Luan Tran will be ordained to the transitional diaconate Saturday, June 1 at a Mass beginning at 10:00 AM, at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Burlington. The Mass will be livestreamed from the diocesan website. https://www.vermontcatholic.org/news/communication/tv-mass/

The Mary Garden and the garden around the monument to the souls of unborn children need smooth oval or round stones for an edging. Sherry Alix has more information at 603-838-5353. Please drop off donated rocks at St. John before or after Masses.

Our parish will mark its special feast day beginning with the Family Fun Day and Golf Tournament Saturday, June 1 at Grandad's Invitational in Newark. Golf registration and the Silent Auction start at 8:00 AM. The Golf Tournament shotgun start is at 9:00 AM. Yard games will run throughout the morning. Free food is available starting at 10:00 AM. The Silent Auction closes at 11:00 AM, when we'll announce the winners. Sunday, June 2, at 10:45 AM at St. Elizabeth, following the 9:35 AM Mass, we'll form a Eucharistic Procession, and take part in Benediction and a Blessing. An ice cream social follows at St. Elizabeth. There will be chairs and tables but lawn chairs are welcome.

Paige is stepping down from her parish office position at the end of June, but she will continue her parish work for programs such as Life Teen. Her position is 20 hours per week, 8:00 Am to 12:00 Noon, Monday through Friday. Please call Paige or Father Harlow if you wish to apply for the position or would like more information.

Four-person teams are invited to sign up for the Corpus Christi Golf Tournament Saturday, June 1 at the Grandad Invitational Golf Course in Newark. Registration includes free lunch and a goodie bag. Forms are in all three churches. The tourney is part of a family fun day to raise money for repairs to the St. John basement. A silent auction, yard games, a 50-50 raffle, and more activities are on the schedule. Please contact Chase or Paige Lindholm for more information: [email protected], 920-323-551.

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.

At Mass this last Sunday of Easter, before we celebrate Pentecost and other great Sunday feasts, we hear first from Peter, who recounts the choosing of Judas Iscariot’s replacement, Matthias. This apostle’s feast day is Tuesday, May 14. The psalmist reminds us of Our Lord’s majesty: “For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.” St. John also delivers a familiar message: “if we love another, God remains in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us.” Last, we return to Jesus at the Last Supper in John’s Gospel, where Our Lord in his last discourse gives us so many gems of faith – “ Consecrate them in the truth.”

Father Harlow will bless graves at St. Elizabeth and at Mount Calvary Cemeteries Monday, May 27. At St. Elizabeth, please meet at 10:00 AM at the Calvary scene. At Mt. Calvary, please meet at 10:45 AM at the Calvary scene.

This period is called “ordinary” because the weeks are numbered in order – 2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. The priest’s vestments are green. After Pentecost Sunday, our church’s Easter decorations come down but 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 and delving into one aspect, His Passion, Death, Resurrection, Ascension and the sending of the Advocate, as we did during Lent, Holy Week, and the Easter Season. 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. We use daily Mass readings for Year II in 2024, and Year B for Sundays, when we read mostly St. Mark's and some of St. John's Gospels.