From Father Steven - February 16, 2025

Father Steven Clemence • February 14, 2025


Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

I hope these recent bulletins have helped you look forward to this Jubilee Year. Many exciting events are coming up to help us receive the special graces that this year offers.

 

Before diving into what we, as a parish, have planned, I would like to make one final observation. The Church has restored the Jubilee to help us receive the graces necessary for our sanctification. However, these graces are not given magically - they require a disposition of heart, an openness to receive them, and a willingness to put them into action. These special graces are meant to help us grow in the divine nature we received at baptism and continue to nourish through the sacraments. But as the challenges of the spiritual life increase, so does our soul’s need for strength and renewal. Indulgences and the other spiritual opportunities we will have this year serve as a means to detach ourselves from worldly distractions and remove what hinders our full communion with God and one another. In a way, they are like spiritual supplements that help our souls function properly and bear the fruits that God has planted in us - the fruits of the Spirit.

 

As Archbishop Henning has chosen our parish to be a pilgrimage site, we will have both regional and parish-level events. I have been asked to help guide parishioners in their desire to draw closer to the Lord and to provide meaningful opportunities to satisfy that longing.

 

As a parish, we will launch the Jubilee Year with a trilingual Mass on March 1st at 4:00 PM, followed by a brief time of adoration and a fellowship gathering with appetizers.

 

As we enter Lent the following week, starting March 10th, we will begin offering daily adoration from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM (in addition to our morning adoration from 6:30 AM to 7:30 AM). Confessions will be available during adoration. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in English, Tuesdays in Spanish and Thursdays in Portuguese. Note: This will be our new confession times and will replace the Tuesday, 5:00pm - 6:00pm confession for the time being.

 

Additionally, we will have a weekly talk every Wednesday after adoration on various topics. These talks will be led by different members of our parish and the archdiocese. Spanish talks will be held on Tuesdays, and Portuguese talks on Thursdays. The goal is to encourage participation, rekindle our faith, and deepen our spiritual lives.

 

We have three committees - one for each language - working on more events, including a Parish Recollection Day and retreats. We will have a 24Hr Adoration at the end of March. We are also exploring the possibility of organizing a local pilgrimage later in the year.

 

To foster fellowship and strengthen our community, we are planning a trilingual bingo night on March 22nd. While some details are still being finalized, we encourage you to save the date! We also hope to host two Fish Fry events during Lent, with dates to be announced soon.

 

Brothers and sisters, all of these efforts are meant to draw us closer to Christ. They help us recognize our deep thirst for His love, and by satisfying that thirst, we can share it with others, no matter who they are. We are all called to spread God’s love and fulfill the mission Christ gave us: “Go and make disciples of all nations!”

 

Let us take advantage of the opportunities before us and make the most of them! I also invite you to pray for these initiatives, that they may bring many people back to the Lord and reignite His fire in our hearts.

 

God Bless,

Fr. Steven

 


From Father Steven - August 30, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • August 28, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I was very happy that I finally had the opportunity a month ago to speak about vaping addiction among the youth. Today, I would like to speak about addictions in general that affect and hurt our families, parish, community, and, above all, ourselves. First of all, it is important to understand that usually no one likes to have an addiction. Substance abuse is not something a person simply chooses to become trapped in. Rather, very often, it is the only resource that a person finds in their struggle. The other day, I was talking to a social worker at the hospital about how we have lost so many of our coping skills. We no longer have the resilience that we used to have in the past. Addiction is often more than a bad habit or a lack of willpower. For many people, it can be connected to pain, trauma, loneliness, or an attempt to cope with difficulties they do not know how to face in healthier ways. Therefore, it can often be understood as a cry for help from someone who is suffering. Once we understand that people may turn to drugs, alcohol, or other substances in an attempt to relieve their pain, we also need to recognize that repeated substance use can produce real changes in the brain and body. A person can develop tolerance, dependence, and powerful cravings that make stopping extremely difficult. This is why addiction cannot simply be reduced to a lack of willpower. What may have begun as an attempt to cope with pain can eventually become a dependency that is very difficult to overcome without help. Anyone who suffers from substance abuse does not need judgment, but love and compassion. As Catholics, we believe that love conquers all things. We also believe that for God, nothing is impossible. Therefore, if there is someone in your family, in your circle of friends, an acquaintance, or even a stranger, let us go the extra mile and be compassionate. Christ does not abandon the person who is suffering. He goes out of His way to bring love and consolation, like the Good Samaritan. He certainly suffers with that person. If Christ does this for us, how can we, as His disciples, do anything less for those who are suffering? The more involved I become in helping people here in Marlboro, the more I discover the many resources available through the city and other agencies. I will try to pull together a sheet with different resources in the community and leave them in the church for those who need them. If someone struggles with alcoholism, drug or medication abuse, or some other sort of addiction, YOU ARE NOT ALONE…and YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE ALONE. God wants to help, and so do we. It is okay; we all have problems, and the solutions at times can seem so far from our reach that we give up. Maybe now is the time to get up and start walking back to the Father’s house, like the Prodigal Son. Maybe now is the time that, together, we will overcome the struggles that lead to addiction.  I invite everyone in our parish to join us for the Overdose Awareness Day ceremony here at the Immaculate Conception Church on Monday August 31 at 7:15pm. Let us come together to remember those whose lives have been lost (you may bring their picture), support those who continue to struggle, and pray for their families and loved ones. Always count with your prayers to you and your loved ones, 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