Dear Parishioners:
Over the last few weeks I’ve been asked time and time again: “Who are you voting for?” I would never directly answer such a personal and private question. But the truth be told I don’t make such an important decision about who is to lead our nation, our state, or represent us in Congress, the State House or even Town Hall without a lot of prayer and reflection.
I’ve also heard from many people recently that they intend not to vote at all in November. This is a very sad commentary on the state of politics in our nation and the tenor and tone of campaigns in 2016. Pope Francis has said: "We need to participate for the common good. Sometimes we hear: a good Catholic is not interested in politics. This is not true: good Catholics immerse themselves in politics by offering the best of themselves so that the leader can govern."
The Church teaches us that we must vote. In fact, the Catechism of the Catholic Church instructs: “It is the duty of citizens to contribute along with the civil authorities to the good of society.” It goes on to teach that: “Submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one’s country.”
In their statement on Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship, the U.S. Catholic bishops remind Catholics about the call to participate in political life. "In the Catholic tradition," they write, "responsible citizenship is a virtue, and participation in political life is a moral obligation." Yes, we have a moral obligation as faithful Catholics to vote in elections. We are called to bring our Catholic principles to our political choices and our Catholic values to our votes.
As we pray and reflect on our upcoming vote, let us be mindful that that we are called to engage in charitable, respectful and civil dialogue during election season. In a culture that is dominated by "partisan attacks, sound bites and media hype," the Church calls for "a different kind of political engagement." One that is civil and charitable and not mean spirited or nasty as our current politics seems to be.
Over the next few weekends before Election Day on November 8th, there will be bulletin inserts on “Faithful Citizenship.” These are meant to be a guide for you as you pray and reflect about your vote. I hope it also provides some insight as to what it means to vote with a Catholic conscience.
The Church does not tell you who to vote for and never will. However, the Church asks that you form a good Catholic conscience and make an informed decision about your vote based on Catholic values like the common good, the sanctity of life and marriage, the option for the poor, the virtues of justice and peace.
Vote with a conscience that is formed by your faith not as a political partisan or solely out of self-interest. But please do vote! President Roosevelt said it best when he said: “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves and the only way they could do this is by not voting.”
We welcome Bishop Matano from Rochester, NY to OLM this weekend. He is confirming 88 of our young adults on Sunday 5:00PM. Please pray for these young men and women as they receive the gifts of the Holy Spirt. It is a great milestone for them and great day for our parish. Be well. Do good. Go Pats! God Bless
Last Sunday morning shortly after 6:00am I received a text message from our erstwhile Associate Pastor, Fr. Connors. It simply said: “Tobin named Cardinal!” I admit that I was perplexed but soon enough Father clarified it by adding “from Indy!” So our own Bishop Tobin was not named Cardinal after all!
Piazza he heard the news about Pope Francis naming new Cardinals and calling a Papal Consistory in November. The Holy Father has named three new Cardinals from the Untied States: Archbishop Blasé Cupich of Chicago, Archbishop Kevin Farrell from Dallas, the Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Laity, Family and Life, and Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis. These three bishops along with fourteen other bishops from across the globe make up the new members of the College of Cardinals.
elevated to the College of Cardinals in Rome on November 19th. The College of Cardinals is a group of bishops who advise the Holy Father on Church matters. All Cardinals under the age of 80 also participate in the election of a new Pope. They play an important role in the life and mission of the Church. Please keep them and our Holy Father in your prayers.
We are to have our own celebration next weekend. We have a visiting Bishop coming to OLM for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. Eighty-eight of our young adults from OLM are to be confirmed by Bishop Salvatore R. Matano of Rochester, NY next Sunday at the 5:00pm Mass. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue to prepare for the reception of the Sacrament. Bishop Matano is no stranger to OLM as he has visited many times and celebrated Confirmation here on numerous occasions.
with our late OLM Pastor, Monsignor Lolio. The Bishop served as the Vicar-General of our Diocese and the Pastor of St. Sebastian Church in Providence for many years before being named the Bishop of Burlington, VT. A few years ago he was named the new Bishop of Rochester, NY. Over twenty years ago when I was a newly ordained priest, I was privileged enough to live with Bishop Matano when he was the resident priest at St. Augustine Church in Providence. I am truly grateful that he accepted the invitation to be with us at OLM and celebrate this special day for our young adults.
But please take heed that next week at the Sunday night 5:00PM Mass the Sacrament of Confirmation is to be celebrated. This means that the eighty-eight Confirmation Candidates, their sponsors, families and friends are to be in Church! You are most welcome to attend and celebrate this great occasion with them but if you’d like a guaranteed seat in Church I’d advise you to go to another Sunday Mass next week.
Church and deserve our prayers and support. So please come to October Devotions on this Monday and pray with and for the Confirmation candidates. After October Devotions on Monday, the Confirmation candidates, their sponsors, parents and family member are invited to continue the preparation by receiving the grace of a good Confession. Several area priests along with Fr. Barrow and myself will be available to hear these Confessions. All are welcome to come to Confession on Monday and experience God’s love, forgiveness and mercy.
us.” God offers his gift of mercy to each and every one of us, no matter what. But we have to decide to receive that gift—whether or not to turn away from sin and turn, instead, toward him. We have to decide whether we want God.
call to prayer is to pick up your Rosary and use it! We had a good crowd for October Devotions last Monday but there was plenty of room for more. I urge you to take some time out of your busy schedule and join us in praying the Rosary for life as we adore Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist. It will be a better half-hour than The Wheel of Fortune! Hope to see you there!
God and our Parish. I ask you to encourage your child or grandchild to join the few, the proud the OLM Altar Servers! They will learn discipline and duty, commitment and reverence and truly serve God and Parish.
they too were Altar Servers at their parish. One Sunday before Mass they had a fight in the Sacristy. One of the boys cracked a brass candlestick on the other boy's head causing him to bleed. Their parish priest was quite naturally upset, but kept calm, reprimanded them but gave them another chance to serve Mass. Thankfully they were given another chance to serve! It turns out this was a good thing as later on in their lives, della Genga would become Pope Leo XII who reigned as Pope between 1823 and 1829. And his friend, Castiglioni would follow him as Pope Pius VIII. Discipline and duty, commitment and reverence are great skills for life! Yes, Altar Serving can lead to great things!
It’s good to be home! As you know I was hospitalized over a week ago due to a serious infection and fever. I received intravenous antibiotics to treat the infection and spent a few days at Roger Williams General Hospital. Thankfully I am home and on the mend now. I am grateful for the terrific treatment I received at the hospital. The nursing and medical staff were caring, compassionate and professional. The infection is still being treated by antibiotics but I am happy to be home heading to a full recovery.
featuring our talented OLM organist, soloist and choirs was beautiful. A large crowd of all ages showed up to make lunches for the homeless and pack them with socks. This Socks and Sandwiches is a true Work of Mercy and provides much needed support to the homeless at Emmanuel House in Providence. I offer thanks to all who participated in this Work of Mercy.
Mass last Saturday. Bishop McManus is no stranger to OLM having lived and ministered here as a Transitional Deacon. He also was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Providence right here at OLM.
Our Annual Parish Collection looks to be off to a good start. My thanks to the many parishioners who have contributed thus far. However, we are a parish of over 2,000 families and to truly make the collection a success we need all parishioners to support the Annual Collection. We are asking each parish family to consider a contribution of $300. If you have not yet made a contribution to the Annual Collection, please do so today. My thanks for your continued generosity and support of this wonderful parish.
Francis has reminded us: “All life has inestimable value even the weakest and most vulnerable, the sick, the old, the unborn and the poor, are masterpieces of God’s creation, made in his own image, destined to live forever, and deserving of the utmost reverence and respect.”
October is also a month dedicated to the Holy Rosary. According to an account by fifteenth-century Dominican Friar, Alan de la Roch, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1206 after he had been praying and doing severe penances because of his lack of success in combating the Albigensian heresy. The Blessed Virgin Mary praised him for his valiant fight against the heretics and then gave him the Rosary as a mighty weapon, explained its uses and efficacy, and told him to preach it to others.
We recall this weekend and remember in prayer the tragic events of September 11, 2001. It is a day we all know precisely where we were as we watched in horror and disbelief the senseless attacks upon our nation. This Sunday on the Fifteenth Anniversary we remember the thousands of innocent who died that day and those who grieve the loss of loved ones. We pray for them especially at Mass.
Sacrifice of the Mass, at these very moments when bells are ringing throughout the United States, when people are united in their parishes, their churches, their synagogues, and their mosques, their heads bowed in reverent silence, recalling –recalling with somberness,recalling with gratitude and recalling with prayers — the events of 10 years ago today at these very moments when the second of the Twin Towers was attacked. 
we see outside. 
innocent people perished, as valiant rescuers rushed to their aid, as families were fractured, and as a nation seemed on the ground. 
Next weekend’s Second Collection is for the Senior Priests’ Retirement Fund. I hope you can be generous in aiding the Senior Priests who serve so faithfully even after retirement. By the way, Fr. Barrow retires in 48 years and I hope to retire in the year 2040. So we won’t benefit from this collection for some time!! Thanks for your support.
Happy Labor Day! The first week of school is now complete! It’s Labor Day Weekend so it’s hard to believe we’ve finished one week of school already. However, the students are back in the swing of things as they are studying for tests, completing their homework and reading up on their subjects.
revised Order of Celebrating Matrimony. It has been long in the making. Following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), the Church published a revised Order of Celebrating Matrimony in Latin in 1969 and the official English translation was published in 1970. In 1991, a revised version of this Order of Matrimony was published in Latin, but the English translation was delayed for various 
reasons until now.
he wedding day is the wedding liturgy, where bride and groom become husband and wife in the lifelong covenant of marriage. It is a day of great joy for the bride and groom and their families but also very importantly it is a day of great faith. I am reminded of some advice Pope Francis' offered to engaged couples about weddings: "Make your wedding a real celebration – because marriage is a celebration – a Christian celebration, not a worldly feast!” Please pray for newly married couples and for those engaged to be married.
what poverty and lack of work could do to people and families. Serving the poorest of the poor and the unwanted of the world, Mother Teresa offers a sterling example of what it means to truly love and serve God and neighbor. May she intercede for us and our needs as she is officially declared part of the communion of saints. Her Feast is September 5 and we will celebrate it Monday morning at 8:30am Mass.
Monday is also Labor Day, a day in which we give thanks to God for our work and the prosperity, security and dignity it provides us and our families. In the Annual Labor Day Statement of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami writes the following on behalf of his
brother bishops: “Dignified work is at the heart of our efforts because we draw insight into who we are as human beings from it. Saint John Paul II reminded us that human labor is an essential key to understanding our social relationships, vital to family formation and the building up of community according to our God-given dignity, to a just wage and to the personal security of the worker and his or her family."