It's May! Time for First Communion, Mothers, Mary & the Rosary!

Dear Parishioners:                                 

Today we begin the month of May! It is a month dedicated to Our Blessed Mother Mary. Saint Francis de Sales said: "Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence."  And so during this month, we run to Mary in prayer and with confidence. Each Monday night in May, we gather as a parish to pray the Rosary for Peace in Ukraine. We call upon the powerful intercession of our patroness Our Lady of Mercy, the Queen of Peace. So schedule thirty minutes each Monday to come to May Devotions as we pray the Rosary before the Eucharistic Lord and receive Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.  As Saint Padre Pio once said:  “The Rosary is the ‘weapon ‘ for these times!”

The month of May also brings us the celebration of First Holy Communion at OLM. Next Saturday, the Our Lady of Mercy First Communion Class children receive Jesus Christ, body, soul, and divinity in the Eucharist for the first time in their young lives. Pray for them!  Celebrating a First Holy Communion Mass in a parish church in Italy in 2019, Pope Francis said to the children:

"We rejoice because, for love of us, Jesus gave his life on the cross and destroyed sin. He rose again and made us adopted sons and daughters of God the Father. We are joyful because he is alive and present among us, today and always. That is why we can encounter him today in the Eucharist." 

First Communion is a beautiful day of faith, hope, and love for our parish children, their families, and our entire parish family. As our children celebrate this First Holy Communion, we pray that it is just the beginning of a lifelong and loving relationship with Jesus Christ nourished and strengthened weekly at Sunday Mass.   

Next Sunday is Mother's Day! We celebrate God's great gift of Motherhood and honor our Mothers for their love and support. We will offer Masses next Sunday for all Mothers, living and deceased. So please return your Mother's Day Memorial envelopes before next Sunday so we may pray for your beloved Mothers and Grandmothers.

Next Sunday, we also celebrate Motherhood in a very special way. at 10:30 am Mass. Our First Communion Class will crown the Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of May. It is a beautiful tradition and a wonderful way to pay tribute to our parish patroness, Our Lady of Mercy.

The English author William Makepeace Thackeray once said: "Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children."  What a joy for our parish family to celebrate both the Mothers of our parish and First Communion for our parish children.

May is a month for us to pick up our Rosary beads and put them to work. Take them out of our pockets and use them to pray. Many great popes, saints, and scholars have encouraged us to pray the Rosary daily. It's a powerful prayer that can change your life, strengthen the family, bring peace to the world, convert entire nations, and win the salvation of souls.

Some people have the impression that the Rosary is not relevant to them. It might be a sacred prayer for very religious people—priests, religious sisters, and pious Catholics—but not for an ordinary layperson.  Many view it as the marathon of Catholic devotions. They dismiss it as too long and too difficult.  We don't have to be holy to pray the Rosary and we don’t have to pray it  all at once. 

Some people quietly pray a whole rosary in one sitting. But we can also choose to divide it up, prayying just a decade or two at a time at different points throughout the day. Perhaps on the way to work, in between errands, in between meetings, while folding laundry, or doing dishes. Many holy men and women have prayed the Rosary just this way and found it fruitful for their busy lives.

We can pray it anywhere! The Rosary is like a portable chapel we pull out anytime, anyplace. Whether we have a sudden, urgent situation to present to God in prayer, or we want to fill some of our days with thoughts of God, all we need to do is pull out our beads and turn to the Lord in this prayer. Indeed, the Rosary is always accessible. It's May so take out the beads and pray the Holy Rosary!

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless! Hope to see  you at Devotions on Monday as we pray together for peace.

Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!!!

Dear Parishioners:                    

“Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!” We had a joyous and glorious celebration of Holy Week and Easter. There was much prayer and rejoicing, solemnity, and beauty as we marked the holiest time of the Church Year.                                   

We must first give thanks to God for the blessings bestowed upon our parish at Easter! And we must thank the many people who work so hard ensuring Holy Week and Easter are so wonderful here at OLM.  Our parish staff and our parish volunteers spend countless hours of dedication and devotion to seeing to every last detail of the season.

We thank Paul Anderson and our hard-working OLM Maintenance Staff who ensure our Church and physical plant are always clean and beautiful. During Holy Week they set up and broke down the Church quite a few times. I thank them for their dedication and hard work.

Our Church is always decorated so beautifully for each day of the Triduum and Easter. I thank Cecilia Franzone and the members of the OLM Decorating Committee who make the Church truly beautiful for this special season.

The music at OLM during Holy Week is always so very solemn and fitting. We thank our OLM Music Director, and Organist, Henri St. Louis, the OLM Choir, and the guest musicians who provided such beautiful music for the Sacred Triduum and Easter. As St. Augustine reminds us: “When you sing, you pray twice!” Clearly, at OLM we were both singing and praying at Easter!

We most certainly must thank our many Altar Servers who serve so well during Holy Week. They attend rehearsals, learn the ceremonies, and serve the Sacred Triduum with reverence and devotion. In particular, we thank Erik Carlson who serves as the Master of Ceremonies for Holy Week and Easter. 

Our Lectors who proclaim the Word of God so well, our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion who help distribute Communion so reverently, and our Ushers who provide a warm welcome and see to the good order of Church especially with the very large crowds on Easter Sunday, all deserve our thanks and praise.

We are most especially thankful for our Franciscan Apostolic Sisters, Sister Lourdes, Sister Emma, and Sister Soledad. Through their dedication and hard work, they provide much assistance in preparing for Holy Week. They ensure all the sacred vessels are polished, all the linens ironed, all the vestments are in good order and all the details attended to with devotion.  We are truly grateful for their wonderful witness to service.

I also thank Fr. Mahoney who celebrated his first Holy Week and Easter as a priest. He is a great help in organizing the many details of the Holy Week Services and more. He is a very dedicated and hardworking  priest and we are truly grateful for his priestly ministry at OLM.  He is also a great chef and cooked a delicious Easter Ham!

Indeed there is much to give thanks for at OLM to God.  Easter at OLM was a joyful day of celebration and faith. Easter Sunday Masses were very well attended and we are grateful the pandemic is over! More people at Mass is always a great sign of hope and faith for the parish. 

We congratulate our newest member of the Catholic Church, Louis William Johnston, baptized at the Easter Vigil Mass. Louis, a second-grader at OLM School, was so very excited and tremendously happy to be baptized. I ask you to continue to pray for him as he prepares to receive First Holy Communion with his class in May. We welcome Louis and offer our congratulations!  

It seems we spend forty days in Lent preparing for Easter, and then celebrate Easter as if it’s a single day. But Easter isn’t just a day, it’s a season. It’s not only a celebration but an invitation to joy. Easter Sunday was just the beginning of a  season of joy.   Easter is a season of fifty days and ends on Pentecost Sunday. So we must continue to celebrate and rejoice in the Lord’s Resurrection. After all, the Resurrection changes everything. St. Paul reminds us: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” So rejoice during this Easter season of glory, hope, and joy! “We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song,” St. John Paul II said.

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless! Happy Easter Season!

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!”

Dear Parishioners:

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad!” Today we rejoice in the Resurrection of Christ. However, our Easter joy is muted as we witness war and the continued suffering in Ukraine. 

"Contemplation of a war that is so cruel in all its aspects and the thought of the suffering children of the Church inspires in the heart of the Father and forms upon Our lips words of comfort and encouragement. And yet, on this day, We greet you with joyful Alleluia, for it is the day of Christ's triumph over His crucifiers, open and secret, ancient and modern. We convey that greeting to you with the voice and confidence with which, even in the days of the persecution, the early Christians exultantly sang that Alleluia." 

Venerable Pope Pius XII spoke these words to the world on Easter 1941. It would be the last Easter before the United States officially entered the Second World War. As on that Easter Sunday over eighty years ago, we again pray for Peace and those suffering the evils of war. With fear and trepidation like our parents and grandparents on Easter 1941, we watch the violent aggression and invasion of sovereign nations and the death and destruction of war.

As they did eighty years ago, world leaders clamor for Peace and justice today. Yet we watch with horror the continued violence and evil in Ukraine. It can turn our Easter hope into despair and our Easter joy into sorrow.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian, and anti-Nazi dissident. He was known for his staunch resistance to the Nazi regime. He was a vocal opponent of Hitler's euthanasia program and genocidal persecution of the Jews. Arrested in April 1943 by the Gestapo, he was imprisoned. He was hanged to death on April 9, 1945. During his imprisonment, he wrote: "Good Friday and Easter free us to think about other things far beyond our own personal fate, about the ultimate meaning of all life, suffering, and events; and we lay hold of a great hope."

Easter is just as it was on the First Easter and Easter 1941, the Feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. God's definitive answer to death. Nothing is stronger nor more powerful than He. Through the Resurrection, God has conquered both sin and death.

Nevertheless, there is no lack of despair or hopelessness in our world in these anxious times. We cannot deny what we see: violence, poverty, conflict, hatred, injustice, suffering, and the very face of evil. Moreover, there appears to be no end to such problems, and often they defy easy solutions.

However, we know from the Gospel that following the Passion and death of Jesus Christ, the Apostles who had abandoned the Lord upon his arrest then went into hiding after his death. They, too, were anxious and afraid.

In our time, in response to all these difficulties and uncertainties, some people have turned in toward themselves in fear and loathing. Others pretend that all is well and continue a selfish way of life. Still, others have become angry, bitter, and cynical, assuming a cold indifference, caring only for themselves.

  On the Feast of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as Catholic Christians, we must firmly believe and truly understand that the only true and authentic answer to life's most profound and difficult questions always begins with the Risen Jesus Christ

The Risen Christ and only the Risen Christ makes us holy and wise. It is He who grants us Peace. It is He who gives Himself to us in the Holy Eucharist. He forgives us our sins in the Sacrament of Confession and speaks to us through the Sacred Scriptures and His Church. Today the Risen Christ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, says to us what He said to the Apostles on that First Easter: "Peace be to you. It is I. Do not be afraid!" 

Today as we renew our promises of baptism at Easter Mass, may we who profess faith in his Resurrection strive to bring Jesus' hope and Peace to all, particularly the poor, the sick, the suffering, and those who live in fear and anxiety. Let us live in the Light of Christ and give witness to Easter joy, faith, hope, and love.   Happy Easter!

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He has Risen Indeed! Alleluia! A blessed Easter to you and your loved ones.

Enter into the Mysteries of Holy Week

Dear Parishioners:                                  

On Palm Sunday, Christians commence Holy Week, to culminate on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This year the war in Ukraine overshadows this holiest of weeks as we pray ever more intensely for peace in our world.       

The late Cardinal Augustin Mayer, O.S.B., once wrote that "Nothing great is ever achieved without suffering." How appropriate his words are this year during Holy Week. They remind us that discipleship always has a cost. No Christian ever lives the Gospel without eventually encountering the Cross.

   During the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, the Church invites us to remember that sin is real and only Christ's blood can redeem it. God loves us so deeply that he sent his only Son to offer himself for our deliverance.

In giving his life for us, Jesus asks us to live our lives for others. He asks us to share in his work of redemption. The Gospel is never merely a call to be "nice" to others. There's nothing sweet about Golgotha. Life in Jesus Christ is a call to heroic virtue and self-sacrificing love. If we want to rise with Jesus on Easter, we also must share his work of salvation on Good Friday.

The great Christian writer C.S. Lewis wrote that "Christianity is a thing of unspeakable joy. But it begins not in joy, but in wretchedness, and it does no good to try to get to the joy by bypassing the wretchedness." We all have routines that dull us into self-absorption at work, at play, in our families, and in our religious faith. Even the broken body of Christ on the Cross can become mere routine piety, an object of devotion that doesn't touch our hearts.

These days of Holy Week, the most sacred time of the year, must help us wake up from our routines and shake off daily life's distractions. With deep devotion, we must concentrate on the One in whom we anchor our hope.

This Holy Week, listen to the word of God and make room for silence and prayer. Read and pray over the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion. Venerate the Cross. Remember the price paid for our redemption. Understand how much God loves us!

Holy Thursday marks the end of Lent and the beginning of the most sacred time in our liturgical year: the Paschal Triduum. On this night, we as a Church gather in the evening. Our attention is directed to the Holy Priesthood and the Holy Eucharist. This night we process with the Eucharist to the Altar of Repose, where we adore Christ and keep watch with him. Join us on Holy Thursday for the Mass of the Lord's Supper at 7:00 PM. Following the Mass, we take up the Lord's call to "stay here and pray with me" as we kneel and adore Him at the Altar of Repose.   

On Good Friday, we fix our gaze on the Cross. Join us as we pray to the Stations of the Cross at 3:00 PM. And then, at 7:00 PM, come celebrate the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion with the adoration and veneration of the Cross. We not only behold the wood of the Cross on Good Friday, but we also unite ourselves and our crosses to our Savior.     

The high point of the Triduum is the Easter Vigil, which St. Augustine calls the "Mother of all Vigils." On Saturday after sundown at 7:30 PM, the Vigil begins in darkness with the Easter fire and the Paschal candle lighting. They recall that Christ banished the darkness of sin by his death and Resurrection. The readings recall the history of God's salvation. And we baptize new members of our Church.   

At the Easter Vigil and the Easter Sunday Masses, we as a Church celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He conquered death itself and opened the gates of Heaven to all of us, his believers and witnesses. This week change up the routine and enter into the mysteries of our faith. St. Josemaria Escriva reminds us: "The tragedy of the passion brings to fulfillment our own life and the whole of human history. We can't let Holy Week be just a kind of commemoration. It means contemplating the mystery of Jesus Christ as something which continues to work in our souls."

May we pray for each other during this sacred time, and may God grant you and your family, and all of us, a blessed Holy Week and a holy and joy-filled Easter!   Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless!

Prayerful Preparation for Palm Sunday

Dear Parishioners:                                 

Hundreds of people made their way to OLM last Saturday for All-Day Confessions. As the Lord said in the Gospel of Luke: “There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.”    I am grateful to the many volunteers who greeted, aided, and warmly welcomed people to OLM. Also, I thank the many priests from across the Diocese who helped hear Confessions last Saturday. Some of these priests spent two or three hours in the Confessionals as there was a steady flow of people all day.

Last Friday, Pope Francis’ homily at the Ceremony for the Consecration of Russia and Ukraine spoke beautifully about Confession. His words offer a powerful message about Confession during Lent. He preached: 

“All too often, we think that Confession is about going to God with dejected looks. Yet it is not so much that we go to the Lord, but that he comes to us, to fill us with his grace, to fill us with his joy. Our Confession gives the Father the joy of raising us up once more. It is not so much about our sins as about his forgiveness. Our sins are present but the forgiveness of God is always at the heart of our Confession. Think about it: if our sins were at the heart of the sacrament, almost everything would depend on us, on our repentance, our efforts, our resolves. Far from it. The sacrament is about God, who liberates us and puts us back on our feet.”     

Over the next two Saturdays, the OLM First Communion Class students are making their First Confessions. It is a beautiful celebration as these children receive God’s mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession for the very first time. Please pray for them as they continue to prepare for First Holy Communion in May. 

Mark your calendars for two special events on the OLM Schedule this coming week. First, join us on Friday for the Living Stations of the Cross performed by our OLM Middle School students. This prayerful Lenten Devotion of Living Stations occurs at 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm. It’s truly a wonderful way to pray and prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week.

Also, next Saturday night at the Quidnessett Country Club, OLM School hosts its Annual Spring Fling Fundraiser. This fun event is the chief fundraiser of our outstanding parish school and includes both a silent and live auction. You may bid in person at the event and also bid online.     There are some great donated auction items to bid on, including Elton John Tickets, a week’s stay in a home on the Bourbon Trail in Woodford, Kentucky, Golfing at Shelter Harbor Golf Course, a week at a ski chalet on Loon Mountain, and a Chef’s Table at La Masseria. We thank our donors and supporters.

The Church celebrates Palm Sunday next week. A time when we stop to reflect upon the events which brought about our redemption and salvation. For Palm Sunday is the great doorway leading into Holy Week. St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) offered a sermon about Christ’s entry into Jerusalem:

“How different the cries, ‘Away with him, away with him, crucify him,’ and then, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna, in the highest!’ How different the cries are that now are calling him ‘King of Israel’ and then in a few days’ time will be saying, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ What a contrast between the green branches and the cross, between the flowers and the thorns! Before, they were offering their own clothes for him to walk upon, and so soon afterward, they are stripping him of his and casting lots upon them.”

On Palm Sunday we recall that our Lord made His entrance upon a donkey while the crowds scattered their garments before Him and waved their palm branches. This lively scene is soon followed by betrayal, sorrow, and the agony of the Lord’s Passion.  His entry is as a  triumphant hero but soon Christ is crucified like a criminal.     At OLM on Palm Sunday we bless palm branches at all Masses, and make a Solemn Procession from Mercy Park at the 10:30 am Mass. Let us prayerfully prepare to enter the celebration of Holy Week.

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

Confession & Praying for Peace

Dear Parishioners:

While the nation was watching the NCAA Tournament last Sunday, Fr. Mahoney and I, and many parents and kids, watched the Catholic Athletic League Basketball Tournament at the Bishop Hendricken High School Gym. Three teams from OLM were in Championship games. The Boys 7th/8th Grade and 5th/6th Grade played their hearts out but were the runners-up in their final Championship Games. The OLM Girls 5th/6th Team beat out the Monsignor Clarke ladies squad to win the state title!

We congratulate all our CAL players on a great season of basketball. The kids played well, worked hard, and are all champions in my book! We thank the many coaches and parents who volunteer countless hours to make the OLM basketball program a great success. CAL Basketball is a great way to develop fundamental basketball skills, promote teamwork, and teach Catholic sportsmanship! Thank you to all who make it possible!!

This Saturday, we host All Day Confessions at OLM from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. I thank the many volunteers and our good Franciscan Sisters who assist us with this event. Also, I am grateful to the many priests from across the Diocese who volunteered to hear Confessions in some cases for two hours or more. 

If you didn't make it to All-Day Confessions on Saturday, don't worry, you've still got plenty of time to get to Confession. We continue to have Confession every Monday at 6:00 pm with two priests, including a guest Confessor. In addition, there is Confession every Saturday afternoon and every day Monday through Friday just before the 12:05 pm Lenten Mass. Also, two Dominican Friars from the PC Priory are scheduled to hear Confessions at OLM on Monday, April 11. Plenty of opportunities to get to Confession before Easter!!  

George Weigel talks with the OLM School Middle School students about St. John Paul the Great.

I hope you were able to attend the 150th Anniversary Lecture on Wednesday night. Mr. George Weigel gave an outstanding talk on the Church in the United States. His lecture is just one of the many events taking place since September to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Providence. The celebration concludes on Sunday, June 26, with a Mass at the Cathedral. 

There are other events planned to celebrate the Anniversary taking place this spring. These terrific events include a concert by the Hillbilly Thomists, a band of Dominican Friars who play bluegrass, a talk by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York at the Cathedral, and a Catholic Schools Arts Festival featuring the OLM School Band. Details about these events are in this week's bulletin.     

Amidst all these events, we continue to pray for peace in Ukraine. On this past Friday, March 25, the Solemnity of the Annunciation, Pope Francis, at St. Peter's Basilica, offered a prayer for peace and consecrated Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On the same day, the same act was undertaken by all the bishops of the world. Cardinal Krajewski, the papal almoner, performed the act of consecration at Fatima as the envoy of the Holy Father. 

Last Sunday after the Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis recalled that the faithful had just prayed to the Virgin Mary and noted that the city that bears her name, Mariupol, has "become a city of martyrs in the terrible war ravaging Ukraine."  The Holy Father expressed his horror over the barbarity of killing children, innocents, and unarmed civilians. He called for an end to armed aggression before it reduced cities to cemeteries. He stated:

"In the name of God, let the cries of those who suffer be heard and let the bombings and attacks cease! Let there be a real and decisive focus on negotiation, and let the humanitarian corridors be effective and safe. In the name of God, I ask you: stop this massacre!"

As we take up more prayer in this Lenten Season, may we continue to pray for peace in Ukraine and an end to war and violence. Perhaps you might pray a Rosary for peace in Ukraine or come to Adoration this Friday, make the Stations of the Cross  and spend more time in prayer for peace. Pope Francis reminds us:  “Prayer, fasting and charity are weapons of the spirit.”

So pray, fast and give alms for Ukraine! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless!