Dear Parishioners:
Palm Sunday sets the stage for the final showdown between Jesus and his detractors. Today, Passion Sunday, the final scene is to be played out. This is Holy Week, when the whole Christian world comes together to commemorate the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of his mission, and the fruition of the task that the Father had sent him to do. Everything Jesus had done so far, every word, every action, every miracle, had been building up to the climactic events of this coming week. All the players are now in place, all the elements of the play are now ready, and Jesus enters into his passion after a life of faithful service to his Father and to the people whom he loved.
The final scene in Jesus’ life appears to the whole world as a scene of tragedy, a failure of tremendous proportions. Here was a man who did nothing but good, who spoke only of peace, who cared only that the will of God be done. And he was to end his life in the most cruel and humiliating way—crucifixion, at the hands of the very humanity he was sent to redeem. In the eyes of the world which calculates its investments in terms of the returns it will get, Jesus has to be judged a failure, his mission futile, his words, fallen on deaf ears, his death the final judgment of a failed and wasted life.
Passion Sunday begins Holy Week on this sad note. It sets the tone for the somber and solemn days ahead. But there is inserted into this sadness, an unmistakable element of triumph. For we all know that the play doesn’t end with the crucifixion and death of Jesus on the cross, at the hands of those who rejected him. We know that death would not be the final word, that after the agony of Good Friday and the silence of Holy Saturday, will come the glory and triumph of Easter.
At Easter the very life of Jesus will find vindication in the hands of his Father who will give him the greatest reward of all by
raising him from the dead and destroying death forever. The life of Jesus, his works and his deeds, did not happen in vain. This is the real end or point of the story of Jesus. It is also the point of the story of our own lives, the glory of the resurrection is the promise that awaits us all. On that glorious Easter morning, when the women rush to anoint Jesus’ body in the tomb, they discover, not a dead Jesus, but an angel who tells them that he is no longer there, for he has been raised up. This is complete vindication. Jesus had been right all along, death is not the final word. Neither are suffering and pain. The joy of Easter is what awaits all who remain faithful to God’s promise.
I invite you to enter into this holiest of weeks by joining us for the Sacred Triduum. On Holy Thursday we celebrate the one and only Mass allowed, the Mass of the Lord’s Supper. We solemnly celebrate the Last Supper where Jesus instituted the priesthood and the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Our Church becomes that upper room where the Lord gathered with his disciples. Following the Last Supper, the Lord went to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Our Church becomes that garden as we gather before the repository in silent prayer and adoration until Midnight.
On Good Friday, we mark the Passion and Death of the Lord. No Mass is allowed to be celebrated on this day. We walk the Way of the Cross at 3pm and celebrate the Solemn Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion and Death at 7pm. Good Friday is not the end of our story, just was it wasn’t the end of Jesus’ story.
On Holy Saturday, we spend the day in silent prayer until the Mother of All Vigils, the Easter Vigil at 7:30pm. The Vigil Mass is an occasion of great joy as we celebrate the Sacraments of Initiation for our newly baptized and confirmed and glory in light of the resurrection. On Sunday we rejoice in the glory of the empty tomb of Easter. Masses are at 7:30am, 9am and 10:30am. There is no 5pm Mass on Easter Sunday.
It’s Holy Week! Pray, adore, celebrate and rejoice in the mysteries of our Faith. God Bless.
Pope Francis spoke last week prior to the Worldwide Day of Confessions for the Jubilee Year of Mercy and stated: “Let us put back at the center – and not only in this Jubilee Year! — the Sacrament of Reconciliation, a true space of the Spirit in which all, confessors and penitents, can experience the only definitive and faithful love, that of God for each of His children, a love that never disappoints.”
In a very special way we celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation this Saturday and next Saturday. Our First Communion Classes make their First Confessions and receive God’s love and mercy sacramentally for the very first time in their young lives. It is truly an occasion of faith for them, their families and also for our parish family. Please keep these children in your prayers as they continue to prepare for First Holy Communion in May.
These two big Feast Days for the Irish and the Italians are also big feasts for all the Church. So plan on attending the festivities here at OLM . Join us for the St. Patrick’s Day Mass on Thursday at 12:05pm. Bishop Evans is to celebrate the Mass and Fr. Bernie O’Reilly, a native son of County Cavan, Ireland, is our homilist. It is to be a grand celebration complete with Irish hymns and readings in the Irish language. A reception follows the Mass with Irish cookies and coffee. Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!
Also next Saturday we mark the Feast of St. Joseph with Mass celebrated by Bishop Evans in Italian. Our homilist is Monsignor Albert Kenney, the Vicar-General of the Diocese. Not to worry! Monsignor studied in Rome, speaks fluent Italian and his wonderful Mother’s maiden name is Spinale! Our St. Joseph ‘s Day celebration takes place on Saturday, March 19th at the 8:30AM Mass complete with Italian hymns. A reception of zeppoles and coffee follows Mass. Bouna Festa di San Giuseppe!
Schedule in this week’s bulletin. Also we take up the Rice Bowl Collection next week so please be prepared to make your returns. I ask you to be please write a check and not return coins as that makes it easier for our counters on Monday morning. Thank you for your generous support. Yes, Lent is ending but continue to pray, fast and give alms. Empty your Rice Bowls for the Collection next weekend! Be well. Do Good. God Bless.
If you haven’t been in the Church Sacristy in a while please stop and take a look around. Thanks to the hard work of our OLM Maintenance Team, Paul Anderson and Jeff Franzone, we’ve spruced up the room. Much needed new and efficient lighting was put in, the walls have been repainted, all the woodwork and cabinets refinished, and the bathroom modernized. I am grateful to Paul and Jeff for their hard work in restoring the Sacristy. There are still some finishing touches that remain but it looks great. The Sacristy, if you don’t know, is where we keep the vestments, sacred vessels and altar linens and where the priests vest for Mass. It is now a much brighter place to prepare for Holy Mass.
University of RI to preach our Annual Parish Lenten Mission. Fr. Upton is a very busy young priest and I am truly grateful to him for leading us in our Mission. Fr. Upton is preaching all the weekend Masses and also preaching a Mission Talk each night at 7:00pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. On Wednesday night there is to be Exposition of the Eucharist and Benediction. Also each night before the Mission Talk four priests are available for Confession beginning at 6:00pm until 6:45pm. This is a great chancefor our entire parish to make a Mission and take some much needed time in prayer and reflection. It is a time to deepen our faith. I hope you make every effort to attend the Mission as I know it is be a spiritually beneficial time.
I first met Fr. Upton when he was a twelve year old Altar Sever at St. Paul’s Church in Edgewood. He was serving at my First Mass in 1995 and the truth be told had the markings of a fine priest even then! Twenty years later he now is that fine young priest! Fr. Upton has a keen intellect and a tremendous priestly zeal. He is an excellent preacher and I am certain you will enjoy his message at the Mission.
It was a beautiful Funeral Mass for the late Justice Antonin Scalia last Saturday. The liturgy of the Mass of Christian Burial was enhanced by the beauty of the music and the Basilica in which it was celebrated. It was truly a Catholic moment for all to see and appreciate the beauty and profound meaning of the Mass. The Justice’s son, Father Paul Scalia, delivered an eloquent homily. His opening line of the homily described what every Funeral Mass should be. He stated: “We are gathered here because of one man. A
man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more, a man loved by many, scorned by others, a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion. That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth.”
"alms giving," which means donating money or goods to the poor and performing other acts of charity. As one of the three pillars of Lenten practice, alms giving is "a witness to fraternal charity" and "a work of justice pleasing to God."
Imagine if every family took up the call to give alms! We are asking each parish family to consider pledging a gift of $300 over ten months. This is a $30 per month pledge that helps to ensure the works of mercy are available to those in need. While I know that every family might not be able to pledge such an amount, I ask each and every parishioner to prayerfully consider making a pledge. No pledge is too small.
Two important upcoming events at OLM to note. The first is the All-Day Confessions next Saturday, March 5 from 9:00am until 3:00pm. This is a special event in recognition of the Year of Mercy and All-Day Confessions are to be celebrated across the globe next Saturday. So spread the word among our family, friends and neighbors. Come experience God’s forgiveness and mercy available in the Sacrament of Confession.
the Gospel.” I’ve known him many years and he is a tremendous young priest and a gifted preacher. I am grateful he is taking time out of his busy schedule to be with us for this time of Mission. So please make room on your schedule for the Parish Mission.
We are gathered here because of one man. A man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to even more, a man loved by many, scorned by others, a man known for great controversy, and for great compassion. That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth. It is He whom we proclaim. Jesus Christ, son of the Father, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, buried, risen, seated at the right hand of the Father. It is because of Him, because of His life, death and resurrection that we do not mourn as those who have no hope, but in confidence we commend Antonin Scalia to the mercy of God.
God blessed Dad, as is well known, with a love for his country. He knew well what a close-run thing the founding of our nation was. And he saw in that founding, as did the founders themselves, a blessing. A blessing quickly lost when faith is banned from the public square, or when we refuse to bring it there. So he understood that there is no conflict between loving God and loving one’s country, between one’s faith and one’s public service. Dad understood that the deeper he went in his Catholic faith, the better a citizen and a public servant he became. God blessed him with a desire to be the country’s good servant, because he was God’s first.
We look to Jesus today, in petition, to the present moment here and now, as we mourn the one we love and admire, the one whose absence pains us. Today we pray for him. We pray for the repose of his soul. We thank God for his goodness to Dad, as is right and just, but we also know that, although Dad believed, he did so imperfectly, like the rest of us. He tried to love God and neighbor, but like the rest of us, did so imperfectly. He was a practicing Catholic, practicing in the sense that he hadn’t perfected it yet, or rather, that Christ was not yet perfected in him. And only those in whom Christ is brought to perfection can enter Heaven. We are here then, to lend our prayers to that perfecting, to that final work of God’s grace, in freeing Dad from every encumbrance of sin. But don’t take my word for it. Dad himself, not surprisingly, had something to say on the matter.
funeral service he admired, he summarized quite nicely the pitfalls of funerals and why he didn’t like eulogies. He wrote “Even when the deceased was an admirable person, indeed especially when the deceased was an admirable person, praise for his virtues can cause us to forget that we are praying for and giving thank for God’s inexplicable mercy to a sinner.” Now, he would not have exempted himself from that. We are here, then, as he would want: to pray for God’s inexplicable mercy to a sinner; to this sinner, Antonin Scalia. Let us not show him a false love, and allow our admiration to deprive him of our prayers. We continue to show affection for him and do good for him by praying for him, that all stain of sin be washed away, that all sins be healed, that he be purified of all that is not Christ. That he rest in peace.
possessed not only a keen intellect but a tremendous sense of humor and a sharp wit. Afterwards my father and I were able to speak with Justice Scalia for a few moments. We shared a good laugh when I told him that I was the ninth of nine children, a priest and also the son of a Judge. We offer our prayers and condolences to the family of Justice Scalia. May his noble soul rest in peace!
sheltered, visited; in the spiritual works of mercy – counsel, instruction, forgiveness, admonishment and prayer – we touch more directly our own sinfulness. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy must never be separated. By touching the flesh of the crucified Jesus in the suffering, sinners can receive the gift of realizing that they too are poor and in need. “
spiritual works of mercy. Each year during Lent we are asked to give alms. Perhaps one of best ways we can do that is support the Catholic Charity Appeal. This Appeal helps finance the good works of the Church across the state. It is only through the tremendous financial support of Catholics across Rhode Island that such good works can continue to serve God’s people.