Dear Parishioners:
Thursday was the last day of classes at OLM School. Now the students and faculty begin a well-deserved summer vacation. It has been a long year with all the COVID restrictions and policies governing schools. We are grateful to our OLM School Principal, Patrick McNabb, for his tremendous dedication to the students’ well begin and his outstanding leadership throughout the COVID Pandemic.
When he began his administration just two years ago, I am sure he never expected that he would be facing a pandemic! Thanks to his leadership and thanks to our talented and dedicated faculty, OLM School safely opened last September and remained open all year. Our students were happily in their classrooms learning and striving to be saints and scholars. We are grateful to our wonderful students and their parents for their great cooperation and support in this unprecedented pandemic. May they all enjoy the summer and return tan, rested, and ready for school in September!
OLM School 8th Graders get ready to graduate!
We celebrated 8th Grade Graduation last Monday with a joyous ceremony. We say “Farewell” to the Class of 2021. Please keep them in your prayers as they depart our parish school and continue to strive to be saints and scholars at high school!
This weekend, we also say “Farewell” to Father Barrow. After five years serving as the Associate Pastor at OLM, he leaves us to serve as Pastor of St. Teresa Church and School in Pawtucket. We are certainly most grateful for his priestly ministry and dedication. He is a terrific young priest and is sure to be an outstanding Pastor. Be sure to stop by one of the receptions this weekend and wish him well. Also, please pray for him and his new parish. May God bestow his abundant blessings upon him and his priestly ministry in Pawtucket!
Father Healey and Father Barrow
I will certainly miss him as he has been a loyal and hardworking Associate Pastor and a supportive brother priest. We have lived and worked together for five happy years. I wish him well as he becomes a pastor, and I know he is going to be an excellent pastor of souls. St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, once said: “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. When you see a priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These words bespeak Father Barrow. For he is an exemplary priest who truly loves the heart of Jesus Christ! Ad multos annos!
We celebrate Fathers’ Day today. Pope Francis writes about Fatherhood in his apostolic letter for the Year of St. Joseph, Patris Corde (“With a Father’s Heart”). The Holy Father writes: “Fathers are not born, but made. A man does not become a father simply by bringing a child into the world, but by taking up the responsibility to care for that child. Children today often seem orphans, lacking fathers.”
As of 2019, roughly 16 million American children, about 1 in 4, live without a father in the home. And while this happens for many reasons, the largest reason is family breakdown and the huge rise of births out of wedlock. Today, many think that Fatherhood is neither important nor special. We know better, for we see the inexplicable good that happened when St. Joseph was a faithful, loving father and obedient to God. Fathers can protect and give life to the world, sowing the seeds of virtue and goodness, beauty, and truth, and making the presence of Jesus felt and experienced in a world sorely in need of direction, strength, love, faith, and hope.
As we commemorate Father’s Day, we also celebrate God’s gift of life and love through the sacred calling of Fatherhood. On this Father’s Day, I offer my best wishes to all who fulfill the responsibility of Fatherhood. Please join me in praying that all fathers experience the authentic love and joy that comes with raising a child. Let’s pray for God, the Almighty Father, to shower his blessings on all fathers that they may guide, provide for, protect, and love their families following His will. Let’s also pray that God will comfort those whose fathers have gone to their eternal rest and those who do not have a father present in their lives. A Happy Fathers Day to all Fathers!
With deep gratitude and thanksgiving for his time at OLM, I offer a fond Adieu to Fr Barrow. Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. And yes, Go Sox!!!