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 - January 18, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • January 16, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This week I would like to share with you some news from our parish. We had a great year during the Jubilee, with many wonderful events. There are also some updates on other things that are happening that people may not be aware of. Lastly, we have a few upcoming events that I would like to bring to your attention. In the past fiscal year (July 2024–June 2025), many people accepted the grace of receiving the sacraments. We had 65 baptisms, 95 confirmations, and 82 First Communions. Some of these were received by adults, others by teenagers, and most by children. We also had 29 couples married during this time. Another statistic worth noting is the number of funerals celebrated. We honored the lives of 76 brothers and sisters who were called home to the Lord. Looking back on the year 2025 as a whole, there were many beautiful moments in our parish life. A few are worth highlighting. In January, we took 56 pilgrims to the March for Life, and we will be doing so again this week. We were also blessed to be designated a Jubilee Pilgrimage Site for the Jubilee Year. After forming four planning groups, we began offering Adoration and Confessions Monday through Friday from 6:00–7:00 p.m. Countless people experienced the mercy of God during this time. We also offered talks three times a week—one in each language—with excellent speakers covering a wide variety of themes. Throughout the year, we hosted 11 retreats and welcomed special guests for various events, including Immaculée Ilibagiza and Sean Forrest. We also held our annual Corpus Christi procession and Parish Festival, both of which were very well attended. We began a bereavement ministry and launched a new parish group, Friends in Faith. In addition, we enjoyed several social events, such as fish fries, bingo, Spanish Family Night, and other dinners. We conducted a parish-wide 33 Days Consecration to Mary and celebrated the Marian feasts of Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Aparecida, the Immaculate Conception, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. This last celebration marked the first visit of our Archbishop, Richard Henning. This is a very brief summary of the 45 events we held in 2025. Looking ahead, we will have 24-hour Adoration this Sunday, taking advantage of the holiday. (If you are able, please sign up online so we can ensure all hours are covered.) Then, on Thursday, 55 youth will travel on pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to participate in the March for Life. On the weekend of January 31–February 1, Sister Lisa, MSC, will be with us for the Mission Appeal. On February 15, after the 11:00 a.m. Mass, we will hold the annual Anointing of the Sick in observance of the World Day of the Sick. As noted on our cover page, we will host a couples’ retreat on February 21. This will be a wonderful opportunity for couples to rekindle their love for one another. Lent will begin on February 18 with Ash Wednesday. Finally, on February 28, Sister Olga will visit the parish to give two talks: one for women and young ladies on vocation, and another open to the public (topic to be determined). One more novelty, we are very happy to introduce you to Ms. Gabriella Lindhurst as our new Music Director. She got her music degrees from Assumption College (Bachelor) and Notre Dame (Masters). She comes from Southborough and has sang and performed in many different places for the past 10 years. Please make sure to welcome her as you see her this weekend.  There are many other things happening in our parish, but I wanted to share just some of them with you. These events are inspired by the Holy Spirit to fill us with grace and bring us closer to Jesus. I understand that some events may feel challenging or even intimidating, but I encourage you to ask yourself, “Is God calling me to attend this?” If you have any questions or need clarification, please feel free to contact the parish office. As John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to those around him, so do we. Hopefully, one day we can all say, “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” God Bless, Fr. Steven

From Father Steven - January 11, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • January 9, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This weekend we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which brings the Christmas season to its conclusion. On Monday, we enter Ordinary Time. On this occasion, I would like to reflect with you on the meaning and importance of Baptism. In our baptism preparation classes, I often ask parents a simple question: What is Baptism? I invite you to ask yourself the same question. After a long silence, words usually begin to surface—original sin, the Holy Spirit, entering the Church. The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a beautiful definition in paragraph 1213: “Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit… the sacrament of regeneration through water and the word.” Through Baptism, God forgives original sin, gives us new life in the Holy Spirit, incorporates us into Christ and His Church, regenerates us, and makes us His adopted children, sharers in His divine nature. Practically speaking, as St. Paul teaches, the old person dies in the waters of Baptism, and a new person rises—conformed to Christ, filled with grace, and called to live in His likeness.  However, Baptism is not a magical ritual. It is not simply a matter of “going through the motions” and then moving on with life. The graces we receive must be nurtured in order to grow. The divine life within us is like having a Ferrari parked in the garage but never taking it out for a drive. It is something so extraordinary that, in the early Church, people were willing to die simply to receive Baptism. To share in the life of Christ makes us capable of loving as He loved, forgiving as He forgave, trusting in the Father, and hoping beyond all hope. In the early Church, Baptism was preceded by a long period of formation called the Catechumenate, during which people learned how to live as disciples of Christ. Today, especially with infant Baptism, the Church reminds us that this formation must continue after the sacrament is received. The Catechism (no. 1231) speaks of the need for a post-baptismal catechumenate—a lifelong formation in faith. It is not enough simply to receive the sacraments; we must allow them to shape our lives. While our parish strives to offer solid faith formation for our children, this formation often ends with Confirmation. But our faith journey cannot stop there. We all need ongoing formation. Here at our parish, we offer opportunities for adult faith formation through talks and through the itinerary of faith of the Neocatechumenal Way. The Church also provides godparents at Baptism, who are called to be guarantors and witnesses of the faith for the child. This is why the Church is rightly serious about the requirements for godparents. They must have received all the sacraments of initiation and strive to live a sacramental life—attending Mass regularly, receiving the sacraments, and living according to the teachings of Christ and His Church. Godparents are meant to be role models and guides in the Christian life. If they do not walk this path themselves, they cannot effectively guide their godchildren in faith. Finally, this leads to the most important question: How do we live our Baptism? Do we act and live as children of God? Do we truly believe that we have a loving Father who provides for us; a Savior who died to forgive our sins and give us new life; a Holy Spirit who guides us and reminds us of all that Jesus taught; a Church who is our Mother, guiding us on our journey; the communion of saints; that all sins can be forgiven when we desire to sin no longer; the resurrection of the body; and heaven? It is never too late to begin again. We are not called to follow the values of our culture, but the values of Christ. The commandments and the Gospel have not changed—why should our faith change? Perhaps this new year is the moment for a fresh start. That divine nature we received at Baptism—like a powerful Ferrari ready to be driven—is waiting to lead us along the path of God. It is never too late. Let us take advantage of this new beginning and start again, living our lives as they were meant to be lived. God Bless, Fr. Steven