Make the Lenten Mission!

Dear Parishioners:                                 

We welcome our Lenten Mission Preacher, Father Francis McCarty, OSB, to OLM. He is preaching all the weekend Masses and offering a Mission Talk on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights. The title of his Mission is "The Seven Words of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Lessons on Discipleship."             

Fr. Francis McCarty, OSB

Father Francis is a native of Manville, RI, and attended Mt. St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, where he later taught. He studied at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire and encountered the Benedictine Monks. Father entered the St. Anselm Monastery after teaching high school for a few years. He studied for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Boston with Fr. Mahoney and was ordained a priest in 2022. He resides at the St. Anselm Abbey and is the Campus Minister at St. Anselm College.

I first met him when he was 15. He was an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scout Troop in Albion, where I served as pastor at St. Ambrose. Fr. Francis is an outstanding preacher, and I am sure you will enjoy his Mission. Join us for his Mission Talks on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights at 7 pm. Preceding the Mission Talks each night, four priests will be available for Confessions beginning at 6:00 pm.

It is customary for every parish to invite a priest to preach a Mission during Lent. The special goal of the Mission is threefold: To help fallen-away Catholics return to their faith, to convert tepid souls to fervor, and to encourage pious souls in their good resolutions to serve God. Just as Jesus and His Apostles went from town to town preaching the Kingdom of God, so the missionary comes to our parish to encourage us to give up sin and to practice your Catholic faith better. So make the Mission; it will enlighten your mind with God's Truth, help to detach your heart from sin, and strengthen your will with the love of God. Please pray for the success of our Lenten Mission

On Tuesday last week, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, appointed Fr. James Ruggeri, Pastor of St. Patrick and St. Michael Churches in Providence, as the thirteenth Bishop of Portland, Maine. He will be ordained a bishop on May 7. Bishop-elect James and I were ordained priests together at the Cathedral on June 24, 1995. I know him to be a wise, holy, and zealous priest who will surely be an outstanding bishop.

Bishop-elect James Ruggeri

The Diocese of Portland encompasses the entire state of Maine and is very large in geography. In fact, it has an area of 33,215 square miles and a population of 279,159 Catholics. In addition to its 48 parishes, it has nine elementary schools, one private elementary school, one diocesan high school, and one private high school. It also includes one Catholic college, Saint Joseph's College of Maine. Currently, 35 Diocesan priests and 18 religious order priests serve the Diocese. We offer our sincere best wishes and congratulations to Bishop-elect James and our promise of prayers.

I thank the 113 parishioners who generously pledged their gift to the Catholic Charity Appeal. We are off to a good start toward our parish goal of $190,000. Last year, 480 parish families helped us surpass our goal and raise over $277,000. I hope we do better this year and have 500 families support the Appeal. So please return your pledge envelope and help us surpass our goal. Every parish family must pray for and pledge a gift to the Catholic Charity Appeal to be truly successful.

How is your Lent going? Have you spent more time praying, fasting, and giving alms? If not, there is still time to begin with more enthusiasm and devotion. While Lent is forty days in imitation of our Lord's forty days of fasting and praying in the desert, it is a series of mini-Lents for us to pray, fast, and give alms. So if your Lent began a little unsteady, begin again and take up your cross.

One way is to join us on Friday night for Stations of the Cross at 7:00 pm. Take a fast from Wheel of Fortune and come pray together with Jesus as he walks the Way of the Cross. Another way is to make the Mission. Come out and make the Mission even if you can only make it one night. It will make your Lent and inspire you to pray, fast, and give alms with zeal and fervor!

Be well. Do good. God Bless! Pray. Fast. Give Alms. Hope to see you at the Mission Talks this week and Stations on Friday at 7:00 pm!  

Our Duty to Give Alms

Dear Parishioners:                                

Of the three pillars of Lent — prayer, fasting, and almsgiving — almsgiving is often neglected. And yet, the only place in the Old Testament that brings all three together puts the emphasis firmly on the last: "Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness … It is better to give alms than to store up gold; for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin. Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life" (Tob 12:8-9).

Why is almsgiving better than prayer and fasting? Because it is prayer and involves fasting. Almsgiving is a form of prayer because it is "giving to God, " not mere philanthropy. It is a form of fasting because it demands sacrificial giving — not just giving something, but giving up something until it hurts. For many, almsgiving means making a sacrificial gift to the Catholic Charity Appeal or another worthwhile charity like CRS Operation Rice Bowl or OLM Outreach.

Pope Benedict XVI said: "Almsgiving is not mere philanthropy; rather it is a concrete expression of charity, a theological virtue that demands interior conversion to love of God and neighbor, in imitation of Jesus Christ, who, dying on the cross, gave his entire self for us."

Lent allows us to cultivate a sacrificial spirit of generosity and charity. It allows us to share what we have and who we are with other people. It puts us in communion with others and helps us understand that we are all members of the Body of Christ. Keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, who himself said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).

Charity does indeed begin at home, where we daily make a choice to give our time, our attention, and our talent and give generously. But charity does not stop there because, for Catholics, "home" is universal, and our family is as big as the world. St. Pope John Paul II asked us to see and be seen by "the human face of poverty."

Bishop Henning visits residents of Emmanuel House Homeless Shelter with Catholic Charities Director Jim Jahnz. Emmanuel House is funded by the Catholic Charity Appeal.

We have a unique opportunity to see and be seen by "the human face of poverty" this weekend in supporting the Catholic Charity Appeal. This Annual Appeal supports numerous ministries and social programs of the Diocese of Providence, providing charitable, social, educational, and spiritual support to thousands of Rhode Islanders each year. The Catholic Charity Appeal's funded services include social service ministries providing direct support to the poor, the hungry, and the homeless, immigration and refugee services, emergency rent, utilities, prescription, and medical aid and assistance.

In addition, our Church provides social service ministries that assist the sick and elderly, Chaplaincies at State Hospitals and Prisons, child care programs for low-income families, and financial and scholarship aid to students with financial need to attend Rhode Island Catholic schools.

We can be proud as Catholics in Rhode Island that we are the second largest provider of social services after the state government. Our Catholic Charity Appeal funds this vast network of charitable works. We can also be proud as Our Lady of Mercy parishioners that we lead the state in donating to the Catholic Charity Appeal.

I am most grateful to Jerry and Kim O'Connell and Mike and Lee Mita, who once again have generously agreed to serve as the Chairpersons of the CCA here at OLM. I will preach at all Masses about the critical need for your spiritual and financial support of the CCA.

We ask every parish family to prayerfully consider a pledge of $300 payable over the next year. That is $25 per month to enable the good works of our Church to continue to serve the poorest and neediest among us. For those who can afford more, we ask you to please consider the Bishop's Partnership in Charity with a pledge of $1,000 or more. For those who have already pledged their gift, know of my sincere thanks and gratitude. With your prayers and support,

I am confident we can once again surpass our CCA goal of $190,000. Thank you for your generous support and prayers for the success of the CCA! St. Mother Teresa said: “Charity isn’t about pity; it is about love.” Pray, fast, and give alms. See you at Stations of the Cross on Friday. Get ready for the Lenten Mission next weekend. Be well. Do good. God Bless!

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!