Category: From the Pastor’s Desk (Page 37 of 76)

Dear Parishioners and Friends in Christ,

Christ is Risen!  Alleluia! Happy Easter to you all in this most joyful season of Christ’s victory over sin and death!

Together, let us express our gratitude to all those who assisted in making our Lenten, Holy Week, and Easter Liturgies so meaningful and beautiful. Thanks, especially, to our Lectors, Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, Greeters, Collectors, Music Ministers, Sacristan/Servers, and the team who decorated the church so beautifully.  

Most of all, I thank you, the parish community of St. Joseph, as well as those visitors who join us frequently and support our good efforts here in Lincoln.  Your active participation and increased attendance during the Lenten Masses, Stations of the Cross, the Triduum, and Easter Sunday Masses was truly inspiring!  I was particularly pleased to see so many of our children and young people accompanying their parents. 

May this Easter Season fill you with abundant joy, renewed hope, and a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  May we all experience the Peace of the Risen Lord Jesus in our relationships with God, with one another, and in our own hearts.  “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad!”

With prayerful best wishes,

Fr. John Mahoney

We are very grateful to those      who contributed to provide such beautiful flowers for our Easter celebrations.  While many donations were given anonymously, many were offered in memory of family members and other loved ones. May they be remembered in our prayers of gratitude.

Donor:  In Memory/Honor of

Patrick and Christine Walsh: All our loving family and friends,  Sonja Sabbath, Elciu and Chris Bahadirli, Richard.

Doug and Margaret Sweeney: Robert, Sr. and Marianne Loranger, John and Lillian Sweeney, Mary Moniz, Loranger/Grady Family, Mark Rosier.

Rose Marie Henderson: Robert Henderson, Sr., Ciarleglio Family.

Janet Peltier: Herman and Helen Cadorette, Claire Ward.

Mary Pieroni: Michael, Sr. and Mary Iarocci, Albert Pieroni,  Cecilia Pieroni, Eugenio and Nicolena Muscatelli, Luigi and Lena Iarocci, Angelo Pezzo, Octavio and Pauline Pieroni, Amato and Emma   Iodicola, Thomas and Michelina        Muscatelli, Ed and Isabelle Rafferty, Marguerite Lemieux, Terry Solo.

Barbara Vitale: Marguerite and Millard Young, Michael Vitale, Roger Libby, Marshall Young.

Rae Perron: Aime Perron and Family, Clough Family,  Macedo Family, Eric Johnson, Barbara Eiserlo.

Lee and Eileen Latham: Matthew and Mary Driscoll.

Laura Laufenberg: Joseph W. Laufenberg, Jr.

Susan Whitman: Dale Whitman, Randolph and Blanche Boyle, Sandra Borgnis, Shirley Leclerc and family, Whitman and Rogers Family, Cameron Morrissette.

Jan and Grazyna Wolowski: Golik Tadeusz, Tom Livingston, Wolowski Family, Golik Family, Zdrojewski Family, All Souls in Purgatory.

Elizabeth Poirier:  Etienne Poirier.

Karen and Brian Gallagher:  Fran and Dick Schlaefer, Vincent and Rita Gallagher, Bill and Rick Fieldman, Bill and Pat Fieldman.

John McGovern:  Thomas W. McGovern, Peggy McGovern,  Martin McGovern, Thomas M. McGovern.

Paula Strickon:  Ivan Strickon, Joyce Lightfoot Family, Strickon Family, Dombroski Family, Dear Friends.

Kevin and Barbara Flynn:  The Flynn Family, The Lees Family.

Continued blessings of the Easter Season to all,

Fr. John Mahoney

Happy Easter!

We learned many lessons about covenants during the forty days of Lent this year. And now we exult in the most important covenant – that God so loved the world that He sent His only son so that we who follow him might have eternal life. God loves us. God is merciful toward us. And God wants us to live forever with Him in His Kingdom. This is the essential meaning of our Easter celebrations.

The pastoral staff and ministry team here at Saint Joseph’s extend a heartfelt “thank you” to all our parishioners and visitors. Your dedication, support, and love for the Lord encourage us in our ministry. You are an Easter People! You live in the light and the love of the Lord and inspire us greatly! May we continue to work together in building God’s Kingdom and extending Easter joy to all those we meet.

May the grace of the Risen Christ be with you and your loved ones. God bless and

keep you!

Fr. John Mahoney

Dear Parishioners and Visitors,

“Now the Passover of the Jews was near.”  As Christians prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, followers of the Jewish faith tradition prepare for the beginning of Passover at sundown on Wednesday, April 5, 2023.  There are many traditions that led to the Jewish use of unleavened bread, or matzah, during this feast.  One of the most interesting is the usage of the Hebrew term “the bread of poverty” for matzah.  This hard, flat bread is said to remind the Jewish people of what it was like to be poor captives in Egypt and to promote humility and a greater appreciation of the gift of freedom.  Food for thought for one and all—and for gratitude!

      Here is more food for thought:  Although the term, “the Jews” as it is used in the Gospels may be interpreted by some disparagingly, the Church’s unique relationship with the Jewish people is grounded in a shared heritage, making it unlike any other dialogue with another religious tradition.  It cannot be forgotten that Jesus himself, as well as the earliest apostles, were Jewish. The Second Vatican Council relied on the Apostle Paul’s imagery to describe the familial bond: “Nor can she forget that she draws sustenance from the root of that well-cultivated olive tree onto which have been grafted the wild shoots, the Gentiles” (Nostra Aetate, 4).  

     The Church recognizes that God’s covenant with the Jewish people continues to be valid. Recently, the Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews has even stated, “That the Jews are participants in God’s salvation is theologically unquestionable, but how that can be possible without confessing Christ explicitly, is and remains an unfathomable divine mystery” (“The Gifts and the Calling of God are Irrevocable”, 36).

     Wishing you the blessings of Holy Week and a deeper understanding of our “shared heritage” with all of God’s children,

Fr. John Mahoney

From the proceeds of the poor box donations, the   Parish Outreach Committee  agreed to donate $1000  to Catholic Relief Services.  CRS is a reputable Catholic agency, known for helping the poorest of the poor — people affected by war and natural disasters, migrants and refugees, and victims of persecution and political instability.  Without doubt, these individuals could use your spiritual support, too, so please include them in your Lenten prayer.