Celebrating the Ascension and Welcoming the Grandparents

Dear Parishioners:

Despite the rain showers and cool temperatures last week, we had a beautiful celebration of First Holy Communion and May Crowning.  The children were so well prepared and did a terrific job.  We congratulate them and look forward to seeing them come forward for Communion each and every Sunday!

This weekend we warmly welcome Hiep Nguyen, our Summer Seminarian who arrived this week for his assignment.  Hiep is to live and work with Fr. Barrow and me for ten weeks. He is to assist at Masses, visit the homebound, help with OLM Outreach, visit the classes at OLM School, and learn more about rectory and parish life. Sogive him a warm welcome when you see him around the parish or in town!

This Thursday is the Solemnity of the Ascension, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics. We celebrate it with a 5:00PM Vigil Mass on Wednesday and three Masses on the Holyday itself: 7:30am, 9:00am and 7:00pm.  This schedule provides ample opportunity to get to Mass and fulfill your obligation.

In the Creed we proclaimthat Our Lord “ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.” Thus the Ascension celebrates the elevation of Christ into Heaven by His own power in the presence of His disciples forty day after His Resurrection.  By ascending from earth to Heaven, Christ did not just open a way for us to follow as best we can. Rather, He is the way. Christ promised his disciples: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”

Christ does this by interceding for us to the Father resulting in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.  As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “Jesus Christ, having entered the sanctuary of Heaven once and for all, intercedes constantly for us as the mediator who assures us of the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.”

In special way on this Ascension Thursday we honor Grandparents with a special“Grandparent’s Day” at OLM School. There are over 200 grandparents expected to visit with us this Thursday. The day begins with the 9:00am School Holyday Mass followed by a grand reception for all the grandparents and then they make classroom visits.  It is always a great day for our school children and their beloved grandparents.

Last year Pope Francis was speaking to Catholic School children and their families.  He began to discuss the role of grandparents in the lives of grandchildren.  He said: “I would like to give you a task: speak to your grandparents and ask them questions, they have the memory of history, the experience ofliving, and this is a great gift for you that will help you in your life journey.” The Holy Father also pointed out thatgrandparents themselves needed “to listen to you children to understand your aspirations and your hopes.” Good advice from a “Spiritual Grandpa”!

Please join us this Monday at 7:00pm for May Devotions in honor of Our Lady of Providence. Fr. Chris Murphy, the Vocation Director at Our Lady of Providence Seminary and Chaplain at Bishop Hendricken High School, is to lead us in devotion to Our Lady. Our Lady of Providence is the patroness of our Diocese and we seek her intercession for an increase of priestly vocations.

The title of "Mary, Mother of Divine Providence" is often traced to her intervention at the Wedding Feast at Cana. Jesus’ first public miracle was due in part to the intercession of his mother. She helped through her foresight and concern to avoid an embarrassing situation for the newlywed couple.  May she intercede for our intentions on Monday night.

Next Sunday we celebrate the final 5:00PM Sunday Evening Mass of the season. During the months of June, July and August this Mass time “goes on vacation” along with many of our parishioners! It returns the first Sunday of September. If you are looking for a Sunday evening Mass during the summer months, you might look to the beach parishes!

The month of May is quickly coming to an end.  The month of June is a busy time at OLM with 8th Grade Graduation, Vacation Bible Camp and the priestly ordination of OLM Native Son, Deacon Brain Morris, on Saturday, June 3rd. Be well.  Do good. God Bless.  Our Lady of Providence, pray for us!

Celebrating First Communion, May Crowning and Mothers with Joy, Faith and Love!

Dear Parishioners:

It’s a weekend for celebrating with joy and faith at Our Lady of Mercy. On Saturday 82 of our parish children received their First Holy Communion.  This is always a day of faith, joy, love and hope for our parish and for these children.  We thank all those who helped to make the celebration such a special day.  We thank Mickey St. Jean and her assistants who work so hard in making our First Communion Program such a great success.  We also thank Mrs. Mary Ryan and Mrs. Mary Martin-Tuite who prepared the OLM School Second Grade so well.

We thank the parents of these children for supporting and encouraging their children in the Catholic Faith.  Parents are the primary teachers of their children in the faith and so what begins on a child’s baptism day continues everyday as parents bear witness to the Risen Christ in their lives. Pope Francis reminds us that: “The Eucharist is such a great gift. That’s why going to Mass is so important. Going to Mass not just to pray, but to receive Communion, the Bread and Body of Christ. It saves us, forgives us and it makes us one with the Father. How beautiful!”

The great gift received at First Communion Day is just the beginning for these children and their parents. They must strive to live the Catholic faith daily and be nourished by the Eucharist every Sunday. We pray for these dear children and their families that they may always stay close to the Eucharistic Lord and faithful to Sunday Mass. Last year Pope Francis speaking to a First Communion Class in Italy reminded the children that “you, who make your First Communion, must always remember this day your whole life: the first day that Jesus came in to us. He comes, makes himself one with us, makes himself our food, our nourishment to give us strength.”

The celebration of First Communion continues as we celebrate the May Crowning of our Blessed Mother at 10:30am Mass.  The Month of May is dedicated to Mary and so as we celebrate Mother’s Day today we crown our Blessed Mother, the Queen of our lives! Saint Pope John Paul II reminds us of the importance of the May Crowing. He states: “The queen symbol was attributed to Mary because she was a perfect follower of Christ, who is the absolute ‘crown’ of creation. The maid of Nazareth consented to God’s plan; she journeyed on the pilgrimage of faith; she listened to God’s Word and kept it in her heart; she remained steadfastly in close union with her Son, all the way to the foot of the Cross; she persevered in prayer with the Church. Thus, in an eminent way, she won the ‘crown ofrighteousness,’ ‘the crown of life,’ ‘the crown of glory’ that is promised to those who follow Christ.”

In honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions in Fatima, Portugal, a generous parishioner recently donated a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fatima to the parish.  This is the statue to be crowned today by our First Communion Class and is to remain in the sanctuary the rest of the month.  Our celebration of Our Lady of Fatima continues on Monday with May Devotions at 7:00pm.  Father Jorge Rocha, a native of Portugal and Associate Pastor at St. Francis Xavier Church, will lead us in our May devotions and share with us the importance of Our Lady of Fatima to our lives as Catholics.  Pope Francis is in Fatima this weekend to celebrate the anniversary and yesterday he canonized two the child visionaries who saw Our Lady there.  These two shepherd children are now Saints Jacinta and Francisco! May they now intercede for us and our intentions in Heaven!

A Happy Mother Day to all our Mothers! We honor all Mothers today as we remember them with prayer and thanks at Masses. May Mary our Mother, guide and bless all Mothers with her gentle mantle of peace and love.  Congratulations to our First Communion Class! Be well.  Do good. God Bless.  Our Lady of Fatima, St. Jacinta, and St. Francisco, pray for us!

The Spring Fling Success and Summer Seminarian On the Way!

Dear Parishioners:

Last Saturday night the OLM School gathered to celebrate the Annual Spring Fling. This event is a major fundraiser for our school and helps to maintain and support the many fine programs offered at OLM School.  We are grateful to the many benefactors who donated some fabulous auction items including Red Sox tickets, Patriot’s Box Seats, tickets to the Broadway sensation Hamilton, and many others.  There was also the Dinner with the OLM Priests always a popular auction item! All the proceeds directly benefit the students at OLM School.

I thank OLM School PTO President, Jaime Pedro, and her excellent committee for all their hard work and dedication to ensuring a great time was had by all.  Also we thank those parents and guests who came to the big night and gave so generously in support of OLM School. With the Spring Fling now over, it’s hard to believe butin just a few weeks school ends for the summer break!  On the horizon, is the First Annual OLM School Golf Open.  Mark your calendar now for this golf tournament scheduled for Monday, September 11th at Quidnessett Country Club.

We also give thanks this week that we have now surpassed our Catholic Charity Appeal parish goal of $193,000. Once again your generous support of the good works of our Diocesan Church surpasses the goal.  I wholeheartedly thank all those who pledged and gave a gift to the CCA. Your generous support helped us not only reach but go over the goal.  In the name of the poor and needy who benefit from your generosity, I sincerely thank you.

This week I received news from the Office of Vocations that a Seminarian for the Diocese of Providence is to be assigned for the summer to Our Lady of Mercy Church. Seminarian Hiep Nguyen is currently finishing his First Theology Year at St. John Seminary in Boston.  He has been assigned to live and work at OLM for ten weeks and arrives on May 18th.

Hiep is a native of Vietnam where he was raised.  He emigrated to the Untied States several years ago and his home parish is St. Philip in Greenville.  He has a brother who is a priest and serves as a Pastor in Vietnam anda sister who is a religious sister and works in the St. Louis area.  We are looking forward to having Hiep here and supporting his priestly vocation. While here at OLM he will be living and working with Fr. Barrow and me.  He will be helping with Masses, teaching at school, visiting the home bound and working with the OLM Outreach Office. Be sure to give him a warm welcome when he arrives on May 18th.

Hiep is to also help us with our Annual Vacation Bible School.  This great week of fun and faith for our OLM children is scheduled for June 26—30.  It is always a great week of faith-filled activities for our parish.  There are details in the flyer found in the bulletin this week.  Make sure to sign up your child or grandchild!

I hope you join us this Monday for May Devotions as Fr. Joseph Briody, a Priest of the Diocese of Raphoe, Ireland, is to lead our devotions in honor of Our Lady of Knock.  He is a Professor of Scripture at St. John Seminary in Boston. The Story of Knock began on the 21st August, 1879 when, at approximately 8 o’clock in the evening, fifteen people from the village of Knock in County Mayo, Ireland witnessed an Apparition of Our Lady, St. Joseph, St. John the Evangelist, a Lamb and a cross on an altar at the gable wall of the Parish Church. These witnesses watched the Apparition in the pouring rain for two hours, reciting the Rosary. Although they themselves were saturated not a single drop of rain fell on the gable or the vision.

There were fifteen official witnesses to the Apparition, most of whom were from the village of Knock and surrounding areas and ranged in age from just 5 years old to 74 years old. There is a beautiful shrine at Knock where I have had the privilege to celebrate Mass and seek Our Lady’s powerful intercession. Fr. Briody is to lead us in our devotions as we plead for the intercession of Our Lady of Knock for our parish. Please join us on Monday at 7:00PM for the Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration and beautiful music.

Be well.  Do good. God Bless.  Our Lady of Knock,  pray for us!

April Showers Bring May Flowers and Mary, Our Blessed Mother!

Dear Parishioners:

April Showers bring May flowers! Let’s hope that the rain we had this past week does indeed bring some spring blossoms!  April is ending and the Month of May is upon us already!  Where did the time go?

Of course, May is a month dedicated to Our Blessed Mother, Mary.  We will have May Devotions every Monday night during the month.  This May we also recognize that Bishop Tobin has declared a Year of Mary in honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Virgin Mary’s appearance at Fatima. To celebrate this, join us on Mondays in May to discover the various titles given to Our Blessed Mother.

We start with our own patroness, Our Lady of Mercy, tomorrow night with Deacon John Dowd.  Next Monday Fr. Joseph Briody, a native of Ireland and Professor of Sacred Scripture at St. John Seminary join us to discover Our Lady of Knock. On Monday, May 15th, Fr. Jorge Rocha, a native of Portugal and Associate Pastor at St. Francis Xavier Church, joins us in seeking the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. Father Chris Murphy from the OLP Seminary joins us May22ndfor devotions to Our Lady of Providence, the patroness of our Diocese.

On May 29th, the last Monday of the month, Deacon Brian Morris, a native son of OLM, joins us for devotions in honor of Our Lady of Lourdes. He spent a summer working at Lourdes helping the many sick and infirm pilgrims who journey there seeking Our Lady’s powerful intercession.  Deacon Morris is to be ordained a priest of our diocese on Saturday, June 3rd! Leading us in devotions is to be one of his last duties as a Deacon!

Each of these special Monday Nights in Mayfeatures Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, recitation of the Rosary, a talk on Our Lady’s title and some beautiful and meditative hymns in honor of the Blessed Mother.  So mark your calendars and join us in celebrating the Year of Mary at Our Lady of Mercy!

We hope to continue the celebration of the Blessed Mother on Saturday, May 13th, the 100th Anniversary of the Apparitions at Fatima, Portugal.  A special celebration is planned at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence.  It begins with a huge outdoor procession as hundreds of the faithful from across the diocese walk in procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.

Every parish has been asked to send a delegation for the procession and the members of our Legion of Mary and Our Lady’s Rosary Makers are to represent OLM. The 11:00AM outdoor procession is followed by a multi-lingual recitation of the Rosary and Confessions.  Following the Rosary, a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Fatima is to be offered by Bishop Tobin.  It is the highlight of this Year of Mary, our year long re-dedication to the Blessed Mother as a local Church.  May the Blessed Virgin Mary intercede for us!

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, is to travel to Fatima on the anniversary as well. He is to lead the Rosary and offer a Mass for the thousands of pilgrims there to celebrate the great day. It was also just announced that Pope Francis, while he is in Fatima, is to canonize two of the visionaries of the Marian apparitions there. Now the young shepherds Jacinta and Francisco Marto, are to become Saints of our Church!

We are also celebrating First Holy Communion for our OLM School Children and the children of the OLM Religious Education Program on Saturday, May 13th.  What a great day for the children to receive Jesus Christ truly present in the Eucharist for the first time.  May Our Lady of Fatima and Saints Jacinta and Francisco intercede for them on this most important day in their young lives.

Pope Francis recently spoke of Our Lady of Fatima.  He stated: “She asks us to never offend God again. She forewarns all humanity about the necessity of abandoning oneself to God, the source of love and mercy. Following the example of St. John Paul II, a great devotee of Our Lady of Fatima, let us listen attentively to the Mother of God and ask for peace for the world.”

So let the May flowers come and celebrate with great joy and a renewed vigor Mary Most Holy! Be sure to pick up your Rosary beads and join us for May Devotions this month.  Be well. Do good. God Bless!  Our Lady of Mercy and Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Giving Thanks for Holy Week and Easter Blessings

Dear Parishioners:

We had a tremendous celebration of Holy Week and Easter! The Holy Week ceremonies were truly prayerful and reverent.  The Easter Liturgies were joyous! As St. Augustine said so long ago, “We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!”

None of the solemnity, beauty and glory of Holy Week and Easter is possible without the hard work of so many good people.  We thank all who worked to ensure that the most sacred time of our Church Year was possible and wonderful. We thank Celia Franzone and her dedicated crew of decorators who made the Church so beautiful with flowers and decorations. We thank Nancy Wray and her band of Sacristans who cleaned, polished, and prepared all the vessels and vestments for Holy Week.  We thank Henri St. Louis, Deirdre Donovan, the OLM Adultand Children Choirs for providing such beautiful music for the Sacred Triduum.

We must thank Paul Anderson and his hard working maintenance crew for ensuring the Church was so clean and the grounds so beautiful.  We thank our loyal Altar Servers who served each of the ceremonies with great reverence.  We thank our ushers for their service and hospitality to our many visitors.  We thank our Lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for their faithful service during Holy Week.

Yes, all these good folks, and many others, deserve our gratitude for the hard work in seeing to all the details of Holy Week and Easter and for making the celebration of Holy Week truly beautiful and joyful. In your name I also thank our zealous young Associate Pastor, Fr. Barrow and our dedicated Parish Deacon, John Dowd, for their support and hard work in planning and executing all that goes into Holy Week and Easter.  They are a great blessing to our parish!

We must, however, give all thegratitude to the one who truly deservesour thanks and praise, Almighty God!  God is the great giver of all that is beautiful and joyful and so we thank Him for the many blessings received during Holy Week and the Easter Season! St. Ignatius of Loyal reminds us:  Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, All for the greater glory of God!

We give thanks to God also for those who were baptized and received into the Catholic Church at Easter. Across the globe thousands joined our Church and now share in confessing our Catholic faith each Sunday.  We welcome them all including those who were received into the Church here at the Easter Vigil.  Let us continue to pray that their faith flourishes in their lives.  We also had the great joy of baptizing infants on Easter Sunday.  Easter is all about new life and so it is always joyous when we witness that new life in Christ first hand.

Our celebration of Easter, the greatest feast of the Church, does not end in only eight days. As the Catechism reminds us:  “Easter is not simply one feast among others, but the ‘Feast of feasts,’ the ‘Solemnity of solemnities.” As such, the celebration of Easter extends for fifty days. The fifty days from the Sunday of the Resurrection to Pentecost Sunday are celebrated in joy and exultation as one feast day, indeed as one ‘great Sunday.”

We rejoice in the Risen Christ and celebrate the Easter Season with a joyful and lively faith.  In an ancient Easter homily, St. John Chrysostom reminds usas he reminded the early Church why we celebrate with such great joy:

"O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory? Christ is risen, and you are overthrown. Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen. Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice. Christ is risen, and life reigns. Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the grave. For Christ, being risen from the dead, is become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. To Him be glory and dominion unto ages of ages."

We thank Fr. Nathan Ricci for assisting at MassesduringEaster. Father washome from his studies in Rome visiting his family for Easter. He reports that Fr. Connors is studying very diligently as we might expect!   Fr. Barrow is on a well deserved vacation this week!  We thank our good neighbor, Bishop Evans, for helping to cover Masses.  Happy Easter! Christ is Risen! Alleluia!  So celebrate Easter with joy and faith.  Be well. Do good. God Bless!

The Lord is Risen, He Has Risen Indeed! Happy Easter!!

Dear Parishioners:

Happy Easter! Jesus, the crucified one, has now been raised from the dead. He is risen. Utter defeat has been transformed into irreversible victory.  Alleluia, He has Risen Indeed!  Evil has had its way with God’s anointed, the Messiah. It did all it could to break down the courage and fidelity of God’s anointed Savior. It exhausted its arsenal of hate, injustice, humiliation, and pain. It fought a bloody fight – but God’s anointed came out victorious. And what does that mean for us? It means everything, absolutely everything. The resurrection is the stamp that validates everything Jesus did and said: His claim to be God’s Son, to have authority to forgive sin and reestablish communion between God and man; His universal call to abandon self-centeredness for love of God and neighbor as the path to truehappiness; His promise to give grace through a Church that endures forever.

If Jesus had not been raised, none of that would be worth listening to.  He would have been just one more nice guy who finished last, one more dreamer whose dreams were squelched by the harsh reality of real life.  Yes, he suffered and died for us and our salvation.  He did rise from the dead, the tomb was empty on the first Easter morning so long ago.  His victory over evil and falsehood, injustice and suffering is total, incontrovertible, and irreversible.  In the face of twenty centuries filled with the glory of the martyrs anda steady stream of saints making their way to the heavenly communion of saints, an incredible growth of the Church from a small band of disciples, and an unquenchable Christian vitality, no reasonable person can deny really deny the resurrection!

St. Paul reminds us that all faith flows from faith in the resurrection: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith.” Yes, we are partakers in the Resurrection of Jesus.  At ourown death or in the death of loved onewe share in eternal life. This is the ultimate way we share in our Lord’s triumph of Easter.  We also share in the Resurrection of Jesusthrough the Sacraments of the Church.  Yes, Jesus wants to fill our souls with His new, risen life.  We call that life of Christ within our heart grace.  He gives us grace in many ways, but most profoundly anddramatically, through the Seven Sacraments of the Church.

On this EasterSunday 2017, we celebratethat thousands ofpeople professed our Catholic faith for the very first time at the Easter Vigil in Churches across the globe. They received theSacraments ofBaptism and Confirmation, andreceived Christ sacramentally in their reception of First Holy Communion the Easter Vigil Mass! Here at Our Lady of Mercy, we celebrate and rejoice that five adults were received fully into the Catholic Church!  Right before our eyes, we saw people rise to a new life as Jesus poured His light and life into theirthirsting, hungry souls. Thus, we sing with the Exultet: “Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of His glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples .”

The Easter Vigil is the “Mother of All Vigils.” Easter Sunday is the greatest of all Sundays, and Easter Time is the most important of all liturgical seasons. The word “Easter” comes from Old English, meaning simply the “East.” The sun which rises in the East, brings light, warmth and hope,  and is a symbol of the rising Christ, who is the true Light of the World. The Easter Candle reminds us of this divine light, which is Christ. It is kept near the pulpitall throughEaster. So during this Easter season , let us   bask in the wondrous light ofChrist and behold the beauty, the glory and the joy of Easter!  Easter truly is the joy of glorified life and the victory over death, expressed most fully in the great resounding cry of the Christian:  “Alleluia!”  So let us shake this holy building, we call Our Lady of Mercy Church, with true joy as we raise our mighty voices and rejoice, Christ is Risen!

Let us joyfully sing today with the Psalmist: “This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad!” Behold the glory and proclaim Christ is Risen! A Blessed Easter! Be well. Do good. God Bless!