“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

Important Information

 All activities at St. Brendan have been cancelled, including Mass.

 -  If you would like to watch a Live Streamed Mass. Please click on this Buffalo Diocese for a list of local churches streaming their masses and the times. Or watch Mass on EWTN on your TV.

-  Our local parish is asking that you continue to donate to our church, you may do this by mailing your donations to St. Brendan on the Lake, P.O. Box 87, Newfane, NY 14108.  Thank you for your generous support.  It is greatly appreciated.

-  Fr. Jozef will celebrate private Masses in the intentions we requested.  If you would like to pray privately, please do so at home. Our churches ARE NOW CLOSED to visitors. If you need to enter the church or would like confession please contact Fr. Jozef by email. We will keep you posted when authorities let us celebrate mass again.  Thank you for your understanding.  Please stay safe and pray for all those suffering. God Bless!

-  We ask that during this time you pray the Stations of the Cross privately. If you are looking for a good online resource for the Stations, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops offers an audio version as well as written formats.  Click on this: USCCB for the link.

Parts of a Letter from Bishop Scharfenberger on March 31, 2020:

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.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.

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: https://www.buffalodiocese.org/livestreams

The live-streamed liturgies of Holy Week and Easter that I will celebrate will be available on the Diocese of Albany website:​w​ww.rcda.org/livestream​​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.

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. - Bishop Edward Scharfenberger

Saturday - April 4th: 

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Vigil - 4:00pm in Wilson CANCELLED 

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord, Vigil - 5:30pm in Newfane CANCELLED 

Sunday - April 5th: 

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord- 8:30am in Newfane CANCELLED 

NO Faith Formation Class - due to Coronavirus

Palm Sunday of the Passion of the Lord- 11:00am in Wilson CANCELLED 

Dear Parishioners,

 I have this wonderful idea for Holy Triduum and Easter Sunday.  For the three days of the Holy Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday), all 3 churches (Newfane, Olcott, & Wilson) will be open for private Adoration. Please keep a distance between praying people. If there is more than 5 people in church, we ask that you wait in the car until someone leaves.

Then on Easter Sunday, Christ has Risen. Fr. Józef wants to bless everyone with Blessed Sacrament Risen Christ.  We will do it in Newfane at 8:30am, in Olcott at 9:45am, and then at 11:00am in Wilson. We are asking that you follow the directions below:

· Please everyone drive with your family car to the front of the church. 

· Don’t leave car. 

· Don’t open windows. 

· Fr will be at the entrance of the church with Blessed Sacrament giving the grace of Risen Christ to every family and household. 

· Just stop for few seconds receive the Blessing, make Sign of the Cross, and pray on the way driving back home. 

I ask that you continue to please watch TV Mass at home, or you may do a live stream on the computer. 

Please drive to Church on Easter. Fr. Józef invites everyone! I really miss you!  I want for a moment to see you and Bless all of you on Easter Sunday.

I also want to thank everyone for their donations.  Some of you have been very generous and I feel very blessed to be here at St. Brendan with all of you.

 Yours sincerely in Christ, 

 Fr. Józef

Brothers and Sisters,

We hope this email finds you healthy and doing well.  Please continue to follow the guidelines on social distancing and keep doing your part to stay away from each other.  Remember you can still pick up the phone and talk to one another.  Many of our parishioners would love to hear from you, and what a wonderful thing to do to check on each other.  We need to help each other get through these tough times.

 When we discovered that there were more cases of COVID-19 in Niagara County, Fr. Jozef made the decision to close and lock our churches.  We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we want to make sure we are keeping everyone safe.  Please continue to pray at home and soon we will be back together to celebrate the Eucharist.

 Not attending Mass has been very difficult for all.  Please try to listen, watch, or read the readings each day, especially for the Fifth Sunday of Lent which we celebrate this Sunday.  EWTN has been doing a wonderful job providing resources and live services.  The Buffalo Diocese as well has been providing a number of live-streaming masses around WNY.  You just need to go to our St. Brendan website, to find the link to the diocese.

 The readings this weekend can be found online as well, we have linked it here for easy access, just click on this: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops site. Sunday’s readings are from Ezekiel 37:12-14 (God will open the graves and restore the people of Israel.), Psalm 130 (With the Lord is forgiveness and mercy.), Romans 8:8-11 (The Spirit of God dwells in you.), and the Gospel John 11:1-45 (Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.).

As we reflect on the readings this week let us think for a moment: What part of the heart can be corrupted because of my attachment to sin, one sin or another? And to remove the stone, to take away the stone of shame and allow the Lord to say to us, as he said to Lazarus, “Come out!” That all our soul might be healed, might be raised by the love of Jesus, by the power of Jesus. He is capable of forgiving us. We all need it! All of us. We are all sinners, but we must be careful not to become corrupt! Sinners we may be, but he forgives us. Let us hear that voice of Jesus who, by the power of God, says to us, ‘Come out! Leave that tomb you have within you. Come out. I give you life, I give you happiness, I bless you, I want you for myself.’ – from a homily of Pope Francis

 May we all use the grace given to us, to rise from our sins and go to Jesus.  “Jesus, I hear you calling. Help me to rise from my sins.”

 Palm Sunday – Fr. Jozef will bless the palms for Palm Sunday and they will be placed in front of all 3 sites next Sunday from 10:00am.  Please stop by one of the sites and take a palm home as you celebrate Palm Sunday at home.  This will be next Sunday April 5^th at all our churches.

 Please remember that Fr. Jozef will continue to celebrate private Masses for our intentions that were requested.  If you have already sent in your weekly envelope, thank you!  If not, you may send your donations to St. Brendan on the Lake, P.O. Box 87, Newfane, NY 14108.  God bless all of you for everything you do to keep our churches running.

 Another reminder:  If anyone needs help in getting groceries, medications, or anything that you can’t take care of by yourself please let us know. You may respond to this email or leave a message at church, and we will get you the help.

Pray:  “Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with thee.

 Blessed are thou amongst women and

  blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.

  Holy Mary Mother of God,

  Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

  Amen”

St. Brendan on the Lake

Office #: 716 778-9822

Email:  stbrendanfaithformation@gmail.com (this is being checked daily)

 Fr. Jozef’s email: ksdudzik@gmail.com

Website: stbrendanonthelake.org

We miss and pray for all of you.

Blessings,

St. Brendan on the Lake

Helpful information from the CDC on What you can do to protect yourself and help you with managing anxiety & stress can be located here: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).