Glad Tidings of Good News! Merry Christmas!

Dear Parishioners:                                       

A very Merry Christmas! I wish each of you, and all who are dear to you, a Blessed Christmas season! May the joy of that Holy Night in Bethlehem, which filled the hearts of Mary and Joseph, and the shepherds who came to see the baby Jesus lying in the manger, warm your hearts with ever greater faith, fervent hope, and true love for God this Christmas!

Our celebration of Christmas this year will hopefully be more than simply routine. The routine of shopping, sending cards, baking, and decorating all enrich the beauty of this joyful season. At the same time, I hope that beyond the routine, we might truly celebrate the reason for the season.

God promised to send a savior to rescue us. Throughout the history of Israel, the Jewish people anticipated the coming of the Messiah, one who would save them. Over time, many began to think the Messiah would be a King, more of a political ruler who would restore Israel to greatness. Thus, when our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was born in the most humble circumstances in Bethlehem, they did not recognize him.     

In our Creed, we profess to believe that "for us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven." We should reflect upon this simple yet profound truth this Christmas. If the very name Jesus, in Hebrew, means "one who will save his people from their sins," we might describe Christmas as a "rescue mission." And given that the rescue is nothing less than our eternal salvation, it is the "greatest rescue mission" ever carried out on this earth!

“Ensure that Holy Christmas is never a celebration of commercial consumerism, of appearances or useless gifts, or excessive waste, but that it is a celebration of joyfully welcoming the Lord into the crib and into the heart.”

— Pope Francis

This Christmas is a great opportunity to reflect upon how we have been rescued by Jesus, who "for us and for our salvation" came down from heaven. Christmas marks the beginning of our rescue mission! Jesus came to save us! That is the true meaning of Christmas, not the Hallmark or Hollywood warm and fuzzy Christmas. 

Christmas can certainly be anything but routine for us this year if we take some time to consider its true meaning. Once we recognize the gift of love, mercy, and forgiveness in Jesus, who came to rescue us, we must accept, receive, abide, and rejoice in it. The rescue of Jesus from our sin and death has eternal consequences! This rescue not only frees us from the shame of sin but also restores to us the original dignity of being sons and daughters of God! This rescue restores to us the inheritance of eternal life!

The more we appreciate the great rescue mission our Lord took up for us, the more we experience the desire for him to rescue others! This desire is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus. We become disciples of Jesus because he first loved us and came to rescue us from our sins. When we allow ourselves to experience the deep and personal love of Jesus, born in Bethlehem, who would one day suffer and die out of great and sacrificial love for us and be raised up in glory—the gratitude of our hearts wants to bring this Good News of glad tidings to others.

So if this season has become too busy with Christmas externals, take some time to break from the routine. Consider how we figure into the greatest rescue mission the world has ever known. Let yourself be rescued by our Lord Jesus this Christmas, and then spread the Good News. Make a firm resolution to live as a disciple of Jesus, coming to him every Sunday at Mass and engaging in the rescue of others by living and sharing our rescue story with them with love, sacrifice, and charity! Break away from the sterile routine of the secular Christmas the world celebrates, and live your faith with passion and commitment!  

 In this increasingly secular world, with its crass and commercial celebration of Christmas, we can easily lose sight of the reason for the season. Pope Francis reminds us: "Ensure that Holy Christmas is never a celebration of commercial consumerism, of appearances or useless gifts, or excessive waste, but that it is a celebration of joyfully welcoming the Lord into the crib and into the heart."

Fr. Mahoney, Fr. Connors, and I will remember you and your intentions at our celebration of Christmas Masses. We offer our sincere prayers and heartfelt best wishes to you and your families this Christmas. May the celebration of the birth of our Savior truly be joyful, hopeful, and faith-filled.

Be well. Stay safe. Do good. A Happy and Holy Christmas and Blessings for the New Year! God Bless.

Welcoming the Christ Child with Faith and Joy!

Dear Parishioners:                       

We light the final candle on the Advent Wreath this weekend. It is a sign that Christmas is coming soon. Where did the time go over these four weeks of Advent? I still remember just one candle on the first Sunday of Advent, and here we are a week away from Christmas Eve.                               

How easily we can become distracted by errands, chores, and things we need to do before Christmas. In preparation for the celebration of Christmas, let us break away from the busyness and spend quiet time in prayer with Jesus, the Prince of Peace. He knows our worries and speaks to our hearts: "Peace I leave with you; My Peace I give to you… Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."   

  What does Christmas truly mean to us? As Catholics, we celebrate December 25 not as just another secular holiday but as the birthday of the messiah, the birthday, in the words of St. Leo the Great, of life itself.

Saint Joseph seeks Lodging in Bethlehem, Tissot c. 1886-1894

   We live in a special time of hope and joy every Advent and Christmas, which has little to do with holiday sales. Jesus Christ is Emmanuel – "God with us." Sharing gifts with friends and family is a wonderful tradition that springs eagerly from our Christmas joy.

But the noise of the secular season should never drown out the quiet voice of God's love made flesh in the birth of Jesus. Bethlehem, for each of us individually and the world as a whole, is the beginning of something entirely new and utterly beautiful if we ask God for the purity of heart to possess it.

The world we know today is not so different from the world of the first Christmas. For Mary, there was nothing sweet or easy about being pregnant and unmarried in the rough hills of Galilee. She had her faith in God, but whether she had the understanding of her local relatives and friends is another matter.

Nor would Mary's story have been easy for her betrothed, St. Joseph. No matter how great his faith, no matter how good his heart, Joseph still probably struggled with very human temptations to doubt. 

Yet, the reality is this: God loved us enough to send us — through the faith of Mary and Joseph — his only Son. He loved us enough to take on our poverty, our indignities and fears, our hopes, joys, sufferings, and failures — and to speak to us as one of us. He became man to show men and women how much God loves them. He was born for that purpose. He lived for that purpose. He died and rose again for that purpose.

Vintage Biblical illustration features the first Christmas Eve, showing a pregnant Virgin Mary and Joseph entering a stable at Bethlehem where Mary will give birth to Jesus Christ.

When Jesus preached in his public ministry that "I am the way, the truth, and the life," he only restated the miracle that began in Bethlehem. Our redeemer is born in a stable; he is born to deliver us from sin and restore us to eternal life, which is the true meaning of the birth on that first Christmas.

It's never too late to invite the Christ Child into our hearts, homes, and lives. Surely this tired and complicated world never needed him more. May God grant us the gift of welcoming Christ into our hearts this Christmas and throughout the coming year.

I encourage you to make a good confession as we prepare for Christmas. Four priests are available for Confessions from 6:00 pm until 8:00 pm on Monday night. And again, on Christmas Eve, we have two priests available from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm. Put Confession on your to-do list this week! God's mercy and forgiveness in the Sacrament of Confession is the best gift you can give to yourself!

Christmas falls on a Sunday this year, so we hope many people, especially those who have not been in a while, make their way back to Mass. We will welcome them with joyful smiles, Christian kindness, and genuine hospitality! We begin Christmas with a Vigil Mass on Christmas Eve at 4:00 pm. At Midnight we celebrate Christmas Mass with great solemnity with choir and orchestra. A concert of Christmas Music begins at 11:30 pm. On Christmas Day, Masses are at 7:30 am, 9:00 am, and 10:30 am.

OLM Nativity at Mercy Park.

Invite those family members, friends, and neighbors who haven't been to Mass in a while to join you on Christmas. After all, there's no better gift to give on our Savior's birthday than going to Holy Mass.

May you and your family experience a  joyous celebration of the birth of our Savior on Christmas! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. We wish you a Happy and Holy Christmas!  God Bless.

Preparing the Way for Christ as Faithful Citizens

Dear Parishioners:                        

Political opponents yell over each other at a political rally.

Last week, I was in Washington, DC, attending the Annual Meeting of the National Association of State Catholic Conference Directors. We gather in Washington annually to get updates from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' staff and other policy experts.    At this meeting, part of our discussion was how to advocate effectively in an increasingly partisan political situation and a very ideologically polarized nation. The recent election results demonstrate that we are a deeply divided nation. We discussed strategies that can help with certain public policy issues in such an environment. 

   We also heard an excellent talk from Professor Helen Alvare, the Dean at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. She discussed her book, Religious Freedom After the Sexual Revolution. Drawing upon Scripture, tradition, history, theology, and empirical evidence, the book attempts to help Catholics defend religious liberty and explain how our institutions and communities foster authentic love, freedom, and happiness.   

Catholic Charities Respite Center for Migrants in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas.

  We received an update from Catholic Charities USA, and the USCCB Office of Migration and Refugee Services on the terrible migration problems as our country grapples with the increasing migration of people fleeing poverty and oppression. Catholic Charities and other Catholic institutions across the nation, especially along the southern border, face growing challenges because there seems to be no end to poverty, war, oppression, and misery in the world. Many developed nations like the U.S. continue to experience pressure from a growing number of people who desire to resettle in their lands. Catholic social teaching is realistic: While people have the right to move, no country has to receive so many immigrants that its social and economic life is jeopardized.

Migrants being held on the US southern border.

The Catholic Church in the United States is an immigrant Church with a long history of embracing newcomers from across the globe and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people on the move. Our Church has responded to Christ's call to "welcome the stranger among us," for, in this encounter with the immigrant, the migrant, and the refugee in our midst, we encounter Christ. Yet our Catholic agencies continue to work in a broken system that  government and elected officials of both political parties do not seem to desire to fix in a meaningful manner.

We also heard from a panel of economic experts about policies that assist economically poor women and families in thriving and flourishing. Many of these policies advance the culture of life by assisting economically poor women choose life for their unborn children.

The Catholic Church teaches respect for life from the womb until the tomb!

  We heard from Charles Camosy, a Professor of Ethics at Creighton University School of Medicine and Moral Theology at St. Joseph Seminary in New York. He discussed the promotion of a consistent ethic of life and provided insight into how to address threats to human life and dignity consistently. Much of his very insightful talk was based upon his excellent book, Resisting Throwaway Culture: How a Consistent Life Ethic Can Unite a Fractured People. He also discussed his new and timely book, One Church: How to Rekindle Trust, Negotiate Difference and Reclaim Catholic Unity.  

  It was an excellent meeting, and it is always good to be with colleagues from across the country who advocate on behalf of the Catholic Church. We share challenges to our advocacy and learn about legislative efforts to promote good policies on the state level that truly serve the common good and respect human life and dignity. It certainly helps as we prepare to advocate at a new Congress in Washington and a new General Assembly on Smith Hill.  

 I invite you to attend the Annual OLM School Christmas Pageant on Thursday at 6:00 pm. It is a night of beautiful music, singing, and a living Nativity. It is always a joyous and festive night. The Christmas and New Years' Mass and Confession schedules are in the bulletin. Please share it with your family, friends, and neighbors. You might encourage them to go to Confession before Christmas and perhaps invite them to attend Mass on Christmas!

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

Comings and Goings as We Celebrate the Blessed Mother

Dear Parishioners:                                     

Bishop Richard Henning

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, named the Most Reverend Richard G. Henning, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, New York, as the Co-Adjutor Bishop of Providence. The difference between a coadjutor bishop and an auxiliary bishop is the coadjutor bishop enjoys the right to assume leadership of the diocese when the current Bishop resigns his office to retire. So Bishop Henning is to become the Bishop of Providence when he succeeds Bishop Tobin. Bishop Tobin will turn 75 years old on April 1, 2023, and must send a letter of resignation to the Pope. When Pope Francis accepts the letter is not yet known.

Bishop Henning has a stellar reputation among the priests and people of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. He is known to be a very kind and pastoral priest and Bishop, as well as very hard-working and highly intelligent. Bishop Henning holds a Doctorate in Theology and speaks fluent Spanish and Italian. In his priestly ministry, he has served as a parish priest, a seminary professor, and a rector and worked extensively with Hispanic immigrants in Long Island. The Bishop will be formally received into the Diocese of Providence on January 26, 2023, at a Mass of Reception at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence. Please pray for him as he prepares to begin his ministry among us.

Bishop Robert C. Evans

On the same day, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, accepted Bishop Evans’ letter of resignation, which he sent on his 75th Birthday on September 3, 2022. We thank Bishop Evans for his 49 years of priestly ministry and 13 years as our Auxiliary Bishop. We pray for his health and happiness during his well-deserved retirement. Ad multos annos!    

Also, I hope you noticed the new statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus has been placed in Mercy Park. We are very grateful to the Ponte Family, who generously donated the beautiful statue. It was hand carved by a well-known Mexican sculptor of Catholic statuary. The beautiful statue stands over 5 feet tall and weighs nearly 900 pounds. The stand the statue rests upon weighs almost 400 pounds and is 3 feet tall.     We are grateful to the former OLM Altar Server, now a Landscape Architect Aleksus Jagminas, and his partner, Robbie Paulsen, of R.K. Industries for their work placing the statue in Mercy Park.

We celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary this Thursday. It is a holy day of obligation. There is a Mass on Wednesday at 5:00 pm and also Masses on the holy day at 7:30 am, 9:00 am, and 7:00 pm.  Plenty of opportunities to get to Mass for the holy day.

Through the centuries, the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, “full of grace” through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854: “The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.”

The Immaculate Conception by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1767–1768)

The dogma of the Immaculate Conception places Our Lady before us as an example of what God can do and what we can do if, like Mary, we put ourselves in God’s hands and at God’s service, always open to what God asks and always seeking to fulfill God’s will.  The dogma also encourages us to do our best to remain free from sin.

Although we are all born with original sin and, through the grace of Baptism, are freed from sin, in the course of our life, because of human weakness, we fail and sin. The feast of the  Immaculate Conception reminds us that if we cooperate with God‘s grace, as did the Blessed Virgin Mary, we can lead a life as free from sin as is humanly possible.

I hope your Advent days are prayerful as we continue to prepare for the coming of Christ. Take some time for prayer and reflection in these busy days before Christmas. Stop by the Church and visit with our Lord. He’s waiting for you! Pray and practice patience in this season of joyful anticipation. Get to Confession and receive his mercy, love, and forgiveness. It’s Advent, prepare the way and make straight his paths!

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

Patiently Praying "Come, Lord Jesus!"

Dear Parishioners:                                    

We begin the Season of Advent (from "ad-venire" in Latin or "to come to"), a season encompassing the four weeks leading up to the celebration of Christmas. It is a time of preparation that directs our hearts and minds to Christ's second coming at the end of time and to the anniversary of Our Lord's birth on Christmas.

From the earliest days of the Church, people have been fascinated by Jesus' promise to come back. But the scripture readings during Advent tell us not to waste our time with predictions. Advent is not about speculation.      Our Advent readings call us to be alert and ready, not weighted down and distracted by the world's cares. Like Lent, the liturgical color for Advent is purple since both are seasons that prepare us for great feast days. Advent also includes an element of penance in preparing, quieting, and disciplining our hearts for the full joy of Christmas.  

  While the secular world is busy and noisy in the weeks leading up to the birth of our Savior, Advent should be a season of waiting in silence, praying with patience, and full of joyful expectation. Advent has us waiting for Christmas but also nursing the hope of ancient Israel for the arrival of the promised Messiah. He came first as the Holy Infant of Bethlehem and then promised He would come again at the end of time to bring us home.

  Our lives today can be filled with tensions, setbacks, frustrations, and weariness. It's incomplete! We await the completion of God's plan when He arrives in glory as the Judge of the living and the dead.   All the challenges and adversities of this life are potent reminders that we are in need, we are incomplete, something is missing, and we sense the void. That's what we're waiting for: salvation, rescue, redemption, and fulfillment. And that only comes when Jesus returns.

Many people put up their Christmas trees and lights in early November. My family never put up the Christmas tree and decorations until after Thanksgiving. Also, the Nativity scene had a prominent place in our home, but the crib was empty! The baby Jesus was placed in the crib after Christmas Midnight Mass.

  The empty crib is a radiant symbol: that's our world; that's our lives! Empty, awaiting someone. That someone is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, born on Christmas Day. Advent is a time to recall the cry of the early Christians: "Maranatha!" "Come, Lord Jesus!"

We put up the Advent Wreath in Church but also in our homes. It is made of evergreens, signifying continuous life. The circle of the wreath, which has no beginning or end, symbolizes God's eternity, the soul's immortality, and the everlasting life found in Christ.

Altogether, the evergreens wreath depicts our soul's immortality, and the new, everlasting life promised to us through Christ, the eternal Word of the Father. Christ who entered our world, becoming true man who was victorious over sin and death through His passion, death, and resurrection.

The four candles on the wreath represent the four weeks of Advent. Each week represents one thousand years, a total of 4,000 years, from Adam and Eve until the Birth of the Savior. Three candles are purple, and one is rose. The purple candles symbolize the prayer, penance, and preparatory sacrifices and goods works undertaken at this time.

The rose candle is lit on the third Sunday, Gaudete Sunday, sometimes called Rose Sunday, because of the color of the vestments. It is the Sunday of rejoicing because we have arrived at the midpoint of Advent when our preparation is now half over, and we are close to the great celebration of Christmas.

The progressive lighting of the candles each week symbolizes the expectation and hope surrounding our Lord's first coming into the world and the anticipation of His second coming to judge the living and the dead.

Advent is our time to slow down and prepare, not speed up and shop. It is our time to prepare the room for Christ to come more intimately into our lives, hearts, and homes. It’s Advent; use this sacred time to prepare more room for Christ in your life by praying daily, making a good Sacramental Confession before Christmas, and staying nourished and strengthened at Sunday Mass. “Come, Lord Jesus!”

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

It Is Right & Just to Give Thanks to God!

Dear Parishioners:                                   

Freedom from Want by Norman Rockwell

On Thursday, we celebrate Thanksgiving Day. A secular and uniquely American holiday commemorating the good fortune the Puritans found in the New World, a good fortune that we Americans share to this day. However, Thanksgiving Day also has religious and even Catholic overtones.                                                

On October 3, 1789, President George Washington received a message from Congress requesting him "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer." His proclamation declared that the day "be devoted by the People of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being, who is the beneficent Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be."

The first Thanksgiving feast shared by the Puritans and the Wampanoag tribe was arranged by Squanto, a Native American who the Dominican Friars from Spain had catechized. He had been captured by the English, who planned to sell him into slavery. The Dominicans Friars rescued him, instructed him in the Catholic Faith, baptized him, and helped him to return to his people.  Squanto helped the Puritans survive by teaching them to hunt, fish, and grow corn. He also tried to help the Wampanoag tribe build a peaceful relationship with the Puritans, one that sadly did not survive. 

Squanto

The thanksgiving feast we recall was between the Wampanoag tribe and the Puritans. However, it wasn't the first celebration of Thanksgiving on American shores. Over 50 years before the Puritans established the Plymouth Colony, a group of Spanish colonists celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving followed by a feast with members of the Timucuan tribe near Saint Augustine, Florida. 

When those Spanish priests celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving, it was the most Catholic thing to do. It is part of our Faith as Catholics to thank God for the many blessings he has given us. Most importantly, we give thanks for the gift of his son, Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for the forgiveness of our sins. In our Catholic view of the world, that gift is the most powerful of all of God's gifts. 

As Catholics, we celebrate Thanksgiving every time we go to Mass. The word eucharist comes from the Greek word for thanksgiving and reminds us that we have so much to be thankful for as followers of Christ. We are thankful for his love and his mercy. We are thankful for the Catholic Faith that has been passed on to us by all those who have gone before us. We find peace and joy in giving thanks and offering our gratitude to God.  

First Catholic Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Augustine, Florida in 1585

We are called to share our gratitude, bounty, and blessings with others, especially those in need and less fortunate. That is the real lesson of the Thanksgiving feast. So, for this Thanksgiving and every day that will follow, we should look beyond our immediate family to share our blessings. Share the mercy and love God has showered upon us. We gather around the dinner table and enjoy a good meal but first, we gather at the altar, where we thank God. Begin the secular holiday of Thanking Day at Mass at 9:00 AM. Make it a true Catholic holiday, and give thanks to God! 

  Holidays can be stressful, whether hosting or traveling, celebrating with family, or spending the day alone. There's no better way to begin than with a  prayer of thanksgiving to God, and that's especially true on Thanksgiving Day! Begin the day with this prayer:

"Good and gracious God, we give You thanks today, as we do all days, first and foremost, for the gift of creation and the gift of life. We ask You to bless this food that it may nourish us and sustain us, and strengthen our ability to do Your will. We pray in thanksgiving for all the hands involved in bringing it to our table. You tell us, Lord, that to whom much is given, much is expected. May this meal and the fellowship we enjoy not only serve as clear reminders of Your love of us but of Your call for us to share Your love and to serve our brothers and sisters, especially those most in need. We ask this as we ask all things through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

As we offer our thanks to God for the blessings of OLM, Fr. Mahoney and I  offer you our best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless. Go Pats!