Fourth Sunday of Advent

News and Notes:  The one and only collection at all the Christmas Masses in our parishes is for the Clergy Funds, to support the retirement, medical and financial needs of the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston.  If you wish to make a Christmas or an end-of-the-year donation to your respective parish, please put your gift in a clearly marked envelope to that effect, or indicate your intention in the memo line of you check.  Otherwise, all the money collected will be forwarded to the Clergy Funds.  Thank you for your kind support of Fr. Tony and myself and all the other priests who have served you over the years!  Also, time is running out to make a contribution to the 2014 Catholic Appeal...OLA still needs 7 more donors to reach its goal; SMG needs 17 donors to contribute an aggregate total of $3,000 in order to avoid paying this amount out of our savings to meet our fair share assessment for this year.  Pick up a Catholic Appeal ledge envelope at the entrances of our Church or go to www.bostoncatholic.org to give.  Thanks to Collin McBride for helping to bring “God of This City” tour to St. Maria Goretti Parish on December 1.  It was certainly an exciting and reverent experience of song, adoration and reconciliation!  Thanks also to Donna Hegan, Carl DeMarco and so many others for participating in the Breakfast with Santa event at SMG on the morning of December 6.  Fr. Tony did a wonderful job of sharing the story of St. Nicholas with our little ones.  Congratulations to Rick Lesser, our seminarian intern this year.  He will be ordained to the diaconate on January 3 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Albany, New York.  After his ordination, Rick will return to our Collaborative and serve us as a deacon for several months on the weekends until he is ordained to the priesthood for the diocese of Albany next spring.  We are also blessed to have Francis Pham back with us.  As you recall, Francis was our seminarian intern last year as a member of the Cistercian Order in Vietnam; after completion of his Seminary studies and a period of discernment, he has decided to leave that religious order and pursue a vocation to the diocesan priesthood in the Archdiocese of Boston.  Cardinal Sean has asked us to host Francis as he prepares for ordained ministry in our particular Church.  Francis will be living at the OLA White House and serving our parishes full-time for the foreseeable future.  Join me in welcoming Francis back to Lynnfield. On behalf of Fr. Tony and our entire Pastoral Team, a joyous and peaceful Christmas Season to all of you!