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As members of the Body of Christ, the parish of St. James, Lake Placid, Florida proclaims our belief in the message and mission of Jesus Christ.
"Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matt 28:19-20)With God's Grace, the example of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we seek to live out that belief as a community of worship, of shared faith and of service where each member shares with others the gifts and talents received from God.
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Pastor, Fr. Vincent Clemente
Father Vincent came to the United States from Italy at the age of 15, where his family settled in the Cleveland, OH area. He has one sister. Father was ordained to the priesthood on May 8, 1976 and has previously served at St. Martha’s in Sarasota, FL and as pastor of St. Michael in Wauchula and St. Paul in Arcadia.
WELCOME, FATHER! We look forward to continued spiritual growth with you here at St. James!
Parochial vicar Fr. Felix Gonzalez
Fr. Felix Gonzalez, our newest parochial vicar, was born in Venezuela on September 18, 1953. He studied philosophy in Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies and theology at the Seminary “Santa Rosa de Lima,” Caracas, Venezuela. He was ordained on July 18th, 1981 at the .Archdiocese of Barquisimeto. He came to the United States 20 years ago and studied monastic spirituality in Worcester, MA and worked in different parishes in the Archdiocese of New York— Manhattan and the Bronx. During those years he studied in IONA College and graduated with a Masters in Science, majoring in pastoral counseling. After serving St. Leo for almost two and a half years, he is happy to embark on this new part of his spiritual journey.
Our commitment to a Safe Environment
As Christian adults, we have a moral and legal responsibility and are entrusted by God with the spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of minors and vulnerable adults. St. James adheres to the Diocese of Venice's Safe Environment program. To learn more, visit: https://dioceseofvenice.org/offices/programs/safeenvironment/
Pope Francis' Letter to the People of God, regarding sexual abuse in light of the outcome of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury.
My Dear People,
The Gospel is Mark’s version of the famous “Great Commission” (Matt 28:16-20), often jokingly referred to as the “Great Omission,” because so often we, as Christians, fail to carry it out. Nonetheless, although great human failures have hindered the spread of the Church, the Body of Christ still is to be found present and active on every continent, in every nation. One-third of human beings identify as Christians, one third as Catholics. Even from a merely natural perspective of cultural history, the church is a remarkable and unique phenomenon.
Jesus’ authoritative command to go into all the world to proclaim his reign reflects the theology of Psalm 2, the Royal Coronation Hymn of the Son of David (“Ask it of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and, as your possession, the ends of the earth” v. 8.), which is perhaps the most important psalm for the theology of the New Testament.
The command to “proclaim the good news to every creature” is an interesting way to phrase the “Great Commission.” Are we then to preach to the whales and the pine trees? Probably not, but by saying “every creature” rather than just “every human being,” Mark indicates the cosmic effects of the Gospel: it is a message that has meaning not just for humanity, but even for nature itself. Pope Francis explored this concept in his encyclical Laudato Si.’
It is interesting also to observe that at its best, the Church’s mission has also benefited nature. Historians point out, for example, that in antiquity much of Europe was uninhabitable swamp land, unsuitable for farming, but it was largely the spread of Christian monasticism—with monks draining the swamps and preparing fields for agriculture—that ‘tamed” the landscape and made Europe into a “garden.” On the other hand, atheistic regimes, for all their anti-Christian rhetoric and lip-service to “green” goals, have often done serious harm to the environment, as was sadly discovered in the aftermath of the fall of the Iron Curtain.
But the cosmic implications of the Gospel should not overshadow the fact that the good news is first of all addressed to all human beings, and that faith and the sacraments are necessary for salvation. In our gospel, we read that “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved,” which is a pleasing synopsis of the relationship between faith and the sacraments. Both are necessary; without the sacraments, faith runs the danger of being merely personal, subjective, and individualistic, and fails to incorporate us into the body of Christ. On the other hand, the sacraments without faith devolve into empty externalism and ritualism and fail to bear the fruit of holiness in the life of the individual.
Mark mentions the many signs that will accompany the preaching of the Gospel: (a) exorcisms, still being performed regularly to this day; (b) the acquisition of new languages which has been a hallmark of Christian missionary work through the ages—for many centuries, the first written text in their own language was the Bible, translated by Christian missionaries, (c) “pick up serpents with their hands,” which Paul did literally in Acts 28:3-6, but which we may also take as a reference to authority over evil spirits, who are sometimes associated with or symbolized by serpents in the Bible; (d) “if they drink deadly thing, it will not harm them,” just as Paul withstood the poison of the viper in Acts 28:3-6, but which we may also interpret as the ability to withstand false teaching, which is likened to a poison in the Scriptures (Ps. 140:3; Jas 3:8); (cont’d pg. 4) healing the sick, which Paul performs literally also in Acts 28:7-10, which still occurs in evangelism today and which has expanded into the Catholic health care network, the world’s largest.
But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word through accompanying signs.
This could and should be a summary statement of the whole history of Christianity. But is it true in our day? In the biography by Cardinal Robert Sarah, God, or Nothing, about the French missionary priests of the Holy Ghost fathers who arrived in his extremely remote African village just after the end of World War II, he talks about how they preached and baptized hundreds and thousands in that region of Chana, sometimes at the cost of their lives. But their faith was so strong it made an indelible mark on the African children they catechized and firmly planted the church in that region.
Does this faith still live among us? Do we still have young men and women willing to risk their lives to preach Jesus Christ to every creature? At this Ascension Mass, let’s pray that Jesus Christ, seated at the right hand of the Father, would bless us with a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit to enflame our hearts with the faith of the first Apostles.
You are all invited this week for an opportunity to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. We are going to have a “Life in the Spirit Seminar.” I will guarantee that there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and you will be renewed in the Holy Spirit. When that happens in your life, the Holy Scripture will come alive for you. [Passages taken from Reflection on the Mass readings for Year B, by John Bergsma]
Yours in Christ, and may the Holy Spirit renew you,
Fr. Vincent Clemente
MAY 6th— Monday. Legion of Mary, 10AM, Social Hall. St. Vincent de Paul, 3PM, Social Hall. RCIA, 6PM, Social Hall.
MAY 7th— Tuesday. Child. of Our Lady, 10AM, Social Hall.
MAY 8th— Wednesday. Bible Study, 10AM, Social Hall. Confirmation Class, 6PM, Social Hall.
MAY 9th— Thursday. CCW Meeting, 10AM, Social Hall. Grief Support, 2PM, Social Hall. Bible Study, 7PM, Social Hall.
MAY 11th— Saturday. First Reconciliation, 10AM, Church. First Communion Reception, 12:45PM, Social Hall.
MAY 12th— Sunday. 1st Communion, 10AM, During Mass. Faith Formation, 11AM, Social Hall. Mission Santiago Mother’s Day Brunch, 1PM, Social Hall.
MAY 13th— Monday. Legion of Mary, 10AM, Social Hall. RCIA, 6PM, Social Hall.
MAY 14th— Tuesday. Child. of Our Lady, 10AM, Social Hall. KOC Fraternal Benefit, 6PM, S. Hall.
MAY 15th— Wednesday. Bible Study, 10AM, Social Hall. Confirmation Class, 6PM, Social Hall.
MAY 16th— Thursday. Chosen series, 3PM, Social Hall. Bible Study, 7PM, Social Hall.
MAY 17th— Friday. Kraft Korner, 10AM-12PM, Social Hall. Life in the Spirit, 7-9PM, Social Hall.
MAY 18th— Saturday. Life in the Spirit, 9AM-3:30PM, Social Hall.
MAY 19th— Sunday. Men’s Emmaus, 2PM, Social Hall. Life in the Spirit, 3-4:30PM, Social Hall.
