Dear Parishioners:
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! Last weekend saw the first big snowstorm of the season. A few people called to ask if we were having Mass or would it be cancelled because of the snow? As long as Fr. Barrow and I are in the Rectory there will always be Mass. We don’t have a long commute so the snow doesn’t prevent us from making it to Church. We got a foot of snow on Saturday but a few parishioners still managed to make it to the 4:00pm Mass! Kudos to them!
We are most grateful to Paul Anderson and his crack maintenance
crew who plowed and shoveled the snow last weekend. The walkways and parking lots were cleared of the slippery snow for Masses. We thank them for their hard work in ensuring the snow is removed in a timely fashion. Enough of the white stuff for now! If you’re praying for snow, aim for weekdays not weekends! This week all the beautiful decorations of Christmas were removed as the season officially ended on Monday with the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The crèche from Church and the one from the front lawn were put away for another year.
We now move back into the Season of Ordinary Time with its green vestments and plain decorations. The US Bishops remind us: “The Sundays and weeks of Ordinary Time take us through the life of Christ. This is the time of conversion. This is living the life of Christ. 
Ordinary Time is a time for growth and maturation, a time in which the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal, toward which all of history is directed, is represented by the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Christ the King of the Universe.”
The Season of Ordinary Time lasts until Ash Wednesday and the beginning of the Season of Lent on March 1st. The great Feast of our Faith, Easter Sunday and the celebration of the Lord’s Resurrection, is on Sunday, April 16th. So we have several weeks of Ordinary Time before we take up the rigors and discipline of the Lenten Fast of Forty Days.
This Friday, January 20th, is Inauguration Day as Donald J. Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States of America. Regardless of which candidate we voted for, which party we belong to or whose personality we like or dislike, as a people of Catholic Faith we must pray for our new President and Vice-President. The future of our nation and the free world are now in the hands of our new president and his administration. So please Pray for President Trump and Vice-President Pence that they might be inspired to lead with justice, truth and love for all human life and a deep respect for human dignity. We must pray for all our elected leaders that they may truly serve the common good of our nation.
We might remember the Prayer for Government composed by Archbishop John Carroll of Baltimore. In 1789 he was named the first bishop in the United States and was the first-cousin of Charles Carroll, the only Catholic to sign the Declaration of Independence. Archbishop Carroll wrote these prayerful words: 
“We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty."
On Monday we remember the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and
his fight for justice. Dr. King reminds us: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Let us pray for an end to all injustice, bigotry, racism and hatred. Happy MLK Day! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats, Go!!!
Did you make a New Year’s resolution? How is it going? I read that gym memberships surge in January due to the amount of people resolved to get in shape. Apparently it is a big money maker for heath clubs as they collect new membership fees and the new members drop out quickly!
What about a spiritual resolution for 2017? Did you make one? Confession once a month? More faithful attendance to Sunday Mass? More time for family and less on career? How about more time for prayer? Perhaps even committing to stopping by Church once a day or once a week for some quiet time of prayer and reflection with the Lord? These are all good spiritual resolutions you can add to the usual resolutions we make like getting in shape and stopping bad habits!
Pray for those you know and those you don’t. Pray for Pope Francis, Bishop Tobin, and Bishop Evans. Pray for the clergy and religious of OLM. Pray for the priests of the Diocese of Providence. Pray that more young men and women might answer God’s call to serve the Church as priest and religious. Pray for Deacon Brian Morris from this parish who is to be ordained a priest of Providence this June.
Pray for world leaders. Pray for peace among nations. Pray for our new President, our new congress, our new General Assembly and all our newly elected leaders. Pray for wisdom and justice, charity. Pray for all refugees, migrants, the many victims of war and violence. Pray for an end to terrorism and hatred of any kind.
Pray for marriages, that they will be strengthened. Pray for families who are struggling and parents who are overwhelmed. Pray for mothers. Pray for unborn children. Pray for fathers. Pray for those who grieve the loss of a loved one.
that more people will come to know Jesus Christ, the hope of the world. Pray that Catholics who have fallen away from the faith might come back to Mass and the Sacraments. Pray that more of us might spread the Gospel of Joy with our words and deeds.
Today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Epiphany and the end of the Christmas Season. Epiphany means manifestation. What the Church celebrates today is the manifestation of our Lord to the whole world. Having been made known to the shepherds of Bethlehem, Christ is revealed to the Magi who have come from the East to adore Him. Christian tradition has always seen in the Magi the first fruits of the
Gentiles. They lead in their wake all the peoples of the earth, and thus the Epiphany is an affirmation of universal salvation.
What a grand celebration of Christmas was had at Our Lady of Mercy! Crowds of people coming to worship and praise God for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Beautiful singing and music in the spirit of the season. Reverent and solemn celebrations befitting the King of Kings! Christmas at Our Lady of Mercy was truly terrific. Of course, none of this is possible without the hard work of lots of good people. The OLM Parish Staff and our many wonderful volunteers put lots of time and talent into getting ready for the Birth of our Savior!
Henri St. Louis and the OLM Choir provided beautiful music at Masses. Our OLM Soloist, Deirdre Donovan sang beautifully the great hymns of Christmas! The Children's Choir sounded truly terrific at the 4:00pm Vigil Mass. Their angelic voices add such grace to the Mass! If you couldn’t attend the Midnight Mass then you missed the Choir accompanied by our majestic organ, brass, timpani, and strings! The Concert of Christmas Music prior to Midnight Mass was spectacular. We are so blessed to have such talented and gifted musicians at OLM. If you’ve never been to Midnight Mass, make the effort next year as it is truly an outstanding celebration of Christmas.
We must thank our hard working OLM Sacristans who ensure all the Mass linens, sacred vessels and vestments are cleaned, polished and ready to go for Christmas! We thank also our great Altar Servers for serving God at Holy Mass with dignity, grace and reverence. We give thanks for the Lectors who proclaimed God’s Word so profoundly and the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion who ensure that the Body of Christ is distributed with reverence. We are grateful for our many Ushers who offer a warm welcome to visitors and see to the good order of Mass. Yes, God is good and we rightly give Him thanks and praise. We thank Him for the blessings of Our Lady of Mercy Parish. We thank Him for the beautiful celebration of Christmas. We thank Him for the gift of His Son born on Christmas Day!
God. We begin the New Year dedicating our lives and our parish to the protection and guidance of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It is a great start to the New Year as we give praise to the Mother of God and seek her maternal intercession.
In this New Year of 2017 the world marks the 100th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Mother to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal, Bishop Thomas J. Tobin has proclaimed that the Diocese of Providence is to commemorate this historic anniversary to a special Year dedicated to Mary our Mother. In declaring the Year of Mary, Bishop Tobin stated: “Mary is part of our family and our spiritual family. So we honor her, we love her, we keep mementos of her around us and we turn to her for help whenever we need it. So our devotion to Mary is really a family celebration in our Catholic family .”
Merry Christmas! This year we are blessed to have the great feast of the Nativity of our Lord on a Sunday. This means we’ve had an extra week of Advent prayer and preparation for Christmas. So celebrate the birth of our Savior!
1223. Christmas was coming and St. Francis of Assisi longed to do something to help the people of the small Italian town of Greccio to feel close to the infant Jesus who born for them in a stable in Bethlehem. The Saint knew these good folks would never have a chance to visit the Holy Land so he wanted to make the Nativity a real and personal experience for the faithful.
Christmas Eve, people came from miles around for Midnight Mass, all of them willingly climbing the steep and rocky hillside in the bitter cold.
Mass,he had a vision in which he saw a baby asleep in the manger. As he watched, he saw St. Francis pick the baby up, holding Him very lovingly in his arms. The man understood this to mean that the child Jesus had been forgotten by many people, but through St. Francis, that Christmas night in Greccio, the Baby Jesus came to life in the hearts and minds of all those who saw the crib.
Saint Francis, I invite you to enter on a journey on this
Christmas 2016, a journey to Bethlehem. We may not be able to make the physical pilgrimage to the land of the Savior’s birth, but we can make the journey interiorly, that is, in our hearts, praying before the Nativity sets displayed in our homes and here at Church as spiritually we travel to Bethlehem to adore Him.
journey to Bethlehem to behold the face of God in Jesus Christ, I note that the word Bethlehem means “House of Bread.” The child Jesus came not only to redeem us through His death and resurrection, but to nourish and sustain us with His very Body and Blood, as He does at every Mass we celebrate and each time we worthily receive Him in Holy Communion.
One of the most popular songs of this time of preparation for Christmas is the hymn “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” The word ‘Emmanuel’, as you know, means “God is with us.” This is the great message of Christmas. Christmas is not just a remembrance of a past event where God was with us when He was born and then for the next 33 years. Nor is it just our hopeful anticipation of His coming at the end of time. Christ is with us here and now, at all times and in every circumstance.
remain with us. His birth has brought a great light to “the people who walked in darkness.” As we hear in the Gospel on Christmas morning, that “light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” No darkness can ever overcome the light of Christ dwelling among us. Christmas is a time for us to renew our faith in that promise and to remain steadfast in following that light which leads us to Him in Heaven. During this final week of Advent, let us open our hearts that we might be prepared to welcome Emmanuel, God with us, at Mass, at Christmas, and every day of our lives. Let us truly believe in the meaning of Christmas, that God is with us yesterday, today and forever.
we have added an extra hour of Confession time at Our Lady of Mercy. Beginning at 6:00pm until 8:00pm there will be two priests available each hour to hear Confessions. We’ve invited some guest priests to help. So take the time to examine your conscience, confess your sins, and receive God’s mercy and forgiveness. It is the best gift you could get for Christmas!
I offer my gratitude to the many parishioners who were so generous to the OLM Outreach Collection this month. These funds help us serve the poor and needy locally with Christmas food and gift cards. Also we are able to financially support the homeless and hungry across our state through various Catholic Charities like Emmanuel House and McCauley House.
nothing but the clothing on their backs. The generosity of our school families is greatly appreciated.
On Friday night we celebrated the Annual OLM School Christmas Pageant. It is always a joyful and happy occasion as our talented students gather to sing songs of the seasons. The Church is always overflowing with smiling parents, siblings and grandparents. The highlight of the evening is the reenactment of the Nativity Story by the students. It is always a great event for our parish and school. It really is inspiring to be able to sing beautiful Christmas hymns with the students in a spirit of faith, hope and love. Far too many around us have pushed God out of our culture and removed Christ from Christmas.
Rejoicing. We rejoice because Christmas is coming soon. We have put away the dour purple vestments and wear the bright rose vestments. This is a sign of our rejoicing in Christ who was born on Christmas Day. We do not rejoice because we believe Jesus came to bring Heaven down to earth. Rather, we rejoice because we rejoice because we know that Jesus, the Son of God, came to open a path from earth into Heaven. The joy of the Christian is the joy of a hope guaranteed by God Himself. This is true joy, the joy of hope, and Christ is its source.
This Sunday is called Gaudete Sunday, "Gaudete" being the Latin for "Rejoice!" The given entrance antiphon for this Sunday begins, in Latin, with "Gaudete in Domino semper" or "Rejoice in the Lord always.” Here's the English translation of this beautiful antiphon, a hymn to rejoicing: “Rejoice in the Lord always: I say again, rejoice: let your modesty be known unto all: The Lord is at hand. Let nothing upset you: but in all prayers make your needs known unto God. “ So let us rejoice! This is the instruction we are given at the beginning of Mass today. In these last weeks of Advent, we might become weary and distracted. That’s why the Church tells us to rejoice. Christ is coming! There’s no doubt that the gospel is demanding, but we have the great joy of God’s grace and our community of faith spurring us on toward true repentance and total joy!
Program and the students of OLM School celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Of course, Confession is a great way to prepare for the coming of Christ. Cleansing our souls of sin and receiving God’s powerful grace of forgiveness and mercy is perhaps the best Christmas gift you can give yourself.
certainty help you to truly rejoice in the season.