This Week's Message
from Fr. Amesse
May 12, 2024

Dionne Warwick didn’t mean it when she sang “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.”  Burt Bacharach wrote the tune.  On the stage, the night of April 25, at the Auditorium, were the singer’s son and granddaughter.  So, Dionne, a mother and grandmother, fell in love, again.  

What is love?  According to St. Paul…”Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude.  Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.“ (1 Corinthians 13).  Happy Mother’s Day! 

How different from Dionne’s song, meant to entertain…“What do you get when you fall in love?  A guy with a pin to burst your bubble.  What do you get when you kiss a guy?  You get enough germs to catch pneumonia.”  In spite of the pins, and pneumonia, our moms gave us life, because they heeded St. Paul. 

In the middle of May, we recall the gentle presence of another mother, Mary!  Hopefully, when we were near our own mothers, we were at ease, most of the time.  With Mary, the weary, discouraged heart, disturbed by storms, find new hope and strength and live with fresh courage.

“If the winds of temptation arise,” says St. Bernard, “if you run into the reefs of trials, look to the star, call upon Mary.  In danger, sorrow, or perplexity, think of Mary, call upon Mary.”  Mary comes to meet us this month and today, on Mother’s Day.  We stand on life’s stage with Her, in order to love, like St. Paul.

I remember you at Mass!

May is the month
of Our Lady

In the Gospel of Luke, the Incarnation is announced with these words: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee (Douay-Rheims). Much of the history of Catholic-Protestant debates is really a tug-of-war over the second Greek word in that salutation, translated in English as ‘full of grace.’ But the first word in that greeting also speaks volumes about who Mary is and what has fundamentally changed in the order of creation with the Incarnation: Hail.

But hail is much more than just a synonym of hello with a bold exclamation point after it. In the ancient Roman world, hail—in the Latin, ave—was used to address Roman emperors. Hail was still used as exclamation in Shakespeare, most often to address a royal person or some other person of superior status. In Hamlet, this is how the tragic prince is greeted by his friend, Horatio: Hail to your lordship! (Act 1, scene 2). In the Tempest, when the merchant Prospero summons his servant, the man responds: All hail, great master! (Act 1, scene 2). And of course, we find Hail Caesar more than once in the play, Julius Caesar.

Legion of Mary
at the Shrine

Meetings are held in the downstairs Conference Hall each week after the Sunday 12:00 noon Mass.

The Legion of Mary is a Marian movement founded in Ireland in the 1920’s. It is currently the largest apostolic organization of lay people in the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis’ May
Prayer Intention

We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.

Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Brazil

Four young Oblates from the Eastern U.S. arrived in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1945, after difficult travel in the immediate post-war period.  The Superior was Lowell native, Father Walter Mooney, OMI.  Beginning with ministry to the English-speaking colony of the area, they and succeeding U.S. Oblates were assigned to outlying priest-less districts and the desperately poor urban favela slums of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife, and Belen in the Amazonian north.

Several Oblates were targeted by the authoritarian regime for imprisonment and even torture because of their championing the interest of the indigenous people and the poor of the city of Recife whom they served.

Joined the 1960’s and 1970’s by Oblate missionaries from the Central U.S., Canada, France, Belgium and Ireland and an increasing number of Brazilian Oblates, the Brazilian Province now numbers 65 priests, Brothers and seminarians in four districts.  They work to extend the Word and Work of the Gospel through pastoral ministry, social services, and the formation and support of Basic Christian communities throughout the vast country.

The vast favela slums of the cities where Oblates have lived and served.

When the small group of Oblates was endangered by forces threatening to destroy it, you turned in prayer to Mary Immaculate, and in front of her statue you received the assurance that you were doing the will of the Savior.

 St. Eugene, guide us to the Savior in our time of need!

St. Joseph
Head of the Holy Family
Pray for us!

Litany of St. Joseph

Praying with the Stained Glass Windows of
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

Part I - The 100 Year+ Windows Series
Part II - The St. Joseph Windows

Self-Guided Tour
St. Joseph the Worker Shrine

View Twilight Stations of the Cross March 29

Ring the Bells of the Shrine

Everyday of the year, the “Bells of St. Joseph” ring-out God’s praise for all to hear!

Our Carillon can play Special Hymns of your choice any day of the year. At your request, our chimes will ring in honor of loved ones for the entire community to hear and prayerfully remember.Your offering of $20.00 will be greatly appreciated and will assist us in maintaining the Shrine and its ministries. Thank You!

Bell-ringing selections may be reserved for specific days & times throughout the year(s) in the Shrine Gift Shop/Bookstore.

St. Eugene de Mazenod’s Prayer to the Sorrowful Mother

 O Lord, Almighty God, you endowed the Blessed Virgin Mary with the fullness of every gift and grace. By allowing her heart to be pierced with the deepest sorrow, you crowned her merit and placed her at the head of countless legions of martyrs who, for love of your Son Jesus Christ, have shed their blood. Through the painful martyrdom endured by this gentle Mother seeing her beloved Son dying as a Victim because of his love for us, grant us the grace to bear with fortitude the disappointments and setbacks in our life, and not to fear torment or death itself, when we are called to confess our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

Click to Light a Candle 
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Click on the Image to view the prayer of Consecration of Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary

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Confession

Mon - Friday
10:00 am - noon
4:30 pm - 5:15 pm

Saturday 
10:00 am - 1:00 pm

First Wednesday of the month

Eucharistic Adoration

The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed for adoration on -

Saturday after the noon Mass until the 4:00 pm Mass
First Fridays after the noon Mass until the 5:30 pm Mass

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