From Father Steven - August 3, 2025

Father Steven Clemence • August 1, 2025

 

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

Please see the letter below from Jackie, one of our parishioners, who is a FOCUS missionary at the University of Rhode Island.

 

God Bless,

Fr. Steven

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Dear Parishioners,

 

My name is Jacqueline (Jackie) and I’ve been serving as a FOCUS missionary at the University of Rhode Island for the past year- you may recognize me from last summer when I gave a short talk about the mission. Thank you so much for your generosity in your prayers and financial gifts, the mission work we do would not be possible without you.

 

FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) is an apostolate that sends missionaries to college campuses in order to share the Gospel and make disciples. We fulfill the Great Commission through the little way of evangelization. Each missionary invests deeply in a few and teaches them to do the same. We build them up in the habits of Christian disciples- helping them to grow in the life of prayer, the Sacraments, the teachings of the Church, and fellowship. Then we send them out to make more disciples. This is how we will reach the entire campus and the entire world.

 

There was a team of missionaries at UMass Amherst while I was there for my undergraduate degree. Through their example of true Christian friendship and their witness to the faith, I was led to an encounter with Christ. The Father had begun to strip away any false images I had of who God was and who I was, leading me to security in the Truth, Jesus. In my junior year at UMass, I had opportunities to lead Bible studies and lead other women in the faith. My heart came alive while serving God and His Church, and I desired to answer the call to be His missionary.

 

As I reflect on this first year of mission, I am in awe of the transformation in Christ I’ve seen in my students and in myself. To be invited into my students' lives and to be with them in the joys and sorrows is something I cherish deeply. I’ve gotten to teach them the beauty of our faith and the importance of a personal relationship with God. The Father wishes to bring home many of his children in this jubilee year of hope and we as missionaries get to share in the ache and the joy of this journey.

 

I am blessed to be returning for another year to serve the students at the University of Rhode Island. FOCUS missionaries are responsible for fundraising their entire salary each year. If you would like to hear more about the mission or how you could support me with your prayers or financial gifts, please send me an email at jacqueline.chung@focus.org. Thank you in advance for your prayers, and be assured of my prayers for you.

 

In the Hearts of the Holy Family,

Jackie Chung

 

 

From Father Steven - August 23, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • August 19, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I hope you are enjoying your summer! I, along with some of the youth of our parish, attended the Steubenville East conference in Springfield a few weeks ago. It is a 3 day catholic conference for high school teens to encounter Christ through eucharistic adoration, the sacraments and dynamic sessions all produced by Lifeteen and Franciscan University. The conference was attended by thousands of youth from all over New England with the hope to ignite life long discipleship in our teens. We have asked one of our youth to share with you a bit of his experience. Please see the letter written by Gabriel Torres below. God Bless, Fr. Gabriel ——————————————— Hello and Happy Sunday, or whenever it is that you read this. I am Gabriel Torres and I am a part of the youth group here, at Immaculate Conception. We, the youth, Fr. Gabriel, and a handful of chaperones recently attended a life changing 3 day Steubenville conference in Springfield. And when I say life changing, I really mean it. I thought the same as you, when Cecilia, our religious education director told us about it. I wanted to go, but was kinda doubting that it could be that fun and life changing, as it is a big statement. I thought that it would just be us, listening to priests talk about Jesus, and I would have gone for that, but it turned out to be so much more. On the first day after the first talk and mini worship concert (with a mosh pit and everything), we were asked to come up with one word to describe how we felt about the conference so far. The word that I chose was Connection. And I still agree, and I think anyone that went would agree. Just feeling the connection between yourself and the Lord, and how that connection spread between each signing heart was just purely gorgeous and fulfilling. Seeing thousands of youth come together and praise the Lord was inspiring. The conference was fun with singing and dancing breaks, with people trying to be as close to the music as possible, and games that got the whole center laughing, all the way down to the serious moments when the speakers were speaking the truths of our hearts. The way that you could just raise your hands and pray to the Lord without having to worry what others might think, but instead feeling the connection to those around you and feeling how through God we were all connected, loved, and worthy, brought tears to even those of us who ‘never’ cry. There was just a rawness at this conference that I have never felt anywhere else. So, if you are a youth, teen, or know someone who might be interested in this conference, I encourage you to come next year. If you have friends that are not fully in the faith, or are Christian and not Catholic, invite them. A Christian teen that I got closer to at the conference told us on day one that he didn’t fully understand everything we did or why, but that he believed in Jesus Christ and that he wanted to follow Jesus, wherever it took him. And that was here. Thank you to all who donated to make this possible, and thank you for allowing us to experience the Lord in a new way. Thank you, and God Bless you all. Your brother in Christ, Gabriel Torres

From Father Steven - August 16, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • August 14, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I hope you are enjoying your summer! Please see the letter below from Fr. Javier. God Bless, Fr. Steven ——————————————— Hello Brothers and Sisters, Time flies, it has already been a few months since my ordination but I feels like it was only yesterday. The ordination has been a gift and a joy. Thank you all for your support in my formation. I would like to share with you two things that have been close to my heart since my ordination to the deaconate and now the priesthood. The first is on God's Providence and the second is a particular part of the Eucharist. My diaconate ordination marked the end of my time of mission and my return for the final year in the seminary. As many of you might remember I was in mission in American Samoa, Samoa, and a short but impactful time in Saipan. During that time I experienced how God opened doors that I never even knew existed. In difficult times God always had a solution in ways that I didn't expect. In short, I experienced God's Providence and I was awe-struck. I felt that God was my Father who was providing what I needed. Looking ahead into my priesthood, I know that there will be challenging moments but I have these core memorials that serve to remind me that God provides the grace needed to carry out his will. Providence comes to you when you seek out God and his will, everything else falls into place. Now as a priest there is a particular part of the Eucharist that I really enjoy, the Holy sung during the Eucharistic Prayer. "Heaven and Earth are full of your glory". That line has stuck with me because it calls to mind all the wonders that I have seen God work in my life, the life of my family, and in the lives of others. Not only this, but the action of singing Holy, Holy, Holy during the Liturgy fulfills our heavenly calling to one day join the angels and saints in Heaven singing the perpetual praises of God. The Book of Revelations says that they never cease to sing Holy, Holy, Holy. In the Eucharist, and in this moment in particular Heaven and Earth come together. What a blessing to celebrate the Eucharist! I remember you in my prayers, please pray for me. In Christ, Fr Javier Alexis Padilla