Have a Heart!

Dear Parishioners:                  

 On Friday, we celebrated the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a significant event that holds a special place in our hearts.  The entire month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a devotion that dates back to 1673, when Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French nun who belonged to the Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary in  France, began to receive profound visions about the Sacred Heart.

Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary over 18 months and revealed ways to venerate his Sacred Heart. He explained his immense love for humanity, appearing with his heart visible outside his chest, on fire, and surrounded by a crown of thorns. He told St. Margaret Mary to promote a feast in honor of his Sacred Heart, telling her, “My Sacred Heart is so intense in its love for men, and for you in particular, that not being able to contain within it the flames of its ardent charity, they must be transmitted through all means.”     

For this reason, devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is no less worthy and important in our own day than in 17th-century France, the Middle Ages, or at the foot of Calvary. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is the perfect antidote to the pride in our hearts. God loves us with a human heart so that we might learn to share in his divine love.  As St. Athanasius said: “The Son of God became man so that we might become God.”

In the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we discover the humility of God that overwhelms and destroys pride. In his Sacred and Suffering Heart, our hearts are moved to repentance. In His Sacred Heart, our selfishness is burned away in the consuming fire of his love and mercy.  In his Sacred Heart, we encounter the love that created, ordered, and sustains all things. In His Sacred Heart, we find the strength and grace to love as he loves.  In his Most Sacred Heart, we find refuge and peace even amid the trials and tribulations of our times.

Perhaps during this month, we might offer a Prayer to the Sacred Heart:  “O most holy heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you, and with lively sorrow for my sins, I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure, and wholly obedient to your will. Grant, Good Jesus, that I may live in you and for you. Protect me amid danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen.”

Fr. Healey carries the Blessed Sacrament in Procession on Corpus Christi Sunday.

Last Sunday, we celebrated Corpus Christi with a Eucharistic Procession at our graduation mass for the 8th grade class of OLM School. It was a special day and a solemn expression of our faith in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Most Holy Eucharist. As Pope Francis said: “The procession with the Blessed Sacrament reminds us that we are called to go out and bring  Jesus to others. To go out with enthusiasm, bringing Christ to those we meet in our daily lives.”

The 8th Grade, their families, and our faculty gathered for an Awards Luncheon after the Mass.  We recognized the many talents and academic achievements of these future saints and scholars.  And on Tuesday, they graduated in a ceremony full of “pomp and circumstance.” Pray for these young students as they enter high school. May they continue to stay close to Christ and grow in their faith. 

Friday is the last day of school at OLM School, and summer vacation begins! “Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me, those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language,” said the great American Author, Henry James. Pray for our students and faculty as they begin their summer afternoons!  May they return in September, tan, rested, and ready!

Speaking of last days, Fr. Mahoney begins his new appointment as Pastor at St. Pius Church in Westerly on July 1. His last weekend here at OLM will be June 23, and then he will begin his move to his new parish and rectory.  On that weekend, he will have two Farewell Receptions at Mercy Park.  One will follow the Saturday, June 22, 5:00 PM Mass, and the other will follow the Sunday, June 23, 10:30 AM Mass.  So please mark your calendar and join us in saying Farewell and Thank You to Fr. Mahoney. 

Be well. Do good. God Bless.  Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us!

The OLM School Class of 2024 celebrate their graduation in Mercy Park.

Processing with Christ through Life

Dear Parishioners:                  

This weekend, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, also known as Corpus Christi. The Latin term "Corpus Christi" translates into  English as "Body of Christ." 'The Body of Christ' refers to the Church and the Eucharist. This is not a mistake; rather, it is a beautiful understanding of what unites the people of God to Christ.

  Our understanding that the Church is not a building or even a visible organization goes as far back as the writings of Saint Paul. "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For by one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, and all were made to drink of one Spirit." 

What unites us and makes us the people of God is the Eucharist, which is Christ Himself. Christ is to the Church what the soul is to the body.  When the priest holds up the consecrated host, he proclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God." This is not a mere symbol or ceremonial liturgy. Jesus did not say, "This resembles My Body." Rather, He said, "This IS My Body." We believe this because Christ is God and always speaks the truth. The Eucharist is not just bread and wine but the very essence of our faith, a tangible connection to our Lord.

The Eucharist is Christ Himself. Jesus said, "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life." Jesus reinforced this teaching on Holy Thursday at the Institution of the Eucharist and again at what has been referred to as the "Second Mass" on the road to Emmaus. 

Father Walter Ciszek, an American Jesuit priest who spent 23 years in Russian prison camps, wrote in his memoirs about celebrating Mass for his fellow prisoners in Siberia. In those days, the Eucharistic Fast was from midnight until holy Communion was received.

In his book He Leadeth Me: An Extraordinary Testament of Faith, Father Ciszek relates how he and his fellow prisoners would fast all day from the little food provided to them to receive the Eucharist at a secret evening Mass. If they were discovered celebrating Mass, they would be severely punished or even killed. Yet, Father Ciszek and his fellow prisoners were willing to risk their health, well-being, and lives to receive Our Lord in the Eucharist.

Father Walter Ciszek in Russia with friends in 1950s.

  Unlike Father Ciszek and his fellow Siberian concentration camp prisoners, the opportunity to receive the holy Eucharist is readily available to all of us. The Church asks us to fast for only one hour before receiving Holy Communion, not all day. We risk nothing to receive Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, for we are free to worship and enjoy religious liberty in our nation. Yet, sadly, not because of any risk to our safety and well-being, many choose to absent themselves from participating in the Sunday Eucharist.  

Giving God just one hour or so of our week is apparently too much to ask for some people. Let us pray for those who have fallen away from the practice of the faith that they may be renewed and faithfully come to receive Christ truly present in the Eucharist. 

Following the 10:30 am we will process with the Eucharistic Lord to Mercy Park. A Eucharistic procession is like a holy parade that brings Jesus, truly present in the Holy Eucharist, into the world that he loves. The Blessed Sacrament is placed in a monstrance and carried in solemn procession.  It is a wonderful opportunity to worship our Eucharistic Lord and pray together as a community as we witness our faith publicly to our community and the world.

The OLM School 8th Grade Class process with us, and we offer our prayers for them as they prepare to graduate. Each graduate receives an OLM School Medal for this milestone in their young lives.  Following the Mass, the graduates, their families, and our school faculty gather for a luncheon to celebrate their many academic achievements. 

Join the OLM School on Tuesday at 6:00 pm for our Graduation Ceremony. We thank the graduates' parents who sacrificed to ensure their children's Catholic education at OLM School.  Please pray for the graduates as they prepare to enter high school. May they be inspired by St. Catherine of Siena, who said: "Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire."    

Be well. Do good God Bless.  Congratulations, Class of 2024!

Remembering the Fallen with Prayer

Dear Parishioners:                  

Fr. Healey poses with the newly Confirmed and their Sponsors following the Celebration of Confirmation at on Pentecost Sunday.

Last Sunday, we celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation at the 10:30 Pentecost Sunday Mass for four adult parishioners. We congratulate and pray for Michael Michael Aptt, Collin Michael Banno,  Collin 
Michael Patterson, and Nathan Camillus de Lellis Tellier! Pray for them that they continue to grow in their faith with the guidance of the gifts of the Holy Spirit they received last Sunday. 

Father Mahoney is away this weekend, attending the Priestly Ordination Mass in Boston.  Eleven men are begin ordained to serve the Archdiocese of Boston on Saturday.  Fr. Mahoney studied with them at St. John Seminary, and Fr. Connors taught them all!  He will then attend some of the First Masses of Thanksgiving on Sunday at various parishes throughout Boston.  Please pray for these newly ordained priests!

Memorial Day is the nation's foremost annual day to mourn and honor our deceased servicemen and women.  The Proclamation establishing this national holiday  calls for all  Americans "to observe Memorial Day by praying, according to their individual religious faith, for permanent peace."

As Catholics, we should remember those who gave their lives for country and freedom, just as everyone else does on Memorial Day. Remembering them at Mass is the best way to celebrate the day. It's not a sin to be patriotic and to remember the sacrifices made for our freedoms. Gratitude for that sacrifice is our response on Memorial Day. So please join us for Mass on Memorial Day at 8:30 am and pray for our fallen who died serving our nation. At the same time, we can also pray for peace and solutions that will not require war and bloodshed. We can do this on Memorial Day at our final  May Devotions as we offer our prayers and the Rosary for world peace. Please join us at 7:00 pm on Monday. 

Also, I invite you to watch the Memorial Day Parade here in East Greenwich on Monday morning.  I will offer prayers at the World War Two Memorial on Cliff Street.   Lt. Colonel Edmund B. Whitman,  the Quartermaster during the Civil War, said:  "That Nation which respects and honors its dead shall ever be respected and honored itself."

Lastly, we should unite with the poor, who are often the most victimized by war, and also veterans who suffer from wounds and disabilities. Think about what we can do to help those who are victims of war.  We should try to support charities that help veterans and serve the victims and refugees of war, such as Catholic Relief Services.  And we must pray for them!

Memorial Day is more than a day off work or school.  It isn't simply a day to shop for sales, play a round of golf, go to the beach, or have a family cookout.  Let's not forget those who sacrificed their lives for our nation and our freedoms so we can enjoy such leisure activities freely. This is the true reason for this important national civic holiday.  Remember the words of the great American Poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, who wrote following the Civil War: "Your silent tents of green we deck with fragrant flowers; Yours has the suffering been, the memory shall be ours." 

Next weekend, we celebrate the  Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ with great faith and joy, more commonly called Corpus Christi.  This feast honors Jesus Christ, really, truly, and substantially present under the appearances of bread and wine. This Presence happens through the change which the Church calls transubstantiation ("change of substance") when at the Consecration of the Mass, the priest says the words of consecration which Christ Himself pronounced over bread and wine. The 10:30 am Mass next Sunday will be followed by the traditional Procession of the Eucharist from Church to Mercy Park.  Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament will be offered at Mercy Park.

At this Mass, we are joined by our OLM School 8th Graders and their families.  A great feast day for us to pray for and process with the Eucharistic Lord and these young men and women striving to be saints and scholars.  Please pray for our 8th Grade Graduates.    

Be well. Do good. God Bless. Happy Memorial Day!

Celebrations, Changes, Challenges, & Prayers!

     Dear Parishioners:                                

Fr. Daniel Mahoney

As you learned last weekend, Fr. Mahoney has been appointed by Bishop Henning as the Pastor at St. Pius X Church in Westerly, effective July 1. It is  a new and exciting chapter in his priestly life and ministry.  We are grateful for his time at Our Lady of Mercy. I am confident that he will continue the good work he does with the people of St. Pius Parish. While we are saddened by his departure, we are also filled with happiness for him as he embarks upon his first pastorate. 

  Fr. Mahoney will not be replaced as there are insufficient priests in the Diocese and no Associate Pastor to assign to OLM.  Only two priests are being ordained this year, and six are retiring. This means OLM will be a one priest parish for the foreseeable future. It also means that we must examine our schedule of Masses, Devotions, and other offerings as we transition from two priests to only one priest.  We need to pray much more ardently for vocations to the priesthood in the Diocese of Providence.

Fr. Mahoney

Almost every parish had an Associate Pastor when I was ordained twenty-eight years ago.  Now, just three parishes have more than one priest, and OLM isn't one of them!  As the Lord said: "The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest."   Please pray for more priestly vocations.

We are blessed to have Seminarian David Del Bonis from OLM, who is in formation for the priesthood at Our Lady of Providence Seminary and studying philosophy and theology at Providence College. Please pray for him and his vocation  that he might persevere! Pray that more young men from OLM might begin to discern a call to the priesthood.  

Encourage those young men who are your sons, grandsons, nephews, players, students, and neighbors to discern a vocation to the priesthood. Also, pray for Fr. Connors, who begins the important work of helping form our future priests as the new Rector of Our Lady of Providence Seminary on July 1, 2024.

Last Saturday, we celebrated joyfully and faithfully as over 60 of our young parishioners received their First Holy Communion. The Masses and the May Crowning were beautiful, and the children prepared well.  St. Maximilian Kolbe said: "If angels could be jealous of men, they would be so for one reason: Holy Communion." 

We thank our Faith Formation Directors, Jeremy Long and Julia Anthon, the First Communion Teachers Peggy Simms and Jean Perretta, and all those who helped prepare the children.  We also thank their parents who first brought them to Christ and his Church for baptism and continue to raise them in the faith. 

You will see a special announcement for our Vacation Bible School in the bulletin.  It is for children aged 4 to 12 and is scheduled for the week of June 24.  This year's theme is "Marvelous Mystery: The Mass Comes Alive!"  I encourage you to enroll your children and grandchildren soon for this great opportunity of fun, faith and catechetics.   

The celebration of First Communion highlights the critical importance of the Eucharist in the lives of these children and their families, as well as in the life of our parish and the entire Church. We have been in a Year of Eucharistic Revival in the U.S., culminating with a Eucharistic Congress in July in Indianapolis. The mission of the Revival is to renew the Church by enkindling a living relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Without priests, this is impossible.

Pope St. John Paul II, in Gift and Mystery: On the Fiftieth Anniversary of My Priestly Ordination, reminds us: "There can be no Eucharist without the priesthood, just as there can be no priesthood without the Eucharist." We have been blessed at OLM to have many fine priests who have served as associates over the years. We must now prepare for the changes and challenges of parish life with just one priest.  With your patience, understanding, and, most importantly, your prayers, I am confident we will continue to thrive as a parish. Pray for me and the parish. 

  Be well. Do good. God Bless. Best Wishes, Fr Mahoney!!! A Holy and Blessed Pentecost!  Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

Celebrating First Communion, May Crowning, & Motherhood

Dear Parishioners:                               

It is a weekend full of faith and joy as we celebrate First Holy Communion, the May Crowning, and Mother's Day! On Saturday, over 60 of our parish children received the Eucharistic Lord for the first time. On Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Mass, they will crown our Blessed Mother in the beautiful May Crowning Ceremony. We offer Sunday Masses for all Mothers this Mother's Day. 

Pope Francis offered these words to a First Communion Class: "Dear boys and girls, now you will receive Jesus. Don't think about anything else. Come to the altar with silence in your hearts. Think about how Jesus comes to your heart and how he will do the same again and again. Think of your parents, your catechists, your grandparents, your friends. Stay close to Jesus.” 

Fifty years ago, I made my First Holy Communion at St. Paul Church in Cranston.  My older brothers served the Mass, and the late Father Raymond Rafferty, then the curate at St. Paul, gave me my First Holy Communion.  Afterward, on that Saturday morning, we went to the IHop to celebrate with a pancake breakfast! 

Although much has changed over the last fifty years, one thing has not changed, and that is the real and abiding presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "in the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist' the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained."

Let us pray for our First Communion Class to continue to be nourished and strengthened by the Eucharist at Sunday Mass. Join us when they come to the 10:30 am Mass as they crown the Blessed Mother. The crowning symbolizes Mary as Queen of Heaven and our lives. We entrust all our intentions to her, and she takes them to her Son, the King. Our Blessed Mother is our Queen and our intercessor, and we symbolize that with our May crowning of her statue.

Today, we also celebrate Mother's Day. It is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the beautiful vocation of motherhood and the gift of human life. It calls us to cherish the gift of life we receive from our mothers and to pray for all women to whom God has entrusted life in a very special way. As we pray in thanksgiving for the gift of mothers, we remember mothers experiencing challenges, crises, and difficult pregnancies and pray they may find support and encouragement in choosing life for their children.

Just last month, it was reported that birth rates in the United States are at a historical low. This highlights that many women are not choosing to have children and forgo the joys of motherhood. Our nation's record-low fertility rates and global fertility decline are driven by cultural, social, and economic factors. Along with the dramatic decline of religious practice. So, let us pray for all mothers today and that more women might be open to life and choose to be mothers.

The great Hungarian Churchman, Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty, said: "The Most Important Person on earth is a mother. She cannot claim the honor of having built Notre Dame Cathedral. She need not. She has built something more magnificent than any cathedral a dwelling for an immortal soul, the tiny perfection of her baby's body. The angels have not been blessed with such a grace. They cannot share in God's creative miracle to bring new saints to Heaven. Only a human mother can. Mothers are closer to God the Creator than any other creature; God joins forces with mothers in performing this act of creation. .. What on God's good earth is more glorious than this: to be a mother?"

Last Saturday night, we had a fantastic celebration of the OLM Spring Fling. The live and silent auctions were a great success and provided much-needed financial support for our outstanding parish school. I thank all those who worked so hard to make the night such a success, especially the OLM School PTG President Tarah Provençal and the Spring Fling Chair Christina Haas. Also, we thank all those who donated items for the auction and those who bid so generously to win them!

Be well. Do good. God Bless. A Happy Mother's Day! Prayers and congratulations to the OLM First Communion Class. Hope to see you at Devotions on Monday night.

A Fond Farewell to Bishop James Ruggieri

Bishop Ruggieri driving the Food Truck that serves hungry and homeless residents in Providence.

Dear Parishioners:                                

This week, I will joyfully travel north to Maine, for the Ordination of Bishop-Elect James Ruggieri as the 13th Bishop of Portland. The Ordination Mass is on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. It will be celebrated by Séan Patrick Cardinal O'Malley of Boston in the presence of Christophe Cardinal Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio (ambassador of the Holy See) to the United States. 

Many bishops from the area will attend, as will many priests from Providence and Portland. The Bishop’s family, friends, and parishioners from Rhode Island will also make the trek north for the celebration.

Pope Francis named Bishop Ruggieri, then pastor of St. Michael and St. Patrick Parishes in Providence,  as the 13th Bishop of the Diocese of Portland on February 13, 2024. Bishop Ruggieri grew up in Barrington, RI, where he was trained as an altar boy by Bishop Evans, then a young curate at Holy Angels Church. 

Bishop Ruggieri and Father Healey pose with Bishop Gelineau after their priestly ordination on June 24, 1995

The Bishop and I were ordained priests together on June 24, 1995, at the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul by Bishop Gelineau. He is a holy and humble priest and will be an outstanding shepherd of his flock in Maine. It is a bittersweet moment as we lose such a fine priest of Providence, but it is a happy day for the Bishop and a time of great joy for Portland. 

Our parish has long supported the many good and charitable works at his parishes in Providence. Over the years, we have had food drives and backpack drives and provided outreach efforts in support of the many poor and needy served by his parishes. 

Bishop Ruggieri regularly drove his Food Truck for the poor and hungry throughout Providence. He established St. Patrick's Academy, a Catholic High School for low-income students. Fluent in Spanish, this "Padre," as he is known, is truly a beloved shepherd of his flock in Providence. 

Just a few weeks ago, over 1,000 people gathered at a Farewell Mass for Bishop Ruggieri at the Cathedral in Providence. As a pastor, he has never turned a blind eye to anyone but always sought to help the unborn, the immigrant, the refugee, the addict, the homeless, and the poorest of the poor. He will undoubtedly continue to do so in Maine.

Bishop Ruggieri greeting parishioners at his Farewell Mass.

Although ordained a priest, the bishop-elect will celebrate another degree of the sacrament of holy orders of the Catholic Church. Bishops are ordained to "the fullness of the priesthood." He continues the ministry of charity while taking on the responsibility for governance of the local Church.

At the Ordination Mass, the recitation of the Prayer of Ordination, which dates to the 4th century, officially makes the man over whom it is being prayed a bishop. During the prayer, two deacons hold the open Book of the Gospels over the head of the new bishop to symbolize the principal task of proclaiming and living the Gospel.    The new bishop is then anointed on the head with Sacred Chrism and receives the signs and symbols of his office: The Book of the Gospels and a ring, signifying his union with this local Church and his lifetime commitment as a servant of the Lord. 

He receives a mitre worn by bishops at liturgical functions, a symbol of the wings of the Holy Spirit. He is presented with a crozier (pastoral staff), which looks like a shepherd's crook, symbolizing the bishop as the chief shepherd, protector, and guide of Christ's flock.  All the bishops at the Mass then give the new bishop a Sign of Peace, an embrace that marks the newly ordained bishop's membership in the College of Bishops. The newly ordained and installed bishop then presides for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, his first as bishop of Portland.

Bishop Ruggieri chose "Auspice Maria" as his episcopal motto, "Under the protection of Mary." Pray for Bishop Ruggeri. May our Blessed Mother Mary guide and protect him in his ministry of teaching, governing, and sanctifying the People of God as the Bishop of Portland. Ad multos annos! Gloriosque annos, Vivas! Vivas! Vivas!

Be well. Do good. God Bless. Join us for May Devotions on Monday at 7:00 pm. Saint Francis de Sales said:  "The greatest method of praying is to pray the Rosary."

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