The Catholic Parishes 

of Stoughton 

The Rev. Martin Luther  King, Jr. Day
 
Monday, January 20th Parish offices will be closed this day in  observance of the holiday.
 

“Souper Bowl” Weekend
 
February 1st & 2nd 2020
  
St. Anthony’s Free Market is hosting The “Souper Bowl” collection on the weekend of the Super Bowl.
 
Please join the fun by bringing cans of soup to church on February 1^st and 2^nd. At St. James and Immaculate Conception Churches. Any questions, call Christine at St. Anthony’s 781-344-6390.

Peace be with you! 
 

Welcome to the Catholic Parishes of Stoughton. We are a Roman Catholic community of faith, nourished by the Eucharist and committed to living out our faith in service to others. It’s our hope that no matter where you are on your life’s journey, you will find a home here. Please join us as we worship our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the source of all our faith, hope, strength and joy.

              Peace and blessings!
              Fr. Joe Mazzone
              Pastor of St. James & Immaculate Conception 

       Do we always recognize Jesus in our lives? So often during our very busy lives of school, work, and just everyday life we sometimes don’t recognize that Jesus is here, right now, he is in our presence, but so often we don’t see him. Even some of his disciples were in the presence of Jesus and they didn’t realize it. This also             happens to us, but Jesus is constantly next to us, but we don’t always realize it either.
 
        Jesus is present to us especially when we are at mass, but Jesus is also present to us countless other ways throughout our day. We must commit ourselves to seeing him, to recognizing him, and to adoring him. So often we think that Jesus is present to us only in extraordinary ways, but this is not true. Jesus is constantly present to us in very ordinary ways. Jesus is here with us right now, loving us, and speaking to us, and calling us to love him.
 
       In today’s gospel, John recognizes Jesus as he approached him. John says behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. When John sees Jesus, it isn’t just a physical siting. John sees into the mission of  Jesus. His seeing is a revelation, and so it begins with the word that triggers revelation, and that word is “behold” which means look, see a remarkable thing.
 
      The content of the revelation is that Jesus takes away the sins of the world. Sin doesn’t refer to the many individual wrongdoing of the human race, rather it points to the fundamental alienation of God for creation. Jesus bridges this separation therefore Jesus is the way to God the Father, Jesus is the door that leads to life.
 
        So how did this insight of John arrive? How did John come to know the identity of Jesus? John participated in Jesus’ post baptismal experience. He saw the Spirit come down like a dove from heaven and remain upon him. This descending of the dove on Jesus can also remind us of the Noah story. As we recall, in this story the dove symbolized the first messenger of the new beginning, a renewal for the earth.
 
      To find out if the waters were starting to recede from the great flood of Noah sent out the dove. The first time the dove came back because there was no place for it to land. The second time the dove returned with the olive branch, this meant that there was land somewhere, then the third time the dove didn’t return meaning it had found a place to nest.
 
       This return to the earth meant the new covenant between God and humans. The story of Noah, extends the meaning of the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus as a dove. Jesus is the messenger of a new covenant. But even  after John saw the dove descend on Jesus, he still wasn’t sure what this meant. Then John hears the divine voice, the originating source of the Baptist’s mission speaks to John about the full meaning of his experience of Jesus. His voice tells John how to interpret what he saw, and how to understand the dove remaining on Jesus.
 
        Jesus is the giver of the spirit. Jesus is the one who will baptize with the spirit. The divine voice which John hears, helps in John’s understanding, it helps him to recognize Jesus as the Lamb of God. May we also recognize Jesus in our everyday busy lives. And at the mass when the priest says, as John the Baptist said, behold, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, may we recognize the true presence, the very body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ present to us on the altar in the Holy Eucharist.
                                                                 ~ Deacon Dave