Welcoming Bishop Henning to Providence!

Dear Parishioners:                        

Bishop Richard Henning

This is an important week for us as the Church of Providence.  On Thursday, the Most Reverend Richard G. Henning is being officially received as the Coadjutor Bishop of Providence at a Mass of Reception at 2:00 PM, Bishop Henning will be received in the presence of the official representative of Pope Francis to the United States,    Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio to the United States.
Bishop Tobin, the Bishop of Providence, will celebrate the Mass of Reception.   

The Mass will be live-streamed if you wish to watch it, and it is open to the public if you wish to attend. There will be over 30 Bishops from around the Northeast, a few hundred priests from the Diocese of Providence, and the Diocese of Rockville Centre, Bishop Henning's home diocese.    

Appointed by Pope Francis as our Coadjutor in December, Bishop Henning is to be an immediate collaborator with Bishop Tobin in the governance of our Diocese. Unlike an Auxiliary Bishop, a Coadjutor Bishop has the right to automatic succession to the diocesan see upon the death, resignation, or transfer of the incumbent diocesan bishop.    Bishops are required to submit a letter of resignation at the age of 75. So Bishop Tobin will submit his letter on April 1, 2023, his 75th Birthday. Until his resignation is accepted by the Pope, Bishop Tobin remains our Bishop. There are usually some months before the letter is accepted by the Pope. Once the letter has been accepted, Bishop Henning automatically and immediately becomes the Bishop of Providence.   

Bishop Henning greets parishioners at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul in Providence. RI.

Bishop Henning comes from the Diocese of Rockville Centre on Long Island where he grew up and was ordained a priest. He is the oldest of five children and was educated in Catholic Schools including the well-known Chaminade High School. His Father is a retired firefighter, and his mother is a retired nurse.   His parents and large family will be attending the Mass on Thursday.    He received a B.A. and M.A. in History from St. John's University, Queens, New York. And studied for the priesthood at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception in Huntington, New York. He was ordained a priest in 1992 and then earned a Licentiate in Biblical Theology at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a Doctorate from the University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He is fluent in English, Italian, and Spanish.

In his over thirty years of priestly ministry, he has served as an Associate Pastor of a large suburban parish with an elementary school, taught at the seminary, led priests' retreats, and served as Rector of the Seminary. He has also worked for many years in ministering to the large Hispanic Catholic population on Long Island.      
In June 2018, he was appointed as the Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre, his native Diocese. Since that appointment, he has worked closely with the Bishop of Rockville Centre on projects related to parish evangelization serving as Vicar for Parish Evangelization and Pastoral Planning.   

Bishop Richard Henning’s Episcopal Coat of Arms.

We are truly blessed to have such a good and holy shepherd to lead our Church in Providence. As we anticipate this historic day for our Diocese on Thursday and welcome Bishop Henning, let us also pray for him. May he be a shepherd who cares for his flock,  possesses a kindly zeal, and continues the good work of his predecessors. May he lead us to imitate Christ's heart of mercy, proclaim his voice of hope, and be his hands of justice. Pray that Bishop Henning might boldly preach the truth of the Gospel, give us the power of the sacraments, and help us gain the desire to build up our holy Church.  I also ask for your prayers for Bishop Tobin and our entire Diocesan Family as we enter this new chapter in the history of our local Church.

Bishop Henning's  motto as a bishop is "Duc In Altum," which means "Put Out Into the Deep." These words are taken from the Gospel of  St. Luke, where St. Peter, the fisherman, had been out all night searching the sea for fish only to return empty-handed. He was tired and frustrated. The Lord then calls him to "put out into the deep." In obedience, St. Peter goes out into the deep sea and makes a miraculous, bountiful catch of fish. May we continue to put out into the deep and catch more souls for Christ

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

Opening the Doors to 2023!

On Monday morning, Fr. Mahoney and I were able to commiserate together. His  Green Bay Packers and our New England Patriots football seasons ended on Sunday! Now we look forward to pitchers and catchers reporting for Red Sox Spring Training in February. But the state of the Red Sox roster is uncertain! However, we continue to root for the PC Friars, the Boston Bruins, and OLM CAL Basketball!    

Also, on Monday, we heard from more parishioners that their monthly budget envelopes have not yet arrived. This is a problem for many area parishes as they report the same thing. Every year after Christmas, this postal delivery problem arises. The budget envelopes have been sent out and should have arrived. However, there is a delay in the delivery, and the U.S. Postal System is the culprit, not OLM or the budget envelope company!   So, if you still need to receive your budget envelopes, inform your mail carrier and notify the local postmaster. Since the U.S. Postal System is a federal agency, I urge you to call Congressman Magaziner to seek assistance.

The low total for the Building and Grounds Collection last week reflects the problem. There were few envelopes in the second collection. This is because many parishioners didn’t have the Building and Grounds envelope.   If you do not have a budget envelope, you can place a check or use a plain envelope and write your name, address, and budget number on both. Then place them in the collection baskets or in the safe in the vestibule.   

You might also consider giving online through Parish Giving. It is easy, safe, and secure and assures the fiscal stability of the weekly collection. We currently have 190 families using the Parish Giving and about 795 who use the regular budget envelopes. You can set it up by clicking the Parish Giving link on our parish webpage.   The Monthly Building and Grounds Collection defrays maintenance costs and funds many unforeseen projects that routinely arise. Last week a pump in our Church Boiler gave out, and the new part costs $2,500! Thankfully Paul Anderson, our Physical Plant Director, can install the part himself. We are always grateful for his great work at OLM.

Monday also brought some good news to OLM! Our long-awaited new church doors are scheduled to be installed this week. After long delays with the manufacturer and other supply chain issues, the doors are now here in Rhode Island and ready for installation.      There are a total of 18  doors to be replaced in both the Church and Rectory. The doors are made of mahogany wood and were made by Cleary Millwork of Troy, New York, a leading door manufacturer for New York and New England founded in 1939. The  Chirico Construction Company in Warwick is preparing the doors for installation and will install them. The architect for the entire project is Mark Saccoccio of Saccoccio & Associates. Also, two OLM Parishioners, John Rocchio of Rocchio Construction and Bob Manocchia, who retired from the Gilbane Construction, have volunteered to help oversee the project along with Paul Anderson.    

The project is funded by the Grateful for God’s Providence Capital Campaign. I  thank you for your generous support of the campaign. As you know, the doors are nearly sixty years old and do not work very well. The new doors will match and have a beautiful design, and the main church doors will have beautiful stained glass, as do the current doors.   This project is long in coming, and we await its completion with joyful anticipation.      

As we fix our church boiler, I am reminded of the Keep the Heat On Assistance Program. It is a great work of our Diocese initiated by Bishop Tobin. Over the years, it has given millions of dollars to help thousands of people afford their heat in the cold winter. I hope we can aid this great charity with our OLM Outreach. Any monies collected in January for OLM Outreach will go to the Keep the Heat On Program. If you want to help, make a check payable to OLM and write KTHO in the check memo or envelope. Thank you for being so supportive of this commendable charity.

 Mark your calendar for the OLM School Open House on Sunday, January 29th. Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless!

Giving Thanks and Paying Homage to Our Savior

Dear Parishioners:                        

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder," suggested the great Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton. And so, as we continue to bask in the wonder and joy of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, let me offer thanks to the many people who made Christmas so beautiful at Our Lady of Mercy.  

We thank Paul Anderson and our outstanding OLM Maintenance Crew, who work hard cleaning and preparing for Christmas. They set up the creche both inside and outside, set up and decorate the trees, cleaned and polished the floor, and even directed the traffic on Christmas Eve. We are grateful for their dedication to OLM.     

We thank the OLM Decorating Committee, who do a tremendous job making the Church look beautiful for the celebration of our Lord's birthday. We also thank our good Franciscan Apostolic Sisters, who ensure everything for the Masses is prepared, pressed, and polished. All of their efforts help keep the beauty and dignity of the Sacred Liturgy.   

We are grateful to the many Altar Severs who served Christmas Masses with dedication and devotion. Their respectful, reverent, and dignified service ensures the solemnity of Holy Mass. Of course, we thank our OLM Chief Master of Ceremonies, Erik Carlson, who sees that the liturgies are celebrated smoothly!   

We thank our fine Lectors who proclaimed the Word of God with great joy and enthusiasm for Christmas. And we are grateful to our many Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion who helped us at Masses and those who brought Holy Communion to the shut-ins on Christmas Day. We are blessed to have a group of dedicated ushers who welcome our visitors with kindness and hospitality. They are always helpful in ensuring the good order of the Church during Holy Mass, and we thank them all for their service, especially at Christmas.   

The music at Christmas was truly inspirational. Our dedicated OLM Music Director, Henri St. Louis, did a magnificent job leading our wonderful OLM Adult Choir and directing the many guest musicians. We also thank Shirley Medici, our OLM Children's Choir Directress, for the beautiful music the children provided at the Christmas Vigil Mass.   

I wish to thank Father Mahoney for his priestly ministry and service. He is always a great help, and I thank him for his dedication and outstanding priestly ministry at OLM. And I am also grateful for his tremendous gift of cooking talent that gave us such a delicious Christmas meal. The beef was cooked perfectly!!   

Along with Fr. Mahoney and Fr. Connors, I wish to offer our sincere gratitude to the many parishioners who were so kind in remembering us at Christmas. We are truly grateful for all the baked goods, other assorted goodies, and the many generous and thoughtful Christmas gifts. Your support and generosity to the parish and to us personally are truly humbling.  

And certainly, we thank Almighty God for the great gift of his Son, Jesus Christ, born on Christmas Day. We give thanks for this gift on this Solemnity of the Epiphany of our Lord. The homage the Wise Men from afar gave the Christ-child in Bethlehem reinforces the Christian belief that Jesus was more than the promised fulfillment of the Messiah for the Jews. He was a Light for all the nations, a Savior for all peoples.    

The Magi came in homage before the King of Kings and knelt in adoration before the Lord. Pope Saint John Paul II said: “When they reached Bethlehem, the Magi adored the divine Child and offered him symbolic gifts, becoming forerunners of the peoples and nations which down the centuries never cease to seek and meet Christ.” May we never cease to seek and meet Christ.

As we celebrate this Solemnity of the Epiphany, let us continue to follow the Wise Men in seeking  Christ. Let us continue to come before the King of Kings, offering our homage.  Let us come to Christ and meet him truly present at Holy Mass. Let us kneel in worship and adoration before our Savior. With "happiness doubled by wonder," let us come to Christ in the Eucharist with grateful hearts for so great a gift given to us.

A Blessed Feast of the Epiphany! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. God Bless!

Making Catholic Resolutions in the New Year

Dear Parishioners:                   

 Happy New Year! I wish you and your families God's choicest blessings in 2023! We begin a new year at Mass. It is the very best way to start the New Year! On New Year's Day, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God.     This holy day is a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary's motherhood of Jesus. It is a reminder of the role she played in the salvation of humankind. The title "Mother of God" is from the Greek Theotokos, which means "God-bearer."   

  Though for many, New Year's Day is a day for football and hangovers rather than for Mother Mary, there's a beautiful spiritual significance in celebrating her during the Christmas season. St. Pope Paul VI, in his apostolic exhortation entitled  Marialis Cultus, called this Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, "a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (Luke 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace."

Every year on January 1, the Holy Father marks the World Day of Peace with a special message inviting all people to reflect on the important work of building peace. A long tradition of messages for this day began with St. Paul VI in 1967. Pope Francis urges the world to pray for peace, especially for those nations at war and those suffering violence, death, and destruction.

Also, on New Year's, many people make resolutions. Losing weight, eating healthier, exercising more regularly, getting more sleep, or quitting bad habits like smoking and swearing are top New Year's resolutions. As Catholics, we might try to make some spiritual resolutions for 2023. Focusing on physical health and well-being is great, but what about our spiritual health? Let us make some spiritual resolutions for 2023! 

  Resolve to begin and end every new day with prayer. What is the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Hit the snooze button? Roll over? Complain that you need more sleep? St. Josemaría Escrivá wrote about the heroic minute, meaning that once the alarm rings, get up and say a prayer. Begin your day with prayer and end your day with a prayerful examination of your conscience. St. Josemaria said: "To be faithful to God requires a constant battle in one small thing after another, without giving in." 

Resolve to stay close to Christ by clinging to the Sacraments. Make a concrete resolution to live a more Sacramental life. Strive never to miss Sunday Mass, make a good confession once a month, add one extra daily Mass each week, come to Marian Devotions and Adoration and spend more time praying in a church before the Lord in the tabernacle instead of just praying in traffic.  

  Resolve to read the Sacred Scriptures and good spiritual books. Pray and reflect upon the Sunday readings. Many "Read the Bible in one-year" books and apps are available. They help to come to a greater knowledge of the Word of God. St. John Bosco said: "Only God knows the good that can come by reading one good Catholic book." Many devotional books with meditations to help deepen our relationship with God are available. Catholic authors also write many books to help deepen knowledge of Jesus, Mary, the Church, the saints, and other Catholic faith topics.    

  We can take many other resolutions as Catholics to deepen our faith. Grace before meals at home and even at the restaurant, acts of penance like fasting, abstaining from meat or sweets regularly, praying the Rosary daily, praying the Stations of the Cross once a week, making a pilgrimage to a local shrine, or making a retreat.

The Catholic writer, G.K. Chesterton, said: "The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul." In 2023, resolve to be a more committed Catholic, deepen your faith and renew your soul!

We thank the Carparco Family of the Hill Funeral Home for the generous sponsorship of the parish calendar. These beautiful calendars were distributed before Christmas. On Tuesday, the RI General Assembly begins a new legislative session. Pray that they serve the common good! Be well. Stay safe. Do good. A Happy New Year! God Bless!

.

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.