Religious education registration is now open. Stop by after any mass to talk to me about our philosophy of religious education. Information on and registration for our program can be found here.

As we prepare for the new school year, I offer the following prayers:

Creator of all things,
 true Source of light and wisdom,
 lofty origin of all being,
 graciously let a ray of Your brilliance
 penetrate into the darkness of my understanding
 and take from me the double darkness
 in which I have been born,
 an obscurity of both sin and ignorance.
 Give me a sharp sense of understanding,
 a retentive memory,
 and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
 Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations,
 and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.
 Point out the beginning,
 direct the progress,
 and help in completion;
 through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St. John instilled a spirit of prayer and reverence in his students with a shorter prayer, said regularly throughout the day:

 

"Let us remember that we are in the holy presence of God."

I wish you all a fruitful and successful school year!

The month of August is devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  Often honored along with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Immaculate Heart of Mary is one of the most popular Marian devotions practiced today.

We believe that the Blessed Mother is "full of grace", as announced by the Angel Gabriel.  This fullness of grace comes from Mary's Immaculate Heart.    Mary's heart, like the rest of her, is immaculate or fully pure.

The Immaculate Heart of Mary shows us how to burn with love for God and how to desire to bring souls to her Son. As always, Mary shows us a direct path to holiness through her Son. 

Ways to honor this devotion during the month of August include:

(Ideas courtesy of aleteia.org).

If you are not currently registered in the parish and would like more information on what we have to offer, please visit our website.  Registration forms can also be found on the table in the gathering space.  We would love for you to join our parish family!

The Feast of the Assumption is on Monday, August 15, 2022.  It is a Holy Day of Obligation.  Masses will be offered at:

                     12:15pm

                      7pm

Thank you to everyone who is making their offertory to SJN online.  Online giving provides much stability to the parish finances. (This is true for those of you who contribute through regular check distributions from your bank, also. Thank you!) 

If you are not already signed up for online giving, please consider signing up today.  It reduces the cost of envelopes, provides funds that the parish can rely on and budget with, and provides stability in times of low church attendance.  Thank you for your generosity.  To set up regular online giving, please click here.

For those who have already signed up for online giving and would like access to your account, we have found a way!  You can make adjustments to your account and track donations by clicking here. 

Registration for the 2022-2023 school year has begun for all grades K-12. Please visit our website to complete your registration. Timely registration is especially helpful to us for planning purposes. Any questions, please contact Claire (K-5) or Cheri (6-12).
 
 *Some additional notes about Religious Education: Typical reception of the sacraments in the Diocese of Manchester is Second Grade – First Reconciliation, Third Grade – Confirmation and First Holy Communion. The Diocese requires that children be enrolled in Religious Education in their parish for two years in order to receive sacraments. St. John Neumann has classes for children in grades K-12 and welcomes ALL!
 
 *Catholic school families: The Diocese of Manchester requires that children complete their sacrament preparation in their home parish. At SJN, sacrament preparation is part of our religious education program.

Brian Lester will be ordained as a Deacon in the Catholic Church on September 17, 2022.  All are welcome to attend the Ordination Mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Manchester at 10am.  Brian will be serving his first Mass as a Deacon at our 10am Mass on Sunday, September 18, 2022.  The parish will be celebrating Brian's ordination following this Mass with a dessert reception in the hall.  All are invited to join us in this glorious event.

In the United States, "young adults" are those young people from all cultural communities and abilities between ages 18 and 39 who are single or married, with or without children, divorced or widowed, and in college, working, unemployed, incarcerated, or in the military. These young adults are indeed adults and are impacting the Church and society today. 

For all young adults looking to connect with others in the area, check out our new Young Adult webpage with happenings in the area, or contact Rachel by email or at (207)292-2117.

Calling all Youth-grades 6-12!  Cheri keeps the website updated with all activities for the youth.  To keep updated on all things youth ministry, click here!

St. John Neumann Day Away uses an all-volunteer staff to provide a safe, loving and stimulating environment for program participants who are living with the early stages of dementia.  We offer a wide variety of roles to choose, including 1:1 Participant Companion, Craft Assistant, Lunch Assistant, and Music Facilitator.  

The best volunteers are friendly listeners, who enjoy being with the elderly and learning about all that’s meaningful in their lives. 

If you wish to learn more about the volunteer roles, please email Kathy Hopkins, RN, M.Ed,

Director of Day Away 

If you have been wondering how you can better serve the Lord and the Saint John Neumann parish community, consider joining the Knights.  

The Knights provide holiday dinners, holiday raffles, Keeping Christ in Christmas cards, Breakfast with St. Nick, and many other activities for the SJN community.   In addition to providing community fellowship, these activities raise needed funds for the SJN Food Pantry, student scholarships, local charities, seminarian support, and much more.  

A former head of the SJN Knights (also known as the Grand Knight) once said, “Being a Knight of Columbus has made me a better husband, a better father, and a better Catholic.”  For me personally, I could not agree more.  His words are why I joined.

To learn more about the Knights of Columbus, please visit their website., the SJN Knights web page,  or feel free to contact me directly Leo Bobek, Grand Knight SJN Council.

One of our SJN parishioners, Chrissy Zore, was received into the Community of the Daughters of Mary, Mother of Healing Love on June 25, 2022.  Chrissy had been discerning a vocation for many years, traveling to find her spiritual home.  Blessedly that home was with the Daughters of Mary, in Manchester, NH.  According to Chrissy, she was attracted to this order because of their devotion to Our Lady and their dedication to the Eucharist.  Please keep Chrissy in your prayers as she settles into consecrated life. 

Nick Bourn would like to say thank you for the enormous support he received with his meatball sub fundraiser to support his Eagle Project.  From Nick:  

"I finished my build day yesterday for my Eagle project and I just wanted to say thanks again for letting me use the church for my fundraiser! I am going to donate some of the left over funds back to the church in the coming days once my budgeting is complete."  Thanks, Nick!

As we plan for the fall, Cheri would like to find out what people are most interested in learning about in our next Adult Faith Studies. She has put together a survey with several options.  Please click here to complete the survey.  We look forward to seeing what you are interested in!

All youth (grades 6-12) are invited to join us for an afternoon of paintball. We will be gathering on Saturday, Aug 13th, noon-5pm.  The cost is $25/person, no more than $60/family.  It includes admission, paintball marker, air tank, no fog thermal mask, pod pack, 100 paintballs. Additional paintballs and snacks are at individual expense 

You MUST also complete a waiver for AG Paintball to play.  Click here for the waiver.  Contact Cheri for more information and to sign up.

All SJN families with children (or grandchildren) up through fifth grade are invited to join us for a Hot Dog Dinner and Candy Bingo on Thursday, August 25 at 6:00 p.m. in the Parish Hall.  Please bring a bag of individually wrapped candy to be used for prizes. 

RSVP or questions to Claire Bryson by Sunday, August 21.

As we return to being able to be more active, we have realized that we are running out of storage space.  Over the last few weeks, we have cleaned out the attic and closets.  After all masses next weekend (August 6 and 7), we will be offering the items to the parish that we can no longer store.  Please come check out the hall and see if there is anything that you could give a loving home.  There are toys, craft items, storage containers, decor, electronic equipment, and much more. Whatever is left after the weekend will be given to Good Will, if possible.  (Some items may not be accepted by Good Will.)

We have been actively working towards improving communication and providing multiple ways to receive information from the parish.  We are so excited to say that the Parish Events Calendar is up-to-date at our parish website.  It can be reached right here!  We are also looking at ways to make the calendar more visible in the gathering space.  More to come...

We have a number of active social media sites.  We'd love to connect with you there.

Facebook (Parish Page)

YouTube (Streaming Sunday Mass)

Facebook (Youth Ministry)

Facebook (Children's Ministry)

Instagram (Parish)

Instagram (Youth Ministry)

Instagram (Children's Ministry)