What other parishes are in our family?
Messages from the Moderator #2
In this second message to the Parishes of our Family, I’d like to address the number of priests that will be serving our six Faith Communities and the challenges that reduction in that number will bring. According to the Diocesan plan, our six parishes were to be ministered to by a Pastor and three Parochial Vicars. Because of circumstances, we will be blessed with one additional priest for the foreseeable future. Fr. Paul Steller, the current Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Lancaster, will be retiring but will continue in residence there and will also continue to minister to that community. He will not count as one of the four priests in the Diocesan plan; therefore, our Family will be lucky enough to have five priests ministering to our Family.
The first difficulty the number of available priests poses is in our daily Mass schedules. If there are only five priests, it is understandable that there be only five daily Masses. A priest is not supposed to celebrate more than one Mass per day and with funerals, vacations, and days off, expecting our priests to celebrate more than one Eucharist on a weekday is not desirable. We have arranged a schedule where there will be five daily Masses Monday through Friday. There will be three morning weekday Masses: Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bowmansville will celebrate a daily 8:00 am Mass, St. Martha’s in Depew will celebrate a daily 8:15 am Mass, and St. Philip the Apostle in Cheektowaga will celebrate a 9:00 am Mass daily. St. Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster will continue their daily Noon Mass, for those who would prefer a later time than early morning. There will also be a 6:30 pm evening Mass rotated between St. Teresa of Calcutta in Depew and Our Lady of Pompeii in Lancaster. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this Mass will be at St. Teresa of Calcutta and on Tuesdays and Thursdays this Mass will be held at Our Lady of Pompeii. In addition, confessions will be held at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays (at St. Teresa’s), as well as Thursdays (at Our Lady of Pompeii). Finally, an 8:00 am Mass will be celebrated on Saturday mornings at Our Lady of Pompeii on Lancaster. A special First Saturday Mass will also be celebrated at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bowmansville at 8:00 am.
Only a handful of Parishioners take advantage of this opportunity for daily Eucharist, but it is an important part of the life of the Parish community. It is a wonderful way to make each day sacred and we look forward to watching it grow. If your Parish is no longer able to offer a Mass at a time that is convenient for you, please feel free to join a Mass at one of our Family Parishes not that far away.
Because we are blessed with the number of priests we have in our Family, we hope to not have to make any further changes to this schedule any time soon. We thank you for your understanding as we all learn how to better serve our communities and work together to strengthen each of our parishes. All the priests in our Family are committed to providing you with sacramental ministry to the best of our ability. This schedule will assist us in doing just that.
Peace, Fr. Rich
In this second message to the Parishes of our Family, I’d like to address the number of priests that will be serving our six Faith Communities and the challenges that reduction in that number will bring. According to the Diocesan plan, our six parishes were to be ministered to by a Pastor and three Parochial Vicars. Because of circumstances, we will be blessed with one additional priest for the foreseeable future. Fr. Paul Steller, the current Pastor of St. Mary’s Parish in Lancaster, will be retiring but will continue in residence there and will also continue to minister to that community. He will not count as one of the four priests in the Diocesan plan; therefore, our Family will be lucky enough to have five priests ministering to our Family.
The first difficulty the number of available priests poses is in our daily Mass schedules. If there are only five priests, it is understandable that there be only five daily Masses. A priest is not supposed to celebrate more than one Mass per day and with funerals, vacations, and days off, expecting our priests to celebrate more than one Eucharist on a weekday is not desirable. We have arranged a schedule where there will be five daily Masses Monday through Friday. There will be three morning weekday Masses: Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bowmansville will celebrate a daily 8:00 am Mass, St. Martha’s in Depew will celebrate a daily 8:15 am Mass, and St. Philip the Apostle in Cheektowaga will celebrate a 9:00 am Mass daily. St. Mary of the Assumption in Lancaster will continue their daily Noon Mass, for those who would prefer a later time than early morning. There will also be a 6:30 pm evening Mass rotated between St. Teresa of Calcutta in Depew and Our Lady of Pompeii in Lancaster. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays this Mass will be at St. Teresa of Calcutta and on Tuesdays and Thursdays this Mass will be held at Our Lady of Pompeii. In addition, confessions will be held at 6:00 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays (at St. Teresa’s), as well as Thursdays (at Our Lady of Pompeii). Finally, an 8:00 am Mass will be celebrated on Saturday mornings at Our Lady of Pompeii on Lancaster. A special First Saturday Mass will also be celebrated at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Bowmansville at 8:00 am.
Only a handful of Parishioners take advantage of this opportunity for daily Eucharist, but it is an important part of the life of the Parish community. It is a wonderful way to make each day sacred and we look forward to watching it grow. If your Parish is no longer able to offer a Mass at a time that is convenient for you, please feel free to join a Mass at one of our Family Parishes not that far away.
Because we are blessed with the number of priests we have in our Family, we hope to not have to make any further changes to this schedule any time soon. We thank you for your understanding as we all learn how to better serve our communities and work together to strengthen each of our parishes. All the priests in our Family are committed to providing you with sacramental ministry to the best of our ability. This schedule will assist us in doing just that.
Peace, Fr. Rich
Past Messages from the Moderator:
Our Family of Parishes Mass Times
Saturday Masses:
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta 4pm Sacred Heart of Jesus 4pm Our Lady of Pompeii 4:30pm St. Philip the Apostle 4:30pm St. Martha 5pm St. Mary’s 7pm Sunday Masses: Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta 9am Sacred Heart of Jesus 8:30am & 11am Our Lady of Pompeii 10am & 11:30am St. Philip the Apostle 8:30am, 10:30am & 12noon St. Martha 8 am &10am St. Mary’s 8am 10am & 12noon Weekday Masses: Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta M,W,F 6:30pm Sacred Heart of Jesus M-F 8:00am Our Lady of Pompeii Tu,Th 6:30pm St. Philip the Apostle M-TH 9:00am, F 12noon St. Martha M-F 8:15am St. Mary’s M-F 12noon |
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EVENTS & GOINGS-ON WITHIN THE FAMILY
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