Saying So Long to School! Summer Arrives Soon!!

Dear Parishioners:This week we mark beginnings and endings. The 8th Grade of Our Lady of Mercy School mark the end of their years at the parish school and the beginning of the next chapter in their young lives. They are to be recognized at the 10:30AM Mass by our parish community with the OLM School Medal. On Monday night at 6:00PM they graduate the 8th Grade! Congratulations to the Class of 2015!We thank the parents and families of our graduates for the many sacrifices they’ve made for the education of their children and for their commitment to Our Lady of Mercy School. As I offer my thanks to these parents, I am reminded of the words of Saint Pope John Paul II in his encyclical, Familiaris Consortio, in which he wrote: “The most basic element is parental love, which finds fulfillment in the task of education as it completes and perfects its service of life.” We wish these parents and graduates all the best and pledge our continued prayers for them.

It’s also the end of school at OLM this week with the last of day of classes on Tuesday! Classes end but summer begins! I remember how the last day of school was always a joyful and hopeful day as we looked forward the lazy, hazy days of summer! We wish all our dedicated students, teachers, and staff a truly restful and healthy summer! Enjoy the summer and see you in September! Of course just because school ends for the summer doesn’t mean Church ends! I hope no matter where you find yourself this summer, whether it’s near or far, at the beach house or traveling out of state, you are able to attend Mass. If you are traveling, simply go to the website Masstimes.org to find the nearest Catholic Church and the schedule of Masses! It’s that easy so please don’t take a vacation from God this summer!

I received word from the Office of Bishop Tobin last week that the date for Confirmation at Our Lady of Mercy Church has been set for Sunday, November 1, 2015 at 5:00pm. On that day Bishop Tobin is to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation and the gifts of the Holy Spirit on over one hundred of our young adults. Please pray for our candidates as they continue to prepare for this important day in their lives as Catholics. They continue their formal preparation in the fall with a retreat and a penance service just before Confirmation. As freshmen in high school they truly need the gifts of the Holy Spirit!

The OLM Vacation Bible School is coming! It begins on Monday, June 22nd and runs every day that week from 9:00am until Noon right here at OLM. The Bible School is for all parish children ages 4 thru 12. It is a great opportunity for the kids to experience lots of fun as they learn about the Catholic Faith. If you are interested please contact Mrs. Bethany Bessette by email at bcroteau@olmschool.org

I welcome a new addition to our parish staff this week, Mr. Michael LaChimia is our new part-time OLM Youth Minister. He also starts next fall as our new OLM Middle School Theology Teacher. As our Parish Youth Minister he is to work closely with Fr. Connors in building up our growing Parish Youth Program. Michael hails from Carver, Massachusetts and is a recent graduate of Providence College where he graduated summa cum laude! Please be sure to offer him a warm welcome when you see him around OLM.

Next Sunday we celebrate Father’s Day. It is a day to offer thanks and gratitude to all of our Fathers, living and deceased. In honor of the day, we are to offer Masses for All Fathers next Sunday. We ask you to please return all Father’s Day Memorial envelopes prior to next Sunday. In speaking about St. Joseph, the Patron Saint of Fathers, as a protector, Pope Francis said: “The vocation of being a protector, means protecting people, showing loving concern for each and every person, especially children, it means caring for one another in our families. It means building sincere friendships in which we protect one another in trust, respect, and goodness.” Pray for Fathers that they may follow the example of good St. Joseph. God Bless. Congratulations again to the OLM Class of 2015!

Join in Procession with the Eucharistic Lord! Celebrate Corpus Christi!!!

Dear Parishioners: Today is the great Feast of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ. Traditionally called Corpus Christi, it is the occasion of deep faith, great joy and solemnity. Corpus Christi reminds us of three things as Catholics. First, it reminds us of who it is that we are receiving and what we are doing when we approach the Eucharist. It is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, truly present in the Eucharist. Second, it gives us the chance to be grateful to the Lord, for so great a wondrous gift. Thirdly, Corpus Christi reminds us that we ought to look at the Lord together in communion. It is the Lord Jesus who has the power to unite us into one. This great feast calls us to realize that unity is not our gift to God but rather unity is God’s gift to us and if we want unity, we need to look at the Lord.

We celebrate the feast with a Procession to Mercy Park immediately following the 10:30AM Mass. The Corpus Christi Procession helps us to see and better understand that the meaning of “receiving” Holy Communion is not restricted to lining up and coming up to receive Holy Communion. In the procession, the meaning of receiving Holy Communion is expanded and is expressed fully because it means that we accompany the Victor over death in His triumphant procession through the streets. In his homily for Corpus Christi last June, Pope Francis offered this prayerful reflection on the Feast: “Shortly, in the procession, we will follow Jesus truly present in the Eucharist. The Host is our manna, through which the Lord gives us Himself. We turn to Him with trust: Jesus, defend us from the temptations of worldly goods that render us slaves, poisoned food; purify our memory, so that it will not remain enslaved in egoistic and worldly selectivity, but will be a lively memory of your presence throughout the history of your people, memory that becomes “memorial” of your gesture of redemptive love. Amen.“

Next Sunday at the 10:30AM Mass we celebrate with the 8th Grade of Our Lady of Mercy School. At this Mass we acknowledge their hard work and dedication as they prayerfully prepare to graduate on Monday, June 15th. Each student receives the specially designed OLM School Medal at the Mass and then along with their families continue the celebration at Quidnessett Country Club with a luncheon, academic awards and yearbook signing. Keep these forty-two young students in your prayers as they depart our school and look forward to high school! May God grant his many blessing upon them and may Our Lady of Mercy guide and protect them!

I hope you saw the newly restored Our Lady of Mercy Church sign now located in front the Church. Last year the sign was knocked down and damaged in a wind storm. We placed a new sign in its place and had the old sign restored. It now offers a sign of welcome and a warm invitation to all who pass by our parish. You also may have noticed the new sign for Mercy House where our OLM Outreach and Religious Education Offices are located. Mercy House is the white house located on the far side of the parking lot. We hope this new sign helps visitors and parishioners locate these important offices.

Last Sunday Bishop Tobin marked ten years of episcopal ministry and service as the Bishop of Providence. We offer him our congratulations and prayerful best wishes as he continues to shepherd our Church in Rhode Island with his “strong, loving and wise” leadership. I ask you to please pray for our good bishop that God continues to bless him with the gifts of faith, hope and charity. Ad multos gloriosque annos Bishop Tobin! I will be away this week in St. Louis at the Annual Spring Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops where I serve as a consultant to the Committee on Marriage. Upon returning I look forward to the conclusion of the legislative session of the RI General Assembly where the end seems to be in sight! However, the end of the session usually means a flurry of activity and the appearance of new legislation! God Bless. Go Sox, please!!

Preaching the Holy Spirit, Celebrating Graduations, and Processing on Corpus Christi !!!

Dear Parishioners: Last weekend we celebrated the great feast of Pentecost. Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of Pentecost at a packed St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In his homily he suggests: “The world needs men and women who are not closed in on themselves, but filled with the Holy Spirit.  Closing oneself off from the Holy Spirit means not only a lack of freedom; it is a sin.  The world needs the fruits of the Holy Spirit: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ (Gal 5:22).  The gift of the Holy Spirit has been bestowed upon the Church and upon each one of us, so that we may live lives of genuine faith and active charity, that we may sow the seeds of reconciliation and peace.  Strengthened by the Spirit and his many gifts, may we be able uncompromisingly to battle against sin and corruption, devoting ourselves with patient perseverance to the works of justice and peace.”

While the Church Universal was celebrating the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles at Pentecost last weekend, many others were marking graduation at colleges and universities across the country. We offer our heartfelt congratulations to the many OLM parishioners who graduated from college and graduate school this year. Our prayerful best wishes go out to them as they mark this milestone of achievement in their lives. Now we await as our many OLM high school seniors graduate from local high school in the coming weeks. They too deserve our congratulations and best wishes as they celebrate the end of their high school years and a beginning of a new and exciting chapter in their young lives. May God bless and guide them all with health, happiness, wisdom, and holiness! We offer congratulations and prayerful best wishes to all those who graduate in 2015. Let us pray for them: “Go out into the world in peace; be of good courage; hold to what is good; return no one evil for evil; strengthen the faint-hearted; support the weak; help the suffering; honor all people; love and serve our God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

Next weekend we celebrate the great feast of Corpus Christi, the Most Holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is a feast of particular importance as we renew our praise and worship of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. We celebrate that the Eucharist is essential to Catholic belief and fundamental to our Catholic life. The feast of Corpus Christi was established in 1246 by Bishop Robert de Thorte of Liege, Belgium at the suggestion of St. Juliana of Mont Carvillon. It was extended to the universal Church by Pope Urban in 1264. After the 10:30AM Mass on this feast day Our Lord is placed in the monstrance. The priest then carries the Eucharistic Lord in procession. While processing, the congregation follows and sings. Those not in procession kneel as the Blessed Sacrament passes by them. As the procession ends in Mercy Park all gather to receive Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. I hope you can join us for the Corpus Christi Procession next Sunday immediately following the 10:30AM Mass. It is a great way to celebrate our faith and belief in Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist. We recall that Jesus says: “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if anyone eats this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

The month of June is here and with it the end of school and the beginning of summer. In anticipation of this I remind you that this Sunday we celebrate our last 5:00PM Sunday Night Mass of the season. It resumes again on the first Sunday in September. Thank you for your warm welcome to our Summer Seminarian Eric Silva. Please say hello if you not met him yet! God Bless. Go Sox!

Celebrating our Church on Pentecost and Remembering Our Fallen on Memorial Day

Dear Parishioners: “Lord, send out your Spirit, and renew the face of the earth!” This Psalm for Pentecost has been our prayer since the Ascension when we celebrated Jesus returning to His Father in heaven forty days after His Resurrection from the dead.  What did the bewildered, scared, confused Apostles do upon Our Lord’s Ascension into Heaven?  They took our Blessed Mother Mary, locked themselves into a room, and prayed!  That prayer demanded perseverance, because it took nine days for Jesus to reply.  The response He gave to that patient prayer of His Mother and the Apostles was beyond their most exalted hopes. For on Pentecost Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and His mother, giving them the courage, wisdom, and zeal to carry out the last command He had given them nine days earlier when He had ascended into heaven, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations.  Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” (Mt. 28: 19) Thus the work of the Church began.

Pentecost is truly the birthday of the Church and so we celebrate this Sunday with particular joy and solemnity. We Catholics must passionately love our Church.  Like our family, we are “born into it” at baptism; like a mother, our Church strengthens us in Confirmation, forgives us in Reconciliation, feeds us in the Eucharist, consoles us with the Anointing of the Sick, and gives us away in Matrimony or Holy Orders.  Like our family, our Church is there at birth, sickness, and death.  Like a family, we might quarrel at times and complain about one another, but, like a family, we rarely leave, can always return, and carry our family name, traits, and pride forever.  The Church is our spiritual family!

I am often reminded of the words of Saint Pope John Paul II, spoken at World Youth Day. He said: “I should like to ask you, dear young people, a favor:  be patient with the Church!  The Church is always a community of weak and imperfect individuals.  God has placed His work of salvation, His plans and His desires, in human hands.  This is a great risk, but there is no other Church than the one founded by Christ.  He wants us to be His collaborators in the world and in the Church, with all our deficiencies and shortcomings.”Let us celebrate our Church today. A Church that is human and divine, a Church that continues to grow in faith, hope and love. Pentecost is here and we recall how that small band of fearful and frightened disciples gained the gifts of the Holy Spirit and boldly went into the world to preach the Kingdom of God. Let us go and do likewise!

While the Church marks Pentecost this weekend, our nation marks Memorial Day. It is a holiday begun as a somber day of remembrance; a day when Americans went to cemeteries and placed flags or flowers on the graves of our war dead. It was a day to remember ancestors, family members, and loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice. The late President Ronald Reagan wrote of Memorial Day: “Over one  hundred years ago, Memorial Day was established to commemorate those who died in the defense of our national ideals. Our ideals of freedom, justice, and equal rights for all have been challenged many times since then, and thousands of Americans have given their lives in many parts of the world to secure those same ideals and insure for their children a lasting peace. Their sacrifice demands that we, the living, continue to promote the cause of peace and the ideals for which they so valiantly gave of themselves.” This Memorial Day let us stop and reflect on the liberties and prosperity we enjoy as a nation. Let us remember with gratitude and prayer those men and women who gave their lives so we can continue to enjoy such freedom. Let us thank those who defend our nation and let us pray for peace. Join us on Memorial Day for Mass at 8:30AM and then at 7:00PM for May Devotions as we offer our prayers for peace and for all those who died in service to our nation. Happy Pentecost Day! Happy Memorial Day! God Bless you. God Bless America!

Preparing for Religious Education for Next Year and Celebrating Pentecost!

Dear Parishioners: We had a grand celebration of First Communion last weekend as 80 children from the parish received Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist for the very first time. It was truly a beautiful day with great weather. The children did a fine job at the Mass. Congralutions to them all! They came back on Sunday for the May Crowning with clean gowns and suits. Again God provided a spectacular day for this wonderful ceremony on Mother's Day. With great joy we crowned our Blessed Mother, Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May! I offer my sincere gratitude to all those who made this celebration of faith and love so joyful.

In a special way we thank Mickey St. Jean, our RE Directress for Grades 1-5, and OLM School 2nd Grade Teachers Mary Ryan and Mary Martin-Tuite for their leadership in preparing the children for First Communion. We offer heartfelt thanks all those who helped them especially Jane Burley, Margaret and Thomas McGrath and Doug Green. The many Altar Servers, Honor Guard, Ushers, and our parish musicians, Henri St. Louis and Deirdre Donovan and the OLM Adult and Children’s Choirs also deserve thanks and gratitude for a job well done! Of course, we must also thank the parents and families of our First Communicants for bringing these children to Christ and ensuring their continued communion with His Church. Parents are the primary teachers of their children in the faith and we commend them providing them the formation necessary to grow in faith and love of Jesus.

Our Religious Education Program has ended for the year and so I encourage our RE families at OLM to re-register for next year. This registration takes place after all Masses this weekend. It helps us prepare over the summer for the coming year. I urge all RE families to please register this weekend and I thank them for their cooperation. Vacation Bible School at OLM is coming this June 22—26 for children aged 4 through 12. I am grateful to OLM Teacher Bethany Bessette for coordinating this great experience for all the children of OLM. Sign-ups are coming soon but in the meantime we are in need of a few parental volunteers to assist during the camp. If you are interested, please contact Bethany.

Our Summer Seminarian Eric Silva arrives this week and next weekend you will have a chance to greet him and give him your usual warm OLM Welcome! Our own Parish Seminarian, Brian Morris, has been assigned to St. Paul Church in Cranston and is to work also with the Chaplain at RI Hospital. Please keep all our seminarians in your prayers as they continue to prepare for the priesthood.

Fr. Connors is away this weekend with the OLM Middle School on their trip to Washington, DC. I am sure they are having fun as they explore the nation’s Capitol. Fr. Connors, who once worked for the US Senate, is sure to guide them to all the right places. They are celebrating a Mass together at the National Shrine along with visits to the various monuments. Please pray for their safe return.  I thank Senior Priest, Father John Kiley, and Bishop Hendricken High School Chaplain, Father Chris Murphy, for helping cover Masses in Fr. Connors absence. They are to be with us this Sunday so please say hello and thank them for their priestly service to OLM.

Next weekend we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost. Not always as popular as are Christmas and Easter but just as important a feast in the life of the Church. We commemorate the Holy Spirit’s descending upon the apostles and Pentecost is often called the “Birthday of the Church.” Red vestments are worn as a sign of the Holy Spirit and the liturgy is more solemn. We don’t exchange gifts or hunt eggs to celebrate Pentecost but it should be celebrated with great joy. So I encourage you to wear something red to Mass next week! It is just a small way to celebrate the great feast with joy and faith! Happy Pentecost! May Devotions continue on Monday nights at 7:00PM. Join us for the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction. A great way to spend some time in prayer and reflection. God Bless.

Congratulations to Our First Communion Class

We wish our 80 parish children prayerful best wishes!

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AFTER MASS

Lord, Father all-powerful and ever-living God, I thank You, for even though I am a sinner, your unprofitable servant, not because of my worth but in the kindness of your mercy, You have fed me with the Precious Body & Blood of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that this Holy Communion may not bring me condemnation and punishment but forgiveness and salvation. May it be a helmet of faith and a shield of good will. May it purify me from evil ways and put an end to my evil passions. May it bring me charity and patience, humility and obedience, and growth in the power to do good. May it be my strong defense against all my enemies, visible and invisible, and the perfect calming of all my evil impulses, bodily and spiritual. May it unite me more closely to you, the One true God, and lead me  safely through death to everlasting happiness with You. And I pray that You will lead me, a sinner, to the banquet where you, with Your Son and holy Spirit, are true and perfect light, total fulfillment, everlasting joy, gladness without end, and perfect happiness to your saints. grant this through Christ our Lord, AMEN.  -St. Thomas Aquinas