It's Still Summer, Take Some Vacation Time and Bring God Along for the Trip!!!

Dear Parishioners: I thank you for your warm welcome last weekend to the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary.  It is important for us to support the Missions and truly realize that our Catholic Church is so large and universal.  Spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ across the four corners of the earth is the work of every Catholic no matter where they live.   Thanks again for your tremendous spiritual and financial support.

This week is the last week of service for our Summer Seminarian, Billy Burdier.  It’s hard to believe that he’s been with us for eight weeks already.  He has been a true joy to live and work with here at OLM.   I hope you’ve been able to meet him and speak with him.   Without a doubt, he will make a fine priest for our Diocese.  After a couple of weeks of vacation with his family, Billy is headed back to Rome to continue his priestly formation and theological studies.  Billy is to be at all the Masses next weekend so you have a chance to say farewell to him.  I encourage to join us for a “Farewell Reception” for Billy in Mercy Park immediately following the 10:30AM Mass. It is to be a time to thank him for his hard work with us at OLM and also to wish him well as he returns to seminary.   May God continue to bless him in his studies and lead him to priestly ordination!

It’s hard to believe that the summer is moving along so quickly as August arrives this week! How has your summer gone so far? Did you take any time to relax and rest?  If you haven’t made time to enjoy the weather at the beach, by the poor or even in your backyard, you’ve the next few weeks to do so! Believe it or not, simply  taking time to rest is a great way to practice your faith. On the seventh day of Creation, God rested; and as we are made in His image and likeness we too are called to take time to rest. Pope Francis has said:   “Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport.”

Rest is a way to be more human, more of who God made us to be. So enjoy your rest – it is a gift from God! If you’re traveling, it can be difficult to find a Catholic Church nearby – but certainly not impossible. Check  MassTimes.org before you leave for a vacation to find Mass times at a nearby church so you can participate in Sunday Mass.  Vacations are a wonderful way to step out of your daily routine to get some rest, have an adventure, and spend quality time with your family. But that doesn’t mean you should take a vacation from your faith.

Beginning your trip with a prayer sets the right tone and starts you off on the right foot. Say a quick prayer for protection and for a fruitful, restful vacation as you start off. Here is a nice quick prayer to say right as you pull out of the driveway:  “O Lady of the Highway, be with us on our journey, for all your ways are beautiful and all your paths are peace. O God, Who with unspeakable provident does rule and govern the world, grant unto us, Your servants, through the intercessions of our watchful mother, to be protected from all danger and brought safely to the end of our journey. Amen.”

I received a phone call from Bishop Tobin last week thanking Our Lady of Mercy Parish for your tremendous generosity to the Catholic Charity Appeal.  For the first time in many years, the CCA went over it’s goal of $8 Million and Bishop Tobin was very grateful for the response from OLM that helped in going over the Diocesan Goal.  We raised over $267,000 here at OLM, well over our goal of $193,000 and even over last year’s total of $244,000 at OLM.  It is a great witness to your love of the poor and your generosity in supporting the good works of the Church of Providence.  Thank you for all your support of the CCA!

I am away this weekend in San Antonio, Texas for the Summer Meeting of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors. I’m looking forward to those cool Texas  temperatures! Remember the Alamo!! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!

From the Missions in Kenya to World Youth Day in Krakow

Dear Parishioners:This weekend we welcome to Our Lady of Mercy Sister Josephine and Sister Therese of the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary. The Sisters are speaking at all Masses about the important work they do in the Missions in Africa.   This is our Annual Mission Co-op weekend in which we dedicate one weekend a year to learning about the good works of Missionaries and support them with your prayers as well as our financial contributions. The Sisters are here to share with us the story of  their religious community of  the Holy Rosary and the many good works they do throughout the world.  They are located in Africa, Mexico and Brazil and provide much needed education and healthcare to some of the poorest areas of our world.  They also bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to these areas through their witness of the faith.

The Second Collection today is solely dedicated to supporting the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary.  There is no envelope for the collection but if you do strike a check please make it payable to OLM.  The collection is counted here and sent to the Diocese where it is then sent on to the Missionary Sisters.  All the proceeds go directly to support the good works of these wonderful Missionary Sisters. I thank you in advance for your warm welcome to Sister Josephine and Sister Therese.

Also in their name, I thank you for your prayerful support of their work and for the Missions as well as your generous financial support of the Second Collection.  May God Bless the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary and their good works in the Missions! Let us continue to pray for Missionaries across the globe but also let us recall we too are called to be Missionaries right here in East Greenwich.  In fact in his talk on World Mission Sunday this year, Pope Francis suggests:

“All of us are invited to ‘go out’ as missionary disciples, each generously offering their talents, creativity, wisdom and experience in order to bring the message of God's tenderness and compassion to the entire human family. By virtue of the missionary mandate, the Church cares for those who do not know the Gospel, because she wants everyone to be saved and to experience the Lord's love. She ‘is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel’ (Misericordiae Vultus, 12) and to proclaim mercy in every corner of the world, reaching every person, young or old. “

Speaking of Missionaries, this week our OLM Parish Secretary, Sandra Demers and her daughter Simone, join a band of pilgrims from the Diocese of Providence going to World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.  A large part of the group is from St. Theresa’s Church in Tiverton and so is Fr. Shemek (formerly of OLM!) is leading the group that includes Deacon Brian Morris from OLM too! Over 30 teenagers, young adults and adults are making the pilgrimage to World Youth Day.  Also OLM Parishioner and Senior Altar Server, Jack Kineke, is attending WYD with his school group. Hundreds of thousands of Catholic youth from across the globe are expected to attend the events.  Pope Francis is to address the expected 2.5 million pilgrims in attendance!

Prior to the World Youth Day opening ceremony on Tuesday, the Providence Pilgrims are to visit Warsaw, the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and the birthplace of St. Pope John Paul the Great in Wadowice.  After the conclusion of World Youth Day, the Providence band of pilgrims are to make their way to the Jasna Gora Shrine which houses the Black Madonaa icon so beloved by St. Pope John Paul. Please pray for all the World Youth Day pilgrims especially those from OLM.  It is sure to be a memorable event for all of them and for the entire Church.  Pope Francis told the pilgrims:  “Dear young people, at the Shrine in Krakow dedicated to the merciful Jesus, where he is depicted in the image venerated by the people of God, Jesus is waiting for you. “

I am away this weekend officiating at the wedding of my niece at St. Peter’s Church in Saratoga Springs, New York.  Welcome Sister Josephine and Therese! Thanks for your support for the Missions! Pray for World Youth Day! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!

Prayer and Support Needed in the U.S.A. and in the Missions

Dear Parishioners: The nation continues to deal the aftermath of the terrible tragedy that took place in Dallas last week.  We continue to mourn the loss of live and pray for peace and justice.  Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas issued a statement in response.  His words are well worth reflecting upon:

“The magnitude of the violence in downtown Dallas Thursday night is staggering. Five police officers were killed and seven other officers and two civilians were wounded in a deadly spate of gunfire at the conclusion of a peaceful march protesting recent killings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis. Our first concern is for the families who have lost loved ones in this tragic attack. We pray for consolation and healing for both the families and those killed and wounded. We are reminded of the ever -present danger to those who are dedicated to protecting us. We have been swept up in the escalating cycle of violence that has now touched us intimately as it has others throughout our country and the world. All lives matter: black, white, Muslim, Christian, Hindu. We are all children of God and all human life is precious.

We cannot lose respect for each other and we call upon all of our civic leaders to speak to one another and work together to come to a sensible resolution to this escalating violence. Let us implore God our Heavenly Father to touch the minds and hearts of all people to work together for peace and understanding.  Let us recall the words of Pope Francis, ‘May the God of peace arouse in all an authentic desire for dialogue and reconciliation. Violence cannot be overcome with violence. Violence is overcome with peace.’

Last weekend our Parish Organist, Henri St. Louis, sang a beautiful meditation for the victims of the violence in Dallas, the ancient chant, In Paradisum.  It is an antiphon from the traditional Latin liturgy of the Western Church Requiem Mass. It may be familiar to you as it is often used at Funeral Masses and it reads: "May choirs of angels escort you into paradise: and at your arrival may the martyrs receive and welcome you; may they bring you home into the holy city, Jerusalem.  May the holy angels welcome you, and with Lazarus, who lived in poverty, may you have everlasting rest.”  May the fallen of Dallas’ finest, rest in peace.

Next weekend is our Annual Mission Co-op at Our Lady of Mercy.  This is weekend dedicated to helping those who serve our Church in the missions.  Every year and in every parish a weekend is dedicated to learn more about the work of the Missionaries and commit to supporting them spiritually and financially.   So please note that the Second Collection next weekend is dedicated to this effort and there is no envelope provided for this collection.  This year at OLM, the Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary, a community of religious sisters founded in Ireland   in 1924 by Bishop Joseph Shanahan, C.S.Sp. to work in  the Missions in Africa. There is more about them in the bulletin this week.

Next weekend we are to be  joined by two of their good sisters from Kenya,  Sister Therese and Sister Josephine.  They are to speak at all the Masses about their good works and the works of the Missions in Africa.  Sister Therese administers their House of Studies for young sisters outside Nairobi and Sister Josephine is a nurse-midwife-administrator of a new health care center that serves the poor of the area. I  know you will give them your usual warm welcome and generous support.

Our own Franciscan Sisters, Sister Emma and Sister Lourdes, leave this week for Nebraska for two weeks.  There they join all the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters serving in the U.S. They have community meetings and also have a community retreat at the Seminary of St. Gregory in Seward, Nebraska. Please keep our good Sisters in your prayers for  their safe travel and  safe return home to OLM!  I know while they take this time of prayer and reflection they are praying for us.

Pray for Dallas! Pray for peace! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!

Old Glory anew and Moving Forward In Faith!!

Dear Parishioners: I hope you had a great Fourth of July celebration.  There were fireworks all over the nation and families and friends gathered for good fun and good food.  This most American of holidays is a great day to remember and celebrate our nation and our freedom.

You may have noticed that the U.S. Flag flies high at OLM School.  Thanks to Paul Anderson, our Maintenance Director, the flag is illuminated with light at night and so we are able to fly “Old Glory” twenty-four hours a day. When you look at our flag flying be sure to look at the top of the flagpole. On top of the flagpole you will see the newly refinished   "ball-style" finial. In your name I thank long-time OLM Parishioner, Steve Kane, who not only  donated the gold leafing that now adorns the finial but also spent hours gently applying the gold leaf on the finial.  We are truly grateful for his generosity and for sharing his time and talent on behalf of the parish.

The history of our flag is as fascinating as that of the American Republic itself. It has survived battles, inspired songs and evolved in response to the growth of the country it represents.  On June 14, 1777, the Continental Congress passed an act establishing an official flag for the new nation. The resolution stated: “Resolved, that the flag of the United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation." On Aug. 3, 1949, President Harry S. Truman officially declared June 14 as Flag Day.

The name Old Glory was given to a large, 10-by-17-foot flag by its owner, William Driver, a sea captain from Massachusetts. Inspiring the common nickname for all American flags, Driver’s flag is said to have survived multiple attempts to deface it during the Civil War. Driver was able to fly the flag over the Tennessee Statehouse once the war ended. It’s a “Grand Old Flag” indeed!

Our new Associate Pastor, Fr. Barrow, is finding his way around the parish and the town.  He has been busy getting to know the lay of the land as well as unpacking his trunk and boxes recently arrived from Rome.  I hope you got a chance to welcome him and say “Hello” last weekend.  If you have not yet greeted our new priest, please do so as I know he is anxious to meet you.

Our OLM Vacation Bible School was a great success.  It ended on July 1st and the over fifty children, many parent and teenaged volunteers, our Summer Seminarian Billy Burdier, RE Directors Doug Green and Mickey St. Jean and our OLM Youth Activities Coordinator Michael LaChimia are all to be commended for planning and running such a great faith event for the parish.  The children not only had a week of fun and activities but also learned many valuable things about their Catholic Faith. This is a wonderful event for our young parish families and I offer my thanks to all those who helped to make it possible and all those families who participated in the OLM VBS!

Last week we celebrated Independence Day on the Fourth of July. But just before that civic celebration, the Church marked the Feast of St. Junipero Serra, the great Missionary of the Western United States. The Franciscan Friar built the Mission Churches that span the California Coast and his statue stands tall in the U.S. Capitol. Fr.  Serra was just canonized in September 2015 by Pope Francis at a Mass in Washington, DC.  In his homily the Holy Father stated:

“Father Serra had a motto which inspired his life and work, a saying he lived his life by: siempre adelante! Keep moving forward! For him, this was the way to continue experiencing the joy of the Gospel, to keep his heart from growing numb. He kept moving forward, because the Lord was waiting. He kept going, because his brothers and sisters were waiting. He kept going forward to the end of his life.  Today, like him, may we be able to say: Forward! Let’s keep moving forward! “ Let us keep moving forward in faith! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!

Happy Independence Day! Praying for Liberty and Freedom for All!!

Dear Parishioners: Last Saturday at the Cathedral, Bishop Tobin ordained two young men, Fathers Nathan Ricci and Jorge Rocha  as priests for service in our Diocese .  While ordaining these fine young men as priests of Providence is truly a great blessing, we must be mindful that we are not ordaining as many priests as we need.    It is a stark sign of our times that we don’t ordain enough men to replace those priests who retire from active ministry and those who go to their eternal reward. Please pray for more priestly vocations for our Diocese. Also let us thank Bishop Tobin for sending us a wonderful young priest like Fr. Josh Barrow as our new Associate Pastor.  Fr. Barrow begins his priestly ministry here at OLM this weekend.  I am sure you will find him to be a fine young priest and  give him your usual warm welcome.

On Monday we mark Independence Day in the United States.  It is a day to celebrate with family, friends and fireworks! But more importantly it is a day to celebrate our freedom from the oppression of  British despotism. We give God thanks for the blessings of our nation and for our freedom.

For some years now, the Catholic bishops here in the United States have wanted to focus our attention to the threats to religious freedom both at home and abroad. And so, beginning with the feast days of Saints John Fisher and Thomas More on June 22 and ending with on the Fourth of July, we observe a “Fortnight of Freedom.” It is a two week period of prayer and petitioning our Lord  to help us protect this most basic right, and the foundation of all other human rights, the right to religious freedom and the right to freedom of conscience.

If anyone thinks that religious freedom is not under assault in our world today, or that our concerns of our Church are a bit overwrought, I would remind you of the ongoing genocide against Christians in the Middle East. We have seen in the media images of Christians beheaded, crucified or burned alive in cages simply because they professed the Christian faith.

In the second decade of the 21st century, some 150,000 Christians are killed for their faith every year. These modern-day martyrs are victims of a despotism in its hardest and harshest form.  Yet, in this country and in others, people of faith are being increasingly subjected to a soft despotism in which ridicule, ostracism, and denial of opportunities  are being used to marginalize us.

A new religious intolerance is being established in our country. We see this when Christian pastors are stalked and threatened for being “Christian” pastors, when social scientists are expelled from universities for having turned up “politically incorrect” facts, when charitable organizations and religious schools are harassed if they take seriously their faith’s moral precepts. We see this in the refusal of the Administration to accommodate Catholic groups like the Little Sisters of the Poor and others because of their conscientious objection to subsidizing immoral activities.  The Federal Government has also refused to exempt religious groups from paying for elective abortions in their healthcare policies in the State of California.

Sometimes, we are told, “Keep your religion to yourself.” It is becoming almost the new conventional wisdom that religion is private and faith is something to be practiced in the privacy of one’s home. Religious faith is indeed personal but it should never be “private.” And professing  a religious faith should not make anybody a second-class citizen or worse.

The right to religious liberty has its foundation in the very dignity of the human person. Religious freedom is the human right that guarantees all other rights — peace and harmonious living together is only possible if freedom of religion is fully respected here and abroad.

So celebrate this Independence Day with family, friends and fireworks but also stop and pray for the protection of religious liberty too. Happy Fourth of July!   Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!

Summer is Here and Changes too!

Dear Parishioners: What a great weekend we had last week.  The weather was beautiful, all our Fathers were happy on Fathers’ Day and we had a grand send off for Fr. Connors.  It was so nice to see nearly 20 of our great Altar Servers volunteer to serve the 10:30am Mass to honor Fr. Connors.  Father is now off on retreat with the Benedictine Fathers at St. Vincent’s Archabbey in Latrobe, PA.  Please pray for him. I offer my thanks to the many folks who worked so hard to make Fr. Connors Final Mass and Farewell Reception truly a wonderful occasion for him, his family and the parish. The Mass was beautiful, the music superb, the altar servers reverent, and the occasion was so joyful and faith-filled. The great crowd at Mercy Park to wish Fr. Connors farewell was well deserved.   Thanks for making the day so memorable.

We now await the arrival of young Fr. Barrow as our newly appointed Associate Pastor at OLM.   We thank Bishop Tobin for sending us Fr. Barrow. As you know there is an ever increasing shortage of priests and to get a second priest is rare luxury for parishes.  So please be sure to thank Bishop Tobin and also please commit to praying for more priestly vocations for our diocese. Fr. Barrow is sure to be a great blessing for our parish.  He is just 27 years old and full of zeal, energy and very eager to begin his priestly ministry here at OLM. 

He is a native of Warwick where he was educated at the public schools and graduated from Pilgrim High School. He grew up in St. Timothy Church in Warwick. After high school, Fr. Barrow entered Our Lady of Providence Seminary and graduated from Providence College with a B.A. in Philosophy.  Bishop Tobin then assigned him for priestly formation and theological studies to the North American College in Rome.  Father was ordained a priest in June 2015 and then returned to Rome for graduate studies.   After completing an S.T.L Degree in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas this past spring, he was assigned to OLM. I am sure you will give him your usual warm welcome to OLM.  Father Barrow begins his priestly service here on July 1st.  Welcome Fr. Barrow!

Our energetic young Summer Seminarian, Billy Burdier, continues to impress all those he meets! This week he is working at our OLM Vacation Bible School.  We have over 50 of our parish children signed-up and eager to learn more about their Catholic Faith this week.  I am grateful to Michael LaChimia, our OLM Youth Activities Coordinator and Middle School Religion Teacher, for organizing this great event.  Also I thank our many volunteers who help us out all week. If you see large groups of smiling children at OLM this week, now you know why!

I retuned  last week after a retreat at the Sacred Heart Retreat House in Alhambra, California.  Located just outside Los Angeles it is run by the Carmelite Sisters. These holy and happy sisters are not cloistered but have many apostolates in addition to the Retreat House.  They administer homes for the aged and infirm, day care centers, elementary and high schools in California, Florida, Ohio and New Mexico.  They were founded in 1921 by  the Venerable Mother Lusita who was a wealthy Mexican widow who desired to start a religious community of women.  Fleeing the persecution of the Catholic Church in Mexico during the 1920s she fled to Los Angeles. The Retreat House is also the Mother House for the over 40 Sisters there. They have many young sisters including a good number of postulants and novices.   I had the great privilege of offering Mass for the community daily.   These holy and happy sisters continue to pray for me and for OLM!  Keep them in your prayers too! You can learn more about them at the website carmelitesistersocd.com

Summer officially began on Monday!  It’s here, so enjoy it now!  Welcome Father Barrow! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!