Dear Parishioners and Friends:

Monday is Memorial Day, the unofficial start of the summer season and because of that, we often forget the real reason for this holiday…..Prior to 1970, actually from 1868 until 1970, Memorial Day or Decoration Day, as it was known, was celebrated on the 30th of May……..and it was the practice to decorate the graves of those killed in the service of our country…

Have you notice the Honor Roll on the western wall in vestibule of the church…..especially decorated this weekend…. Please keep all those who died in the service of country in your prayers during this weekend…….. On Monday, May 27th, Memorial Day, there will only be one Mass offered in the parish at 12:10PM. I hope you can join us in prayer.

Speaking of the start of summer, If you are planning on being away for the summer or might be away the Sundays of the summer, I hope you would consider joining We Share our parish online giving program, which will help us keep operating through the summer months.

Thursday of this week is Ascension Thursday, a holiday of obligation, a day when we, as Catholics, are obligated to celebrate the Eucharist….……The Masses for Ascension Thursday : Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm and 7:00 pm (this Mass will be offered in Spanish)  and then on Thursday at 7:30 am, 10:00 am (the children of the parish school will be in attendance), 12:10 pm. 5:30 pm. Please plan your day to be able to celebrate the Ascension Liturgy here at the parish or if not, at another Church whose scheduled Masses will better fit your day.

May 31, 1969 was the date; Saint Patrick’s Cathedral the place. It was there that I and eighteen others, through the laying on of hands by Terence Cardinal Cooke, were ordained for the service of the Church, the People of God. For the past fifty years I have tried to be faithful to that call, and I must admit I have been happy in doing what I have been doing every day. I think I feel today just as I felt that first day. Sometimes there have been difficulties- I have always felt that I was not on the proper line when patience was being given out- but I trusted in God, knowing that he cares for me. My closest friends really are my brothers and sisters, and I have sought through these years to treat everyone else as I would treat my brothers and sisters. I hope I have done a good job; I know that I have sinned, and that has helped me to recognize that I am no better or worse than any other person. I am a bit embarrassed by all the attention I have been receiving these days, but I thank all those who have put up with me for all these many years- at Sacred Heart on 51st Street, St. Patrick’s in Yorktown, St. Peter’s in Yonkers, Ascension on 107th Street, and here at Blessed Sacrament.

Please keep me in your prayers and always pray for peace. 

Father Duffell