Celebrating Parish Confirmation with Bishop Evans

Dear Parishioners: We had a great celebration last Sunday night as 93 of our young parishioners were confirmed by Bishop Evans.  The Confirmation Mass was solemn and beautiful and I offer thanks to the many who worked so hard to make it a wonderful celebration.  In special way, we thank Bishop Evans for his presence and ministry at our parish, the Choir and musicians for adding such beauty to the celebration, and the ushers who did a great job helping our many visitors to OLM. I also wish to thank our Religious Education Staff  especially Mickey St. Jean and Doug Green who helped to plan and prepare the candidates for this important day.   We also thank the many teachers who taught the candidates over the years about Christ and His Church.  They along with their parents who guide them in the ways of the faith are to be commended. Finally, we thank the 93 newly confirmed for staying the course and committing to Christ as young adults.  They have done so in a very public and communal way and that is most commendable. The parish celebration  of Confirmation gives the candidates  strength in their faith and our parish and Church hope for the future.  Now these newly confirmed must continue to grow in the faith and guide their lives by the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I ask you to continue to pray for them that they will stay close to Christ and His Church and bear witness to the Lord in their lives.  In the coming weeks, Fr. Connors and I will be sending each of them a letter inviting them to take up a ministry here at OLM and we hope they will consider serving God and their parish as Confirmed Catholics! Pope Francis confirmed young adults last April at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.  In his homily, he encouraged the newly confirmed and his words are worth reflecting upon by all of us but most especially by the young people of our parish.  Pope Francis states:  “And here I come to my last point. 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! There are no difficulties, trials or misunderstandings to fear, provided we remain united to God as branches to the vine, provided we do not lose our friendship with him, provided we make ever more room for him in our lives. This is especially so whenever we feel poor, weak and sinful, because God grants strength to our weakness, riches to our poverty, conversion and forgiveness to our sinfulness. The Lord is so rich in mercy: every time, if we go to him, he forgives us. Let us trust in God’s work! With him we can do great things; he will give us the joy of being his disciples, his witnesses. Commit yourselves to great ideals, to the most important things. We Christians were not chosen by the Lord for little things; push onwards toward the highest principles. Stake your lives on noble ideals, my dear young people.”

It was great to see quite a few people take advantage of our new Monday night Confessions.  We hope that this addition to our OLM Schedule provides a more convenient day and time to get to Confession.  Consider what Pope Francis has said about Confession: “Humility and kindness are the framework of a Christian life. Oftentimes we think that going to confession is like going to the dry cleaners to get out a stain, but it isn’t. It’s an encounter with Jesus who waits for us to forgive us and offer salvation.” We had a pretty good crowd for our first Monday of October Devotions.  If you couldn’t make it, consider coming this Monday.  We gather before the Eucharist, listen to a short talk, pray the Rosary and adore the Lord.   Can you think of something better to do on a Monday night?   Have a Happy Columbus Day! God Bless.  Go Pats! Go Sox?!! Remember Mondays are for Mary!!

Financial and Spiritual Health Both Necessary for Parish Life!

Dear Parishioners:Last week we held the Annual Financial Meeting for the Parish Corporation.  Our Parish Trustees, Joe Cavanagh and Bill Wray,  along with the seven members of our Parish Finance Council met with Dave Cote, our Parish Business Manager, and myself to review the Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year ending June 30, 2013.  Overall the report looks good and a copy will be provided to the entire parish in the coming weeks. Specifically, the report indicates that this year the parish had a cash surplus of about $25,000.  This is a change from the last few years of deficits, and a sign of your generous support.  The report shows a positive financial trend for our parish and this is truly great news especially during these tough economic times.  Unlike the federal government we won’t face a shut down! I wish to thank the Parish Trustees, Finance Council and Dave Cote for their hard work and dedication to serving our parish.  Their  sound advice and  good counsel is a great asset in keeping the parish financially sound and fiscally viable.  Also, I wish to  thank Gloria Lincourt for her many years of dedicated service to the parish. As you may know she served as a Parish Auditor for many years and recently asked to step down.  We are grateful for her hard work and service on behalf of the parish.  Ed Loiselle, a long time parishioner of OLM and a CPA, has generously agreed to take Gloria’s place as Parish Auditor.  I am grateful for his willingness to serve along with our longtime Parish Auditor, Paul St. Onge.  Both Ed and Paul carefully reviewed the Annual Financial Report as required by the  Diocese.  The final report will now be sent to Bishop Tobin for his review.  I am grateful for your  generous financial support of Our Lady of Mercy.  In a time when many other parishes are  struggling financially, your continued generosity keeps Our Lady of Mercy Parish both fiscally sound and financially healthy.

While financial health is important for any parish so too is spiritual health.  So I bring to your attention the many ways you can keep your spiritual life healthy at OLM.  Of course, the greatest way to maintain your spiritual health is through regular attendance at  Mass.  With the addition of another Mass on the OLM schedule on Sundays, getting to Mass is even easier.  You can also keep spiritually healthy by attending Marian Devotions each Monday in October.  Join us each week for a prayerful time of reciting the Rosary, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and a brief spiritual talk.  It’s yet another wonderful way to improve your spiritual life. Also, I bring to your attention the addition to the OLM Schedule of Monday night Confessions at 6:00PM.  We’ve added this extra hour of Confessions for those who cannot get here on Saturday afternoons.  Remember what Pope Francis has said: “The confessional is not a torture chamber, but the place in which the Lord’s mercy motivates us to do better.”  So please stop by on Mondays for God’s mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Penance. The renovations of the Church bathrooms should be coming to end.  Each bathroom has been redesigned and remodeled with new tile, new insulation, new fixtures and new lighting.  The bathrooms now have  only one toilet each and will now be unisex.  There is a privacy lock on the door of each and one has a changing table for our young families with infants!  This project was made possible because of your generous support of the Annual Collection. The Annual Collection continues to garner support this year.  So far just over 300 families have made their donation in support of this  important collection.  In a parish with 2,200 registered families we  still await a gift from many families to reach last year’s total of $100,000.  If you have not yet made your donation, please do so by placing the blue envelope in the collection basket at any Mass.  Thank you for your support. Congratulations to the 93 young adults confirmed this weekend  God Bless.  Go Sox!!

Giving Thanks to God for a Great Picnic and more...

Dear Parishioners:I awoke last Sunday morning at 4:00AM to thunder, lightening and a downpour of heavy rain! However, thanks to your prayers and the intercession of our parish patroness, Our Lady of Mercy, the storms and rains subsided by Noon and the sun was shining brightly! It was a beautiful day for our OLM Parish Picnic! Over three hundred parishioners, friends and neighbors gathered for a great afternoon of good food, good fun, and good friends! I am grateful to our crack OLM Maintenance Team and a great group of volunteers from the parish and school PTG everything was ready to go and then quickly cleaned up afterwards. In your name, I thank the Galleshaw Family of Wright’s Chicken Farm for donating their tent for the picnic, the Dunkin Donuts on Main Street for donating all the coffee, the Knights of Columbus for manning the grill and cooking the burgers and dogs all afternoon.  Without the help of so many great parishioners who volunteered and benefactors who were so generous we would not have had such a great day.   It was a great afternoon of pony rides and games for kids, good food and ice cream for all and a wonderful time celebrating our parish family.  We are grateful to Fr. Connors for his truly talented display of juggling including the juggling of flaming batons!  It was one of the highlights of the day.  Also we congratulate Fr. Connors and his team of youth who were victorious over Team Healey in the tug-of-war!  There will be a rematch next year! We give thanks to God for this wonderful parish and for providing our parish family such beautiful weather and good times! On Tuesday of this past week we had a solemn celebration of the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mercy at the 7:30AM Mass.  Our parish soloist Deirdre Donovan provided  beautiful music for the special  feast including a truly beautiful hymn dedicated to patroness. May Our Lady of Mercy continue to intercede for our parish and guide and protect our parishioners.   It’s hard to believe that the month of September is coming to a close and fall has arrived.  Soon the leaves will be changing colors and falling down. October at OLM is full of events and special feast so please take a look in the bulletin.  We will have October Devotions each Monday during the month at 7:00PM with spiritual  reflections. Also we will offer all-day Eucharistic Adoration this Friday following the Frist Friday OLM School Mass.  I hope you can spend some time on Friday in prayer and adoration of Jesus Christ truly present in the Blessed Sacrament.  Adoration will conclude at 7:00PM on Friday night. Also beginning in October there will be an extra hour of Confessions each week.   Beginning on Monday, October 7th, Fr. Connors and I will hear Confessions on Monday nights at  6:00PM.  For those who cannot make it to Confession on Saturday afternoon, you can now stop by on the way home from work on Monday evenings. Frequent Confession is good for the soul! The congregation at our new Sunday 5:00PM Mass has continued to grow each week. We are in need of regular volunteers to help usher and take up the collection.  So if you are interested in helping out at one or two Sunday evening Masses a month, please let me know.  Also remind your friends, neighbors and family members that OLM now has the last Sunday Mass in the area! On Sunday, October 6th at the 5:00PM Mass Bishop Evans is to confirm nearly 100 of the young adults of parish.  I ask that you please commend them to your prayers that as they receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit  they will continue to grow in grace, faith and holiness and stay close to Christ and His Church.  Deacon John Dowd underwent double knee replacement surgery this past week and will be away from the parish for a few weeks to recover.  Keep him in your prayers that the surgery is successful and the he returns soon to his ministry at OLM. God Bless.  Have a great week. Go Sox! Go Pats!!

PIcnic and Patronal Feast!!

Dear Parishioners: Your response to Fr. Nick Smith’s appeal to support the Priests’ Retirement Collection was extremely generous.  Once again this year we collected over $10,000 for the fund.  As you know the Senior Priest Retirement Fund  benefits those priests in our diocese who have reached the retirement age of 70 or older.  Despite ‘retirement’ many priests continue to provide pastoral care to the faithful through celebrating Masses, visiting hospitals and nursing homes, volunteering in schools and fulfilling many other duties in continued service to the Lord and the faithful.  Thank you for your support of this critical effort to provide for senior priests in their retirement years – years many priests continue to spend very active in ministry.  Fr. Smith wrote me a note and shared with me how delighted he was to be here at Our Lady of Mercy.  He met several couples he married years ago and hadn’t seen since their wedding day.  He also reunited with a man from OLM who was an altar boy for him at the  Cathedral back in the 1960s!  I thank you for your generous response to the collection.  I ask you to please pray for Fr. Smith and all the retired priests of our Diocese who continue to labor in the vineyard.

This week we celebrate our Patronal Feast, as a Parish as, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy is Tuesday, September 24th.  We begin our celebration this Sunday with the Annual OLM Parish Picnic.  I hope you can join us for a fun-filled afternoon right here on the grounds of OLM.  We will have games for kids and adults, pony rides for children, plenty of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream, and a Tug-of-War competition between Team Healey and Team Connors!  Also we look forward to seeing Fr. Connors display his juggling talents! So stop by on Sunday afternoon to spend some time celebrating our OLM Parish Family.  The Knights of Columbus will be cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.  You can bring your own picnic food, a chair, blanket and beverage of your choice.  There will be a big tent to sit under as well as a dessert table complete with homemade desserts.

On Tuesday we celebrate the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mercy Parish so please try to join us for Mass at 7:30AM.  We will call upon the intercession of our Patroness, Our Lady of Mercy, to guide and protect our parish family and help us continue to grow in faith, hope and love.   This Feast originated when  the Blessed Virgin appeared to Saint Peter Nolassco in Barcelona, Spain. She also appeared  to his confessor,  Saint Raymond of Pennafort, and to the King. These three men established a work of the ransoming of captives. Our Lady indicated to them that she desired the establishment of the Mercedarian religious order. The name is derived from the Spanish word for mercy, merced.  Its members would seek to free Christian captives from the Moors and offer themselves, if necessary, as an exchange. The Order was constituted at Barcelona by King James of Aragon, established in Spain and later approved by Pope Gregory IX under the name of Our Lady of Mercy.

In our times we might pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Mercy as we face the continued threats of terrorism and violence that she might lead us to restore mercy and peace in our world.  Also  we must turn to her to protect the persecuted Christians in places like Syria, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Pakistan, India and Nigeria. Just last week a Catholic Priest in Zanzibar was burned with acid by Islamic extremists.  May Our Lady of Mercy guide and protect all Christians especially those who face oppression and persecution. You may have noticed the work being done on the Church bathrooms.  After many years these bathrooms are being remodeled and updated with new, modern fixtures. A changing table will also be added to one of the bathrooms.  They both should be fully operational soon. This project was made possible because of your generosity to the Annual Collection.  Thanks for the support.  See you at the Picnic! God Bless!

Give Peace a Chance!

Dear Parishioners: Last Saturday we joined millions across the globe who took up Pope Francis’ call to pray and fast for peace.  Over a hundred thousand people joined the Pope in St. Peter’s Square as he led them in prayer and called upon world leaders to choose a path toward peace not war.  I write this column on Tuesday morning in expectation of President Obama’s Address to the Nation later tonight.  He is to speak directly to the American people about the situation in Syria and the response by our government to the evil attacks with chemical weapons upon the Syrian People.    It appears that the President will have to make a very compelling argument to both the U.S. public and the U.S. Congress that military strikes in Syria are just and necessary.  Most Americans and increasingly many members of Congress are opposed to any type of military action in Syria. I hope you continue to pray for the President and  Congress as they weigh what decision to make in this situation.  Any decision they make and any course of action taken is to have serious diplomatic ramifications as well very serious implications for the young men and women who make up our military and possibly even the safety and  security of our nation. We must also pray for all of our troops that they might be protected from all harm.  And please continue to pray for peace in our world.  May Our Lady, the Queen of Peace intercede and guide our world into the way of peace not war!

In his homily for the Vigil for Peace, Pope Francis called upon Catholics and all people of good will to work and pray for peace and reconciliation  in our world. Here is an excerpt from his powerful and prophetic homily:   “Is it possible to change direction? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of God, under the maternal gaze of the Salus Populi Romani, Queen of Peace, I say: Yes, it is possible for  everyone! From every corner of the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest, including those called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it! My Christian faith urges me to look to the Cross. How I wish that all men and women of good will would look to the Cross if only for a moment! There, we can see God’s reply: violence is not answered with violence, death is not answered with the  language of death. In the silence of the Cross, the uproar of weapons ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness, dialogue, and peace is spoken.” Yesterday, September 14th, was the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.  It is a feast in which we acknowledge the centrality of Christ's cross.  The crucifix is the definitive revelation of the fact that we are loved totally by the one person, God, who knows us through and through, and that's what we most need to know. May the Cross of Christ lead our world to overcome war and violence and follow His way of peace  and reconciliation.

In your name, I thank Fr. Nick Smith for his presence here at OLM last week.  His homily was excellent and he was very pleased with the warm reception given him by so many parishioners.  I also thank you for your generosity to this week’s second collection,  the Priests Retirement Fund Collection.  Your support of this important fund has always been very generous and it is greatly appreciated.  I hope you are as excited as Father Connors and me about next Sunday’s Parish Picnic. We are looking forward to spending a great afternoon gathered as a parish family.  So please join us from 1PM until 4PM as we celebrate our faith with a great spirit of fun and fellowship.  Of course, Fr. Connors great juggling skills will be on display! The Patronal Feast of our Parish is September 24th and so in anticipation of it we  start to celebrate next Sunday with the picnic.   May Our Lady of Mercy guide our parish to  continue to grow in faith, hope and charity.  Pray for Peace! God Bless! Go Sox! Go Pats!!!!!

Prayers, Peace, Picnics and more...

Dear Parishioners: We had a pretty good crowd last Sunday night for our new 5:00PM Mass.  Given that it was a rainy night and also Labor Day Weekend it was great to see so many turn out for it.  I think we might see more as the word gets out and folks return from summer homes and vacations.  In the meantime please tell your neighbors, friends and family members that they now have a fifth chance to get to Mass on Sunday!

Next Sunday is National Catechetical  Sunday in the US. It is a day that we celebrate the religious education and formation of our parish children.  I invite you to join us at the 10:30AM Mass next Sunday as we recognize the men and women who have volunteered to teach the Catholic Faith in our Religious Education Program. This year we begin with changes in our Religious Education Program including moving all our classes to Sunday.  All children in Grades 1-5 will attend classes following the 9:00AM Family Mass (10:00AM-11:00AM) and our students in Grades 6-8 will attend following the 5:00PM Sunday Mass from 6:00PM until 7:00PM.  I thank the volunteer teachers for coming forth to share the faith and teach the children about  Jesus and His Church.  Pray for them as they begin this good work of faith formation and evangelization.  Also pray for the many children and their families of our RE Program, may it be a great year of faith and wisdom for them all! I  ask also for your prayers for our 9th Grade Confirmation Candidates.  They are on Retreat this weekend and on September 22nd.  They are to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday, October 6th at the 5:00PM Mass.  As they continue to prepare to receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit, may they also continue to grow in their faith.

On Friday we invoked the Holy Spirit upon the faculty, staff and students of our OLM School.  The Mass for Holy Spirit for the Opening of the School year is traditionally celebrated this time of year.  In fact this coming week Father Connors and I will concelebrate  Masses at the Prout School and Bishop Hendricken with the school chaplains and other local clergy.  May it be a year of growing and learning for all students.

I ask you to mark your calendars for the OLM Parish Picnic on Sunday, September 22nd from 1:00PM until 4:00PM.  Once again  we look forward to gathering and celebrating as a Parish Family in anticipation of the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy on September 24th.  We are hoping for a beautiful day of weather (say some prayers!) and a great turnout once again this year. You are welcome to join us and bring your own picnic food, a chair and a beverage of your choice.  We will provide the tent, condiments, paper-goods,  music, cold water, grills for grilling, games for children and adults, pony rides for kids, and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream for all!  We are always in need of volunteers to help with set-up, running things the day of the picnic and clean-up.   If you can help in anyway just contact the Parish Office at 884-4968 or via email at parish@olmparish.org  Hope to see you there!

Following on Pope Francis’s call to pray for peace this weekend, I ask you to please pray for peace and for a resolution to the conflicts in the Middle East especially in Syria.  Pope Francis stated: “All men and women of good will are bound by the task of pursuing peace. I make a forceful and urgent call to the entire Catholic Church, and also to every Christian of other confessions, as well as to followers of every religion and to those brothers and sisters who do not believe: peace is a good which overcomes every barrier, because it belongs to all of humanity!”  May the Queen of Peace, the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose birth we celebrate today, truly guide our world into the ways of peace.   We thank Senior Priest, Fr. Nick Smith for preaching to us this weekend about the Priests Retirement Fund Collection.  This important collection is to be taken up next weekend.  Your generosity is always appreciated as is your prayers for our Senior Priests.  Have a great week!  God Bless! Go Sox!  Go Pats!