Entries for April 2023

First Holy Communion and Confirmation will be celebrated at St. Boniface on May 7 & May 21 at the 10:30 a.m. Masses. Please be aware that we will have extra visitors for those services and anticipate traffic congestion in the parking areas. We ask that you avoid using the alley off of Penn Street from 9:55-10:10 a.m. during PREP class dismissal on those dates. Parents pick up their children using the same alley as parishioners use to park. For easier traffic flow on May 7 & May 21, the Harmonia Hall parking lot will be available and can best be accessed by Fran...

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Each year there is a scheduled spring and fall clean up of the St. Boniface Cemetery.  This year the spring clean up is planned for Saturday, May 6. The goal is to tidy up the cemetery from leaves, broken branches, broken/torn articles, and dead plants/flowers. Please remove any personal items from the cemetery by April 30 to ensure your valuables are not lost.  The cemetery committee has been notified that borders of stone, brick, and fencing are being placed on graves. These items are potential problems for the safety and efficiency of our maintenan...

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Cemetery

Something’s puzzled me over the past several months. The summer Mass schedule change. I wasn’t clear on why we have it. We’re not resort communities that fill with worshippers for summer getaways or winter ski trips. We’re not cancelling a Mass because few people attend in the summer; we’re just moving them closer together. Why, I ask? I’ve heard all sorts of answers—mostly about people other than the folks I’ve asked. Summer Mass schedule is for the priests, for the musicians, for families with children, for golfers, etc. So,...

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We are now recruiting new altar servers for both St. Boniface and St. Lawrence. An instructional session will be held on Sunday, April 23 after the 10:30 a.m. Mass at St. Boniface. Current altar servers from both parishes are welcome and encouraged to attend as a refresher. Children who have received first Holy Communion are eligible. Register to serve by completing a registration form available in the rear of either church or the parish office. Please contact the parish office or email Stephanie (St. Boniface) sradulski@comcast.net or Brianne (St. Lawrence) ba...

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Youth Ministry

We’ve sometimes called this Sunday “Low Sunday.” After all, anything compared to Easter would seem to fall into a lesser place. The throngs of people, the triumphant music, the fresh flowers, the families gathered to feast: all that seems to be last week’s story. But, in terms of the dynamics of the Church’s liturgy, that almost completely wrong. Last Sunday began Easter, it certainly didn’t finish it! We have fifty days of Easter, Sundays and weekdays that unfold the unimaginable power of Christ’s resurrection. And the high point r...

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Students in PRE-K through grade 5 this school year are invited to attend Vacation Bible School (VBS) sponsored by our area Catholic churches. VBS will be held June 19–23 from 8:45 a.m.–12:15 p.m. at the St. John Neumann Regional Academy High School campus on Penn Street in Williamsport. Register online at www.osvhub.com/saintannrcc/forms/vbs. Earlybird registration cost per student is $20 through May 31. Families with 3 or more children pay $60.  Starting June 1, the cost per student is $40 so get your children registered as soon as possible....

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Vacation Bible School

The funeral arrangements for the Most Reverend James C. Timlin, eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Scranton, who died on Easter Sunday, April 9, 2023, at Marywood Heights in Scranton have been finalized. In making this announcement, the Diocese of Scranton acknowledges the sensitive circumstances of planning this funeral, which must balance Bishop Timlin’s full life of service to the church with a clear understanding of imperfect judgments related to clergy sexual abuse. We pray for all sexual abuse survivors and hope they find healing and peace. In planning this f...

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Easter cards are a funny thing. Most of them are about rabbits and eggs—often with all sorts of puns and jokes involved. A few, carefully placed in the part of the rack identified as “religious”, show a cross or a picture of Jesus. I can deal with all of those. But, I’m wary of the ones that wish us “Happy Easter, Happy Spring!” As if those two things are the same. They’re not. Spring comes as just one more season, repeating itself over and over. As soon as it arrives, it leads to another summer, another fall, another winter. But, E...

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Beginning April 6, Bishop Bambera has lifted the COVID restrictions on receiving the Lord’s Blood at Mass, and we will resume this practice at St. Boniface and St. Lawrence. Let us address some concerns that we may have following our recent experience of the COVID pandemic: 1. No one is required to receive from the chalice. We receive Christ—the crucified and risen Savior—whole and entire every time we receive either element of the sacrament. 2. Please be aware of your own health concerns. If you are sick, particularly with a communicable illnes...

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Welcome to Holy Week! Let me give you the map for these sacred days—so that we can journey together in prayer and worship. Confession:  The light will continue to be on for you this Monday evening from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament will be offered as a way to enter into the quiet prayer of this week. Our deanery penance service will be held this Wednesday at 6 p.m. at St Boniface. Priests from the area will be available to hear your confessions. Holy Thursday: The Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated at 7 ...

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