Dear Parishioners:Last Saturday OLM School hosted its Spring Fling at Warwick Country Club. This annual event for our parish school is very important for fundraising. There was a nice meal, dancing and both a silent and live auction. I am grateful to the committee who worked so hard to ensure such a terrific evening for all those in attendance. Also I thank the many generous donors who help support our school. Channel 12’s own Mike Montecalvo and Danielle North acted as the auctioneers for the live auction. I thank them for the great job they did in raising the bids! There were a whole host of auction items to bid on from having your child serve as the OLM Principal for a day to luxury box seats for a New England Patriots game next fall.
However, the item that drew the highest bids was a Dinner for Eight cooked by our own resident executive chef, Father Shemek. It proved to be a popular item and so we had to add a second dinner for eight! Both dinners sold for $3,000 a piece! We are grateful for the bidders support as all the proceeds go to directly support our school. Father Shemek promises the dinners won’t be all cabbage and kielbasa! By the way, while I cannot cook like Father Shemek, I am responsible for providing the wines and cigars for the dinners! Bon Appetit!
The Spring Fling was a great way to kick off the season of spring! The better weather and warm sun are arriving just in time for the April School Vacation! I wish all of our students and teachers a great vacation. Enjoy the week off and we hope you return all tanned, rested and ready for the final weeks of school! Of course, springtime always brings with it the usual First Communion Celebrations, Confirmations, weddings and Graduations!
It’s hard to believe but we are getting ready for the celebration of First Communion. Father Shemek and I are truly looking forward to celebrating First Communion here at OLM for the first time. Its always a joyful and faith-filled event in the life of the children as well as our parish family. On Saturday, May 11th there will be two First Communion Masses here at OLM, one at 10:00AM for OLM School children and one at Noon for our OLM RE children. Of course, it will be followed by the May Crowning on Mother’s Day!
Bishop Tobin will be at OLM on Sunday, May 19th to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for our 9th Grade Confirmation Candidates. The Mass will be celebrated at 1:00PM on Pentecost Sunday, a fitting day to call forth the Holy Spirit upon our young Catholics! This is to be the last spring confirmation at OLM as we have changed the RE Program so that the Sacrament of Confirmation is now to be celebrated in the fall as our future 9th graders enter high school.
This serves to remind the candidates that Confirmation is a sacrament of initiation not a “graduation” from Religious Education as it has too often become for many! Also it gives these young Catholics the many graces of the sacrament when they need it most, just as they begin their high school years! We know that the high school years can present both good and bad opportunities for teenagers. We hope and pray that with the grace of God to help them and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to guide them, they may always choose the path of Christ!
So going forward Religious Education classes are to be completed at the end of 8th Grade followed by Confirmation at the beginning of 9th grade. This style of Religious Education program is being adopted by many parishes across the state. We anticipate an October date for Confirmation for our present 8th graders. It’s seems that our spring calendar at OLM is to be very full and includes May Devotions on Mondays and OLM School Graduation in June along with a few weddings too! All signs of the new life we celebrate in this Easter Season! I am away this week visiting priest friends at the seminary in sunny Miami! I too hope to return tan, rested and ready! God Bless. Go Sox!!