April 5th, 2020| Palm Sunday the Lord’s Passion | (823)

85 Main Street / Ashburnham, Massachusetts 01430

Saint Denis Parish

LORD’S DAY MASSES Saturday — 4:30 pm

Sunday — 8:00 & 10:30 am

DAILY MASSES

Monday — Wednesday 9:00 am

RECONCILIATION Saturday 3:30 — 4:00 pm

or by appointment

OFFICE HOURS

Monday — Thursday

10:00 - 3:00pm.

Office 24/7 available

on website:

www.saintdenisashburnham.com

Bulletin requests, Prayer requests

Mass Intentions, Event Tickets

Calendar requests, Join Parish

PRIEST ADMINISTRATOR Fr Richard Reidy

508-981-5993

rreidy@worcesterdiocese.org

DEACON Deacon Richard DesJardins

978-343-6367

SECRETARY/OFFICE Andrew W. Gage

StDenis@comcast.net

978-827-5806

RELIGIOUS ED. OFFICE Administrator of Rel ED

Kimberly Brown

978-827–4892

Cell 508-331-0162

StDenisRE@comcast.net

SAINT VINCENT de PAUL

978-790-1923

BAPTISMS Deacon Richard DesJardins

978-343-6367

NOTIFY THE RECTORY 978-827-5806

Visitation of the sick & elderly

Weddings, Funerals,

Pastoral Care, etc.

St Denis Cemetery Kelton Rd

Ashburnham, MA 01430

978-827-5806

https://saintdenisashburnham.org/cemetery

www.SaintDenisAshburnham.com

Join Flock Notes: Text “StDenis85” to 84576

Join Formed https://formed.org Use Code 6DF8JG

Next Week: April 12th, 2020 Easter Sunday the Resurection of the Lord| Acts 10:34a, 37-43, Col 3: 1-4, John 20: 1-9

DRIVE-BY CONFESSIONS

Father Reidy will be available for confessions on

Saturdays 3:30 pm-4 pm, Good Friday, April 10, from

5 pm to 6 pm, and on Holy Saturday from 3:30 to 4:30

pm. Fr. Reidy will be outside in the rear of the Church

parking lot. Anyone wanting to go to Confession can

approach in their car, lower the window, and make

their Confession from their car while maintaining a

safe distance. If there is a car ahead of you, please keep

a distance back from the car next to Fr. Reidy so that

we can assure the confidentiality of the sacrament. If

more than one person in a single-car wishes to confess,

the Church will be open for people to wait their turn so

only one person needs to be in the car at a time. If a

non-driver wishes to make a Confession, the driver can

pull up, exit the car and return after the Confession is

complete. Please note that the confessions will only be

face to face.

PRAYER IN TIME OF PANDEMIC

O God, whose Only Begotten Son bore

the weight of human suffering for our salvation,

hear the prayers of your Church for our sick brothers

and sisters and deliver us from this time of trial.

Open our ears and our hearts

to the voice of your Son:

Be not afraid, for I am with you always.

Bless all doctors and nurses, researchers

and public servants;

give us the wisdom to do what is right

and the faith to endure this hour,

that we might gather

once again to praise your name

in the heart of your Church,

delivered from all distress

and confident in your mercy.

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Keep in touch with what is happening in the church by using

our online version of the Catholic Free Press

www.catholicfreepress.org digital.catholicfreepress.org

The Catholic Free Press

Renew home delivery by using your envelope

or Online Giving on the parish website

If you receive the Catholic Free Press

through the Parish, please donate this

March using Online Giving!

Church Open/Parish Office Closed.

Please note that the Father Lacey Center and the Parish Office will be closed until May 4. The Church will be opened Monday through Friday from 8 am to 8 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 8 am to noon. Please come

by to pray in the presence of Our Lord at Saint Denis Church. Please respect social distancing in the Church as well as a maximum occupancy of 9 at any one time

Palms on Palm Sunday Distribution of Blessed Palms. Although we will not be able to assemble as a parish this weekend for Palm Sunday, blessed Palms are available and will be distributed in the church parking lot on Sunday from 9 to 10 am. You may pull into the parking lot and a volunteer will distribute palms to you while you remain in your car.

Holy Week

Although there will be no public Holy Week Liturgies at

Saint Denis, the events of Holy Week will be celebrated in

our Church. We regret that for public safety reasons we

cannot physically gather as a full parish and that the

liturgies must be limited to the number of ministers

needed (not more than 10). We are publishing the times

when our liturgies will begin so that you can spiritually

be with us. The Community Access TV station for

Westminister-Ashburnham cannot live-stream the

Liturgies but if our recording of it is successful, we will

upload a video of it for replay on the Town’s Community

Access TV station (schedule to be determined). Please

know that we will be praying for all of our parishioners at

these services.

Palm Sunday 8 am Holy Thursday 7 pm Good Friday 7 pm Holy Saturday 7:30 pm Easter Sunday 8 am

We also regret that there will be no initiations of new

Catholics at the Easter Vigil. A ceremony will be

scheduled when we have gotten through the pandemic

precautions. We will continue to pray for Lisa Smith,

Adalia Perez, Jack Grondell and Lilly Grondell as they

continue to prepare for the completion of their initiation

into the Catholic Church.

Kerry Volke

Joel Rivera Lucy Lamgolier

Fr Bill Cormier

Tim G. Joshua Dale Watson Madeleine Vinluan

Deepa Sathyan

Resmi Jason

Anand Kumar Michele Rios Fatima Rodrigues Roland Mendonca Jason Allen Alexander Liam Howard

Ellen Duffy Steve Dame Chris Perry Magdelena Lovejoy Bob Mary Regina Carolynn McCarthy-Luescher Michele Rios Bob Bryant Christine Harris Warren Walters Tony Chaves Jr. Katy Westhaver Bill Foss Nancy Rosbury Kathleen Hartzell

The Reinmann Family Davis Jaison Daniel Xavier Huidor Rajender sharma Gary Martines Gail Blanche Sheryl Hall Simone Blanche Julie Main Carol Carmody Henna Motwani Sheryl Hall Andrew Gage

Online and TV Sources for Practicing our Faith

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND RESOURCES

How to watch Mass. As public celebration of the Mass

and the obligation to attend have been suspended, you can

watch the Mass on cable TV or streamed on your comput-

er from the following sources:

Diocesan TV Mass from Saint Paul Cathedral:

Cable:

Spectrum (Charter): Channel 193 at 9 am on week-

days and 10 am and 6 pm on Sundays.

Internet:

https://livestream.com/dioceseofworcester/dailymass

(at any time)

Holy Week Schedule:

Palm Sunday 8 AM

Holy Thursday 7 PM

Good Friday 7 PM

Holy Saturday 7:30 PM

Easter Sunday 8 AM

EWTN TV:

Cable:

Spectrum (Charter Cable): TV Channel 18. Mass

shown daily at 8 am, noon, 6:30 pm and midnight.

Comcast: TV Channel 056 and 238

DirectTV: TV Channel 370

Dish: TV Channel 261

Internet:

You can also stream the EWTN Mass on the internet at

the same times at https://www.ewtn.com/tv/watch-live/

united-states.

Other Masses:

Cable:

Catholic TV (from Boston) Spectrum

(Charter) Channel 101; 9:30 am, 12:30

pm, 7 pm and 11:30 pm.

Internet: https://wordonfire.org/daily-mass/

Radio:

EWTN Daily and Sunday Mass at radio stations 1230AM;

970AM; 101.1 FM; courtesy of Emmanuel Radio. Other

Catholic programming available 24/7.

Daily Mass Readings

If you would like to read some Scripture each day, the daily

Mass readings are an ideal way to track the Lenten journey

of Our Lord to Calvary. The readings reveal how much God

loves each one of us. We might ask ourselves three ques-

tions when reading the Scriptures: 1) what does this pas-

sage reveal to me about God? 2) what does this passage

reveal about me? 3) what is God asking of me?

You can find the daily readings at USCCB Daily Readings

www.usccb.org along with helpful meditations in the Liv-

ing with Christ booklets.

Stations of the Cross Online

I invite you to join us 6:30 PM every Friday to join us

online, as you would have come to the church and do the

Stations of the Cross with us. This online version is very

moving, and if we do it together will have great impact.

You will need at least 45 Minutes as that is how long it is.

Just Click the link below or copy into

your browser.

You can click the link anytime to check

it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch

reload=9&v=wW1t7M8HKT8&autoplay=1&list=PL58g

24NgWPIz8ajwy88V_FBcJTB61w5Gk

For Our Sick ...

Ways to Finacially Support Your Church and Community

Online Giving Instructions

Online giving is easier than you think. All you need is a computer or phone and a credit card or even

direct bank transfer. You can do a one-time

payment or set up weekly or monthly payments. If

you are not sure, try a one-time payment to check

it out. Our site is fully secured and private.

1) Go to: www.stdenisashburnham.com

2) Choose “Online Giving” from the top bar.

3) Click “Offertory”

4) “Chose A Fund” (i.e. Sunday Mass Offertory)

5) Add Amount and check the checkbox to make it a recurring payment.

6) Follow the prompts to edit payment data

7) Click “Submit”

Online Giving will instruct you on how to enter

payment and set up an account if you choose to. By setting up an account you can change your

giving at any time, check how much you have given,

provide a steady income for your church even when

you are away on vacation or worse a pandemic

strikes that disrupt all business. No bounced check fees, and if you give a small amount every

week you do not even notice it. I also use the Credit

Card which provides protection from fraud.

As we mentioned last week in the bulletin, after conferring with the parish council and finance committee chairs, we are endeavoring to keep our staff employed during the slowdown of Parish life. In addition to salaries, we have our regular operating expenses. We are very grateful to those who made online contributions last week as well as to those who mail in their checks. Understanding that not everybody in the present circumstances may be able to do so, we are appealing to those who can to continue supporting our Parish through mailing in your checks or through online giving. Many thanks.

We are all aware of the great toll that the opioid crisis has taken in our area and nation. Since 1971 Catholic Charities has operated a successful residential substance abuse

program for men in Worcester. Just recently through the provision of a Diocesan owned building turned over to Catholic Charities, we have opened a residential substance abuse facility for women in Leominster. This is an example of the good work of Catholic Charities which is supported by the annual Partners in Charity appeal. For those who are able, we ask for your prayerful consideration of a gift to the 2020 Partners in Charity campaign which supports 25 diocesan programs. In normal times an in-pew appeal is made during Lent for your support. These are not normal times and the needs are even greater. Instead of a Lenten in-pew appeal, a direct mailing from the Diocese is being made to appeal for your support. As with your support to the parish, we understand that some of you may have lost your jobs or had your hours reduced and may not be in a position at present to make a gift to Partners in Charity. If, however, you are in a position to make a gift to the 2020 Partners in Charity Appeal, we would ask that you either make use of the return envelope in the Diocesan mailing or make an online gift through our parish website or directly with the Diocese at https://partners-charity.net/donate. Please note that Saint Denis Parish will receive credit for your gift even if you make it directly to the Diocese. On behalf of the tens of thousands of people who benefit from Partners in Charity Programs, we thank you for your consideration of this request.

Saint Vincent de Paul Our parish Saint Vincent de Paul

Society helps many Ashburnham residents in our community

throughout the year with essential needs that they

are unable to meet. During this time of uncertainty and cutbacks, we want our

parishioners who might need help to know that the Saint Vincent de Paul Society which they

have supported in good times is ready to help them in their need now. If you need help, please call 978-790-1923.

Special Highlights | Upcoming Events| Offertory Update

Let us honor God with our first fruits rather than the leftovers

During this time of trial where the parish will be closed due to virus concerns. We still need to maintain our church. Please consider donating

through Online Giving to keep the parish strong! You may also mail in your envelopes to:

St Denis Parish, 85 Main St., Ashburnham, MA 01430.

Since 3/29/20 Envelopes Mailed: Regular Envelopes $ 725.00 Parish Needs $ 1,000.00 Mass Intentions $ 10.00 Fuel $ 310.00 Easter Flowers $ 25.00 Living Faith $ 62.23 Cemetery $ 245.00 Religious Education $ 40.00 Xerox Refund $ 25.02 Online Giving $ 1,065.00 Total $ 3,507.23 St Paddy’s Day Supper Raised $ 278.60 Great job providing take out during pandemic Diocese Collections: Catholic Relief $ 25.00 Thank you for your generous support of the parish. Your weekly financial support enables Saint Denis

to provide for the community.

Notices for Corona Virus situation

Governor of Massachusetts has ordered all

businesses and organizations closed until at least

May 4th.

Closures:

• No Public Masses

• No Daily Communion Services

• Religious Ed Closed until further notice

• Knights of Columbus Meetings

• Marriage Matters

• Ladies Spiritual Enhancement Group

• Keygma Prayer Bible Study

• Stations of the Cross

• All Parish meetings

• Parish Business Office Closed (Except phone, online)

Still open:

It is requested that anyone sick or has a sick family member

voluntarily not come to these events, to avoid the spread of virus.

• Individual Prayer in the Church

Open 8 am– 8 pm Daily and 8 am—noon Sat & Sunday

Please note Minimum Distance 6+ feet between people

• “Confessions available Saturdays 3:30 pm-4 pm, Good

Friday, April 10, from 5 pm to 6 pm, and on Holy

Saturday from 3:30 to 4:30 pm in the parking lot.”

Anointing of the sick, Please Call 978-827-5806

Special Priest assigned to this duty

• Funerals (Immediate Family only)

• Phone, E-mail and Web services

• St Vincent De Paul - 978-790-1923

Having trouble surviving due to the Coronavirus?

St Vincent De Paul may be able to help. Please call us for

assistance with Fuel oil, food, and other emergencies.

Diocesan-Wide Parish Prayer

Many thanks to all who pray and prayed. As you may have seen from the Flocknote communication to all parishioners, Bishop McManus asked every parish in the diocese to take one day from April 1 through Holy Saturday during which at

least one parishioner would be praying for each hour of that day. As the Flocknote communication also said, Saint Denis Parish took this past Wednesday, April 1st as its day for prayer. We are very grateful to all those parishioners who participated in this appeal. We had parishioners covering each of the twenty-four hours of April 1. It is gratifying to think of people all across our diocese praying for an end to the pandemic, the recovery of the sick, the salvation of the dead and the protection of healthcare workers and all who maintain public order and the flow and provision of necessities throughout our country. Thank you for your continued prayers for these causes.

Complete TV and Streaming Schedule for Holy

Week from Saint Paul’s Cathedral

PALM SUNDAY 10 am Pontifical Mass (English) 11

am Mass (Spanish)

TUES IN HOLY WEEK 9:00 am Mass (English) 9:30 am

Mass (Spanish) 10:30am Pontifical Chrism Mass

HOLY THURSDAY 9:00 am Office of Readings

(English) 9:30 am Office of Readings (Spanish) 7:30 pm

Pontifical Mass of the Lord’s Supper (Bilingual)

GOOD FRIDAY OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD

9:00 am Good Friday Devotion (English) 9:30 am Good

Friday Devotion (Spanish) 3:00 pm Pontifical Liturgy

(English) 4:00 pm Liturgy (Spanish)

EASTER VIGIL IN THE HOLY NIGHT 7:30 pm Pontifical

Mass (Bilingual)

EASTER SUNDAY10:00 am Pontifical Mass (English) 11 am

Mass (Spanish)

Lenten Mission at St. John’s in Clinton - Fasting

1. Forty years ago last month Pope Saint John Paul visited the American Seminary in Rome. As you can imagine it was a great honor for the seminarians, faculty and, staff of the North American College. Preparations were in high gear with all the stops pulled out to prepare for the papal visit. Then word came from the Vatican that the Holy Father would dine only on soup and bread. It was Lent. During the course of the visit John Paul, who had visited our country the previous fall, asked the rector of the North American College “what happened to fast and abstinence in the Church in the United States?”

2. Fasting and penance have deep roots in the Church and in Judaism. “Return to me.” We hear God say on Ash Wednesday through the prophet Joel, “with fasting, weeping and mourning.” “Prayer with fasting and alms with upright men are better than riches and iniquity” we read in Tobit. Tonight, we hear how Nineveh was spared through repentance and fasting. For our example, not His personal need, Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days. He told the Pharisees that when the Bridegroom is taken from them, His Disciples would fast.

3. Throughout the ages, Christians have fasted, and not just in Lent. Early on in the East, except for the Easter Season, every Wednesday (Judas’s betrayal) and Friday (the Crucifixion) were fast days. In the 11th Century, Pope Gregory VII instituted Ember Days, three additional days of fasting and abstinence throughout the four seasons of the year. In the 13th Century St. Thomas Aquinas noted that the Church limited the faithful to one full meal (between noon and 3 pm) on days of partial fast. No meat, milk from animals, or eggs from birds was permitted during Lent. The Eucharistic Fast before Mass used to begin at Midnight.

There are total fasts, like the Eucharistic Fast which includes no food or drink except water and medicine, and Partial Fasts which are penitential in nature and include one full meal and two partial meals which together are not equal to a full meal.

4. Today, for those 18-59 there are two fast days, Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, and there is a Eucharistic Fast of one hour. Except for Lent, Fridays are no longer days of abstinence in which we refrain from eating meat. Though Fridays throughout the year are still days of penance, "pick your own penance” has undermined the recognition from the days when restaurants and menus were replete with fish offerings and the sight of Catholics abstaining from hamburgers was common.

5. Father Ed Connors, my pastor growing up, was a simple and saintly priest. He was also a man’s man. As an Army chaplain, he had been decorated for bravery in World War II for rushing out into no-man's-land to carry back a wounded soldier. He was also known as “elbows Connors” under the hoop on the basketball court. Fr. Connors didn’t understand all the changes after Vatican II, perhaps especially the relaxation of fasting and penitential practices. He would say, “What are we, a bunch of cream puffs?”

6. Well actually, the pendulum is swinging back in the opposite direction, however modestly. American Bishops have designated January 22, the tragic anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 US Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion nationwide, as a day of prayer and fasting. And in 2003 the Bishops encouraged the observance of Ember Days.

7. Knowing that the parishioners of Saint John’s are not “cream puffs” let us look at little then at fasting, the reason for it, the benefits, how we might fast, and what we should avoid.

8. Christian anthropology, the understanding of who we are, sees man as a composite of body and soul. Our bodies matter, we are not souls imprisoned in a body. How we use our bodies reflects who we are. Abuse of our bodies through sin harms our souls. The proper disciplining of our bodies strengthens our souls through the development of virtue. As humans we have 1) an intellect, the faculty that lets us know right and wrong, 2) a will, the faculty to choose right or wrong, and 3) appetites and passions, emotions and desires that incline us in making choices. Still subject to Original Sin, we can be slow to recognize the good. Even when we recognize the good, we can be resistant to choosing it because our passions, appetites, and desires can incline us to choose evil over good. St. Paul says “I know what I should do but I don’t do it.”

Spiritual Reflections

This week's spiritual reflection is on fasting. Together with prayer and almsgiving, fasting is one of the three pillars of a good Lent. This reflection comes from Father Reidy's Parish Mission given at St John's Church in Clinton earlier this Lent.

9. Fasting and other penances let us strengthen our wills, “even though I am hungry I am not going eat because I am fasting for God” That choice to say “No” to a craving for chocolate in Lent when my stomach is growling for it strengthens my will to say no to other desires - to offer gossip, give in to laziness, to be unchaste. Fasting strengthens our wills to choose what our intellects know is good even when our desires want to rebel.

10. Fasting lets us detach from material things, comforts and pleasures so that I can make space for God closest to my heart. It shows God that I care for the spiritual more than the material. It can remove distractions so that I can pray better and love God more fully. It gives me freedom from slavery to selfish desires. In the past they led me to sin, through fasting and other penances and mortifications they are like Nineveh, signs of repentance that show contrition and resolve to cooperate with God’s grace, to grow in holiness, and to unite myself to Him and His will.

11. Fasting, like all penances and mortification, requires prudence: doing the right thing in the right way. We cannot go to extremes harming our health. There is no virtue in fasting or penance that prevents me from fulfilling the duties of my state in life; a priest who fasts so much that he is too tired to hear confessions, a father who can’t go to work, a mother who so tired and worn down she snaps at the kids.

12. Fasting or other penances can be totally undermined if we let them swell our pride. Remember the Pharisee in the Temple looking down on the tax collector: “I thank you God that I am not like others...I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all I get.”

13. Remember fasting is different from dieting. Dieting focuses only on the body. Proper fasting disciplines the and body and is healthy for it, but its aim is to strengthen the whole person, his will, and his relation to God. If your Lenten practices are designed so you’ll look good in the gym or on the beach, you might want to reassess.

14. Keep in mind when fasting that sometimes our best penances come from those unexpected Crosses that work their way into our daily lives--- the canceling of our plans to assist a sick family member, the inconvenience of going to a colleague or neighbor in need. Embrace those Crosses as prudence allows and does not let a selfish response to them undermine the merit of fasting.

Fasting can include giving up something entirely – chocolate, alcohol, desserts for Lent or on a Wednesday or Friday throughout the year. It might be delaying a meal, it might be refraining from going back for seconds, it might be picking the least desirable portion, or not complaining if the meal is burnt, cold, or not your favorite. It might be going without salt for the day or season, drinking only water for the day, it might be skipping a meal or more, but always done with prudence and with the advice of a Spiritual Director or parent, always with an eye to your station and duty in life, age, and health condition.

15. Let me close from a quote from Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American born saint an Episcopalian convert who was moved by the example of an Italian family with whom she stayed after her husband died. From Italy, she wrote in a letter to a friend when still an Episcopalian:

You may remember when I asked Mr, H [Rev. John Henry Hobart, curate at Trinity Episcopalian Church, New York City] what was meant by fasting in our prayer book – as I found myself on Ash Wednesday morning saying so foolishly to God, “I turn to you in fasting, weeping and mourning,” and I had come to church with a hearty breakfast of buckwheat cakes and coffee, and full of life and spirits, with little thought of my sins – you may remember what he said about its being an old custom, etc. Well the dear Mrs. F [Filecchi, her Catholic host in Livorno] who I am with, never eats, the season of Lent, till after the clock strikes three. Then the family assembles. After she says she offers her weakness and pain of fasting for her sins, united with Our Savior’s sufferings. I like that very much.”

My friends, fasting is not just an “old custom” that was an efficacious practice in Nineveh so long ago, or for the Church in its infancy, but it is a necessary response today for me a sinner, for you and for our Church and our society. May it be a part, a prudent part of your Lent, life, and spiritual life. Recognizing that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. may burn brighter and the light of that love might give greater glory to God, offer better witness to our world, and draw us into a deeper union with our Savior.