Next week begins the annual New Hampshire Catholic Appeal: Future of Our Faith II, One Bread, One Body (NHCA), an initiative designed to strengthen our ministries for the Church in New Hampshire and to reduce the number of annual second collections at parishes. Last year, our parish along with the other 87 parishes raised more than $3.8M. Thank you to all who donated to the appeal last year. The Appeal will take place over the next two weekends at Mass. The NHCA supports the care for our retired and elderly priests, seminarian education and vocations, Catholic education, evangelization through Parable magazine, the Community Services    program at Catholic Charities NH and more.   Every registered parishioner will receive a letter from Bishop Libasci along with appeal materials in the mail soon. Please keep the Church in New Hampshire in your prayers that we may grow together and carry our faith into the future. For more     information, go to https://www.catholicnh.org/nhca

Dear Parishioners and Visitors,

As you can tell by the posters you see at the church entrances, the 2024 New Hampshire Catholic Appeal (NHCA) is about to “kick off” here at St. Joseph’s. As you recall, the NHCA supports the care for our retired and elderly priests, seminarian education and vocation, Catholic education, evangelization through Parable magazine, the Community Services programs at Catholic Charities NH, and more. Last year, we met our parish’s goal of $15,490, and even received $3,299.77 in rebated funds for donations that exceeded our goal. This year, the parish’s goal is $16,722. Before we even kick off, however, I wish to invite all the parishioners and visitors to pray for financial guidance before giving, as I send along special and prayerful thanks for your anticipated generosity.

God bless,

Fr. John Mahoney

Dear Parishioners and Visitors,

Last week, while preparing for daily Mass on the Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua, I recalled how often over the years I have heard parents express disappointment about their adult children who have abandoned their    active practice of Catholicism. Will these precious lost souls ever return to the practice of the faith? Saint Anthony might hold the key.

     St. Anthony himself lost something very precious once. As a Franciscan who lived in the 13th century, St. Anthony was a particularly gifted teacher and preacher. He owned a psalter (a book of the Psalms) that was very dear to him. Before the invention of the printing press, books in general were precious since they had to be copied by hand. Additionally, St. Anthony had made many notes for his sermons and classes in the pages of his copy.   It was invaluable to his ministry, and when it disappeared one day, he was grieved by its loss, and prayed fervently that it would be found.

As it turned out, an unhappy novice had decided to leave the religious life and, when he had departed the monastery, had taken St. Anthony’s psalter with him! After the Saint’s prayers, the novice not only returned the psalter, but also returned to the religious life. Today, the actual psalter is on display at a Franciscan friary in Bologna, Italy.

 St. Anthony is now known both as the finder of lost items—and of lost souls! Be sure to invoke his aid if you have misplaced something, or if you have a friend or family member who needs some guidance back to the right path of attendance at Holy Mass on Sundays.

With prayerful best wishes,

Fr. John Mahoney

Dear Parishioners and Visitors,
Glory and praise to our God
Who alone gives light to our days
Many are the blessings He bears
To those who trust in His ways!

As we celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, we extend a special prayer of love and gratitude to all dads, those who are here and those who are in Heaven!

In his Apostolic Letter, Patris corde (“With a Father’s Heart”), Pope Francis gives glory and praise to God the Father, but acknowledges the fatherly role that St. Joseph modeled for all fathers:  “Joseph knew how to love with extraordinary freedom. The carpenter of Nazareth was able to turn a problem into a possibility by trusting in Divine providence.”  St. Joseph is Patron of the Diocese of Manchester and Patron of St. Joseph’s Parish here in Lincoln. Pope Francis asks us to pray fervently to St. Joseph throughout the year:

Hail, Guardian of the Redeemer, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. To you, God entrusted His only Son; in you, Mary placed her trust; with you, Christ became man.
Blessed Joseph, to us too, show yourself a father, and guide us in the path of life.    Obtain for us grace, mercy, and courage, and defend us from every evil. Amen.

Happy Father’s Day!

Fr. John Mahoney