Dear Parishioners:
The Our Lady of Mercy Class of 2023
This week we say farewell to our OLM School Eighth Grade as we celebrate a special Mass for them at 10:30 am, and together we pray for the Class of 2023. An Academic Awards Luncheon follows the Mass for the graduates and their families. There we acknowledge and celebrate the many academic achievements of our outstanding Eighth Grade students.
We celebrate the OLM School Graduation Ceremony on Monday at 6:00 pm. Please pray for these young men and women as they prepare to enter high school. May they remember the wisdom of St. Francis de Sales: "You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves."
June is a month dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost, which this year is June 16. Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus began when Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque received private revelations from Jesus Christ. He spoke to her on June 16, 1675, and asked her to promote a feast that honored his Sacred Heart.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a wonderful expression of the Church's love for Christ, her Spouse. It calls for conversion, reparation, love and gratitude, apostolic zeal, and dedication to Christ and his saving work. Let us turn to the Sacred Heart this month and pray.
Pray especially for our elected officials who recently passed a bill sponsored by Senator Valverde (D-East Greenwich), which legalizes taxpayer dollars funds for abortions on demand until the birth of the child. A great violation of conscience for those who support the sanctity of all human life. At a ghoulish bill signing ceremony at the statehouse, Governor McKee, State Senators and Representatives, and their allies in the abortion industry very enthusiastically celebrated the new law with loud applause and shouts of joy. Their joy and delight in publicly funding the destruction of innocent human life aren't merely distasteful but gravely offensive and quite depraved.
Images of the Sacred Heart show it in the middle of Jesus' chest, with a cross crowned with thorns. On the side of the Heart is a bleeding wound that recalls the wound Jesus suffered on the cross and symbolizes the wounds men's sins keep inflicting on him daily. Abortion and those who glory in its expansion deeply wound our Lord's Sacred Heart.
Let us turn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and pray for our Governor and all those who rejoice in abortion. May they repent of their grave sin, convert their hearts to lovingly welcome the unborn, and build a culture of life. Pray for them with this Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
"Jesus, Son of God and our Savior, have mercy on all who wound your Sacred Heart by sin, unfaithfulness, and neglect. O loving Heart of Jesus, broken by our ingratitude, pierced by our sins, yet loving us still, accept in reparation the suffering I now make to you of all that I am and all that I have. Draw me ever nearer to your Sacred Heart: there where I can learn best; teach me, Jesus, your blessed way to eternal life. Amen."
Jules Breton - La Bénédiction des blés en Artois (1857)
Next Sunday is Corpus Christi, a feast that calls us to focus intently and devoutly on the Eucharist. In honor of this great feast, we take up the traditional Corpus Christi Procession following the 10:30 am Mass. When the Eucharist is carried in solemn procession, we give the public witness of our faith toward the sacrament of the Eucharist. The Corpus Christi Procession is not walking to the Lord but walking with the Lord. The Eucharistic Lord, who has become our Bread of Life, is showing us the way. He is the way. He leads us.
Join us at 10:30 am Mass next Sunday and make the prayerful and devout procession of the Eucharist following Mass. It is a tradition every Catholic should take up as we prayerfully adore our Lord truly present in the great gift of the Eucharist. Let us recall the words of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Down in adoration falling, Lo! the sacred Host we hail.” Congratulations to the Class of 2023! Heartfelt prayers and best wishes to all who graduate from school this year! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Sox!