Our Pastor’s Message
Annual Financial Report
By Father Jim
In the seminary, they don’t teach you how to look into the eyes of a grieving family. They don’t teach you how to find the right words to say at the funeral because there really are none. They don’t teach you how to pray with someone who has lost their job. They don’t teach you how to bless a premature baby while the parents weep with worry and gratitude.
They don’t teach you how to stretch an already stretched parish budget when the oil bill comes due. And they don’t teach you how to keep the faith when the roof begins to leak during Sunday Mass. They don’t teach these things in the seminary because these lessons only can be learned from living with all of you.
Some pastors may be overwhelmed by budgets and finances. But numbers do not scare me. I studied to be a math teacher. I worked at a bank for nine years. So working with our finance councils on the budgets and operating costs of our parishes is a manageable part of my ministry. Fortunately for us, our finance councils are laser-focused on being good stewards of our weekly gifts. They and you have taught me what the seminary did not!
At the links below, you can review our financial summaries for the fiscal year that ended on June 30th and budgets for the current fiscal year. Both Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish continue to have their own operating accounts for all offertory and financial gifts. From these accounts, each parish pays its portion of our shared payroll and its individual bills for insurance, maintenance, and utilities. Even in the midst of this time of rising costs, both parishes can boast of balanced budgets and small surpluses.
Your generous support for our parishes empowers us to maintain our vibrant ministries and our strong Catholic presence on Cape Ann. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It is now time for us to plan for the future by facing several repair and restoration projects that will require all of us to pray, discern, and give generously. First, we must repair the choir loft ceiling at Our Lady of Good Voyage Church. Second, we must repair and paint the exterior of Saint Joachim Church. And lastly, it is long past time to paint and restore at least parts of the interior of Saint Ann Church.
None of these projects will be part of our parish operating budgets. So we will need a strategic plan to raise additional funds. Any such plan would require special collections, fundraising events, and your generous support. In the meantime, we are currently working with several contractors on bids for these costly but necessary restoration projects.
As your pastor for the past eleven plus years, I am profoundly grateful for and deeply moved by your ongoing trust and ongoing generous support. I am also very grateful to Joe Grella, Bob Krause, and Rosa Ladd (Holy Family Finance Council); and Cindy Cafasso, Becky Carrancho, and Jean Madruga (Our Lady of Good Voyage Finance Council). These dedicated men and women are wise and faithful custodians of your good gifts to our parishes.
As our journey continues, please pray for all who live, work, and worship in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport — so that each one of us, according to our means, continues to support our mission to live the Gospel, share God’s love, and literally rebuild the Church. As always, if you have any questions or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Peace, blessings, and many thanks to all!
Reverend James M. Achadinha, Pastor
Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport
Contact: frjim@ccgronline.com
Holy Family Financial Report (FY 2025)
Our Lady of Good Voyage Financial Report (FY 2025)
CCGR Weekly Newsletter (11-16-25)
Bringing Home the Word (11-16-25)
The Kids Bulletin (11-16-25)
New!
Listening to Catholic Women
With Bishop Mark O’Connell
Episode 11 – Molly Wade
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Call to Prayer
A Prayer for Our Journey
Come, Holy Spirit!
Holy Spirit,
we stand here before you as we gather in your name.
With you alone to guide us,
make yourself at home in our hearts.
Teach us the way we should go and how we can get there.
We are weak. We are sinful.
Do not let our ignorance lead us down the wrong paths,
nor let prejudice influence our actions.
Help us to find you in our unity,
so that we may journey together toward eternal life
and never stray from the way of truth and what is right.
All of this we ask of you,
who are at work in every time and place
in communion with the Father and Christ Jesus, his Son,
forever and ever. Amen.
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Words of Wisdom from Pope Leo XIV
Do you know how many stars there are in the observable universe?
An impressive and marvelous number!
A sextillion stars! That’s a 1 followed by 24 zeros!
If we divided them among the eight billion inhabitants of earth,
each person would have hundreds of billions of stars to themselves.
With the naked eye, on clear nights, we can see about five thousand stars.
Sailors followed the North Star.
Polynesians crossed the ocean by memorizing star charts.
According to farmers in the Andes, whom I met as a missionary in Peru,
the sky is an open book that marks the seasons…and the cycles of life.
Even the Magi followed a star
to get to Bethlehem and worship the Baby Jesus (10-30-25).
Watch: The Pope Video – November 2025
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Holy Family Parish
Annual Christmas Fair
Saturday, November 22nd
All are invited to join Holy Family Parish for our Annual Christmas Fair on Saturday, November 22nd from 9:00am until 2:00pm in Saint Ann Church Hall. This year’s fair will feature various sale tables including homemade holiday baked goods, Bea’s Raffle, Christmas decorations, and our world famous basket wheel.
In addition, raffle tickets are now available for cash prizes, a homemade quilt, an Apple iPad and Smartwatch. Please join us in helping to make this year’s fair our most successful ever! For more information please contact Lydia Bertolino at lbbglosta1929@outlook.com. Save the date! All are invited! All are welcome!
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Holy Family Parish
Christmas Fair Basket Wheel
Now Accepting Donations
Our world famous basket wheel is the biggest moneymaker at our biggest fundraising event of the year! But our success depends on donations from friends and fellow parishioners! So, all are invited to create and donate a $25 theme basket for crafts, movie nights, school snow days, holiday gift wrap, or summer barbecues. For more information, please contact Stephanie Tashj at 978-857-7994. Help us keep the basket wheel spinning! Thanks in advance for your generous support!
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Holy Family Parish
Cemetery Baskets & Kissing Balls
Now Accepting Orders
As part of the Christmas Fair, the Holy Family Women’s Guild is working again with Cressey & Sons in Rowley to offer for sale both Christmas Cemetery Baskets and Christmas Kissing Balls! Each log-shaped basket is $30 and each decorated kissing ball is $35. Orders are now being accepted until November 16th. For more information or purchases, please contact Cecelia Gray (HFP) at 978-281-2072 or Beth Fosberry (OLGV) at jcbf33@yahoo.com. Thank you!
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Christmas Giving Trees
Begins November 22nd & 23rd
This year, the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport is once again sponsoring the Christmas Giving Tree! During the weekends of November 22nd and 23rd and November 29th and 30th, a Christmas Giving Tree will be placed at the entrances of Saint Ann Church, Saint Joachim Church, and Our Lady of Good Voyage Church.
Each tree will be decorated with stars that include a Christmas wish for a local child or family in need. If you can make their wish come true, then please take the star! Every donated gift should be new, unused, unwrapped, and placed under any Christmas Giving Tree no later than Sunday, December 7th.
For more information about the Christmas Giving Tree, please contact Lori Thorstensen at lorithor@hotmail.com. As we deck the halls and celebrate the season, let’s work together to share God’s love with children and families who need our help! Thank you! May God bless us, everyone!
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Christ the King Faith & Family Mass
A Youth Faith Formation Special Event
Sunday, November 23rd
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says: “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs (Matthew 9:14).” In response to the Lord’s call, all children, parents, grandparents, and godparents are invited to join Father Jim for our Christ the King Faith & Family Mass on Sunday, November 23rd at 11:45am in Our Lady of Good Voyage Church.
During Mass, Father Jim will offer a special homily for children of all ages about how Jesus is King of heaven and earth, Lord of our hearts and souls, and merciful redeemer, friend, and brother. In addition, every child who joins us will receive their own crown to signify their participation in Christ’s ministry as priest, prophet, and king.
We believe that Mass is our class! Jesus is our teacher! And every child and family who joins us to pray and worship are precious gifts from God! So, please save these dates for our upcoming Faith & Family Masses which are an essential part of our youth faith formation programs:
- Advent Faith & Family Mass
Sunday, December 7th at 11:45am
Our Lady of Good Voyage Church - Epiphany Pageant & Family Mass
Saturday, January 23rd at 4:00pm
Saint Ann Church - Lent Faith & Family Mass
Sunday, February 22nd at 11:45am
Our Lady of Good Voyage Church
For more information about youth faith formation in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport, please contact Betsy Works at bworks@ccgronline.com or 978. Now more than ever, please pray for all of our young disciples and their families! All are invited! All are welcome! Peace and blessings to all!
Learn More: Solemnity of Christ the King
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Happy Thanksgiving
A Celebration of Holy Mass
November 26th & 27th
All friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners of the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport are invited to gather as God’s pilgrim family for the celebration of Holy Mass in commemoration of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Here’s our upcoming worship schedule:
- Thanksgiving Eve
Wednesday, November 26th at 5:30pm
Our Lady of Good Voyage Church - Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, November 27th at 8:00am
Saint Joachim Church
A Prayer of Thanksgiving
By Reverend Samuel F. Pugh
O God, when I have food,
help me to remember the hungry.
When I have work,
help me to remember the jobless.
When I have a home,
help me to remember those who have no home.
When I am without pain,
help me to remember those who suffer.
And by remembering,
help me to destroy my complacency,
and be concerned enough to help,
by word and deed,
all those who cry out
for what we take for granted. Amen.
On behalf of Father Jim, Father Ben, Father Bill, Father Bruce, our pastoral team, and all who live, work, and worship in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport, we wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! Please join us! Bring a friend! Bring your family! All are welcome! Peace and blessings to all!
Learn More: Thanksgiving – A Feast for the Soul
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Words of Wisdom from Dorothy Day
The first job of the Christian…
is to grow in faith in God, in his power,
in the conviction that we are all held
in the hollow of his hand.
Learn More: Catholic Worker Movement
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We Share
Safe & Easy Electronic Giving
Give only if you are someone for whom giving is its own reward. — Dorothy Day
Electronic giving has become an essential part of parish support in the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport; and it is available in both Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish. It is safe and easy to make online donations to your home parish using a credit card, debit card, or electronic check.
Donations can be made on a weekly, monthly, or one-time only basis; and it takes just a few minutes to set up a secure personal account. In addition to the weekly offering, you can also give electronically to our church restoration funds which help us plan for the repair and maintenance of our four beloved and historic churches.
Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish always need your generous support! Please prayerfully considering enrolling in our electronic giving program! For more information about creating a new account or assistance with an existing account, please contact Father Jim at frjim@ccgronline.com. Peace, blessings, and sincere thanks to all!
Support Holy Family Parish
Support Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish
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About Us
Established in 2014, the Catholic Community of Gloucester & Rockport is a collaborative of two historic parishes: Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of Good Voyage Parish. Working together as a family united in prayer, fellowship, and service, we are committed to living the Gospel of Christ, sharing God’s love and mercy with all people, and rebuilding the Church in Gloucester & Rockport. All are invited! All are welcome! Always!
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In Memory of Frank Muolo