From Father Steven - December 29, 2024

Father Steven Clemence • December 26, 2024

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

Can you imagine being raised by St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary? What do you think it was like to be part of Jesus’ family? This weekend, as we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, let us reflect on some of the struggles faced by Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Their lives were not without hardship.


There is a common misconception that there should be no problems in our families. From A to Z, we can think of a number of issues that we face at different moments in our lives. However, we often feel as though we are the only ones facing these challenges. When we look at the Holy Family of Nazareth, we can see that they, too, experienced difficulties.

 

First, imagine the discomfort of Mary as she traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. In those days, they did not have cars, buses, or even carriages. It is believed that Mary rode a donkey for over 100 miles through rough terrain while on the verge of giving birth. Then imagine arriving at a place that you don’t know and had nowhere to stay? This is to say that they had it very difficult from day one. Then right after the birth of Christ they had to flee to Egypt to a place that they did not even speak the language. 

 

Second, although Jesus was obedient to Mary and Joseph, he did do things that they did not understand. Surely it is not the same to our children, but there are decisions that they take that make us suffer. Imagine the suffering of Mary having lost Jesus for 3 days! But in all that moment she never despaired or lost her bearings. We don’t always behave like that in similar situations. Then we don’t know many details, but we know that Joseph dies at some point. It is never easy to face the death of a loved one. We know for a fact that Jesus cried at the death of Lazarus. 

 

Finally, Mary also endured the suffering and death of her own son. At the foot of the Cross, she witnessed the agony and death of Jesus. As the prophet Simeon foretold, "a sword will pierce through your own soul also" (Luke 2:35). This was the sorrow of sorrows, yet Mary never lost her faith. The Holy Family of Nazareth faced many adversities, but they always trusted God in those moments. Their struggles helped them grow in faith and to lean not on their own strength, but on God's providence.

 

The perfect life can only be found in Heaven. Here on earth, we mourn and weep in the valley of tears as we pray in the Hail, Holy Queen. It is normal to face adversities in our families. Surely it is difficult, but not impossible. Whether it is illnesses, vices, faults, or problems with the children, love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Then there is our hope. When at your wedding you promised each other to be faithful in good times and bad, in sickness and health, to love and honor our spouse all the days of your lives. Let us not forget our promises, because God will help us to fulfill them. Finally, remember that no matter how big our issues may seem, our God is bigger than all of them.

 

In addition to blessings, God has given us His own Mother to help us in our lives. As we approach New Year’s Eve, we not only give thanks to God for the countless blessings we received in 2024, but we are also called to honor the Virgin Mary under the title "Mother of God." This feast is so important that the Church has made January 1st a Holy Day of Obligation. We will have Masses on December 31st at 4:00 PM and in Portuguese at 8:00 PM. Then, on January 1st, we will have Masses at 7:30 AM & 11:00 AM, and in Spanish at 1:00 PM. Let us all start 2025 with God and honor our Blessed Mother.

 

God Bless you and Happy New Year!

Fr. Steven

 

From Father Steven - November 30, 2025

By Father Steven Clemence • November 26, 2025
Dear Brothers & Sisters, I hope you had a nice Thanksgiving with your loved ones! Please see the letter below from Fr. Victor about Advent. God Bless, Fr. Steven —————————————————————————————————- Growing up I have always associated ADVENT with Christmas with all the Christmas carols, food, gifts and family reunions. It was much later that I understood that Advent is the month-long preparation for that much awaited day. If we have 4 seasons throughout the year: winter, spring, summer & fall; the Church has 6: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Paschal Triduum, Easter and the Ordinary time. And Advent is the first season that ushers the first day of the Church’s liturgical year. It is like New Year, like January 1. Advent comes from the Latin word, adventus, meaning coming or arrival. A Father of the Church speaks of Jesus’ three comings. First, we all know that Jesus Christ was born more than two thousand years ago in that town called Bethlehem. Second, when he ascended to his Father, he promised to remain with us always, but will come again at the end of time. As to when, we do not know. That is why, he tells us: 'be vigilant and ready anytime as he may come at a time and hour we do not expect.’ That is why, advent fills us with so much hope and expectation. Finally, there is also his third coming. The first one was in the past. The second will happen in the future, but his third coming is today, in the daily events of our life. The book of Revelation presents this very well. ‘He is outside, knocking at the door of our heart, if we let him in, he will come and dine with us.’ What a gift, to be graced by the presence of our Lord. This year 2025, Advent coincides with the feast day of St. Andrew, November 30. Each week has its theme: the anticipation of Christ’s second coming - the first week; then John the Baptist tells us “prepare the way of the Lord.” on the second Sunday; then we switch to a joyful note, the Gaudete Sunday for the Lord is to come; and the fourth Sunday, Mary & Joseph leading us up to the nativity. The date when Advent was first observed is hard to determine as this evolved over time in several places. In its earliest form however, it may be traced back to the church in France in the 4th century. It was a time of preparation for the Feast of the Epiphany when converts were baptized. In the 5th century it was officially introduced into the church calendar. But its character was similar to Lent but later became more joyful in anticipation for the birth of Christ. The Advent we know today began in Rome. Pope Gregory I in the late 6 th and early 7th century, composed many prayers, psalms, and themes. And by the 10th century the season of Advent included 4 Sundays & weekdays leading to Christmas as we have today. Like Lent, Advent has some elements of penance in preparing, quieting and disciplining our minds & hearts for the full joy of Christmas. Its liturgical color is purple, except on Gaudete, meaning “rejoice” Sunday, where the priest may wear the rose color vestment. The late Pope Francis reminds us: “Advent is a journey towards Bethlehem,” and that memory directs us with eager longing for the second coming of Christ at the end of time.” Advent comes at the dark[est] time of the year, when the day is short and night is at its longest. Yet it is during this time when Jesus Christ, the true light comes to cast away our darkness. Truly advent is a hopeful season that keeps pointing towards the eternal light that shines in the ‘night of our life’ to show us our way back home to the Father. God Bless, Fr. Victor

From Father Steven - November 23, 2025

By Father Steven Clemence • November 21, 2025
Dear Brothers & Sisters, This week we have the opportunity to gather around our loved ones to give thanks! Eukariston in Greek… if it sounds familiar, it is because the Eucharist—Mass—is a great thanksgiving! I’m sorry for the turkey and stuffing lovers… but the Lamb of God is the one who truly satisfies us! However, how often are we grateful to God and to our loved ones? How often do we stop to give sincere thanks for all their hard work? How often do we return their goodness to us? Unfortunately, not enough… so let’s change that script. Let’s take this opportunity to voice our inner gratitude to those around us and to Jesus! Even though there can be some tension when getting everyone together under the same roof, let’s not forget what we are doing and why we are doing it. There is nothing better than to love… even when that love is not returned! The following day is known as Black Friday—deep discounts and great sales everywhere. In the past, people lined up in front of stores in the middle of the night. Now stores begin their sales almost a week before Friday. Online retailers have also kept people from waking up in the middle of the night. Here in the parish, this Friday there will be a great opportunity to score wonderful deals… and we won’t need to wake up so early! Starting at 8:00 a.m., we will have another 24-hour adoration. We thought that these days would be perfect to give people the opportunity to come and give thanks to God as well. He has been so good to us! How could we not return His infinite love through finite means? As we come together on Thursday and acknowledge what our loved ones have done for us, let us also do the same for God. I invite all of you to come and take a moment to think and contemplate all the good things God has done for us throughout our lives. Instead of having Black Friday, we shall introduce Adoration Friday! Next week will be First Friday, and I invite you to learn more about it—how the Sacred Heart of Jesus manifests itself on the First Friday of each month. As we know Friday to be a penitential day for the Church, it is also a day full of graces for those who do not miss out! I would like to take this opportunity to give you some updates regarding upcoming events. Archbishop Richard Henning has asked all the parishes in the Archdiocese to pray a Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe in preparation for the upcoming 500th anniversary of her apparition to St. Juan Diego. He will be visiting parishes and presiding at this very important moment for us. We will begin the novena on Thursday, December 4th, at 7:00 p.m. It will be trilingual so that the whole parish can participate. Each day, different parish groups will be responsible for leading the novena. We will conclude it with Mass on December 12th, with the presence of our shepherd, Archbishop Henning! It will be very important for him to meet part of his flock. It will also be a great moment for our parish to welcome him into our spiritual home! We are still planning it. We also decided that, in this Jubilee Year, we will have a Christmas Concert on December 21st at 3:00 p.m. All the parish choirs will come together to sing Christmas carols. We are very excited to gather everyone once again! I mentioned before, but I remind you again, that we also have our parish feast in the middle of all this. The Immaculate Conception will be celebrated on Monday, December 8th. We will have the regular holy day of obligation schedule 07:30 a.m. and 12:10 p.m. as well as our traditional trilingual Mass at 7:00 p.m. We will pray the novena before Mass, and then proceed with the celebration. There are many good things coming up… and many more that we cannot imagine! Let us give thanks, for God’s love is everlasting (Ps. 136). God Bless, Fr. Steven