The Vital, Irreplaceable Gift of Fatherhoood

Dear Parishioners:

We wish all our Fathers a very Happy Father's Day! We celebrate the great gift of Fatherhood with prayer and thanksgiving this Sunday. Fatherhood is a tremendous gift from God. I know this because of my own father’s love for me and because of our Heavenly Father’s love for me. The love my earthly father showed me throughout his life is merely a fraction of the love that God has for each one of us.

Fatherhood is not just a job or a position within the family. Being a father is a vocation and a calling. We know that the primary role of parents is to get their children to heaven, and fathers are a critical part of that. Children need fathers to guide them in the faith and to teach them about our Father in heaven. When children feel that their father is trustworthy, honest, dependable, merciful, and loving, they are more likely to believe the same about our Heavenly Father. 

Today, we celebrate the importance of the vocation of Fatherhood. However, the New York State Assembly recently passed a bill that erases the terms 'mother' and 'father' from state child custody and parental laws. 'Mother' would be replaced with 'gestating parent' while 'father' becomes 'non-gestating parent' in family court and also in domestic and education law.  

Words matter, and radical changes to legal language serve only to undermine the importance of these roles in society. Mothers are mothers and fathers are fathers. To suggest otherwise is delusion at best and evil at worst.

Pope Leo  has highlighted the vital and irreplaceable role of fathers in his messages to families. He has also described fathers as the foundation of the family unit, adding, "Dear Fathers, on this special day, I want to encourage you in the complete gift of your life for the good of your marriage and family.”

Speaking of Pope Leo, he recently returned from Spain and took time off to rest at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles south of Rome in the Alban Hills.  It is the Papal Summer Residence, and Pope Leo typically stays there in July until the Feast of the Assumption.  He offers a good witness of the need to rest, recreate, and renew during the summer. 

Summer also means more time for reading. The  Holy Father recommends reading “The Practice of the Presence of God.” Written by the 17th-century French Carmelite friar Brother Lawrence, it is a slim volume that runs just 131 pages. Ascension Press has recently reprinted it. It includes a foreword by Pope Leo, and each chapter is also accompanied by commentary from Fr. Gregory Pine, a Dominican friar, and theology professor, and his sister, Rebecca Dougherty, a theologian.

In addition to my spiritual reading with Brother Lawrence’s book.  I hope to read a new book entitled Converts: From Oscar Wilde to Muriel Spark, Why So Many Became Catholic in the 20th Century by Melanie McDonagh. It examines the lives of notable converts, such as Oscar Wilde, G. K. Chesterton, and Graham Greene, from the perspective of their faith.

The semiquincentennial anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is this July 4, so I am reading a new book, National Treasure: How the Declaration of Independence Made America by Michael Auslin. 

Finally, I  plan to read A Murder in Springtime, the latest installment in Martin Walker's Bruno, Chief of Police series. It just came out last week on Amazon. The Bruno Detective series always makes for a great beach read, preferably with a cigar.   What are you reading this summer?

The newly paved St. Patrick Cemetery road.

This summer, several youths from OLM will attend the Steubenville Youth Conference in Ohio. Transportation costs have risen sharply due to gasoline prices.  We are seeking sponsors to provide scholarships for this life-changing, faith-filled opportunity. Please contact Fr. Brodeur if you can help our youth financially.

As you may have seen, St. Patrick Cemetery has a beautiful, newly paved road.  It was certainly needed and helps keep that sacred ground beautiful. The Grateful for God’s Providence Capital Campaign funded the $40,000 cost.  My thanks to the Lynch Family of the J. H. Lynch and Sons Construction Company for a job well done!

Be well. Do good. God bless.  Happy Father’s Day! May God bless all Fathers!

"Summertime is always the best of what might be.”

Dear Parishioners:                               

Last Sunday, we had a beautiful and solemn celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi.   Fr.  Brodeur’s excellent homily on the Sequence for Corpus Christi, composed by St. Thomas Aquinas, set the tone. The 10:30 am Mass included the Corpus Christi Procession of the Eucharist to Mercy Park for Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  We thank the many who help make it beautiful, including the Parish Musicians and Choir, and our tremendous Altar Servers.  

Pope Leo XIV carries the monstrance as he leads the Corpus Christi procession at Plaza de Cibeles in Madrid, June 7, 2026, during his apostolic journey to Spain

However, we were a little outdone by our Holy Father, Pope Leo.  He celebrated the Corpus Christi Mass and Procession with over one million people in Madrid, Spain.  He is making his first apostolic journey as Pope to Spain.   In his homily, he said:

“Thus, if in the Eucharistic celebration Christ gives himself as nourishment, the procession demonstrates that he does not remain closed in the temple but, rather, comes out to meet us. Jesus walks the streets, passes through the squares, visits our neighborhoods, inhabits the places of our daily lives, like the close God who walks with his people, like the Lord of history, consolation for the weak, light for families, hope for the most vulnerable, peace for those who suffer.”

The photos of the Mass and Procession in Madrid were very moving.  Over a million people knelt in silence as the Eucharistic Procession passed by. These worshippers, including First Communicants, nuns, priests, bishops, and cardinals, gathered to throw flower petals and colored sawdust along the Eucharistic procession's route.

OLM Altar Server Shane Ciunici serves Mass while at OLM School. The Hendricken Man of the Year has graduated and will attend Harvard this fall.

This Sunday at the 10:30 am Mass, we honor our  Senior Altar Servers who have graduated from high school.  They have served Holy Mass since the Fourth Grade.  We commend them for their dedication to duty and to God, and their reverence for the Eucharist.  So please join us as we honor and thank them for their service. St. Pope John Paul II, speaking to altar servers, said: “Your commitment to the altar is not only a duty, but a great honor, a genuine holy service."

While we look forward to the official start of summer next Sunday, on June 21, it’s beginning a little early here at OLM this week.  Our parish school will have its last day of school on Thursday, June 18, with a dismissal for summer break at 11:30 am.   We thank our Principal, Mr. McNabb, faculty, staff, students, and families for another tremendous year of education and faith.  Please keep them in your prayers that God may guide and protect them during these summer months. We hope the summer break is both fun and fruitful for our students. We look forward to their return to school all tan, rested, and ready! Charles Bowden, the American writer, once said: “Summertime is always the best of what might be.”

As summer approaches, I invite you to mark your calendars for some of “the best of what might be” here at OLM this summer.  First, the ordinations of two new priests for the Diocese of Providence will be held on Saturday, June 27, at the Cathedral. In preparation for the Ordination Mass, OLM will host a Holy Hour for Vocations on Friday, June 26, at 7:00 pm.  I encourage you to come as we pray for more vocations to the priesthood and also for the two young men to be ordained. The two young men to be ordained will be here with their families and friends. 

Bishop Lewandowski will preside, and Fr. Chris Murphy will preach.  Our Choir has been practicing overtime for this special event. So, as a parish, let’s make a good show of it and turn out in great numbers for this important event.

We have an important Adult Faith Formation Program this summer. The Dominican friars are hosting a four–part summer series entitled: “Why Catholicism Still Matters.” For four Mondays beginning on June 29, the brothers will host a Godward event at Our Lady of Mercy, featuring a short talk followed by Q&A with the Friars. This should be a great way to gather together and spend a summer’s evening in the cool of the Church, learning more about our Catholic Faith. So save your Monday evenings this summer for Godward!

Summer’s coming! Stay safe and enjoy! Next Sunday is Father’s Day as we give thanks for Fatherhood. Masses will be offered for all Fathers. Be well. Do good. God bless. 

Processing with the Lord

Dear Parishioners:                              

Friday night, we celebrated the Our Lady of Mercy 8th Grade Graduation Ceremony.   Congratulations to the Class of 2025 and to all those graduating from school this year.  Pray that they continue to grow in faith, hope, and charity.  As St.  Catherine of Siena said, “Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire.”          

Christ with the Eucharist (or Christ with the Host and Chalice) by Vicent Macip (also known as Vicente Juan Masip, c. 1475–1550

Today, we celebrate the solemn feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Often called Corpus Christi, it is three feasts in one: the feast of the Eucharistic sacrifice, the feast of the Sacrament of the Eucharist, and the feast of the Real Presence of Jesus in this Sacrament.  Corpus Christi is a doctrinal feast established for us to give God collective thanks for Christ’s abiding presence with us in the Eucharist and to honor Him there.  It is meant to teach us to better appreciate and make use of the great gift of the Holy Eucharist, both as a Sacrament and as a sacrifice.

Although we celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy Thursday, the Church emphasizes its importance with a special feast called “Corpus Christi.”  Today's celebration of the Body and Blood of the Lord originated in the Diocese of Liege in 1246 as the feast of Corpus Christi. Pope Urban IV officially instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi for the entire Catholic Church on August 11, 1264. It was established to publicly celebrate the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.

In the reforms of Vatican II, Corpus Christi was joined with the feast of the Precious Blood (July 1) to become the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of the Lord. We celebrate today Christ's gift to us of the Eucharist, the source and summit of our life together as the Church.    

Our belief in this Real Presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist derives from the literal interpretation of the promise of Christ to give us his Body and Blood for our spiritual food and drink, as found in St. John's Gospel, Chapter 6, and also in the four independent accounts of the fulfillment of this promise at the Last Supper (Mt 26; Mk 14; Lk 22; 1 Cor 11).    

Theologians explain the Real Presence through a process called transubstantiation: the entire substance of bread and wine is changed into the entire substance of the risen, living, and glorified Body and Blood of Christ, retaining only the “accidents” (taste, color, shape) of bread and wine.  

The Council of Trent declared that we must publicly honor Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist, so that those who observe the Catholic faith in the Most Holy Eucharist might be attracted to the Eucharistic Lord and believe in the Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, present in this great Sacrament.    

Corpus Christi Procession by Carl Emil Doepler (1824-1905)

So I invite you to join us as we process with the Eucharist following the 10:30 am Mass. We will carry our Eucharistic Lord to Mercy Park, and there, the Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will be offered.  

In his encyclical Ecclesia de Eucharistia, Saint Pope John Paul II said: “The devout participation of the faithful in the Eucharistic procession on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ is a grace from the Lord which yearly brings joy to those who take part in it. In the humble signs of bread and wine, changed into the body and blood, Christ walks beside us as our strength and our food for the journey, and he enables us to become, for everyone, witnesses of hope.”    

"La messa al campo,” by Emilio Rizzi in 1938

As we celebrate the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, we might reflect on our own appreciation of the Eucharist. We are blessed at OLM to have two priests and many Masses offered.  Our Church is open all day for prayer before Christ, who is present in the tabernacle.  We have frequent periods of Eucharistic Adoration when we can truly adore the Lord, truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.  Do we avail ourselves of these blessed opportunities? Do we take them for granted?  

We should also ask if we actively participate in the Mass? Do we sing and recite the prayers aloud? Are we dressed appropriately for Mass? Have we made the Eucharistic Fast? Do we arrive on time and stay until the end? Do we worthily receive Communion? Do we act as if we are in the real presence of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? G.K. Chesterton famously said, “The Mass is very long and tiresome unless one loves God.” Be well. Do good. God bless.

A Humble Heart & A Sacred Heart Month

Dear Parishioners:                               

We had a beautiful Pentecost celebration last weekend.  Fr. Brodeur solemnly celebrated the Extended Vigil Mass with its many readings.  And on Pentecost Sunday at the 10:30 am Mass, I had the great privilege of baptizing and then confirming two adults, along with eight other adults. It is a great sign of life and vitality for our parish as we celebrate the birth of the Church and the descent of the Holy Spirit.   We offer our heartfelt congratulations and sincere best wishes to the newly baptized and confirmed.  Their names are listed in this week’s bulletin. Please pray for them.

I have important news about the budget envelopes. First, we know they were not sent out to any parishioners.  The Cathedral Envelope Company in Connecticut has once again experienced a breakdown in its manufacturing equipment.  This is now the third time this has happened.  

Envelopes were finally sent out from Cathedral on May 18 and should be in your mailbox. This is the last budget envelope package you will receive from Cathedral, as we have engaged a new envelope company,  Our Sunday Visitor Company in Indiana.  Beginning in July, newly designed envelopes from OSV will arrive in your mailbox every two months. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this time of transition.

Today at the 10:30 am Mass, we celebrate the Graduation Mass for the Our Lady of Mercy School Eighth Grade Class of 2026.  These students have spent as many as 10 years in our outstanding parish school and are now departing OLM for high school. After Mass, we celebrate their academic achievements at a Graduation Luncheon at Quidnessett Country Club, with our administration, faculty, students, and their families.  

OLM School Class of 2026!

On Monday, Fr. Brodeur will lead the class on an all-day retreat at the Seminary of Our Lady of Providence.  On Tuesday, they will spend the day in the sun having fun at Holiday Hills Camp. On Thursday, they have their final dismissal on their last school day at Our Lady of Mercy. On Friday at 9:00 am, they join with the entire OLM School community for the Final First Friday Mass of the school year! And then Friday evening at 6:00 pm, we gather in the church for the Graduation Ceremony.  

We offer the Class of 2026 our best wishes for their future endeavors.  Please pray for them as they celebrate this milestone in their young lives and begin a new chapter.  I remind them of the words of Saint Pope John Paul the Great, who said to young people at World Youth Day,  “Do not be afraid. Do not be satisfied with mediocrity. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”

The month of June begins on Monday! In June, the Church dedicates the entire month to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, offering special prayers and devotions. The reason is that the feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated on June 12 this year, usually falls in June. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is a very profound and enduring symbol representing the immense love and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a special form of devotion to Jesus—the focus being his Heart, which exemplifies our Lord’s redemptive suffering for the whole world.

In the Gospels, Jesus’ heart is moved with pity for the crowds, and He tells us that He is gentle and humble of heart. The Sacred Heart of Jesus, which began beating in the womb of the Blessed Virgin more than 2,000 years ago, still beats today in the glorified humanity of the Risen Christ.  In the Sacred Heart of the Lord, we experience the overwhelming mercy of God and His infinite desire to be with us. 

St. John Henry Newman said: “The Heart of Jesus is a heart of flesh, and not of stone. He loves each of us as if there were none other for Him to love.”

As the United States commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence this year, the U.S. bishops are consecrating the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11, 2026.  We will join in this consecration here at OLM with Mass and a service for the school on Friday, June 12, the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

Be well. Do good. God bless. Congratulations and Best Wishes to the OLM School Class of 2026!

Come Holy Spirit, Renew the Face of the Earth

Dear Parishioners:

Last week’s OLM School Production of Peter Pan, Jr. was outstanding and a thoroughly enjoyable production.  Father Brodeur and I attended the Saturday night performance at the Prout School Theater.  Our students are a very talented group of singers, dancers, and actors and actresses.  Bravi!    

The Descent of the Holy Spirit, Anonymous follower of Gerard David (circa 1450/1460–1523)

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of Pentecost, the feast celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Virgin Mary, 50 days after Easter. Often called the "Birthday of the Church," it marks the beginning of the Church's public mission and the fulfillment of Jesus' promise to send an Advocate.

Before Pentecost, the Apostles were frightened and in hiding. The descent of the Holy Spirit provided them with the courage and spiritual gifts necessary to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations.  It is considered the birth of the Catholic Church because it signifies the moment the early Church transformed from a small, localized group into a bold, unified, and public movement.

It reminds us that the Holy Spirit is a continuous, living presence guiding, strengthening, and sanctifying the Church and her members today.  As Saint John Vianney said: “The Holy Spirit is like a gardener, cultivating our souls.”

We mark Pentecost Sunday with the celebration of baptisms and confirmations at the 10:30 am Mass.  Please pray for these candidates for the sacraments of initiation that the Holy Spirit may guide them with his gifts and strengthen them in faith, hope, and love.  

On Monday, we celebrate Memorial Day in the United States, a holiday dedicated to honoring all American military personnel who died while serving in the Armed Forces. We honor the fallen who sacrificed their lives for our nation and our freedom. 

On Memorial Day, I invite you to join us for Mass at 8:30 am as we pray for all those men and women who have died serving our nation. Also, join us at the final May Devotions on Monday at 7:00 pm as we turn to Our Lady, Queen of Peace, and pray a Rosary for peace in our world.  As St. Padre Pio so wisely said: “The Rosary is ‘the weapon’ for these times.”

It’s truly hard to believe that it's already graduation season, and in less than a month, school ends as summer break arrives! Next Sunday, we look forward to celebrating the OLM School 8th Grade Graduation Mass at 10:30 am.  We will celebrate and pray for our 8th Grade Class as they prepare to leave OLM School for the rigors of high school.  

They will be joined by their parents, families, and the OLM School administration and faculty.  Following the Mass, we continue with a Graduation Luncheon at Quidnessett Country Club as we recognize the students’ many academic achievements.  Please pray for our 8th Grade Class of 2026. May they continue to strive to be saints and scholars as they depart OLM School.

As was discussed last weekend at Masses and in the bulletin, the R.I. General Assembly may pass legislation that legalizes Physician Assisted Suicide in our state.  This bill endangers the weak and vulnerable and corrupts the practice of medicine and the doctor–patient relationship.  It will create perverse incentives for insurance providers and the financing of health care. The most profound injustice of PAS is that it violates human dignity bestowed by God and denies equality before the law.

Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an elderly person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying.

Furthermore, no one is permitted to ask for this act of killing, either for themselves or for another person entrusted to their care, nor can they consent to it, either explicitly or implicitly, nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action. It is a violation of the divine law, an offense against the dignity of the human person, a crime against life, and an attack on humanity.

Please contact your local state representative and state senator and tell them to oppose PAS.  St. Pope John Paul II said: “True compassion leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear."

Be well. Do good. God Bless. Happy Memorial Day! God Bless America!

Physician Assisted Suicide is Deadly, Not Dignified!

Dear Parishioners:                                 

Rhode Island Statehouse

The R.I General Assembly is poised to pass legislation that will legalize Physician Assisted Suicide in our state.  The Church specifically opposes Physician-Assisted Suicide because it seeks to legalize the intentional taking of human life; this deliberate activity violates the most basic tenet of our belief in the sacredness of life and simultaneously poses many dangers to vulnerable populations.

The  Church teaches that physician-assisted suicide gravely violates the sacred value of all human life, particularly those vulnerable due to illness, age, race, or disability, and undermines the medical profession's healing mission. The US Bishops teach: "A choice to take one's life is a supreme contradiction of freedom, a choice to eliminate all choices. And a society that devalues some people's lives, by hastening and facilitating their deaths, will ultimately lose respect for their other rights and freedoms."

Respect for life does not demand that we attempt to prolong life by using medical treatments that are ineffective or unduly burdensome. "Nor,” teach the U.S. Bishops, “does it mean we should deprive suffering patients of needed pain medications out of a misplaced or exaggerated fear that they might have the side effect of shortening life."  

Instead, it demands that we respect life as a gift by not actively seeking an artificial means to end it.  As Catholics, we believe that dying is not an evil to avoid at all costs. It is a step in a journey that continues in the next life with our loving God.

But even those without faith can recognize the intrinsic value of human life and respect for human dignity. They can see that suffering people need solidarity and support more than a loaded syringe and an easy exit. They need their dignity affirmed by being loved and encouraged to hope, not attacked by allowing their despair to reach its limit in self-killing or medically assisted killing. They need relief from pain and discomfort, not relief from life itself.

A truly caring community devotes more attention and support to members facing the most vulnerable times in their lives; when the sick, elderly, and vulnerable are tempted to see their lives as less valuable, they most need the love and assistance of others to assure them of their worth.

The late Pope Francis embracing a hospital patient.

As has happened in other states and countries where killing the sick and suffering is legal,  the alleged safeguards of this legislation will no longer exist in a few years.  Some patients in states where assisted suicide is now legalized have been told that their health insurance will pay for assisted suicide but will not pay for treatment that may sustain their lives.  

Physician-assisted suicide endangers the weak and marginalized in society, especially the poor, minorities, the elderly, the mentally ill, the disabled, and the terminally ill.  Assisted suicide creates two classes of people: those whose suicides we spend hundreds of millions of dollars each year to prevent, and those whose suicides we assist with and treat as a positive good. We remove weapons and drugs that can cause harm to one group while handing deadly drugs to the other, setting up yet another kind of life-threatening discrimination.

As Catholic citizens, we need to build the common good of our entire society and advance the dignity of every human life, especially the terminally ill, not attack it with legalized assisted suicide. I encourage you to contact your legislator as soon as possible and urge them to oppose Physician Assisted Suicide. Information on how to contact them is in the bulletin. Simply scan the QR Code to locate and contact your state representative or senator.  

Pentecost by Moretto da Brescia, 1543–1544

While this news from our General Assembly is alarming and upsetting, there is much good news here at OLM.  Last week, 48 of our parish children received First Holy Communion and, on Mother’s Day, crowned the Blessed Virgin Mary.  It was a beautiful and joyful celebration.  Please continue to pray for our First Communion Class.  

Next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and the Virgin Mary, 50 days after Easter.  At the 10:30 am Mass, two adults will be baptized and receive Communion and Confirmation. 7 more adults will be confirmed.  It is a wonderful way to celebrate Pentecost. As we prepare for Pentecost, let us pray: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.”

Be well. Do good. God Bless.  Pray for the respect of life and the dignity of the sick, the suffering, and the dying!