Dear Parishioners:
We offer a fond farewell to our Associate Pastor, Fr. Ryan Connors this weekend. For the last three years he has faithfully served our parish family and we are grateful for all he has done for us. He has been a valued and trusted Associate who has been a true joy to live and work with these last three years. So please join me in offering him best wishes in his new endeavors! Ad multos anos!
However, we should understand that as Fr. Connors leaves OLM he continues to serve the Church. He has been assigned
by Bishop Tobin to do something he not only possesses the incredible intellect to accomplish but also the tremendous talent to be and that is a learned scholar of Theology and a fine teacher of the future priests studying at St. John’s Seminary. In that role he is to be a valuable asset not only to the Church in Providence but also the Church across New England. So please be sure to stop by to wish him well and say “Farewell and Thank You!” on Sunday following the 10:30am Mass.
This Friday Our Lady of Mercy Parish is hosting a Holy Hour for Vocations to the Priesthood. This annual event is held the night before the priesthood ordinations at the Cathedral. Since this year is a Jubilee Year of Mercy, we were asked to host the great event. It is scheduled for this Friday, June 24th at 7:00pm. Bishop Evans is to preside and Father Joe Upton, the Chaplain at URI and Prout, is to preach. The event consists of Eucharistic Adoration, hymns, scripture readings and litanies as together we pray for an increase of priestly vocations. We pray especially for an increase of vocations for the Diocese of Providence. At the same Holy Hour we are also to unite our prayers for the two young men who are to be ordained priests on Saturday, June 25th.
Deacons Nathan Ricci and Jorge Rocha are to ordained priests of the Diocese of Providence by Bishop Tobin at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul next
Saturday at 10:00am. We hope and pray their priestly ministry for our Church is happy, holy and fruitful. This Holy Hour is a very prayerful and profound event and I encourage you to join us so that our parish is well represented. It is truly a privilege for our parish to host such an important event in the life of our Diocesan Church. Also know that you are welcome to attend the Ordinations to Priesthood the next day at the Cathedral. Pray for vocations and pray for our new priests! As Pope Francis reminds us: “Support your priests with love and prayers!”
Of course late June is the traditional time for priestly ordinations in the Diocese of Providence. This week Father Connors is to celebrate four years of priesthood on June 23rd and I am to mark twenty-one years of priesthood on June 24th. Please pray for us both and for our priestly ministry as we celebrate our priestly anniversaries.
On next Sunday at the 10:30am Mass we honor some of our Senior Altar Servers who are graduating high school. This year four young men are to be recognized by our parish for their many years of faithful and dutiful service at God’s Holy Altar. They are: Crispin Ferris, John Duffy, Jack Dobyzrnski, and Eric Carlson. Each has been an outstanding Altar Server since they were first trained in elementary school. We wish to thank them for their good service these past years and offer them our prayerful best wishes for their future endeavors as they graduate high school. God Bless them!
I have received official word from Bishop Tobin that Fr. Josh Barrow has been assigned as the new Associate Pastor at OLM. We thank Bishop Tobin for sending our parish another priest. In this era of less priests we are truly grateful for Fr. Barrow and we look foward to welcoming him to OLM in July. More about him in next week's bulletin.
Did you find a good spiritual book for the summer? Next week I hope to publish a list of books for a good summer spiritual read that other priests and some OLM parishioners recommended to me.
Happy Father's Day to all OLM Fathers! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!