean about the 2024 Catholic Appeal
The Liturgy of the Hours - Lent 2024

The Liturgy of the Hours, also known as The Divine Office, is not just for priests, deacons and religious. It is the public prayer of the Church, and it is for everyone!
Liturgy of the Hours, Evening Prayer, will be prayed each Tuesday of Lent at 5:30pm, St. Peter Upper Church, before Eucharistic Adoration begins at 6:00pm.
All are welcome to pray
Evening Prayer.
SOCIAL JUSTICE MINISTRY CORNER
We are people of faith, called to live the Gospel!
DIAPER PANTRY

News from the Diaper Pantry...

A message from a Diaper Pantry client….your donations make such a difference!
“Thank you so, so much to you, and to all of the ladies that help in this and everyone who donates the diapers. Receiving the help with diapers is truly such a blessing. I hope to be on the other side some day and can help donate back into the blessings for others. With rent raising and the cost of living, this has helped financially and I just want you to know how grateful I am for all the time, and work that everyone volunteers into this ministry. God bless you all, always, Alice G.”
 
 Diaper size needed this week:
Size 5
  
For questions contact Jeanne at 508 – 591- 3510 or PCCDiaperPantry@yahoo.com

Diaper donations can be dropped off at the entrances of our three churches before or after Mass, or at the church offices during open hours (Our Lady of Lourdes: Tuesday and Friday 8:30am–12:30pm; St. Peter: Monday through Friday 9:00am–3:30pm)

Thank you for your generosity!

Note: Our latest Diaper Pantry Update and Report to Parishioners is now available! To view the report, please click below, visit our parish website, see the parish newsletter, or pick up a hard copy at our church entrances.
                                                                                              Diaper Pantry Hours
                                                                               
 The 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the Month
9:30am–11:00 am at
Saint Kateri Parish Office
HOLY HOUR
Please join us at a Holy Hour of Eucharistic Adoration on
Sunday
March 17, 2024
3:00 PM to 4:00 PM at St. Peter’s Church.

“A thousand years of enjoying human glory is not worth even an hour spent sweetly communing with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.” St. Pio of Pietrelcina
OUR PARISH SERVICE DAY IS MARCH 16, 2024
 LEARN MORE ABOUT END HUNGER NEW ENGLAND

 Please check out the posters and flyers at the church entrances and the cover of the bulletin for details on how you can participate in our Mary, Queen of Martyrs Service Day on March 16th at St. Peter’s Parish Center.

Here are some facts about hunger in Massachusetts, from Project Bread and Feeding America:
· Approximately 19.5% of households still struggle with food access.
· As of October 2023, an estimated 24.6% of households with children in Massachusetts are facing food insecurity.
· In Massachusetts, 564,030 people are currently facing hunger, including 113,960 children.
The rising costs of housing and other basic needs contribute to this ongoing challenge.
 
The hungry in our area need your help –
please donate and volunteer 
at our March 16, 2024
Parish Service Day!
SAVE THE DATE!
Thursday
March 7, 2024


 Monsignor Paul Garrity will speak promptly at 6:30pm
New World Tavern
56 Main Street, Plymouth
 
What the Heck is the Synod on Synodality All About?

The Synod on Synodality is a two-year process of praying, listening, dialoguing and discerning. Change is in the air and the Catholic Church is changing before our very eyes.
 
Theology on Tap will explore these changes on Thursday evening March 7th at 6:30pm at the New World Tavern. Msgr. Paul Garrity will invite a conversation about changes in Rome that will affect our local church. Pope Francis wants to change the way we “do” Church. Come and share your thoughts!
 
Msgr. Paul is a Senior priest with over 50 years of pastoral experience who regularly celebrates Mass in our Mary Queen of Martyrs churches.

You do not want to miss this talk!
 
Bring a friend!
Enjoy a burger!
  Prayer Requests
 
There is NOW a link on our Mary, Queen of Martyrs website available for prayer requests. Please click on the link and you may write out your request.
 
There is also a Book of Intentions available at each of our churches. You may write your prayer intention directly in the book.
 
There are prayer angels in our parish community praying for all the intentions and ALL intentions are remembered at all the Masses in our parish community!

The Prayer Life Team
As a Parish We Pray for:
Prayer Line
Please call Mary Harmon at 508-746-4989 with your prayer need and it will be passed on from friend to friend.
Spotlight on Prayer
 Struggling to find daily time to pray?
Spotlight on Vocations
Click Below to see the Prayer for the Discernment of a Vocation. Please pray daily! God Bless+
The Path to Healing Our Broken Hearts
In the 17-part virtual workshop, Fr. Shawn Monahan offers a message of hope and healing, helping you to recognize and overcome heart-breaking events in your life and accept God’s love. 

You’ll take away an awareness of your own brokenness, devoid of any shame or discouragement. Beyond that awareness, Fr. Shawn will show you how to leverage your emotional and spiritual wounds as a path to the Lord’s compassionate love, which is the source of deep penetrating healing.
ONE-DAY SPIRITUAL RETREAT
FOR GRIEVING PARENTS
SATURDAY, APRIL 20TH
 
Losing a child under any circumstance is devastating. Focusing on the spirituality of the grieving process can help. 
The Emmaus Ministry is for parents whose children of any age, have died by any cause, no matter how long ago.
 
Please join Fr. Joe and other parent companions at
Mary Queen of Martyrs Parish
Our Lady of Lourdes 
130 Main St. Carver, MA
9:30am-6:30pm
 
The Retreat agenda includes prayer services, optional sharing, breakout sessions, an Emmaus Walk, Mass, and time for reflection.
Participation in all sessions is totally optional. You will not be required to introduce yourself, tell your story, or share anything at all. Many parents participate by listening.
 
The purpose of the retreat is to give yourself this gift of time on your spiritual journey, 
inviting you to consider ~ Where is God in my pain? ~ Where is my child now? ~
~ How can my faith help me through this new reality of life without my child? ~
 
Registration includes lunch, dinner, snacks, beverages, and all retreat materials
Cost: Free-Will Offering (online or at the retreat)
 
For more information or to register
Please call Betty @ 508-747-8917
Pre-Registration is required
Learn more at www.emfgp.org
Lenten Retreat
A Path of 
Pain and Love
 
This retreat is intended for all those who wish to know more about Jesus and experience His deep love for the Father and the world. Walking with Jesus in His pain allows us to know and feel how deep His love was for us on the cross. During the retreat we will be able to perceive and capture the emotions, feelings, and attitudes of Jesus in His last days of life. 
Date: Saturday, March 16, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Place: Holy Family Church,
601 Tremont Street
Duxbury, MA 02332
Light lunch will be provided. Bring your Bible and a notebook.
To register please call or email:
Jeanne Cregan at 781-934-5055 x114
Mary Crespo at 413-478-5141
Please call the parish office at
508-746-0663 ext. 401 if you would like your end of the year tax statement mailed to you.
All Are Welcome!
Do you know you are loved by God?
 
You belong to Jesus Christ and
you belong with us.
 
Regardless of:
Your present status in the Catholic Church,
Your current family or marital situation, or personal history, Your age, ability, income, or background,
Your gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity or spirituality, Your own self-image of holiness or virtue.
You are invited, accepted, and respected here at Mary, Queen of Martyrs Parish. We want to share our Roman Catholic way of faith and life in Christ with you.