From the Pastor January 4/5

Reverse Advent Calendar Donations

During Advent, parishioners were encouraged to participate in the Reverse Advent Calendar. Each day, the calendar suggested a food or healthcare item you could contribute to the Chatham Food Pantry. These efforts bring comfort to those in need right in our backyard. You can begin to bring your items to church this weekend, January 4-5. Boxes for them are in the elevator lobby on the parking lot side of the church. The doors will be open on Sunday afternoon and until 3 p.m. this week to make returns if you don’t have them with you today. Thank you for participating. 

Annual Diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass

Married couples celebrating a significant wedding anniversary in 2025 are invited to renew their wedding vows with Most Rev. Edgar M. DaCunha, S.D.V., D.D., at the Annual Diocesan Wedding Anniversary Mass, Sunday, February 9, 2025, at a 3:00 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of the St. Mary of the Assumption, 327 Second Street, Fall River, MA 02721. To register, please get in touch with the Parish Office at 508-945-0677. 

Baby Bottle Boomerang 

January is Sanctity of Life Month. This month, we pray for respect for life from conception to natural death. While we rejoice in the Dobbs case reversing the Roe v. Wade abortion decision, we recognize we have much work to do to protect life against abortion and euthanasia. It is very possible that the Massachusetts Legislature will consider legalizing euthanasia or assisted suicide in the coming year. It is an issue all Catholics must be aware of and ready to fight against.

Holy Redeemer has held a fundraiser called the Baby Bottle Boomerang for the past several years to benefit Your Options Medical Centers. Your Options is an agency that offers pregnant women services such as ultrasound tests and counseling to help women considering abortion know all their options. Pro-life people need to be ready to help women with problem pregnancies with prayerful and financial resources. We need to meet our words with action.

Parishioners participate in the Boomerang by taking a baby bottle, filling it with the loose change we receive during the month, and returning it in early February. Take a baby bottle as you leave Mass today and help support Holy Redeemer’s effort to support pregnant women and families. 

Christmas Thank-Yous

Thank you to the Music Ministry, led by Music Director Teresa Lim, the Hospitality Ministry, who made everyone feel welcome, and our decorators, who helped make our church so beautiful this Christmas. There were many, many compliments. We all deserve to be proud of ourselves. Thank you to those parishioners who sent the parish staff a Christmas card or shared one of their holiday baking traditions. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated. May you receive God’s blessings in 2025.