St. John School will welcome students back to the classroom on Wed. Aug. 28. Our prayers for a great school year are with them and all students as they begin their new school year.

To date 532 parishioners have pledged $129,921 for the Annual Catholic Appeal. This puts us at 80% of our goal of $162,896. Thank you for your generosity to the Church of Maine. If you have not yet made a gift, please prayerfully consider how you can support the Appeal.

For the week of Totus Tuus (Aug. 5-9) weekday Mass will be held at 11:30AM at St. John every day so the students can attend. There will not be any Masses at 8AM or 12:15PM that week. We will return to our regular schedule on Aug. 12.

To date 496 parishioners have pledged $120,896 for the Annual Catholic Appeal. This puts us at 74% of our goal of $162,896. Thank you for your generosity to the Church of Maine. If you have not yet made a gift, please prayerfully consider how you can support the Appeal.

On Corpus Christi Sunday (June 23) we invite all parishioners to come together to celebrate as one Parish at the 9:00AM Mass at Notre Dame Church in Waterville. At the conclusion of Mass we will process down Silver St. with the Holy Eucharist to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel for Benediction. Join us and be a part of this wonderful parish tradition! There will be no Masses at 10:00AM at St. John or 10:30AM at Notre Dame that morning.

As our community works to welcome hundreds of asylum seekers to Portland, I wish to offer ways in which Maine residents who are looking to assist in the efforts can help. Please remember that these individuals and families are filled with anxiety and fear about what will happen to them. This time of grave difficulty for some of our brothers and sisters calls us to show our concern and solidarity, answering our baptismal call to serve the most vulnerable among us, regardless of whether they are born in America or are new arrivals. To offer financial assistance: • text “EXPO” to 91999; • call (207) 775-7911; • send a check to: City Manager’s Office, Room 208, 389 Congress Street, Portland, ME 04101 (write “support asylum seekers” in memo field); or • log on to www.portlandmaine.gov/1554/Support-Asylum-Seekers. Please join me in asking God to protect all new arrivals in their travels. May they find a loving and welcoming people in our country, and may our kindness and care make us worthy of the refuge we all find in the Lord.

“The passage of physician-assisted suicide, which comes on the eighth legislative attempt in Maine, legalizes a practice which has devastating effects on the common good. Suicide is always a tragedy. Allowing doctors to prescribe deadly medications to hasten a person’s death is a horrendous wound to the dignity of the human person. With this law, the elderly will feel undue pressure to view this as an option to prevent being a burden to others; there will be a further desensitization of the value of human life; and young people will now think that people can and should be disposable. This law devalues individual human life and the essential human bonds that call us to value one another and care for one another. This is a sad day for Maine. Let us all pray for an increase in the understanding and respect for the value and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.”

To date, 371 parishioners from Corpus Christi Parish have pledged $93,284 to this year's Catholic Appeal. That is 57% of our goal of $162,896. Thank you to everyone who has donated so generously! If you have not yet made your pledge, envelopes can be found it both of our churches or at the Parish Office. Donations can also be made online by clicking here.

In “You are the Light of the World,” Pope Francis has set forth regulations today that will lead the Catholic Church on a clearer and more honest path in responding to the problem of sexual abuse in the Church. As the Holy Father wrote, these universally-adopted procedures will be implemented quickly and effectively to “prevent and combat these crimes that betray the trust of the faithful.” I am grateful to the Holy Father for these norms, and confident they will be helpful to the Church as we move forward in addressing these challenges. Click here to read Bishop Deeley's full statement.

A Pro-Life Lobby Day is planned for Thursday, May 2. Come meet your legislators and be a voice for those who cannot speak for themselves. Register for a morning of lobbying at the State House by visiting www.faithfulcitizenme.org. For more information, contact Suzanne Lafreniere, diocesan director of the Office of Public Policy, at (207) 773-6471.

Reminder that there will be no Stations of the Cross at 1PM today at Notre Dame because our priests are attending the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Portland. There will be Stations at 3PM at Sacred Heart on Good Friday.

“France has lost a cultural icon that has stood for over eight centuries, and the world has lost a beloved symbol of Christianity. The Cathedral of Notre-Dame served as a beautiful center of faith for countless generations of Catholics and as a source of inspiration and architectural brilliance for the millions of tourists who were blessed to visit it. It is difficult to process this tragic loss. At the request of Archbishop Michel Aupetit, archbishop of Paris, I invite Maine churches to ring their bells as an invitation to prayer. The Diocese of Portland joins the faithful around the world in praying for the people of Paris and the first responders who continue to battle this fire.”

There will be no 8AM Mass this morning and the parish office will be closed. No Faith Formation class this afternoon.

Click here to learn more about the season of Lent and to see the offerings for this season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving throughout the Diocese of Portland.

On World Marriage Day, we admire the beauty of marriage as lived by husbands and wives in the permanent commitment they make to each other and the sacrifices they make for each other and their children. Marriage is a true grace for families and a gift to the Church. Click here to read Bishop Deeley's full message.

Twice a month, volunteers sewing, cutting, ironing, and sorting can be observed at tables in an eye-catching building at 864 Main Street in Vassalboro, a small town of around 4,000 people northeast of Augusta. Click here to read the whole article and see pictures of the center.

In honor of the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick (Feb. 11), we will celebrate the Sacrament of the Sick at the 12:15PM Mass on Tues., Feb. 12. All are welcome.

On Monday, January 21, we pause to honor the memory of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who would have celebrated his 90th birthday this week. click here to read the full message.

Thank you to all who donated so generously to the Jolly Gifts program this Christmas. We were able to collect over 350 gifts making the joy of Christmas come alive for children in need! Area school children not only received gifts but also warm winter hats, coats and mittens!

Traveling on Christmas? Click here to see a listing of Christmas Mass times throughout the State as well as other important information about the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord.