From Father Steven - February 11, 2024

Father Steven Clemence • February 9, 2024

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

This week, we will have the blessing of participating in Ash Wednesday. Not only does it mark the beginning of Lent, but it also holds significance from a very long tradition. This week, I would like to reflect with you on the meaning of the celebration of Ash Wednesday and how it helps us during Lent.

 

The imposition of Ashes as a sign of contrition is a practice that dates back to the Old Testament. We hear that when Jonah preached repentance to the people of Nineveh, they put on sackcloth and sat on ashes. We also hear that Mordecai put on ashes when the king decided to kill all the Jews in the book of Esther. The ashes remind us of the words that are often associated with Ash Wednesday, “you are dust and unto dust you shall return.” In front of a problem or a wrong doing, we remember it can be our end. Therefore, the ashes also serve as a reminder of our mortality. The Jews would put on ashes on their heads to help them repent from their wrong doings, lest God would allow them to die as a consequence.

 

The Catholic Church, already from the very beginning, has adopted ashes as a sign of repentance. The difference is that it was reserved only for the public sinners who had committed some serious sins who were starting a time of penance. On Ash Wednesday, the community would gather and during a celebration, the penitents would put on a sackcloth and the bishop would impose ashes on their head (not on their foreheads as we do today at mass). Then they would be removed from the parish community to contemplate on their mortality and the consequence of their sins. It is similar to a “time-out” that parents give to their children to reflect on their actions. Then on Holy Thursday, at the end of Lent, the Bishop along with the community would receive these brothers back as a sign of charity and love towards them. Slowly the whole church began to embark on this journey of repentance during lent, marked by the sign of the imposition of ashes. The Lenten practices of prayer, almsgiving and abstinence (fasting) were ways to help the people to reflect on their actions, and by the help of God, confess their sins and change their ways. With this slight change of meaning of the sign of the ashes, there was another phrase added to the imposition of ashes, “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” More than to be reminded of our mortality and how sin kills our souls, the ashes added this dimension of repentance from our ways of life. Furthermore, while the ashes symbolize penance and contrition, they also remind us that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts. His Divine mercy is of utmost importance during the season of Lent, and the Church calls on us to seek that mercy throughout the entire Lenten season with reflection, prayer, and penance.

 

This Lent, we will offer different moments to help us in this journey to return to the Father's house (from the parable of the prodigal son). Every Friday, we will have Stations of the Cross at 6:00pm in English and at 7:00pm in Portuguese and Spanish. Next Sunday, we will have our 24Hr Adoration starting after the 5:00pm Mass through 6:00 pm on Monday (President's Day). Confessions will continue on Tuesdays from 5:00-6:00pm and Saturdays from 1:00-3:00 pm. In case those times don’t work for you, please call the office to schedule a different time. In March, we will have a 3-Day Parish Lenten Mission, starting on Tuesday, March 12th through Thursday, March 15th at 7:00pm. There are other initiatives that we are working on to help us receive the graces that God wants to give us. As we will be fasting and abstaining from meat on Fridays, on Friday, February 23rd and March 15th, we will have our Fish Fry (tickets will be sold at the end of Masses and at the office). We invite you to purchase ahead of time to help us calculate how much fish to get. The options of dine-in and take-out will still be available.

 

Remember that on Ash Wednesday, we mourn and do penance for our sins. We again convert our hearts to the Lord, who suffered, died, and rose for our salvation. We renew the promises made at our baptism, when we died to an old life and rose to a new life with Christ. Finally, be mindful that the kingdom of this world passes away, we strive to live the kingdom of God now and look forward to its fulfillment in heaven.

 

I wish you all a Holy Lent. God Bless.

Fr. Steven



From Father Steven - August 23, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • August 19, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I hope you are enjoying your summer! I, along with some of the youth of our parish, attended the Steubenville East conference in Springfield a few weeks ago. It is a 3 day catholic conference for high school teens to encounter Christ through eucharistic adoration, the sacraments and dynamic sessions all produced by Lifeteen and Franciscan University. The conference was attended by thousands of youth from all over New England with the hope to ignite life long discipleship in our teens. We have asked one of our youth to share with you a bit of his experience. Please see the letter written by Gabriel Torres below. God Bless, Fr. Gabriel ——————————————— Hello and Happy Sunday, or whenever it is that you read this. I am Gabriel Torres and I am a part of the youth group here, at Immaculate Conception. We, the youth, Fr. Gabriel, and a handful of chaperones recently attended a life changing 3 day Steubenville conference in Springfield. And when I say life changing, I really mean it. I thought the same as you, when Cecilia, our religious education director told us about it. I wanted to go, but was kinda doubting that it could be that fun and life changing, as it is a big statement. I thought that it would just be us, listening to priests talk about Jesus, and I would have gone for that, but it turned out to be so much more. On the first day after the first talk and mini worship concert (with a mosh pit and everything), we were asked to come up with one word to describe how we felt about the conference so far. The word that I chose was Connection. And I still agree, and I think anyone that went would agree. Just feeling the connection between yourself and the Lord, and how that connection spread between each signing heart was just purely gorgeous and fulfilling. Seeing thousands of youth come together and praise the Lord was inspiring. The conference was fun with singing and dancing breaks, with people trying to be as close to the music as possible, and games that got the whole center laughing, all the way down to the serious moments when the speakers were speaking the truths of our hearts. The way that you could just raise your hands and pray to the Lord without having to worry what others might think, but instead feeling the connection to those around you and feeling how through God we were all connected, loved, and worthy, brought tears to even those of us who ‘never’ cry. There was just a rawness at this conference that I have never felt anywhere else. So, if you are a youth, teen, or know someone who might be interested in this conference, I encourage you to come next year. If you have friends that are not fully in the faith, or are Christian and not Catholic, invite them. A Christian teen that I got closer to at the conference told us on day one that he didn’t fully understand everything we did or why, but that he believed in Jesus Christ and that he wanted to follow Jesus, wherever it took him. And that was here. Thank you to all who donated to make this possible, and thank you for allowing us to experience the Lord in a new way. Thank you, and God Bless you all. Your brother in Christ, Gabriel Torres

From Father Steven - August 16, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • August 14, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I hope you are enjoying your summer! Please see the letter below from Fr. Javier. God Bless, Fr. Steven ——————————————— Hello Brothers and Sisters, Time flies, it has already been a few months since my ordination but I feels like it was only yesterday. The ordination has been a gift and a joy. Thank you all for your support in my formation. I would like to share with you two things that have been close to my heart since my ordination to the deaconate and now the priesthood. The first is on God's Providence and the second is a particular part of the Eucharist. My diaconate ordination marked the end of my time of mission and my return for the final year in the seminary. As many of you might remember I was in mission in American Samoa, Samoa, and a short but impactful time in Saipan. During that time I experienced how God opened doors that I never even knew existed. In difficult times God always had a solution in ways that I didn't expect. In short, I experienced God's Providence and I was awe-struck. I felt that God was my Father who was providing what I needed. Looking ahead into my priesthood, I know that there will be challenging moments but I have these core memorials that serve to remind me that God provides the grace needed to carry out his will. Providence comes to you when you seek out God and his will, everything else falls into place. Now as a priest there is a particular part of the Eucharist that I really enjoy, the Holy sung during the Eucharistic Prayer. "Heaven and Earth are full of your glory". That line has stuck with me because it calls to mind all the wonders that I have seen God work in my life, the life of my family, and in the lives of others. Not only this, but the action of singing Holy, Holy, Holy during the Liturgy fulfills our heavenly calling to one day join the angels and saints in Heaven singing the perpetual praises of God. The Book of Revelations says that they never cease to sing Holy, Holy, Holy. In the Eucharist, and in this moment in particular Heaven and Earth come together. What a blessing to celebrate the Eucharist! I remember you in my prayers, please pray for me. In Christ, Fr Javier Alexis Padilla