Trusting in Providence

Dear Parishioners:   

 It's back to school this week! I hope our students and teachers had a restful week on Winter Break.  There was certainly no break in the cold weather this week or the snow these last two Sundays! Let's hope we've seen the last of Sunday snow and snowstorms!   

The  Catholic Charity Appeal will be held next weekend at all Masses. This year's theme, "Trust in Providence," is a powerful reminder of God's grace and trust in us to serve others. Our parish goal of $190,000 remains the same as last year, with an overall diocesan goal of $7.5 million. The CCA supports numerous ministries and programs of the Diocese of Providence, including St. Martin de Porres Senior Center, Project Hope, St. Gabriel's Call for Mothers in Need, Emergency Services Network, Promotion of Vocations for the Priesthood, St. Clare Nursing Home, Care Breaks -Respite Care for family caregivers, and the Emmanuel House Homeless Shelter for men and women.

I thank Mr. and Mrs. Jerry O'Connell, who once again serve as our General Chairs of the CCA at OLM, and Mr. and Mrs. Mike Mita, who serve as the Chairs of the Bishop's Partnership in Charity for those who make a gift of $1,000 or more. 

While the Diocese of Providence does not have a bishop, we have Monsignor Albert A. Kenney, our Diocesan Administrator, who leads the CCA. As we celebrate the appeal's 100th anniversary, we recall a century of hope, compassion, charity, and support provided to all those in need throughout our state by the Catholic Church. We are asking every OLM parish family to prayerfully consider a sacrificial gift of $300. Last year, 465 families generously made gifts to the CCA, raising $263,000. Thank you for your support if you have already made your gift to the CCA this year. We hope to count upon the generous support of all 2,200 families registered at OLM. St. Peter Chrysologus said: "Give to the poor, and you give to yourself."

This week is the final week of February.  It's time to begin getting ready for Lent, as Ash Wednesday is March 5!  Lent is the 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. Over the 40 days, we prepare to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter.   

Lent calls us to a deeper conversion to Christ. We are challenged to renew our spiritual lives through more prayer and reading Scripture and spiritual books. Two Masses are available daily at OLM during Lent at 7:30 a.m. and 12:05 p.m. Consider coming to Stations of the Cross on Fridays at 7:00 p.m. Also, two priests are available for Confession on Monday nights during Lent. Saint Pope John Paul II  said:  "Confession is an act of honesty and courage – an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God."  Making a good Confession is great preparation for Lent!      

We are also asked to give more alms to the poor during Lent. The Catholic Charity Appeal, which aids the needy in Rhode Island; Operation Rice Bowl for Catholic Relief Services, which provides food for the hungry across the globe; and OLM Outreach, which helps those in need in our local community, are worthy charities to support with your almsgiving, during Lent.  

Lent also calls us to practice penance, discipline, and self-control through fasting. We are called not only to abstain from luxuries, pleasures, and comforts during Lent but to make a true inner conversion of heart as we seek to follow Christ more faithfully.

Prepare for the holy season by considering what spiritual exercises you might take up and what things you might give up over the 40 Days of Lent. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the keys to a good Lent! Deciding on one practice for each of those pillars is helpful for a fruitful Lent.

I am away this week on vacation and I thank Bishop Evans, Fr. Connors, Monsignor Montecalvo, and the Dominican Friars from PC, Fr. Brophy and Fr. Kilanowski, for assisting in covering Masses in my absence.  Next week, we kick off the 2025 Catholic Charity Appeal at OLM. Thank you in advance for your support.  Be well. Do good. God Bless.  

Pilgrims of Hope in the Jubilee Year

Dear Parishioners:    

Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at the Basilica of Saint Peter for the Jubilee Year.

Pope Francis officially declared 2025 a Year of Jubilee with a papal bull titled "Spes Non Confudit," meaning "Hope Does Not Disappoint." The Jubilee Year began with the opening of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve, 2024.   Pope Francis stated:

"Hope is also the central message of the coming Jubilee that, in accordance with an ancient tradition, the Pope proclaims every twenty-five years. My thoughts turn to all those 'pilgrims of hope' who will travel to Rome to experience the Holy Year and to all those others who, though unable to visit the City of the Apostles, Peter and Paul, will celebrate it in their local Churches."

Jubilee years have a historical and Biblical precedent, which can be found in the Book of Leviticus. In the Old Testament, part of the celebration included the freeing of slaves and prisoners and the forgiveness of debts as manifestations of God's mercy.   Pope Boniface VIII reestablished the jubilee tradition in 1300. Instead of focusing on freeing slaves, the Christian version offered liberation from sins and from the punishment due to sin that must be faced in Purgatory.

The Jubilee Year of Hope commenced with the opening of the Holy Door. The Holy Door is deemed 'Holy' since it calls all those who enter through it to walk in holiness of life. In the footsteps of the Pope, during the singing of the Jubilee hymn, representatives of the Universal Church crossed its threshold as a prelude to the countless pilgrims of Hope from every country and language who will visit St. Peter's Basilica and celebrate the mysteries of salvation during the Holy Year.

Pilgrims pass through the Holy Door.

The origin of the custom of a Holy door dates back to Pope Martin V, who opened a holy door to enter the Lateran Basilica for the Extraordinary Jubilee of 1423. It was first used in St. Peter's for the Jubilee of 1450. Its location, the rear wall of the chapel dedicated by Pope John VII to the Mother of God, corresponds to where it is found today. Pope Alexander VI,

In 1500, this symbol of the opening of the Jubilee was endowed with a ritual that remained virtually unchanged over the centuries until the turn of the millennium, when in the year 2000, the removal of the former brick wall was replaced by the ceremonial opening of the bronze Door.   The last opening of the Holy Door for an Ordinary Jubilee was when Pope St. John Paul II had done so in the Year 2000. Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in 2015 for his 2016 Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

The Jubilee Year will officially end with the closing of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica on January 6, 2026, the solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord. More information about the Jubilee Year is in this week's bulletin. The insert includes information about the Jubilee Year event at the official site of the Jubilee, the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence. One event for the Jubilee is a Symposium sponsored by the Portsmouth Institute for Faith and Culture entitled "Pilgrims of Hope."  Fr. Connors is one of the speakers, so you know it will be good!  Francis X. Maier of the Ethics and Public Policy Center is also an outstanding speaker.   The event will be held on Thursday, March 6. More information can be found in this week's bulletin. 

With March coming soon, there are important events at OLM that you should get on your calendar. The Holy Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 5, and Friday Lenten Stations of the Cross begin on March 7.   Our Annual Lenten Mission begins on March 8 with Dominican Friar Father Henry Stephan, OP, serving as our Mission Preacher. This year's Lenten Mission theme is "Supernaturalization: Becoming a Citizen of Heaven." Of course, the Annual Celebrations of St. Patrick and St. Joseph will also occur. Our preacher for St. Patrick’s Day is Fr. Justin Brophy, OP, and for St. Joseph's Day, Fr. Nathan Ricci! So mark your calendars!

This week, schools are off for Winter Break. Please keep the vacationing students and faculty in your prayers. I hope they have a safe and fun break and return tan, rested, and ready to teach and learn again with vigor! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Have a Happy Presidents' Day! God Bless America.

Praying to Our Lady for the Sick & Suffering

Dear Parishioners:    

Punxsutawney Phil on Groundhog Day February 2, 2025

Last Sunday, the world awaited the arrival of the groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil. He predicted six more weeks of winter after waking up to see his shadow! So, last week's blessing of throats and prayers for the intercession of St. Blaise is very timely. Hopefully, the head colds, flu, and ailments of the throat so common in the winter season will subside as we await the arrival of spring. 

We celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes on February 11. It is also the World Day of the Sick, an observation introduced by Saint Pope John Paul II as a way for the faithful to offer prayers for those suffering from illnesses. In his Message for the World Day of the Sick, Pope Francis said:

Anointing of the Sick

"We are celebrating the 33rd World Day of the Sick in the Jubilee Year 2025, in which the Church invites us to become 'pilgrims of hope.' The word of God accompanies us and offers us, in the words of Saint Paul, an encouraging message: 'Hope does not   disappoint' (Rom 5:5); indeed, it strengthens us in times of trial."

So on this Tuesday, we are asked to pray for those who are ill, infirm, and their caregivers, to promote kindness and concern for those who are suffering, and to remember the importance of providing physical, emotional, and spiritual support to the sick, and to reflect on caring for those who are sick, and those who provide them care.

Saint Pope John Paul II established this Day of Prayer on May 13, 1992, one year following his diagnosis of Parkinson's. It is celebrated on February 11 with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, a feast associated with faith, healing, and miracles.

  On February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to a young French girl named Bernadette Soubirous, beginning a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words, "I am the Immaculate Conception."

St. Bernadette and Our Lady of Lourdes.

Bernadette was a sickly child whose family was very poor. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. When she was interrogated by authorities about the apparition,

Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was "something white in the shape of a girl."  It was "a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm." A blue girdle encircled her white robe. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand.

The child, Bernadette, was impressed that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu) but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to this simple, humble girl and treated her with dignity. In 1862, Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions.

St. Bernadette Soubirous became a Sister of Charity and Christian Instruction in 1866. She spent the rest of her life at the Saint Gildard Convent in Nevers, France, as an infirmary assistant and sacristan.

Our Lady of Lourdes said to St. Bernadette Soubirous: “I do not promise to make you happy in this world, but in the next.”   Thus,  St. Bernadette lived always for the happiness of heaven. She died on April 16, 1879, in agony, willingly accepting her great sufferings in faithful fulfillment of her "Lady's" request for penance. She was canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XI on December 8, 1933. Her incorruptible body is kept in the Chapel of Saint Bernadette at the motherhouse in Nevers, France.

Through this humble child, Mother Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became a universal feast in 1907. And Lourdes continues to be a place of pilgrimage and healing but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognized over 60 miraculous cures, although there have probably been many more.

Some people doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film The Song of Bernadette: "For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible." Pray for the sick, suffering, and those who care for them, asking Our Lady of Lourdes for her powerful intercession. Be well. Do good. God Bless.

Pilgrims at the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, France

The Presentation, A Feast of Faith and Family

Dear Parishioners:    

We had a great celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Our student speakers delivered terrific talks about OLM School at Masses last weekend. They are an example of the outstanding education OLM School provides. We thank them for a great job!                            

The school boiler project is completed. Two new boilers are fully operational and keeping our students and faculty warm! We thank Paul Anderson for overseeing the project and Bob Bolten and Arden Engineering for installing it. The final cost of the project was $180,000. Thankfully, the Grateful for God's Providence Capital Campaign funds covered the cost.

 We also recently had to install new sewer pumps at the school. After a couple of decades of wear and tear, they gave out, causing us to temporarily close one bathroom. But again, Arden Engineering came to our aid, and we now have new sewer pumps working properly! The cost was about $10,000. Thank you for your donations to the Building and Grounds Collection, which help defray the costs of such unforeseen projects. 

Another project we are commencing at OLM School is a more spiritual program. The late Holy Cross Father Patrick Peyton, who was known as the Rosary Priest, famously said: "The family that prays together stays together. A world at prayer is a world at peace."

We ask our school families to make "A Pledge to Our Lady."  This pledge commits them to attending Sunday Mass weekly, offering Grace before meals, and praying together once a day.  Those whose families make the pledge spiritually commit to developing their faith lives with these three actions under the guidance of Our Lady of Mercy. As Father Peyton also said: "If families give Our Lady fifteen minutes a day by reciting the Rosary, I assure them that their homes will become, by God's grace, peaceful places."

Those families who make the "pledge" will fill out a pledge card, which will be placed in the sanctuary of our Church, where they will be remembered at Masses. This is a great spiritual and prayerful support for these young families by our entire parish.  As many of our older parishioners know from their experience raising a family, prayer and the Sacraments are central to family life.  And as the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us:

"Sunday, the 'Lord's Day,' is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist. It is the pre-eminent day of the liturgical assembly, the day of the Christian family, and the day of joy and rest from work."

Today, February 2, in the secular world, is Groundhog Day. The fate of Spring hangs in the balance as a burrowing rodent looks for its shadow. However, today, the Church celebrates the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus. It is also known as Candlemas Day since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today's liturgy. The Presentation of the Lord supersedes the Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Feasts of the Lord that fall on a Sunday in Ordinary Time and in the Christmas season replace the Sunday liturgy.

Founded by Pope St. John Paul II in 1997, today is also the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life. He attached it to "Candlemas Day" because the consecrated men and women are to be the light in the world, imitating Jesus, the Light of the World. So please pray for our good sisters at OLM, Sister Lourdes, Sister Emma, Sister Jane, and Sister Jeanne.

Monday, February 3, is the Feast of St. Blaise, the bishop and martyr of the 4th century.  He is the patron of candle makers and ailments of the throat, as he once saved a young child from choking on a fish bone. We invoke his intercession for throat ailments like the colds and flu making the rounds this winter. In anticipation of this feast, we bless throats at weekend Masses. They are blessed with two candles tied together with a red ribbon to form a cross as we invoke the intercession of St. Blaise. Let us also pray for all those suffering ailments of the throat. 

At OLM, we have much to be grateful for and much to pray for. Let us be grateful and prayerful! Be well. Do good. God Bless. St Blaise, pray for us!

Keeping the Faith Alive! Catholic Schools Week!

Dear Parishioners:    

Catholic Schools Week begins this Sunday.  This annual observance takes place across the country as we pay tribute to the achievements of Catholic Schools and recognize their contribution to the common good of our nation. Catholic schools have been the largest non-public educational system in the United States for over a century, and they are not owned and run by the government. Today, Catholic schools enroll more than 1.6 million students. While in the 226 Catholic colleges and universities, there are another 850,000 students earning degrees.

This is truly a remarkable achievement in light of the history of Catholic Education in the United States. In  17th century  America, there was little toleration of Catholics. In 1790, when the 13 colonies became the 13 states, Catholics numbered only 35,000 in a population of 4 million. By 1820, American Catholics were still no more than 200,000. Bishop John Carroll, the nation's first and only bishop then, sought to establish a teaching order of religious sisters and Catholic schools. Thus, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and her Daughters of Charity became among our nation's first Catholic School teachers.  

Meanwhile, in the 1830s, the civic-minded elites of the U.S. were inventing something new, public schools. These were schools owned and run by the government, funded by taxes, free from tuition, and available to all children. They were called "common schools" because they would instill in pupils the common culture of the nation. Today, we think of a "public school" as a secular institution. However, its inventors did not. They sought to make the schools overtly Protestant with bible studies, prayers, and religion classes at odds with the teaching of the Catholic Church.

Thus, there was a great need to establish Catholic Schools for the growing immigrant Catholic population in 18th-century America. In 1870, the census counted 4.2 million Catholics in a national population of 38 million, making Catholics a group with significant political power. Anti-Catholic sentiments and the Know Nothing political movement dominated the day's politics. They viewed Catholics with suspicion and acted with bigotry and malice against the Church. 

The American River Ganges by Thomas Nast (1871)

The cartoon was a commentary on the idea that American Catholics were not assimilating into American culture and were instead blindly following the Roman pontiff.. The cartoon was part of a larger anti-Catholic movement in the United States.

Among them was the U.S. Senator James G. Blaine of Maine, who in 1874 proposed to amend the U.S. Constitution to have it decree that "no money raised by taxation in any state for the support of public schools, or derived from any public fund therefor, … shall ever be under the control of any religious sect."

His amendment narrowly failed, but its popularity was evident as individual states quickly added the Blaine language to their state constitutions. By 1890, 29 of the 42 states in the Union had adopted the so-called Blaine Amendment, a blatantly bigoted anti-Catholic law. Today, there are Blaine amendments in the constitutions of 37 of our 50 states and they prohibit school choice programs.

So, as we reflect on this history, let's not take our Catholic Schools for granted and give proper thanks for the many founders who worked so hard to establish them. Among those founders are Bishop Carroll and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who established the first Catholic schools in our nation. Also, St. John Neumann, the Bishop of Philadelphia, who established the first Catholic School System in the 1850s.

Father Brady, the Sisters of Mercy, OLM Parishioners, and the contractor break ground on the site of the new Our Lady of Mercy School.

Here at OLM, we remember with gratitude Fr. Francis P. Brady and Mercy Sister  Helena McNulty, who established our parish school. Some seventy-five years later, we thank them for their legacy, which is our outstanding parish school where the  Catholic faith is studied and lived daily. A school where students are challenged to strive to be saints and scholars. A school where a dedicated administration and faculty provide outstanding academics, arts, and athletics in accord with the Catholic Faith.  

The late Pope Benedict XVI once said: "A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints." Our Lady of Mercy School is such a school! So celebrate Catholic Schools and stop by the Open House at OLM School between 10:00 am and 12 noon on Sunday. Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go OLM Jags!

A Time to Pray for the United States

Dear Parishioners:   

There are some big events taking place this week. On Monday, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and the inauguration of President Trump. And, of course, on Monday night, the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame take on the Buckeyes of the Ohio State University for the National College Football Championship.    

A famous photo, taken on June 21, 1964, at a civil rights rally in Soldier Field in Chicago, shows Father Hesburgh together with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., singing "We Shall Overcome."

Dr. King led the struggle for civil rights and racial equality for African Americans in our country.  As we remember Dr. King, let us continue to pray and work for an end to the unjust evil of racism in our world.     Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, stated this week:

“Dr. King’s memorial holiday is a fitting occasion to recall his words from the letter from a Birmingham jail, in which he stated, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ In reflecting on the continuing realities of racial injustice, immigrant families seeking welcome, and economic disparity, these words remind us that we are connected and responsible for each other as we seek to fulfill the dream.”  

On Monday, President-elect Donald J. Trump will be inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. In the historic ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, a peaceful power transfer occurs as the new President is sworn into office. Let us pray for our President and our country.     

In 1789, John Carroll was appointed the first Bishop of Baltimore, the first diocese in the new United States. He later became the first Archbishop of the new Archdiocese of Baltimore.  Archbishop Carroll administered the entire U.S. Catholic Church until 1808. General Washington had sent then-Fr. Carroll and Benjamin Franklin on a diplomatic mission to Canada during the Revolutionary War. And the Founding Father’s deep respect for Fr. Carroll played a part in his being named the first Archbishop of Baltimore. Carroll wrote a beautiful prayer for the government that we should pray this week:  

“We pray O God of might, wisdom and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with your Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness and be eminently useful to your people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality.

  Let the light of your divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

  We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state, for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by your powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.” 

OLM Students praying at Weekly Mass.

As we celebrate these important events for our nation, another important event begins next Sunday: Catholic Schools Week!  Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week has been the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. It seeks to highlight the outstanding achievements in academics, the arts, athletics, and faith formation provided by our Catholic Schools across the country.

At OLM, we celebrate with a week of special events. We begin next Sunday with an Open House at OLM School from 10:00 am until Noon.  Stop by and take a tour and meet our excellent faculty and terrific students. OLM School students will be speaking at all Masses next weekend about their experience at our outstanding school. Join us in celebrating OLM School, where we strive daily to become saints and scholars!    

As we celebrate the Presidential Inauguration on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, please pray for our nation, the President, the U.S. Congress, and the R.I. General Assembly. Remember, God and prayer are non-partisan. Be well. Do good. God Bless America! And go Fighting Irish!!