Cale is working with Father Harlow this summer. You may have met our seminarian after he arrived at the parish earlier this week. From Williston, VT, Cale will return to Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD in the fall. He graduated from Providence College in Rhode Island in 2022.

Come join the Eucharistic Procession after the 11:30 AM Mass at St. John. The procession will head to the Lively Center, where there will be a free cookout of hamburgers, hotdogs, and salads.

We have returned 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. .

Join us two Friday evenings in June for the showing of two episodes each week of this popular series. Come for dinner in the St. Elizabeth parish hall before the show, or just attend the videos, June 2 and 9. Dinner at 5:00 PM, The Chosen viewings at 5:30 PM. Don't miss it!

The next coffee hour will be at St. Elizabeth Sunday, June 4 after the 9:35 AM Mass. The Good Shepherd Youth Group is the host for this week's gathering. They'll have goodies and crafts for the children, so head downstairs for food and fellowship after Mass.

Sunday, June 4 at 3 PM at St. John the Evangelist Church, Fr. Harlow will conduct a Eucharistic healing service in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament which will include the laying on of hands for individual needs. It is open to the public.

Please gather at the Calvary scene statues in St. Elizabeth Cemetery at 9:30 AM when Fr. Harlow will bless graves. Blessings will take place at Mt. Calvary Cemetery at 10:30 AM.

The adjacent windows will connect you to interesting interviews with our pastor from about three years ago. Father Harlow talks about his years as a priest and his ordination day.

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.

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.

Here is the Mass schedule for Ascension Thursday: 8:30 AM at St. John; 12:00 Noon at Queen of Peace; 7:00 PM at St. Elizabeth. There is no parish vigil Mass on Wednesday.

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.

The class will pray the rosary at St. John this Sunday, May 7 at 11:00 AM. Please join our candidates as they prayerfully prepare for their reception of the Sacrament.

Sunday, May 7 will be a great day for our First Communion class as ten students receive Our Lord for the first time. St. Elizabeth communicants will make their First Communion at the 9:35 AM Mass. St. John's children will receive at the 11:30 AM Mass.

This devotion grew popular after Our Lady of Fatima spoke of it during her appearances to the shepherd children in that small Portuguese town in 1917. The Blessed Mother asked us to perform these devotions as reparation for sins against her Immaculate Heart and for the conversion of Russia: go to Confession within eight days before the First Saturday; attend Mass and receive Holy Communion; pray five decades of the Rosary; meditate on the Mysteries of the Rosary for 15 minutes. The Mother of God promised her help at the penitent’s death if these promises were kept.

In the seventeenth century, Our Lord asked French nun, now Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, to honor His Sacred Heart on nine consecutive first Fridays, by attending Holy Mass and receiving Holy Communion. Jesus said, “I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment."

The Confirmation Mass begins at 11:00 AM at St. John. Please pray for our young people receiving this sacrament: Collin Classen, Samuel Giroux, Michael Hawkins, Callum McGregor, Vincent Mello, Brennan Mulligan, Griffin Pierce, Aoife Warner, and Rowan Warner.

This Sunday is Good Shepherd Sunday, referring to the Gospel passage where Our Lord describes this faithful guardian who “walks ahead of them.” The sheep hear his voice and follow out of trust in his care for them. Christ is the promised Good Shepherd. In keeping with this theme, we recite Psalm 23, “The Lord is My Shepherd.” In the readings, St. Peter exhorts the crowd to repent and be baptized, and in his letter, reminds his readers of Christ’s suffering, and how like, sheep we went astray, and must return to the fold.

Starting Monday, April 24 through May 12, the parish office will be open on these days at these hours: Monday through Thursday, 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. Regular hours resume Monday, May 15.