The Pastor’s Pen

The Pastor's Pen

June 21, 2026

Father’s Day:  On this weekend we join with families throughout the nation as we honor our fathers,  grandfathers,  step fathers, god fathers and second fathers, For us as people of faith we best express our love and gratitude through prayer and so we will offer all the Masses on this Sunday for all fathers, living or deceased, and impart a special blessing to the fathers who are present with us at Mass this weekend.
 
 
The Emiliani Project: This weekend, Charles “Chuck” Navarette, a deacon from Oceanside, California, will be visiting us with his wife, Rebecca, and their two children. Rebecca is the daughter of our parishioners, Rick and Lynn Provencher, and the sister of Pete Provencher and his wife, Sarah, who coordinates our Youth Ministry.  Deacon Chuck will be preaching at all the Masses this weekend and introducing us to the Emiliani Project, of which he is a co-founder.  This Project is named in honor of St Gerolamo (Jerome) Emiliani, an Italian layman of the Veneto  region of Italy who was born in 1486 and who died in 1537 after contracting the plague while trying to help care for its from the Veneto region of Italy who was born in 1486 and died in 1537 after contracting the plague while trying to help care for other victims.  This  saint, who was an impious youth, had a conversion experience while serving in the military as a young man and being freed after being held captive, crediting his release to  the intercession of the Mother of God.  Thereafter, Jerome  devoted his life to God and to good works on behalf of others in need, establishing orphanages and hospitals, and even a fraternity of  secular priests, although it is uncertain whether he himself was ever ordained.  St  Jerome Emiliani  is especially venerated for his care of poor,  neglected, or  orphaned children and so has officially  been named their patron saint by the Church.  With this as background, Deacon Chuck will inform us of this  project, which is  named in honor of St Jerome Emiliani because it  seeks to house, feed, and educate poor and  vulnerable children in the region of Medellin, Colombia.  Certainly, it is appropriate as we celebrate Father’s Day to remember those children, many of whom lack a loving father’s presence in their lives, to learn what is being done to help them and consider playing a part in that noble effort.
 
 
On  Prayer for Vocations:  We must face the difficult truth that we ourselves are at risk of becoming fatherless, in the sense  that unless present trends  soon  turn around, it may not be too long before we do  not have a sufficient number of spiritual fathers to serve our parishes and minister the sacraments as priests.  So on this Father’s Day, let us also  pray for our spiritual fathers as well, and each of us  deepen  our commitment  to pray for and promote  vocations to the priesthood!   
 
 
The Time Has Come:  Beginning on the 1st of May, the annual Catholic Appeal opened, and now the official close of that appeal on the 30th of June is drawing near.  Thank you to the households of the parish who have already contributed, and those that have not yet done so are asked to  make their pledge or donation during the coming week. The Catholic faith that we profess is radically communal in its creed and practice, calling us to be in solidarity with our fellow believers  in faith and charity under the authority and with the spiritual guidance of our bishop. Indeed, it is our  bishop appointed by the successor of St Peter, who provides the  essential link that makes us  part of the worldwide Catholic Church.  Thus, the ‘ Local Church” to which we belong cannot be  limited in our understanding  simply to our parish alone  but must  actually  encompass the whole  Diocese of Fall River!  In our name as its members, the Diocese carries out charitable good works and sponsors apostolates,  ministries, and programs that put our Catholic faith into action on a broader scale than any one parish can ever  do on its own.  So, Bishop daCunha asks for our help each year in funding these many good works. Let us respond to his request with loving and generous hearts!
 
 

Let Us  Say Thank You: For better than three decades, Dwight Giddings has been managing the care and maintenance of the buildings and grounds of our parish. While appearing younger than his age, he is past that point at which  most people retire, and so will be stepping down from his long-held full-time position as plant manager  on the 30th of June.  As he does, Dwight  leaves the parish plant with its  many  challenges and  its extensive  grounds in very good shape thanks to his conscientious care and dedication over these many years.  So let us express our gratitude to Dwight  for his good stewardship of what our founding pastor, Monsignor Tosti, and  our original members  have bequeathed to us: a beautiful house of the church in which to worship and adequate  facilities in which our  programs and activities may take place and  to which we may generously  welcome outside groups to enjoy as well.  Thank you, Dwight, for all your  many efforts to maintain these buildings and grounds  in as good a shape or better  than  we have received them; as a community of faith, we will be ever  grateful to you! 

June 14, 2026

A Consecrated Nation.  On Thursday, June 11th, the vigil of the annual feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Bishops of the United States, during Mass at their annual conference, formally consecrated  our nation to the Sacred Heart as we observe the 250th Anniversary of its founding.  Placed in the care of the  all-loving heart of Jesus  Christ behooves us to pray regularly for the Lord’s mercy upon us for our national sins against that  love, including the unjust wars that we have more recently waged  and other assaults on the dignity of human life that have been permitted through abortion on demand, capital punishment, and euthanasia in our country.  May our nation be forgiven for the past and present injustices that result from trends of prejudice, racism, and discrimination that have not yet been completely eradicated from our national life.  May the present persecution cease  of those who live and work among us peacefully and productively, yet who do not yet  possess the right documents. May  those  immigrants incarcerated without criminal cause be released and reunited with their families, as just pathways to citizenship are reopened. May the stranger seeking a better life here, as were our own forebears, again find the welcome  our nation once promised, and the  Lord himself  commands!  Let  us pray for a cleansing of our American culture from all forms of selfishness,  greed, rivalry, immodesty, impurity, vulgarity , indifference, hatred,  division, and every form of violence so that the prayerful wish expressed in our  pledge of allegiance  that we be united  as one nation under God will finally be  a hope fulfilled!   Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, to you we entrust the country we love, its leadership and its inhabitants, transform us by your unconditional, self-sacrificing love into a nation ever more  kind and peaceful and thus ever pleasing in your sight!
 
 

 

Salt and Light:  The gospel readings this past week have been taken from St. Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount, in which  Jesus teaches the Beatitudes as the rules of the Kingdom he came to announce and inaugurate, and asks us to live them not only individually but  collectively, that we as the church may be salt and light in the world.  The implications are that  Christ’s  disciples should not only improve their own lives but those of others as well!   Surely we, as a parish, are trying to accomplish that on a local level as we must through our contributions to the Matthew 25 Fund, which supports the charitable good works of the parish for the relief of the poorer people of the wider Mashpee community.  We do this on a somewhat wider but still local basis as we support the apostolates and ministries of our diocese here in Southeastern Massachusetts through our contributions to the annual Catholic Appeal.  Yet our sights must always be set even further, and that is the case as through our annual almsgiving in the Season of Lent, we support the global outreach of Catholic Relief Services, and more particularly, we support the efforts  of Food for the Poor to see that people of rural Guatemala are more properly housed and enabled to sustain  themselves through agricultural support programs.  Most recently, Dr. Nicholas Matas, who is the liaison for our parish with Food for the Poor, visited Suchitepequez, the village where the proceeds from our Lenten almsgiving over the past two years have been used to help improve life for very impoverished people there.   Our contributions, along with those of a parish in  North Carolina, have thus far helped construct 32  solid homes of cinderblock with cement floors to replace makeshift dwellings with dirt floors built of tree trunks, scrap metal, and old plastic tarps, which offered little protection from scorching heat, torrential rains, or scorpions,  snakes, and other animals.  Surely, like salt, we have brought a new flavor to the lives of those now much more comfortably and safely housed, and in the process, we have, by our generosity, shone the light of Christ’s love to the people there.  We will not be finished until everyone in that village is able to enjoy such a home.  So  let us take heart that although we  as one community of faith cannot  save the world  yet, we are making a huge difference, not only here in the Mashpee area but also for another little rural  village in Central America, just as we did  previously for El Tablon!

National Eucharistic Pilgrimage – One Nation Under God:  The Cabrini Route of the National Eucharistic Procession, being organized as a Catholic element of the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States, will pass through the Fall River area on June 30th.   Information on how to participate, whether that be by walking a leg of the journey or being present in the Cathedral of St Mary at a Mass to be celebrated at noon by  Bishop daCunha, may be found on the Diocesan website or on the flyers available at the church entrances.   Whether in person or in spirit, let us join our fellow Catholics in  the Diocese of Fall River in what is a wonderful  demonstration of faith and its influence for the greater good in our nation.    

June 7, 2026

The  Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ: People often remain ignorant of what truly benefits them, and many, even when they know, don’t do what they should to enhance their health and well-being.   We see this in things like dietary practices, drinking habits, and exercise programs that can either enhance or compromise physical health, yet many, for a variety of reasons, end up choosing  the latter. This is also true of spiritual health, which is an aspect of our human existence that is even easier to ignore, as the effects of neglecting best spiritual practices are  not always as readily evident  as are those relating to physical health.  Yet as with the body, the spirit needs exercise and proper nourishment to remain healthy and strong. Jesus was sent by His Heavenly Father to not only instruct us in what will lead us to salvation ( the Latin root of that word implying health)  but to draw us away from all that could prevent us from knowing it.  Clearly, the Word of God as proclaimed and explained by Jesus is necessary for our spiritual well-being, as it is the main  source of inspiration and also  the chief guide to proper moral thought and action. Without proper  knowledge of God through  Christ‘s teachings, we are spiritually blind and morally dysfunctional.   Yet in addition to all that Jesus reveals about his Father, which is contained in the  scripture to inspire and correct us, the Lord has actually left us the prayer we are to say each day to his  and our own heavenly Father, which should be recited upon arising and retiring each day and ideally at mid-day as well.  Prayer, be it personal or communal as in worship, is a life-giving, spirit-strengthening habit that we ignore to our peril.  Prayer  does not have to be lengthy or time-consuming; it can be as  brief as a reverent reciting of the  Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be  three times each day/  The greatest  prayer is one of thanksgiving ( root word in Greek is Eucharist), in which we should participate communally each Sunday.  Indeed, all the sacraments are blessings, but those that will  best  enable us to  fulfill  our overall task in  life  as those who have become children of God in baptism, which is our Christianization, i.e., our ever  becoming  another Christ in our thoughts, words, attitudes, and actions, are the Sacrament of Penance and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  The review of our lives in light of the Gospel and the Commandments, which a worthy confession requires us to perform, is essential to our ongoing conversion to Christ.  Yet  the food that is truly  Christ’s own  body and blood is the greatest of helps in nourishing and strengthening us to be what we are being called to be and to do what we are being asked to do by Christ. This most  Blessed Sacrament  is  not only life-giving, but it is also death-defying because it is the means of sharing in Christ’s  very life, who has actually conquered death!  Thus, the Eucharist is rightly understood to be the medicine that makes our spirits immortal,  a help unavailable from any other source.   This Sacrament of all Sacraments is  the one to which others lead or from which others  flow, for it contains the  Church’s whole spiritual treasure offered  in a simple wafer of properly consecrated  bread.  It is a food which, unlike other foods, does not become a part of us by our consuming it, but rather enables us to become a part of Christ, thus ever more deeply initiated into the mystery of  his life, death, and resurrection.  Clearly  the Eucharist is much more a necessity than it is a simple nicety, and so one of the more dangerous  of errors to result from the  Reformation of the 16th Century and  one  still perpetuated in various Protestant denominations  to this day  is the denial of the  truth  of the real presence of Christ in the  Eucharist  reinterpreting it as merely a symbol of his presence and thus  confusing and worse  literally excommunicating multitudes of people ever since.  So let us renew our understanding of what is not only good for us spiritually, but actually necessary for our ultimate good.  Therefore, may we never fail  to pray daily, to worship weekly, to hear or read the scriptures regularly, to confess our sins periodically, and to  receive the Eucharist faithfully each  Sunday and more frequently if and when possible!  Let us not neglect to pray for  those who should be at the Lord’s table along with us on Sundays  but who are not, especially the little children whose celebration of First Eucharist is sadly,  through no fault of their own,  their only Eucharist for months or even years at a time thereafter.  May their parents and godparents be healed of their own spiritual blindness to the  neglect of the spiritual welfare  of the young  souls entrusted to their care. On the day they present their children  for baptism, all parents and godparents make a public  promise before God  and those assembled not only to raise their children in the Christian faith but specifically to raise them in the practice of that faith, the basic requirements of which have been outlined  above, and all are  clearly centered on the  celebration and reception of the Eucharist! Those who would make such a solemn promise insincerely  are among  those  most in need of prayers!
 
 

Consecration of the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus:  In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. bishops will consecrate the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on at 1O a.m. on Thursday, June 11th.   The special Mass of consecration will be livestreamed on the USCCB’s YouTube channel. The bishops’ livestream event is intended to be a catalyst to encourage parishes and individuals to participate in the America 250 commemoration.

May 31, 2026

A Matter of Life and Death:  Even at the  risk of  being labeled  “political” by discussing issues here that have become footballs in that arena, I feel I must speak out about matters such as  the plight of migrants, the fate of the unborn, the unacceptable consequences of war, or the easy availability of lethal  assault style weapons. All of these and more are matters of life and death.   I would rightly be accused of being political  if I were so bold as to recommend a specific party or candidate, which I would never do. Yet once candidates are elected to office, the  legislative decisions they make and the policies they implement are not above scrutiny from a moral and religious standpoint.  Faith is not supposed to private, it should matter greatly regarding how we judge the rightness or wrongness of the way society is moving at the moment either through the influence of contemporary trends in thinking or be  the enactment of laws and policies   It is moral matters that happen to  get politicized about which we as a Church have a legitimate concern and are sometimes compelled to speak out  and will  not be intimidated into silence  by those who try to tell us that such  these matters are not really  our business!   So here we go again in the State of Massachusetts, as bills  are presently  before the legislature advocating the legalization of  assisted suicide.  Of course, it won’t be called that because that is just too blunt and thus makes it sound like what it really is, and that is not at all acceptable to many.  So “medical assistance in dying”  is the new slogan because who wouldn’t want medical help if needed in the dying process?  Yet actually asking your doctor to kill you puts you and that doctor in a gravely immoral position!    This step too far will be justified by those who advocate for it as the only compassionate thing to do, and those who oppose them will be cast as those who coldly don’t care about the sufferings of others, but nothing could be further from the truth.   Compassion for the seriously ill and dying is exercised in caring for them, providing them with what they need to be comfortable, and accompanying them on this last leg of life’s journey until it comes to its natural end, not in handing them a lethal dose of drugs to take!  The Church knows well that assisted suicide  is one of the major moral issues concerning human life that can and likely will proceed down a very slippery slope.  Indeed, how long before the right to die when one wants to do so with medical assistance will become the duty to die before extensive care is needed so as not to become a burden on one’s loved ones and society itself?  We know that this world does not generally value people simply because they are fellow human beings, but rather for how they look, what they can do,  how much money they can make, and thus the influence they can wield.   Frail elders,  the seriously ill, the disabled, and the destitute are  those cast to the margins already,  and they will be among the first to feel the pressure, subtle or not, to avoid being a burden on others and society itself.   Once assisted suicide is legal, they  will  get the message that they should stop trying to hang on to life because they are draining insurance company or  social safety net coffers, as they depend on valuable resources and expensive equipment  to stay alive.  Indeed, at first, the very  poor,  the disabled, and the seriously sick and thus dependent will be most vulnerable to being made to feel they are a burden, but then  who will be next?    As Catholic Christians, we believe that human life is of unquestionable  value because it is of divine origin and needs  no other criteria than that  to command our respect,  care, and protection!  While we may have a fair amount to  say about what happens to us between birth and death, the time of our entrance into this world and our departure from it is not in our hands, but God’s!  So let us be unafraid to speak up at this time by contacting our representatives in the State Legislature to tell them we cannot support the legalization of assisted suicide!
 
 
Reminder – Taizé Prayer Service:  A prayer service in honor of the Most Holy Trinity will be held this Sunday evening, May 31st,  at 7 PM at St. John Neumann Church in East Freetown.
 
 
Catholic Appeal:  Thus far, 175 households of the parish have pledged or donated in response  to Bishop DaCunha’s annual request to help him in supporting the apostolates, ministries, agencies, and charities of the Diocese of Fall River, which is the local Church to which we as a parish belong. Please be mindful that the annual Catholic Appeal will close on the 30th of June, so we ask every household to  prayerfully consider giving something as a concrete sign of our unity as Catholics in this region of New England  and our cooperation with the spiritual  shepherd appointed for us by the successor of St. Peter.
 
 

The Sacrament of All Sacraments:  All seven sacraments are important, but in addition to baptism, there is one that is crucial, and that is the Eucharist.  In this sacrament, Christ offers us himself as food in his  life-giving, death-defying body and blood as the means of sanctifying us and strengthening us spiritually for the journey that  leads to God’s kingdom. Next Sunday, June 7th,  we celebrate the annual feast in honor of the Eucharist commonly known as Corpus Christi.  A simple  Eucharistic procession from the main Church to the Chapel will conclude the 10:30 AM Mass, which will be followed by an afternoon of exposition of the  Blessed Sacrament for adoration  until Benediction just  before the 5:30 PM Mass.  This year, we will also be blessed to have a special presentation on  the major Eucharistic Miracles following the 10:30 AM Mass in the parish hall.  This presentation will surely be a source of inspiration to us in our belief as Catholics in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist; plan now to attend!

May 24, 2026

The Feast of Pentecost:  Today, we conclude the 50 days of the Easter Season with the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles at Pentecost. The Paschal Candle, which was  inscribed and lit at the solemn Vigil of Easter and set in a prominent place at the side of the ambo, will be extinguished at the end of all Masses today to symbolize that what was begun 50 days ago has now come to its conclusion.   

 

Why Pledge?:  As the annual Catholic Appeal is now underway and will be continuing  until June 30th, each of us is encouraged to ask ourselves if  we will give and if so, how much we should give.  As we ask those questions, let us be mindful of who it is that is asking and why. Indeed, it is our bishop, the successor to the apostles, by whose presence and ministry here we as a diocese are a spoke in the wheel that is the worldwide  Catholic Church with the successor of Peter at its very center.  The bishop would not ask us to do anything but that which would help us to exercise  our Catholicism as Christian believers so as to be effective witnesses to our faith in this time and place.  In his letter St James, the brother of the Lord,  says, “Show me a faith without works, and I will show you a faith that is dead”.  So  from those earliest days of the church, Christians  have been challenged to practice their faith by believing, worshiping, and then acting in ways that concretely express the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As the “Local Church” is not our parish alone but the  entire diocese, it is on that level that we are also called to give public witness to our faith through good works. Numerous people are employed by the Diocese, or who volunteer  their time and talent to organize and carry out various apostolates, ministries, and services in the name of the Church to serve  the sick, the bereaved, the stranger, the incarcerated, and the poor, yet they could not do that without our financial and spiritual support.  Thus, when we give to the Catholic Appeal, we are uniting ourselves with  our bishop and with other Catholics throughout the diocese as the force of faith and love whose  generosity is the source of  essential support for all the charitable, pastoral, and catechetical activities being accomplished by the Local Church.  If we simply donate now, we will feel the connection at this time, yet perhaps be less than mindful of it the rest of the year.  Yet when we pledge monthly, the connection is all that much more constant throughout the year, and the sacrifice we are making is likely greater and more deeply felt.  So whatever we may  ultimately decide to do, let us take care  not to  excuse ourselves lightly from giving to this  primary  appeal that our bishop makes to us for help each year, and thus be as generous as possible  either through a one-time donation before June 30th or, better yet, a pledge paid in monthly installments throughout the year!  
 

 

Memorial Day:  As the gateway to the summer vacation season, this holiday weekend is a most welcome one each year.   However, when that is the primary emphasis, the true purpose of Memorial Day is easily eclipsed by recreational activities alone, and consequently, seldom does  a cemetery get  visited, nor are veterans especially remembered.  Indeed, this was a day established as Decoration Day to ensure that no grave of any veteran would be left unmarked,  unkept, or without a flag or wreath or some flowers, and most especially for  those who lost their  lives while serving our country.  As we observe the 250th anniversary of our nation, we appreciate that the numbers who have fought and died, beginning with the American Revolution, are far too many to count for sure, but perhaps this year we could remember in prayer the 13 most recent members of our armed forces who have lost their lives in this present conflict with Iran as representative of all those now gone before them.  So this Memorial Day, no matter what else we may do, let us pause to remember that much blood has been shed across two and a half centuries in defense of the freedoms we enjoy as Americans and remember in grateful prayer  those who paid the ultimate  price for the rights and privileges that we sometimes take for granted!
 
 
 
Taize Prayer Service:  A Prayer Service in honor of the Holy Trinity, featuring the chant-style simplicity of the music of the Taize Community, will take place at 7 PM at St. John Neumann Church in East Freetown.  Those who have participated in the past would vouch that this is a simple but profoundly prayerful experience, which is well worth the ride from Mashpee.
 
 
 
Additional Mass for the Vacation Season: The Sunday 7 AM Mass resumes this weekend and will continue through to, and including, the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend.


May 17, 2026

Thou Shalt Not Kill, Except:  The Fifth Commandment is quite straightforward in prohibiting the taking of human life, and when it was first given to Moses on Mount Sinai, it did not contain any exception clauses. The idea is that all life, and especially human life, is the creation and gift of God, and so it is only God who has ultimate authority to both give and take it.  Sadly, history and present-day experience reveal that human beings are still very much in rebellion against divinely set limits, no less than those that were our first parents in the Garden of Eden. Clearly, it is now widely regarded as a right for a mother to take the life of the child in her womb.  States are accorded the right to take the lives of those judged guilty (rightly or wrongly) of certain serious crimes. In many places now, it is legal for an individual to actively end their own lives and to have a doctor assist them when they feel it is no longer worth living due to advanced age or illness.  While all of this may be legal in various states or nations, clearly none of it can ever be declared moral in light of the Law of God.  Yet reflecting upon real-life experience of unjust aggression and lethal violence, the Church has discerned through the ages two acceptable exceptions to the commandment that prohibits the taking of another human life: Self-Defense regarding individuals and Just War regarding states and nations.  Indeed, if I see my neighbor with a loaded gun aiming it toward my family and me in my front yard, then I may fire first if there is no other reasonable way to escape his or her murderous intentions.  However, if my neighbor and I have had a long history of contentious relations and I observe him or her taking a gun catalogue out of their mailbox, I am not then entitled to burn his or her house down with them in it to prevent the possibility of any future violence against me and mine!  This also applies to states and nations; it is only acceptable l  to engage in war when attacked first and then only after every other reasonable effort to resolve a conflict and prevent its escalation into a war has been exhausted.  Preemptive strikes are not considered moral according to the Church’s understanding of Just War as defined by St. Augustine in the early 5th Century and refined by St Thomas Aquinas in the 13th Century.   Indeed, until the 4th century, there was a strong tendency toward pacifism among Christians, yet that became untenable in the face of the brutality of the barbarian invasions after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.  According to the principles of the Just War Theory, it is permissible to fight back when attacked if no diplomatic solution is possible, yet initiating aggressive warfare is condemned; only legitimate defense is ever permissible.  The purpose of fighting back can never be to exact revenge, but rather must be to protect and preserve innocent human life and reestablish peace.  Therefore, for a war to be just, it must have that protection and peace as its primary purposes and have a reasonable hope of success.  It also must obey the law of proportionality, in that the side that was first attacked is not permitted in turn to cause even greater destruction or evil than that to which it is responding. While accepting the tragedy of war as an inescapable reality at times, the Church is also adamant that non-combatants be respected and protected, and destruction of property be limited only to what is unavoidable. So, respecting the long and admirable moral tradition of the Church regarding these exceptions to the commandment not to kill, let us each subject what we know of the recent war in Gaza and now the one in Iran and Lebanon to these essential moral principles to discern whether God’s side is likely that of a President and Prime Minister or is it rather that of the Pope?  Let us continue to pray for an end to war in every form and place and for the dawn of a new day of peace that will last because it is established not by political power alone but primarily by principles of mercy and justice.  Indeed, let us pray as Jesus has taught us, that God’s kingdom of justice, love, and peace come in its final fullness on earth!

 

Early Risers and Golfers Take Note:  Beginning next weekend, which is observed as Memorial Day Weekend this year, the Sunday 7:00 AM Mass will return and be scheduled each Sunday thereafter through the late Spring and Summer up until and including the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend, September.  We are happy to provide this Mass for your convenience, but we also could use the help of some of those who prefer this early Mass to serve as sacristans, ushers, servers, lectors, and Eucharistic Ministers so as not to draw our ministers away from the Masses at which they customarily serve. If you have an interest in serving in any of these essential capacities, please contact the parish office and let us know!      

 

National Eucharistic Procession Comes to Our Diocese:  Processing under the banner of ONE NATION UNDER GOD, the National Eucharistic Procession will stop in our Diocese on its way to Washington DC  for the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the establishment of our independence as a nation. The procession will stop in Easton on June 29th for Adoration from 12 noon to 3;30PM. Then the procession will move to New Bedford later that day for Adoration between 6 PM and 9 PM.  Then on Tuesday, June 30th, the procession will conclude its visit to the Fall River Diocese with adoration from 7 AM to 2 PM in the City of Fall River. Further details are available at http://www.fallriverdiocese.org.  If some would be interested in taking a bus to one of these sessions if it were available, please call the parish office by June 2nd to indicate your interest, and plans will be made to hire a bus (or not) according to the level of response. 

May 10, 2026

A Holy Day of Obligation: This coming Thursday, May 14th, marks 40 days since the First Day of Easter, and so we properly celebrate the Ascension of the Lord on that day, whereas some other Dioceses, including those in Florida, for reasons of convenience, have moved that celebration to the 7th Sunday of Easter. Masses for the Feast of the Ascension will be celebrated on Wednesday, May 13th, at 4 PM and on Thursday, May 14th, at 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM.

 

Mother’s Day -Returning to the Roots of this Special Day: In 1905, following the death of her own mother, who had campaigned to reduce child mortality rates and to heal divisions between families following the Civil War, Anna Jarvis advocated for the establishment of an annual day to honor the sacrifices that mothers make for children. The first Mother’s Day observance was a prayer service in 1908 in the Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, to which Anna Jarvis belonged. By 1914, President Wilson had signed a Congressional Resolution establishing the second Sunday in May to be observed annually as Mother’s Day. Anna Jarvis selected the carnation as the official flower of the day and promoted the custom of wearing a pink or red carnation if one’s mother is still living and a white carnation if she has passed away. In our contemporary times, the day is observed with the sending of cards, flowers, and the giving of gifts, yet Anna Jarvis spent most of her life and a sizable amount of her wealth to fight the commercialization by florists and greeting card companies that rapidly came to dominate the observance of the day. So today, let us return to the roots and prayerfully call to mind the sacrifices our own mothers and perhaps our grandmothers, godmothers, stepmothers, and second mothers have made for us. In remembering them and even before presenting those still living with cards or flowers, let us offer prayers of thanksgiving to God for them, whether they be living or dead. Let us also remember other mothers in addition to our own in prayer, especially single and widowed mothers, and mothers under emotional or financial stress, as they seek to provide for their children. Let us pray for mothers at risk of deportation or those already separated from their children because of immigration policies. Let us pray for the anxious mothers of members of our armed forces as they dread the potential deployment of their sons and daughters to dangerous areas of our troubled world. Let us especially remember the grieving mothers who have lost their children to accident, suicide, violence, war, deadly disease, or substance abuse. Special prayers might also be offered for mothers who must grieve even though their child is still alive, yet perhaps separated from them by alienation or some other painful reason. Indeed, first and foremost, let us make Mother’s Day a day of prayer in appreciation of all mothers whose hearts are so full of love, who are so often anxious for the safety and well-being of their children, no matter their age, or whose hearts are broken by the children with whom they have little or no contact! Let us say, Lord, bless all mothers who by their unconditional and unending love are living signs among us of your own divine, unfailing love for us, Amen!.

 

Crowning an Image of Our Heavenly Mother: It is most appropriate, as we celebrate Mother’s Day, that we honor our heavenly Mother by crowning an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary with a wreath of flowers at the conclusion of the 8:30 AM Mass this weekend. The crowned image will remain in the Sanctuary through the end of the Easter Season at Pentecost and beyond until the 31st of May.

 

The Annual Catholic Appeal; May 1st to June 30th: Once again, we are allowed to express our solidarity in faith and charity with our Bishop and our fellow Catholics throughout Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and the Islands as we support the charitable and pastoral works of the Church in the Diocese of Fall River through our generosity to the Annual Catholic Appeal. This is a concrete way in which to express that we are part of something not only larger than ourselves but also larger than our own parish, as it enables us to join together to be a living sign of the presence and compassion of Christ as we support the good works carried out in our name as Catholics by Bishop daCunha and the various apostolates, agencies and ministries of our Diocese.

May 3, 2026

A Dangerous Mix:  Recently, the  News brought word of a potential massacre that thankfully was thwarted by alert security personnel at the Washington Hilton with the White House Correspondents Dinner and  President Trump and members of his cabinet in attendance t as the apparent  targets.  There is a lot of division over issues and much anger in our country  at this time, and at the same time, the proliferation of guns has not been effectively controlled by  Congressional legislation despite the  horrible mass shootings, particularly in some of  our nation’s schools, that have occurred.  There seems  also to be an increasing tendency toward settling  disputes, be they personal or public,  by violence. On an  international scale, this violence  is exercised as  war, and on a more local or personal level, this is expressed as violence with weapons, especially guns.  Despite all that we have seen, there will be those who are still absolutists when it comes to the right to possess firearms and who will vehemently object to any attempts to  place stricter control on the acquisition of  these.  Yet in defending this right to the extreme, it seems another right, that of assembly, is inevitably curtailed. That is not to say that it is actually intentionally  limited  by law, but rather, consequently, by the rational  fear with which many will now approach gathering with large crowds for any purpose whatsoever!  Indeed, we are now forced to wonder before attending  the sporting event, the concert, the rally, the patriotic fireworks display, or  the holiday parade if this will be the occasion on which someone angry to the point of being deranged plans  to express their rage by opening fire on a large number of people?   Sadly, this is a question that now haunts us whenever we think about participating in  any large gathering  in these troubled  times.  We as Catholics can be part of the solution to this situation as we continue to boldly stand up for the sanctity and thus the protection of all human life, a value that has obviously significantly eroded in our day and age.  Yet we can also  further step up by  challenging  the use of violence in any form, beginning with verbal and moving to that which is physical or armed, as a means of dealing with  those who oppose or hurt us.  This is not the approach of the weak or of fools but actually that of the strong who, from a religious and moral perspective, dare to actually follow Jesus Christ, who counseled us to love even our enemies, to offer no resistance, and to turn the other cheek!  While it is certainly political from present-day perspectives, it is nonetheless also a moral obligation from a religious stance as Christians to speak up against the all too easy availability of guns in general, and especially  against  access to military-style assault weapons by civilians. The expression of this serious concern to those in positions of  power should stem not only  from a genuine concern for our own safety but also that of many others besides.  Lastly, let us as Christians, not neglect to  pray for those who have had their lives so unjustly  stolen from them because they were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time on a  day when an angry individual decided to go to that location to  make a statement, not with  persuasive words but  with the murderous misuse of a gun!. In the decade ending in 2024, for which statistics are now  available,  5,200 people were killed in  the United States in incidents of mass shootings, defined as those  in which  4 or more people are shot. Through prayer, moral teaching, and advocacy, may we as Catholics join other people  of goodwill in efforts to  bring  the occurrence of such unnecessary tragedies to an end in this land!
 
 

Steps Along the Path to Full Initiation into  Christian Life:  On this Sunday, those young people who have been preparing through our Faith Formation Program  receive Holy  Communion  for the first time.   On Friday evening, those who have been preparing were Confirmed with the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands and the anointing with Chrism by Bishop DaCunha.  Both of these sacraments further initiate the recipients into the Body of Christ, which is the Church, and thus further fulfill what was begun at  their Baptism.  Peryers are asked from the whole Community of Faith  that those who receive these sacraments, and their parents and godparents who brought them to these special  milestones along the path of Christian Initiation, will realize that these are but a beginning, not an end, of  their participation in the life of the Church.  Those responsible for bringing children  for baptism are all  asked if they would raise them  “in the practice of the faith,” to which they must give an affirmative response. May they do so with the understanding that the “practice of the faith” cannot be reduced to calling oneself a Christian, or “being nice”  because you identify as one.  Rather, the actual practice of the faith entails regularly  worshipping God in Christ each Sunday  at Mass, where  God’s Word is heard, and the Sacrament of the Eucharist is received.  Thus,  strengthened by what has been heard and received, the Christian is meant to go out to put faith into action in the situations they face in  daily life, and when one fails to do so,  those failings should be confessed and absolved in the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and penance should be done to start anew.  Thus, the irrepealable Sacraments of Initiation,  Baptism and Confirmation are meant to set us  into a pattern of life in  which we regularly  participate in the repeatable sacraments of  Eucharist and Reconciliation, which will then assist us to faithfully live out our commitments in the  Sacraments of Vocation, which are Matrimony and Holy Orders, which ideally are also meant to be irrepealable.  This is the authentic  practice of the Christian faith!