Dear Parishioners:
As Father Barrow announced last weekend, Bishop Tobin has appointed him as the new Pastor of St. Teresa of the Child Jesus Church and School in Pawtucket. He begins this new assignment on July 1, 2021. Congratulations, Fr. Barrow! We wish Fr. Barrow all the best in his first pastorate and assure him of our prayers. And we thank him for his five years of zealous priestly ministry here at OLM. As our Associate Pastor, he has done a tremendous job serving the parish and school. He is a joy to work and live with, and will be missed by many including myself.
At this time, Bishop Tobin has not named a replacement for Fr. Barrow. This year six priests are retiring from active ministry, and just two men are to be ordained. So please pray for an increase of priestly vocations in the Diocese of Providence.
Father Barrow's last Sunday at OLM is June 20, 2021. Appropriately enough, it is also Father's Day! On that weekend, we shall have a chance to officially say "Thank You" and "Farewell" to Father. So please mark your calendars.
It's hard to believe that June begins on Tuesday. The school year is soon coming to a close, and we celebrate our final OLM School Mass on Friday, June 4. It is to be the final First Friday Mass for our graduating 8th Grade Class. Many of these students have spent the last eight to nine years at our parish school striving to be saints and scholars. We pray for them, in particular at the Mass on Friday. All parishioners and school families are welcome to join us for the Mass.
Next weekend, we hope to begin the customary practices of having the ushers take up the collection and the gifts of bread and wine presented by parishioners. These traditional practices were suspended for safety reasons during the pandemic but are now allowed. We could always use a few more ushers to help take up the collection, open and close doors, and greet people. Also, we invite all families who wish to bring forward the gifts to inform the ushers.
Next weekend we also resume the usual method of distributing Holy Communion. Our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are to assist us once again as they did before the pandemic. All the priests and EMHCs are to continue sanitizing their hands before distributing Holy Communion.
The wearing of face masks is optional for those vaccinated. However, the CDC and the RI Department of Health still insist that the non-vaccinated wear a face mask in church. I thank you for your cooperation, patience and understanding.
Next weekend the dispensation from the obligation to attend Sunday Mass ends. As you know, obeying the Third Commandment to honor the sabbath, we are obliged to attend Sunday Mass every week. It is a grave sin to miss Mass without a good reason. Coming to Sunday Mass also fulfills the interior law inscribed in the human heart to render God visible and public worship as a sign of radical dependence upon Him and as gratitude for all the blessings we have received. We pray many parishioners begin to return to Sunday Mass.
Next Sunday is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. This feast calls us to focus upon the Holy Eucharist. At every Mass, our focus is upon the Eucharist and the Real Presence of Christ in it. But on Corpus Christi, we celebrate the great gift of the Mass and renew our belief in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist.
A Eucharistic Procession to Mercy Park follows the 10:30 am Corpus Christi Mass. A beautiful and venerable tradition on this great feast. At Mercy Park, we kneel in adoration and pray with renewed devotion before the Eucharistic Lord. As St. Thomas Aquinas wrote:
“Down in adoration falling,
Lo! the sacred Host we hail,
Lo! o'er ancient forms departing
Newer rites of grace prevail;
Faith for all defects supplying,
Where the feeble senses fail.”
On Saturday, June 6, Bishop Tobin is to ordain two new priests for our Diocese. Transitional Deacons Dan Mahoney, who served at OLM as a summer seminarian, and Doan V. Nguyen, are the new Priests of Providence. Please pray for them and their priesthood.
Happy Memorial Day! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. See you at Devotions!