Welcome to St. Dorothy and St. Thomas Churches!

On February 1, 2018, the Wilmington Catholic Collaborative became The Parish of The Transfiguration

Parish Office, 11 Harnden Ave., Wilmington, MA 01887, 978-658-4665

Faith Formation Office, 126 Middlesex Ave., Wilmington, MA 01887, 978-658-6040

Join us in the celebration of Word and Sacrament as we continue to grow in our Catholic faith and to flourish as a community. We welcome all to join us as we seek to follow Christ, come alive in His Spirit, and share His love with one another.

November Grade level Masses: November 18 – Grade 7, 9am Mass at St. Thomas. Refreshments are served after all grade level Masses. The entire Community is welcome.

Our Annual MASS OF REMEMBRANCE will take place on Tuesday, November 13, at 7:00pm at St. Thomas Church.

The St. Thomas Craft Fair will be held on Saturday, November 17 in Villanova Hall, from 10am to 3pm. Anyone interested in renting a table at the Fair, please call Kathy Catanzano at 978-658-9189 or Diane Ward at 978-658-5697.

Our Youth Group hosted a Halloween Party for some special guests on Saturday, 10/27. They played games, did crafts and went trick or treating and had a lot of fun!

The Youth Group will be selling felt Advent calendars in November to benefit our youth programs. This is a wonderful way to countdown to Jesus’ birth while creating a nice nativity scene. They are only
$5 each and may be bought at the Craft Fair on 11/17. You may also purchase them in the Faith Formation office at St. Thomas on 11/5, 11/6, 11/7, 11/13, 11/14, 11/19 and
11/20 from 11:00 - 3:00. We appreciate your support!

A NOTE FROM THE PASTOR

Election day has come and gone. Apparently, at the 10:30 AM Sunday Mass at St. Dorothy’s, someone put a flyer on cars concerning the state representative race. Whoever did this did it without my approval.. They did not have the decency to ask permission. I will not give permission to any group to put political flyers on cars. As a pastor, I have no problem indicating what are the important values you should keep in mind as you vote. However, you must make your own decision. When you stand before God, “the pastor told me to vote that way” is not an acceptable excuse. I suspect God will say I gave you the ability to make choices, you are responsible for the choice you made.

On Tuesday, November 13th at 7:00 PM in St. Thomas of Villanova Church, we will have a Remembrance Liturgy for all those who died this past year.

The Craft Fair at Villanova Hall will be held on Saturday, November 17^th.

Also, on the weekend of November 17^th & 18^th, Bishop Hennessey will be with us to bless the icon of the Transfiguration in both churches. He will bless the icon in St. Dorothy’s Church at the 4:00 PM Mass that weekend and he will bless the icon in St. Thomas of Villanova church at the noon Mass. Since he is staying overnight, he will also say the 9:00 AM at St. Thomas of Villanova church too. He will also be here the weekend of Jan. 5 & 6, 2019 to help when Fr. Anda is home visiting his family for the holidays.

On Sunday evening, Nov. 18^th, the Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service will be held at the United Methodist Church. The service will begin at 6:00 PM. All are welcome.

Beginning the weekend of December 8^th & 9^th, we will have a parish mission. Fr. Simeon Gallagher, OFMCap. will lead the mission. Fr Gallagher is Director of the Preaching Ministry Office of the Mid-America Province of the Capuchin Order. He conducts retreats, parish development programs, parish missions, and religious education workshops. He was the retreat master on the priests’ retreat I attended several years ago. He was excellent. He will preach at all that weekend and at the parish mission which will run for four nights (Monday – Thursday). He is well known so I am sure when people from other parishes hear that he is leading our parish mission, they will attend the mission too. More to come in the weeks leading up to the mission. In the meantime, save the date. It will be worth it.

My thanks to the Knights of Columbus for providing each church with a book rack as well as reading materials. The reading materials are free so take something home to read.

Finally, continue to pray for the Church as it continues to dig itself out of the mess caused by the actions of some bishops and priests. Let’s hope they will soon put protocols in place to deal with any bishop who is accused of abuse or mishandling an abuse accusation when it reached his desk. More importantly, pray for those who have been harmed by their actions.

ell I guess that is it for now. Until next time, take care.

Fr. Earley