From Father Steven - January 21, 2024

Father Steven Clemence • January 19, 2024

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

 

As you may know, we as a parish collaborate closely with two pregnancy help centers, Birthright and First Concern. This weekend we will be having a fundraiser drive for First Concern to help them in their mission to assist women in need. I have asked Megan Paradis, the Executive Director of First Concern, to write a letter to be shared with the parish.

 

God Bless,

Fr. Steven

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This weekend we commemorate Sanctity of Human Life Sunday-a day we set aside every year to focus on the value of every human life. It is estimated that 64 million abortions have been performed in the United States since 1973. The theme for the 51st Annual March for Life is “With Every Woman, For Every Child”, and honors the work of pregnancy centers and maternity homes, focusing on the need to care for mother and child during the nine months of pregnancy and in the years after.

At First Concern PRC we show women that even if the world is telling her it’s too hard to have her baby, we will walk this journey with her. When a woman has decided to carry her child, we continue to offer pregnancy and parenting education, material help she may need, and emotional support. When people look at what First Concern is, we hope that you see our commitment to “Love them both”. We have revised our mission statement to reflect both the women we help, and the children they carry.  Affirming the humanity and life of the preborn child, we empower women and men facing unplanned pregnancies to choose alternatives to abortion by offering education, life skills, compassion and hope.

 

Two years ago, Immaculate Conception generously raised the needed funds for the ultrasound machine at First Concern. I spoke of the lives we hoped to save and the women we hoped to help. As we look back at 2023, the first year we offered ultrasound confirmation services with your partnership, we see God’s hand in all things. We served 56 women with ultrasound, and your support directly saved 23 little lives. Women who are considering abortion are finding us and through compassionate care coupled with ultrasound are choosing life!

 

What we have found since partnering with the medical office is that we are meeting women who have complicated lives, and they have been told that abortion is the solution to a whole host of problems. The nurses and our advocates have worked with women who are homeless, women in abusive relationships, in poverty, or addicted to substances. So often we hear that women with these hardships need access to abortion- we have a had a year with examples where women needed compassionate support to get out of these circumstances AND choose their child. One woman from Guatemala found us when she was already in her 3rd trimester, homeless with a young daughter in tow. She hadn’t had any prenatal care; she didn’t even know her due date. Ultrasound confirmed that she was almost 34 weeks along! We worked quickly to find her shelter, medical care, and community resources. Eventually she and her daughter moved into a maternity home, welcomed a baby boy, and are thriving. August 2023 was our most impactful month yet. We had the privilege of walking with five women who reached out for help as either abortion minded, or undecided about their pregnancies. Our incredible staff educated them on their options, the support they would find on their parenting journey, and provided them with ultrasounds in the medical office. All five of these brave moms chose life for their babies and are grateful for the compassionate support they found inside our doors. Rejoice with us over all these new families, but especially a young woman who pushed back against fear, was referred to safe shelter, and welcomed her twin boys this fall! Your support helped reach these women and empowered them to choose their babies, and we could not be more thankful. Some women visit our centers once, while other women return for weekly support. Through parenting groups, education, and community support, we touched the lives of almost 200 women.

 

This weekend you can help support the life-saving work of First Concern. We have an Amazon wish list with needed baby items for the boutique. Every month we give out up to 5 car seats, several bassinets, dozens of packages of diapers, formula, and many other necessities for babies & toddlers, completely free of charge. We depend on partners to donate these new items, so now it’s even easier to buy through your amazon account and have the items shipped right to us. Another way to support the mission is to give a financial contribution today so that we can change the trajectory of someone’s life tomorrow. The link to donate can be found at firstconcernfriends.org, and there will also be a collection of funds at each mass. Your generous gifts will provide: $2,500 - all the services necessary for 1 woman; $1,250 - ultrasound confirmation services for 1 week; $750 - utilities for 1 month; $500 - google advertising for 1 month; $150 - Brightcourse Education for 1 month. We have been blessed by your care of First Concern through your donations, time, and talents. Thank you!

 

With you, for LIFE,

Megan Paradis, Executive Director

 

From Father Steven - April 19, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • April 17, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, I hope you are having a blessed Easter season and were able to enjoy some of the beautiful weather we had recently. This week, we will be launching our annual parish raffle, as we do each year. This is one of our main parish fundraisers. Although our parishioners are always very generous, this year we have incurred unexpected expenses due to snow removal and increased utility costs. This raffle helps us cover some of those expenses. In addition to supporting our parish, the raffle also contributes to the priestly formation at the Redemptoris Mater Seminary. Years ago, several pastors came together and saw this as a meaningful way to support both our parishes and the seminary. You can find more details online, but approximately 60% of the proceeds from tickets sold remain with the parish, 20% covers expenses, and 20% supports the formation of new priests for the Archdiocese of Boston. It is truly a win-win-win situation. Each ticket costs $20. The prizes include a 2026 Honda Ridgeline (pickup truck), a 2026 Honda Civic Sport, and $15,000 in cash prizes (five prizes of $2,000 and five prizes of $1,000). The drawing will take place on September 27th. The success of the raffle depends greatly on parishioners who are willing to help sell tickets to family and friends. You will have until September 13th to sell tickets and return the envelopes to the parish office. For the first time, we are offering an incentive: whoever sells the most tickets will receive a $400 prize. During the initial phase, which will take place this weekend and next, we will offer envelopes containing 20 tickets for those who would like to take them home to sell. Additional envelopes will be available at the parish office. At a later date, tickets will also be sold at Mass (before and after the summer). For those who would prefer to purchase individual tickets, they are always available at the parish office through Lee Ann. We invite you to consider helping us this year. Last year, our parish raised $18,045 in profit from the raffle. Altogether, participating parishes contributed $115,000 to support the seminary. We hope to surpass that amount this year. Please feel free to reach out if you need more information. I would like to thank you for your continued generosity to the parish, to those in need, and for all that you do quietly and faithfully. It is a privilege to witness your kindness. Additionally, I ask for your prayers for the upcoming celebrations of the sacraments. Next week, children from the Brazilian community will receive their First Communion on Saturday, followed by the Spanish community on Sunday. The English community will celebrate First Communion the following week at the 11:00 a.m. Mass. Many couples will also be receiving the sacrament of marriage in the coming months. Finally, our youth will receive the sacrament of Confirmation on May 29th in Portuguese and on June 5th in English & Spanish. That same season, we will celebrate our annual Eucharistic procession on the Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) on June 7th. If you have never participated, I encourage you to mark your calendars and join us. Some parishioners begin preparing a sawdust carpet in the early hours of  the morning and finish just in time for the procession. It is a beautiful tradition that honors the Body and Blood of Christ. God Bless, Fr. Steven

From Father Steven - April 12, 2026

By Father Steven Clemence • April 10, 2026
Dear Brothers and Sisters, HAPPY EASTER!!! We are still celebrating Easter (and we will continue until Pentecost!). I would like to share with you this weekend the article that the Archdiocese has written in response to some media requests to comment on the rise of people coming back to the faith. Over the past 4 years we have seen a steady and significant increase in non-Christians [or unbaptized] becoming Catholic during the Easter season. Regarding specifically catechumens participating in the Rite of Election, these are the numbers for the Archdiocese of Boston: 2023: we had 299; 2024 - 360; 2025-438; 2026-680. What’s the reason? Probably a combination of factors including a fundamental need to be closer to God. The first observation is that we believe it to be the direct action of the Holy Spirit, and not simply a sociological phenomenon or the success of some program or another. In fact, Archbishop Henning has said that “this seems to be something that the Lord is doing - the Spirit of the Lord is always at work in the world and in the Church and we are happy to see such a response in people’s hearts to Jesus’ call to follow Him.” The Archbishop notes that ”we seek to cooperate with the action of the Spirit; but it is His work, not ours.” Has Pope Leo had an impact? Yes. It’s not just being the First American Pope; it is that he has captured a sense of community with Catholics across the world and very clearly in the US Catholic Church. The wave had been growing before his election but is now picking up speed and size. There is a sense of spiritual renewal in the Archdiocese of Boston. We have seen it in our parishes across the Archdiocese. Archbishop Henning has put an emphasis on engaging with Catholics across the archdiocese at the parish level and in our schools, with a particular focus on youth and young adults. In a recent interview, Patrick Krisak, the archdiocese’s director of faith formation and missionary discipleship said, “There may not be a revival across the country, but there are revivals,” he said. “And at what point do all of those pockets of revival that we’re seeing all over the country add up to a revival?” The two main categories of folks we see being welcomed into the Church are children/adolescents, who mostly did not receive their sacraments on the typical schedule, and adults. A key component is the work at the parish level in welcoming and accompanying families where adults and children seek to join communities of faith. In addition, Rev. Eric Cadin, Director of Vocations with the Archdiocese, said that “among college age young people, there is a profound openness to the big questions. This includes questions such as, where do I come from? What is my purpose? What does all this mean? More importantly, so many who are exposed to division and even cruelty, especially online, as well as in real life, are actively resisting and moving away from that. And it leads them to an openness to faith, especially one that promotes love your enemy. That is a radical truth, that captivates young people, especially in the world in which we live. They meet people in the church who engage their real questions with generosity and grace and mercy, and it is very attractive to them.” Here in the parish we are happy to announce that 39 people received Baptism on Easter, and 3 people were welcomed into the Catholic Faith (they were baptized Protestant). Some of them were children, others teenagers, and some adults as well. They were baptized, confirmed and received their first communion all together. Please continue to pray for them as they really began their journey and for those who are still being called into the faith. Congratulations to all of you that received your sacraments and we look forward to walking along with you!  Finally, I would like to invite you all to the Divine Mercy celebration that will take place this Sunday at 3:00pm in the Church. If you have never attended, it is a beautiful moment! If you are not familiar with it, search about and be ready to be marveled by it. God Bless, Fr. Steven