Easter Sunday Masses!
Sunday
April 4
In-person Mass
at 8:00 am
Sunday
April 4
In-person Mass
at 10:00 am
Sunday
April 4
In-person Mass
at 12:00 Noon
Lent & Easter 2021
Mass Schedule
Lenten Opportunities
Invest in and Invite a Friend!
Lenten Preaching Series
(starting February 20-21): “Needy”
Spirituality 101: There is a God and it is not you. As human beings, we are creatures; God is the Creator and we are the created. This means that we are not entirely self-sufficient, but we have needs that are outside ourselves. To grow in relationship with God and others requires that we accept the reality of those needs, and that we learn to meet those needs well. Through the course of this series, we will look at some of our basic needs, and how God instructs us to meet those needs for more successful living.
Lenten Opportunities
Ash Wednesday: February 17–Masses at 6:30am & 12:00pm 3 to 7pm: Church open for Private Prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, and Distribution of Ashes. Ash Wednesday At-Home Kits to go available for pick-up.
Mondays of Lent from 6 to 7pm – February 22, March 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29 – Sacrament of Confession: “The Light is On for You.” Eucharist Adoration and Confession in the church.
Tuesdays of Lent at 7pm – Live Streamed Rosary led by Fr. Reichlen. Every 3rd Tuesday of the Month – Rosary is both Live Streamed and in-person (Feb 16 and March 16).
Thursdays (3rd Thursday) – February 18, March 18 at 5:30 pm – Word of Life Online Prayer Group. All are welcome! Call Carole Lippold at 718-863-1105 to sign up for Zoom meetings.
Fridays of Lent at 7pm – February 19, 26, March 5, 12, 19, and 26. Stations of the Cross and Adoration/Benediction both Live Streamed and in-person.
Saturday March 6 from 1 to 3:30pm–Focolare Lenten Retreat sponsored by St. John’s Focolare Prayer Group via Zoom.
All are welcome! Call Parish Office to register.
Sunday March 21 at 3pm – Healing Mass, both Live Streamed and in-person.
Holy Week 2021
Palm Sunday: Saturday March 27, 4pm (Live Stream Only) Spanish Mass at 6:30 pm.
Sunday March 28: In-person Masses at 8am, 10am & 12noon. Please make reservations (required) at www.churchofstjohn.com or contact the Parish Office. Holy Communion w/Palm Distribution in the Church Parking Lot on 3/27 at 5pm, and 3/28 at 11am and 1pm.
Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper: April 1 at 7 pm.
Good Friday April 2:
Sacrament of Confession from 9 to 11am.
Outdoor Stations of the Cross at 3pm.
Celebration of the Lord’s Passion at 5pm.
Holy Saturday April 3:
Sacrament of Confession from 9 to 11am.
Blessing of the Easter Baskets at 12 noon.
Solemn Vigil of Easter Night at 8pm (Live Stream Only.) No Saturday 4 pm or 6:30 pm Mass.
Easter Sunday April 4: Masses at 8am, 10am, and 12 noon. Happy Easter! All are welcome!
Please make reservations (required) at www.churchofstjohn.com or contact the Parish Office. Easter Sunday: Holy Communion in the Parking Lot on 4/4 at 11am and 1pm.
Spring Online Bible Study: Gospel of Mark
All are invited! Wednesday evenings at 7pm:
March 3, 10, 24; April 7, 14, 21; May 5, 12; 19;
June 2, 9, 16. Please call the Parish Office for more information.
Note: Holy Week Schedule is subject to change per Diocesan guidelines. For in-person events, all Diocesan and CDC guidelines apply
Church of St John Presents
Lent & Easter 2021
Ash Wednesday Mass Encore!
What is Lent?
The 2021 Lenten season begins on
Ash Wednesday, February 17,
To Easter Sunday on April 4.
In the United States
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fast and abstinence.
All other Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence only.
Exceptions: Women who are pregnant and persons who are sick are not bound by the law of fast.
Fridays outside of Lent: All Fridays are to be observed as Penitential Days when we are mindful of the passion and death of Christ.
Christ Died for Our Salvation on Friday
Catholic peoples for centuries have set apart Friday for special penitential observance by which they gladly suffer with Christ that they may one day be glorified with Him.
Modern circumstances have changed in the United States, including economic, dietary, and social elements, such that some people feel that the renunciation of the eating of meat is not always and for everyone the most effective means of practicing penance. The spirit of penance primarily suggests that we discipline ourselves in that which we enjoy most. Thus renunciation of other things could be more penitential.
The U.S. Bishops in changing the practice in the United States said that they were downgrading the traditional penitential observance of Friday. They desired to give the spirit of penance greater vitality, especially on Fridays. They reaffirmed that" "Friday itself remains a special day of penitential observance throughout the year, ...." They said: "even though we hereby terminate the traditional law of abstinence binding under pain of sin, as the sole prescribed means of observing Friday,..."
For the full teaching of the above overview, please go to the link below for the Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence. It was Issued by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops November 18, 1966. It was again copyrighted by the USCCB in 1983. We do not have permission to reprint it in its entirety here.
External Sources
USCCB: Pastoral Statement on Penance and Abstinence 1966© 1983© This is the official statement explaining the change when Catholics in the United States were freed from obligatory abstinence from meat on Fridays outside of the season of Lent. It reaffirms every Friday as a penitential day and explains ways to practice this important Catholic self-discipline.
USCCB: Complementary Norm ©1983 and Amendment ©1984 regarding Canon 1252-1253 and revision to the ages of fast and abstinence.
USCCB: Fast and Abstinence for Lent, Ash Wednesday,Good Friday
USCCB: Journey to the Foot of the Cross: 10 Things to remember for Lent
For more information: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops USCCB.org
© 2021 Copyrights by Church of St. John. All Rights Reserved.