Sat. July 20

4 p.m. Jack Pacheco

Sunday, July 21

8 a.m. For the People of the Parish

9:30 a.m. For the People of the Parish

11 a.m. Alphonse J. Spoor

Mon. July 22 Florence and Arthur Dube

Tues. July 23 Matthews Family

Wed. July 24 Edna Norton

Friday, July 26 Mercy Medeiros

Saturday July 27

Gene Martin; Theresa and Luis Martin; Jose Alfaiate;

Souls in Purgatory

Sunday July 28

8 a.m. Manuel da Silva

9:30 a.m. Daniel F. Dwyer

11a.m. For the People of the Parish

Alphonse J. Spoor

New gifts are needed for the "twistees" adult and children’s booths. They can be left in the gathering area of the church or at the rectory.

During the month of July there are sign up sheets for people to volunteer to work the games booths during the Festival weekend.

http.//www.saintjames-nb.org

AFTER THE MASSES IN THE CHURCH HALL.

This registration is for all students in public schools (Grades 1-9) who are returning to our program or who are entering for the first time. It also includes children in Catholic Schools in Grade 2 (First Communion) and Grade 9 (Confirmation).

* Feast of St. James Mass

Thursday, July 25

Mass at 7 p.m. No Mass at 9 a.m.

Parishioners are asked to bring refreshments for the evening celebration

Tuesday, July 30 at 7 p.m. in the rectory.

I am writing to you firstly to apologize for missing your graduation party. Your invitation got to the rectory one week after this special event. (So much for the increase to 37 cents.)

I want to congratulate you on your graduation from college. It must have been a very proud day for you and your parents. I am told that the graduation went very well.

As you now look to the future to see what you might do with your life, I would like to say that I think that you might have a vocation to be a priest.

I think that it is important to say this to you because many times people in your situation may not have thought about it or it may just confirm what you have been feeling.

Fr. Jeffrey Cabral was ordained to the Priesthood for our Diocese last month. He shared that it was Monsignor Stephen Avila who shared the same thing with him while he was teaching at Bishop Stang High School.

This led him to start thinking about a call from God to be a priest. Other signs to confirm it came. Now he is serving as a priest at St. Anthony of Lisbon Church in Taunton, Ma.

This is a very difficult time in the Church. Many people wonder how anyone would even think about being a priest at this time.

I felt the same way until I read an article in "America" magazine by retired Archbishop Francis Quinn. In the article he said that this was the best possible time to be a priest. He said because of the crisis in the Church at this time the Priesthood does not enjoy prestige. In

fact people look upon the Priesthood in the exact opposite manner.

The Archbishop writes that it is for this reason that people will be considering the Priesthood for the right reasons.

It made so much sense to me.

It is true that there are so many wonderful ways that you can serve the Church today without being a priest. In your case, however, I feel that God is calling you.

Through your life here at St. James you have always been close to the altar and have shown that you have benefited from it. You have also participated in many retreats and have shown a deep appreciation for God Whom you met in a special way.

The Priesthood is lived out in many ways in the Church. A diocesan priest stays in his diocese and usually dedicates himself to parish work. The priest of a Religious Community is called to a life in community and may do many different ministries in the Church.

The core of all expressions of the Priesthood is Preaching and the Eucharist.

People need to have the Word of God proclaimed to them, and they need to be nourished by the Eucharist. There are a lot of sacrifices that have to be made to do this, but I am still in awe even after 34 years of what we are called to do in the person of Christ.

You have a wonderful to gift to speak.

You have a special connection to the altar. These may be signs that you have vocation.

If you should decide that this is not for you, please understand that you are still appreciated and can do very much good for people in other ways.

This is just a thought to pray about as we will be praying as well.

On the first Sunday of the month parishioners gather at St. James Chapel in front of the Blessed Sacrament to pray for vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life.