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Message from Fr. Rick:  
After more the two months of not being able to gather together to worship our God together because of the COVID 19 Pandemic, Bishop Coyne has directed that public Masses may resume in the Diocese!  Working in cooperation with Civil Authorities and mindful of our need to practice social distancing and best practices to keep the virus from spreading our Churches are now open with some restrictions, namely:
 ~ Please stay home if you are sick or not feeling well.
 ~ Please wear a mask at Mass, (we have a limited number of masks, but if possible please bring your own mask.)
 ~ Sanitize your hands upon entering Church.,  Again, we have a limited quantity of sanitizer available so, if at  all possible, please bring your own.
 ~ Sit in designated pews and maintain safe distancing of six (6) feet or more, unless you are one family unit and have arrived in the same vehicle.
 ~ Please do not enter cordoned off areas or tight areas.
 ~ Follow protocols for receiving Holy Communion as directed at Mass. 
Please be aware Bishop Coyne has dispensed Catholics in the Burlington Diocese from the obligation to attend Mass until further notice.
 These restrictions are inconvenient, but it is most definitely a step in the right direction that we can come together again, with restrictions to protect the common good to praise and worship God again in the great Prayer of Thanksgiving, the Eucharist!
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My faithful Parishioners, Hope you are all well, and staying healthy?  
Well, these strange times in which we are living continue....  Like you, and like everybody else, I wonder how much longer it will continue.  But the people of God have a lot of experience with waiting:  To cite just a few examples, 
Noah, it took time to build that ark!  It took time to gather the animals together and bring them into the ark, then came 40 days of rain!  Then the lengthy time for all that water to drain off and the earth to dry....
Then the long period of Israel’s enslavement in Egypt....  The 40 years wandering through the Sinai wilderness to the promised land....  Strangest of all perhaps was the gradual unfolding of God’s plan of redemption in Christ!
Through it all God has given us many assurances that He is indeed with us, He has not left us orphaned....  So too now, in this time of Pandemic: 
I am available for live calls or emails on the following days and times: (674-2157, phone rings in both church office and rectory)  (E-mail:jazzie30@gmail.com)
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. 10:00 a.m. 4:00 p.m.  If I am out when you call, please leave a message, including a phone number and I will return your call as soon as possible....  THANK YOU!  God bless you all!  Let us all continue to pray for one another and for an end to the pandemic.
A sincere THANK YOU to everyone who has joined in on our livestream Sunday Masses and for the positive responses from those who watch!  Thank you too for those who continue to reach out to me with kind thoughts and prayers and notes!  I am blessed to be pastor of such amazing parishes!
St.Francis of Assisi, pray for us!  Saint Anthony, pray for us!  Our Lady of Good Counsel, Pray for us!
In Christ,
Fr. Rick.
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Some Additional Thoughts from Fr. Rick:  Hello my good and faithful parishioners!   I hope and pray you are all staying healthy, safe, and at home as much as possible?  As you all probably know by now, Gov. Phil Scott of Vermont has issued a mandatory “Stay at Home” Order for all of Vermont, effective yesterday afternoon, (Wednesday March 25^th). 
 Bishop Christopher Coyne last night directed all parish offices to close and all Churches to be locked up until further notice. I am asking all of you to join with me, with Bishop Coyne with all my brother Priests in Vermont in prayers, especially to Our Lady, Health of The Sick for a speedy end to this horrific pandemic.
 Many of you have responded with your usual generosity to my appeal to continue to give as much as you can to the financial support of your parish, please know how very grateful I am to all of you for whatever support you can give.
 Stay tuned ... and please keep praying!  Saint Anthony, Pray for us!  Saint Francis, Pray for us!
 In Christ,
Fr.Rick
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My dear Parishioners, I hope you are all staying healthy and well?  I, too, am well, by the grace of God.  I want to thank the parishioners who have reached out to me with their prayers and good thoughts.  Also to those who thoughtfully brought over food…..Thank you!  
 I apologize for being late out of the gate with this, but I am asking Christine Porter and Joanne Collins at St. Francis and Saint Anthony to print out a list each week, as needed, of intentions for Mass that week.  So I can have those names right in front of me as I offer Mass each day. 
 Speaking of Mass ... This morning, the fourth Sunday of Lent, for the first time ever, I offered Mass with no one else visibly present in the Church!  A surreal experience! 
 No one, least of all me, knows how long this shut down will continue beyond April 15, but for however long it may continue, I pray when it does end, all of us, Priests, Deacons, and lay people, will all be filled with a greater awareness of how very blessed we are to be able to participate at Holy Mass, where Christ’s atoning Sacrifice is truly made present again for us!  May God continue to guide us and bless us!   Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Anthony, pray for us!   
God bless us all! 
 In Christ, 
Fr. Rick