Yesterday's strong winds blew down the Our Lady of Mercy Church sign!!
The OLM School Walkathon, which was held on Thursday, October 10, raised over $11,700, which will 
benefit a variety of enrichment programs during the school year. Students in Grades Pre-K through 2 walked just under a mile around the immediate church/school property while the older students did a two mile walk down Post Road, to Cedar and Kenyon Roads and then back to OLM via First Avenue. Students collected pledges from family and friends, with prizes being awarded to the top pledge-earners in each grade. Those winners included: Harrison Kairnes (PK), Sawyer VanFlatern (K), Jack Colgan (1), Michael Mita (2), Austin Kairnes (3), Madison Abood (4), Allison Lombardi (5), Bradley Lombardi (6), Anna Molnar (7) and Grace Lombardi (8). Mrs. Ryan’s Second Grade Class and Mrs. 
Impagliazzo’s Seventh Grade were the lucky recipients of a pizza party for the classrooms raising the most money in pledges. Providence College’s Friar Mascot was on hand to give the students high fives before they set off on their walk. Upon returning to school, students were treated to an outdoor awards assembly with music and even some impromptu juggling by Associate Pastor Father Ryan Connors. A grand prize raffle drawing was held with two lucky winners: Bradley Lombardi (7th grade) won a Movie Theater Family Pack while Kindergartener Livia Passananti won a brand new Kindle by Amazon. Funds raised each year by the OLM PTG-sponsored events like the Walkathon and the annual Spring Fling Auction, are used for various enrichment opportunities like the Art Masters Program, robotics, CAL sports and more. This past summer, each OLM teacher received laptops for use in the 
classroom, thanks to PTG funds. In addition, teachers in Grades K-5 are now incorporating innovative, hands-on science kits into their curriculums, again, thanks to funds raised by the OLM Parent Teacher Group.
October DevotionsMondays at 7:00PM
Join us for Rosary with Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament and Spiritual Talk.
Monday, October 21st Why the Immaculate Conception Matters—Fr. Joseph Upton, Chaplain, The Prout School & Associate Pastor of St Francis, Wakefield
Monday, October 28th Devotion to Mary and the Assumption—Fr Michael O'Connor, OP Adjunct Professor at Providence College
Feast of Our Lady of MercyTuesday, September 24th Mass at 7:30AM
Join us as we celebrate our Parish Patronal Feast!
The Most Reverend Thomas J. Tobin, Bishop of Providence, has appointed Father Ryan Connors as the new Associate Pastor at Our Lady of Mercy Church effective July 1, 2013. Father Connors will replace Father Shemek who was recently appointed Pastor of St. Christopher and St. Theresa Parishes in 
Tiverton. Father Connors is a native of Riverside who graduated from Bishop Hendricken High School and Boston College. Father Connors was ordained last June by Bishop Tobin and is currently completing his advanced theological studies in Rome. He will begin his new assignment on July 1st! . We give a warm welcome to Father Connors!
First Annivesary Mass in Memory of Monsignor John W. Lolio
Monday, May 6 9:00AM Our Lady of Mercy Church East Greenwich, Rhode Island
The Most Reverend Robert C. Evans Auxiliary Bishop of Providence Celebrant and Homilist
Born into Life: January 28, 1944 Born into Eternal Life: May 6, 2012 Ordained a Priest: May 23, 1970 Pastor of Our Lady of Mercy Church 1992-2012
Dear Parishioners:
While we are disappointed that our own Father Shemek is moving on from Our Lady of Mercy in July, we must also offer our congratulations to him on being named Pastor of St. Christopher and St. Theresa Parishes in Tiverton. I know that Bishop Tobin has expressed his great confidence in Father Shemek in giving him such an assignment. Many parishioners told me how they shall miss Father 
Shemek but that they understand that he is getting a promotion with his appointment as pastor. I too shall miss him as it has been truly enjoyable to live and work with him over the last year. He and I have never had a cross word with one another and have truly enjoyed getting to learn about Our Lady of Mercy together. Father Shemek continues to serve at Our Lady of Mercy until the end of June and we will have an opportunity to officially bid him “Farewell” and offer our thanks before he leaves. Bishop has assured me that Our Lady of Mercy is to receive another Assistant Pastor to replace Fr. Shemek. In the meantime, let’s enjoy our time with Father Shemek!
This week the RI Catholic listed the seventeen new pastor assignments made by Bishop Tobin including Father Shemek’s appointment to Tiverton. We have had many pastors retire in the Diocese and so new pastors are needed to replace them. Only two young men are to be ordained to the priesthood this year for our Diocese. Father Bert Theroux the Pastor at our neighboring parish of St. Francis de Sales in North Kingstown is retiring this June. Last month their Assistant Pastor, Father Andrew Messina, was named Pastor of St. Timothy in Warwick and was not replaced. So St. Francis is to become a one priest parish. So please pray for an increase of vocations to the priesthood!
In your name I offer congratulations to the OLM School Science Olympiad Team who captured their 6th State Title last weekend defeating Barrington Middle School. Full details about the event are in the school news section of the bulletin. We can all help support the team next weekend as they host a Bake Sale to help defray the cost of traveling to Ohio for the National Competition. I hope you are able to help them by buying some tasty homemade treats next weekend. The Bake Sale is to take place after all Masses, so please be prepared to help support this outstanding team. We are certainly very proud of our OLM School Science Olympiad Team for such a great job by the students and coaches. Next weekend we can wish them good luck in the Nationals and help ensure they can make the trip all the way to Ohio to represent Rhode Island!
Like many of you, I continue to follow the news surrounding the Patriots’ Day Attack in Boston last week. This horrific evil resulted in the deaths of four people with many more severely injured some losing their limbs. Of course, we were all left asking why? Why would people commit such an evil act? It is difficult to comprehend any answer and even more difficult if we fail to search for such without our Catholic Faith. Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston offered a fine reflection on this horrific evil in his Good Shepherd Sunday homily last weekend (I’ve posted it on the parish website). He states in his powerful homily that “it is very difficult to understand what was going on in the young men’s minds, what demons were operative, what ideologies or politics or the perversion of their religion. It was amazing to witness, however, how much goodness and generosity were evidenced in our community as a result of the tragic events they perpetrated.”
One of our OLM Families presented me with a wristband last week after Mass. It is yellow and blue, the Boston Marathon colors and reads: “Combat evil with good”—Pope Francis, Boston 2013. Their son ran the Marathon and was inspired by the Pope’s words to the people of Boston. May we too be inspired to combat evil with good! God Bless.
We welcome with great joy newly ordained Deacon John Dowd to Our Lady of Mercy Parish. Bishop Tobin has assigned Deacon Dowd to serve our parish. Welcome Deacon John Dowd! Pictured below is Deacon John and his wife of 37 years, Cathleen with Bishop Tobin on Ordination Day.
BY SEAN CONTI
(EAST GREENWICH)-Saturday, November 10, the Our Lady of Mercy Youth Group and Confirmation class took the daunting task of raking leaves in the community. Our homebound parishioners were the focus of our efforts and the entire group was excited to participate and offer a helping hand. Those who partook in Saturday’s event gave up their Saturday morning knowing it was for a great cause. The OLM Youth Group and Confirmation class were not the only ones who helped the home bound parishioners.
A few Knights of Columbus, teachers, and parents, under the guide of Father Shemek, also helped in Saturday’s event. The parishioners seemed overjoyed with the amount of support that the OLM Church provided. Overall, it was a rewarding experience for all of those who partook in the activity, made new friends, and helped the community.
[fsg_gallery id="1"]
Dear Parishioners: It was a great first week of school as children across the state returned to classes. Here at OLM we began the week with a Mass for our OLM School Faculty and then Wednesday morning the children made their way back to school. This coming Friday at 9:00AM we celebrate a Mass of the Holy Spirit as we officially open the academic year for OLM School. This is a parish celebration so I hope you might consider joining our OLM students, faculty, staff and parents as we call upon the Holy Spirit to guide us during this year. If you cannot attend, then please offer a prayer for all students and teachers and ask the Holy Spirit to guide them to grow in wisdom, faith, hope and love.
The response to the upcoming Parish Picnic on September 23 has been truly overwhelming! Father Shemek and his Committee continue to grow as does the number of people who say they are coming. We hope to get a big tent and ask you to bring your own picnic food, drinks and supplies along with some beach chairs and small tables! A table of homemade baked goods, some arts and crafts and 
games for kids and even Pony Rides are all part of the day! A few parish pessimists have asked what happens in case of rain! Well, start praying there is no rain at all and we won’t have to cancel! Here’s a prayer I picked up in New Orleans last year to avert hurricanes and it works! Let us pray it over the next couple of weeks: “Father, all the elements of nature obey your command. Calm the storms and hurricanes that threaten us and our parish picnic. Turn our fear of your power into praise of your goodness. Grant this through Christ our Lord. ”
Father Shemek is looking for some high school students to help him with the Parish Picnic. He needs help canvassing the neighborhood to invite our neighbors to the Picnic as our guests and also with some activities on the day of the Picnic. If you are in high school, and are willing to smile and lend a helping hand then call Father Shemek at the Parish Office. He hopes to soon get a Youth Group up and running so we can plan some exciting activities. Also he is planning for an OLM Youth Mission Trip. Let him know if you are interested!
Next week Father John Kiley joins us at OLM to preach on the Senior Priest Retirement Fund Collection. The collection is scheduled for September 15/16 and is an important source of funding the retirement of our Senior Priests. Father Kiley, a retired Pastor and distinguished Senior Priest, will preach at all the Masses and share more information about this very critical collection for the priests of the Diocese. In full disclosure, Father Shemek and I would also benefit from this fund in a few decades!
In their Labor Day Statement the U.S. Bishops reaffirm the Church’s beautiful teaching on the dignity of work and the rights of workers and remind us: “This Labor Day, our country continues to struggle with a broken economy. As people of faith, we are called to stand with those left behind, offer our solidarity, and join forces with "the least of these" to help meet their basic needs.” Let us pray for all workers especially the unemployed. God Bless. Happy Labor Day!
Dear Parishioners: In your name, I welcome Father Eric Bennett to Our Lady of Mercy this weekend. Father joins us at the 5:00PM Vigil to offer a Mass of Thanksgiving with his home parish. A newly ordained priest of the Archdiocese of Boston, Father Bennett’s priestly vocation was nourished and guided by his parents, family and the parish of OLM over the years and so he returns to give thanks to God for the great gift of the priesthood. What a great occasion for our parish family to celebrate and give thanks to God! Welcome Father Bennett, ad multos annos!
Last Sunday I attended the Feast Day Mass at St. Rocco Parish in Johnston at which my good friend, Father Angelo Carusi, was installed by Bishop Evans as the new Pastor. After over a hundred years of pastoral leadership by the Scalabrinian Fathers, Father Carusi is the first Diocesan Priest to serve as Pastor at St. Rocco . Sunday was the culmination of the Feast Week complete with a Procession with the statue of St. Rocco around the village of Thornton. There were carnival rides, tents with lots of delicious Italian delicacies like tripe, sausage and peppers, meatballs, pasta, eggplant, gelato, and some great dough boys. It was a true festival of faith and parish family. We too have a parish feast coming up on September 24th, the Feast of Our Lady of Mercy. In honor of our Patroness we will have our own mini-festival on Sunday, September 23rd with a Family Picnic. Make sure you mark your calendar and come to this great event for our parish family!
Wednesday is the first day of school! It’s hard to believe but this week we welcome back our students and faculty to OLM School! Where did the summer go? We begin the week with a Mass and luncheon for our teachers and staff on Monday and then look forward to seeing the school children return to school midweek. I’m sure some of our students are also wondering where summer went but without a doubt they are soon enough going to get into the swing of things . We welcome back all of our OLM students, teachers and staff and pledge to keep them in our prayers for a great year of learning and growing in wisdom, faith and love. May God bless, guide and protect them throughout the year! The renovations of the Rectory living quarters continue but Father Shemek and I hope to very soon unpack our boxes completely and move into our rooms. A new phone system has been installed in the Rectory which makes communication with the office staff and your parish priests much easier and more efficient. The parish webpage launches this week too! Have a great week. Welcome back to the school year! God Bless. Forget the Sox, Go Pats!
You’re invited to the 1st Annual
OLM FAMILY PARISH PICNIC
On the Grounds of Our Lady of Mercy
Sunday, September 23rd
Noon-5:00p.m.
Fun for the whole family!
Your help is needed! Are you interested in being part of the planning team for this special parish event? If you are ready and willing to help, please contact Fr. Shemek at frshemek@gmail.com or call the Parish Office at 884-4968. Join Father Healey and Father Shemek as we get to know our parish family! First Planning meeting will be Sunday, August 12th at Noon in the Rectory Meeting Room. Hope to see you there!
WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!