85 Dakota St Buffalo, N.Y. 14216
875-8102
The Mission of the
Holy Spirit Parish Community
As a family of the Holy Spirit Parish community, we welcome all to our home, Christ's home. Our journey in Faith brings us together through prayer. Eucharist celebration, support, love and caring.
We commit to give generously of ourselves, our time, and talent to one another and to all in our neighborhood.
May the Holy Spirit guide and comfort us in our never ending journey for peace and strengh as witnesses of God's goodness.
PALM SUNDAY
O Mary, full of grace, Patroness of this great nation and Mother of the Church. In this time of Illness and world wide need we seek your intercession for our human family. We ask for strength in diversity, health in weakness, and comfort in sorrow.Help us, O Blessed Mother, to be filled with confidence and trust in our loving and compassionate God. Please watch over all who are sick as well as those who care for them and give wisdom to all who are seeking a cure. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen
PRAYER
TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
Priest: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
Congregation: And kindle in them the fire of your love.
Priest: Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
Congregation: And you will renew the face of the earth.
Priest and Congregation:
O God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy his consolations.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
All Religious education classes and all Church events have been cancelled until further notice, due to the corona virus precautions.
Religious Education Classes
Registration Form for 2020-2021
Holy Spirit Church will be open for private prayer as follows:
Sundays: 9:00am – 10:00am
Tuesdays: 9:00am – 10:00am
Wednesdays: 6:00pm – 7:00pm
Fridays: 9:00am – 10:00am
Saturdays: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
St. Margaret Church will be open for private prayer as follows:
Sundays: 9:00am – 10:00am
Mondays: 9:00am – 10:00am
Thursdays: 9:00am – 10:00am
Saturdays: 9:00am – 10:00am
April 3, 2020
Dear Friends in Christ,
In this new era of “social distancing” I truly appreciate this opportunity to still reach you, and to hear from you in return. I am grateful to Karen Cheman, our Holy Spirit Parish secretary, for cheerfully responding to my request to contact so many of you to see if you would be willing to allow us to add your email address to our parish census information. In my whole lifetime, I had never considered the possibility – and now the reality – that it could become problematic for people to gather together in all settings, including church.
I have heard in these days, via both email and U.S. Postal Service, from a number of parishioners. A common thread woven through many of the emails and letters is that of how much they miss coming to pray together at Mass. I find that sentiment to be profoundly encouraging. I feel that this is a powerful sign that our faith is deeply-rooted and wellestablished in our soul. And as I said in last week’s email, although I am physically alone as I celebrate Mass each day, I actually feel myself powerfully connected with the Lord and with you. Truthfully, as times it borders on a mystical experience. I do believe that once we are able to safely gather together again for Mass, I will have a spiritually renewed appreciation for our celebration of Mass together. It is easy to take for granted that which is always available, and then to treasure it when lost. But our experience of the Mass is not lost; it is just temporarily unavailable, as is much else of the lives we had known until just a few weeks ago.
No sooner had our Palm Sunday bulletin gone to print than each parish received a letter from Bishop Scharfenberger instructing us that palms cannot be blessed and distributed this Palm Sunday. His exact words were,
“A number of you have asked about the distribution of blessed palms, beginning this coming Palm Sunday…There are also risks in making palms available on tables in church vestibules, given the likelihood that they would be handled by many individuals coming and going. As such, I ask your cooperation to prevent any risk of this kind and to refrain from distributing palms at this time . Leaving the distribution of palms to varying discretion is simply not prudent in light of the difficulty of knowing how great the demand will be and how to effectively control the handling and distribution safely.”
And so the church will be open for visits and private prayer on both Palm Sunday (although there cannot and will not be any palms) and Easter Sunday from 9:00 – 11:00am, and on Good Friday from 2:00-4:00pm. It will also be open for visits and private prayer each Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at the times I mentioned in last week’s communications. I ask only that you sit at least six feet apart from one another. In your prayers, whether at home or here in church, please remember to pray for one another during this time of crisis. Remember to pray for a parishioner’s mother who was recently hospitalized with Covid-19. She is 92 years old, and is beginning to show promising signs of recovery. And pray for another parishioner’s brother, who, despite being only 62 years old and in otherwise good health, died this week because of Covid-19.
I took the above picture of the window of the Holy Spirit at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. The window is located above the “Altar of the Chair” on the western wall of the basilica. I and 25 of my classmates from all across the United States were Ordained at this very spot. Little did I know back in 1987 that I would one day be able to serve as a priest here at Holy Spirit. Our beloved parish bears the powerful yet gentle Presence of the Holy Spirit. Given the frightening news beamed into our living rooms on television screens daily, and given the equally disconcerting negative effects of fear on people as we may experience them in stores acting less than human toward one another, now, perhaps more urgently than ever before, we can implore the Holy Spirit for the Gifts of the Spirit for our world, and we can hope that we ourselves can still be the answer to the prayer, “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful…and You will renew the face of the earth.”
Sincerely in Christ,
Father Joe
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A LETTER FROM THE BISHOP
The Catholic Diocese of Buffalo Office of the Apostolic Administrator
"Be strong and bold; have no fear or dread...because it is the Lord your God who goes with you;
he will not fail you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6
March 31, 2020
My Dear Brother Priests, Deacons, Pastoral Administrators and Associates,
These unprecedented days that require us to remain apart are, I realize, a difficult burden for our Faithful and for each of us as sacred ministers, particularly during this holy season of Lent. We are understandably “out of sorts” - deprived of the personal connections and the spiritual nourishment that the shared celebration of our sacramental life provides. Still, we have an obligation as ministers of souls - and with the care and concern of those we serve first and foremost - to observe the soAcial distancing requirements that our public health officials have mandated during the ongoing coronavirus threat.
Recognizing that many of our parish communities are especially vulnerable given advanced age and underlying health issues, we must do everything that we can to prevent their exposure to the virus - even though it deprives them and us of the spiritual communion we crave. Particularly at this time, we would do well to reference and assert the passage from the Book of Lamentations: “‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.”
It is a source of great personal sadness for me that we will not be able to celebrate our Chrism Mass next week given the restrictions on public gatherings. I realize that this is a much anticipated opportunity for all priests to gather together in fraternal love and support for the blessing of holy oils and the enjoyment of the camaraderie that is so vital to our priestly ministry. We will most definitely identify an opportunity at the earliest possible moment to celebrate the Chrism Mass, when it is deemed safe for all and when the threat of the virus has subsided.
This also means, of course, that we will not gather together or celebrate publicly the liturgies of Holy Week and Easter. Similar to dioceses all over the country and world, we will implore the Faithful to unite together in prayer and in a spirit of true Christian solidarity during these most sacred days and to celebrate the Triduum and Easter Mass with us through the benefit of live-streaming technology. I will be presiding at Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday (Easter Vigil) from the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Albany. I realize that many of our parishes also offer live-streaming capability and I ask you to promote this regularly among your parish families. We have posted a resource page on the Diocesan website at:
The live-streamed liturgies of Holy Week and Easter that I will celebrate will be available on the Diocese of Albany website: and on the Diocese of Albany Facebook Page during the following times, with the exception of Easter Sunday:
● Sunday, April 5, 11 a.m. - Palm Sunday Mass
● Holy Thursday, April 9, 5:30 p.m. - Mass of the Lord’s Supper
● Good Friday, April 10, 5:30 p.m. - Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death
● Holy Saturday, April 11, 8 p.m. - Solemn Vigil of Easter
● Easter Sunday, April 12, 11 a.m. - Easter Mass, Father David R. LeFort, rector of the cathedral, presiding.
A number of you have asked about the distribution of blessed palms, beginning this coming Palm Sunday. Again, we must make every effort to discourage people from congregating - even in small numbers at parishes. There are also risks in making palms available on tables in church vestibules, given the likelihood that they would be handled by many individuals coming and going. As such, I ask your cooperation to prevent any risk of this kind and to refrain from distributing palms at this time. Leaving the distribution of palms to varying discretion is simply not prudent in light of the difficulty of knowing how great the demand will be and how to effectively control the handling and distribution safely.
As we continue our Lenten journey toward the joy of His resurrection, let us unite constantly in prayerful support for one another with the sure knowledge that the Lord in His faithfulness will lead us through these days of uncertainty, calm our every fear and gather us together once again in His abiding love.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
The Most Reverend Edward B. Scharfenberger Apostolic Administrator
Our theme this year is, Lent is a pilgrimage up the Holy Mountain. How does living in Christ change our world view as we ascend the Mountain together? It is a serious and joyous season.
INTENTIONS FOR THE WEEK
For all who are in trouble, want, sickness, peril of death or violence,
who suffer from anguish of heart, alienation or hopelessness,
for those fleeing for their lives and the lives of their families.
LENTEN REFLECTIONS
Fast from selfconcern; feast on compassion for others.
Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth
Fast from discouragements; feast on hope.
Sanctuary lamp burns this week
In loving memory of
W. Prange and M. Meyers
From the Manzella Family
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Holy Spitit
2020 Volunteer of the Year
Sr. Katherine Marie Bogner
2020 Alter Servers of the Year
Sienna Ridout
Welcome to Holy Spirit Church
We would like to welcome all who have recently joined Holy Spirit Parish.
If you would like to register please call the rectory (716)875-8102
to have the registration form mailed to you.
Sanctuary lamp burns this week
in loving memory of:
DOING
SMALL
THINGS
Faith
Hope
LOve
WITH
GREAT
LOVE
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