This March, the parishes of Good Shepherd and St. Augustine will launch the Diocese of Worcester’s Legacy of Hope capital campaign. Legacy of Hope is a landmark financial endeavor to strengthen our local parish communities and our diocesan Church.
This Spring, the Youth of Good Shepherd and St Augustine will be celebrating three special sacraments. Please keep all of our candidates in your prayers as they develop their connection with God and the Holy Church.
The Catholic Men's Conference will be held virtually on March 20th. If you purchased tickets to last year's conference you will receive a link in your email on March 18th. If you did not purchase tickets and would like to attend and participate in this year's remote and interactive conference you still can. Please call Joan DeMasi at 508-929-4345 for a $20 ticket. You can view this year's entire conference at home or with friends.
In this week's OLV update, Principal Ed Reynolds highlights how OLV students are preparing for Easter in the midst of the Lenten season through the importance of prayer, fasting, sacrificing, and almsgiving, including two significant Lenten projects. You'll also receive an update on the Grace to the Finish Fundraiser in support of the GRACE Center, which is expected to break ground in April with a grand opening in January 2022.
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.