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Phase II reopening update
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The Little Church is open from 9:30 AM — 9:00 PM each day for private prayer, with a maximum of 1/3 of church capacity permitted at one time. Masks must be worn and social distancing must be observed while in the church. Sanitizer is available.
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Baptisms are permitted outside of Mass by following the appropriate precautions.
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Funeral and wedding Masses may be held with a limit of 1/3 of church capacity in attendance and following all necessary guidelines.
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Sacrament news
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November 30
Sign-ups are available for our expanded schedule of Christmas Masses. Each Mass has a fixed capacity of 200 people, and all Masses will be in the Main Church. Click here to make your Mass reservations. The Masses will also be livestreamed.Read More -
November 24
We will have our regular weekday Mass schedule for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (December 8).Read More -
November 23
For the safety of everyone during the pandemic, there will be no parish Advent Penance Service this year. Extra opportunities for individual confessions will be available during the season of Advent.Read More
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Reconciliation
- Confession times
- Lent and Advent
- A place of victory
- Bishop Barron video
- Busted Halo: Penance 101
- Making a good confession
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Confession times during Phase II
Saturdays in the Main Church: 3:00 – 3:45 PM in English • 5:30 ‐ 6:45 PM in Spanish
Wednesdays in the Main Church: 6:00 – 8:00 PM-
The priest will be located in the back corner of the church behind a screen and near the tabernacle. Confessors will enter the church (one at a time) when directed and will stand on the spot marked on the floor that is about six feet away from the priest. After finishing with their confession, they will exit the church via the route instructed.
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Church doors will be open so that no one is touching door handles. People waiting for confession will have to stand in the Gathering Space. Helpers will direct “traffic” and make sure that social distancing is maintained.
For information about First Penance (Reconciliation) for children, please click here.
First Penance -
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Lent, Advent, and appointments
Additional confession opportunities are offered during the seasons of Lent and Advent. We offer Parish Reconciliation Services during these seasons, with visiting priests available for individual confessions.
By Appointment
If you wish to make an appointment for another confession time with a priest of the parish, please contact the Parish Center at 410-833-1696 or parish@shgparish.org.
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Confession is a place of victory
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Bishop Barron: Reconciliation
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Sacraments 101: Penance
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Making a good confession
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The Eucharist
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Home visits
For the hospitalized or homebound who are unable to attend Mass and wish to receive Holy Communion, please contact the Parish Office. Mass is celebrated at FutureCare Cherrywood Nursing Home on the 2nd Wednesday at 10:30 AM (in normal times).
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Bishop Barron videos on the Eucharist
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Confirmation
- Confirmation at Sacred Heart
- Bishop Barron video
- Understanding the Holy Spirit
- Confirmation names
- Busted Halo: Confirmation
- Sketchpad: Confirmation
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Confirmation at Sacred Heart
High school students
For details about high school confirmation, please visit the Faith Formation for Youth webpage to learn about the Youth Ministry program.
High School Confirmation
Adults
Confirmation is a requirement to be a godparent or a sponsor for Confirmation. If you are over 18 and have never been confirmed, please contact us:
Michele Hunter
Coordinator of RCIA and Adult Faith Formation
410-833-1696
mhunter@shgparish.org
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Bishop Barron on Confirmation
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Understanding the Holy Spirit
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Confirmation names
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Sacraments 101: Confirmation
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Sophia Sketchpad: Confirmation
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Holy Matrimony
- Step 1: Contact priest/deacon
- Step 2: Marriage preparation
- Saying "I do": the wedding
- Busted Halo: matrimony
- Sophia Sketchpad: marriage
- Marriage resources
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Getting married? Congratulations!
Couples planning to celebrate their wedding liturgy at our parish should contact any Sacred Heart priest or deacon at least six months before the anticipated date. (Please do not set a date before doing this.) If you have a friend or relative who is a priest or deacon, he is welcome to preside at the liturgy. Weddings are celebrated on Saturdays at 10AM, 12PM, and 2PM.
The preparation for marriage includes personal, legal, liturgical, and practical elements. The priest or deacon will guide you through this: scheduling, the wedding liturgy (and music), flowers, photography, required documents, and more, including COVID-related guidelines.
The church wedding fee is $300 for Sacred Heart parishioners or $750 for non-parishioners. There is also a fee of $150 for a cantor and $250 for the organist.
As a rule, Sacred Heart will be the parish of either the bride or the groom. With the permission of the home parishes of the bride and/or the groom, weddings where the bride and groom are not members of Sacred Heart may take place here. Visit ForYourMarriage.org for a comprehensive guide to Catholic weddings, marriage, and family life!
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Sign up for marriage preparation
The couple is required by Archdiocesan regulations to participate in one of the following formal marriage preparation programs:
- Sponsor Couple: Highly recommended! The engaged couple works with a Sacred Heart mentor couple in their home. A flexible meeting schedule is arranged to accommodate all parties. Contact Glenn and Sharon Jockle at gjockle@verizon.net for details.
- Engaged Encounter: A weekend retreat experience at a Baltimore area location from Friday evening through Sunday afternoon. Click here for details.
- Marriage Preparation Seminars (Pre-Cana): 9 total hours of presentation on various topics, usually held on Friday evenings and Saturdays at Sacred Heart and other area parishes. Click for details from the Archdiocese of Baltimore or contact Glenn and Sharon Jockle at gjockle@verizon.net.
The priest or deacon can provide brochures for these various options, and the brochures are available at the Parish Center. You can also view helpful information from the Archdiocese of Baltimore about marriage preparation and natural family planning.
- Sponsor Couple: Highly recommended! The engaged couple works with a Sacred Heart mentor couple in their home. A flexible meeting schedule is arranged to accommodate all parties. Contact Glenn and Sharon Jockle at gjockle@verizon.net for details.
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What happens at a Catholic wedding
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Sacraments 101: Matrimony
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Sophia Sketchpad: Marriage
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Online marriage resources
Follow the Way of Love (USCCB)
Statement on Bill Redefining Marriage (Archdiocese of Baltimore)
Catholic Marriage Resources: For Your Marriage
Spanish Resources: Por tu matrimonio
Single Again Support (Archdiocese of Baltimore)
Divorce Support (Archdiocese of Baltimore)
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Anointing of the Sick
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Anointing at Sacred Heart
The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is celebrated at least twice annually at designated weekend Masses. This sacrament is always available upon request. Parishioners may contact the Parish Office to arrange to be anointed prior to surgery or to be visited at home when ill.
The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick used to be called Extreme Unction, latinized words that mean "last anointing". But since the Second Vatican Council, the richness of the sacrament has been better appreciated. It is not intended primarily for the dying, although it is administered appropriately at the time of one's last illness and approaching death and is a fitting preparation for our journey through death into eternity. However, it is also intended as a very special, sacramental prayer for healing during any illness.
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When to request the sacrament
A Catholic should request the sacrament whenever a serious illness occurs and also prior to surgeries, which always carry a certain risk of complications. It may be administered only by a priest (or bishop), and it brings with it special blessings to those who receive it reverently, in addition to its power to bring healing, including the forgiveness of all past sins. (Despite this last benefit of forgiveness, it may be appropriate for a person to celebrate the sacrament of Reconciliation [Confession] at an opportune time when he or she has recovered.) In the case of a chronic or long term illness, it is fitting to repeat the sacrament periodically (perhaps every six months) or whenever there is an acute spike in the illness which may be serious or life-threatening.
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Planning a Funeral
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"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life." — John 3:16
In the face of death, the Church confidently proclaims that God has created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, the son of God, by His death and resurrection, has broken the chains of sin and death that bound humanity. This saving mystery is at the center of the Church's life.
At the death of a Christian, whose life of faith was begun in the waters of baptism and strengthened at the Eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds forged in life. The Church also ministers to the sorrowing and consoles them in the funeral rites with the comforting word of God and the sacrament of the Eucharist. Christians celebrate these rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just.
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"If one member suffers in the body of Christ which is the Church, all the members suffer with that member." — 1 Cor. 12:12
The celebration of the Christian funeral brings hope and consolation to the living as the Christian community affirms and expresses the union of the Church on earth with the Church in heaven in the one great communion of saints. Though separated from the living, the dead are still at one with the community of believers on earth and benefit from their prayers and intercession.
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Funeral arrangements
To begin the preparations for planning a funeral at Sacred Heart, please contact:
Kevin Callahan, Director of Music Ministry
410-833-1696 ext. 345
kcallahan@shgparish.org
You can also contact the Parish Office. Our planning guide is designed to help you and your family prepare the readings, hymns, and use of Christian symbols in the liturgy which best reflect your prayer to God at the time of the death of one whom you love.
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Funeral planning guide (PDF)
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Fees for funerals
Funeral Mass or Memorial Mass at Sacred Heart Church:
$450 — Sacred Heart parishioners
$600 — non-parishioners
This fee includes:
$125 organist, $125 cantor, $100 celebrant, and $100 church or $50 church / $50 committal
Funeral Liturgy at a Funeral Home:
$200 — payable to the celebrant
Committal (if alone or separate from a Funeral Mass or Liturgy): $100
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