Celebrating the New School Year, Praying for Flood Victims, Saint Teresa of Calcutta, Pray for US!

Dear Parishioners: School is back!  The students at OLM School arrived back  to begin the new school year on Friday.  Smiling faces and happy parents filled the parking lot for the Frist Day of School!  Welcome Back OLM School!   We officially welcome our New OLM School Families this Sunday at the 9:00AM.  We are grateful these families have chosen OLM School and overjoyed that their children begin living  the schools’ mission as the future saints and scholars of our Church.  Welcome to OLM!

On Friday we officially open the new school year with the Mass of the Holy Spirit.  We gather as a school and parish community invoking the Holy Spirit to come down upon us and guide us to continue to grow in wisdom, faith, hope and love.  Everyone is invited to join us for this special mass on Friday at 9:00AM.  Let us pray that this new school year may be fruitful and faithful for all:  “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.”

I wish to thank Deacon Brian Morris for preaching at last Sunday’s Masses.  He did a great job and we can be proud of this native son of OLM.   Keep Deacon Morris in your prayers as he returns to his priestly studies at St. John’s Seminary in Boston.  We look forward to his ordination to the priesthood next June.

Next Sunday Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta is to be canonized by Pope Francis a Saint of our Church.  Saint Teresa of Calcutta, as she is to be known, is most remembered for her selfless charity and her selfless work with the poorest of the poor especially in Calcutta, India.  She joyfully served lepers, the dying, the poor and others who would otherwise suffer without care. Her services were given freely, and her example was followed by the good Sisters in the order she founded, the Missionaries of Charity.

Millions of pilgrims from across the globe are expected to attend the Mass of Canonization next Sunday in Rome.   Mother Teresa inspired many as she truly was a humble person with an unlimited capacity to offer unconditional love to people.  Blessed Mother Teresa once said: “There are two kinds of poverty. There is the poverty of material where people are hungry for bread, real hunger. But there is much deeper hunger and that is hunger for love.”

Loving all and giving comfort to the suffering, offering shelter to the homeless, helping the poorest of the poor and giving hope to the hopeless was Blessed Mother Teresa's life work.  Her work lives on in the  good works and faithful dedication of her good Sisters, the Missionaries of Charity. They continue to serve all over the world as she did.  May the soon to be Saint Teresa of Calcutta intercede for us!

This  week I received an email from a colleague from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.  Thankfully he and his family were not adversely affected by the recent flooding.  However, he did tell me about the devastation and destruction that thousands of people suffered.  Sadly some people lost their lives. Homes and businesses were completely destroyed with a large part of the State of Louisiana declared a total disaster zone. The Diocese of Baton Rouge and Catholic Charities are helping the many victims.  They also suffered losses as three  Catholic schools and seven Catholic parishes  are considered to be  at a complete loss.  Priests have been sent to the many shelters to offer Mass and provide support for the many victims.

My friend asks for your prayers, writing: “ I would simply ask for your prayers at this time.  Baton Rouge has had one  heck of a summer!  It began in the heat of the summer with the shooting of Alton Sterling, leading to protests.  This tragically lead to a gunman killing three police officers and our community in need of  deep healing.  As we began to catch our breath from these sad events, we then took on flood waters.  Please pray for us.”  I have assured him we are praying for our brothers and sisters in Louisiana!

Be well. Do good. God Bless.  Go Sox!

Getting Ready for the Return to School! Summer is Soon Ending!!!

Dear Parishioners:

It’s back to school for our OLM School children this week. Yes, the first day of school is this coming Friday! It’s hard to believe it’s already arrived. Where did the summer go?   As the students return to OLM School I ask that you please continue to pray for them, and also for the administration, faculty and staff of OLM School.  May God abundantly bless this new academic year with wisdom, faith, hope and love as our students strive to be both saints and scholars. Our Lady of Mercy, pray for them.

Our terrific faculty make a  retreat on Thursday at the Retreat Center on Enders Island in Mystic, CT.  Father Chris Murphy, the Chaplain at Bishop Hendricken High School, is leading the retreat.  It is a great way for our faculty to renew their faith and zeal for the Lord as they begin another year teaching our children at OLM School.  Let us  offer this prayer for the new school year at OLM School: Merciful Father, We  give You thanks for the opportunity to begin this new school year, and we ask that you bless the students, administration,  faculty, staff and school families that make our school a place of excellence and faith. We pray that you will guide them in your ways, so that they always seek Your will in all they do, and strive to always love others as You love us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.

OLM School is back in session this week and so is our Back-To-School Supplies Drive for St. Patrick’s Parish in Providence.  Fr. James Ruggeri, St. Patrick’s Pastor, called me earlier in the summer seeking the help of OLM.  So again this year we pledged to help and to bring back-packs full of much needed school supplies to the children at St. Patrick’s in Providence. There is a complete list of needed supplies in the bulletin. You can place all  donated school supplies in the boxes in the vestibule of the Church.  If you would rather donate monetarily, please do so by striking a check payable to OLM Outreach with “Back-Pack Drive” in the memo and simply place it in the collection basket at Mass.  We are collecting these supplies through the end of August and hope to make delivery before September 1st.  I  offer my thanks for your generous support of this good work of OLM Outreach.

Sandra Demers, our Parish Secretary,  returned safe and sound from World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland.   She and her daughter, Simone, joined over 60 pilgrims from Rhode Island and say it was truly a fun and faith filled trip.  They joined scores of young and happy Catholics from around the world singing and celebrating their Catholic faith together.  The closing Mass with Pope Francis saw over 2 million gathered together! At the closing Mass, Pope Francis offered some profound words to the Catholic Youth of the World:

“God loves us the way we are, and no sin, fault or mistake of ours makes him change his mind. As far as Jesus is concerned – as the Gospel shows – no one is unworthy of, or far from, his thoughts. No one is insignificant. He loves all of us with a special love; for him all of us are important: you are important! God counts on you for what you are, not for what you possess. In his eyes the clothes you wear or the kind of cell phone you use are of absolutely no concern. He doesn’t care whether you are stylish or not; he cares about you! In his eyes, you are precious, and your value is inestimable. God is hopelessly hopeful! He believes that we can always get up. He demands of us real courage: the courage to be more powerful than evil by loving everyone, even our enemies. People may laugh at you because you believe in the gentle and unassuming power of mercy. But do not be afraid.”

This powerful message of God’s love and mercy from Pope Francis provides something for all of us, both young and old, to pray and reflect about this week.  Thanks for  your generous support of this week’s Peter’s Pence Collection.  Also many thanks  for helping Fr. Ruggeri and the good people at St. Patrick’s Parish with back-to-school supplies.  I know it makes a big difference in their lives.  Be well. Do good. God Bless.  Go Sox!

Saying Farewell, Welcome Back and Congratulations! The Comings and Goings at OLM

Dear Parishioners: We said “Farewell” to our Summer Seminarian Billy Burdier last weekend.  He now gets ready to return to his priestly studies in Rome in September.  Billy is entering his third year and has two years left before ordination to the priesthood.  My thanks to all who helped organize the “Farewell Reception” in Mercy Park and the many parishioners who stopped by to offer Billy their thanks.  Vaya con Dios Billy!!

No sooner did we say good-bye to Billy when Sister Lourdes and Sister Emma returned from Nebraska on Sunday night.  The good sisters were on retreat and made their way back travelling across the country in their mini-van.  They arrived safe and sound late Sunday night.  Now rested and ready from their retreat they once again take up their ministry here at OLM.  Welcome home Sisters!!!

I recently received the news that Deacon Brian Morris, a native son of OLM and graduate of OLM School, is to be ordained a priest on Saturday, June 3, 2017.  He is to offer his Mass of Thanksgiving here at OLM on Sunday, June 4, 2017.  Please put those dates on your calendar now as it will be a weekend for our parish family to celebrate with Brian and his family.  Brian is coming to OLM next Sunday, August 21st to preach at all the Masses.  He then returns to his final year of studies at St. John Seminary in Boston and prepares for priestly ordination next June!

This week I learned that another OLM native son, Father Eric Bennett, who is the son of OLM parishioners Dudley and Kathy Bennett was named Pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in East Boston.  Fr. Bennett worked in Boston as a Physical Therapist before entering the seminary and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Boston in June 2012. It is a sure expression of Cardinal O’Malley’s trust and confidence in Fr. Bennett’s tremendous abilities and talents to name him a Pastor of such a large parish as Sacred Heart.

It is a diverse parish that offers Masses in English, Italian and Vietnamese and  has a parish school.  Fr. Bennett studied in Rome so Mass In Italian shouldn’t be a problem and he has the assistance of  a Vietnamese Priest who serves the large Vietnamese population there.  Fr. Bennett begins his first pastorate on August 15th, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a  sure sign that Our Lady is to guide his pastorate!  We congratulate Fr. Bennett and his parents on this great milestone in his priestly ministry and extend him our prayerful best wishes!

With all this news of seminarians and young priests, I remind you of that there remains a great need to pray for priestly vocations for the Diocese of Providence.  We have just twenty seminarians studying for the priesthood for our diocese.  Keep them in your prayers but also pray that more young men might answer God’s call to serve the Church of Providence.

The Gospel says that “Jesus went about all the cities and villages... When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest’” (Mt 9:35-38). The prayer which Jesus asks of  all of us,  therefore concerns the need to increase the number of those who serve his Kingdom as priests.

The Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is not a holy day of obligation this year as it falls on a Monday.  There is an explanation provided by  the Office of Worship in the bulletin this week.  There is to be only one Mass offered on this Solemnity at 7:30am on Monday, August 15th and I encourage you to join us on this great feast of Our Lady.  The arrival of the Assumption is always a sign that summer is coming to an end too fast.

Next week we take up the Peter’s Pence Collection for the Holy Father’s many charities.  Thanks for you generous support of Pope Francis’ many good works.  Be well. Do good. Go Sox! God Bless.

Farewell to Our Summer Seminarian Billy Burdier! It's Good to be Home!!!!

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!

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!