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Welcome
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.
Covid-19 Guidelines
If you have a fever or flu like symptoms, please do not enter Church
You can read updates from the Diocese of Venice as they become available here.
You are invited to share in the Mass celebrated by Bishop Frank J. Dewane from the Catholic Center each day at 9:15 a.m. at: https://www.facebook.com/DioceseofVenice/. (Note, you do not need a Facebook account to view the Mass.) Also, the Mass is accessible on the homepage of the Diocese website at www.dioceseofvenice.org.
Pope Francis on Twitter
Mass Times
Weekends
Summer Mass Schedule (June - September)
Saturday Vigil 4 PM
Sunday 9 AM
Winter Mass Schedule (October - May)
Saturday Vigil 4 PM
Sunday 8 AM and 10 AM
Weekdays (M - F) - 9:00 AM
First Saturday of Every Month
9:00 AM (with Anointing of the Sick)
Holy Days
7:00 PM Vigil, 9:00 AM Morning
Office Hours - For emergencies call 863-465-3215
9:00 am to 12 noon
12:30 pm to 3:00 pm
Wednesday
9:00 am to 12:00 noon
3380 Placid View Dr.
Lake Placid, FL 33852
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,
Today we celebrate the feast of the Ascension of the Lord. The Lord brought a conclusion to his ministry on earth, and he returned to the Father. Now he sends the apostles to go out and make disciples of all nations. They are to carry the message of Christ to all nations, through the power of the Holy Spirit. For individuals, when there is a parting there is a death which then enables the others to go forward and take over the mission of the previous individual, such as St. Francis of Assisi, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and St. Dominic. The disciples were left to continue to carry the mission. The Parting of the leader is made more dynamic because now the individuals must take over the mission work of the founder.
Jesus said make disciples of all nations. This means that all people, whether Gentiles or Jews, are called to be disciples of Christ. The Gospel is the famous “Great Commission,” often jokingly referring to as the “Great Omission,” in reference to our failure as believers in spreading the Gospel. Actually, although great human failures have marked the spread of the Church, it still is to be found present and active on every continent, in every nation. One third of human beings profess to be Christians, one sixth to be Catholics. Even from a merely natural perspective of cultural history, the Church is a remarkable and singular phenomenon.
Jesus’ words of the great commission (“All power in heaven and earth has been given to me”) reflect 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 in the theology of the New Testament.
In any case, let us note that the Commission is not simply to “preach me as Lord and personal Savior,” as admirable as that may be, but it is to “make disciples”—which is a long-term process of formation involving self-denial (it took Jesus three years with the Twelve)—and to baptize, a reference to the sacramental ministry of the Church. Finally, the Commission is to “(Teach) them to observe all that I have commanded you,” which seems to refer to a considerably large catechetical undertaking, instructing all the nations in the hallakhah (i.e., the interpretation divine law) of the Messiah, the Son of David. In other words, The Great Commission is not satisfied by knocking on doors and passing out tracts—as good as those things may be. It is a description of the entire mission and action of the Church—evangelize, sacramental, catechetical.
Let us consider this catechetical mission a little more closely. The words of the Gospel do not say “teaching them all that I have commanded you,” but rather “teaching to observe all that I have commanded you,” It’s like the difference between a course in hydrodynamics and a course in swimming. You ought not to learn simply the theory of buoyancy of bodies in water, but you must learn how to swim! We have sadly neglected this. With good intentions, we have taught many people about Christianity but not how to live the Christian life.
Something a high-ranking cardinal said in recent years struck me as relevant. He observed that very few pilgrims to the Vatican seem to have more than two children. That’s very interesting, since the use of the natural method for child spacing usually results in a family size of around six to ten. So even among Catholics devout enough to want to make a pilgrimage to the Vatican, it's uncommon to see a witness to the Church’s teaching on openness to life. And openness to life, contrary to the way it may seem to many, is not really a side-issue or a tangential teaching, but at the deepest level, it is intimately tied up with our understanding of divine love, the trinity, marriage, the family, and reality in general. So, this is one area in which we are not doing a good job of teaching the disciples of Christ “to observe all that I have commanded you.” And of course, there are many other examples as well.
It's not that catechetical instruction should be stripped of intellectual content, but all of us need to be aware that, just as Christ became incarnate, so also we must incarnate the teaching of Christ—act on it, live it out. And until we teach others not simply to know it but to live it, we haven’t succeeded in manifesting the kingdom of Christ on earth.
Yours in Christ,
Fr. Vincent Clemente
Upcoming Events
MAY 15th— Monday. RCIA, 6PM, Social Hall.
MAY 16th— Tuesday. Child. of Our Lady, 10AM, Social Hall.l.
MAY 17th— Wednesday. Bible Study, 10AM, Social Hall. Confirmation Class, 6PM, Social Hall.
MAY 18th— Thursday. Legion of Mary, 1PM, Social Hall. Bible Study, 7PM, Social Hall.
MAY 19th— Friday. Kraft Korner, 10AM-12PM, Social Hall.
MAY 23rd— Tuesday. Child. of Our Lady, 10AM, Social Hall. Knights of Columbus, 7PM. Social Hall.
MAY 24th— Wednesday. Bible Study, 10AM, Social Hall.
MAY 25th— Thursday. Pastoral Council, 10AM. Legion of Mary, 1PM, Social Hall. Bible Study, 7PM, Social Hall.
MAY 28th— Sunday. Men’s Emmaus, 2PM, Social Hall.
MAY 29th— Monday. Office Closed for Memorial Day.