From Father Steven - January 21, 2024

Father Steven Clemence • January 19, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

As you may know, we as a parish collaborate closely with two pregnancy help centers, Birthright and First Concern. This weekend we will be having a fundraiser drive for First Concern to help them in their mission to assist women in need. I have asked Megan Paradis, the Executive Director of First Concern, to write a letter to be shared with the parish.

 

God Bless,

Fr. Steven

—————————————————————

This weekend we commemorate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday-a day we set aside every year to focus on the value of every human life. It is estimated that 64 million abortions have been performed in the United States since 1973. The theme for the 51st Annual March for Life is “With Every Woman, For Every Child”, and honors the work of pregnancy centers and maternity homes, focusing on the need to care for mother and child during the nine months of pregnancy and in the years after.

At First Concern PRC we show women that even if the world is telling her it’s too hard to have her baby, we will walk this journey with her. When a woman has decided to carry her child, we continue to offer pregnancy and parenting education, material help she may need, and emotional support. When people look at what First Concern is, we hope that you see our commitment to “Love them both”. We have revised our mission statement to reflect both the women we help, and the children they carry.  Affirming the humanity and life of the preborn child, we empower women and men facing unplanned pregnancies to choose alternatives to abortion by offering education, life skills, compassion and hope.

 

Two years ago, Immaculate Conception generously raised the needed funds for the ultrasound machine at First Concern. I spoke of the lives we hoped to save and the women we hoped to help. As we look back at 2023, the first year we offered ultrasound confirmation services with your partnership, we see God’s hand in all things. We served 56 women with ultrasound, and your support directly saved 23 little lives. Women who are considering abortion are finding us and through compassionate care coupled with ultrasound are choosing life!

 

What we have found since partnering with the medical office is that we are meeting women who have complicated lives, and they have been told that abortion is the solution to a whole host of problems. The nurses and our advocates have worked with women who are homeless, women in abusive relationships, in poverty, or addicted to substances. So often we hear that women with these hardships need access to abortion- we have a had a year with examples where women needed compassionate support to get out of these circumstances AND choose their child. One woman from Guatemala found us when she was already in her 3rd trimester, homeless with a young daughter in tow. She hadn’t had any prenatal care; she didn’t even know her due date. Ultrasound confirmed that she was almost 34 weeks along! We worked quickly to find her shelter, medical care, and community resources. Eventually she and her daughter moved into a maternity home, welcomed a baby boy, and are thriving. August 2023 was our most impactful month yet. We had the privilege of walking with five women who reached out for help as either abortion minded, or undecided about their pregnancies. Our incredible staff educated them on their options, the support they would find on their parenting journey, and provided them with ultrasounds in the medical office. All five of these brave moms chose life for their babies and are grateful for the compassionate support they found inside our doors. Rejoice with us over all these new families, but especially a young woman who pushed back against fear, was referred to safe shelter, and welcomed her twin boys this fall! Your support helped reach these women and empowered them to choose their babies, and we could not be more thankful. Some women visit our centers once, while other women return for weekly support. Through parenting groups, education, and community support, we touched the lives of almost 200 women.

 

This weekend you can help support the life-saving work of First Concern. We have an Amazon wish list with needed baby items for the boutique. Every month we give out up to 5 car seats, several bassinets, dozens of packages of diapers, formula, and many other necessities for babies & toddlers, completely free of charge. We depend on partners to donate these new items, so now it’s even easier to buy through your amazon account and have the items shipped right to us. Another way to support the mission is to give a financial contribution today so that we can change the trajectory of someone’s life tomorrow. The link to donate can be found at firstconcernfriends.org, and there will also be a collection of funds at each mass. Your generous gifts will provide: $2,500 - all the services necessary for 1 woman; $1,250 - ultrasound confirmation services for 1 week; $750 - utilities for 1 month; $500 - google advertising for 1 month; $150 - Brightcourse Education for 1 month. We have been blessed by your care of First Concern through your donations, time, and talents. Thank you!

 

With you, for LIFE,

Megan Paradis, Executive Director

 

From Father Steven - July 26, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • July 23, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Please see the letter below from Fr. Gabriel about his experience at the retreat we recently had in Italy. God Bless, Fr. Steven ———————————————- As Father Steven mentioned in his last bulletin entry, he and I have returned from a wonderful retreat in Italy, where we were together with about 800 priests from the Redemptoris Mater seminaries of the Americas. I would like to take the time to also share a bit of my experience. The first day we arrived at the Airport in Rome, but the retreat was to take place in Porto San Giorgio, Italy, which is located on the eastern coast of the country. This presented me with the opportunity to visit Assisi on the way to the retreat house which was precisely what I was hoping to do during my travels. The Pope has named this year the Jubilee of Saint Francis as this October 4th, we will be celebrating the 800th anniversary of his passing, so there was no better time to visit. I am fond of saying that it is the saints who often choose us, inviting us into a friendship with them, which has been the case for me in a special way with Saint Francis. During the retreat, I reflected on how the spirit of Saint Francis has accompanied me most especially throughout my seminary formation, with the presence of our late franciscan spiritual director, Fr. Roderick Crispo O.F.M., the time spent with Cardinal Sean, learning from the example of his prayer life, and the honor of being the last class that was ordained by him and also being ordained on Padre Pio’s birthday. Reflecting on all of this led me to ponder the words that the Lord spoke to Francis at the beginning of his conversion, “Rebuild my Church.” Sure enough, Francis’ Jubilee in the background and those words spoken to him resounding in my heart, it all fit perfectly into the theme that threaded our entire retreat; the readings that were proclaimed each day were all taken from the Prophets calling on Israel to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem after the exile. The first day we heard from the Prophet Haggai, “be strong, all you people of the land...and work! For I am with you...and I will fill this house with glory.” These words felt very personal, that God is calling me in my ministry to participate in the rebuilding of his Church. Nevertheless, I also remembered that Saint Francis initially took the Lord’s words too literally and started rebuilding an actual Church, when in fact the Lord was calling for a spiritual renewal, not the reconstruction of a building. This also was important for me, because I have asked myself again and again in these past two years as a priest, is what I have to offer enough for this mission? Am I doing enough? The words of the retreat reoriented me to look inwardly and see that before I help anyone else, God desires to rebuild me by granting me a renewed experience of His love for me. This I saw clearly during the 2 by 2 mission that we did during the retreat, announcing the love of God as the apostles and Saint Francis did, without food, money, or cell phones, leaning entirely on the Lord’s providence. I was sent north of Rome to a port city called Civitavecchia where their Cathedral, the first Church we visited, happened to be dedicated to Saint Francis. One night during the mission, my companion and I were welcomed by a couple from the cathedral who had three teenage sons. When I entered the apartment I spotted three skateboards under their beds and proceeded to ask who of them skateboarded, two of them responded emphatically that they did. When I mentioned that I also grew up skateboarding, they were eager to take me down to the central plaza to skate together. It was moving to share that joy with them. One of the boys, Simone, at some point said, “I’ve never met a priest that skateboards.” Back at their house, I felt compelled to tell their father that I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them had a vocation to the priesthood. Their father responded saying, “as a matter of fact, the other day, we were asking them what vocation they would like to have when they were older and Simone told us ‘but if I become a priest, I won’t be able to skate anymore,’ and see now how God has sent you to us.” At that moment I saw how God was showing me that He knows my heart through and through, and that He uses my life as an expression of His tenderness toward this family and all of you that I minister to; that in serving you as a priest, you discover God’s love for you, but I also discover the Lord’s love for me and it is in this way that the Church continues to be built up. God Bless, Fr. Gabriel 

From Father Steven - July 19, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • July 17, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As you may remember, Fr. Gabriel and I were away on a retreat in Italy these past few weeks. I would like to share a bit of my experience with you. Hopefully, in the near future, he will be able to share his experience as well. You may know that the three of us priests were formed in a missionary-diocesan seminary called Redemptoris Mater , which is a seminary that was first created by Pope Saint John Paul II in Rome. His desire was to have priests who belonged to the diocese and, at the same time, were missionaries (either outside the diocese or within it) to assist in the new evangelization born after the Second Vatican Council. Also, the vocations to this seminary come from the Neocatechumenal Way, which is an itinerary of Christian formation that is present all over the world. This way, those who feel called by God to this specific mission can also continue the growth of their faith in this reality. From Rome, other bishops also desired to have such priests in their own dioceses. In 2005, Cardinal Seán requested that this seminary begin here in Boston, and that's how we all ended up here. Well, this retreat we attended was for all the priests ordained in the approximately 40 Redemptoris Mater seminaries present throughout the Americas (North, Central/Caribbean, and South). We were about 800 priests who were able to be there. It took place in Porto San Giorgio, which is on the Adriatic Sea. The initiators of the Neocatechumenal Way were there to give us a word of encouragement, to help us convert, and to rest. We were given a special place in St. Peter's Square for the Pope's Audience, and later we celebrated Mass inside the Basilica, at the Chair of St. Peter. We also went twice to Loreto, which houses the walls of the house of Mary in Nazareth. We also had the opportunity to be sent throughout all of Italy to announce the Kingdom of God two by two for four days, like the Apostles, without money, a cellphone, extra clothes, or a place to sleep... no securities, except God. We only took the Bible and the breviary. I was assigned to the city of Trent, where the famous council took place 500 years ago. After the retreat, I was able to visit the house of St. Maria Goretti, her tomb, and the place where she died. On my way back, I had a 24-hour layover in Barcelona, where I got to visit the Basilica of the Holy Family and the Shrine of Montserrat. What impacted me the most was being reminded of what God has done in my life. There were a few old friends from my childhood and people whom I have met along the way (Fr. Adriano sent his greetings to everyone). At every step of the way, He was there leading me, comforting me, and lifting me up when I fell. It was good also to rest in the Lord. No, I did not watch the World Cup games, but I had something much better: a time of intimacy with God. Running around all day, every day sometimes takes the focus away from my mission. Like Martha, we can tend to important things and leave the Lord behind. If anything, it is by being close to Christ that I will be enabled to help some people. Lastly, we were also presented with a beautiful symphony performance. In it, they sang the words of St. Victorinus of Pettau, who is an impressive saint from the early Church: "Having come as the Lion to conquer, He became the Lamb, taking upon Himself the wickedness of man, so that He might lead him from death to life."  The mission of the priest is to be Christ to the people. As we heard last week, Jesus is meek and humble of heart. The only answer to the suffering of people is to become a lamb and die for them out of love, just like Christ. The Lion came to conquer and was made the Lamb to die because He loves me. In the retreat, I see that God gives me His Spirit to (hopefully) be a lamb who dies for others. Please keep praying for me and be patient, as I still have a long way to go! God Bless, Fr. Steven