Searching for Silence Amid the Hustle & Bustle of Christmas

Dear Parishioners:                                 

We enter into this final week of Advent and anticipate the great feast of Christmas next Saturday. The world tells us we must rush to get ready and finish up all the chores, shopping, cards, and cooking not yet done! In the world around us, people are frantic trying to ensure a perfect celebration of Christmas. Traffic is heavier, lines are longer, and patience runs short! All of this is a missed opportunity to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

As Pope Francis teaches: "The Christian knows that Christmas is a decisive event, an eternal fire that God has kindled in the world, and must not be confused with transient things. We mustn't reduce it to a merely sentimental or consumerist festival."

I encourage you to take some time this week to prepare for the authentic celebration of Christmas. And while we might have to wrap gifts, write cards, bake cookies, clean the house, run errands, and visit friends to make merry, let's not get caught up in the mad rush before Christmas. Instead, schedule some time this week for silence and prayer, come to Church and sit before the Lord and contemplate the meaning of Christmas.

The great Catholic Author, G. K Chesterton once wrote: "The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it, and someday suddenly wake up and discover why."

Many voices in our contemporary culture suggest that the true meaning of Christmas is being kind to each other, being with our families, or some different warm, sentimental feeling. A kind of Christmas without a real Christ!

On the contrary, the real purpose of Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Its true meaning is that God so loved us that He gave His only begotten Son. God humbled Himself to share our human condition even unto death and to save us from sin and death.  

  There is no better way to celebrate and rejoice at the birth of the Savior than at Holy Mass on Christmas. We have one Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve at 4:00 pm. Then, of course, Midnight Mass is at Midnight and is preceded by a concert of Christmas music at 11:30 pm. On Christmas Day, there are three Masses: 7:30 am, 9:00 am, and 10:30 am. There is no 4:00 pm Mass on Saturday, Christmas Day! 

  When we receive Holy Communion, we welcome Christ into our world—just as Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and the wise men did so long ago. The same joy and hope that warmed that simple stable in Bethlehem centuries ago should illuminate our hearts every time we welcome Christ here and now in Holy Communion. 

For every Mass is Calvary. But every reception of the Holy Communion is, in a sense, Bethlehem: the "house of bread," the place where God enters into our lives, our history, our hearts, and our bodies. So when we step forward to receive Holy Communion, we should cherish the moment and truly realize what we receive. As God first visited the world and dwelled among us as a tiny infant, so He comes to us now, in a fragile and humble piece of bread.

You will be able to worthily prepare to receive this great gift as there are two hours of Confession with four priests available Monday from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm. Cleanse your soul of sin and selfishness to truly adore the Christ Child. Put Confession on your Christmas list !

Last Wednesday, Sr.  Lourdes returned home to the Philippines. She is there for a month attending the General Chapter Meeting of her community, the Franciscan Apostolic Sisters. It is an important meeting in which the community elects a superior. Please keep her and her community in your prayers as they gather together. We will miss Sr. Lourdes this Christmas, but Sisters Emma and Soledad are with us to celebrate with their usual joyous faith!

Let's not forget the reason for the season, Jesus Christ!  So stop this week to welcome the Savior. Be more prayerful, patient, joyful, charitable, faithful, and hopeful! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! O Come, let us adore Him! We wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas!

Rejoicing and Repenting for Christmas!

Dear Parshioners:

On this third Sunday of Advent, the penitential purple of the season changes to rose, and we celebrate "Gaudete" or "Rejoice!" Sunday. Zephaniah exclaims: "Shout for joy, daughter of Sion," And St. Paul teaches us to: "Rejoice in the Lord always." St. John the Baptist preaches in the Gospel: "His winnowing fan is in his hand to clear his threshing floor  and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire!" 

Why is this stark message of St. John the Baptist appearing on "Rejoice Sunday"? His stern call to repentance does not seem to fit the joy we are anticipating in Christ. However, St. John the Baptist is the patron saint of spiritual joy. After all, he leaped for joy in his mother's womb at the presence of Jesus and Mary. And scripture says that John rejoices to hear the Bridegroom's voice!

St. John the Baptist was joyful because he was humble. In fact, he shows us the true nature of this virtue. Humility is not beating up on yourself, denying that you have any gifts, talents, or importance. John knew he had an important role that he lived out with authority and confidence. Humility does not mean that we sheepishly look down on ourselves. John does not look at himself at all. He looks away from himself to the Lord. 

Pride is sinful because it leads us to be preoccupied with ourselves and causes us to forget God and our neighbor. St. Augustine teaches: "There never can have been, and never can be, and there never shall be any sin without pride."

The proud have to perpetually exalt themselves over others in the hope that this provides a sense of worth and inner peace. But, of course, it doesn't. Human history has proven this time and time again. Pride always comes before the fall, as it did in the Garden of Eden. Again Saint Augustine reminds us: “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”

Humility brings freedom from this egotistical and selfish bondage. Freed from the blinding compulsion to exalt ourselves, we can truly recognize the presence of God. We begin to feel a sense of satisfaction when we realize that God is God and honor him as such. We can even freely recognize godliness in someone else and rejoice when others notice and honor them.

But what about John's stark call to repentance? How is this Good News? Because repentance is all about humility, and humility is all about freedom. And freedom leads to inner peace and joy, joy in the presence of the Bridegroom. How can we find this freedom? Where is to be obtained? We find it when we humbly repent of our sins in the Sacrament of Confession. Trusting in God's mercy, we can humbly kneel in contrition and admit our sins.

There are ample opportunities for Confession at OLM before Christmas. Every Monday night at 6:00PM and every Saturday afternoon at 3:00PM. This Monday night, we welcome two Dominican Friars from Providence College for Confession. On Monday, December 20th, there are two hours of Confession from 6:00PM until 8:00PM, with four priests available both hours. Two great opportunities at OLM to make a good Confessions before Christmas.

If we truly wish to rejoice in the Lord, it begins with a good Confession. St. John the Baptist is calling each of us to humbly repent and believe the Good News that Christ loves and saves us! In these two weeks left before Christmas, make the time to humbly come to the Confessional.

Pope Francis has urged Catholics to return to the Sacrament of Confession with frequency.  He states: “Everyone should ask: 'When was the last time I went to confession?' And if it has been a long time, don't lose another day! Go, the priest will be good. And Jesus, will be there, Jesus receives you. He will receive you with so much love! Be courageous, and go to confession. “

So be courageous and prepare the way for Christ. It is easily done with more time in prayer, greater charity to the poor and needy, faithfully attending Mass every week, and making a good Confession frequently! Keep the Friars busy at Monday Night Confessions as we prepare the way of the Lord!

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!!

Immaculate Conception and the Supreme Court

Dear Parishioners:

On Wednesday, December 8, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which celebrates the dogma that Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception.      The origin of the feast arose in the Eastern Church in the seventh century. It came to the West in the eighth century. In the 11th century, it received its present name, the Immaculate Conception. Finally, in the 18th century, it became a feast of the universal Church and is now recognized as a solemnity.

  In 1854, Pius IX solemnly proclaimed: "The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin."

  In 1846, while meeting in Baltimore, the U.S. bishops adopted a decree naming Mary, "conceived without sin," as patroness of the United States. Pope Pius IX approved the choice and placed the United States under the patronage of the Immaculate Conception in 1857.

This Solemnity is a holy day of obligation on which Catholics are obligated to attend Mass. A Vigil Mass is to be celebrated Tuesday at 5:00 PM, and on Wednesday, there are Masses are at 7:30 AM, 9:00 AM School Mass, and 7:00 PM.

And while we anticipate the joyous celebration of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, this past Wednesday, December 1, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the conception of unborn children as it heard oral arguments in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization concerning Mississippi's ban on most abortions after 15 weeks. The Court is considering the question of whether all bans on pre-viability abortions are unconstitutional.

Legal experts say the case presents an ideal opportunity for the Supreme Court to reconsider previous rulings that upheld legal abortion nationwide. The 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in the entire nation, Roe v. Wade, said that states could not ban abortion before the "viability" of the fetus. Viability is the point at which an unborn child can survive outside the womb. The Court determined it to be around 24 to 28 weeks into pregnancy.

  Nearly 20 years later, the Court upheld that ruling in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, saying that states could regulate pre-viability abortions but could not pose an "undue burden" in doing so. Mississippi's law bans most abortions after 15 weeks which is well before the point of "viability" established in Roe and upheld in Casey. Mississippi's law directly challenges the Roe and Casey decisions. Many legal experts suggest that these rulings were already vulnerable and ripe for reconsideration.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in its friend-of-the-court brief filed July 27, stressed that abortion is not a right created by the Constitution and called it "inherently different from other types of personal decisions to which this court has accorded constitutional protection."

  Referring to the Court's major abortion decisions, the brief warned that if the Supreme Court "continues to treat abortion as a constitutional issue," it will face more questions in the future about "what sorts of abortion regulations are permissible."

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "Since the first century the Church has affirmed the moral evil of every procured abortion. This teaching has not changed and remains unchangeable. Direct abortion, that is to say, abortion willed either as an end or a means, is gravely contrary to the moral law."

As Catholics, we are called to pray for the protection of the sanctity of all human life. Prayer is the foundation of everything we do in defense of human life. So let us pray for the Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court as they consider this case, and let us pray for an end to abortion in our nation and our world.

This weekend, I am in Washington, DC, attending meetings of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. We will be updated by legal experts and USSCB Staff on the Dobbs Case and other issues, including religious liberty, vaccine mandates, immigration, refugee resettlement, poverty, and Catholic Education.   

It’s Advent, so prepare the way with prayer, Mass, and Confession! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!! 

Turn Despair into Hope this Advent

Dear Parishioners:

I hope you had a joyful Thanksgiving with family and friends. This Thanksgiving was especially joyous as I traveled to my sister's home in Saratoga, New York. Since the pandemic, we have not gathered together for Thanksgiving Day.          

  In fact, due to the pandemic last Thanksgiving, I ate alone in the Rectory, albeit with a nice Thanksgiving meal accompanied by a glass of fine wine and a good cigar afterward. So this year was a true blessing to eat Thanksgiving Dinner with my family once again! And to add to the blessings, our own Father Mahoney cooked a Thanksgiving Dinner for the Rectory, so we've plenty of leftovers for Turkey sandwiches, soup, and hash! 

  As we gathered together at the Thanksgiving table, we thanked God for the many blessings and bounty bestowed upon us. The blessings of family and friends, the blessings of being able to gather together, and the blessings of bountiful good food! In these turbulent times in our World, it is easy to forget the many blessings we enjoy and instead focus upon "what's wrong with the world." The London Times once sent out an inquiry to famous authors, asking the question, "What's wrong with the world today?" The great British Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton responded succinctly: "Dear Sir, I am. Yours, G.K. Chesterton."

G. K. Chesterton

  Chesterton would follow with his remarkably perceptive book What's Wrong with the World, in which he suggests: "In the modern World we are primarily confronted with the extraordinary spectacle of people turning to new ideals because they have not tried the old. Men have not got tired of Christianity; they have never found enough Christianity to get rid of. Men have never wearied of political justice; they have wearied of waiting for it."

As Christians, we must never give in to weariness and despair. Despair is the idea that even God cannot save us from looming disaster. We must be a people of hope and joy, not doom and gloom! And so as we begin this Sunday the great season of hope, Advent, we rejoice!

"Advent," says Pope Francis, "is a journey toward the horizon of hope. It does not disappoint because it is founded on the Word of God. A hope that does not disappoint, simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful!" 

As we begin the holy season of Advent and the Church's new year, we start in the hope of the Lord. Saint Thomas Aquinas taught the motive of hope is God's infinite power. We can hope because we believe that "for God all things are possible." The virtue of hope is not a warm feeling, a sunny mood, or a habit of optimism. As the great Catholic French novelist Georges Bernanos once wrote, optimism has nothing to do with hope. Optimism is often foolish and naïve. It is a preference to see good where the evidence is undeniably bad. Bernanos called optimism a "sly form of selfishness, a method of isolating oneself from the unhappiness of others."

Hope is very different. It's a choice to trust in God. "The highest form of hope,"  Bernanos said, "is despair, overcome." The hope of Advent is not to hope that Jesus will come back into the World at Christmas. Jesus did come into the World two thousand years ago—God-made-man, Word made flesh, in Bethlehem. This is a historical fact. Hope is rooted in history, but hope is also about our present and our future.

  "To come to know God—the true God—means to receive hope," Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI taught in his encyclical Spe Salvi. Hope knows the Lord, believing in his promises, and trusting that he loves us, transforms us, and sanctifies us. Advent calls us to renew such hope. It is a season in the Church's life intended to renew the experience of waiting, hoping and longing, for the Messiah.

During Advent, we must enter more frequently into silence, prayer and reflection, Scripture, and the sacramental life of the Church, especially at Mass and Confession. These practices prepare us properly and prayerfully for celebrating Christmas.  Prepare the way of Advent! Overcome despair with hope in Jesus Christ. Our Messiah is coming! Make a good Confession, come to Mass and pray at Adoration! Renew hope and live the Catholic Faith!

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!! 

Is Christ our King Today??

Dear Parishioners:                    

Christ the King by CB Chambers

This weekend is the last Sunday of the liturgical year, as we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. This feast gives special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our lives. 

When Cardinal Ambrogio Achille Ratti was elected pope and took the name Pope Pius XI, much of the world was in shambles. The year was 1922, and while World War I had ended, widespread peace and tranquility were not evident. The war to end all wars had been especially devastating to the countries of Europe.

Governments were in economic chaos, unemployment was rampant, and people were starving to death in many places. The stability of the old social and political orders that had embraced royal houses and crowned heads of state was crumbling. Pessimism, a sense of helplessness compounded by hatred among the nations, was overwhelming. Fascism and communism were on the rise.

  In their distress, people clung to anyone who offered them hope, offered some direction out of the chaos, and promised to put food on their tables. And so, they gravitated to the emerging dictators. As they did, they often sought to be self-sufficient and to exclude God from their everyday lives.

  Many considered the basics of morality and the teachings of the Church to be out of date, no longer relevant in 20th-century society. Modern thinking allowed that, at most, Christ might be king in the individual's private life, but certainly not in the public world.

Some political regimes advocated the banishment of Jesus and religious faith altogether, not only from society but also from the family. Moreover, as nations were being reborn and governments restructured, their foundations, policies, and laws were often fashioned without regard to Christian principles.

Pope Pius XI

  The new Pope Pius XI saw that people were denying Christ in favor of a lifestyle dominated by secularism, materialism, and false hope created by the new ideologies and leaders. He realized that he had to address the political and economic forces attacking the kingship of Jesus. As a start, he dedicated his reign as pope to "The Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.”.

  In 1925, to acknowledge the supremacy of Jesus Christ over all people and nations perpetually,  Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Quas Primas (In the First). It added the feast of "Our Lord Jesus Christ King" to the annual Church liturgical calendar.

In 1969, St. Pope Paul VI, to emphasize Christ's universal reign, changed the name of the celebration to the feast of "Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of Universe.” He also moved the Solemnity to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. This change emphasized the connection between Christ's Kingship and His second advent (coming) to judge the world even more strongly. 

Protester in Washington, DC

Today, peace still eludes us; social, political, and economic orders are in turmoil due to the pandemic, and nations continue to reject the light of the Gospel. The problems of the early 20th Century seem to be alive and well in the early 21st Century.

The Archbishop of Los Angeles, José H. Gomez, recently gave an address in Spain entitled, "Reflections on the Church and America's New Religions." I suggest reading it in its entirety as it offers an insightful reflection about the current state of our nation.

The Archbishop suggests that the new social movements that exist in the U.S., such as "social justice," "wokeness," "identity politics," or "successor ideology," are "pseudo-religions, and even replacements and rivals to traditional Christian beliefs."

He further suggests:  "Today's critical theories and ideologies are profoundly atheistic. They deny the soul, the spiritual, transcendent dimension of human nature; or they think that it is irrelevant to human happiness." Archbishop Gomez suggests "the world does not need a new secular religion to replace Christianity. It needs you and me to be better witnesses. Better Christians." We can be grateful, then, for the chance to celebrate each year the Solemnity of Christ the King — for the world needs now, more than ever, our witness to His rule over all things.

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!!!! Fr. Mahoney and I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Parish Finances & Faith

Dear Parishioners:

Last month we sent our Annual Financial Report for the Fiscal Year, July 1, 2020, through June 30, 2021, to  Bishop Tobin.  A summary of the report is in this weekend’s bulletin for your review.  Our Parish Trustees and Finance Council approved the report, which was also reviewed by our Parish Auditors, Paul St. Onge, and Ed Loiselle.   

The news is good for the fiscal and financial stability and vitality of our parish.  The budget collection increased by $40,000 during this period, while our expenses decreased by $35,000.  Also, the Annual Collection last year increased by $16,000.  However, we had to increase the subsidy to our parish school to $100,000.     

Much of our additional costs during this period were due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.  The Pandemic increased maintenance costs and salaries.  Also, the Pandemic affected the school budget with a slight decline in enrollment and a decrease in income from our afterschool program.    

Thankfully we benefited from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which provided us with a loan of $400,000 for payroll and benefits costs during the Pandemic.  We split the loan between the school and parish,  $280,000 for the school and $120,000 for the parish. This loan was recently forgiven by the  Small Business Administration and is included in our operating results for this fiscal year.     

You will also notice the payment of $282,000 from the Grateful for God’s Providence Capital Campaign, which began at OLM in 2019.  This payment results from the faithful fulfillment of pledges towards the total of $1.85 million pledged. We have also paid the Diocese their portion in the amount of $235,000.    

We are now completing our second year of the pledge campaign.  Over the last two years, the GGP Campaign has financed many capital improvement projects.  The projects include new roofs and boilers at the convents, a partial new roof and new gutters on the school, a new boiler in the rectory, and a new security camera system in the parish. The cost of these projects was $135,000. 

We are finalizing the bid on our new doors and hope to have more information soon.  The GGP Campaign will also finance this project.  Other infrastructure projects we expect to complete in the coming year include new parking lots and a new road in St. Patrick Cemetery.   

I thank the many parishioners who so generously support our parish.  We couldn’t be the vital and faithful parish we are without your tremendous financial support. We are grateful for this support that sustains the faith and good works of OLM.   

We also sent our Status Animarum (Status of Souls) Report to the Bishop last month. It provides the statistics for the sacramental life of the parish.  Currently, there are  1,872 families registered at OLM.  Of this number, just over 800 financially support the parish, and unfortunately even fewer attend Sunday Mass regularly.      

Forty baptisms occurred last year, including one adult.  Sadly we laid to rest forty-eight fellow parishioners. We had nine couples happily enter into the Sacrament of Matrimony. And fifty-seven children received First Communion, and sixty-three young adults received the Sacrament of Confirmation.  

These statistics show us the vitality of our parish over the last year.  Of course, it was a year in which we lived with a pandemic. Happily, the Pandemic is subsiding, and we are returning to a more normal way of life. We continue to see more people coming back to Mass and more interest in our parish school and religious education program. 

While many parishioners are not including the worship of God at weekly Sunday Mass in their schedule, they are returning to the local shops and restaurants, gun ranges and golf courses, soccer fields, and ice rinks, and even Gillette Stadium. We must invite them back and encourage our family, friends, neighbors, and fellow parishioners to join us at Mass every Sunday. 

Remind them that not only God but also all of us truly miss them! Together we must all put Mass back on the schedule on Sundays!  “It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass,” said St. Padre Pio.  How right he is!

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!