Praying for Vocations, Welcoming Missionaries and Worshiping the Eucharist

Dear Parishioners:                  

We were pleased to welcome Mother Josephine, the Superior of the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters, for her annual pastoral visit to our convent and with the FAS Sisters who serve at Scalabrini Villa.  She assures me that our good Sisters, Sister Emma and Sister Lourdes, are to remain here working with us.  That is great news for OLM as they are a true blessing to our parish.

On Sunday we welcome many of our friends from the Dominican Community.  As you read last weekend, OLM Parishioner Laura Makin is entering the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville.  Some of these wonderful Sisters are joining us in praying for Laura at the 10:30am Mass.  Also some Dominican Friars will join us at the Mass.  Fr. Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP from St. Pius V Church in Providence is preaching at the Mass. I ask for your continued prayers for Laura and for her Dominican Sisters in Nashville.  These religious sisters are all a blessing for our Church and  provide a profound witness of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience.  Let us pray for more vocations to the consecrated life from our parish and in our Diocese.

Next weekend we welcome Father Victor Ramesh from the Archdiocese of Madras in India.  Father is coming to preach at all the Masses on behalf of the missions in his diocese.  I know you will give him your usual warm welcome to OLM. The Missionary Cooperative Weekend is our time to support the good works of the Church in the Missions. Each summer missionaries come to parishes in Rhode Island reminding us of the important work they do and to seek our prayerful and financial support.  Next week’s Second Collection goes directly to support the mission work in the Archdiocese of Madras.  I thank you in advance for your generous support.  There is more information in this week’s bulletin about the Archdiocese of Madras.

I remind you that this Wednesday, August 15th,  we honor our Blessed Mother on the Solemnity of the Assumption.  It is a holy day of obligation for all Catholics, which means you must attend Mass.  A complete schedule of Masses for the holy day are in the bulletin.  Please join us in celebrating our Blessed Mother, our patroness, on her special feast day. 

Over these few weeks we have been hearing from the Gospel of John.  The Gospel of John has rightly been called the Eucharistic Gospel. It is filled with Eucharistic images and language intended to help us move deeper into the mystery of Christ’s Body and Blood. It is the fruit of decades of spiritual reflection on this gift by Jesus’s Beloved Disciple, the last of the Gospel writers. 

Last week our talented parish musicians, Deirdre and Henri, sang the beautiful Eucharistic hymn,  "Adoro te devote." It was written by  St. Thomas Aquinas over 800 years ago and has been faithfully sung in honor of our Lord truly present in the Eucharist throughout the centuries.  The lyrics provide a wonderful reflection for us, and read: 

“O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore Thee, who truly art within the forms before me; To Thee my heart I bow with bended knee, as failing quite in contemplating Thee. Sight, touch, and taste in Thee are each deceived; The ear alone most safely is believed: I believe all the Son of God has spoken, than Truth's own word there is no truer token. God only on the Cross lay hid from view; But here lies hid at once the Manhood too: And I, in both professing my belief, make the same prayer as the repentant thief. Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see; Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be: make me believe Thee ever more and more; In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.  O thou Memorial of our Lord's own dying! O Bread that living art and vivifying! Make ever Thou my soul on Thee to live; Ever a taste of Heavenly sweetness give. O loving Pelican! O Jesu, Lord! Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy Blood; Of which a single drop, for sinners spilt, Is ransom for a world's entire guilt. Jesu! Whom for the present veil'd I see, What I so thirst for, O vouchsafe to me: That I may see Thy countenance unfolding, And may be blest Thy glory in beholding. Amen.”

Prayers and well wishes to Laura Makin!  Do good. Be well. God Bless. Go Sox! Did you see the Sox sweep the Yanks!!!

In Support of Vocations to the Priesthood and Consecrated Life at OLM

Dear Parishioners:                  

Last Sunday we said “Farewell” to our Summer Seminarian Patrick Ryan.  His ten weeks with us at OLM have ended and returns to pursue his studies for the priesthood.  We are grateful for his time here and we continue to pray for him and his vocation to the priesthood. I thank the many parishioners who came to the “Farewell Reception” at Mercy Park last Sunday.  Your support of Patrick and your well wishes are appreciated.  I also thank the many volunteers who helped organize and prepare the wonderful reception. 

Next Sunday at the 10:30AM Mass we welcome OLM Parishioner Laura Makin.  She graduated from Providence College this past spring and now she is to enter the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee as a postulant in the coming weeks.

We will acknowledge her vocation to the consecrated life and pray for her at the Mass. Laura and her family will be in attendance at the Mass celebrated by Bishop Evans.  Dominican Father Patrick Mary Briscoe, OP of St. Pius Church in Providence is to preach the Mass.  Also joining us at the Mass are other Dominican Friars and some of the Dominican Sisters who serve at St. Pius Church. Please join us in celebrating this great event in Laura’s life and in the life our parish.  There will be a reception following Mass in Mercy Park.

The Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia are commonly called the Nashville Dominicans.  The Dominican Order was founded 800 years ago by St. Dominic  and the Nashville Congregation was founded in 1860 with the arrival of the first four sisters in Nashville, their early work, and the establishment of St. Cecilia Academy.  Over their 150 years  there has been an  observable growth in the life and vitality of the young community.

The Congregation has experienced 64% growth since the year 2000 with 300 sisters in the community, the largest ever in their history. The median age is 36 with 58% of the Congregation under the age of forty. With an average of 18 young women entering the convent as postulants each year, the novitiate has an average of fifty sisters. The Congregation has expanded its apostolate to 33 schools located in the United States, including the Congregation’s own college in Nashville. The sisters are also present in 10 schools located in Rome and Bracciano, Italy; Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, Canada; the Diocese of Aberdeen, Scotland; Diocese of Roermond in The Netherlands and the Diocese of Limerick, Ireland.  Here in Rhode Island they administer and teach at St. Pius School. 

The Mother House of these good sisters is located on thirty-two acres located in downtown Nashville, St. Cecilia Motherhouse is an oasis on the north side of a busy southern city. St. Cecilia Motherhouse was completed in 1862. Additions in 1880, 1888, 1904, and 2006 completed the building. Today it houses the sisters in formation in the novitiate, the sisters who administer and teach at  schools in Nashville, sisters who serve the community through specific duties at the Motherhouse, and many retired sisters.

The Constitutions of the Congregation state: “ Wishing to follow Christ more freely, we tend toward holiness by a narrower path. The consecrated life is the fruition of the baptismal grace. The consecrated virgin is set apart for the Lord. The voluntary gift of self by which we devote ourselves to God and strengthen our brethren becomes the source of tranquil peace. By our consecrated life we teach the way to holiness and joy.”

During her postulancy, Laura begins a year of immersion into the life of her new religious family. She attends all community prayers and practices the monastic customs that are a part of our life. During this year she becomes acquainted with the basics of Dominican spirituality and history, along with the charism of our Congregation.

We congratulate Laura on her decision to pursue her vocation to the consecrated life. Please join us next Sunday in recognizing her vocation and praying for her as she enters the convent.  May God continue to bless her and the Nashville Dominican Sisters with joy, faith, hope, and love! 

Pray for more vocations! Do good. Be well. God Bless. Go Sox!

O Rest in the Lord, Wait Patiently for Him, and He will Give You Your Heart's Desires

Dear Parishioners:                  

This week I am in New York City attending the Annual Summer Meeting of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors. Each summer nearly forty State Catholic Conference Directors from across the nation gather for a few days to study and discuss the public policy issues facing the Church and our society. The meeting is held in a different location each summer and this year is the 50th Anniversary of the group.

Pro-Life advocacy at the RI Statehouse.

It is a chance to learn from experts and discuss our own experiences advocating for the Catholic Church. It is always a helpful and constructive time to listen and learn about the many public policy issues facing us on both a state and national level. Among the topics we are slated to discuss are immigration and refugee services, threats to religious liberty, restorative justice, physician assisted suicide, abortion, poverty,  and election year activities.   Experts in these areas present to our group, followed by very lively and helpful discussions

When we are not behind closed doors in a meeting room there is  time to see the local sights and socialize with colleagues and their families.  We are to celebrate Mass at  St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Cardinal Dolan.  Also, there are  trips planned to the September 11th monument and museum, Ellis Island, and a visit to the Modern Museum of Art.  I am planning a trip to Yankee Stadium as well!

I always look forward to this meeting as it is a time to learn from the men and women who advocate on behalf of the Catholic Church in nearly every statehouse in the United States.  Sometimes the work of advocating for the Church at the statehouse can be a lonely place and it is always encouraging to be with colleagues who face the same challenges. They come from as far as Hawaii and Alaska, and as close as Massachusetts and Connecticut.  It is a diverse group of people from various backgrounds, but each one committed to advancing  the common good and promoting human dignity and the sanctity of human life.  Please pray for us this week that it is a fruitful time for our work of advocacy and education.  

OLM School students and Fr. Healey advocate for School Choice programs at the RI Statehouse.

Fr. Connors was on retreat at St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, Massachusetts last week.   Priests are required to take a retreat each year.  It is a time of spiritual renewal and a time to “rest in the Lord.”  

At Masses last weekend, our very talented musicians, Henri St. Louis and Deirdre Donovan, played “O Rest In The Lord.”  It is a delightful aria from the oratorio Elijah by the great composer Felix Mendelssohn.  "O Rest in the Lord" are the words of an angel, who speaks to Elijah after he has run into the wilderness for a whole day. In this scene Elijah lies under a tree exhausted. He asks the Lord to take his life, because his suffering is too much to bare. Then he falls asleep.

An angel appears twice, first to wake him and give him water and a loaf of bread. Elijah falls asleep again. The angel appears for a second time to wake him again. This time the angel gives Elijah enough food so that he can survive for forty days in the wilderness. This aria refers to the second appearance of the angel. The angel is encouraging Elijah here, so that not only will he have enough food for his forty days of travelling in the wilderness, but that he will also have the spiritual strength to persevere in his suffering.

Resting in the Lord!

The lyrics of the piece are: "O rest in the Lord, wait patiently for him and he will give you your heart's desires..."  How true these words are for our lives as disciples. There is always a great need to rest from the busy and often chaotic pace of our modern lives in order to renew our relationship with the Lord and refresh our spiritual lives.

We don’t have to go far  to find a place to rest in the Lord. We only have to make the time to do it.  Start right here at OLM  with Daily Mass at 7:30am, spend some time praying the Rosary, stop by and visit the  Lord truly present in the tabernacle here at OLM or any Catholic Church you find yourself near.  But take the time to “rest in the Lord, to wait patiently for Him and find your heart’s desires!”

We say “Farewell” to Patrick Ryan, our Summer Seminarian.  Pray for him and for his perseverance in studying for the priesthood.

Do good. Be well. God Bless. Go Sox!

Farwell to Summer Seminarian and Hello Backpack Drive!

Dear Parishioners:                  

This is the final week for our Summer Seminarian Patrick Ryan.  Next Sunday his ten weeks with us at OLM ends!  Patrick will get a couple weeks off to spend time with his family before heading back to studies for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence Seminary and Providence College.  His time with us seems to have gone very quickly but very smoothly.  It has been great  to have Patrick at OLM over these ten weeks. 

I hope you have had a chance to meet him and talk with him. Patrick has another year of philosophy studies and then he will be assigned to a Major Seminary for theological studies. Over these ten weeks he has been tremendously helpful at the parish. He has worked with our school student and young people of our Youth Group, made visits to our many shut-ins, visited nursing homes, worked with the Legion of Mary, served Mass, worked at the Vacation Bible School, written excellent columns (be sure to read this week’s column!), and led committal services at St. Patrick Cemetery.

He has also spent considerable time working along side Fr. Barrow and myself. From learning about parish paperwork to coming to emergency calls at the hospital and nursing homes,  he’s had an excellent introduction into the life and ministry of a parish priest. Of course part of that introduction is getting to know and serve the parishioners of OLM and I thank you for your kindness in welcoming him to OLM!

Also part of Patrick’s introduction to parish life is living in a Rectory with priests.    He is excellent company and he likes to watch the Red Sox win!! In between theological and philosophical discussions with Fr Barrow and Fr Connors, I did manage to teach Patrick how to play Hi-Lo Jack!  Don’t worry he hasn’t taken up cigar smoking yet!

Next Sunday we will acknowledge his time with us at a “Farewell Reception” in Mercy Park following the 10:30am Mass. I hope you can stop by and offer Patrick your best wishes.  He is to be at all Masses next weekend so if you cannot make the reception please be sure to greet him after Mass. Keep him in your prayers as he continues his path to priesthood and please pray for more vocations to the priesthood in our Diocese of Providence.

You may have read in the bulletin that OLM Outreach is once again helping the children of St. Patrick’s Parish and School with our Annual Back Pack Drive.  Beginning next weekend we are collecting school supplies.  A complete list of needed supplies is in the bulletin. Any donated supplies can be left in the bins in the vestibule or dropped off at the OLM Outreach  Office at Mercy House. 

You can also make financial donations to this effort with checks payable to “OLM” with “Backpack Drive” written in the memo. Any monetary donations can be put in an envelope and placed in the collection baskets at Masses or sent to the Parish Office. I am grateful to OLM Parishioners, Kathy Hall and Mary Anne Weaver, who are leading the drive again this year.  All of these much needed school supplies will be packed into backpacks and then  delivered to St. Patrick’s Church in Providence during the week of August 13th.

Fr. James Ruggeri. the Pastor of St. Patrick Church, is always so grateful for the support of OLM.  His many parishioners and the students at St. Patrick’s School truly benefit greatly from your generous charity.  In their name, I thank you for your generous support of the Annual Backpack Drive.  Our OLM Outreach benefits so greatly from your generous weekly financial support as well as the weekly donations of food items for the Food Pantry. 

There is truly great need in our society of charitable support for the working poor and the impoverished.  They aren’t only at St. Patrick’s but  also in our local community who need support and assistance. Pope Francis consistently reminds the world with his prophetic message of serving the poor.  In one of his writings, he teaches  us: “The great danger in today’s world, pervaded as it is by consumerism, is the desolation and anguish born of a complacent yet covetous heart, the feverish pursuit of frivolous pleasures, and a blunted conscience.”

Thanks for your support of OLM Outreach. Do good. Be well. God Bless. Go Sox!

OLM Sisters Off to Pray, OLM Youth Off to Celebrate and OLM Priests Learning to be Better Confessors

Dear Parishioners:                  

Sister Lourdes, Sister Emma and the good sisters from Scalibrini Villa left early Tuesday morning for Nebraska. They are headed there for their Annual Retreat and Meetings of the Congregation of the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters.  They will be stopping in Peoria, Illinois to pick a few more sisters and then directly to Lincoln, Nebraska.

St. Gregory the Great Seminary Chapel, Lincoln, Nebraska

They are spending the next few weeks of prayer, study and reflection at St. Gregory the Great Seminary where several of the FAS Sisters serve.  The retreat is to be led by Mother Marietta of the Poor Clare Sisters in the Philippines. Also Mother Josephine, the Superior of the Congregation, is joining them  from their Motherhouse in the Philippines.

The Franciscan Apostolic Sisters were founded in the Philippines in 1953 by an Italian Missionary Priest, the Franciscan Father Gerardo Filippetto, OFM. As consecrated women, the Sisters continue to live as their Father Founder taught them: to be humble servants reflecting Mary's presence and to be all in all in the service of everyone in the community and the Church.

I ask you to please pray for all the sisters during their  time of retreat and also for their safe travels.  The Sisters  return to OLM in late July. Mother Josephine and Mother Marietta are to visit us in early August.  May this truly be a fruitful time of spiritual renewal and rest.

On Friday morning a  number of our OLM teens headed to the Steubenville East Conference this weekend in Lowell, Massachusetts.   They are joining thousands of young Catholics from across the Northeast for a faith-filled and joy-filled time of prayer and celebration. Fr. Barrow and our Summer Seminarian Patrick Ryan along with our OLM Youth Coordinator Billy Burdier and some adult chaperones are with the group.  It should be a terrific weekend of faith and fun. Please pray for them all as they spend the weekend celebrating Christ and His Church.  The group returns on Sunday evening.

This past week several hundred priests from across the nation gathered in Providence for the Annual Thomistic Institute. The Thomistic Institute is a work of the Dominican Friars which  promotes Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is the foundation of their works. Each summer they sponsor a conference especially for priests. 

This year’s conference was entitled, “Becoming a Better Confessor.” Over the course of three days there are lectures, holy hours, social hours and time for reflection.  The conference takes place at the McVinney Auditorium and the Cathedral with the guest clergy staying at the local Hilton.  It is a great opportunity for priests and a great privilege to have the Diocese of Providence host it. Fr. Barrow, Fr. Connors, and myself along with many priests from Providence and many other dioceses joined with many Dominican Friars this week in an effort to become better confessors!

Bishop Robert Reed, the Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, delivered the keynote address in which he stressed the importance of mercy and forgiveness in the life of a priest.  Other speakers  examined issues such as ministering to the addicted, those in irregular marriages and those with same sex attraction. Such notable speakers as Fr. Aquinas  Guilbeau, OP and Fr. George Rutler presented excellent talks. 

It was a very fruitful time for the priests gathered and a time of serious reflection. Also it was a time of great fraternity for priests.  In fact, I encountered a priest friend from Charleston, South Carolina I haven't’ seen in years who was in town for the conference.  We are grateful to the Dominican Friars for providing this great opportunity for priests and to Bishop Tobin for inviting them to hold the conference here in Providence.

Now that we have studied how to be better confessors, you might wish to make your way to the Confessional Box this summer!  Confessions at OLM continue all summer long on Monday evenings at 6:00pm and Saturdays at 4:00pm.  Don’t take a vacation from God’s mercy and forgiveness. Come to Confession, it’s good for the soul!

Do good. Be well. God Bless. Go Sox!

Independence Day and Celebrating our Freedom

Dear Parishioners:                  

I hope you were able to celebrate the Fourth of July! It is always a great day to gather with family and friends for a cookout or watch the fireworks.  I was with my family at my sister’s home in Saratoga, New York for the holiday.  We had a great day celebrating our national independence!                                 

Of course, the Fourth of July is truly a day for us to reflect upon our freedoms.  We enjoy many freedoms here in our land that others across the globe do not.  Freedom and liberty can easily be taken for granted, so let us remember to give thanks to God for our freedom and never take for granted the liberty we enjoy.

Last week I read an article from NBC News that examined the state of politics in Rhode Island. Its premise was that the Ocean State is the last bastion for elected Democrats who are pro-life.  It also examined the effort by the so-called “progressives” to oust pro-life state representatives and senators from office. The central issue for these “progressives” is abortion.  Progress for them is expanding abortion on demand and funding  it with taxpayer dollars.  The article states: “Rhode Island received an ‘F’ grade from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2016 and has a General Assembly run almost entirely by Right to Life-backed Democrats.”

It’s perhaps the only time an “F” is a good grade!  Yet we must remain vigilant in the face of renewed efforts to expand abortion and oust pro-life politicians. These efforts are well organized and well funded by national groups.  The article also suggests that the Catholic Church has too much influence in curtailing abortion legislation. 

Yet a recent Gallup National Poll determined that Americans (48%) still believe abortion (the direct killing of an unborn baby) is morally wrong, while 43 percent believe it is morally acceptable. Perhaps  it is the case that many people including  elected officials s believe that abortion is morally wrong. If the Church has had some influence it may be in helping people including politicians understand that all human life is sacred and should be protected and respected in law.

The reason abortion seems to dominate the headlines is because the pro-abortion lobby’s relentless pursuit of its agenda.. Under the guise of “women’s issues”, Planned Parenthood and the National Organization of Women  are tireless in trying  to expand abortion in RI.   They and their elected allies in the General Assembly continue to seek the public financing of abortion and advance the passage of radical abortion legislation.

We know that Catholic teaching on the respect for human dignity and sanctity of human life is not limited to abortion. In fact, it  proclaims that all human life is sacred and that the dignity of every human person is  the foundation of a moral vision for our society. This fundamental belief guides our advocacy on behalf of human life and human dignity. Our social teaching calls us to  vigilantly advocate for the rights of not only the unborn but also for family life, for immigrants and refugees, for the dying and terminally ill, for   the elderly and the poor and on behalf of justice and peace.

In Ireland  they recently changed the Irish Constitution and legalized abortion. Now the Prime Minister has announced that  Catholic hospitals must  be required to perform abortions. And no exemption from this grave moral evil is possible. This situation in Ireland is precisely why we remain vigilant in advocating  for the sanctity of human life and    the dignity of the human person. Secular governments and radical activists are not simply vigilant in advancing their  agenda but they are in fact relentless!

So as we remember the freedoms we enjoy in the USA, let us also remember we are called to be faithful citizens.  Each one of us has a duty and obligation to be civically engaged but also to proclaim our Catholic faith in the public square and advocate for life and dignity. The abortion lobby gave RI an “F” but we must remain relentless in our public advocacy as Catholics. As the late Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said: “A religion that doesn’t interfere with the secular order will soon discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with it.” 

Do good. Be well. God Bless America!  Go Sox!