Giving Thanks for Easter!

Dear Parishioners:      

“He is not here, for he has risen as he said," proclaims The Gospel of Saint Matthew. We continue to celebrate Easter and rejoice at the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Easter is a season, not just one Sunday! Following Easter Sunday, the Season of Easter lasts fifty days until the great Solemnity of Pentecost on May 23rd. So let us continue to celebrate the Resurrection. Christ is Risen. Alleluia! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia, Alleluia!                       

As we joyfully resound the Alleluia of Easter, let us take the opportunity to give thanks for the many blessings and graces of this holy season. We thank Almighty God for the blessings bestowed upon us, our families, and our Parish. Indeed, God is good and generous in bestowing upon us His choicest blessings! Let us give thanks, and let our hearts be grateful!

We give thanks for a holy and fruitful Lenten Season at OLM. Our two Daily Lenten Masses were well attended, as were the Stations of the Cross on Fridays. We saw a terrific turnout for our Lenten Mission. Our confessionals were also very busy throughout the Lenten Season and beyond! All-Day Confessions saw an incredible turnout of people experiencing God's mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession!     

A fruitful Lent always makes for a joyful Easter! So we give thanks for the joy of this Easter Season! We are grateful for all those who work to make it lively and glorious. We give thanks to so many who make OLM a wonderful place to worship and praise God, especially for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.   

Our good Franciscan Apostolic Sisters, Sister Lourdes, Sister Emma, and Sister Soledad, are so helpful, holy, and joyful, and we give them thanks for all they do for our Parish and school. They not only greet everyone coming to Mass, but they also help decorate, clean, organize and prepare everything for Mass and Holy week!            

We thank Cecilia Franzone, who is so instrumental in ensuring our Church is beautifully decorated for every occasion and season. We thank her for her dedication and hard work.         The music at OLM is always beautiful, and we are thankful for our very talented Music Director and Organist, Henri St. Louis. He and the musicians who help us with the proper praise and worship of God at Mass do an outstanding job. They bring glory and majesty to our solemn worship, and we are grateful.                    

Our Altar Servers are a dedicated group who always serve Holy Mass and Holy Week services with great reverence and solemnity. We also thank our outstanding Lectors who proclaim God's Word so superbly and reverently. We thank all these good people and many more for the terrific job they do and the excellent service they provide our Parish.             

We must thank Paul Anderson and the OLM maintenance team for their hard work and dedication to the Parish. Their cleaning, sanitizing, setting up, and taking down everything for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter is due our gratitude. They keep the grounds beautiful and their work is always top-notch. Let us thank them all for their work for our Parish.  

I certainly wish to thank Fr. Barrow for his tremendous dedication and hard work for the Parish and school. His commitment to priestly ministry is zealous and enthusiastic every day. But especially over the Lent and Holy Week season, he works incredibly hard organizing, preparing, and ensuring everything is ready and done with dedication, devotion, and reverence.                                                                                                      

We also give thanks to God for the dozen new members of our Parish, and Church baptized, confirmed, and received at the Easter Vigil. They are a sign of hope and new life for our Church. We offer them heartfelt congratulations and a warm welcome to our parish family. Keep them in your prayers that they may continue to flourish in the faith!           

Easter Sunday was a joyful and glorious day! Seeing so many people return to Mass was truly inspiring as we celebrated our Lord's Resurrection together in Church. As we enter into better weather and vaccines continue, let us hope and pray more come back to Mass on Sundays! We join  St. Augustine in proclaiming: "We are Easter people, and alleluia is our song!" Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless

 Fr. Healey

“Be glad, let earth be glad!" Easter Begins!!

Dear Parishioners:                                 

At the Easter Vigil Mass, the Exsultet is sung.  It is a triumphant hymn and wonderful sacramental that is the prelude to the solemnities of the Mass.  It says: “Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom and darkness.”       Indeed we are glad and we rejoice that the Lord is Risen.  But we are also “glad” because there is an end of the “gloom and darkness” of the last year’s lockdown and the closing of our churches last Easter.  

On Easter 2021 let us rejoice as we are able to gather together and celebrate our Lord’s victory over sin and death.  We also rejoice as a parish family as we welcome so many new members who are baptized and confirmed in the Catholic Faith at the Easter Vigil. We sing joyfully with the Psalmist: "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad.”

Easter is the celebration of the Lord's resurrection from the dead, culminating in his Ascension to the Father and sending of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. There are 50 days of Easter from the first Sunday to Pentecost. Fifty days to celebrate with gladness and joy. Easter is a “Passover” from death to new life. In some languages, the connection between the Jewish Passover and Christian Easter is explicit.

The Hebrew word for Passover is Pesach. In French, Easter is Paques. In Italian it’s Pasqua. In many other languages, the word for Easter is simply a transliteration of the Greek word for Easter, Pascha. Our English word, Easter, is German in origin, coming from the archaic word for new life, which is to say, resurrection.

In whatever language, Easter is a time of resurrection and rebirth, a time to celebrate the risen Christ and God’s promise of eternal life.  All faith flows from faith in the resurrection. St. Paul says: "If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, is your faith."

In Italy, Easter Monday is known  formally as lunedi dell’Angelo, or “Monday of the Angel,” and informally as Pasquetta, or “little Easter.” After celebrating Easter Sunday by attending Holy Mass and sharing a delicious meal of lamb and ham, many Italians continue to celebrate the day after on Easter Monday, Pasquetta, with great joy.     

The reference to an angel evokes the Gospel scene of an angel encountering several women outside Christ’s empty tomb, where they had gone to perfume his dead body with oils. According to the Gospel of Mark, they instead encountered an angel, who told them: “Don’t be afraid! You’re seeking Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified one. He is risen, he’s not here.”

On Pasquetta (Easter Monday) all the Easter leftovers are packed up for an outdoor picnic with family and friends.  Often Italian families go to the local cemetery and spread their blanket and then eat their Easter leftovers near the graves of their beloved dead. For us as Catholics, cemeteries are reverent, hopeful, and prayerful places.

For much of the world today, cemeteries are associated with scary ghosts and viewed as spooky places.  However, as Catholics, we honor and revere our dead.  We continually pray for them and have Masses offered for them. Therefore, for the Catholic, a  cemetery is a reminder of the promise and the hope of the resurrection in Jesus Christ. So be sure to stop by and pray with and for your beloved dead at Easter.  Bring Easter flowers to the grave and perhaps even enjoy a picnic with them on Pasquetta!

As Catholics, we believe that the grave is not the final destination. With St. Paul, we proclaim to the world: “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting? ”  While we look back upon this last year and reflect on the pains and sorrows of death, the sufferings of sickness and deprivation of this worldwide pandemic as Christian disciples on Easter 2021 we proclaim that suffering and death do not have the final word. Let us rejoice with faith, hope, and love in the  Resurrection of Christ. St. John Paul the Great said: “Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song!”

In the name of Fr. Barrow, Fr. Connors, Sr. Lourdes, Sr. Emma, Sr. Soledad, and  Sr.  Jeanne we wish you a Happy and Holy  Easter

"Behold the Man!"

“Then Pilate took Jesus and had him scourged. And the soldiers wove a crown out of thorns and placed it on his head, and clothed him in a purple cloak, and they came to him and said, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!’ And they struck him repeatedly. Once more Pilate went out and said to them, ‘Look, I am bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.’ So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple cloak.
And he said to them, ‘Behold, the man!’”

— The Gospel of John

Dear Parishioners:                                 

We begin Holy Week today on Palm Sunday.  This year, thanks be to God, we are able to gather in Church, receive palm branches and worship our Savior in Church, not from our living rooms.    Holy Week is the most sacred time of the year, for it is now that we will commemorate and remember the last week of Jesus' life on this earth.

These are the days leading up to the great Easter Feast. The Lenten season of sacrifice, penance, fasting, and self-denial is about to come to an end, but this coming week is extremely important for all Christians. The greatest focus of the week is the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ and the events that led up to it.

The Church has celebrated Holy  Week as early as the fourth century with profound solemnity and deep devotion. It begins with Palm Sunday, which marks Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Palm branches are blessed and we have a solemn entry into the Church.  However, the central feature of Palm Sunday is the proclamation of the Gospel of the Passion of Our Lord.  It is the only Sunday of the year the entire Passion is read.  We listen devoutly and reflect prayerfully upon the account of our Savior’s suffering and crucifixion.

The Sacred Triduum begins on Holy Thursday, as we reenact the Lord's Last Supper, which He shared with His apostles on the night He was betrayed and arrested. This is one of the most beautiful and solemn liturgies of the entire liturgical year. On this night, our Lord instituted the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Priesthood. Our Mass of the Lord’s Supper at OLM is at 7:00 pm and the Church remains open until Midnight for prayer before the Altar of Repose as we recall our Lord’s time of prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

On Good Friday, the day of the crucifixion and death of our Lord, we have the veneration of the Cross. We reverence the Cross in order to show honor and respect for Christ's sacrifice for our sake. There is no consecration of the Eucharist on this day, and the Communion we receive is from the  Holy Thursday Mass.

We will mark our Savior’s crucifixion with Stations of the Cross at 3:00 pm, the very hour our Lord is thought to have died.  And then at 7:00 pm, we celebrate the Solemn Service of Good Friday with the Veneration of the Cross.

Holy Saturday is a day of silent prayer and devotion as we recall our Savior in the tomb. We keep watch for the expectant rising of Our Savior. Only one Mass is permitted on Holy Saturday, the Easter Vigil.  It is the Mother of all Vigil Masses and begins after sundown at 7:30 pm on Holy Saturday.

We begin in darkness and bless the new light as we rejoice in the Light of Christ Risen! Those who have been preparing are fully received through Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil. On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the glory of the Resurrection and rejoice the tomb is empty and the Lord is Risen! 

We have scheduled Masses at 7:30 am, 9:00 am and 10:30 am for Easter Sunday.  The OLM School Cafeteria is available for any overflow and a large screen will air Easter Mass live for those gathered there.  This should accommodate everyone who wishes to come to Mass in person on Easter Sunday.  Holy Communion will be brought to the school for those participating from the cafeteria. 

It is hard to believe that just one year ago our Church was locked and we celebrated Holy Week with just the priests and sisters of OLM.  The Sacred Triduum, standing at the heart of the Easter season, is an intense immersion in the fundamental mystery of what it is to be Christian.

During these holy days, we suffer with Christ so that we might rise with Him at His glorious Resurrection. Holy Week is a time to clear our schedules of unnecessary activities. Our minds and hearts should be fixed on Jesus and what He did for us. Let us bear the Cross so that may be worthy of wearing the crown He wore.

St. Bruno reminds us: “While the world changes, the Cross stands firm.” Holy Week 2021 our Churches are open!  Come to the Triduum and have a Blessed and Prayerful Holy Week!  Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless.

Making our "Easter Duty"

Dear Parishioners:                              

Some of you may be familiar with the term “Easter Duty” and relate it to the obligation to go to confession and receive Holy Communion during the Easter season. If you already have a habit of regular confession and Communion, you can fulfill the obligation without much effort. If not, it is worthwhile to recall what the Church requires and why.  When considering our sacramental duties, we should first realize that the Church proposes certain rules and requirements to help us grow in grace and get to heaven. 

For those who grew up in a traditional Catholic household, it may be surprising to learn that the term “Easter Duty” does not appear in the Church’s canon law, nor is it mentioned specifically in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Rather, the idea stems from two related Church laws: to receive the Eucharist at least once a year during the Easter season, unless a serious reason indicates another time as preferable (canon 920); and to receive absolution in sacramental confession for any mortal sin at least once a year (canon 989).

Of course, this is the minimum required by the Church, and today most practicing Catholics receive Communion during not only the Easter season (broadly defined as the period from the First Sunday of Lent to Trinity Sunday) but also many other times of the year when not in a grave state of sin. Less popular, however, is the practice of confession,

One motivator for confession is often a nagging uneasiness that we experience when we have hurt someone and a desire to set things right. We may try to dismiss this uneasy feeling or rationalize our behavior, but ultimately we know that we have fallen short and sinned. We need to make amends with those whom we’ve wronged and realize that God is the first one offended by sin. That is why we make our way to the confessional — to present ourselves before Jesus in the person of the priest and receive the Lord’s pardon and peace in absolution. 

The Catechism teaches that this sacrament has many effects, the foremost of which is “restoring us to God’s grace and joining us with him in an intimate friendship” (1468).        Sin damages our relationship with God. We don’t deserve and cannot earn God’s forgiveness, yet he gives it for the asking. In Confession, we drink from the depths of Divine Mercy, where God replenishes us with the graces needed to live in and act out of love each day. Considering that we are reborn spiritually in confession and fortified by grace in Holy Communion, we should think of our Easter Duty as an opportunity to become the better disciple God calls us to be.         

Next Saturday we have All-Day Confessions with four priests available every hour from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM.  It is a great opportunity to make a good Confession, do your Easter Duty and clean your soul!  Invite someone you know has been away from the Sacrament of Confession for a while to come along with you.                         

Next weekend we celebrate Palm Sunday and I am happy to announce we are blessing and distributing palm branches at all Masses.  Last year due to the COVID-19 restrictions we were prohibited from doing this.  With more vaccinations and restrictions easing up, we will resume this great tradition. Of course, Palm Sunday is more than getting palm branches.  The day is called both “Palm Sunday” and “Passion Sunday.”  The first name comes from the fact that it commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem when the crowd had palm branches (John 12:13). The second name comes from the fact that the narrative of the Passion is read on this Sunday.     Pope Benedict Emeritus XV states:

“Palm Sunday is the great doorway leading into Holy Week, the week when the Lord Jesus makes his way towards the culmination of his earthly existence.  He goes up to Jerusalem in order to fulfill the Scriptures and to be nailed to the wood of the Cross, the throne from which he will reign forever, drawing to himself humanity of every age and offering to all the gift of redemption.”                      

I ask for your prayers this week as I am on my Annual Retreat at Arnold Hall in Pembroke, Massachusetts. Last year I was unable to make a retreat due to the pandemic. Please know of my prayers for you while I am on retreat.               

Get ready for Holy Week and make your Easter Duty! Stay safe. Be well. Do good. God Bless! Pray, fast, and give alms!  The Rice Bowl Collection is taken up next weekend (March 27/28), please be generous. Thank you!

Time to Come Back to Mass

Dominican Friar, Father Justin Mary Bolger, OP, plays tunes from the Hillbilly Thomists’ new album, Living for the Other Side

Dear Parishioners:                                 

In your name, I thank Fr. James Mary Sullivan, OP, and Fr. Justin Mary Bolger, OP, for leading our Annual Parish Lenten Mission this past week. Their preaching and the music were truly outstanding, and we are grateful for the opportunity we had to renew our lives in faith, hope, and charity. Their reflections and songs on "Living for the Other Side" provide us with much food for thought. As the Hillbilly Thomists’ album liner notes: "This collection of new and old songs gives wide-ranging appeal to the human heart and soul so that even those 'who don't know what to listen for' will nonetheless be drawn to the One whom Flannery O'Connor called 'My Dear God.'" 

Indeed we must be grateful to our Dear God, who has provided us with the many blessings and graces of our Lenten Mission. A year ago, we had to close our Church and cease the public worship of God. Thankfully last Pentecost, we were able to resume public Masses. We have continued since last spring to celebrate Mass and the Sacraments at Our Lady of Mercy safely.   

Many parishioners have stayed away from attending Mass for legitimate reasons of health and safety. This is perfectly reasonable and actually encouraged for those who have serious health concerns and suffer any illnesses. But many others have stopped regularly attending Sunday Mass for no other reason than a bad habit developed over this last year.    

Yet, I see many parishioners regularly eating out at restaurants, shopping at stores, attending sports practices and games, and traveling for holidays and vacations. But they are not regularly making their way to Sunday Mass. We invite you back to Mass! Join us in the worship and praise of our good and generous God every Sunday at Mass.  

Vaccinations and good weather are a hopeful sign of a springtime of renewal for our parish community. Indeed it is a sign of great hope that the pandemic, with its many restrictions on our lives, is easing up a bit. Many people need a renewal of their social life. More importantly, however, many need a renewal of their spiritual life. This renewal begins at Holy Mass.  Make Sunday Mass a regular habit again. Nourishing our souls and strengthening our communion with our Lord and His Church should be reason enough to come back to Mass. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio) reminds us: "It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass."   

We mark two special events this week at OLM. On Wednesday, March 17th, we celebrate the Feast of St. Patrick, the Apostle of Ireland. Bishop Robert J. McManus of Worcester is the celebrant and homilist for the St. Patrick's Day Mass at 12:05 pm. In your name, I thank Bishop McManus for coming to our celebration. The Mass features readings in Irish and Irish hymns in honor of Glorious St. Patrick. The Mass is live-streamed for those who cannot join us in person. I hope you can come and celebrate this special feast with us. If you do come to the St. Patrick's Day Mass, be sure to wear something green to celebrate our Irish brothers’ and sisters' heritage! There is no public reception as in years past due to the COVID restrictions. So you'll have to bake your own Irish Soda Bread and make your own Irish Coffee!!   

On Friday, March 19th, we celebrate the Solemnity of St. Joseph. Bishop Evans, our Auxiliary Bishop and OLM neighbor has kindly agreed to celebrate the Mass in Italian. Monsignor Anthony Mancini, Rector of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence, serves as the homilist. The Mass features readings and music in Italian. However, the homily is in English. Join us for what I believe is the only St. Joseph Day Mass in Italian in the state! If you do come to celebrate with us at St. Joseph Day Mass, be sure to wear something red to celebrate the heritage of our Italian brothers and sisters! The Mass is live-streamed. You'll have to get your own zeppoles as we are prohibited from having our reception.     

Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit! Happy St. Patrick's Day! Buona Festa di San Giuseppe! Happy Feast of St. Joseph! Stay safe. Be well. Do good. God Bless! Pray, fast, and give alms! 

Make the Parish Mission & Start "Living for the Other Side"

Dear Parishioners:                               

The crucifix is always given prominent placement in any Catholic Church and Catholic home. But it isn't merely an object of devotion or a piece of beautiful art. The cross is a call to us for conversion to Christ. As our Savior tells us: "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself  and take up his cross daily and follow me.” 

Such conversion, we are taught in the Catechism, is done  "in daily life by gestures of reconciliation, concern for the poor, the exercise and defense of justice, by the admission of faults, revision of life, examination of conscience, spiritual direction, acceptance of suffering, and endurance of persecution for the sake of righteousness. Taking up one's cross each day and following Jesus is the surest way of penance."

Each of us is called to conversion in our daily lives. Penance and conversion are major themes in the Bible. The prophets, St. John the Baptist and St. Peter preached about the call to conversion. Jesus began his public ministry with the words, "The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel." 

“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself  and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

The Lord's first words were a call to repent and convert. For Jesus, we are all in need of repentance. We all must recognize our failings and need to place our trust in God's merciful love. We are all called to believe in the Truth of the Gospel of Christ, no matter if it's inconvenient or unpopular. The Season of Lent helps to do so. Lent helps us refocus upon the cross as we take up our own cross with greater prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

We welcome our Parish Lenten Mission Preachers, Dominican Friars, Fr. James Mary Sullivan, OP, and Fr. Justin Mary Bolger, OP. They are here this weekend to begin the Parish Mission. They are preaching a Mission Talk each night on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 7:00 pm.  Confessions begin at 6:00 pm with four priests available, including two Dominican Friars.

I have known Fr. Sullivan for many years, and he is an outstanding preacher and holy priest. He serves as the Pastor of St. Pius V Parish in Providence. He hails from Boston and has a wicked accent!! You may remember him when he preached our St. Joseph's Day Mass a couple of years ago.

Fr. Bolger is a newly ordained Friar who hails from Maryland. He is a talented musician and had a musical career before entering the Dominicans. He is a member of the band called the Hillbilly Thomists. It is a bluegrass band comprised of Dominican Friars. They have several recordings available online, and they are well worth a listen. Father will be playing some bluegrass for us during the Mission.

The Mission is entitled "Living for the Other Side," which is also the newest album by the Hillbilly Thomists. Each night at 7:00 pm, a Mission Talk is offered on faith, hope, and charity. The Mission Talks will be live-streamed for those who are unable to attend. I urge you to make the Parish Lenten Mission this week. Come every night or just one night if that's what your schedule allows but do come. It is sure to change your life and help you convert your heart more fully to Christ. Also, I urge you to come to Confession before the Mission Talk.

Please support the Annual Catholic Charity Appeal this year.  It is a great way to give alms.  It funds the charitable work of our Diocese. Such work includes feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, ministering to prisoners, the sick, dying, and welcoming refugees and immigrants.

Last year due to COVID, OLM did not reach our parish goal.  In fact, 137 OLM families who normally support the Appeal did not do so last year. The entire Appeal fell almost $3 million short of its goal. This year I ask every parish family to prayerfully consider a pledge of at least $300 to the Appeal. Such generous support is our almsgiving and directly helps the poor, the needy, and the stranger served by our Church here in Rhode Island. St. Angela Merici teaches: "Reflect that, in reality, you have a greater need to help the poor than they have of your help."

Make the Parish Mission this week and begin "Living for the Other Side!" Stay safe. Be well. Do good. God Bless! Pray, fast, and give alms! Welcome Friars! See you at the Mission!!!!