News - May 2023 RSS Feed

The Diocese is hiring summer workers to maintain Diocesan properties including our Catholic Cemeteries: New Mount Calvary, St. Joseph's Cemetery, Old Mount Calvary, the Annex, and Resurrection Park Cemetery. Duties will include lawn mowing and trimming. Training will be provided. Please contact Peter Walsh at (802) 355-7925 or go to: [email protected]

The Cathedral's Knights of Columbus DeGoesbriand Council # 279 ASAP (Aid and Support After Pregnancy) barrel is waiting for donations in the upper church. The container displays information on baby and mother items to deposit, as well as guidelines on how to make money donations. Diapers of all sizes, wipes, and new baby clothes are the simplest articles to contribute. Donations will go to Birthright of Burlington. This drive will run through Father’s Day, June 18. Aid and Support After Pregnancy supports pregnant women, mothers and their babies through pregnancy resource centers and maternity homes.

Today we return to ordered, or Ordinary time for weekdays. It’s called “ordinary” because the weeks are numbered in order – 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. The priest’s vestments are green. Ordinary Time, however, is not at all plain and simple. On the contrary, week after week, we see all facets of Christ’s life, a change from celebrating. What could be ordinary about exploring the full sweep of Christ’s works and teachings? The green of Ordinary Time, like the green of nature, also encourages us to grow and mature in our faith, and as the color of hope, to anticipate the gifts of God’s kingdom. .

The Cathedral will celebrate its usual 10:00 AM Mass Sunday morning,, May 28, with streets near the Cathedral open. The Marathon, however, will close some downtown streets and other race route streets for part of the day. Please visit this link to find out whether the race road closings will affect your transportation to Sunday Mass. https://www.runvermont.org/vermont-city-marathon-relay/

Monsignor Routhier will celebrate Mass Monday morning at 9:00, May 29, in the Cathedral parish's new Mount Calvary Cemetery on Plattsburgh Avenue in Burlington. If it rains, Mass will move to the Cathedral chapel at the same time, 9:00 AM. You may bring a chair for the outdoor Mass but we'll set up some seats. There are no 11:30 AM Confessions or 12:05 PM Mass that day. The parish office and Joseph's House also are closed Monday the 29th for Memorial Day.

As we end this Easter season, our Mass today recounts Our Lord bidding farewell to his apostles at the Last Supper, with a moving avowal of his love for them and his firm resolve to glorify his Father in Heaven through his own suffering and death. Our readings describe the apostles returning from the Mount of Olives after the Ascension to gather in the Upper Room, marshalling their strength to receive the Holy Spirit and go forth to spread the Gospel and meet persecution and martyrdom. Next Sunday is the great Solemnity of Pentecost.

Please click the title above to pray daily from Monday, May 22 through Tuesday, May 30 for this feast day which celebrates Our Blessed Lady's visit to her older cousin Elizabeth, who was expecting John the Baptist. The two women, one young and newly pregnant, the other old and soon to deliver her child, shared their joy at the miracles growing within them. St. Elizabeth made her famous exclamation, "Why should the mother or My Lord come to me? For behold, the moment that the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the babe in my womb leapt for joy." Our Lady then sang her Magnificat, a prayer of praise for God. You may add your own intention, especially for pregnant women in our diocese.

The old carpet in the sanctuary is being replaced thanks to a generous donation from a parishioner. It is expected to be completed by this weekend, ready for weekend Masses.

Please keep in your prayers the Candidates for the Sacrament of Confirmation from the Cathedral of Saint Joseph: Berit Mukeze, Pascal Munezero, Agnes Nguyen, Chancelline Ndayishimiye, Bonfils Ode, and Aime Uwineza. The Confirmation ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16th, 7:00 PM at Holy Cross Church in Colchester.

The Easter season comprises Easter Sunday, the Easter Octave, and the weeks following through Ascension Thursday (40 days after Easter), ending at Pentecost Sunday, 50 days after Easter. During the Easter season, we hear at Mass stories of the Resurrection from the Acts of the Apostles: Mary Magdalene and the apostles at the tomb, the Lord’s appearance on the road to Emmaus, His meeting with the apostles on the shore of Lake Tiberias, and other familiar accounts. If you usually pray the Angelus, you will replace it during the Easter season with the Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) prayer. The Easter season offers plenty of time to celebrate the holiday, with Easter egg hunts, flowers, springtime animals such as lambs, rabbits, and baby chicks in toys and baked goods, and special treats from the Easter basket, a homemade lamb cake or Easter bread. The Easter season also is the time for making one’s Easter duty, the Church’s requirement that we receive Holy Communion during this season.

Parishes across the country, through the support of their bishops and pastors, are invited to join a nationwide initiative entitled: Walking with Moms in Need. This is a yearlong process which is broken up into five easy phases. If you are interested in coordinating this program for the Cathedral of St. Joseph, please contact Msgr. Peter Routhier or call the Parish Office at 802-658-4333.

The Ascension of the Lord, 40 days after Easter, will be celebrated at a Vigil Mass, Wednesday, May 17, at 5:30 PM in the main church upstairs. The Holy Day Mass will be Thursday, May 18, at 12:05 PM, also upstairs, There is no 12:05 PM Mass on Wednesday, May 17.

Sixth Sunday of Easter – May 14, 2023 The Advocate Is Coming We mark important points in the Easter season with today’s sixth Sunday, the celebration this week of the Ascension of Our Lord, and the approach of Pentecost. Today, we hear another episode from the Acts of the Apostles when Philip, Peter, and John travel to proclaim Christ to the Gentiles and to perform miraculous cures. Peter’s Letter advises a Christian to gently persuade the unbeliever. The Gospel of John sees Jesus with his disciples promising them another great event, the arrival of the Holy Spirit.

In our Fifth Week of Easter, Sunday’s readings and Gospel bring reassurance that Jesus will take care of us. We hear in our first reading how the early Church grew and strengthened, with its members overcoming discord and deciding how to organize their communities, as well as ordaining new leaders. Our Psalm affirms our trust in the Lord’s mercy and goodness. Another reading from St. Peter’s First Letter bids us come to God, as his chosen people. Last, the Gospel from John finds Jesus consoling his anxious disciples, telling them that He is preparing a place for them, as he asserts His identity as one with the Father.