Dear Fellow Parishioners, A couple of weeks ago, a parishioner e-mailed me asking what the main collection pays for, and why we have so many second collections. I thought some of you might be interested in my answer. The first collection goes to the day-to-day expenses of the parish. The largest item by far is […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, I thought I’d do something different with the Pastor’s Desk this week, and provide information on a number of matters. Video Masses: For the next several weeks, the Saturday evening Masses will not be posted on the parish website, due to the unavailability of our videographer. While most parishioners have returned to […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, I am happy to lead with very positive news. The result of our October Mass Count is that our Mass attendance shows an 18% increase over 2018. This is particularly welcome news after the long COVID lockdown. Still, there are long-time parishioners who still feel unable to return. We continue to offer […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, October is significant – especially this year – for three anniversaries: the opening of the Second Vatican Council, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Loma Prieta Earthquake. Though they differ in character, they are important dates for those who lived through them, and whose effects continue to this day. October 11th was […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, Rather than use homily time, I would like to use The Pastor’s Desk for an update on a few matters concerning the workings of the parish. This past summer, two valued and long-time staff members retired: Kim Williams, our Office Manager and Bookkeeper, and Rose Marie Woodruff, our Director of Religious Education. […]
Dear Parishioners, Over the course of a week, we have two feast days which celebrate angels: the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Rafael on September 29th, and the Holy Guardian Angels on October 2nd. Catholics set up altars honoring Guardian Angels as early as the 4th century, and the feast of the Guardian Angels has been […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, The parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) speaks deeply to two realities of human life which are outside of God’s positive will: It is not God’s will that anyone be lost. It is not God’s will that anyone be alone. The parable is also mysterious, as there is an element of […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, I’ll begin by wishing you all a blessed and safe Labor Day weekend. In the past, school started on the Tuesday after Labor Day. So much of our school calendar was designed around agricultural life. Even today, there is Harvest Break in northern Maine for school children to help bring in the […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, It is very nice to see so many of you after returning from vacation earlier this month. Many of our parish families are experiencing another annual event: return to school, in all its many forms, whether to our parish elementary and high school, or local public schools, the first day of pre-school or Kindergarten, […]
Dear Fellow Parishioners, It is very nice to see so many of you after returning from vacation earlier this month. The only Mass I have not celebrated since my return – the 7:30 am Sunday Mass – I will offer this weekend. The Mass schedule is set with two things in mind: rotating all priests equally […]