Repent & Believe in the Gospel

Dear Parishioners:                  

Today, the Church celebrates the World Day of the Sick. This annual day of prayer was established in 1992 by St. Pope John Paul II to encourage Catholics to pray for the sick and those who care for them. It is a day to offer hope to the ill and infirm. So, please pray today for the sick and suffering, especially those from Our Lady of Mercy Parish. The World Day for the Sick is February 11, a date chosen because it coincides with the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. It commemorates the appearances in 1858 of Our Lady to a young French girl named Bernadette Soubirous in Lourdes, France. Lourdes has been a pilgrimage site renowned for healing ever since. Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.

In his message for the World Day of the Sick this year, Pope Francis says: “The sick, the vulnerable, and the poor are at the heart of the Church; they must also be at the heart of our human concern and pastoral attention. May we never forget this! And let us commend ourselves to Mary Most Holy, Health of the Sick, that she may intercede for us.”

Prayer is a pillar of the Season of Lent, which begins this coming Wednesday, February 14. On Ash Wednesday at OLM, there are four Masses at which ashes will be imposed. So please plan on attending at 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 12:05 pm, or 7:00 pm. Ash Wednesday is a day of fasting and abstinence from meat. Confessions will also be available on Ash Wednesday from 11:00 am until Noon and 6:00 pm until 7:00 pm. It is the time for us to “Repent and Believe in the Gospel!”

As you prepare to begin the Solemn Fast of Forty Days in Lent, I encourage you to enter more fully into this holy season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. There are multiple opportunities for prayer available at OLM, and books for spiritual reading during Lent are available after all Masses this weekend.

During these 40 Days of Lent, consider adding Daily Mass to your schedule. Every day, Monday through Friday, during Lent, Mass is celebrated at 7:30 am and 12:05 pm. The Stations of the Cross will be every Friday during Lent at 7:00 pm. These are wonderful opportunities to practically deepen your spiritual life and commitment to Christ through prayer.

St. Pope John Paul II said: “Confession is an act of honesty and courage – an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.” And if we are honest and courageous, we know we should go to Confession this Lent. Confessions at OLM are every Monday through Friday from 11:45 am until Noon, every Monday at 6:00 pm with two priests available during Lent, and every Saturday at 3:00 pm. Additionally, confession times will be scheduled during the Parish Lenten Mission. The annual all-day confessions are scheduled for Saturday, March 23. Certainly, ample opportunity to make a good Confession in Lent and prepare for Easter.

The Parish Lenten Mission is scheduled for February 24-28. Father Francis McCarty, OSB from St. Anselm College, is our Mission Preacher. So please mark your calendar now and be sure to make the Mission!

Fasting is a pillar of Lent as well. This fasting isn’t meant only for Ash Wednesday and Good Friday but should be the entire Season of Lent. In addition to food, what else should we fast from this Lent? Consider fasting from some pleasures, comforts, and bad habits keeping you from Christ. It may be alcohol, tobacco, or sweets for some. Perhaps it is swearing, missing Mass, lying, or wasting time for others. Certainly, any fast in our contemporary culture must include fasting from technology, such as time on our cell phones, computers, social media, and the internet. What are you giving up for Christ this Lent?

Almsgiving is central to our Lenten Fast. We are called to give to the poor and needy not simply from our surplus but sacrificially. Christ compels us to help our those living in poverty and hunger. Please consider the charities in the bulletin for your almsgiving. Lent is coming. Prepare! St. Francis de Sales said: “Lent is the autumn of the spiritual life during which we gather fruit to keep us going for the rest of the year.” Pray, fast, and give alms. They bear spiritual fruit for the rest of the year! Be well. Do good. God Bless! 

New Arrivals to OLM! Lent Coming Soon!!

Dear Parishioners:                                 

We had a great celebration of Catholic Schools Week. Our student speakers at last weekend's Masses were outstanding. I commend them all on a job well done. They demonstrate the good work of OLM School every day in developing our future saints and scholars. We had many people stop and visit the school during the Open House. We have 240 students presently enrolled for this year. Next year's enrollment looks strong as interest in our outstanding school grows. If you want to enroll your child or grandchild at OLM School, contact the school soon.

We thank all our students, faculty, parents, and principal who helped make Catholic Schools Week fun and faith-filled. We also thank all those who generously supported the Annual Saints and Scholars Fund for OLM School last weekend. Pope 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." We do this daily at OLM School: provide a good education and strive to help all our students become saints! Pray for the OLM School faculty and students!

It's hard to believe, but the Season of Lenten will soon be here. It's time to prepare ourselves to once again take up the solemn fast of forty days. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the pillars of Lent. There is a complete Lenten Schedule in the bulletin this weekend. Also, the bulletin lists Catholic Charities that can use your almsgiving to aid the poor and needy in the world, the state, and our town. Please consider supporting the Catholic Relief Services Operation Rice Bowl, the Annual Catholic Charity Appeal, and OLM Outreach.

If you have any old blessed palm branches collecting dust in your home, bring them to Mass next weekend. We are collecting them, and baskets will be available in church. Drop your palm branches in the baskets, and we will burn them. The palm ashes are used on Ash Wednesday as we take up the Lenten call to "Repent and Believe in the Gospel!" Ash Wednesday is February 14, and it is also Valentine's Day this year. However, it remains an obligatory day of fasting and abstinence.

Fasting is required for Catholics aged 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal and two smaller meals that are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Catholic Church from age 14 onwards. So remember it's Ash Wednesday when planning for your Valentine!

I am happy to announce that Mrs. Christiana Caprarelli will serve as our new Cantor at weekend Masses, funerals, and weddings. She has been the music director and Cantor at St. Ambrose Parish in Albion for the past eleven years and previously served as the Cantor at St. Martha's Church in East Providence. Christiana holds degrees in music and theater. She also directs the theatre program at Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School and teaches voice privately. She lives in Cranston with her husband and children. Christiana begins here at OLM on Ash Wednesday, so please give her a warm welcome.

I am also pleased to announce that Miss Julia Anthon will be our new Directress of Faith Formation. She is a native of Portsmouth, RI, and an honors graduate in Theology from Magdalen College. She has worked in the educational field for the last couple of years. We look forward to Julia helping us strengthen and renew our Faith Formation Program at OLM. This includes the RCIA, Adult Education, Family and Youth Ministry, Spiritual Life Programs, and the Sacramental Preparation Programs for  Marriage, Baptism, Communion, and Confirmation. Julia will work closely with Fr. Mahoney, me, and Mr. Jeremey Long, who now directs our First Communion and Confirmation Program. She will also aid us in enhancing our parish communications and social media presence. Please give Julia a warm welcome.

Be sure to get your throat blessed this weekend, as it is cold and flu season. May St. Blaise, bishop, and martyr, intercede for us and protect us from all ailments of the throat and every other disease. Be well. Do good. God Bless! 

Keep the Catholic in Catholic Schools!

Dear Parishioners:                                 

OLM School circa 1950

This week is Catholic Schools Week across America. Catholic schools enrolled more than 5 million students in the mid-1960s, but today, just 1.6 million. Many things have contributed to this decline, including decaying family life, demographic decline, economic stress, and massive secularization.   Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a modest increase in enrollment in Catholic Schools across the country. This was largely because Catholic Schools did an excellent job with online learning. They also reopened to students much quicker than many public schools.  

We cannot sit back and rest on our laurels. Rather, Catholic schools must continue to strive for excellence in forming the whole person. The central mission of Catholic Education is to teach our Faith. Now, more than ever, this world needs children who embrace the truths of our Church, who understand that God created us male and female, who believe in the sanctity of life, who see the human dignity of each of God's children, and who believe in objective truth.

There will be challenges whenever we stick to our mission of teaching the Catholic Faith. Children generally believe what their parents teach them about religion. Thus, they have questions, as they should. The Catholic Church, which has survived two millennia, is well-prepared to answer them. Therefore, those to whom students pose their questions must also be properly catechized and committed to their Catholic Faith. Catholic Education and Catholic Educators must ensure a faithful environment where parents can be assured that their child's Catholic Faith is retained, deepened, and not destroyed. In short, we must keep the Catholic in our Catholic schools.

Weekly Mass for OLM School.

And so, as we celebrate this Catholic Schools Week to highlight the importance of Catholic Education, We can be proud of our parish school that strives to fulfill its mission. Our students are properly formed in our classrooms with rigorous academics, creative arts and music, competitive athletics, discipline, virtuous living, and a solid foundation in the teachings of the Catholic Faith. OLM School offers an education where the rich teachings of Christ and his Church are taught, not the values of popular and politically correct culture. Our students study in a Catholic environment where the Faith is taught joyfully and authentically. The Faith isn't only taught but actively lived out with Mass, Confessions, prayer, devotions, and charitable good works.

Fr. Healey and OLM Students on the First Day of School 2023-2024

The great success of our school is due to the outstanding Principal and Faculty at OLM School. They are supported by committed parents who support the mission and are willing to sacrifice for the school's common good. And, of course, the centerpiece of our excellent school is our student body. Our students strive every day to learn and love as Catholic disciples. Our Lady of Mercy School is truly a Catholic School in the best sense. It is a school where we strive daily to be saints and scholars.

So join us as we celebrate Catholic Schools Week and OLM School! I invite you to visit the school this Sunday at the Open House from 10:00 am until Noon. See the great things happening and meet our wonderful students, parents, and faculty members. Join us on Friday at 9:00 am as we celebrate our Annual Catholic Schools Week Mass on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. It commemorates our Lord’s presentation in the Temple as a young child.

It is sometimes called Candlemas Day since the blessing and procession of candles are included in the liturgy. The blessing of candles is closely related to the Gospel, introducing Jesus as the "Light of the people." The candles are blessed with these words:  "O God, source and origin of all light, we humbly ask that, in answer to your people's prayers, you may be pleased to sanctify with your blessing + these candles, which we are eager to carry in praise of your name, so that, treading the path of virtue, we may reach that light which never fails."

This blessing is fitting for Catholic Schools Week as we celebrate our faculty and students praising the Lord, treading the path of virtue, and seeking the light of Christ! Happy Catholic Schools Week! Celebrate OLM School! Be well. Do good. God Bless!

Life is Beautiful

Dear Parishioners:                                

This past Friday, the 51st Annual March for Life occurred in Washington, DC. Thousands of citizens from across the country descended upon the nation’s capitol to call for an end to abortion and the building up of a culture of life in our nation.  Even with the blessing of Roe v. Wade being overturned by the Supreme Court Dobbs Decision, which now allows more freedom at the state level to enact pro-life laws, the necessary work to build a culture of life in the United States is not finished. Rather, it is focused differently.   

Sadly, the number of abortions annually is still well over 900,000 each year. That number is expected to decrease only by roughly 200,000 each year in a post-Roe America. Tragically, in Rhode Island, over 2,000 children are killed by abortion annually.   Many national legislative battles loom, including keeping longstanding Hyde Amendment protections, which limit government funding for abortion on annual appropriation bills. The Hyde Amendment has saved over 2 million lives and is arguably the most impactful pro-life policy in our nation’s history, but now it cannot be taken for granted.    

In Rhode Island, we have one of the most radical abortion laws in the nation. It allows for the direct killing of a preborn child up until the day of birth. Last year, the Governor signed a law that provides state tax dollars to finance abortion on demand for the Medicaid program and the health insurance plans for state employees.

The goal of the National March for Life is not only to change laws at the state and federal level but to change the culture to ultimately make abortion unthinkable.   This includes the important work of changing hearts and minds. We must continue to pray, act, and advocate for life. We welcome Bishop Henning to Our Lady of Mercy on Sunday night as he celebrates the Annual Diocesan Respect Life Mass. He wrote in his recent column entitled “Life is Beautiful":

"The Catholic Church consistently upholds the truth of human dignity even in the face of cultural hostility and shifting moral viewpoints. We do so because the Lord himself gave us an example of universal and unselfish love and charged us to love one another as He loved us. We do so because He taught us to be most attentive to the forgotten, the vulnerable, the ‘least’ among us: ‘Whatsoever you do to the least of these, you do to me’ (Matt 25:40).  We do so in the knowledge that we will not be judged by our worldly accomplishments, wealth, or cleverness, but by the quality of our compassion and mercy.

It is a source of deep grief to me that our state has enacted laws that are among the most radical and anti-life to be found anywhere in the world. It seems so out of character in a state with such fervent hospitality and where people so often give and sacrifice for their neighbors.  I am unsure how we reached this point of kindness to some, yet such a merciless stance towards the most vulnerable. Of course, the proponents of such laws argue that they are a matter of freedom and choice. And yet, the exclusive focus remains on the termination of innocent human life. We do not actually give vulnerable mothers a choice. We do not offer her equal resources to bring her child to see the light of day. Our system as it has been crafted brings women to only one choice – a tragic choice that occurs in heartbreaking numbers.
Please help me to communicate to the men and women of this state that the Catholic Church reveres life – each and every life. Any woman finding herself in fear or difficulty needs to know that we want to help her have a full choice and the support she will need to make the choice for life. Go to any parish in the Diocese of Providence, and we will do all in our power to help you and your baby.
I also ask that we call upon our leaders to help women in Rhode Island have a true choice. Every life is sacred; every life is possibility. Where is compassion? Where is mercy? Are there not ways to respect the dignity of the mother and protect the life of her child? Every one of us was once a child in the womb! We will never be mistaken in efforts to preserve life, to nurture and protect life, to revere and celebrate life. Life is sacred, and life is beautiful!”

Pray for an end to abortion and a culture of life in our state, nation, and world. Be well. Do good. God Bless!

Not So Ordinary Times

Dear Parishioners:                                  

Our first snowstorm has come and gone! It didn’t help our attendance at Sunday morning Masses. However, the Vigil Mass on Saturday was very crowded. We must thank Paul Anderson and our OLM maintenance team, who worked hard to clear the snow and enable those who came to Mass to arrive and leave safely.                          

A few people always ask if Mass is still celebrated when it snows. At OLM, the answer is yes! Mass is always celebrated, even in the snow. The commute from the Rectory to the Church isn’t long, and we don’t even have to go outside, so we priests can always make it to celebrate the Mass despite the weather. Some other parishes have multiple locations for Mass; thus, priests cannot always get there in snowstorms. We are blessed at OLM to have two priests and a short commute!

The Church looks bare as the beautiful Christmas decorations and trees are gone. It looks “ordinary,” which befits the liturgical season. It is Ordinary Time when we wear green vestments and celebrate every aspect of the life of Christ. In common use, ‘ordinary’ refers to something plain or unexciting. For that reason, many people hear ‘Ordinary Time’ and immediately think of the season as such. But that understanding doesn’t reflect the true meaning of the season.

Ordinary time should be a time for spiritual growth when the mystery of Christ is called to penetrate ever more deeply into history until all things are finally caught up in Christ. The goal toward which all of history is directed is represented by the final Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Solemnity of Christ the King.

Ordinary comes from the Latin ordinalis, meaning ‘numbered’ or ‘ruled’. This title refers to the ongoing and rhythmic nature of the season. Just like everyday life, there is a rhythm to the days and the weeks. We have holidays and special occasions that we look forward to and change the pace, just like we have holy days and feasts in the Church year. But those special occasions aren’t the whole picture, just like there is more to the life of Christ than what we celebrate in other liturgical seasons. 

The Season of Ordinary Time has two parts, but it remains one season. The first part begins now, right after the feast of the Epiphany. It runs until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins. The second part begins the Monday after Pentecost and runs until the First Sunday of Advent. This part is typically about twice the length of the first.  

Like all liturgical seasons, Ordinary Time is meant to be lived! We aren’t passive receptors of the liturgy. We are called to full and active participation in the life of the Church and her liturgy! Our full participation in the Season of Ordinary Time means participating in the everyday life of Jesus.

The Most Reverend Richard Henning, D.D., S.T.D., Bishop of Providence

Next Sunday at the 5:00 pm Mass, Bishop Henning is celebrating the Annual Diocesan Respect Life Mass here at OLM. We gather as a local Church to pray for an increase in respect for all human life from conception until natural death. I hope you can join with Catholics across the Diocese for this Respect Life Mass.

Human life has become cheap in our culture. Attacks upon the sanctity of life are viewed as routine and “ordinary.” This is seen in legal abortion until birth for the unborn, legal assisted suicide and euthanasia for the terminally ill, unjust war and weapons that indiscriminately kill innocent civilians, violent racial hatred and religious persecution, rampant gun violence and crime, growing violence in our schools and sporting events, refugees and migrants left to die and the poor told to fend for themselves. All these things are apathetically accepted as routine.

These comprise what Pope Francis calls “the throwaway culture.” He states: “Human life is sacred and inviolable. Every civil right is based on the recognition of the first fundamental right, the right to life, which is not subject to any condition, of a qualitative, economic, and certainly not of an ideological nature.  Too often, human beings are themselves considered consumer goods to be used and then discarded. We have created a ‘throwaway’ culture which is now spreading. In this way, life too is easily discarded.” 

   Be well. Do good. God Bless!  Pray for life. 

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas...

Dear Parishioners:                   

 We've all heard the Christmas carol "Twelve Days of Christmas." Why someone would give someone 23 separate birds, a pear tree, and the services of 50 people over 12 days is unclear to me. Yet there is a liturgical precedent for claiming that Christmas is 12 days long. Twelve days after Christmas is the feast of the Epiphany. This day marks when the magi encountered Jesus, Mary, and Joseph and gave Jesus the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

"Epiphany" is a word that means manifestation. The "Epiphany of the Lord" is Jesus' manifestation not only to the three Magi from the East but it's also a manifestation of Christ to the whole world. These Magi, traveling from a foreign land, reveal that Jesus came for all people, and all are called to adore Him. The Magi were "wise men" who studied the stars and understood that a Messiah was coming. God used what they were familiar with to call them to adore Christ. He used a star. They understood astrology, and when they saw this new and unique star over Bethlehem, they realized something special was happening. And yet, what a mystery that the Epiphany of God — his manifestation — is found in a tiny infant.

The Magi bring the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for the newborn child. St. Irenaeus says that the gifts signify the mystery of the Incarnate Word (God who has become man): gold, a symbol of royalty, represents his kingship; frankincense, used in worship, points to his divinity; and myrrh represents his humanity, particularly in his passion and death. Pope Benedict XVI, in a homily on the Epiphany, said:

"The Magi worshipped a simple Child in the arms of his Mother Mary because in him they recognized the source of the twofold light that had guided them: the light of the star and the light of the Scriptures. In him they recognized the King of the Jews, the glory of Israel, but also the King of all the peoples."

The Church has traditionally announced the date of Easter and other moveable feasts on the Epiphany. This tradition dates from a time when calendars were not readily available. It was necessary to make the date of Easter known in advance since many celebrations of the liturgical year depend on its date. The number of Sundays that follow Epiphany, the date of Ash Wednesday, and the number of Sundays that follow Pentecost are all computed in relation to Easter.

Although calendars now give the date of Easter and the other feasts in the liturgical year many years in advance, the Epiphany proclamation still has value. It is a reminder of the centrality of the resurrection of the Lord in the liturgical year and the importance of the great mysteries of faith, which are celebrated each year.   For the Year 2024, Ash Wednesday is February 14, Easter is March 31, Ascension is May 9, Pentecost is May 19, Corpus Christi is June 2, and the First Sunday of Advent is December 1. While Lent and Easter are early this year, they are not the earliest. In fact, the earliest date Lent can start is February 4, with Easter falling on March 22. The latest date Lent can start is March 10, with Easter being celebrated on April 25.

Speaking of calendars, I wish to thank Deborah A. Runshe and Betsy M. Harris of the Hill Funeral Home for once again generously sponsoring our beautiful 2024 parish calendars. These calendars were put out last weekend to be taken home.

The new electronic front door of the Church is now completely installed and working well. Large buttons can be pressed, automatically opening the door from the inside and outside. We hope the electronic door in the Candle Room entrance and the new interior doors are soon fully installed. I hope these handicap-accessible doors are a help to those who need them.

Monday is the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the end of the Christmas Season. The Church calendar returns to Ordinary Time with its green vestments. Ordinary Time continues until Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Christmas may be over, and the beautiful decorations will be put away until next year. But remember what St. Mother Teresa once said: "It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you." Be well. Do good. God Bless!