Father Connors, Graduation and more...

Dear Parishioners: It was a beautiful day on Corpus  Christi last Sunday.  On the great feast of the Eucharist two of our OLM young parishioners received First Holy Communion at the 10:30AM Mass.  The Mass ended with a solemn Procession of the Blessed Sacrament to Mercy Park.  At Mercy Park there was  a beautiful altar and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament was offered.  A good number of parishioners joined the solemn procession and gathered at Mercy Park to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. In your name,  I offer congratulations to Ryan and Catherine Caffery who received their Frist Holy Communion.

Last week Bishop Evans called to inform me that Bishop Tobin has assigned Father Ryan Connors as the new Assistant Pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Parish.  Father Connors is presently studying in Rome and returns in late June to begin his ministry here at OLM on July 1, 2013.  We should be most grateful to the Bishop for sending another priest to replace Father Shemek who is leaving us to become a Pastor.  Many parishes are not as blessed and have been reduced to just one priest.  I offer my personal thanks to Bishop Tobin for assigning Father Connors to serve at our parish.

Father Connors is a native of the Riverside section of East Providence where he attended  St. Brendan’s Parish.  He is the only child of Joseph and Lisa.  Father is a graduate of Bishop Hendricken High School and also graduated from Boston College in 2005.  He worked in Washington, DC for a couple of years before taking up studies for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence Seminary.  Father Connors attended the North American College in Rome for his priestly formation and theological studies before being ordained last June by Bishop Tobin at the Cathedral in Providence.   He spent last summer after his ordination serving at St. Elizabeth’s Parish in Bristol before returning to Rome for further theological studies.  Over this last year he has been studying at the Angelicum University in Rome where he recently completed an S.T.L. Degree in Moral Theology. He writes a column in the Rhode Island Catholic and is also known to be a very good juggler!

We look forward to welcoming Father Connors to Our Lady of Mercy in July. I’ve known him for a  few years having first met him when he was  a young seminarian.  I know him to be  an outstanding young man and a very talented priest and I know he will serve our  parish well.  I truly look forward to working with him in building up the Kingdom of God at Our Lady of Mercy. Please keep Father  Connors in your prayers and thoughts as he prepares to leave Rome to take up his priestly  ministry at Our Lady of Mercy. I know he is excited about sharing the joy of friendship with Jesus Christ found in the Church with all of you. Welcome to OLM Father Connors!

You may have notice some work being done on the sidewalks on the Fourth Street side of the Church.  The Town is putting in a handicap accessible curb close to the side door and plan on adding some handicap parking spots on that side of the Church.  This is being done for those parishioners who need better access to the Church door.  I ask you to please be mindful those parishioners who need to park closer to the doors because of sickness or frail health.    Thank you for your consideration and kindness.

This week our 8th Graders at OLM School  graduate to go on to high school.   Graduation Mass is to be celebrated on Thursday, June 13th at 6:00PM and you are most welcome to join the celebration. Please pray for these graduates that they may continue to grow in wisdom, faith and love  We congratulate these young men and women and their families. OLM School will end the school year on Friday, June 14th. We wish administration, faculty, staff and students a healthy and happy summer.  We look forward to their return in the fall.

I am away this weekend attending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops  Spring Meeting where I serve as a consultant to a committee.   God Bless.

Celebrating Corpus Christi at OLM

Below is the full text of Pope Francis’ homily from the Corpus Christi Mass,translated by Vatican Radio.

Dear brothers and sisters,

In the Gospel we have just heard, there is an expression of Jesus that always strikes me: “Give you them to eat. (Lk 9:13)” Starting from this sentence, I let myself be guided by three words: discipleship, fellowship and sharing.

1. First of all: who are those to whom we are to give to eat? The answer is found at the beginning of the Gospel: it is the crowd, the multitude. Jesus is in the midst of the people: He welcomes them, talks to them, He cures them, He shows them the mercy of God. In their midst, he chooses the twelve Apostles to be with Him, and like Him, to immerse themselves in the concrete situations of the world. People follow Him, listen to Him, because Jesus speaks and acts in a new way, with the authority of someone who is authentic and consistent, who speaks and acts with truth, who gives the hope that comes from God, who is revelation of the face of a God who is love - and the people with joy, bless God.

This evening we are the crowd of [which] the Gospel [tells]: let us also strive to follow Jesus to listen to him, to enter into communion with Him in the Eucharist, to accompany Him and in order that He accompany us. Let us ask ourselves: how do I follow Jesus? Jesus speaks in silence in the Mystery of the Eucharist and every time reminds us that to follow Him means to come out of ourselves and make of our own lives, not a possession, but a gift to Him and to others.

2. Let us take a step forward: whence is born the invitation that Jesus makes to his disciples to feed the multitude themselves? It is born from two elements: first, the crowd, having followed Jesus, now finds itself in the open, away from inhabited areas, as evening falls, and then, because of the concern of the disciples, who asked Jesus to dismiss the crowd, that they might seek food and lodging in the nearby towns (cf. Lk 9:12). Faced with the neediness of the crowd, the solution of the disciples is that every man should take care of himself: “Dismiss the crowd!” [the disciples say]. How many times do we Christians have this temptation! We do not care for the needs of others, dismissing them with a pitiful, “God help you.” Jesus’ solution, on the other hand, goes in another direction, a direction that surprises the disciples: [He says], “You give them something to eat.”

But how is it that we are to feed a multitude? “We have only five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” But Jesus is not discouraged. He asks the disciples to seat people in communities of fifty people, He raises his eyes to heaven, recites the blessing, breaks the loaves, and gives them to the disciples for distribution.

It is a moment of profound communion: the crowd, whose thirst has been quenched by the word of the Lord, is now nourished by His bread of life – and they all ate their fill, the Evangelist tells us.

This evening, we too are gathered around the Lord’s table, the table of the Eucharistic Sacrifice, in which He gives us once again His body, makes present the one sacrifice of the Cross. It is in listening to his Word, in nourishing ourselves with his Body and his Blood, that He makes us go from being a multitude to being a community, from [being strangers] to being [in] communion. The Eucharist is the sacrament of communion, which brings us out from individualism to live together our journey in His footsteps, our faith in Him. We ought, therefore, to ask ourselves before the Lord: How do I live the Eucharist? Do I live it anonymously or as a moment of true communion with the Lord, [and] also with many brothers and sisters who share this same table? How are our Eucharistic celebrations?

3. A final element: whence is born the multiplication of the loaves? The answer lies in the invitation of Jesus to his disciples: “You yourselves give [to them]...,” “give,” share. What do the disciples share? What little they have: five loaves and two fishes. But it is precisely those loaves and fishes that in God’s hands feed the whole crowd.

And it is the disciples, bewildered by the inability of their means, by the poverty of what they have at their disposal, who invite the people to sit down, and – trusting the Word of Jesus – distribute the loaves and fishes that feed the crowd. This tells us that in the Church, but also in society, a keyword that we need not fear is “solidarity,” that is, knowing how to place what we have at God’s disposal: our humble abilities, because [it is] only in the sharing, in the giving of them, that our lives will be fecund, will bear fruit. Solidarity: a word upon which the spirit of the world looks unkindly!

Tonight, once again, the Lord distributes for us the bread which is His body, He makes a gift of Himself. We, too, are experiencing the “solidarity of God” with man, a solidarity that never runs out, a solidarity that never ceases to amaze us: God draws near to us; in the sacrifice of the Cross He lowers Himself, entering into the darkness of death in order to give us His life, which overcomes evil, selfishness, death.

Jesus this evening gives Himself to us in the Eucharist, shares our same journey – indeed, He becomes food, real food that sustains our life even at times when the going is rough, when obstacles slow down our steps. The Lord in the Eucharist makes us follow His path, that of service, of sharing, of giving – and what little we have, what little we are, if shared, becomes wealth, because the power of God, which is that of love, descends into our poverty to transform it.

Let us ask ourselves this evening, adoring the Christ truly present in the Eucharist: do I let myself be transformed by Him? Do I let the Lord who gives Himself to me, guide me to come out more and more from my little fence, to get out and be not afraid to give, to share, to love Him and others?

Discipleship, communion and sharing. Let us pray that participation in the Eucharist move us always to follow the Lord every day, to be instruments of communion, to share with Him and with our neighbor who we are. Then our lives will be truly fruitful. Amen.

Celebrating the Eucharist and New Priests!

Dear Parishioners: This weekend we celebrate the great Solemnity of Corpus Christi.  In this celebration we proclaim our belief in the Real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We also proclaim that same Jesus lives within each one of us who are baptized into His Body, the Church. In the Holy Eucharist we receive the Divine Host whom we carry in procession. Through our Baptism he has taken up residence within each one of us. We carry Him into the real world just as we carry the monstrance in procession today. When we process we proclaim that the Lord continues to come into the world, through us.

The celebration of this Solemnity goes back to the thirteenth century. Pope Urban IV instituted it in 1264 for the entire Church. He wanted it to be filled with joy and accompanied by hymns and a festive procession. He asked the great Western Church father, St. Thomas Aquinas, to compose two Offices of prayer. St Thomas did so- along with five hymns - and they have nourished the faith of Christians for centuries. In one of them St. Thomas noted: "Material food first of all turns itself into the person who eats it, and as a consequence, restores his losses and increases his vital energies. Spiritual food, on the other hand, turns the person who eats it into Itself, and thus the proper effect of this sacrament is the conversion of man into Christ, so that he may no longer live for himself, but that Christ may live in Him. And as a consequence it has the double effect of restoring the spiritual losses caused by sins and defects and of increasing the power of the virtues."

We will celebrate Corpus Christi with great solemnity at the 10:30AM Mass.  The Mass will include a Eucharistic Procession to Mercy Park and then Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  As we celebrate the great gift of the Eucharist this weekend, we might reflect on the words of Blessed Mother of Theresa of Calcutta: “Our lives must be woven around the Eucharist...fix your eyes on Him Who is the light; bring your hearts close to His Divine Heart; ask Him to grant you the grace of knowing Him, the love of loving Him, the courage to serve Him. Seek Him fervently.”

We also celebrate this weekend the ordination of two new priests for the Diocese of Providence.  On Saturday morning Bishop Tobin ordained Scott J. Carpentier and Thomas J. Woodhouse as priests.  Fathers Carpentier and Woodhouse are great young men and we are blessed to have them answer God’s call to serve His Church.  They are to be assigned by Bishop Tobin as assistant pastors and will soon be serving at parishes in the Diocese.  We congratulate them and offer our prayers for them and their priestly ministry. While there were only two ordained priests this year, we had  eight priests retire from parish administration.  This means there are fewer priests to serve the 150 parishes and many other priestly ministries  needed in the Diocese. So it’s clear that we need to pray for vocations to the priesthood.  Do you know a young man who might make a good priest?  Have you told him?  Have you asked your sons, nephews, grandsons or even a neighbor?  “The harvest is plenty but the workers are few,” let’s see if we can change that by our prayers and our invitations. You can get more information at http://catholicpriest.com

Speaking of priests, I hope to find out this week who is to be assigned as our new Assistant Pastor at Our Lady of Mercy. Once I’ve learned who it is from the Bishop, I will announce it to the parish.  Fr. Shemek is back from Poland this week and will be with us until the end of the month.  His new assignment as Pastor of St. Christopher and St. Theresa Parishes in Tiverton is effective on July 1, 2013.  His replacement  assumes his duties here at OLM on July 1, 2013 as well. Also at the end of the month I am retiring from my  duties as the Theological Consultant and Editorial Writer of the RI Catholic.  It has been a great fifteen years working at the weekly diocesan paper but it is clear the time to move on from the paper has arrived.  God Bless.

A Day to Remember and Give Thanks

Dear Parishioners: What a beautiful day we had for last week’s Confirmation Mass.  The sun was shining and on Pentecost Sunday the Holy Spirit was alive and well. Nearly a hundred of our young adults were confirmed in their Catholic Faith by Bishop Tobin.  The Mass was truly a joyful and faithful occasion for the conformandi and their families.  In your name, I offer them our prayers and congratulations. I hope and pray that these young people will stay close to Christ and His Church in the coming years.

So often we see families disappear from parish life after celebrating a sacrament.  This is certainly true for those who make Confirmation.  In the coming weeks I will be writing each of the newly confirmed to invite them to take up a parish ministry and deepen their faith as well serve their parish  community.  Keep them in your prayers.

My thanks to all those who made Confirmation such a great occasion for our parish.  We thank all the teachers, parents, and sponsors who helped prepare these young men and women for this important day in their faith lives.  We also thank Mickey St. Jean who coordinates the Confirmation Program for a job well done.  My thanks to Doug Green and the Reception Committee for providing a wonderful celebration in Mercy Park for the conformandi and their families.  The rain held off until everyone had finished.  Indeed God is good!

With Confirmation over, we have come to the end of the Religious Education Year.  We thank all of our volunteer teachers and helpers for their commitment to teaching the faith to our young children.  I am happy to announce that Mickey St. Jean is to take over the coordination of the First Communion Program and Religious Education for Grades 1 through 5.  Also Doug Green will now coordinate the Confirmation Program for Grades 6 through 8.  I have been meeting with both Doug and Mickey the last few weeks to discuss how me might reconfigure and revitalize our Religious Education Program at OLM.  We hope to put some final plans together in the coming weeks about the restructure  of the program and the further enhancement of the Sacramental Preparation for First Communion and Confirmation.

Father Shemek left after Confirmation to make a visit to his family in Poland and is to return next weekend.  While his departure from OLM is a big loss to our parish, he is truly very excited about his new position as Pastor in Tiverton and wanted to share it with his family.   The weekend of June 22/23 will be his final weekend here at OLM and we will have a reception where you can wish him a fond farewell.  Also on the weekend of June 30 we will have a Mass of Thanksgiving for Sister Rose and Sister Lucy.  We will offer Mass in thanks for their many years of dedicated service to our parish community.  The Mass will be followed by a reception in Mercy Park where you can personally thank the good sisters.

With the month of May coming to an end, June is soon to arrive.  June brings with it the  graduation of our OLM School 8th Grade on June 13th and the end of our school year on June 14th. It’s hard to believe that the school year is ending so soon and the summer beginning!  Where does the time go??  I ask you to please pray for the 8th Graders graduating from OLM School this year that they may continue to grow in grace and holiness and faith and wisdom.

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, a day of remembrance for all those brave men and women who died in service to our nation. On this day we honor their sacrifice in defense of our freedom and  liberty.  Bishop Fulton Sheen once said: “There are certain things in life too beautiful to be forgotten. That is why we revere the sacrifice of our soldiers on Memorial Day. The most beautiful thing about the life of our Lord was His death. Everyone else came into the world to live; He came into it to die; “to give his life as a ransom for many.” Let us remember all those who have given the ultimate  sacrifice for us and for our nation. May God Bless  them and America! Happy Memorial Day.

From First Communion to Confirmation, Happy Pentecost!!!!

Dear Parishioners: It was a joyful and wonderful celebration of First Holy Communion last weekend at Our Lady of Mercy.  Over 100 of our parish children received the Eucharistic Lord in Holy Communion for the very first time Saturday.  Congratulations to them all!

On Sunday they returned to Church for the May Crowing at the 10:30AM Mass and celebrated our patroness, Our Lady of Mercy, in fine fashion.  Of course, the May Crowning is so special on Mother’s Day and this year was no exception.  In your name, I offer our thanks to all who made the celebration possible for these children. Their parents and families who first planted the seed of faith and ensured it is nourished and strengthened with the Sacraments are to be thanked.  We are also grateful to the many teachers and helpers who instructed and prepared the children for this joyous time in their lives.  We thank the musicians, ushers, readers, ministers and all those who worked so hard in making this celebration such a great occasion of faith, hope and love for our parish and for these children.

We also must thank Sister Rose who has dedicated herself to forming the young children of our parish in the Catholic Faith. For twenty years, she has committed her time and talent to ensuring that Jesus and His Church are central in the lives of the children of our parish and we are grateful for her tireless and selfless service. Just a few weeks ago after meeting with the Provincial of the Filipini Sisters, Sister Rose informed me of her intention to retire from her role as the Directress of Religious Education. We are certainly most grateful for her many years of service to Our Lady of Mercy Parish.  Also, Sister Lucy who has served here for many years will be retiring as the Pastoral Minister to the Sick, Elderly and Homebound. Mother Provincial has indicated that both Sister Rose and Sister Lucy will be moving from the Filipini Convent at OLM in the coming months to live with larger Filipini Communities.  Sister Lucy is to move to the Filipini Convent at Mt. Carmel Parish in Bristol while Sister Rose is to return to her native New Jersey.  We are planning a Special Mass of Thanksgiving and Celebration for the good sisters in the coming weeks.

This weekend we welcome  the Most Reverend Thomas Tobin, the Bishop of Providence, to Our Lady of Mercy.  He is coming to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation for over 100 of our OLM young adults at 1:00PM on Sunday.  We look forward to officially welcoming our Bishop and celebrating with our Confirmation Class and their families. How appropriate that we celebrate Confirmation on the great feast of Pentecost when we celebrate the Holy Spirit.   Pentecost recalls the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles and Mary and then, through them came upon all who would choose Jesus Christ. The apostles began the mission of evangelization, of bringing the world to the  Good News of the Gospel by invoking the Holy Spirit, the Power of God. In a very special way we pray for these young adults of our parish as they are confirmed by Bishop Tobin and receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  It is a great day for them and their families but also for our parish congratulations as they are confirmed in their Catholic Faith.

In April, Pope Francis celebrated Confirmation in Rome for 44 young adults from around the world including several from the United States.  In a  profound reflection, Pope Francis reminded the young people about the importance of Confirmation. He invited these young people to live their faith fully and courageously. He  stated: “It is an invitation which I make to you, young confirmandi, and to all present. Remain steadfast in the journey of faith, with firm hope in the Lord. This is the secret of our journey! He gives us the courage to swim against the tide. Pay attention, my young friends: to go against the current; this is good for the heart, but we need courage to swim against the tide. Jesus gives us this courage!” Congrats to our OLM newly confirmed in the faith! God Bless.

Happy First Communion and Happy Mothers' Day at OLM!!!!

Dear Parishioners: We are grateful to Bishop Evans for celebrating the Special First Anniversary Mass for Monsignor Lolio this past Monday.  Along with our school children there was a large crowd of parishioners and Monsignor’s sister, Sheila.  It was a wonderful way to remember Monsignor and pray for the repose of his soul.  May he rest in eternal peace.  Bishop also blessed a new statue of St. Joseph that was donated in memory of Monsignor Lolio.  In his homily, Bishop Evans reminded the school children that St. Joseph is the Father of Jesus and the Patron of the Universal Church.  How  appropriate that Monsignor Lolio who was the spiritual father of Our Lady of Mercy for two decades be honored in such a way.   Until we locate a fitting place for St. Joseph he will reside in the candle room where we can call upon his intercession for our parish.

Congratulations to the children of our parish who make their First Holy Communion this weekend.  What a great day for our parish and for their families to celebrate with faith, hope and love the reception of the Eucharistic Lord into their lives for the very first time.  These children have been preparing all year for this big day and practicing all week for this weekend.  It is always such an uplifting experience to see these little ones  come forward to receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion so prayerfully and reverently.  As we rejoice with them and offer our prayers for them, perhaps we might also reflect on our own reception of Holy Communion.

We might ask ourselves a few questions: are we prepared properly to receive Holy Communion?  Do we keep the Communion Fast of not eating or drinking one hour prior to receiving?  Do we go to Confession regularly or when in a  state of serious sin?  How reverently and prayerfully do we receive Communion? Whether we are receiving Holy Communion for the first time or the one thousandth time, we all need to pause and pray about what we are doing.

This weekend we pause to pray for all Mothers as we celebrate Mothers’ Day.  The celebration of Mother’s Day dates back all the way to ancient times, but the idea of the celebration was first kicked around in 1872. Julia Ward Howe, author of the words to the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” proposed Mother’s Day as a day dedicated to peace. But it was Ann Jarvis of West Virginia, however, who really pushed for a national day to honor mothers. On the second anniversary of her mother’s death, Jarvis asked her mother’s church in Grafton, West Virginia, to celebrate a day to honor  mothers. Thanks to a campaign by Jarvis and her supporters, by 1911 almost every state celebrated Mother’s Day. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson made it a national holiday.

The late Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, the Primate of Hungary in the mid-20th Century and a staunch defender of the faith against the Fascists and Communists, once wrote on Motherhood.  His words are a beautiful reflection for our celebration of Mothers’ Day.  He wrote:  “The most important person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral------a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body. The Angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's Creative miracle to bring new Saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creatures. God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation. What on God's good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?"

May God Bless all  Mothers. May we always be mindful of their love and dedication.  May we always remember them in our prayers while they are with us and when they’ve gone before us in faith.  Cardinal Mindszenty is correct:  “What on God’s good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?”  Happy Mothers’ Day! Remember to join us for May Devotions.