Right after the Prayers of the Faithful/General Intercessions, the lector at each of the masses held at the parishes of the Blue Hills Collaborative informs the parishioners present that either “there is only one collection today,” or specifies with a title only what the money collected during the second collection will be used for. For those who get envelopes, this is usually not a surprise, but for the others this is new information.

For those who would like a little more notice regarding when a particular collection is happening, or for those who would like to learn a little bit more about how their money will be used, we’ve created this page to explain it all.

In general, only the first collection goes to the benefit of any given parish. Here at the Catholic Parishes of the Blue Hills, we have a monthly “Energy Collection” which takes place on the weekend of the second Sunday of the month. This collection is retained by each parish that receives it and it is used specifically to pay for utilities incurred monthly by each of our facilities. 

All other second collections are specified by the Archdiocese, with many of them being specified by the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB). In some cases, the parishes of the Blue Hills Collaborative take up these collections on a different date. Here is a list, calendar, and description of each second collection that takes place during the year.

January

Energy Collection: January 9, 2022

Church in Latin America: January 23, 2022
The Collection for the Church in Latin America funds the work of evangelization, formation of laity, religious and seminarians, various pastoral projects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as youth ministry and catechesis. Please visit the USCCB website for more information.

February

Energy Collection: February 13, 2022

Support of the Church Around the World: February 27, 2022 
This collection helps the Church in underdeveloped areas of the world where there are insufficient resources for evangelization and formation. Organizations that this collection supports includes Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the Church in Africa and in Central and Eastern Europe and three important national Catholic missions including the Military Archdiocese, Home Mission and the Black and Indian Missions. Your generosity to this collection will help fund the spiritual, educational and humanitarian needs of the Church around the world. For more information, please visit the USCCB websites for Africa and Central & Eastern Europe. 

The Military Archdiocese collection provides for Catholic chaplains throughout the world for American servicemen and servicewomen. The Home Missions collection subsidizes the evangelization and formation activities of mission dioceses. The Black and Native American collection strengthens evangelization and outreach programs that serve the Native American, Alaska Native, and Black Catholic communities in the United States. For more information, please visit the websites for the Military Archdiocese, USCCB Home Missions, and Black and Native American Missions.

March

Energy Collection: March 13, 2022

April

Energy Collection: April 10, 2022

Easter: Clergy Health & Retirement Trust: April 17, 2022 [ONLY collection]
The Easter Collection supports the retirement, medical and financial needs of priests of the Archdiocese of Boston. These priests have given their lives to faithfully serve Christ, the Church, and you. Please be generous to this important collection. For more information, please visit the Clergy Health & Retirement Trust website.

May

Energy Collection: May 8, 2022

June

Seminarians: June 5, 2022 
The Seminarians Collection supports the formation and training of seminarians (future priests) in the Archdiocese of Boston. We are blessed that many are responding to the call to serve as priests. Please be generous and support these seminarians on their journey toward their ordination to the priesthood. For more information, please visit the Boston Vocations website.

Energy Collection: June 12,2022

Promoting the Gospel: June 19, 2022 
The Promoting the Gospel collection supports the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Catholic Communication Campaign. Through the work of the CCHD and the CCC, the Gospel is promoted by serving those in poverty, providing grants to community based groups and using the entire array of media tools available today to evangelize and promote Gospel values. For more information about these organizations, visit the Catholic Campaign for Human Development and the Catholic Communications Campaign website. 

July

Energy Collection: July 10, 2022

August

Energy Collection: August 14, 2022

September

Energy Collection: September 11, 2022

Clergy Trust: September 18, 2022
This week’s second collection supports the retirement, medical and financial needs of priests of the Archdiocese of Boston. These priests have given their lives to faithfully serve Christ, the Church, and you. Please be generous to this important collection. For more information, please visit the Clergy Health & Retirement Trust website.

October

Energy Collection: October 9, 2022

For the Holy Father & Missionary Efforts: October 2, 2022 
This week's collection will support the Holy Father's "Peter's Pence" collection that provides funds for emergency and disaster relief. This collection provides support to the Catholic University of America that educates priests and lay people for ministry and supports the Inner-City parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston. Your generosity and prayers will assist the Holy Father and the various missionary efforts at home and abroad. For more information, check out the Peter's Pence collection, the Catholic University of America website or the Archdiocese of Boston website. 

World Mission Sunday: October 23, 2022
By Baptism, all Catholics are called to participate in the mission of the Church and share their faith as missionaries. World Mission Sunday gathers support for the pastoral and evangelization programs and needs of more than 1,150 mission dioceses in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and remote regions of Latin America. The funds gathered on World Mission Sunday are distributed in the pope’s name by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith—a Pontifical Mission Society. Please visit their website for more information.

November

Energy Collection: November 13, 2022

Collection for Retired Religious Sisters: November 20, 2022 
This collection is used to assist religious communities to provide for the retirement and healthcare needs of Sisters who have served in the Archdiocese. Please take this opportunity to say thank you to the Sisters who have served the Church of Boston so generously for so many years. Your contribution does make a difference. For more information, please contact Sister Marian Batho, CSJ, Delegate for Religious at 617-746-5637.

December

Energy Collection: December 11, 2022

Christmas: Clergy Health & Retirement Trust: December 25 [ONLY collection]
Merry Christmas from all the priests of the Archdiocese of Boston! The Christmas Collection supports the retirement, medical and financial needs of priests of the Archdiocese of Boston. These priests have given their lives to faithfully serve Christ, the Church, and you. Please be generous to this important collection. For more information, please visit the Clergy Health & Retirement Trust website.

Other Collections

There are also collections for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, but we choose not to hold collections on those days and instead make generous donations from our parish funds to the designated charities (Catholic Charities/Ash Wednesday & Holy Land Shrines/Good Friday) on behalf of our parishioners.

Online Giving

For those using Online Giving, each of these collections will appear as a choice eight days before the underlined date shown above; it will disappear 14 days after the underlined date shown. You will only have the choice to make a one-time donation, but monies designated to each fund will go to the cause shown. Please be sure to choose the correct parish when electing the second collection fund.