Responding to Terror, Giving Thanks, and Worshiping Christ the King

Dear Parishioners: The horror and tragedy of last week’s attacks in Paris still continue to shock the world. The innocent victims of the demented and depraved Islamist terrorists were killed indiscriminately and mercilessly by these fanatics. At his weekly Angelus Address Pope Francis expressed his sorrow and support for Paris, stating: “To the president of the Republic of France and all of its citizens, I express my deepest sorrow. Such barbarity leaves us stunned and makes us question how the heart of man could come up with and carry out such horrific acts, which have shattered not only France, but the whole world. I want to vigorously reaffirm that the path of violence and hate does not resolve the problems of humanity and that to use the name of God to justify this path is blasphemy.  We ask Our Lady to protect us and to watch over the beloved French nation, the eldest daughter of the Church, all of Europe and the whole world.”

On Thursday we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Families and friends gather together to share a meal of turkey and the trimmings as they give thanks to God for the bounty of the earth and their own blessings. I invite you to join us on Thanksgiving for Mass. Bishop Evans is to celebrate the Mass and Fr. Eric Bennett, who grew up here at OLM and whose family are still parishioners, is to serve as our guest homilist. Start your Thanksgiving Day off the best way with Mass!

I thank our twelve new OLM Altar Servers who recently completed their training and have been serving for the first time over the last few weeks. They now join the sixty-four other Altar Servers currently serving God and OLM. We commend them all for their service to our parish.

Next weekend we are holding a Winter Coat Drive. We are collecting new and gently used winter coats for the homeless and needy. As the winter weather begins to get colder and wetter we are asking for your help in providing warm coats for the neediest among us. I thank our OLM Youth Group and the Junior Legion of Mary for coordinating this work of mercy for our parish. Thank you for your support of this OLM work of mercy.

I congratulate our OLM Outreach Director, Doug Green, who is to be inducted into the East Greenwich Wall of Honor for his many good works and his outreach to the poor and needy. The induction ceremony is to take place this spring. We are honored by this recognition for Doug and our parish. In the meantime, Doug’s good work continues this week with the preparation of Thanksgiving baskets for the needy. Your generous donations of non-perishable foods, gift cards and to the Outreach Collection make this possible. In the name of the poor and needy who benefit from your support and generosity of OLM Outreach I thank you.

We celebrate the end of the Church Year this weekend with Christ the King. Next Sunday we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent which begins the New Church Year and the season of prayerful preparation for Christ’s coming.

This week’s bulletin contains a copy of the Annual Financial Report for OLM for the Fiscal Year July 1, 2014-June 30, 2015. Our weekly budget revenue has increased by $70,000. In fact, we had a total increase of $127,000 in our income. We were able to reduce last year’s loss of $101,000 to $18,000 this year. We made many capital improvements in the Church, School and Cemetery. This includes a new truck and snow plow, renovating and upgrading classrooms in the school, general improvements to the physical plant and the purchase and installation of a new natural gas burner for the Church. I encourage you to read the report.

Of course this is not possible without your generous financial support in the Weekly Collection, the monthly Outreach Collection and the Annual Parish Collection. I thank you for your continued support of the mission and ministry of Our Lady of Mercy Church and School. A Happy Thanksgiving Day to you and your families. Let us all give thanks to God for our blessings! Pray for Paris! Be well. Do good. God Bless.

Welcoming An Archbishop to OLM and Grilling Priests at OLM!!

Dear Parishioners: Our Lady of Mercy was honored with a pastoral visit from Archbishop Diosdado Talamayan, Archbishop Emeritus of Tuguegarao in The Philippines. His Excellency was here to visit our Franciscan Apostolic Sisters whose congregation was founded in his Archdiocese. The now retired Archbishop is spending some time visiting with family and friends in the United States. While at OLM he led spiritual conferences for the Sisters in their Chapel and celebrated Saturday 8:30am morning Mass. We thank him for his episcopal presence in our parish and his concern for Sister Emma and Sister Lourdes and their fellow Sisters at Scalabrini Villa.

Two windows in the Franciscan Sisters’ Convent Chapel that rotted were recently fixed. The tree by the windows that caused the damage to the Convent Chapel was also cut down. I thank Paul Anderson for his hard work in attending to this project for our Sisters. The good Sisters are now able to pray before the Blessed Sacrament in their Convent Chapel without worry. We thank them for their continued prayers for our parish community.

This week Fr. Connors and Fr. Chris Murphy, the Chaplain at Bishop Hendricken High School, are taking a group of young men to St. John’s Seminary in Boston. The group gets a tour the seminary, attends evening prayer and dinner with the seminary community, and meets with the seminarians from the Diocese of Providence. Our own Seminarian Brian Morris and our Summer Seminarian, Eric Silva, help with this visit and answer questions about seminary life and the process of discerning a vocation to the priesthood. I am grateful for their participation in this Vocation Awareness Trip and also Fr. Connors and Fr. Murphy for organizing this opportunity.

Fr. Connors has also organized another great event this coming Thursday at OLM School. It’s called “Grill the Priests” and it is an opportunity for people to ask a panel of priests questions about the Catholic Faith. They can inquire about anything they find curious about the Church or the life of priests.

The panel consists of Fr. Connors, Fr. Murphy, Senior Priest Fr. John Kiley (Pastor Emeritus of St. Francis Church in Warwick), Dominican Friar Fr. Philip Neri Reese of Providence College, and myself. Monsignor Albert Kenny, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Providence, serves as the moderator of the lively conversation. Last year this event was very fun and informative with lots of great questions for the panel. The event is Thursday at 7:00pm and open to the entire OLM Community. Wine, beer and light refreshments are to be served so it is an adults only night. Some great door prizes are to be raffled off as well. Seating is limited and reservations are needed so please contact the Parish Office soon to reserve your spot.

In the name of the entire Parish I offer congratulations to OLM Parishioner Kevin McDevitt who is receiving the 2015 Proudly Pro-Life Award from the RI Right to Life Committee at their Annual Banquet this week. Kevin is to be honored for his unwavering pro-life commitment and conviction in defending all human life especially the life of the unborn. We thank him for being a truly outstanding example of what it means to be Proudly Pro-Life!

This weekend I am away attending the Winter Meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore where I serve as a consultant to the Sub-Committee on the Defense and Promotion of Marriage. I thank our Vocation Director Fr. Carl Fisette for filling in at Masses in my absence. We also warmly welcome our OLM native son, Dominican Fr. Francis Belanger, OP who is the Novice Master of the Dominicans. He is at OLM visiting his family this weekend. Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!

Celebrating Parish Life and Preparing for Funerals! It's November at OLM

Dear Parishioners: What a weekend we had last week! It started with the Pat’s big win over the hapless Miami Dolphins on Thursday night! On Friday the OLM School community gathered for the “Trunk or Treat” celebration of Halloween. It was a great time for our school families decorated cars trunks, lots of candy, hot chocolate and hot dogs, and hay rides for the whole family! Kids from every grade were in great costumes and happily collecting all kinds of goodies. The car trunks were all very creatively decorated. It was a really fun and safe night for all. My thanks to the OLM PTG for organizing such a family fun event! Fun family events is what makes our parish school such a great place.

On Sunday Bishop Tobin celebrated Confirmation at the 5:00pm Mass for 101 of our OLM young adults. It was truly a joyful and faith-filled event for our parish. Each candidate was sealed with the Holy Spirit and took on a Saint’s name as their role model in faith. It was a prayerful and wonderful way to mark the great Solemnity of All Saints. I offer my thanks to the newly Confirmed and their families for staying the course in their faith. They are a true and joyful blessing to our community. We also thank Bishop Tobin for conferring the Sacrament upon our young adults.

The music for the Mass was excellent and so I thank Henri St. Louis, Deirdre Donovan, the OLM Choir and the musicians for sharing their talents with us! I must also thank Doug Green who directs our Confirmation Program for his hard work and commitment to the Confirmation Class. He is ably aided by Mickey St. Jean, Maryanne Weaver, Kathy Hall and also an excellent Reception Committee.  We thank them for ensuring that Confirmation is a truly memorable and meaningful event in the life of our parish.

All Souls Day was Monday and this is the one day of the liturgical year that priests are given the great privilege to celebrate three Masses in one day. These three Masses are offered for the faithful departed especially those souls in Purgatory. We continue to remember all our beloved dead throughout November. We also prayed for the OLM parishioners who have died since last All Souls Day. At OLM there were 64 souls who went on to their eternal reward during that time. We commend them to the mercy of God and keep their grieving families in our payers. May they rest in eternal peace.

I received two interesting letters from the Chancery Office this week. One was a request to update my funeral plans! Yes, every priest is asked to plan their own Funeral Mass in advance and send it to be put on file in the Chancery until the time of death. We must select the readings, the music, and even name who the homilist is to be for our own Funeral Mass. We must also provide the details about the cemetery and graves, and any pre-arrangements we have made with a funeral director.  Now I know that some people view planning for their own funeral a rather unpleasant thought. However, after twenty years of priesthood and hundreds of funerals I think prior planning is not such a bad idea. It is often very difficult for family members to make decisions about funeral details during a time of grief. I know this myself from helping with the funerals in my own family.

I also received a letter from the Catholic Foundation of RI asking me to include my parish in my funeral planning! Not sure if the timing of these two letters was planned or just coincidence. I’ve already made OLM the designated charity for my memorial gifts at the time of my death. My plans have always included the parish where I serve as the recipient of any memorial gifts at the time of my death. This was a very common practice among faithful Catholics in the past but in recent times seems to have fallen off. Perhaps the best way to prepare for our own death is to lead a faithful and moral Catholic life! As for planning the funeral details in advance, that’s not such a bad idea either. Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!

Welcome Bishop Tobin! Celebrating Confirmation and All Saints! Praying for Our Dead on All Souls

Dear Parishioners: We welcome Bishop Thomas J. Tobin to Our Lady of Mercy this weekend. He is here to celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday at the 5:00PM Mass. Over one hundred young men and women having been preparing for this milestone in their young lives. In the name of the parish I offer a warm welcome to Bishop Tobin and also offer our prayerful congratulations to the 2015 OLM Confirmation Class. We rejoice in this great day for these young people and our parish. They are the future of our Church and so we commend them to Almighty God as we pray:“All powerful God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by water and the Holy Spirit you freed your sons and daughters from sin and gave them new life. Send your Holy Spirit upon them to be their helper and guide. Give them the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of right judgment and courage, the spirit of knowledge and reverence. Fill them with the spirit of wonder and awe in your presence. ”

Today the Church across the globe rejoices as we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. In an All Saints Day homily last year, Pope Francis suggested that the saints are not “supermen” who are “born perfect,” but rather are ordinary people who followed God “with all their heart.”

The Holy Father stated: “They are like us, they are like each of us, they are people who before reaching the glory of heaven lived a normal life, with joys and grief, struggles and hopes. Each saint changed his or her life when they recognized the love of God, they followed him with all their heart, without conditions and hypocrisies. They spent their lives in the service of others, they endured suffering and adversity without hatred and responded to evil with good, spreading joy and peace. The saints give us a message. They tell us: be faithful to the Lord, because the Lord does not disappoint!”

All Saints Day is followed the next day by the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, more commonly known as All Souls Day. All Souls Day is a day set aside for honoring and praying for the dead. This celebration of All Souls stems from the Catholic doctrine that the souls of the faithful departed who at their death have not been cleansed from the temporal punishment due to their venial sins and from attachment to their mortal sins. They cannot immediately attain the beatific vision in heaven and so are in a state of purification which we know as Purgatory.

Our Catholic Faith teaches us that our beloved dead are aided by our many prayers and by the offering of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. In other words, when they died, they had not yet attained full sanctification and moral perfection, a requirement for entrance into Heaven. This sanctification is carried out posthumously in Purgatory. The Masses we offer aid not only the living but also the dead. This is why there is such a venerable tradition of remembering our loved ones who have died with Masses on anniversaries or Month’s Mind.

All Souls Days Masses are at 7:30am, 9am and 12:05pm. All Souls Day is not a holy day of obligation but I encourage you to come to Mass and pray for the souls in Purgatory. If you cannot make it to Mass on Monday, please offer prayers for the dead especially your beloved dead and those souls who have no one to pray for them.

In a special way we will remember the souls of the faithful departed who rest in our parish cemetery, St. Patrick’s. The OLM School students will process to St. Patrick’s Cemetery following the 9am All Souls School Mass. You are most welcome to join with them as we pray and process for the faithful departed of our parish family. Cemeteries are not “spooky” places but rather they are signs of faith and hope for the resurrection of those buried there. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May all the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Happy All Saints Day! A Prayerful All Souls Day! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!

For All the Saints, A Celebration of Sanctity and the Sacrament of Confirmation

Dear Parishioners:At Mass last Sunday in St. Peter’s Square Pope Francis canonized the Blesseds Vincenzo Grossi, Maria dell'Immacolata Concezione,  and Ludovico Martin and Maria Azelia Guérin as new Saints of our Church. Saint Vincent Grossi was a an Italian parish priest who served the poor and the young. Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception was an Italian Religious Sister and the foundress of the Sisters, Expiatory Victims of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, who dedicated her life to teaching and serving the poor.

Husband and wife, Ludovico Martin and Maria Azelia Guérin, were devout lay French Catholics and also the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux. They were well known for their deep faith and had nine children. Only five of their daughters survived to childhood but each of the five would become a cloistered nun including their youngest, the Little Flower, St. Therese. In his homily at the Mass of Canonization Pope Francis suggested: "The radiant witness of these new saints inspires us to persevere in joyful service to our brothers and sisters, trusting in the help of God and the maternal protection of Mary. From heaven may they now watch over us and sustain us by their powerful intercession.”

What fitting words for us to reflect upon as we prepare to celebrate the great Solemnity of All Saints next Sunday. November First falls on a Sunday this year thus we celebrate the feast at all our Masses next weekend. This feast honors all saints both the known and the unknown. Like the three new saints we celebrate those saints known the world over but also those unknown to the world. These unknown saints might be the many good parish priests, dedicated religious sisters, loving parents and grandparents, or wise teachers who have gone before us in faith. May all the saints intercede for us!

The Solemnity of All Saints is made even more special at Our Lady of Mercy as we celebrate Confirmation next Sunday at the 5:00pm Mass. Bishop Tobin is coming to confer the Sacrament of Confirmation upon 101 young adults of our parish. We pray for these young people as they prepare for the life changing event of receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. May they strive to be saints in the City of Man!

In anticipation of All Saints Day, the American custom is to celebrate on All Hallows Eve. More commonly called Halloween, this traditional holiday includes children dressing in costume and going door to door collecting candy. I have my own fond memories of going door to door on Halloween in a clown costume made by my older sister. Way back then there were no mini-bars just the full sized candy bars! However, the times change along with the size of candy bars on Halloween! Fr. Connors and I are truly looking forward to celebrating Halloween this year with the children of OLM School.

This coming Friday night we celebrate Halloween in totally new manner called “Trunk or Treat.” This is a new and really a great way to celebrate Halloween Along with dozens of our school families we gather in the school parking lot for “Trunk or Treat.” Cars are decorated and kids make their way around the parking lot going from car trunk to car trunk filling their bags with treats and candy. It’s a very fun and safe way to celebrate the holiday. I am grateful for the OLM School PTG for once again bringing such a great family event to our school.

As October draws to a close we prepare for Halloween and All Saints. November is also a month for All Souls. At 10:30AM Mass next Sunday we remember in prayer and with deep faith all the deceased souls of our parish who have died over the past year. Their families are invited to attend as we pray as a parish family for the repose their loved ones’ souls. On Monday, November 2nd there are three Masses for al the faithful departed. We ask you to please return your All Souls envelopes before November 2nd. Pray for the young people who are to be confirmed in the faith next Sunday Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!

Who is the real Christopher Columbus!?

Dear Parishioners: The Columbus Day Holiday was beautiful with the sun shining and the temperatures near 70 degrees. There was a weekend of festivities and a parade on Providence’s Federal Hill. In New York nearly a million people attended the Columbus Day Parade. Many celebrated a day off and many others celebrated the memory of Christopher Columbus.

However, in Rhode Island at Brown University where they have removed Columbus Day from their calendar and now call it Fall Weekend Holiday, they had a protest against Columbus and his holiday! These Ivy League critics of Christopher Columbus brand him as being an invader of a land that belonged to the gentle inhabitants of the New World, an enslaver of the indigenous people who, until then, were living in blissful freedom with one another and finally accuse him of being a cruel oppressor of people who, until then, had been living in prosperous harmony and concord.  It easy to criticize someone who lived in the 15th Century in the cultural context of the 21st Century. What is more difficult is to truly consider a much fuller historical image of Columbus and the times in which he lived. Certainly there are legitimate criticism to be offered about him and anyone is free to offer them. However, too often such criticism is simply political correctness run a muck.

The Providence Journal featured two op-eds on honoring Columbus in their holiday edition. One commentary written by a left-wing college professor suggested eliminating the holiday and instead calling it a Day of Solidarity. The other written by retired RI Supreme Court Chief Justice Frank Williams offered a much broader interpretation of the holiday and the man, he suggests: “When you judge characters from the past, try doing so within the context of the times in which they lived and acted. All of us, like Columbus, have multilayered personalities — the good, the bad and the ugly. So, we should be discerning when we judge another individual by recognizing that almost each of us has the opportunity for doing good and, like the person we commemorate on Oct. 12, has, in fact, performed good deeds that contribute to our culture.”

I also believe that some of the animosity against Columbus is the fact that he brought the Catholic faith to the New World. Columbus believed he was specially chosen by God to bring the Gospel to a people who were living in darkness and the shadow of death. He was a devout Catholic attending Mass and receiving Holy Communion regularly. He was a Franciscan Tertiary who believed, like St. Francis, that the world should be converted to Christ by prayer, preaching and peaceful means.

His Journal from August 3 to October 12, 1492 is a daily record of the historic voyage from Spain to the New World. In it he often refers to Jesus and the need for divine help. He is always asking Our Lord for the light and strength he needs to realize what God had entrusted him to do – the mission of bringing the knowledge and love of Jesus to those who had not heard the Good News of salvation.  This is clearly an image of Christopher Columbus rejected by his critics at Brown. It might help them gain a fuller understanding of the man. After all, the motto of Brown University’s founders is: “In deo speramus” (In God we hope)!

At Devotions on Monday Fr. Chris Murphy, Chaplain at Bishop Hendricken High, is to offer a reflection.  Following devotions the confessions of our Confirmation candidates and their sponsors are to be heard. I ask you to please keep these young people in your prayers as they prepare to receive the Sacrament on Sunday, November 1st at the 5PM Mass from Bishop Tobin. Next weekend we are to conduct the October Mass Count. We are required annually to count the number of people attending Masses here at OLM. Every parish does the same and the results are sent to the Bishop and then on to the Vatican. So if you see our ushers counting heads during Mass next weekend now you know why! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!