Dear Parishioners:
We say so-long to our Summer Seminarian, Billy Burdier, this weekend. He has been here for the last eight weeks. His time here has been well spent working at OLM School, the Vacation Bible School, assisting at Masses, visits to shut-ins, writing a weekly column and working along side Fr. Barrow and myself. Billy has a lot of energy and personality but also a lot of talent. He speaks three languages fluently and can get by in few more. He displayed his musical talents at the Vacation Bible School with his guitar playing and singing!
Billy was a great help over these weeks and we thank him. Billy can now enjoy some time of rest and relaxation with his family before he returns to Rome for priestly studies. This fall he enters his third year of theological studies at the Gregorian University and priestly formation at the North American College in Rome.
Please keep him in you prayers as he continues to prepare for the priesthood. You can personally thank Billy for his time and service here at Our Lady of Mercy at a “Farewell Reception” on Sunday in Mercy Park following the 10:30am Mass. We wish him well in his future endeavors and assure him of our continue prayers. Farewell Billy and God Bless!
Last week I was in San Antonio, Texas for the Annual Summer Meeting of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors. Hosted by the Texas Catholic Conference the meeting is a gathering of the men and women who advocate for the Catholic Church at statehouses across the nation. During the meeting we were updated on public policy issues like immigration reform, gun control, conscience protection, religious freedom, abortion, assisted suicide, refugee 
resettlement, poverty and educational choice. These issues effect every state and we were able to hear from the staff of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops about them. These diverse public policy issues are getting more complicated and more numerous.
We had the great privilege of having Father Paul Murray, O.P. of the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome offer very insightful theological reflections on our work as Catholic Conference Directors. Fr. Murray is a Dominican Friar who hails from Ireland and is the author of many books. While there we were also able to visit the Alamo. Of course this Mission was the site of the historic battle between Texans and the Mexican Army of General Santa Anna. It’s a lot smaller in person and certainly very different from the classic John Wayne film!
We also celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of San Fernando with the Archbishop of San Antonio, the Most Reverend Gustavo-García-Siller. The beautiful Cathedral was founded in March 1731 by a group of 15 families who came from the Canary Islands at the invitation of King Phillip V of Spain. It is now a hub of the City of San Antonio. Over 5,000 people participate at weekend Masses each week. The Cathedral Parish has over 900 baptisms, 100 weddings, and 100 funerals each year.
Following the meeting I made a trip to Austin, Texas to visit the LBJ Presidential Library. It is
quite an impressive place that is full of history and brings to life the presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson. He is one of the most fascinating U.S. Presidents in history. After Austin I moved on to Houston where I was able to visit the President George H.W. Bush Presidential Library in College Park. The elder President Bush’s life and presidency is also well worth the visit. His vast service to the nation throughout his life most especially during the Second World War was well worth spending time examining.
I am happy to be back home at OLM! I thank Fr. Barrow for his able stewardship of our parish during my absence. Also I am grateful to Bishop Evans for helping cover Masses while I was away. OLM was certainty in good hands while I was in Texas! I’ll remember the Alamo but I won’t miss the Texas temperatures! Pray for peace! Be well. Do Good. God Bless. Go Sox!
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.”
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.” 
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!
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 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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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!
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:
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.
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.
images of Christians beheaded, crucified or burned alive in cages simply because they professed the Christian faith.
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.
freedom of religion is fully respected here and abroad.