Discover the OLM School Advantage! Celebrate Catholic Schools Week!!

Dear Parishioners:

This weekend we kick off Catholic Schools Week. It is an annual event where we highlight Catholic Education across the country and here at OLM School. Many events are planned, including the Open House at OLM School, students speaking at all Masses, a different event each day this week, and a Mass on Friday.              

The good news about Catholic Education is that our schools are open and teaching and did throughout the pandemic. I commend Principal McNabb and our faculty for their incredible sacrifices to ensure our children were in the classroom learning over these last two years. I am grateful to our school parents for their great cooperation and support. And, of course, our outstanding students who continue to learn and excel! It hasn't been easy or inexpensive to keep our school open, and our children learning.

Dealing with the ever-changing bureaucratic dictates of the RI Department of Health and the RI Department of Education has been frustrating. The cost of COVID prevention and precautions is high but well worth it for the well-being and safety of our students, faculty, and staff.

Like most Catholic Schools across the country, OLM School has demonstrated its outstanding commitment to students' academic learning and faith formation during this pandemic. When parents drop off their children at a school, they do so based on an underlying promise from educators: Your children are safe with us!

OLM School reaffirmed that promise to parents back when we reopened our doors — full-time, five days a week. Our students and their families weren't immune from the hardships caused by growing isolation and shrinking opportunity. Few of us had anticipated a global pandemic, much less how severely it would throw our world off-balance. 

But OLM School stood by our families through these troubles. Generations of families have relied on the consistency of Catholic schools to help students thrive in the face of the challenges from the world around them. I'm proud of our OLM School Principal and Faculty and their heroic service to ensure our school is still the safest, healthiest place for our students to succeed.

During this entire pandemic, we made every effort imaginable, often despite external bureaucratic roadblocks, to keep our promise to parents. We provide first-class, in-person education, complete with activities and sports programs, daily prayer, various acts of charity, and weekly Mass. Our students strive daily to be saints and scholars! 

  We've had many new families enroll and stay with OLM over the last two years. They discovered the OLM Advantage of academic excellence, complete with a lively and active Catholic Faith. Our students learn from an amazing group of teachers who are among the most dedicated and committed I've ever encountered. Teaching can be tough at times, but education can be very tough during a pandemic. Nevertheless, our faculty have excelled, and I am tremendously proud and grateful! Pope Francis said: "Let us thank all those who teach in Catholic schools. Educating is an act of love; it is like giving life."

When parents send their children to OLM School, they want a first-class education centered on faith, moral truth, and virtue. They want their kids to grow up to be well-rounded adults in constant pursuit of truth, growing in their Catholic faith and serving their neighbors. The pandemic hasn't changed that aspiration, nor our promise to parents and their children. So far, we have received nearly a hundred inquiries about our school, and our classes are filling up.

If you want a first-class education, a foundation in Catholic moral truth, and the pursuit of excellence for a child or grandchild, then apply today. Come to the OLM School Open House and discover the OLM Advantage! You'll meet our budding saints and scholars, and they'll impress you and convince you to choose OLM School!

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once said: "A good school provides a rounded education for the whole person. And a good Catholic school, over and above this, should help all its students to become saints," OLM School is such a school, so come and discover the OLM Advantage!  

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless.

Windy Winter Days and Catholic School Days!

Dear Parishioners:

Well, what a wind storm we had last Sunday night! The winds were so strong they knocked down the beautiful statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus that stands out in front of our Church. The wind broke off the statue's head, and other parts were damaged. We hope it might be repaired and restored, but it may have to be replaced.                                                 

The winds also wreaked havoc with those traveling! Flights were grounded and canceled across the country. Sister Lourdes had two flights canceled from Chicago and was later diverted to Newark. She was able to get a flight to Providence and is safely home! We thank God for guiding her home safe and sound! Welcome back, Sister Lourdes!!

Fr. Mahoney flew out on Monday to spend some time with his parents, who have retired to Phoenix, Arizona. He's taking some well-deserved time off and celebrating Christmas with his folks. However, he did bring his golf clubs and all his Green Bay Packer gear! His Mother is a native of Wisconsin, so all of his family are Packer fans! All that is but his Father, who hails from San Francisco and is a fan of the Forty-Niners! The Green Bay vs. San Francisco Game today should be a lot of fun for Father and his folks!!

Fr. Mahoney is returning later this week just in time for the annual celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Since 1974, National Catholic Schools Week has been the annual celebration of Catholic education in the United States. It starts the last Sunday in January and runs all week, which in 2022 is January 30 – February 5. The theme for National Catholic Schools Week 2022 is "Catholic Schools: Faith. Excellence. Service." Next weekend, it kicks off with OLM School students speaking at all Masses and an Open House at OLM School on Sunday and ends with a First Friday Mass on February 4.    With these events, we highlight the value that Catholic education provides and the contributions to our Church, our communities, and our nation that Catholic Education makes.  

During the COVID Pandemic, millions of students could not set foot in a classroom as many schools shut down. This is an unimaginable disruption that has deeply affected the lives of our youngest generation. It has profoundly affected their learning and emotional and phycological well-being.   In some places in the nation, public school systems continue to educate remotely. Yet Catholic schools, such as our outstanding parish school, continued to maintain in-person instruction and learning during the Pandemic. It continues to be done with great sacrifice and little spread of COVID.

Catholic schools serve families and students with just a fraction of public schools' finances and resources. For generations, our Catholic schools shaped countless lives with little financial resources. Their legacy of academic excellence, committed service, sacrifice, and lively faith continues on today.

Vast sums of money have been given  to public school districts including some whose doors were shut until recently. In some areas, low-income parents have few options for their child’s education. Real and robust school choice programs that help parents afford to choose the right school for their kids are truly needed.

Keeping OLM school open for in-person classes throughout the Pandemic has required great determination and tremendous sacrifice by our outstanding Principal, Mr. McNabb, our dedicated faculty and staff, our supportive parents, and of course, our terrific students. I thank and commend them for their commitment, service, sacrifice, and faith. Amidst the social and economic upheaval that the COVID Pandemic unleashed for these two years, OLM School stood strong!   

Learn more about the terrific things at OLM School, when our bright and talented students speak about the school at all Masses next week. An Open House on Sunday begins at 10:00 AM. All prospective students and their families and all parishioners are invited to tour the school. Come  experience the OLM Advantage!

Finally, please support our parish school with generous financial donations to the Saints and Scholars Collection next week. It directly supports OLM School with tuition assistance and in defraying expenses, especially the rising costs due to the Pandemic. 

Be well. Do good. God Bless.  

Prayer & Action in Defense of Human Life

Dear Parishioners:

Next Saturday, January 22nd, marks the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion. The over 56 million abortions since the 1973 decision reflect with heartbreaking magnitude what Pope Francis means by a “throwaway culture.”               

However, we have great trust in God’s providence. We are reminded time and again in Scripture to seek the Lord’s help, and as people of faith, we believe that our prayers are heard.   So I urge you to take up prayer this week for the legal protection of the unborn and an end to abortion. Please consider signing up for the  9 Days for Life. It is a novena for the protection of human life and begins on January 19th. Each day’s prayer intention is accompanied by a short reflection and suggested actions to help build a culture of life. You can sign up online by going to 9DaysForLIfe.com

Next Saturday, the Anniversary of Roe v. Wade, is a Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn. At OLM, we begin this sad day with Mass for the Unborn at 8:30 am, followed by a Holy Hour of Prayer and Eucharistic Adoration. At 10:00 am we pray a Rosary for Life and receive Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Please take the time to join us in prayer for the protection of the unborn. As we mark this sad anniversary with prayer, thousands will march for life in Washington, DC. They will be praying for the Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade Decision. Then some states can begin to outlaw the evil of abortion.  

Tragically in 2019, the R.I. General Assembly, enthusiastically supported by Representatives and Senators from East Greenwich, North Kingstown, and Warwick, passed legislation that enshrined the Roe v. Wade Decision in R.I. Law. As a result, in Rhode Island, innocent unborn children can now be killed by abortion up until the time of birth.  

Apparently, this evil is not enough for the purveyors of abortion at Planned Parenthood and their enthusiastic allies at the Assembly. Last week, the supporters of abortion introduced legislation in the R.I. General Assembly requiring Rhode Islanders to pay for abortion with tax dollars.    

The Catholic Church firmly believes in the dignity of human life from natural conception to natural death, including that of all unborn children. This bill would be a step in the wrong direction to protecting unborn children and their mothers from the violence of abortion.   

Saint Pope John Paul II teaches that “a society lacks solid foundations when, on the one hand, it asserts values such as the dignity of the person, justice and peace, but then, on the other hand, radically acts to the contrary by allowing or tolerating a variety of ways in which human life is devalued and violated, especially where it is weak or marginalized.”  

Those who advocate for abortion often suggest that it is cheaper to abort the children born into poverty than care for them after birth. Yet, as a caring and compassionate society, we must provide the necessities to sustain life—adequate housing, nutrition, clothing, education, employment, healthcare, prenatal care, and childcare for “those who are in the shadows of life.” For women who live in poverty, abortion is a desperate act, not an act of choice.   

We celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this weekend and recall his heroic work for racial justice and equality for African Americans. And while there have been great advancements in civil rights, we continue to pray for an end to all racism, hatred, and injustice. Dr. King said: “The time is always right to do what is right.” 

His prophetic words should call us to prayer and action to end the intrinsic evils of abortion and racism. For the two are often connected. Margaret Sanger, who founded Planned Parenthood, is now disavowed for “her racist legacy” and her “connections to the eugenics movement.” She once wrote, “The most merciful thing that the large family does to one of its infant members is to kill it.”   

Sadly, such macabre ideas are alive and well in our world,  our nation, and at our State House. So  pray for life, contact your elected officials, and tell them to oppose the public financing of abortion. Join us next Saturday as we pray for the legal protection of the unborn.

Be well. Do good. God Bless.  God protect the unborn!

Living the Sacrament of Baptism

Dear Parishioners:

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The Christmas season officially ends today. We set aside for another year the Christmas carols and put away nativity sets in our homes and churches. Likewise, the Christmas trees and poinsettia plants are removed from Church.   With the Baptism of the Lord, we begin the liturgical season known as Ordinary Time. We again wear green vestments, and the Church's decorations are simpler.

Tradition held that Christmastide ended on February 2nd, Candlemas or the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. The Presentation is also known as the Purification of Mary. It commemorates the occasion when the Blessed Virgin Mary, in obedience to Jewish law, went to the Temple in Jerusalem to be purified 40 days after the birth of her Son, Jesus, and to present him to God. 

The Baptism of the Lord is the occasion when the Trinity is revealed—the Son makes himself known, the Father speaks, and the Holy Spirit descends. This mystery, the mystery of the Trinity, brings the revelations of the holy season of Christmas to their fulfillment. As Catholics, we do not believe God is merely an idea in our mind or a projection of our best self. God is not for us some unknown and unknowable force in the universe or a feeling in our heart. The one true God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ as the Trinity—the mysterious communion of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a communion of Divine Love "in which we live and move and have our being."

This Divine Love brought all into existence, and because of Christ, it is to this Divine Love that we will all one day return. Since most of us were baptized as infants, today's Feast can be an occasion to recall our Baptism and reflect upon that day when life changed forever. Today, we offer prayers and gratitude for those who led us to the font of Baptism, our parents and godparents.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI once spoke to the parents of the infants he was about to baptize. He said: "What happens in the Baptism that I shall shortly be administering to your children? Exactly this: they will be deeply united with Jesus forever, immersed in the mystery of his power, of his might, namely, in the mystery of his death which is a source of life so as to share in his resurrection, to be reborn to new life. In receiving Baptism they are reborn as children of God who share in the filial relationship that Jesus has with the Father, in other words, who can address God, calling him with full confidence and trust: 'Abba, Father'."

For most of us, our Baptism happened so long ago when we were infants and we have mostly forgotten about it. In our minds, our Baptism happened once rather than something that defines us now. This thinking is why Pope Francis, a few years ago, asked all Catholics on the Feast of the Lord's Baptism to "ask about the date of your Baptism. That way you can bear in mind that most beautiful day of Baptism. To know the date of our Baptism is to know a blessed day. The danger of not knowing it is losing awareness of what the Lord has done in us, the memory of the gift we have received." 

For all of us who have forgotten the gift we have received at Baptism and find that our lives lack meaning, it is time to rediscover the clarity and purpose of who we became on the day we were baptized.  On the day we were baptized, we received a vocation from God, a unique calling to undertake in life, a special mission to accomplish. In the words of Saint John Henry Newman: "God has created me to do Him some definite service; he has committed some work to me which he has not committed to another. I have my mission."

Indeed every one of us and every baptized person can make these words their own. So that we might accomplish that mission, God has given us a variety of gifts to enrich the life of the Church and the world. As we celebrate this Feast and recall our Baptism, we might ask ourselves how well we live out our vocation as a baptized Catholic.

We thank the Hill Funeral Home for their generous sponsorship of our parish calendar.  They have been left out at the doors of the church, please take one home with you.  Hopefully, 2022 might be a healthier and happier year for the world! Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! 

Follow the Wise Men to Christ in the New Year

Dear Parishioners:

Happy New Year! The poet, T.S. Eliott, wrote: "For last year's words belong to last year's language and next year's words await another voice. What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning." And thus, we begin the Year 2022!              

Millions of people start a new year with resolutions. Pledging to change a bad habit or strive harder to achieve a goal. Typically these are resolutions to lose weight, quit smoking, go to the gym or Mass more. They center on self-improvement and personal goals. New Year's resolutions usually don't last more than a few weeks. Then, the bad habit starts again, leaving the good intention undone. Mark Twain's words too often ring true: "New Year's Day now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual."

I pray that in the Year of Our Lord, 2022, we may all find the fullness of grace that comes through a living and loving relationship with the One who makes all things new, Jesus Christ. Every human heart has a universal longing to be made new, to begin again, because the Holy Spirit prompts it in every human heart.

In and through Jesus Christ, there is also a way to be made new. That is the heart of the Gospel, the Good News! St. Paul reminds us: "whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come." 

The start of a new year is always full of great expectations. It invites a deeper spiritual reflection, offers hope for change, and calls us to make choices for good. In reality, our choices make us. So let us resolve in 2022 to live our lives in Jesus Christ and find the way to turn resolutions into reality. St. John Henry Newman said: "To live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often."

Today we celebrate the great Feast of the Epiphany. For much of our secular society, Christmas is over for another year. The trees and the lights are down, and decorations put away until next year. However, there is still more to come for Catholics. The Epiphany of the Lord is traditionally on January 6 and in many different cultures known as "Little Christmas," "Three Kings Day," "Twelfth Day of Christmas," or "Twelfth Night." The feast continues the Christmas season by commemorating the visit of the Magi or Wise Men to the Christ Child.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: "The Epiphany is the manifestation of Jesus as Messiah of Israel, Son of God and Savior of the world and that the Magi's coming to Jerusalem, in order to pay homage to the king of the Jews, shows that they seek in Israel, in the messianic light of the star of David, the one who will be the king of the nations.." 

For Catholics, Christmas does not end on December 25, January 1, or even January 6. No, Christmas begins on the great feast of Christ's birth and continues with the Magi's visit to Bethlehem, with the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, and with the Wedding Feast of Cana when his miraculous power is first publicly revealed.  The Lord Jesus Christ, born of Mary, adored by the Magi, is the Messiah, the Son of God and Savior of the World. Let the celebration continue on! With the Magi this Sunday of the Epiphany, "Come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!"

I offer my sincere thanks to all those who made the celebration of Christmas Masses so joyful. Celia Franzone and her crew beautifully decorated the Church. Paul Anderson and our maintenance team did excellent work cleaning the Church and setting up all the decorations. Our outstanding Altar Servers served reverently at Masses. Our many Lectors, Ushers, and Ministers were very helpful in assisting at Masses. And we thank Henri St. Louis and our OLM Choir for the beautiful music of the season.

Finally, in the name of Father Mahoney, Father Connors, and myself, I wish to thank the many parishioners who were so kind in offering generous personal gifts, delicious treats, and sincere greetings at Christmas. We are most grateful for the remembrance of your parish priests in this Holy Season and your support of our priestly ministry throughout the year. 

Be well. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats! Abundant Blessings for 2022!  Happy New Year!

Listen to the Bells on Christmas Day!

Dear Parishioners:                    

Merry Christmas! We joyfully celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ! On Christmas, the Word of God became flesh with the incarnation of Jesus Christ. It reveals God's intimate connection to his children. It expresses God's love and compels us to love one another.        

On Christmas day in 1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem we now know as the Christmas carol, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." Happily, the new bless system is installed and we are ringing the bells once again at OLM to announce the Good News that Christ is born!

On the first Christmas night, the angels announced glad tidings to the poor shepherds in the fields surrounding Bethlehem. They told it with the words: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

The Christmas Season has become known as the time of peace. Because the Son of God came to earth, He shares His peace with all. But if Christ came to bring peace, why is our world still not experiencing this promised universal peace? Only men of goodwill can receive this gift of peace. Peace begins with each individual interiorly and is only accepted by those who are open to it. And then that peace is spread.

Goodwill is: "a kindly feeling of approval and support, a benevolent interest or concern." It is synonymous with compassion, goodness, kindness, charity, friendliness, decency, and thoughtfulness. The spiritual writer, Father Jacques Philippe, writes: "A necessary condition for interior peace, then, is what we might call goodwill. We could also call it purity of heart. It is the stable and constant disposition of a person who is determined more than anything to love God, who desires sincerely to prefer in all circumstances the will of God to his own; who does not wish to consciously refuse anything to God." 

We cannot have peace without preparing our hearts with interior goodwill. We have to cooperate and be receptive to receive God's grace. Goodwill is the habit of saying "Yes" to God in both the little and big matters of life.

In his 1959 Message of Christmas, Saint Pope John XXII spoke of this peace and goodwill. He states: "At Bethlehem all men must find their place. In the first rank should be Catholics. Today especially the Church wishes to see them pledged to an effort to make His message of peace a part of themselves. And the message is an invitation to orient every act in accordance with the dictates of divine law, which demands the unflinching adherence of all, despite sacrifice. Along with such a deepened understanding, must go action. It is utterly intolerable for Catholics to restrict themselves to the position of mere observers. They should feel clothed, as it were, with a mandate from on high."

Silently and without notice, Our Lord came to earth at Bethlehem. He came as the "Prince of Peace" bringing His gift of peace. Peace on earth is a gift from God and not a matter of our merits. This peace is for all those who wish to unite their will to the holy will of God.  

  The Angel speaks of a kind of peace that transcends any earthly peace we seek. It is the peace of Christ within our very hearts and souls and the answer to the longing in our hearts that only Christ can give us. It only comes to the hearts and souls of those who know and seek the goodwill of Christ himself. We are called to serve and also to will the good of others. We do this through love and sacrifice, just as Jesus did and does every day on the Altar at Holy Mass.

Here at Mass is where we find true peace, the peace in our hearts that comes with being a person of goodwill. So let us announce the Good News to the world with not only the joyful ringing of our new Church bells but with true peace and goodwill. In imitation of the shepherds on the First Christmas, let us go "glorifying and praising God" for all we've heard and seen this day. "For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord!”

In the name of Fr. Mahoney, and Fr. Connors, we wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas and Blessings for he New Year! Please know we will remember you at  Christmas Mass and pray that the Peace of the Christ Child  may be yours today and in the New Year!