Lincoln, New Hampshire

Category: From the Pastor’s Desk (Page 2 of 63)

Jubilee Year of Hope

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Please take home one of the calendars available at the church doors. Fr. Leo Burchel terms the new year  “a gift from God and a special year of prayer.”  What a gift we have as Catholics in the liturgical calendar!  Mother Church proposes for us times and seasons in which we attune our sentiments to the sentiments of Christ: repentance and expectation during Advent, humility and joy at Christmas, penance and mercy in Lent, and a grand celebration during the Easter season.  We can thus walk step in step with the Church,    living the principal mysteries of our faith throughout the year in an atmosphere of communion and solidarity with our fellow Christians.  Through the liturgical seasons – and our faith-filled living of them – hearts are united, the Church is built up, and charity increases.

Abundant blessings to all of you in the Jubilee Year of Hope 2025!

Fr. John Mahoney

Christmas Greeting

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

Winter Weather Cancellation Policy

Winter weather is here!  If there is stormy weather in Lincoln on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, and school is cancelled or there is a two-hour delay, there will be NO daily Mass or Adoration (Wednesday) at St. Joseph Church.  Please check WMUR for school cancellations   and delays.  This will allow for the plow and snow removal crews to properly and adequately remove the snow and treat the parking lot, steps and walkways of the church. 
 

Season of Advent

Dear Parishioners and Visitors:

I hope that your time with family and friends over the Thanksgiving holiday was blessed and enjoyable.  Now, as the seasons of Advent and the Nativity of the Lord approach, we prepare our hearts to emulate God’s sharing with us the gift of His son.

Sharing resources was the theme of the Parish Outreach Committee’s recent meetings. This year – and in light of the many concerns raised last Advent about the security of the gifts left  unguarded in the narthex under The Giving Tree – the Outreach Committee has opted to send a $3000 cash donation from St. Joseph’s parish community to the Linwood Rotary’s Community Chest program. As you may know, the Community Chest has the personnel available to screen, to shop, and to deliver to deserving families Thanksgiving meals and food baskets, as well as Christmas dinners and gifts for children in our local neighborhoods.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, please utilize the church’s Poor Box, the proceeds of which are always directed to the many area charitable organizations, such as   Haven Pregnancy Center, The Bridge Project, Vets Rest Stop, Linwood Recreation Center,  Linwood Ambulance, and the Knights of          Columbus, as well as providing Price Chopper gift cards for the hungry and bereavement refreshments for the grieving.

With prayerful best wishes,

Fr. John Mahoney

Giving Thanks!

Dear Parishioners and Visitors:

Giving thanks to God for all His blessings and provisions at Thanksgiving time is a wonderful tradition, but continuing this posture throughout the year is spiritually beneficial. It evolves from being an annual tradition to a constant way of life, made possible by the love of God shown to us in Christ. This is how we can live in a state of praise and adoration for our Lord with true Christian thankfulness all year long. 

Liturgically, we’ve arrived at the violet season of Advent. But everywhere else around us “it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.”  Let’s not rush past these spiritually rich weeks of  recollection and anticipation, pondering in review the fruits of the year and looking ahead to the hope of making Jesus incarnate in our words, decisions, and relationships. Advent includes rituals incorporated into home use, like the Advent wreath or the gradually assembled crèche.

Please take home with you a copy of “Advent & Christmas: Waiting in Joyful Hope,” available at the church’s doors this weekend. It is filled with “brief, down-to-earth reflections that bring prayer and Scripture into everyday life.”  May it guide you to a deeper appreciation for God’s gift of Himself in the Christ Child.

Wishing you Happy Thanksgiving and a blessed Advent Season,

Fr. John Mahoney

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