Dear Parishioners:

My summer meeting with the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors in Nashville, which I attended last week, was a productive and enjoyable time. Our meetings included meaningful updates and conversations about the leading public policy questions facing states and the nation. Housing issues, poverty issues and concerns, sanctity of life issues like physician-assisted suicide, educational and school choice initiatives, international aid, and immigration issues.

Nashville is a hot and humid place in the summer, but I enjoyed plenty of good music at the local hot spots downtown. We also toured the Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Country Music Hall of Fame museums. They were very well done and interesting. I was able to spend time with my friend and classmate, Bishop Spalding of Nashville.

Just 4% the people in the state of Tennessee are Catholic. However, the Nashville Diocese is growing with transplants from the Northeast and Midwest, as well as a large Hispanic immigrant population. The Catholic Church is building new churches and schools to accommodate the rapid growth. Priestly vocations are abundant, as are vocations to the consecrated life, especially at the Nashville Dominican Sisters, whose average age is 38.

Now that it's August, it seems the summer is quickly passing. Our excellent maintenance crew has been busy getting ready for the new school year. They remodeled a classroom for our new Pre-K 3 class and are now renovating our school library. They are repainting the hallways and classrooms and buffing all the floors. Additionally, we will have to replace the roof of the school library in the coming weeks and also sealcoat the large school parking lot. Thankfully, the cost of those two projects is funded by the capital campaign. Grateful for God's Providence. The roof is estimated to cost just over $20,000, and the sealcoating project is estimated to cost about $15,000. The Town of East Greenwich put in the new sidewalks in front of the school at no cost to us!

We had to replace the central air conditioning of the rectory. The system was installed almost thirty years ago, and thanks to Paul Anderson, it kept chugging along all these years. Finally, it gave up a few weeks ago amid a hot and humid week of weather! The new air conditioning units installation was completed last week. It is more efficient and much quieter than the older unit. We expect the final cost of this to be about $25,000.

In the fall, we hope to repave the road at St. Patrick Cemetery as it is badly in need of repair. This project is also funded by the Grateful for God's Providence Capital Campaign. It is estimated to cost about $40,000, but we are still obtaining bids from local contractors. We hope to renovate the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters' Convent Chapel. And we have to paint the interior of the Church as well. These projects are just in the planning phase, and they too will be funded by the Grateful for God's Providence Capital Campaign.

As you can see, OLM is a busy place in both the spiritual and physical realms! We are grateful to God for the blessings of our parish and our parishioners' generous support that make it all possible. I, too, am grateful for your continued support of our parish, especially the Monthly Building and Grounds collection that funds the upkeep of our beautiful physical plant.

We look forward to a new school year beginning on August 28, with the school building bright and clean and ready for our 270 students. We will also welcome three new faculty members this year. Please pray for our school administration, faculty, and students during these remaining weeks of summer vacation. May they return tan, rested, and ready for another great year in our outstanding parish school!

VJ Day. Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu signs instrument of surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

Monday is VJ Day, now called Victory Day, a state holiday only in Rhode Island. Our Parish Office is closed for the holiday, but please join us for Mass on Monday at 8:30 am as we pray for peace among all nations. Nashville was a great place to visit, and my meeting was very productive, but I am happy to be home at OLM again!

Happy VJ-Victory Day! Be well. Do good. God Bless. God Bless America. See you at the Holy Day Mass this week. Go Sox!

Summer Preparation for Fall