News - April 2023 RSS Feed

Please keep in your prayers our boys and girls who received their first Holy Communion on Sunday, May 7 at the 10:00 AM Mass: Belise Umutoniwase, Blaise Butoyi, Bonfils Mbilizi Ode, Giresse Ninihazwe, Joana Kasala, Joseph Asumani Ally, Julia Koudi, Mapenzi Mbilizi Ode, and Victor Bukuru.

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, referring to the Gospel passage where Our Lord describes this faithful guardian who “walks ahead of them.” The sheep hear his voice and follow out of trust in his care for them. Christ is the promised Good Shepherd. In keeping with this theme, we recite Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd.” In the readings, St. Peter exhorts the crowd to repent and be baptized, and in his letter, reminds his readers of Christ’s suffering, and how like, sheep we went astray, and must return to the fold.

If you would like to schedule a Mass Intention in 2023, please call Dorothy Barewicz in the Parish Office at (802) 658-4333. Beginning in mid-May and beyond, there are many weekday 12:05 Masses open as well as on Saturday at 8:00AM. The stipend for a Mass Intention is $ 10. This is a great way to remember loved ones.

Welcome Fr. Rijo Johnson, SDV, pastor of Mater Dei Parish, Newport, for Mission Sunday, April 22 and 23. Msgr. Routhier will celebrate Masses at Mater Dei that weekend.

St. Anthony - Latin Mass - 7:15 and 11:00 AM (11 AM Mass for homeschoolers but open to the public); Christ the King - 8:30 AM; St. Mark - 9:00 AM. Monsignor Routhier thanks his Cathedral parishioners for allowing the 12:05 PM Mass to be canceled Friday so he may attend the funeral Mass of Ralph St. Peter, father of St. mar's pastor Fr. Dallas St. Peter.

Octave of Easter spans eight days starting on Easter Sunday and ending the Second Sunday of Easter, which is also Divine Mercy Sunday. Every day of the Octave is a Solemnity, the Church’s highest feast day. We light the tall, white, decorated Pascal candle. We sing the Gloria, hear a special Easter Alleluia verse, and may recite the Easter Sequence before the Gospel. The priest uses an Easter preface. We also repeat “Alleluia” after we say the final “Thanks be to God” at the end of Mass. The priest’s vestments are white or gold, for both the Octave and the Easter season. Our daily weekday Masses return to their regular times.

The Second Sunday of Easter also is Divine Mercy Sunday. Our local devotions will take place at St. Anthony Church at the corner of Flynn Avenue and Pine Street in Burlington from 2:00 - 3:00 PM with Adoration with Exposition and Benediction, Reconciliation (Confession), silent prayer, the Rosary and veneration of the Divine Mercy image. We will end with the Divine Mercy Chaplet. This devotion was revealed by Our Lord Jesus Christ to Polish Mercy Sister Faustina Kowalska, now a saint, in visitations during the 1930s. Here are the words of Jesus to Saint Faustina: “My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” We recall the familiar Divine Mercy image of Jesus with white and red rays representing blood and water radiating from His sacred heart. Divine Mercy Sunday began with a Congregation of Divine Worship decree in 2000 with the first observance in 2001. Saint Pope John Paul II celebrated the first Divine Mercy Sunday, and died on the feast day eve in 2005. We are encouraged to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet to mark the feast, especially at the hour of mercy, 3:00 p.m. You can also pray the Divine Mercy Novena before the feast day, beginning on Good Friday.

I would like to wish all of the Parishioners of St. Joseph’s, our visitors and guests a very Joyous and Blessed Easter! I would also like to thank everyone who helped to make our celebrations during Holy Week beautiful in so many ways. I am most grateful to all our ministers and those who helped with the decorating. May we continue to spread Easter Joy throughout the entire season. He Is Risen, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Bishop Coyne will celebrate the joyful Easter Mass at 10:00 AM in the upstairs church. On this Easter morning, we hear only words of joy at Christ’s resurrection. From the shame and grief of denying his Savior three times, our first reading finds St. Peter proclaiming the rising of Our Lord. “This man God raised on the third day.” In response to Psalm 118, we sing, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!” The Psalm declares, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Our Gospel from St. John describes the miraculous scene early Sunday morning: “the cloth that had covered His head rolled up, … in a separate place.” Now we look forward to weeks of celebration during the fifty-day Easter season, which ends at Pentecost. The church is banked with flowers, and resounds with Easter hymns. Our priest wears white vestments. We hear the Gloria and the Alleluia. Rejoice, for the Lord has risen indeed!

GUIDELINES FOR LENT: Catholics observe this special season with prayer, penance and works of charity. · Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, in particular, are the most important penitential days of the liturgical year. They are days of both fast and abstinence. The rule of fasting states that only one full meal a day can be taken. Two small meals, “sufficient to maintain strength”, are allowed, but together should not equal another full meal. Eating between meals breaks the fast, but drinking liquids does not. The rule of fasting obliges all Catholics from 18 to 59. · Abstinence refers to the eating of meat. The common estimation of the community is used to determine what falls under the category of meat. The rule of abstinence binds all Catholics 14 years or older. · The substantial observance of the laws of fast and abstinence is a serious obligation. All Fridays in Lent are days of abstinence. Self-imposed fasting on the other weekdays of Lent is recommended. Abstinence on all Fridays of the year is also highly recommended.

April 1-2: Palm Sunday - Normal Weekend Masses; Monday, April 3 - 11:30 AM Confessions and 12:05 PM Mass in the chapel: Tuesday, April 4 @ 11:00 AM Chrism Mass; No 12:05 Mass today. Wednesday, April 5 - 12:05 PM Mass in the chapel: SACRED TRIDUUM Thursday, April 6 @ 7:00 PM No 12:05 PM Mass today. Friday, April 7 @ 3:00 PM No Mass today. Saturday, April 8 @ 8:00 PM No 8AM Mass and No 4:00 PM Mass 8:00 PM - Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil Mass. Easter Sunday, April 9 Mass @ 10:00 AM Vietnamese Mass @ 12:00 Noon. Holy Saturday, there will be no 8:00 AM Mass or Confessions, no afternoon Confessions, and no 4:00 PM Mass.