7:00 am Ash Wednesday Mass at OLQP with the Distribution of Ashes.  12:15 pm Ash Wednesday Mass at STM with the Distribution of Ashes.  7:00 pm Ash Wednesday Mass at OLQP with the Distribution of Ashes. Live-Streamed Masses can always be found on our YouTube Channel @OLQPSTM. Please click the title of this post to get to a direct link to our recorded Ash Wednesday Mass on YouTube.

PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY WEEKEND   February 13/14, 2021 Advocacy Message:Funding for NOURISH NEW YORK initiative Please join in speaking up for the vulnerable today.    Please consider signing this message.  Cut it out of the printed bulletin or print it from the online bulletin on our parish website.   Drop your signed message in the box/basket at church or mail it to the Governor. Please click the title of this post to read more.

The following students received the gift of God's mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time!  Please pray for them and for their families, that they may experience the fullness of God's love and mercy now and always, and share that gift readily with others. Please click the title of the post above to read more!

The Youth Rally and Mass for Life will be an online only event on January 29, 2021. The Youth Rally and Mass for Life occurs each year in conjunction with the annual National March for Life held on (or near) the anniversary of the 1973 Roe v. Wade court decision making abortion legal in this country. The Rally strives to encourage the youth participating in the national March for Life in their witness as disciples of Christ and promoters of the Gospel of Life. It is the largest annual archdiocesan event, which in many ways has grown to become a national (even international) event with pilgrims traveling from as far away as the US Virgin Islands and Australia. Join us in prayer that as a nation, we may stop wandering in the wilderness of the culture of death and may enter into “life in abundance” (Jn 10:10) through our faith in Jesus Christ and our proclamation of the Gospel of Life! You can register here: https://youthrallyandmassforlife.org

This evening we discovered some technical issues regarding Saturday evening's live-stream and they have been rectified.  The weekend Mass is now available to stream on Facebook and YouTube.  We apologize for the inconvenience!

Packets regarding the Confirmation requirements for Immediate preparation have been mailed out.  If this packet has not come to your mail this week, please contact the Faith Formation office so we can be sure that you have all the necessary paperwork regarding sponsors, saint name, Baptismal certificate, retreat date, community service reflections and interview questions. If you are enrolled in Catholic School, this pertains to you as well. So be sure to contact Jennifer.Abdalla@dor.org if you have not received this information. ​​​​​​​ All completed forms are due by March 20, 2021 in order for you to be eligible to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

PUBLIC POLICY ADVOCACY WEEKEND February 13/14, 2021 Advocacy Issue: Funding for NOURISH NEW YORK initiative The COVID-19 pandemic has hit everyone hard. In particular, the pandemic has focused a spotlight on two vulnerable groups in New York State: farmers and our neighbors who are food insecure – many are newly hungry due to job losses caused by the pandemic. The Diocesan Public Policy Committee invites us to join in helping both on Diocesan Public Policy Advocacy Weekend (February 13/14) by calling on state leaders to allocate $50 million to continue the NOURISH NEW YORK initiative during state fiscal year 2021-2022. Please click the title of the post above to read more.

We will be unable to stream our usual Saturday evening weekend Mass tonight due to a power outage in Brighton. We are planning on recording on Sunday morning if power has been restored.

Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador: Who is he and what can he teach us about spiritual freedom? We will meet from 7:00 - 8:15pm on Wednesday, January 13th.  Please RSVP to Meghan Robinson to receive the Zoom link for the meeting. In 1977, Oscar Romero was selected as Archbishop of San Salvador.  No one could have predicted that in three short years he would be renowned as the outstanding embodiment of the prophetic church, a "voice for the voiceless," or, as one theologian called him, "a gospel for El Salvador."  From once a timid and conventional cleric, there emerged a fearless and outspoken champion of justice.  Please click the title of this post to read more!

The House of Mercy serves hundreds of homeless men and women in the Rochester area each week.  Currently, because of social distancing many are forced out into the streets during the day. This causes many of our brothers and sisters in Christ to suffer frostbite and hypothermia.  With winter underway and the pandemic causing a greater need for the homeless, our Faith Formation and Outreach volunteers are teaming up to help.  We will be collecting socks and underwear (regular and thermal) throughout the month of January to help ease some of this burden. Collection boxes will be in the Narthex of each parish as well as a drive-thru donation drop off circle on Tuesday, January 26th starting at 6:00pm at St. Thomas More If you are looking for a completely contactless way to help the House of Mercy,  items of need can be found in the amazon wish list in the link below.  https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/WP217FET3G4R?&sort=default Thank you for your generosity during this difficult time!

Do you know a youth who is the Hands of Christ? Being recognized with the Hands of Christ Award is both an honor and a sign of leadership among parishes and peers in our Diocese. Please click the title of the post above to read more!

Pope Francis has announced a Year of St. Joseph in honor of the 150th anniversary of the saint’s proclamation as patron of the Universal Church. The year begins Dec. 8, 2020, and concludes on Dec. 8, 2021, according to a decree authorized by the pope. The decree said that Francis had established a Year of St. Joseph so that “every member of the faithful, following his example, may strengthen their life of faith daily in the complete fulfillment of God’s will.” The pope explained in the letter, entitled Patris corde (“With a father’s heart”) and dated Dec. 8, that he wanted to share some “personal reflections” on the spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary. “My desire to do so increased during these months of pandemic,” he said, noting that many people had made hidden sacrifices during the crisis in order to protect others. “Each of us can discover in Joseph -- the man who goes unnoticed, a daily, discreet and hidden presence -- an intercessor, a support and a guide in times of trouble,” he wrote. Patris corde highlights “the creative courage” of St. Joseph, which “emerges especially in the way we deal with difficulties.” “The carpenter of Nazareth,” explains the Pope, was able to turn a problem into a possibility by trusting in divine providence.” He had to deal with “the concrete problems” his Family faced, problems faced by other families in the world, and especially those of migrants. The Pope had granted special indulgences to mark the year.

A few people have been asking about time/place for the Mass tomorrow evening 12/31 and on 1/1.  The Mass for 12/31 will be at 5:30 at OLQP.  The one on 1/1 will be at STM at 9am. Please note that the 12/31 Mass will be livestreamed.  Once again, these Masses for the Solemnity of Mary are not Holy Days of Obligation because of the pandemic dispensation. May this New Year bring us good health, wonderful surprises and a deepening of our faith.   Blessings, OLQP/STM staff

Click on the title of the post to see who the Christmas flowers were donated in memory of this year.

We have been working a variety of angles to see if we can get our live-streamed Masses to broadcast without freezing up for some of our parishioners.  This is a complicated issue to solve, and it depends not only on the technology and settings at OLQP but also with the technology, internet speed and strength of signal of the person viewing the live-streamed Mass at home.  Nevertheless, we continue to tweak things and call in those with more knowledge and experience than us to improve our broadcast into your homes. Click the title of this post to read more!

Thank you for your patience as we continue to grow and figure out how to get our new live-stream camera system optimized!  We have experienced some growing pains, but we think that you will find watching our Masses on our OLQPSTM YouTube Channel to provide the best streaming experience. Please subscribe to our page so that you don't miss a Mass! To view a Mass, you need only look in the Past Live Stream section of our YouTube Channel.  If you're looking for something from earlier in December, you might need to use the playlist OLQP Streamed Masses which is located just under the Past Live Stream Section.  From this point going forward though, they should all be catalogued under Past Live Streams to make it easier to find! Thank you again for your understanding, and we hope that you and your families are enjoying celebrating Mass safely at home during the pandemic.

At this point we are adding more seats to our Christmas reservation list. They are the same sign ups we sent out before, so if you have already signed up, you don't need to again. For those who have previously signed up and who want to double check their reservation, feel free to click on the "sign up" button of this email of the Mass you signed up for and it should bring you to a page that indicates with a green note that "you're in." Once you are at that page, you can also click "cancel" if you do not want that reservation anymore. Then, if you so choose to sign up for a different Mass time, go back to this email and click the "sign up" button under the Mass time you desire. Sign up numbers change rapidly, so feel free to check back another day if you find the Mass you would like to attend is at capacity. Others may have cancelled their reservation in the meantime, causing seats to open. We are also saving a number of seats for those who don't use email and need to call. If those don't fill up, we will add them to the online list and you can claim one of those. Again, we ask, if possible, that you do the sign up through this email, as opposed to calling the office. A sign up link for Masses is also on our website.. However, if you are having difficulty doing this or if you know of a fellow parishioner that doesn't have a computer, please spread the word and ask them to call Robin Levy at 381-4200 or 244-3010 x110 to sign up. And guess what? As you've noticed capacity can be changed at a moment's notice, so please read your OLQP/STM updates. We will communicate to you any changes. Please stay safe, know the dispensation from Mass continues and you are always welcome to join us online for Mass through our website at www.olqpstm.com. Know you are always in our prayers!

How can waiting helping us grow in relationship with God?   How do I respond when I have to wait?  Can waiting be filled with joyful expectation?  How is waiting spiritually passive?  Active?    What am I awaiting?  Discernment in the midst of uncertainty sometimes has those Advent characteristics of darkness, waiting, and hope. We know God is there but for some reason the light hasn’t yet shone through. First we must cease clinging to one path or another. And then, the tiniest of flickers illumines a flame that sets our hearts ablaze with the certain knowledge that God-with-us is guiding us and has always been guiding us. Mary knew God’s lead and company. Our lives are an ongoing Advent of patient waiting and trust, discerning God’s presence and call. But they are also an ongoing Christmas, incarnating God’s light and glory through our actions and choices. We can trust that despite any murky darkness the light will grow stronger, revealing that God has already been with us from the beginning.  -Andy Otto   Advent Reflection of Holy Waiting    We will meet from 7-8:15 on Wednesday, December 9, 2020. Please RSVP.  I'll send the zoom link out the week of our gathering as a reminder.  Looking forward to being together, slowing down for an hour and spiritually preparing ourselves for the birth of Christ. 

The Mitten Tree Christmas Collection will be different this year to maintain safe practices while we gather the gifts for the recipients of our annual giving event. The agencies that we’ve supported for many years, Catholic Charities, Rochester Psychiatric Center, Bethany House and the Andrew’s Center are all grateful for remembering them again this year. Please click the title of this post to find out more!

BOTH of the parishes within our Catholic Community, Our Lady Queen of Peace and St. Thomas More, fall within the Orange Zone degination for Monroe County at this time.  Please click the title of this post to read more!