The Blessings of Religious Liberty Enjoyed at OLM

Dear Parishioners:                 

The Confession (1838) by Giuseppe Molteni

"The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works," said St. Augustine. Some parishioners have asked about Confessions at OLM. As you know, we have had to suspend Confessions on Saturday afternoons to clean and sanitize the Church for 5:00 pm Mass. This change is to continue until the COVID-19 Crisis is over. However, we continue to offer Confessions on Monday evenings at 6: 00 pm. We usually have two priests available on Mondays as well. If Monday nights are not a convenient day and time for you to get to Confession, please know you can always make an appointment with the parish priests. Just contact Fr. Barrow, Fr. Connors, or myself to arrange for Confession.

Also, a few parishioners have asked if outside Confessors might be available on Monday Evening Confessions. I hope in the coming weeks to have the Dominican Friars from Providence College join us at least once a month for Confessions on Monday evenings. This Monday at 6:00 pm, Dominican Father James Mary Sullivan, OP, the Pastor of St. Pius V Church in Providence, is joining us for Confessions.

What a blessing we've had at OLM as Confessions continued throughout the COVID-19 Crisis. Even during the lockdown, we had many people coming to seek God's forgiveness and mercy. Confessions remain every Monday evening, no matter the weather. So if you haven't made a good Confession in a while, now is the time.

Mass in a Connemara Cabin (1875) by Aloysius O’Kelly depicts a priest celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in a private home during penal times when the Catholic Faith was ruthlessly suppressed and unjustly oppressed in Ireland.

We also enjoy the blessing of celebrating Mass together as a parish family. The number of parishioners attending Sunday Masses continues to rise each week. We intend to keep the present Mass Schedule of three weekend Masses for the remainder of the summer. Come September, if the number of parishioners attending Sunday Masses increases, we might add another Sunday Mass to the schedule. However, before we do change the schedule, there are several factors to consider. The cleaning and sanitizing of the Church, the need for the Mass, and the number of parishioners who attend are essential considerations.

We will announce any changes to the Mass Schedule in advance. However, for the foreseeable future, we continue to offer the 5:00 pm Mass of Anticipation on Saturdays, and the 7:30 am, and 10:30 am on Sundays. This current schedule is working and allows for ample time for our maintenance team to clean and sanitize. I genuinely appreciate your support, understanding, and patience as we continue to worship and practice our faith during this unprecedented time. 

 Many other places in the country are no so blessed. In some states, Church services face severe restrictions, and other states have stopped public worship services altogether. This past week the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to reject a Nevada church's plea to suspend state public-health orders limiting attendance at worship services.

The Governor of Nevada issued an order that allowed casinos and other secular businesses greater leeway than houses of worship, which were capped at 50 people for indoor services. His order allowed casinos to admit up to 50% of their capacity. A Nevada Protestant Church sued over the order claiming it was a violation of religious liberty and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It claimed that the order treated church services differently than other large gatherings such as casinos, gyms, and restaurants.  

Freedom to Worship (1943) by Norman Rockwell

The majority decision denied the Church's argument without comment. However, Justice Gorsuch's one paragraph dissent is rather clear. He states: "In Nevada, it seems, it is better to be in entertainment than religion. Maybe that is nothing new. But the First Amendment prohibits such obvious discrimination against the exercise of religion. The world we inhabit today, with a pandemic upon us, poses unusual challenges. But there is no world in which the Constitution permits Nevada to favor Caesars Palace over Calvary Chapel."  

Let's never take Sunday Mass for granted. Instead, let's renew our fidelity and love of the Eucharistic Lord. Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless.  Go Sox!!???

See You in September at OLM?

Dear Parishioners:                                

This week, many public school districts have begun sharing outlines of reopening plans, including provisions for students to attend school only on certain days and part-time. Our OLM School Principal, Patrick McNabb, working with the faculty and the Catholic School Office and with the guidelines of the RI Department of Education (RIDE) and the Department of Health (RIDOH) have also been working on the plan to reopen our excellent parish school.   

OLM School is planning a full in-person reopening for all students in Grades PK-8, beginning August 31. That, of course, involves many details of classroom arrangements, daily schedules, increased cleaning, and all of the elements that will ensure our students are safe and healthy in our building, with the guidance that we have received and continue to receive from RIDE and RIDOH.     The goal in planning this reopening is that our students are in the school and safely and happily learning.

OLM School did an excellent job with the “distance learning” during the COVID-19 Crisis lockdown.  They are now building on an outstanding foundation of vibrant faith faith-filled Catholic Education that instills values and teaches virtues while maintaining rigorous academic excellence.    Our OLM School Faculty is a group of excellent professionals dedicated to their mission. Our students are a great group of budding saints and scholars. And the tremendous support and involvement our parents continue to make our school an outstanding in every regard. 

If you know of anyone interested in attending an excellent school all day and in person this fall, tell them to apply to OLM School.  We are getting  many new applicants for admission, and our number of placements is limited.  Anyone interested in more information or in applying should contact  OLM School at 884-1618 or go online to the school webpage at olmschool.org and discover the OLM advantage!  

We have also been planning the resumption of our OLM Religious Education Program for the fall.  Fr. Barrow and I, along with our RE Directors, Mickey St. Jean, and Doug Green, are working on plans that  include  “distance learning” along with some in-person Catechesis.  We also hope to schedule the celebration of our First Communion Masses in the fall.  Confirmation Mass is  Sunday, October 25.  We hope that we can have that joyous celebration of the Holy Spirit as expected.  In the next weeks, we hope to finalize all our plans for reopening school and resuming RE at OLM.    

 Of course, all of our projects, like everyone else’s plans these days are subject to change due to the nature of the COVID-19 Pandemic.  Sadly across the country, lots of schools are not planning on reopening for an in-person class, and many others are preparing just partial reopening of in-person courses.    

However, we are committed to reopening our parish school as safely as possible so that our students can learn in-person for the entire school day.  So please pray for our OLM Principal and Faculty as they continue to prepare for the reopening on August 31.  And continue to pray for our OLM School young saints and scholars, that their summer vacation is a fruitful time of preparation for school this fall.   

This year over 100 Catholic schools permanently closed due to the financial stress of the COVID-19 Crisis.  A sad reality of the times we presently are living. Many of these schools were in urban areas that offered an educational choice for economically deprived families.      University of Notre Dame Law Professor, Nicole Stelle Garnett, recently wrote an excellent article entitled, “Why We Still Need Catholic Schools.” In the article, she makes an exceptional case for Catholic Education. She states:  “Catholic school students are more likely to finish high school, attend college and graduate, maintain steady employment, and earn higher wages than similar students attending other types of schools.”

Pray for  our OLM School family and for all Catholic Schools May God bless the excellent education in faith and wisdom at our schools with a safe return this fall. Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless.  Go Sox!!???

OLM, PPP & The Know-Nothings

Dear Parishioners:                               

On Monday morning, I was surprised to read about myself and Our Lady of Mercy in the Providence Journal.  In the Political Scene column by reporter Katherine Gregg,  a listing of lobbyists and elected officials who received loans from the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) included me and OLM.    

The PPP was enacted by the Trump Administration and Congress to protect jobs.  The recipients of the program include all kinds of businesses, non-profits, and other institutions, including many in the Catholic Church.   It is a program to keep people working and paid during the unprecedented crisis of the Covid-19 Pandemic.  The PPP’s purpose is to sustain the economy and ensure workers stay employed.   The amount of each loan is based upon the number of employees and the cost of salaries and benefits.  

Our Lady of Mercy Church benefited from the program, and it is a matter of public record.  OLM employs 44 full and part-time employees in both our parish and school.  We received a PPP loan of $400,000 to cover the costs of our employees’ salaries, healthcare, and pension benefits for two months.   As a result of the closing of Churches and schools, we had a sharp decline in income.  This program enabled us to keep our employees paid and working. None of our OLM employees were furloughed or laid off. 

Our biggest OLM School fundraiser, “the Spring Fling,” was canceled due to the pandemic.  Many of our school families faced financial hardship during the pandemic, and tuition payments had to be suspended.  Also, our weekly church collection continues to decline due to the crisis.  However, our outstanding OLM School teachers worked overtime during the height of the pandemic with the distance learning classes. I was grateful they could be paid.     Also, as a result of the PPP, our OLM Outreach efforts to the poor, especially in time of crisis, continues. So does the increased maintenance work by our staff to sanitize and make our plant safe and hygienic.        

The Catholic Church overall is one of the largest employers in the State of Rhode Island. The Diocese of Providence also benefited from the PPP.  The annual Catholic Charity Appeal began as the pandemic broke out.  As a result, it raised little toward the annual goal of $7 Million.      The CCA helps to fund the many employees who provide the daily support and charitable work the Catholic Church to the poor, the sick, the aged, the migrants, the refugees and the needy of our state.   It provides critical services and assistance to the vulnerable and needy.

Following some national news stories on the Catholic Church receiving PPP loans, Archbishop Coakley, Chair of the USCCB’s Committee on Domestic  Justice, offered a response and it is in this week’s bulletin. He says in part: “The Catholic Church is the largest non-governmental supplier of social services in the United States. The novel coronavirus only intensified the needs of the people we serve and the demand for our ministries. The loans we applied for enabled our essential ministries to continue to function in a time of national emergency.”     

I admit that I was genuinely perplexed at the purpose of Ms. Gregg’s column last Monday particularly the mention of me as Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church. After all, the column offered no indication that illegal or unethical behavior transpired in the PPP loans by those named in the article. Is it newsworthy that faith groups also benefited from a program designed to help them and others in times of national crisis?  Once again we are left wondering what is the point of this kind of “journalism”. Could it be the resentment of those who successfully and legally applied for the loans and received critical funds to keep people employed? More likely it is yet another sly attempt to imply political wrongdoing and dishonest shenanigans where none are to be found.

So let’s be clear about what really did happen with the PPP. Many diverse groups and businesses including many non-profits and local faith communities directly benefited from a program designed precisely to help them at a critical time. It is a national program that has the full backing and support of the President and Congress of the United States and seems to have successfully achieved its goal across the country in a short amount of time.   It’s really that simple and not as salaciously nefarious as some journalist seem to imply.

Anti-Catholic Political cartoon circa 1840s

I am genuinely grateful that the PPP is available to aid many businesses, non-profit groups, and faith communities.   However, many people didn’t want church groups, especially the Catholic Church, to benefit from this program. This is hardly surprising in our increasingly secular society with its growing hostility toward organized religion. Some of the voices of opposition and resentment are a clear reminder that the Anti-Catholic Know-Nothings of the 19th Century still exist today.  

Thankfully both the Administration and the U.S. Congress know the critical need and clearly understand the value of faith communities to the common good of our nation. We are certainly most grateful they do and I thank them!  

Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless.  

Saying Hello to Summer & Farewell to Faithful Friends

Dear Parishioners:                  

I hope you had a happy Independence Day last weekend. Summer is a time of change in the weather and very often our routines. The warm and sunny weather is a time to relax. We can sit back in the yard, at the beach, or in the park. We take up bike rides, swims and walks, go golfing or boating. All this is routinely unavailable at other times of the year. But summer is often a time to change in different ways.

We typically say "Goodbye" to people who are leaving our workplaces or schools. So it is here at OLM as we acknowledge a few folks who are graduating or retiring from service at OLM! We offer our thanks, prayers, and congratulations to OLM School employees Carolyn Macrae and Donna Campbell. Carolyn has been our OLM Bookkeeper for many years, and Donna has served as our OLM School Art Teacher for nearly 20 years. They are retiring after many years at OLM, and we thank them for their service. May God Bless them with health and happiness! Also departing from the OLM School Faculty are 5th Grade Teacher Ashley McCarthy and our Librarian and Reading Teacher Christie Cambio. We are grateful to them for their dedication to OLM's budding saints and scholars and wish them well in their new endeavors.

Also, our longtime Parish Trustee, Bill Wray, who has served OLM since 2008, is stepping down from this role. We are grateful for his service, advice and wise counsel to our parish over these years. His knowledge, expertise, and experience have been a tremendous asset to our church, and I am personally grateful for his sage advice over the years. In your name, I offer our sincere thanks for his loyal and loving service to God and OLM Parish. We wish him well as he and his wife, Nancy, spend more time traveling to visit with their beautiful family!

Robert Duffy appointed new Parish Trustee at Our Lady of Mercy Church.

I am happy to announce that Bishop Tobin has accepted Bob Duffy as our new Parish Trustee. Bob and his wife, Sharon, have worshiped here at OLM for many years and are longtime parishioners. Their seven children attended OLM School and also served Mass. Bob has served on our OLM Finance Council for many years and is a distinguished attorney. He has provided wise counsel over the year, but even more importantly, Bob is a man of deep Catholic Faith.  I am genuinely grateful for his willingness to take on this important responsibility in our parish.

Left to Right: Matthew Simonetti, David Del Bonis, John Curran and Jack Divine.

We say farewell to a few of our  OLM Senior Altar Servers. David Delbonis, John Curran, Matthew Simonetti, and Jack Devine have served God's altar for eight years. We are grateful for their dedicated, solemn, and dutiful service. They have graduated high school and head off to college, and as they do, we thank them and promise our continued prayers for them! May God bless them with a lively faith, and may they continue to serve Him with dedication, holiness, and zeal.

We wish all these members of our OLM family well in their future endeavors, and we thank them for their service to our parish and school. We pray that: "The Lord bless them and keep them; The Lord make His face shine upon them and be gracious to them; The Lord lift up His countenance upon them, And give them peace."

Summer, even with restrictions of the pandemic, is still an excellent time to change our routine and take some time of rest. Perhaps spend time in prayer and reflection, take a hike, a long walk, a swim at the beach, or read a book. These things can be prayerfully done even in a pandemic!

Saint Pope John Paul the Great resting with the Lord during his annual summer vacation.

St. Pope John Paul the Great said: "Vacations, holidays, must be wisely used to benefit the individual and the family through contact with nature, tranquility, the opportunity to foster greater family harmony, good reading, and healthy recreational activities; above all, through the possibility of spending more time in prayer, in contemplation and in listening to God."

Summer is indeed a time for rest, but it is not a time of rest from the Lord. We must use this relaxing time for more prayer and reflection with the Lord. Summer Time is a call to live our Catholic Faith while resting in the Lord joyfully. So this summer, perhaps more than before, we should find rest in the Lord!

Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless.  

Love and Truth Unite! Sin and Evil Divide.

Dear Parishioners:                  

We celebrate our national holiday of the Fourth of July as we mark our independence from the British Imperial Empire. It is customarily a day for all Americans to joyfully celebrate with family and friends. Typically there are picnics and cookouts, trips to the beach, and in the night beautiful displays of fireworks Sadly our celebration is very muted this year due to several factors.

First, we are still amid the COVID 19 Pandemic. The restrictions on our gatherings and activities have limited our celebrations. In many places, parades and fireworks called off. Families cannot travel, and the number of people allowed to gather at festivities is limited. This situation certainly dampens the spirit of celebration, usually associated with Independence Day. Our world continues to deal with this plague of the Coronavirus, and we continue to pray for it to end. Many still suffer from the virus, and many are even dying from it. Perhaps then our celebrations should be a bit muted and restrained this year.

A statue of Saint Junipero Serra vandalized in California.

However, I believe this holiday is overshadowed this year not only by the pandemic but by the great spirit of unrest and unease across our nation. In the last weeks, we've witnessed the tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. With this terrible event, we began to see peaceful protests that seemed very quickly to turn into violent and destructive riots. Over the last weeks, heated discussions about racism, inequality, poverty, and injustice have filled our nation. The proper role of the police and the justice system has been attacked and questioned. We've also seen statues toppled and destroyed. Historical figures like Christopher Columbus,  George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln once esteemed and revered for their accomplishments and leadership face new scrutiny and harsh criticism.

As I survey much of what has taken place over the last month, it has given me great pause. At times t has led to real sadness as vitriolic attacks and rash judgments now replace thoughtful debate and civil discourse. Many in our nation are intolerant of any rational disagreement or reasoned civil dialogue. It is helpful to pray for guidance in times such as these. We must turn to the Lord in prayer in times of trouble and seek his guidance. It is also vital that all of us, no matter our personal opinion, carefully and prayerfully reflect upon the current situation as Catholic disciples.

Peaceful protesters unite in Washington, DC.

I recently reread the U.S. Bishop's 1979 Letter on Racism. It reminds us to work to combat the evil of racism. They state: "To the extent that racial bias affects our personal attitudes and judgments, to the extent that we allow another's race to influence our relationship and limit our openness, - to that extent we are called to conversion and renewal in love and justice." We must pray for all those hurt and pained by racism. We must work for the conversion from this grave sin in our lives and in our world.

I've also been praying for police officers. Theirs is a difficult job, and it has become even more challenging in light of recent events. The vast majority of police officers are honest and decent people. Are reforms needed? I'm sure there are some required, what institution doesn't need to reevaluate and reform itself. However, some of the attacks on police officers and the call to defund the police are callous and reckless and not helpful in solving any problems.

A police officer killed in the line of duty is laid to rest.

As a Police Chaplain, I know many officers personally. They are kind, hard-working, and just men and women. I am proud to know them. Over eighty years ago, my late Grandfather, Providence Police Patrolman Michael Devlin, was killed in the line of duty. I realize that much has changed for the better in our nation since his death. Sadly some things have not changed. Racism hatred, inequality,  and injustice still sadly exist. So do poverty, ignorance, violence, and crime. However, we know that even in the face of sin and evil, virtuous men and women always arise to do good. God guides us to be His instruments of faith, hope, and charity in a world in great need of these virtues.  Love and truth unite.  Sin and evil divide.

Pray that our nation might unite in love and truth. Happy Independence Day! God Bless America!   Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless. Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us! 

Celebrating the Past, Present & Future with Gratitude, Enthusiasm, & Confidence

Dear Parishioners:            

The Mass of Thanksgiving for 25th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination of Fr. Healey, June 21, 2020.

  I wish to thank those who made the celebration of my 25th Anniversary of Priestly Ordination such a joyful and faith-filled occasion. I thank Bishop Evans, Bishop McManus of Worcester and Bishop Spalding of Nashville for attending the Mass of Thanksgiving last Sunday. I was honored by their presence at the Mass and grateful for their ministry, support, fraternity, and friendship. I am also so very thankful to my brother priests who concelebrated the Mass, Fr. Joseph Henry, Msgr. Albert Kenney, Fr. Angelo Carusi, Fr. Joseph Upton and Fr. Hiep Van Nguyen.  Fr. Barrow served as the Master of Ceremonies of the Mass, and I thank him for a job, as always, well done! Fr. Connors offered an outstanding sermon, and I am so very thankful for his powerful, humbling words. I thank all my brother priests, especially Fr. Barrow and Fr. Connors for their continued friendship and priestly fraternity. They are a great gift in my life, and I am deeply thankful for them.   

 I offer a particular word of thanks for Henri St. Louis, our talented OLM organist, and to Deirdre Donovan, our former OLM soloist, for the gift of their music and talent. They provided such beauty and majestically lifted our worship and praise toward God, where it rightly belongs. I'm grateful to the Lectors, who did an outstanding job proclaiming God's Word. And I must thank our dedicated band of Altar Servers who do such a great job and serve so reverently.  Fr. Joe Upton, who concelebrated the Mass on Sunday, was an eleven-year-old Altar Server at St. Paul Church at my First Mass of Thanksgiving in June 1995. Let's hope that one of the young men who serve at OLM  answers the call to the priesthood and might preach at my fiftieth anniversary Mass in 2045 (if I'm still around)!!  Pray for more vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Providence.                        

Ordination Day, June 24, 1995. Then Fr. Mark Spalding, now Bishop of Nashville, lays hands upon newly ordained Fr. Healey

So many parishioners are so generous and kind in remembering my Silver Jubilee of Priesthood. I am grateful for their support, the generous gifts, and the promise of prayers of so many people. Your kindness and generosity are deeply appreciated, and I am sincerely thankful. God has given me a great gift in his priesthood. It is a unique and profound grace that allows me to know, love, and serve Him and His people in the sacred ministry of Jesus Christ, the High Priest. For this extraordinary gift of twenty-five years of priestly ministry, I am grateful to God.

St. John Paul the Great once said: "Remember the past with gratitude. Live the present with enthusiasm. Look forward to the future with confidence." As I look back on twenty-five years of priestly ministry, I am full of gratitude for all the gifts God has bestowed upon me. As I continue to live my priestly vocation, even after twenty-five years, I am still full of enthusiasm to serve God and His people in the Church. And as I look forward to the years ahead, I am indeed full of confidence for the future. God is so very good. How could we not help but be full of gratitude, enthusiasm, and confidence!?                                 

Clean up at PC Cemetery after vandal commits hate crime.

The installation of the new security system for the Church and Rectory is nearing completion. It will help us monitor the Church and Rectory and keep our physical plant secure. Sadly Churches and Catholic institutions are targets these days. Just last week, the Friar's Cemetery at Providence College fell victim to vandalism. Headstones and crosses desecrated with painted swastikas and anti-Catholic epithets appeared all over this sacred place. Flags honoring veterans burned. Thankfully the Providence Police apprehended the sick individual responsible for this hate crime. While I hope nothing similar happens again, especially here at OLM, we must continue to be cautious. Given the social unrest and the destructive behavior of many activists across the country, we must be vigilant. This system costs about $10.000. The Our Faith, Our Future Capital Campaign finances this work. Thank you again for your donations and for continuing to make your pledges to the campaign.                       

Also, as a result of the campaign, we installed three much needed new roofs at our two convents and school. We also needed to replace all the gutters on OLM School as they are damaged and old. This work should be completed soon at the cost of $10,000, and it, too, is funded by the capital campaign. We are reviewing the plans for the installation of new Church doors and hope to begin that project later in the summer. Again I thank you for your generous support of OLM and our capital campaign. It is an excellent sign of the life and vitality of this beautiful parish that so many understood the need and responded with generosity.

As summer begins, it's not typical, but I hope to see even more folks coming back to Mass. Usually, summer sees a decrease in Mass attendance as parishioners travel and take vacations. I don't think many families are going too far this summer, and many seem to be taking "staycations" at home. As Phase III of the pandemic crisis response begins, restrictions are gradually lifting.  We hope to see some normality returns to life, let's hope Mass is part of the routine and pews start to fill up again. We continue to offer Mass daily at 7:30 am, Monday through Friday, 8:30 am on Saturday and 5 pm Saturday,  and 7:30 am, and 10:30 am on Sundays. Church doors open fifteen minutes before the start of Mass time, and seating is first to arrive, first seated.

We're coming to the end of June, on Monday, June 29th we celebrate the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the patrons of our diocese.  Please pray for our diocese that our local Church might thrive with holiness and zeal for the Gospel.  Also next weekend we celebrate the Fourth of July. We still live in a continued crisis of pandemic with its many health precautions and continue to witness growing social unrest. I hope you might stop into Church on Independence Day to give thanks to God for the many blessings of our nation, especially the blessings of freedom and liberty. Happy Independence Day!

Stay safe. Be Well. Do Good! God Bless! Our Lady of Mercy, pray for us!

Father Healey