We Would Love
to Keep in Touch!

Over my 45 years of vowed life as a La Salette Missionary, I have had the privilege of meeting many people who have been examples to me of great faith. I met them in parishes in which I served, and even in offices where I was asked to serve.

Untitled-1La Salette Shrine Church in Ipswich, MA:
exterior and interior, now closed
One particular group of people that I have served is the Worshipping Community who first came to our La Salette Shrine in Ipswich, MA. First as a seminarian and then as a member of our Retreat Center Ministry, I have assisted in preparation for Sunday Mass as well as getting involved in social and educational gatherings.

These people grew much during the early days of the renewal from Vatican II. They have dealt with their struggles and, with the help of others in this close-knit Worshipping Community, grown into wonderful Catholic Christians who know how to pray, how to serve the needy and how to celebrate the faith and life we share.


Even with the closing of the La Salette Shrine in Ipswich with its history of more than 50 years of ministry, they have chosen to continue to gather for Sunday worship for the past twenty years, with the full approval of the Cardinal Shawn O’Malley. Fr. Tom Leclerc, M.S. serves as a chaplain to this group of about 100 people.

I am now privileged, along with other La Salette Missionaries, to be a Presider every few weeks, joining the schedule with a Jesuit and Franciscan priest, for this very faith-filled, active group of Catholics who go out of their way to live and serve within this special worshipping community.

The following are just two testimonies from members of this group on the occasion of their twentieth anniversary after the closing of the Shrine, who willingly attest to the strength and vitality of this stalwart group. Here are their testimonies:

 

Inez Folsom

 

What brought me to La Salette in 1995 was an invitation from David Mills, a member of the Justice Alliance Group. After attending that group monthly for a year, I was drawn by the warmth and openness of the community to participate in weekly Sunday Mass.

I have experienced so much love and support from so many people especially during the death of my son, Mark, who died 20 years ago. This June 5, 2016, was my 30th AIDS Walk Boston. I now walk to honor the memory of my son, but I also walk because there still is a great need! Many of those infected are homeless.
Untitled-2Advertizement for 2016 AIDS Walk Boston,
with Inez Folsom leading a team

They've helped me keep his memory alive by welcoming my sharing of the AIDS quilt I made and by supporting my efforts to raise awareness and funds through the AIDS Walk for the last 20 years.

I was so grateful for the openness of the community when I was asking for signatures in support of various special projects. Their support in prayer and the beautiful prayer shawl which they gave me was so comforting when I had my first surgery.

There have been so many opportunities for me to connect and serve – always with prayer requests through our community’s email list, at various community retreats, through our liturgy preparation meetings, in our choir practices, and occasionally through my gift of liturgical dance.

My Lenten liturgical dance, the "Carol at the Thorn Tree" was accepted very enthusiastically. My green gloved fingers coming from behind the wooden cross signifying new life brought me and others to tears. It was a deep spiritual moment for me.

My leading them in community gestures during Mass hymns such as "We Remember How You Loved Us" and "Spirit of Life" are other special faith-filled memories.

We also know how to have fun! My cheer leading at community softball games with all ages participating and at the talent show number, "Hey, Big Spender" with other dames and the song, "We're a Couple of Swells," with help from Leo, were great fun.

I will always be grateful for these 20 plus years which have blessed my life so deeply. Thank you God for your family at the La Salette Worship Community!

 

Jean Jones

 

Untitled-3When Ken and I married in 1989, he was already familiar with the Shrine because he went to special meetings held there on Saturday mornings. Gradually we began going to Mass there as well. Then our son, Dave, needed to be confirmed and, low and behold, there was a Confirmation Class beginning. I approached one of the early members, Sue Testa, about joining that class and learned that we would be teaching with the other parents and so we decided to jump in.

What I found at La Salette was a community of caring people who were interested in growing and helping each other grow. We have served in or benefited from all of the following:

 

• Meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous (group meetings for chemically dependent adults);
• Pot luck dinners at the Irenicon House (a place where their adult children with intellectual disabilities could have a lifelong home), originally on the Shrine property;
• Assisting with coffee and donuts after Sunday Mass;
• Making a Cursillo (a short four-day course in Christianity);
• Listening and learning at the Justice Alliance meetings;
Untitled-3a• Serving at Rosie's Place (provide a safe and nurturing environment that helps poor and homeless women maintain their dignity, seek opportunity and find security in their lives)
• Cooking at what is now Lifebridge (to provide housing with supportive services, to encourage personal and income development, and stability in physical and mental health).

 

All this activity shows that our community is very much alive.

Something is always happening and I can feel Christ in the midst of the group. Living my faith has encouraged our growth, acceptance, love, and belonging. It has allowed me to look forward to Sunday liturgy, lean on others, help others at times and in so doing see how God's work continues in this community.

Untitled-4Life isn't always easy, but with a community of loving people who show us continually the love of God, it becomes bearable and worth moving forward.

And then we have the wonderful priests who have kept us fed over these years with messages that reflect the teachings in the good books and also reflect the values in our community. I don’t know that I've been in a parish church where there was applause after a priest spoke. At La Salette, I've seen it many times.

For me, I suspect that there has always been a lot more "church" going on in our small rented hall than I've personally observed or felt in a more formal church building.

I'm grateful! The Shrine may have closed twenty years ago, but Christ lives on in the community of La Salette!

 

We Get More Than We Give

 

Concerning any volunteering, whether on behalf of a Church or another group, the saying goes that “We get more than we give”. I have found that especially true when I have worked with or Preside at Mass with this special La Salette Community of committed laity.

When we as presiders meet with the Liturgy Preparation Group to prepare Sunday Liturgy, we – and everyone else – all take away more than we ourselves have given. In other words, we priests are sometimes profoundly changed for the better by this genuine and often intimate sharing of the Word of God. It wonderfully inspires us to prepare and eventually share our homily. I feel that it makes me a better priest!

I truly give thanks for this longstanding group of laity who choose to gather for worship and offer the essential ministries that they do as part of the La Salette Worshipping Community. And, on this twentieth anniversary, in the words of the Eucharistic Prayer, I give thanks to God “for all those who… have come before us, marked with the sign of faith.” They have graced our lives and I will be forever grateful.
Untitled-5