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WESTBOROUGH - St. Luke the Evangelist Parish’s organic community garden has a waiting list. And despite the challenge of a wet, very hot summer, the Heirloom Harvest Farm continues to produce vegetables for its shareholders.

It was a good year for the annual Partners in Charity Appeal, according to Michael Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development. The fund drive finished with $5,076,252 in gifts and pledges, topping the $5 million goal.

STURBRIDGE – A celebration of the Blessed Mother’s birthday – and the arrival of a statue of her from the Philippines – afforded an opportunity to respond to current events with prayer last Saturday.

NORTH OXFORD – The St. Ann Parish community offered “tremendous positive feedback” about their church bell ringing again, after years of silence, Father Michael N. Lavallee, pastor, observed. He said they recognized the spiritual significance this holds for them.

WORCESTER – As St. Vincent Hospital celebrated its 125th anniversary last week, those affiliated with it spoke of faith and family. The Sisters of Providence founded the hospital on September 8, 1893. Daisy L. Burroughs, St. Vincent’s public relations manager said celebrations spanned the week.

LEOMINSTER – Through summer service projects, youth from Holy Family of Nazareth Parish and Holy Trinity Chapel honored Dorothy Day, whose cause for canonization is being promoted. The Leominster youth worked at two Catholic Worker sites in Brooklyn, St. Joseph House, a men’s shelter, and Maryhouse, a women’s shelter, where Dorothy Day did most of her service, and where she died in 1980.

In response to the current sexual abuse crisis, St. Roch Parish in Oxford is planning two days a month of prayer and fasting, according to Father Michael J. Roy, pastor. He said the idea is to do penance for the sins of perpetrators and the healing of victims, especially Oxford residents.

Requests for forgiveness and perspective were responses to vandalism at St. Mary of the Assumption Church in Milford, according to the pastor, Father Peter J. Joyce. Four young men were arrested Aug. 31 after they allegedly ransacked the church.

LEOMINSTER - Bishop McManus has issued a decree making Holy Trinity Evangelization Center at 69 Lincoln Terrace a quasi-parish, effective Sept. 1. The bishop has entrusted the pastoral care of the chapel and center to the pastor of Holy Family of Nazareth Parish, Father Jose A. Rodriquez.

St. Luke’s parishioner John Ragan has been serving fellow blood cancer patients and their families since 2014. His work has also blessed many St. Luke’s faith formation students.

Youngsters arriving at St. Mary’s Elementary School on Richland Street were greeted Tuesday morning by a sidewalk covered with graffiti. The graffiti, in chalk, was done in a variety of colors. And it was put there by the St. Mary’s teachers.

As the new school year starts – next week for many – the diocesan Catholic Schools Office is working on helping schools grow – and be Christ-centered. Administrators said they are focusing on communication and strategic planning, and also addressing safety and financial reporting.

Emmanuel Communications Inc. will launch a new FM radio station in the Worcester area on Sept. 13, according to Cindy R. Dorsey, president of Emmanuel Radio. The new station’s call letters will be WESO, 101.1FM.

Two diocesan parishes, one in Charlton, the other in Rutland, are benefiting from the use of solar panels on parish property at no cost to the parishes. In fact, the owners of the solar panels sell the electricity generated to the electrical grid and the parishes benefit financially.

WORCESTER – A bishop from the Dominican Republic encouraged pilgrimages to the birthplace of Catholicism in the Americas, during a visit here Saturday, Aug. 11.

Dear friends in Christ,     There have been a number of recent news stories from around the country and around the globe revealing reports of sexual abuse of minors by clergy over many decades and how some bishops did not take decisive action to remove them from ministry. ... there is one thing that I can assure you, my dear people of the Diocese of Worcester. We have been and continue to be committed to responding to victims of past abuse and to the protection of children in our midst today as well as to the reporting of any cases brought to our attention to law enforcement, no matter how many years ago they occurred. ...

Local Catholics react to last week’s announcement that Pope Francis is changing the Catechism of the Catholic Church to say the death penalty is “inadmissible.” The death penalty “no longer falls into the category of a prudential judgment,” Bishop McManus said. Catholics don’t have the right to make their own judgments about how to apply this Church teaching.

For the third consecutive year the annual Partners in Charity appeal has gone over the top. The fund drive has received $5,018,233 so far, exceeding its $5 million goal three weeks before the end of the drive, according to Michael P. Gillespie, director of the Office of Stewardship and Development. Partners in Charity will continue to accept gifts and pledges for this year’s drive through Aug. 31, the end of the fiscal year

Christopher Klofft writes: In paragraph 25 of Blessed Paul VI’s encyclical “Humanae Vitae,” he makes an invitation to married couples to make the teaching of the document visible to the whole world. Allison Ledoux writes: After much deliberation and prayer, Dr. Walt Larimore concluded that he could no longer in conscience prescribe contraception for his patients, especially since morally viable alternatives were available.

Thankfulness and helpfulness were some people’s responses after a tornado touched down in Webster and Dudley the morning of Aug 4. The tornado was reported to be a “high-end EF-1,” with estimated wind speeds up to 110 mph.