From Father Steven - December 15, 2024

Father Steven Clemence • December 13, 2024

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudette Sunday. It means “Rejoice.” It comes from the mass antiphon which quotes where St. Paul exhorts to the Phillipians, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again, I say, rejoice.” However this season is not necessarily joy for some of us for different reasons. 

Every holiday we miss our departed loved ones in a special way. We remember that person used to host Christmas dinner, bring their special recipe or say those famous jokes and no longer is with us. It is ok to miss our loved ones. It means that we still love them, and St. Paul says that love never ends. Maybe someone is struggling during this time with illnesses, family issues, or personal difficulties. It is extra hard to feel sad while everyone is jolly happy. It is also a stressful season with all the preparations, last minute shopping, anxiety about Christmas dinner and relatives, and traveling. Then, how can we rejoice? 


This Sunday the Lord comes to fill our hopes. The difficulties in life that weigh us down often brings a sense of failure. As if we were not good enough or were not able to fulfill our obligations. In a world that we are taught to succeed, failure can be devastating. That is why St. Paul invites to REJOICE IN THE LORD. Only in God there is hope for everything!!! The world only brings us anxiety and stress, while Christ, King of Peace, brings us comfort. In the first reading we hear how the people of Israel, while in exile, saw a glimmer of hope. The hope of the coming of the Messiah. In the song, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” which I invite you all to carefully look at the lyrics, calls for the people to rejoice, because the Lord is coming. Today I say the same to you! If you are struggling for whatever reason, Rejoice, because the Lord is coming to save you! He is coming to rescue us from our failures, sins, frustrations, sadness, and everything else that makes us lose hope or despair. 


The color ROSE, not pink, wore this weekend, signifies that the sun is almost out. It is the sign the Messiah is almost here we say. However, if we carefully look at the rise of the sun, it is already here. We just cannot see it yet. The same is with the Lord. It is not a matter that the Lord will come. THE LORD IS HERE! We just can’t see him in his fullness just yet. The announcement of the coming of the Messiah at the end of times speaks of his triumphant return. However, He is with us. Then we can rejoice, because the help that we had for so long is here. We are no longer alone in our struggles. This is the reason for us to rejoice. THERE IS A WAY OUT OF ALL THAT TROUBLES US. The Lord announces that our captivity in this sadness is conquered. It is only a matter of time. Even the pain of the separation of our loved ones that cannot be with us for Christmas for whatever reason, the Lord announces that soon will be over. We shall be reunited with our loved one soon, whether in this world or in eternal life. Do not look at your pain right now, but rather look up to the Lord. The pain passes, but not the Lord. 



I invite you this week to say a special prayer for our brothers and sisters who are struggling these days. May the Blessed Mother console them and strengthen them on their journey. 

 

God Bless,

Fr. Steven

From Father Steven - February 1, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • January 30, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This past week, the parish took a bus loaded with youth to attend the March for Life in Washington. It was really a blessing to all of us. We attended an event held on Friday morning by the Sisters of Life. During Mass, New York's auxiliary Bishop, Joseph Espaillat, delivered a passionate and energetic homily centered on the consistent dignity of human life and a full Catholic pro-life ethic, delivered a powerful homily. Drawing from the Church’s teachings and the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes , he invited all in attendance to embrace every aspect of a life-affirming vision, not just select issues. I would like to share some points with you. In his homily, Bishop Joseph Espaillat energizes the congregation by acknowledging their sacrifice in waking early, traveling long distances, and enduring fatigue to be present. Drawing on his own experience of attending the March for Life as a teenager and seminarian, he reassures especially young people that the effort is worth it, emphasizing a repeated refrain: “In the end, love wins.” This phrase becomes the central theme of his message, underscoring that love—not anger, exhaustion, or despair—is the Christian response to the struggles surrounding life issues. Bishop Espaillat situates the pro-life movement within the broader faith and tradition of the Church. He stresses that Catholics do not rely solely on Scripture, but also on Sacred Tradition and the Magisterium. He highlights the importance of Vatican II documents, lamenting that many Catholics—laypeople and clergy alike—are unfamiliar with them despite their relevance. The Church, he explains, has a “constitution” similar to that of a nation: Gaudium et Spes , the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World. Focusing especially on Paragraph 27 of Gaudium et Spes , Bishop Espaillat walks the congregation through a list of violations against human dignity. He emphasizes that being pro-life is not a single-issue stance. While abortion is affirmed as a grave moral evil and a central concern, it cannot be isolated from other life issues. The document condemns murder, abortion, euthanasia, suicide, torture, coercion, subhuman living conditions, arbitrary imprisonment, deportation, slavery, human trafficking, and exploitative labor. According to the bishop, Catholics cannot “pick and choose” which lives deserve protection. To do so undermines the Gospel and weakens the Church’s moral witness. He reinforces this point by quoting Fulton Sheen and his own seminary professors: refusing to take a stand on major moral issues is itself a decision and amounts to silent cooperation with evil. By choosing to travel to Washington, D.C., the faithful have already made a decision—to stand publicly for life and truth. Bishop Espaillat explains that disrespect for life poisons society, leading to violence, war, and hatred. When life is not honored—beginning in the womb—all of society suffers. At the same time, he offers hope: the Christian response is to listen, teach, and send. The Church must listen to one another across generations and roles, teach clearly without relativism, and then send disciples into the world as witnesses. Returning to the Gospel, he reflects on King David’s choice of mercy over violence and calls for a consistent life ethic grounded in compassion, truth, and love. Quoting Popes John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, he rejects the “throwaway culture” and urges defense of the unborn, the poor, the sick, the elderly, and the marginalized. He concludes by encouraging the faithful, especially young people, to respond to opposition with love, to be light rather than hostility, and to remember their mission: they are summoned, appointed, and sent. His final message echoes his opening refrain— love is the answer, and in the end, love wins . God Bless, Fr. Steven 

From Father Steven - January 25, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • January 23, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As we come to the end of January, it is certainly a good time to have a deep sense of gratitude in recognition that we are truly loved by God and that we are called to spread that love to everyone. Perhaps today we could take some time to think about God’s goodness to us and how He invites us to share our faith with those who have not yet heard the Good News. For our annual Mission Appeal for 2025 (sorry for the delay!), Sister Lisa Valentini, MSC, a Missionary Sister of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is coming here to Marlborough next weekend to share with all of us about the Missionary endeavors of her Sisters in Mission around the globe. Right now, the MSC Sisters who are serving in a place called Kurugodu in the Bellary area of Karnataka State in India, have a specific project for which they are in desperate need of support: They need to build an addition onto their elementary school. When Sister Lisa was in India six years ago, there were 550 students in Sacred Heart of Jesus School. Now, there are 1,400 students and the school continues to GROW. Sister Lisa will share with us how the children in Sacred Heart are coming to know about Jesus because the MSC Sisters are there. There are two ways of being a Missionary: One is to GIVE by GOING – which is what the MSC Sisters do… the other is to GO by GIVING. . . This Mission Appeal gives us the opportunity to “GIVE” so that we can be a part of the Missionary work of the MSC Sisters. We will be having a second collection next weekend to help them in their mission. We always invite you to be generous to them as God has been generous to us! On a separate but related topic, I would like to highlight that here in the parish, we also have 2 women who are missionaries. Jackie Chung is currently serving the college students of University of Rhode Island in Providence through Focus. Along with other missionaries, they evangelize other young adults who are studying at URI. They try to touch their lives and rekindle God’s love by offering them opportunities to encounter Jesus, either by bible study groups, retreats, or peer to peer conversations. This is her second year. The other person is Janet Guzman. She is in her third year in mission in Turks and Caicos through the Neocatechumenal Way. Although the surroundings are beautiful, she is currently serving the underprivileged local population in a school that the local parish opened a few years ago. The whole school is run by women who have heard the call from the Lord to serve. Some are trained professional teachers while others serve in other capacities. Janet is very happy working with the children and teaching them about the love of God and a few other things. We also have 5 seminarians from the parish. We have one parishioner in a seminary and 4 seminarians that were adopted by the parish. Leonardo Orellana after discerning his vocation, desired to follow the call to be a missionary priest and was assigned to a seminary in Washington, DC. Then we have the guys that you usually see around, Deacon Javier, Alex, Henry, and Michael (that is currently in mission in California). There are a few young people who are also discerning their vocation. Some have felt called to serve God as priests, others as nuns, missionaries, or holy couples. It is very important that we pray for them EVERYDAY! It is not easy to be young these days. There are many challenges that we didn’t face when we were young. We priests also ask for your prayers so that we can continue serving the people and doing God’s work! There is much hope for the future! Although the news and politics seem to paint a gloomy picture, the future is very bright!!! Let us never lose hope! God Bless, Fr. Steven