Welcome to the OLV update, a biweekly entry to your parish bulletin. Here we will post news and information regarding Our Lady of the Valley Regional School, the wonderful Catholic elementary school in the Blackstone Valley, sponsored and supported by Good Shepherd Parish, St. Mary Parish, St. Patrick Parish and St. Peter Parish. We are blessed to have your prayers and support!
It's been a long time since we've been able to update progress from Colombia. Overall things are going very well. The site was shut down for a long time in late summer and fall due to the pandemic but activities have since resumed. The Rectory and Parish Center have been built and Fr. Robinson Leon has been living at the site and overseeing the work. Father Victor spoke with Fr. Leon on Wednesday and requested a report on how the funds were being used and he sent him a report in Spanish on Thursday.
Our Lady of the Valley Regional School is pleased and proud to report that the Grace to the Finish event, a sixty-two hour and three second fundraising drive to fund the construction of The Grace Center, was extremely successful, raising over six hundred thousand dollars for this gymnasium and classroom addition. Thank you to all the parishioners and friends who donated to this wonderful cause.
Christmas Masses will be held at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve and 9:00 a.m. on Christmas Day at Good Shepherd. St. Augustine's masses will be at 6:00 p.m. on Christmas Eve and 11:00 a.m. on Christmas Day. Since we have limited seating capacity, we are asking that you please reserve a seat for Christmas masses. There are sign up sheets at the entrances of the church. If you cannot sign up at Church, please call Deacon Mike at 508-266-0166 to make your reservation or ask questions.
Here is a bi-weekly update of what is happening at our Regional Catholic School, Our Lady of the Valley, provided through their principal, Mr. Ed Reynolds.
Good Shepherd will again host its Giving Tree Outreach in support of families in need. Due to COVID-19 and safety concerns, we are asking that you purchase GIFT CARDS ONLY. Suggested gift cards would be to: Walmart, Target, or Kohl’s. As an alternative, you may make a check out to Good Shepherd and we will purchase a gift card for you. Gift cards and checks must be returned by December 9th.
No, we only ask that all gifts for Partners in Charity 2020 kindly be forwarded in the US mailbox (addressed to Partners in Charity: 49 Elm Street Worcester, MA 01609) by no later than Saturday, September 5th to be included in this year’s final figure.
We are all living through some very difficult and uncertain times, and our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Mitu, Our Lady of Medjugorje Parish, are no different, and have been hit very hard by the Corona Virus (due to their very low resistance to viruses in general). That being said, we continue to be faithful to our pledge to build a new parish center in Colombia. Following is our latest update:
The Mario Henry Forget Memorial Scholarship is given to those graduates of our parish who have remained in active ministry here at Good Shepherd through their senior year of high school. If you would like to make a donation to this scholarship fund, it will be greatly appreciated. Checks should be made out to Good Shepherd and dropped in the collection basket in an envelope marked “Forget Scholarship”. Thank you.
I want to officially let everyone know that we are following the Massachusetts and Diocesan quarantine guidelines, as such we must postpone our First Eucharist celebrations. At this time, we do not have a new date and will not be able to make that determination until after the restrictions have been lifted.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic and to prevent further spread of the virus, all masses in the Diocese of Worcester have been suspended until further notice.
Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, religious education classes for March 15 and 22nd have been cancelled. Confirmation will also be rescheduled for another date. We will share more details as they become available.