From Father Steven - April 27, 2025

Father Steven Clemence • April 25, 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

This weekend we celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday—a feast that comes from Jesus’ own desire to make known the abundance of His eternal mercy, so that sinners may be reconciled with God and find peace in His love. At the same time, we are mourning the passing of Pope Francis, and praying for the Church during this time of transition. It is a moment both solemn and sacred, calling us to entrust our hearts to God’s providence.

 

Back in 1931, a Polish nun named Saint Faustina Kowalska began receiving visions of Jesus. In one of these visions, He appeared clothed in white, raising His right hand in blessing while His left hand touched His heart. From His heart flowed two rays—one red and one white. Jesus instructed her to have this image painted and shared throughout the world. This now-famous image, which we see in many churches and homes, has deep meaning: the white ray symbolizes the water of Baptism, which makes souls righteous, and the red ray represents the Precious Blood of Christ, which is the life of our souls. Together, they proclaim the great truth of our faith—that Christ suffered, died, and rose again to forgive our sins and offer us new life.

 

Yet, many do not ask for His mercy. Many live outside the grace God wants so eagerly to pour out. Jesus told Sister Faustina to record His messages in a diary, so the world would know how much He desires to give us His mercy. I once read that what saddens Jesus most is that so many reject His mercy here on earth, and so He cannot give it to them in eternity. Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, if we choose to ask God for forgiveness, He will forgive us—completely and freely—because He is Mercy itself. But if we reject that mercy, God respects our freedom and allows us to keep our sins, which leads us to be judged by our own choices. Knowing this, Jesus asked that the Second Sunday of Easter be set aside as a day to honor His Divine Mercy, giving souls a special opportunity to return to Him. Scripture reminds us again and again that God’s mercy endures forever, and that He does not desire the death of a sinner, but that they be converted and live. This Sunday is a powerful reminder: Yes, we fall. Yes, we sin. But with God, there is always a second chance—a third, a hundredth, a millionth—if we only ask. God forgives as much as we are willing to ask for forgiveness. That’s why He gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a concrete way to receive His mercy.

 

In the Gospel this weekend, we hear Jesus say to Peter: “Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.” With these words, Jesus entrusts the power to forgive sins to Peter and, through him, to the Church. Our bishops are the successors of the Apostles, and priests receive this sacred ministry at ordination. Confession, then, is not just a ritual—it is the ordinary way Christ offers us forgiveness.

 

Now, a few words about the death of Pope Francis. Like every pope before him, he served the Church to the best of his ability. Some may have admired him deeply, others may have struggled with certain decisions he made. But if God entrusted him with the care of the Church, then we, as the faithful, are called to support and pray for our shepherd. I believe his papacy was necessary—especially for those who felt forgotten or left on the margins. Pope Francis was known as the “People’s Pope” he made people feel welcome and loved. As we await the election of a new pope, let us pray earnestly. A conclave will soon gather the cardinals under the age of 80 in the Sistine Chapel, where they will vote for the next successor of Peter. This is a sacred and serious responsibility. Let us all unite in prayer for this process, and for the one whom God is calling to lead His Church. Pope Francis began his pontificate by humbly asking us to pray for him. That request remains just as vital now—for his soul, for his successor, and for all those in Church leadership. Bishops and priests face many challenges in shepherding God's people, including their own human weaknesses and the demands of the world we live in. So I ask you: pray for us, but especially pray for the man who will become our next pope. He will not be perfect, and he may not always make the decisions we expect. But as our shepherd, he deserves our prayers, our support, and our attentive hearts.

 

God Bless,

Fr. Steven

 

 

From Father Steven - January 25, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • January 23, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, As we come to the end of January, it is certainly a good time to have a deep sense of gratitude in recognition that we are truly loved by God and that we are called to spread that love to everyone. Perhaps today we could take some time to think about God’s goodness to us and how He invites us to share our faith with those who have not yet heard the Good News. For our annual Mission Appeal for 2025 (sorry for the delay!), Sister Lisa Valentini, MSC, a Missionary Sister of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, is coming here to Marlborough next weekend to share with all of us about the Missionary endeavors of her Sisters in Mission around the globe. Right now, the MSC Sisters who are serving in a place called Kurugodu in the Bellary area of Karnataka State in India, have a specific project for which they are in desperate need of support: They need to build an addition onto their elementary school. When Sister Lisa was in India six years ago, there were 550 students in Sacred Heart of Jesus School. Now, there are 1,400 students and the school continues to GROW. Sister Lisa will share with us how the children in Sacred Heart are coming to know about Jesus because the MSC Sisters are there. There are two ways of being a Missionary: One is to GIVE by GOING – which is what the MSC Sisters do… the other is to GO by GIVING. . . This Mission Appeal gives us the opportunity to “GIVE” so that we can be a part of the Missionary work of the MSC Sisters. We will be having a second collection next weekend to help them in their mission. We always invite you to be generous to them as God has been generous to us! On a separate but related topic, I would like to highlight that here in the parish, we also have 2 women who are missionaries. Jackie Chung is currently serving the college students of University of Rhode Island in Providence through Focus. Along with other missionaries, they evangelize other young adults who are studying at URI. They try to touch their lives and rekindle God’s love by offering them opportunities to encounter Jesus, either by bible study groups, retreats, or peer to peer conversations. This is her second year. The other person is Janet Guzman. She is in her third year in mission in Turks and Caicos through the Neocatechumenal Way. Although the surroundings are beautiful, she is currently serving the underprivileged local population in a school that the local parish opened a few years ago. The whole school is run by women who have heard the call from the Lord to serve. Some are trained professional teachers while others serve in other capacities. Janet is very happy working with the children and teaching them about the love of God and a few other things. We also have 5 seminarians from the parish. We have one parishioner in a seminary and 4 seminarians that were adopted by the parish. Leonardo Orellana after discerning his vocation, desired to follow the call to be a missionary priest and was assigned to a seminary in Washington, DC. Then we have the guys that you usually see around, Deacon Javier, Alex, Henry, and Michael (that is currently in mission in California). There are a few young people who are also discerning their vocation. Some have felt called to serve God as priests, others as nuns, missionaries, or holy couples. It is very important that we pray for them EVERYDAY! It is not easy to be young these days. There are many challenges that we didn’t face when we were young. We priests also ask for your prayers so that we can continue serving the people and doing God’s work! There is much hope for the future! Although the news and politics seem to paint a gloomy picture, the future is very bright!!! Let us never lose hope! God Bless, Fr. Steven 

From Father Steven - January 18, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • January 16, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, This week I would like to share with you some news from our parish. We had a great year during the Jubilee, with many wonderful events. There are also some updates on other things that are happening that people may not be aware of. Lastly, we have a few upcoming events that I would like to bring to your attention. In the past fiscal year (July 2024–June 2025), many people accepted the grace of receiving the sacraments. We had 65 baptisms, 95 confirmations, and 82 First Communions. Some of these were received by adults, others by teenagers, and most by children. We also had 29 couples married during this time. Another statistic worth noting is the number of funerals celebrated. We honored the lives of 76 brothers and sisters who were called home to the Lord. Looking back on the year 2025 as a whole, there were many beautiful moments in our parish life. A few are worth highlighting. In January, we took 56 pilgrims to the March for Life, and we will be doing so again this week. We were also blessed to be designated a Jubilee Pilgrimage Site for the Jubilee Year. After forming four planning groups, we began offering Adoration and Confessions Monday through Friday from 6:00–7:00 p.m. Countless people experienced the mercy of God during this time. We also offered talks three times a week—one in each language—with excellent speakers covering a wide variety of themes. Throughout the year, we hosted 11 retreats and welcomed special guests for various events, including Immaculée Ilibagiza and Sean Forrest. We also held our annual Corpus Christi procession and Parish Festival, both of which were very well attended. We began a bereavement ministry and launched a new parish group, Friends in Faith. In addition, we enjoyed several social events, such as fish fries, bingo, Spanish Family Night, and other dinners. We conducted a parish-wide 33 Days Consecration to Mary and celebrated the Marian feasts of Our Lady of the Rosary, Our Lady of Aparecida, the Immaculate Conception, and Our Lady of Guadalupe. This last celebration marked the first visit of our Archbishop, Richard Henning. This is a very brief summary of the 45 events we held in 2025. Looking ahead, we will have 24-hour Adoration this Sunday, taking advantage of the holiday. (If you are able, please sign up online so we can ensure all hours are covered.) Then, on Thursday, 55 youth will travel on pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to participate in the March for Life. On the weekend of January 31–February 1, Sister Lisa, MSC, will be with us for the Mission Appeal. On February 15, after the 11:00 a.m. Mass, we will hold the annual Anointing of the Sick in observance of the World Day of the Sick. As noted on our cover page, we will host a couples’ retreat on February 21. This will be a wonderful opportunity for couples to rekindle their love for one another. Lent will begin on February 18 with Ash Wednesday. Finally, on February 28, Sister Olga will visit the parish to give two talks: one for women and young ladies on vocation, and another open to the public (topic to be determined). One more novelty, we are very happy to introduce you to Ms. Gabriella Lindhurst as our new Music Director. She got her music degrees from Assumption College (Bachelor) and Notre Dame (Masters). She comes from Southborough and has sang and performed in many different places for the past 10 years. Please make sure to welcome her as you see her this weekend.  There are many other things happening in our parish, but I wanted to share just some of them with you. These events are inspired by the Holy Spirit to fill us with grace and bring us closer to Jesus. I understand that some events may feel challenging or even intimidating, but I encourage you to ask yourself, “Is God calling me to attend this?” If you have any questions or need clarification, please feel free to contact the parish office. As John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to those around him, so do we. Hopefully, one day we can all say, “Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.” God Bless, Fr. Steven