Pastor's Corner

I share with you portions of an entry from Catholic speaker and lay evangelist, Chris Stefanick from his May 15 Daily Anchor email. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. St. Dymphna, whose feast day is May 15, is the patron saint of those who suffer from mental illness, anxiety, and emotional distress. She’s also patroness of runaways and victims of sexual abuse. Born to a pagan father and Christian mother in the 7th century, she took a vow of chastity at the age of fourteen.

You may have noticed that we have recently installed a stained glass window (shown above) in our newly renovated Msgr. Glynn Parish Center. It was in storage in our attic for many years, and it seemed fitting to have this beautiful image of the Holy Family refurbished and backlit to enhance this space. It’s one of many decorative additions planned to complete the renovation. The scene depicted in this stained glass window is of the “Flight into Egypt.”

This weekend is the last of three weekends when we celebrate First Holy Communion during some of our parish Masses. It’s an important and pivotal moment in the lives of our children, not merely a rite of passage as cultural Catholics. First reception of Holy Eucharist is the second of three Sacraments of Initiation, which begins a more personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that these young Catholics can develop as they participate at Mass each weekend and receive the “real presence” of Jesus in Holy Communion.

When we hear our Holy Father, Pope Leo speak about issues impacting members of the human family, he speaks not as a political pundit, but as a spiritual leader who seeks to highlight those Gospel values that apply to moral concerns our world faces today. One Church teaching that lies at the foundation of his remarks is the fundamental principle of the dignity of the human person. Both personal and collective actions must be judged according to whether they promote this dignity and not just one’s own self-interest, and they must also take into consideration the common good.

Lay Catholic evangelist and speaker, Chris Stefanick, shares about a letter he received recently that touched him deeply. He writes, “A man had made a donation in honor of his recently passed mom, because she loved our ministry so much. He described the joy she kept in the midst of so much pain during the last years of her life. She had lost her husband of many years who died. Not long after that she lost most of her possessions in a fire. Then she lost her best friend to cancer. Her faith never wavered. Nor did her joy.

As I shared with our parish community on the weekend of April 12 in my Pastor’s Corner in the bulletin and Mass announcements, I have made the difficult decision to discontinue our Wednesday morning 8:15 Mass beginning May 6. This is because Fr. Mark Storey, who has made it possible for me to take needed time off by celebrating that Mass, will no longer be able to continue because of declining health; and, there are no other senior priests available to celebrate that Mass.

This year, the Archdiocese of Boston has seen a significant increase in the number of adults who were baptized Catholic at Easter. Out of the 680 people baptized this Easter (up from 438 last year), we had two people baptized here at Holy Family Parish: Ross Philbeck and Julie Mann. In addition, we had two Protestants who were received into full communion of the Catholic Church: Kat Mallea and Marcella Sullivan (not pictured).

Since Fr. Bill Williams, our former Senior Assistant, moved to the residence for retired Archdiocesan priests in Boston, Regina Cleri, for about a year now, we’ve been blessed to have retired priest, Fr. Mark Storey available to allow me to take needed time off by celebrating the Wednesday 8:15 am Mass. However, Fr. Mark has notified me that because of declining health, he will be unable to celebrate the Wednesday morning Mass starting in May.

Happy Easter!

It’s wonderful you have come to celebrate this special feast day of Jesus’ Resurrection from the dead. It’s the greatest celebration of our Church! Jesus gives us reason for hope having overcome evil and death itself! He shares His divine life with us!

If you have questions about Holy Family, are interested in joining our parish, or want to reconnect with your Catholic Faith, we’d love to hear from you!

Since we have heard references to “the Jews” in our New Testament scriptures recently, and we will hear similar references when the Passion is read at Mass this coming Passion/Palm Sunday as well as on Good Friday, it would be important to clarify the Church’s position on how we should regard our Jewish brothers and sisters when such references may lead some people to a mistaken understanding about them.

This Wednesday, March 25 is the feast of the Annunciation, the day we celebrate the Virgin Mary’s assent to become the mother of the Messiah and when she conceived Jesus in her womb. This is exactly 9 months before the celebration of the birth of Jesus at Christmas. On this day, the Church celebrates two great mysteries: Mary’s “fiat,” her free and total act of trust in God to be the instrument by which God would bring about His plan of salvation for the whole human race; and the moment when the Godhead first took on human flesh and became incarnate within the womb of Mary.

This Thursday, March 19 will be the Feast of St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. Something that many parishioners may not know is that we have a relic containing very small pieces of the Blessed Mother’s veil, St. Joseph’s robe and the crib of the child Jesus. This special relic was donated to Holy Family Parish several years ago by parishioner, Nancy Fitzsimmons, which came from a collection of religious articles of her deceased mother, Mary McLaughlin. Documentation came with the relic to verify its authenticity.

You might recall that in his November 2024 victory speech, then President-elect Trump stated, “I’m not going to start a war. I’m going to stop wars,” and he promised to focus national resources on domestic priorities rather than foreign conflicts.

A week ago, in the midst of diplomatic negotiations with Iran, our president and his administration initiated a massive joint military operation with Israel against Iran, killing its leaders, and he called for a regime change by its citizens.

St. Teresa of Avila once said, “There is more value in a little study of humility and in a single act of it than in all the knowledge in the world.” Since pride is often at the root of many of our faults and sins, which we strive to overcome during Lent, I invite you to make growth in the virtue of humility a particular focus by praying this prayer attributed to Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930). May this prayer and your efforts to grow in humility make a significant difference in your life and in the lives of those around you.