Author: Fr. Mahoney (Page 22 of 65)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

With deep joy and gratitude, I extend to you – parishioners and visitors alike – my prayerful best wishes for a holy and blessed Christmas Season and New Year!

Several years ago, I received a Christmas card with this message: “This Christmas, I wish you Jesus.” On the inside it read: “Isn’t it nice to have everything!” Miracles come to us in all shapes and sizes during the Advent Season, but the perfect  gift is always the miracle found in the manger on that first Christmas morning – a perfect gift because it keeps on giving and giving and giving.

The Christmas Season has a way of bringing back to church individuals and families who, for various reasons, have not been to Mass for a while. What a wonderful and grace-filled opportunity to put aside past differences and old habits and to begin anew into 2024 that prayerful relationship with the Lord. Over the year to come – and amid all our current challenges and concerns – may we grow together in strength and grace to know and celebrate God’s presence in our lives.

May our Lord Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, bless you, your families and loved ones at this holy time of hope and grace, and may Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother, watch over you always.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Fr. John Mahoney

Third Sunday of Advent

The word “Gaudete” is Latin for “Rejoice”. In times when the focus of our anticipation is often on the negative and fearful, this celebration is a reminder that God who loves us is still in charge and that we await His coming not with fear, but with tremendous joy.

by one of our parishioners, Kathleen McDermott…

I recently returned from my 11th medical mission to Cevicos, Dominican Republic in a dual role of nurse and pharmacist. I traveled with the Holy Family Mission from Cape Ann, MA. For the past 22 years, the Holy Family Mission has worked in partnership with a congregation of Catholic Missionary sisters, The Dominican Sisters of the Rosary of Fatima, who dedicate their lives   to serving Christ by loving the poor. The Sisters arrange for  the U.S. missionary team to collaborate with local medical professionals to staff four medical clinics during the week. Two in Cevicos and the other two, traveling as a “mash unit” to rural villages, setting up in the local school. Often, the entire population of these villages: newborn babies, schoolchildren, their families, workers from the fields and elderly men and women take this rare opportunity to consult with health care professionals and obtain medicines and supplies they have little or no access to otherwise. Also, missionary teams spend a day visiting homes to provide medical care for the homebound. During last month’s mission, we served a total of 650+ local Dominicans and  immigrant Haitians. Answering Jesus’ call to serve, the Holy Family Mission with Dominican Sisters of the Rosary of Fatima strive to enrich the physical and spiritual well-being of our    extended family in Cevicos. In so doing, we all experience God’s love.

Kathleen McDermott

Please remember in your prayers the repose of the soul of John “Jack” McDonald, a former No. Woodstock      resident and a parishioner at St. Joseph’s Church, who died in Dover, NH on November 6, 2023.  His Mass of Christian Burial will be on November 22 at St. Mary’s Church in Dover, NH.  May he rest in peace.