wishes to report that the work on the outside of the church has begun. The wooden part of the gutters on the outside of the chapel have already been painted. All of the wood of the window frames will be painted. The side entrances of the inside church will be washed and painted. The ceiling near the reconciliation room will be repaired.

Bishop O’ Malley gave permission for this work to be done. The Parish Financial Council also gave permission.

Parish Festival Meeting: May 8 in the rectory

at 7 p.m.

Renew meeting for anyone wanting to serve on the Invitational Committee will be held at Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Church Hall on Monday, May 6 at 7 p.m.

SACRAMENT

OF THE

ANOINTING OF THE SICK

SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2002

AT THE 4 P.M. MASS

Bishop O’Malley has announced that the Feast of Pentecost will be a day of prayer and healing because of all that we have gone through in the Church.

He has asked that the prayer of St. Francis be prayed during the 9 days before the Feast of Pentecost.

At St. James we will be observing this Pentecost weekend of prayer and healing of healing with the celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

The Sacrament can be received by those who are going to have serious surgery. Those who are suffering from a serious illness also can receive this Sacrament. People who because of their advanced age find their physical health weakened are also eligible.

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is for those who are sick. The prayers of the Sacrament are asking God to restore the health of the person. If it is not God’s will that the person recover, the Church prays that this person receive the help to allow this sickness bring him/her closer to God.

Parishioners who would like to receive the Sacrament are asked to call the rectory, give their name and phone number.

On the day of the celebration, those who will receive the Sacrament are asked to come to the Church by the side entrance by 3:30 p.m. so that they can be seated in a special reserved section.

RENEW

At our meetings to prepare the parishes for this three year time of conversion, statistics were given. The largest Church group in the United States is the Catholic Church. The second largest group after the Catholic Church are those Catholics who do not practice their faith anymore. After this group comes the Methodist Church.

Renew is a process by which parishes move to a point beyond where they are. Eighty dioceses have used this process in their parishes to have them grow. Other countries have also adopted this way of renewal.

"Renew" has something for everybody in the parish. There is a prayer card which parishioners are asked to pray for the success of Renew in their parishes and in the Diocese.

Bishop O’Malley has ordered that each parish do "Renew" as a way of preparing for the centennial of the Diocese in 2004.

Each parish is to form "a core community" which oversees the whole process. Parishioners are invited to join this group. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, April 30 at 7 p.m. in the rectory.

There are three groups that will be "shepherded" by the core community.

The invitational committee will discuss ways of inviting people into the process of "Renew". This group will be the largest.

The Liturgical Committee will plan Liturgies that will develop the themes of the two six week faith sharing groups that take place in the fall and in Lent.

The Mission Committee plans a Parish Mission that will take place in September of 2002.

The faith sharing groups are the core of "Renew". In these groups parishioners are invited to share their faith so that the entire parish can be strengthened.

Each parish that has had "Renew" has happily reported that the parish did grow into a more vibrant community.

The enthusiasm for "Renew" has been very good to see. People are coming forward to join the various preparation groups. Many people have expressed an interest in knowing more about this tool for renewal.

It is hoped that St. James can come alive in little ways. Although we are a very small parish in comparison to many large parishes in the area, nevertheless we can have a life that animates our mission.

UIA is working with the officials of the two cities to eliminate the waiting lists of people who want to go into an "English as a second language" (ESL) class. Over seven hundred people are waiting in the cities of New Bedford and Fall River.