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Diocese of Fall River, Mass.

Friday, April 7, 2017

He is Risen!

(Photo by Dave Jolivet)

‘Everything stopped, and I was in the Light’

By Dave Jolivet Anchor Editor davejolivet@anchornews.org

FALL RIVER — Shortly before Christ fulfilled His Salvific mission on earth, He preached, “I am the Light of the world. No follower of Mine shall ever walk in darkness; no he shall possess the light of life” ( Jn 8:12).

Ironically, one of Christ’s most ardent evangelists following His death and Resurrection, St. Paul, was converted after encountering “a flash of light from Heaven.” The entire Lenten season leading up to the joy of the Easter season is the journey to the Light.

Through his encounter with the Light, St. Paul emerged from the darkness of persecuting Christ’s followers to bringing others into His fold.

Paul came to see the Light, not with his mind but with a transformation of heart and soul.

Each year, through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults program, many people take the journey toward the Light by learning about the Catholic faith and making the bold commitment to become full members of the Church. For many, that journey leads them to Baptism and/or receiving the Sacraments of Holy Communion and Confirmation at the Easter Vigil Mass: a conversion of the heart and soul.

It’s not a culmination of the journey, it’s the beginning of the next phase of their Spiritual lives.

“It is such a joy to welcome these faithful people into the Church and the Diocese of Fall River,” Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., told The Anchor.

“We are so happy and proud of them and happy to be part of their faith lives, and we want them to know that we’ll continue to walk their journey with them, through the joys and sorrows.”

Deacon Bruce Bonneau, assistant director of Adult Evangelization and Spirituality, was especially pleased with the number of people who have chosen to become members of the Church this year. “Several weeks back, at the Rite of Election at St. Mary’s Cathedral, the church was virtually filled with candidates, catechumens, sponsors, parishioners and Turn to page five

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., issues pastoral letter, ‘Rebuilding in Faith and Love.’

Pullout section, pages 9-16.

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La Salette Shrine wins unanimous decision in property tax appeal

By Kenneth J. Souza Anchor Staff kensouza@anchornews.org

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette will not have to pay taxes to the City of Attleboro for property where its welcome center, shrine and maintenance buildings are located, according to a unanimous ruling issued by the Supreme Judicial Court in Boston on March 21.

The court, however,

decided that the shrine would have to pay taxes on two portions of its nearly 200-acre campus that have been deemed to be for “non-religious” use — a large tract of conservation land to which the Massachusetts Audubon Society was recently granted exclusive easement rights and the Abundant Hope Pregnancy Resource Center, a Pro-Life ministry leased to and operated by an outside non-profit group.

This important Supreme Judicial Court ruling effectively reverses the previous City of Attleboro’s assessors’ taxation determination and a subsequent Appellate Tax Board’s ruling that portions of the La Salette property that were not specifically used for worship could be taxed.

“I am very happy with the result because it is an exciting decision that favors the shrine and the Catholic Church in general,” said Father Cyriac

Mattathilanickal, M.S., retreat director at La Salette Shrine. “I think the shrine, the Church, the diocese, and all religious denominations benefit as well.

Part of the excitement is at least the court recognizes that facilities that are extensively used for religious worship and instruction should be tax exempt. All of the activities that we do and the use of the different places (here at the shrine) are connected to the work that we do.”

The decision ends a nearly five-year long legal battle that began with a 2013 tax bill for $92,000 that La Salette disputed.

The Attleboro assessors would only exempt the chapel, retreat house and parsonage structures on the La Salette property from taxes for that year, along with 60 percent of the other property on the grounds such as its cafeteria and bistro operations.

The town maintained that four parts of the La Salette campus — including its welcome center, maintenance shed, as well as the wildlife refuge and women’s shelter — should be taxed because they were used for non-religious purposes. They assessed the full value of the campus at about $13 million, of which about $5 million was taxable.

When the state Appellate Tax Board likewise upheld the local assessors’ decision, the shrine ultimately took its appeal to the state’s highest court, which originally heard oral arguments on the case April 5, 2016.

A second round of arguments was made before six of the seven members of the SJC on Dec. 5, 2016 in Boston, which resulted in the final decision in La Salette’s favor.

“The vast majority of the shrine will be tax-exempt,” explained attorney Diane C. Tillotson, who represented La Salette Shrine during the appeal.

“But the roughly 100 acres of conservation land would not be exempt because the Audubon Society holds the conservation restriction over that property — which essentially gave the Audubon Society complete Turn to page 22

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The Anchor - April 7, 2017

Deacon Lawrence D. St. Pierre

ATTLEBORO — Deacon Lawrence David St. Pierre, 67, a lifelong resident of Attleboro, passed away at home surrounded by his loving family on Monday, March 20. He is survived by his wife Donna Jean (Priestman) St. Pierre of Attleboro.

Born on Feb. 18, 1950 in Attleboro, he was a son of Douglas H. and Lorraine (Bussiere) St. Pierre, both of Attleboro.

St. Pierre was a graduate of Attleboro High School and then attended Bridgewater State College where he received a bachelor’s degree in history. He was employed as a customer care specialist for Transamerica in Norwood for more than 17 years.

He was very involved with the community he lived in. He was an assistant Scout Master for Troop 37, Attleboro, Anawan Council; camp chaplain for Camp Yawgoog, R.I.; founder and past president of Attleboro Land Trust, board of director for Habitat

for Humanity, member of the Attleboro Historical Society, on the Attleboro Zoning Board, former Attleboro city councilman, past president and member of the Attleboro Jaycees. St. Pierre also ran for Mayor of Attleboro and campaigned for Jimmy Carter’s and John F. Kennedy’s presidential runs.

His Church was also an important part of his life.

In 2013, he was ordained as a permanent deacon in the Catholic Church. He also served on the Parish Council at the St. Vincent de Paul Parish, was a member of the Knights of Columbus, and a member of the La Salette Lay Associates.

He was an avid Red Sox fan, antique collector and he enjoyed reading books.

In addition to his wife and parents, St. Pierre

is survived by his son, Joshua St. Pierre of Attleboro; his siblings, Linda St. Pierre of Attleboro; Sharon Ponce and her husband Nefta of Pascoag, R.I.; Diane Gilberti and her husband Cosmo of Westford; David St. Pierre and his wife Pat of North Attleboro and Michael St. Pierre and his wife Elizabeth of North Attleboro; numerous nieces and nephews and his godmother, Elaine Valade of Attleboro.

He was a brother of the late Steven St. Pierre.

A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated March 24 at St. Vincent de Paul Parish. Burial followed in St. John’s Cemetery, Attleboro.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to the St. Vincent de Paul Parish for support of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, St. Joseph’s Food Cellar or Operation Christmas Child. Please declare your choice of support in memo.

Funeral arrangements were entrusted to the Duffy-Poule Funeral Home, Attleboro.

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‘Everything stopped, and I was in the Light’ continued from page one

priests,” he said. The rite provides people with the opportunity to express publicly their intentions to become members of the Church.

“The numbers have nearly doubled over the last few years, and more and more parishes are becoming active and involved in the RCIA process; which is good because more and more people are expressing an interest in joining the Church.”

Deacon Bonneau told The Anchor that the Easter Vigil service is not only uplifting and joyful for those entering the Church, but for the local Church family as well.

“It takes much humility to stand up and express one’s commitment to Christ,” he said. “It leaves a mark on the parishes.”

While the process teaches the fundamentals of the Catholic Church, Deacon Bonneau stressed the RICA process is more about a “transformation of hearts.

It’s an invitation from God, through others, to embrace the joy of a life-changing experience, one of purification and enlightenment.”

He added, “Like all Catholics during Lent and Easter, these individuals are buried with Christ and rise to new life with Him.” Deacon Bonneau was blessed to have caught a rare

glimpse of the inner lifechanging effects of a new member of the Church.

Several years back he was participating in the Easter Vigil rite welcoming new members of Christ’s Church.

“The church was in darkness as we processed with the Easter candle,” he said. “The congregation received their flame from it. The church, once in darkness, was now transformed into the light of Christ by one single flame.

“Three to be baptized stood radiant in that light.

One of those was a woman in her late 20s; a wife and a worker, who had been preparing for that moment for more than a year.

“Just before the ceremony, she whispered to me, ‘I’m not sure this is the beginning of my life, but I know now it is truly a part of my life.’ I wondered to myself if I had ever or could ever express my faith with such conviction.”

Over the next few years Deacon Bonneau baptized two of her children. He later received a call from the woman’s mother indicating her daughter was gravely ill with cancer in the hospital.

Deacon Bonneau visited with her, praying with her and her family; sharing Scripture; petitions of hope, consolation and fear; and the Eucharist.

When everyone had left, Deacon Bonneau spent several hours sharing her fears, the future for her family, and what death would be like.

“We talked for hours and then it just ended; we were all talked out. It was a gentle pause, a Sacred silence, a peaceful moment when there is nothing left to say and words are inadequate.

“Then she looked at me and said, ‘This is what it was like that night.’ I questioned what she meant. She said, ‘That Easter night when I stood before the candle, and the smoke and the incense was all around me. Everything stopped, and I was in the Light.’

“I thought to myself, ‘This is someone who gets it.’”

The woman died the following week. “She had one request for me,” the deacon added. “She wanted the small baptismal candle she received years earlier at the Easter Vigil to burn next to the Easter candle at her funeral.”

Deacon Bonneau told The Anchor that the peaceful pauses and silence in the hospital room and the one at the Easter Vigil were one and same, and she made the connection; one that few seldom do.

The RCIA candidates who will be received into full membership with Christ’s Church this Easter Vigil, and all Catholics, will share in the joy and Light of the Resurrection. Perhaps some

more than others.

“The space that allows for a wider way of life; a stillness that breathes new life into old patterns; it is the mystery that God is creating so much more, something new, something good. All we need to do, no matter how long we have been in the Church, is stay still and experience it,” said Deacon Bonneau.

“This Easter our new members of the Church and all of us will share the joy and enthusiasm that fills hearts and lives through receiving the Sacraments; fulfilling the need to be nourished,” said Bishop da Cunha. “The Light of joy and faith will not be diminished, but will burn brightly in everyone, during and past the Easter season.”

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Anchor Editorial

Hope never disappoints

Beginning last December 7, Pope Francis has been giving a series of talks at his weekly Wednesday general audiences on the theme of Christian hope. In the inaugural talk back on Pearl Harbor Day, he said, “Christian hope is very important, because hope never disappoints.

Optimism disappoints, but hope does not! We have such need, in these times which appear dark, in which we sometimes feel disoriented at the evil and violence which surrounds us, at the distress of so many of our brothers and sisters. We need hope! We feel disoriented and even rather discouraged, because we are powerless and it seems this darkness will never end.”

It might be a good meditation to read these talks (the 17th of which the Holy Father delivered this week) in conjunction with Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha’s first pastoral letter to us, “Rebuilding in Faith and Hope,” which you can read in this edition of The Anchor.

Pope Francis, after noting the dim picture of the world around us, said, “We must not let hope abandon us, because God, with His love, walks with us. ‘I hope, because God is beside me’: we can all say this. Each one of us can say: ‘I hope, I have hope, because God walks with me.’ He walks and He holds my hand. God does not leave us to ourselves. The Lord Jesus has conquered evil and has opened the path of life for us.”

Since the Holy Father was speaking in Advent, he made reference to John the Baptist’s time in the desert: “Life is often a desert, it is difficult to walk in life, but if we trust in God it can become beautiful and wide as a highway. Just never lose hope, just continue to believe, always, in spite of everything. It is the little ones with God, with Jesus, who transform the desert of exile, of desperation and loneliness, of suffering, into a level plain on which to walk in order to encounter the glory of the Lord. Let us be confident as we await the coming of the Lord, and what the desert may represent in our life — each one knows what desert he or she is walking in — it will become a garden in bloom. Hope does not disappoint!”

What the pontiff said then ties in well with what our bishop urged us to do towards the end of his pastoral letter: “As we seek to rebuild the Church — materially and Spiritually — we embrace a ‘theology of abundance’ which reminds us that God has given us everything we need to cultivate, water and plant the seeds of growth in our diocese.” SS. Martha and Mary embraced this theology in the Gospel we heard last Sunday ( Jn 11:1-45), when they demanded that Jesus do something for their brother Lazarus, even though he was already dead.

The sisters in Bethany did not limit themselves to asking for what seemed possible. Due to their having spent time listening to the Lord OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER www.anchornews.org

Vol. 61, No. 7

Member: Catholic Press Association Published bi-weekly by the Catholic Press of the Diocese of Fall River, 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, MA 02720, Telephone 508-675-7151 — FAX 508-675-7048, email: theanchor@anchornews.org. Subscription price by mail, postpaid $20.00 per year, for U.S. addresses.

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PUBLISHER - Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. EXECUTIVE EDITOR Father Richard D. Wilson fatherwilson@anchornews.org EDITOR David B. Jolivet davejolivet@anchornews.org ADVERTISING Wayne R. Powers waynepowers@anchornews.org REPORTER Kenneth J. Souza k ensouza@anchornews.org REPORTER Rebecca Aubut beckyaubut@anchornews.org Send Letters to the Editor to: fatherwilson@anchornews.org

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The Anchor - April 7, 2017

(Mary always did this, Martha learned to do this after Jesus corrected her when she complained about Mary not helping in the kitchen), they had “come to believe” that Jesus was the Son of God and that He could bring the dead back to life. We need to have this type of Christian hope as we work together in faith and hope to rebuild our diocese. We cannot be like the donkey Eeyore from the Winnie the Pooh books, always pessimistic. However, we also are not called to be Pollyannas, who merely have optimism, which is not rooted in Christian hope, the hope rooted in the cross and the Resurrection.

In his second talk on hope (Dec. 14, 2016), the pope said, “God has not abandoned His people, and He has not left them to be vanquished by evil, because He is faithful, and His grace is greater than sin. We must learn this, because we are stubborn and do not learn. However, I ask: what is greater, God or sin? God! And which is victorious to the end? God or sin? God. Is He able to defeat the most serious, most shameful, the most terrible sin, the worst of sins? With what weapon does God defeat sin? With love! This means that ‘God reigns’; these are the words of faith in a Lord Whose power bends down to humanity, stoops down, to offer mercy and to free man and woman from all that disfigures in them the beautiful image of God, for when we are in sin, God’s image is disfigured.” To rebuild our diocese in faith and hope requires humility on our part, realizing that we need to turn away from our sinfulness so that we can collaborate in God’s plan here in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Pope Francis continued, “The fulfillment of so much love will be the very Kingdom instituted by Jesus, that Kingdom of forgiveness and peace which we celebrate at Christmas, and which is definitively achieved at Easter. And the most beautiful joy of Christmas is that interior joy of peace: the Lord has remitted my sins, the Lord has forgiven me, the Lord has had mercy on me, He came to save me. This is the joy of Christmas! These are, brothers and sisters, the reasons for our hope.

When everything seems finished, when, faced with many negative realities, and faith becomes demanding, and there comes the temptation which says that nothing makes sense anymore, behold instead the beautiful news brought by those swift feet (cf. Isa 52:7): God is coming to fulfill something new, to establish a Kingdom of peace. God has ‘bared His arm’ and comes to bring freedom and consolation. Evil will not triumph forever; there is an end to suffering. Despair is defeated because God is among us.”

Let us roll up our sleeves along with God and begin the work of rebuilding, always rooted in faith and hope.

Daily Readings April 8 — April 21

Upcoming Daily Readings: Sat. April 8, Ez 37:21-28; (Ps) Jer 31:10-13; Jn 11:45-56. Sun. April 9, Palm Sunday, Procession: Mt 21:1-11. Mass: Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9,17-20,23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Mt 26:14—27:66 or 27:11-54. Mon. April 10, Is 42:1-7; Ps 27:1-3,13-14; Jn 12:1-11. Chrism Mass: Is 61:1-3a,6a,8b-9; Ps 89:2122,25,27; Rv 1:5-8; Lk 4:16-21. Tues. April 11, Is 49:1-6; Ps 71:1-4a,5-6ab,15,17; Jn 13:21-33,36-38. Wed. April 12, Is 50:4-9a; Ps 69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34; Mt 26:14-25. Thurs. April 13, Holy Thursday, Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper: Ex 12:1-8,11-14; Ps 116:12-13,15-16bc,17-18; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Jn 13:1-15. Fri. April 14, Good Friday, Mass is not celebrated today. Celebration of the Lord’s Passion: Is 52:13—53:12; Ps 31:2,6,12-13,15-17,25; Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-9; Jn 18:1—9:42.

Sat. April 15, Holy Saturday, Readings for the Easter Vigil, which is an Easter Sunday Mass: Gn 1:1—2:2 or 1:1,26-31a; Ps 104:1-2,5-6,10,12-14,24,35 or Ps 33:4-7,12-13,20-22; (2) Gn 22:1-18 or 22:1-2,9a,10-13, 1518; Ps 16:5,8-11; (3) Ex 14:15—15:1; (Ps) Ex 15:1-6,17-18; (4) Is 54:5-14; Ps 30:2,4-6,11-12,13b; (5) Is 55:111; (Ps) Is 12:2-3,4-6; (6) Bar 3:9-15,32—4:4; Ps 19:8-11; (7) Ez 36:16-17a,18-28; Ps 42:3,5;43:3-4, or when Baptism is celebrated, (Ps) Is 12:2-3,4bcd,5-6 or Ps 51:12-15,18-19; (8) Rom 6:3-11; Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; (9) Mt 28:1-10. Sun. April 16, Easter Sunday, Acts 10:34a,37-43; Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; Col 3:1-4 or 1 Cor 5:6b-8; Sequence Victimae Paschali Laudes; Jn 20:1-9 or Mt 28:1-10 or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35. Mon. April 17, Acts 2:14,22-33; Ps 16:1-2a,5,7-11; Mt 28:8-15. Tues. April 18, Acts 2:36-41; Ps 33:4-5, 18-20,22; Jn 20:11-18. Wed. April 19, Acts 3:1-10; Ps 105:1-4,6-9; Lk 24:13-35. Thurs. April 20, Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8:2ab,5-9; Lk 24:35-48. Fri. April 21, Acts 4:1-12; Ps 118:1-2,4, 22-27a; Jn 21:1-14.

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s authentic Marian apparitions go, many of the aspects of Our Lady’s appearances to the three shepherd children in Fatima a century ago seem commonplace: Mary asks the seers to pray and do penance for the conversion of sinners, calls them to daily devotion to the Rosary, advocates for peace in the world, requests the children to return on specific dates, and even entrusts them with secrets.

What has never ceased to surprise me, on the other hand, is what she revealed to the children after she had showed them a very vivid vision of hell.

The sight of “demons and souls in human form” with “shrieks and groans of pain and despair” was so terrifying that, Lucy wrote later, had Our Lady not earlier promised them that she would one day take them to Heaven, they “would have died of fear and terror” on the spot.

Mary said to them, “You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go,” a clear indication that hell is a real possibility of human freedom and doesn’t seem to be empty.

“To save them, God wishes,” she continued, and told them about a specific practice.

I think it’s worthwhile to pause to consider what she might have indicated: what practice would be a remedy for hell and an antidote for the sinful choices that lead there?

Well-formed Christians might posit several reasonable guesses: Repent and believe in the Gospel. Prayer. Frequent Confession. Live faithfully the promises of one’s Baptism.

Keep the Commandments.

Live a Eucharistic life. Love God and neighbor. Care for the hungry, thirsty, stranger, naked, ill and imprisoned. Our evangelical brothers and sisters might say: Confess with your lips and believe with your heart that Jesus is Lord and accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Prior to the Fatima apparitions, I don’t think any of us, if we were given 100 guesses, would ever have come up with the answer Mary actually gave.

Fatima and the antidote for hell

“You gave the Blessed VirThe means by which God gin Mary,” the priest prays, “a wished to establish to save sinners from hell, she said, was wise and obedient heart, that she might perfectly carry out “devotion to my Immaculate Your Will; a new and gentle Heart” throughout the world. heart, in which You were “If what I say to you is done,” well-pleased and on which she emphasized, “many souls You inscribed the law of the will be saved and there will be New Covenant. You gave her peace.” an undivided and pure heart, Our Lady went on spethat she might be worthy to cifically to request that Rusbe the Virgin Mother of Your sia — which in 1917 was Son and to rejoice to see You experiencing the beginning of forever. You gave her a steadthe Bolshevik revolution — be consecrated to her Immaculate Heart, lest Russian comPutting Into munism “spread its errors throughout the the Deep world, causing wars and persecutions of

By Father the Church.” Atheistic Roger J. Landry communism, for Our Lady, was not a neutral fast and watchful heart, so that political system, but a violent she could endure without fear conceptual attack on God and the sword of sorrow and await on those made in His image in faith the Resurrection of her that would bring incalculable Son.” harm.

A heart that’s undivided But what does it mean to and pure like Mary’s, that’s consecrate ourselves and the world with devotion to Mary’s wise and obedient, that’s faithful and watchful, is a heart Immaculate Heart? that gives a wholehearted yes It means first and fundamentally to entrust ourselves to to God. Such a heart “open to God, purified by contemOur Lady, to belong to her, to enter into a covenant with her. plation of God,” Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in 2000, “is At a deeper level, consecration to her “Immaculate Heart” stronger than guns and weapmeans to beg her to help make ons of every kind. The fiat of Mary, the word of her heart, our heart like hers, since Jesus declares that “the pure of heart has changed the history of the world, because it brought the shall see God” (Mt 5:8). The Savior into the world.” future Pope Benedict, comGod wishes, Mary said, to menting in 2000 on Mary’s establish throughout the world message in Fatima, said that devotion to Mary’s heart, to Mary’s is a “heart that, with have our hearts freely entrust God’s grace, has come to perthemselves to Mary’s love and fect interior unity and therefore ‘sees God.’ To be ‘devoted’ seek to emulate her wholehearted fiat. to the Immaculate Heart But what does it mean to of Mary means therefore to “Russia” or the “world,” to embrace this attitude of heart, Mary’s Immaculate Heart, as which makes the fiat — ‘Your Mary also asked? How can we Will be done’ — the defining consecrate others or foreign center of one’s whole life.”

In the Preface for the Votive countries?

It means prayerfully and Mass of the Immaculate Heart perseveringly — not just as inof Mary in the Compendium dividuals but the whole Church of Masses of the Blessed Virin unison — to entrust all gin Mary, there is a beautiful peoples to Mary’s intercession commentary on the characand maternal care, seeking to teristics of Mary’s heart that transform the world one person one longs to embrace through at a time to become more Marconsecration.

ian in relation to God. This consecration happened according to the wishes of Our Lady, the surviving seer Lucy confirmed in 1989, when St. John Paul II, in union with the bishops across the globe, consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart on March 25, 1984.

In the beautiful, nearly 1,000-word prayer, John Paul II begged Mary to “accept the plea that we make in the Holy Spirit directly to your heart and embrace those whose act of entrustment you too await in a particular way,” a clear reference to Russia.

“Before your Immaculate Heart, we desire, together with the whole Church, to unite ourselves with the consecration that, for love of us, your Son made of Himself to the Father ( Jn 17:19). The power of this consecration lasts for all time and embraces all individuals, peoples and nations. Help us to live in the truth of the consecration of Christ for the entire human family of the modern world. Help us to conquer the menace of evil, which so easily takes root in the hearts of the people of today.”

He then implored her to deliver us from famine, nuclear

war, incalculable self-destruction, sins against life from its very beginning, hatred, the demeaning of human dignity, every kind of injustice, readiness to trample on God’s Commandments, attempts to stifle the truth, loss of awareness of good and evil, and sins against the Holy Spirit.

“Help us with the power of the Holy Spirit,” he continued, “to conquer all sin: individual sin and the ‘sin of the world,’ sin in all its manifestations,” so that “the infinite saving power of the Redemption, the power of merciful love, may put a stop to evil [and] transform consciences.” He finished by entreating, “May your Immaculate Heart reveal for all the light of hope.”

One of the best ways to mark Fatima’s centenary would be, individually and ecclesially, to renew our Marian consecration and devotion to her Immaculate Heart. This is the way, Mary candidly indicated, God seeks to save us, others and the world from hell. This is the way of life, she revealed, that will bring peace in the world.

Anchor columnist Father Landry can be contacted at fatherlandry@ catholicpreaching.com.

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Later rather than sooner 7 April 2017 — Homeport: Falmouth Harbor — tax time have, dear readers, spent more than half of my 45 years of priesthood on Cape Cod — in Bourne, South Yarmouth, North Falmouth, and now Falmouth Village. This I know from personal experience: Cape Cod winters are exceedingly dreary. It’s the reason so many Codders flee to Florida.

My starkest winters on the Cape were spent in North Falmouth. The rectory is on Quaker Road, across from Old Silver Beach and Wild Harbor. In the summer, Quaker Road is teaming with chatty people, all happily heading to the beach. In the winter, there is only resounding silence.

To make things worse, the rectory is built far back from the road, on the edge

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of a small kettle pond (apmain thoroughfares: Station propriately dubbed Dam Avenue in South Yarmouth Pond), scraggy woodlands, (which is more like a city and old cranberry bogs. than a town) and, literally, In winter, the only trafthe Main Streets of Buzfic one hears during the zards Bay and Falmouth. week is the garbage truck There was human activity emptying the dumpster. even in the winter. The latter It was a welcome sound. Even Simon the Stylite would The Ship’s Log go stir crazy in such Reflections of a a place. “Celebrate Parish Priest your aloneness,” was the advice of the late

By Father Tim Father Jim Clark, Goldrick formerly pastor of the next parish over, St. John the Evangelist in two were especially conduPocasset. cive to foot traffic. There was Of course, that was an actual neighborhood to decades ago and there has perambulate. been some home conIn the summer, there was struction in the neighborso much traffic you hesitathood. Perhaps things have ed, at least momentarily, bechanged. fore leaving the house. Your The other three rectories daily junkets were depenwere at least located on dent upon traffic, day of the week, time of the day, and weather conditions. You developed an algorithm based on these factors. Sometimes your formula failed miserably but it was a chance you had to take. Above all else, you needed to avoid crossing the bridge.

While people throughout the diocese long for spring, this is especially true of Codders. On the Cape, spring comes later rather than sooner. This is due to the fact that Cape Cod juts out into the frigid ocean.

We make up for it in the autumn, when summer

weather lasts longer than anywhere else in the diocese.

Call it a trade off.

Codders, for the most part, keep their minds and hearts attuned to the cycles of nature. The songbirds have been chirping at dawn for two months now. I hear them.

I don’t feed the backyard birds during the winter.

I read somewhere that during the winter months, there are plenty of berries and other food sources still readily available to them.

Food supplies, however, begin to run out in early spring, say the ornithologists.

It’s time for me to begin feeding the backyard birds. I ran my oxymoronic “squirrel proof ” feeder through the dishwasher on the sterilize cycle, filled it, and hung it back up on the old oak tree behind the rectory. It will take the wary birds a while before they feel comfortable enough to nervously approach the feeding station.

There is as yet no leafcover to give them protection from predators. The sharp-eyed hawk watches attentively from his usual perch on the steeple’s gilded Celtic cross. Along with the songbirds, I see him too. I’ve named him “Ralph.”

The sprouting irises have long been visible by the en-

tryway. They showed themselves before the snowdrops, as they always do, but it will take them until June to bloom. The crocuses in St. Joseph Wildflower Garden are blooming, though. I notice they bloom by color code. First come the purple, then the yellow, and finally the white. They have worked out their own priorities. For a brief time, all crocuses are in bloom simultaneously.

Talk of assignments and transfers among diocesan priests always blooms with the crocuses, I’ve noticed.

I don’t think there is any scientific causality, however.

My dog Lurch loves this time of year. It’s difficult to get him back inside once he’s out in the yard.

He prefers to frolic in the greening grass and roll around in the fresh earth.

Can’t say that I blame him.

I would join him, but such behavior on the part of the pastor, I’m quite sure, would be considered unseemly.

The residents of the nursing home next door would see me. What would Father Wallace think? (Yes, dear readers, FXW has returned as a patient to the nursing home next door.)

Then, of course, there is the perennial matter of my income taxes. It’s not that I’m a procrastinator, dear readers. I start thinking of my tax forms soon after I take down the Christmas tree. And, after all, personal finances aren’t all that complicated for a poor country priest. Still, year after year, I end up waiting until the very last minute.

Yes, spring will eventually come and summer will follow — but probably later rather than sooner here on Cape Cod. Anchor columnist Father Goldrick is pastor of St. Patrick’s Parish in Falmouth.

A Pastoral Letter to the Clergy, Religious and Faithful People of the Diocese of Fall River

By The Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.V.D., D.D., Bishop of Fall River Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

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want to share with you a recent experience. Returning to the Sacristy after celebrating Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral, a woman approached me to ask a question. She said, “Bishop, I’ve been reading in the diocesan newspaper [The Anchor] about all the initiatives you are taking and the new people you’ve hired. Before, I felt worried about some of the challenges facing our Church, but now I’m feeling more hopeful than ever about the future of our Diocese. Is this real or am I dreaming?” I share this experience with you — in all humility — because it expresses exactly what I hope every priest, religious and layperson in our Diocese will feel someday soon: a profound sense of hope for the future!

As Catholic Christians, we know our hope cannot come from a new bishop or from new programs or activities unless these are based on personal encounters with Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the source of our hope. He alone can prevent us from falling into the darkness of sin and death. Only Christ can bring us the confidence and the joy that allows us

to feel true hope for the future!

When I reflect on the invitation we have all received from Christ to rebuild the Church here in the diverse communities that make up the Diocese of Fall River, the words of St. Paul come to mind: “What is Apollos, after all, and what is Paul? Ministers through whom you became believers, just as the Lord assigned each one.

each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the One that is there, namely, Jesus Christ” (1 Cor 3:5-11).

St. Paul makes it clear. We are called to do the planting and watering, but God does the growing. We are God’s co-workers in rebuilding His Church, but the foundation has already been pro-

I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused the growth. Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, Who causes the growth. The one who plants and the one who waters are equal, and each will receive wages in proportion to his labor. For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field, God’s building. According to the Grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But

vided for us. It is Jesus Christ!

The dual purpose of this pastoral letter, Rebuilding in Faith and Hope, is to express my gratitude to you — the clergy, religious, employees and faithful people of the Diocese of Fall River — and to invite you to join me on a journey that will lead to the renewal and rebuilding of our Church, the Body of Christ alive in our midst!

During the past two-and-onehalf years, I have witnessed firsthand your hopes and fears, joys The Anchor - April 7, 2017

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and sorrows, dreams and disappointments. I have laughed with you, cried with you, shared in your rejoicing, and felt your anxiety deeply. Through it all, I have become convinced that God has called me to be your shepherd — not because of my personal skills or talents, but because He knows that in my weakness I am totally dependent on His Grace. Like St.

this same Sheshbazzar came and laid the foundations of the house of God in Jerusalem. Since that time to the present the building has been going on, and is not yet completed” (Ezra 5:15-16).

This story describes how the precious metals that had been removed from the Temple by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, were returned and the Tem-

— through prayer, reception of the Sacraments, lifelong Faith Formation and service to others, especially those who are most vulnerable. And it is material — through the building up of parishes, schools, diocesan ministries and institutions through stewardship of all God’s gifts as well as accountability and transparency of our finances and decision-making.

During the past two-and-onehalf years, significant progress has been made in our efforts to “rebuild in faith and hope” but our rebuilding is ongoing and not yet completed. As a result, we thank God for the gift of His Grace which has brought us to this moment in our history as a Local Church. We also beg God’s continued help as we work to complete the good work that He has begun in our midst.

Opportunities and Challenges

Francis of Assisi, who was called

by God, “Francis, go repair my Church,” to give up everything, so am I called to partner with you in rebuilding our beloved Diocese in faith and hope!

ple itself was rebuilt. I especially like the notion that the rebuilding was an ongoing process, “not yet completed.” How true that is for the work of rebuilding we are called to do here in the Diocese of Fall River!

Rebuilding in Faith and Hope “Rebuilding in Faith and Hope” is not just a slogan. It is have found inspiration and one way to describe our mission encouragement in this pasas a people called to proclaim sage from the Book of Ezra: the Good News of Jesus Christ “Take these vessels and deposit and to give witness to His Kingthem in the Temple of Jerusadom, the mystery of God’s love. lem, and let the house of God be The rebuilding we are called to rebuilt on its former site. Then do in this Diocese is Spiritual

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ebuilding in Faith and Hope begins by celebrating all the gifts we have been given in a spirit of gratitude that acknowledges the strengths we want to build upon. We thank God for the opportunities and challenges we face as co-workers who have received the Grace to build on the foundation of Jesus Christ. There is no need for us to be anxious or fearful about the future no matter how difficult things may seem. If we are true to our mission as disciples called to proclaim and live the Good News, renewal will happen, by the Grace of God, in an atmo-

sphere of confidence and hope in the Lord.

There are countless things I could list as opportunities and challenges for our work together as a people called to rebuild Christ’s Church in faith and hope, but I will limit these reflections to three major areas: Parishes, Schools and Leadership Formation. I believe that if we can make good progress in each of these areas, we will be well-positioned to address all our Spiritual and material needs.

Parishes

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he priests of our Diocese recently shared with me their insights regarding the opportunities and challenges they face in parish life. I listened carefully to their hopes and concerns which come from the dedicated pastoral service they have provided to our people throughout their lives as priests. I also noted what our priests said about our needs closely matches what I have heard during the past two-and-one-half years from laypeople in every region of our Diocese. It’s a great blessing to know there is a good connection between our priests and the people they were ordained to serve. Both are deeply concerned with the health and vitality of our parish communities! Here are some of their major concerns: First of all, we must be a welcoming Church. We must

be parishes that welcome our brothers and sisters into our communities. We must welcome those who are looking for Jesus and for meaning and purpose in their lives. We must welcome those who feel alienated from the Church. We must welcome those who are hurting and are looking for healing. We need to be a Church where people feel welcomed — regardless of their nationality, language, culture, or the color of their skin. As Pope Francis told us in Evangelii Gaudium, “The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel” (EG No. 114).

Throughout its history, the Diocese of Fall River has always been a welcoming Diocese.

Many ethnic groups have come to Southeastern Massachusetts, found a home, felt welcomed and settled here to build their lives, raise their families and practice their faith.

• Our priests and our people share a desire to make Holy the Lord’s Day by ensuring vibrant Liturgies with homilies and music that inspire reverence and encourage the full, conscious and active participation of all.

Some call this “The Sunday Experience.” They believe it is essential to the Spiritual rebuilding of each parish community and of the Diocese as a whole.

Without vibrant Liturgies, our efforts to stem declining Mass

attendance and engage our people in celebrating through Word and Sacrament become very difficult. Great preaching and beautiful music should not be considered optional or “extras.”

They are at the heart of what it means to praise God and proclaim His Good News!

• All recent popes from St. John XXIII through Pope Francis have stressed the importance of evangelization. This means we are called to be “missionary disciples” and “messengers of Good News.” According to the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, evangelization is the Grace and vocation proper to the Church, Her deepest identity.

• Parishes are called to be dynamic centers of preaching and teaching. Through Faith Formation and education for people of all ages, but especially for youth and young adults, the parish is the place where the beliefs that are first taught at home are broadened and deepened into a mature faith. We must do everything in our power to make sure the people of our Diocese (especially our young people) have access to Sacred Scripture and the richness of Church teaching through our parish communities.

I have great hope for the future of our parishes. The Church will be here — strong and vibrant — for the next generation and beyond!

There is a lot of work to be done. To be successful, we must The Anchor - April 7, 2017

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embrace these opportunities and another. How do we help all our challenges together. parish communities, but especially those that are in distress, to Responding to the Changes rebuild in faith and hope? in Demographics We may have more parishes than are needed in the future. ne of our greatest chalHow do we face this reality with lenges is that Sunday openness, honesty and compasMass attendance and participasion for those who may lose their tion in the Sacraments is declin- Spiritual home? ing. We also have to face the fact As we move forward, parishes

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that the number of priests available to serve our people is also declining. (Approximately 25 current pastors will reach retirement age in the next five years.

We have nine seminarians now, some entering in September. This is good news but it is not enough to replace those who are planning to retire.) These new realities present a challenge to the future sustainability of some of our parishes.

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will begin a process of renewal designed to help them rebuild Spiritually and materially. Most likely, parishes (especially those within close proximity) will be encouraged to collaborate with one another and perhaps to operate as partners or clusters. Other situations may require mergers or even closures. If it becomes necessary to move in this challenging direction, we will work closely with pastors and parish leaders to make decisions that truly are in the best interest of

our Church. In order to take next steps, over a year ago we began a process of evaluation in which we engaged more than 800 lay people and clergy in parish core teams who worked with a diocesan-wide task force; surveyed our priests and people in the pews; studied our demographics and Sacramental trends. In February, their findings were compiled in a comprehensive report and presented to our priests. An implementation team is now in place to take all the available data and formulate final recommendations and suggested next steps, by May. As your bishop, I will walk with you in conversation and courageous discernment of God’s Will for our Diocese and its people.

Rebuilding in Faith and Hope means revitalizing parish life. I’m confident God will do this rebuilding if all of us work together to plant seeds, cultivate the soil and provide abundant water!

Schools

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n 2015, a Task Force on Catholic Education was established with representative leaders from Church, business, education and philanthropy. The purpose of this task force was to assess the Diocese of Fall River’s Catholic schools in the areas of academics, enrollment and marketing, finances and governance.

The results of this assessment will help us to rebuild our Catholic schools in faith and hope!

Our vision for Catholic schools

is simple, but powerful: Academically excellent, vibrant and sustainable schools, inspired and guided by Catholic values, are a cornerstone of thriving Catholic communities. Our Catholic schools represent one of our brightest hopes for the future.

If you look closely, you can see

ensure growth, vitality and economic stability. We want Catholic school enrollments to grow, not decline. We want our schools to be centers of faith and learning which allows students and every member of the school community to reach their full potential as children of God. We want our schools to be accessible and

that nearly every word in this vision statement speaks volumes.

“Academically excellent” commits us to educating the whole person — body, mind and Spirit.

It challenges us to provide the very best education possible, to meet and exceed established standards for educational excellence, and to do this with deep respect for the intellectual, cultural and economic diversity of the students entrusted to our care.

“Vibrant and sustainable” means that we are determined to rebuild our schools in ways that

affordable for all — at the same time we want to ensure that every school has the human and financial resources necessary to remain strong and healthy.

“Inspired and guided by Catholic values” is the most important statement of all. We believe it is our Catholic identity that makes everything else possible in spite of all the obstacles we face. Catholic schools are a treasure that we dare not take for granted or neglect. We welcome students from every race, religion and social standing. We gladly share with them our faith in Jesus Christ

and our commitment to teach the wonder of God’s Creation and the fundamentals of religion, science, history, mathematics, literature, geography, social studies, technology and so much more.

Based on this vision, all 22 Catholic schools in our Diocese are developing a three-year strategic plan. This plan will provide a GPS system (a road map) for each school to achieve the following goals: • To become centers of re-evangelization — an intentional proactive family outreach by pastors and educators to provide opportunities for families to develop and deepen their faith.

• To become centers of academic excellence utilizing the best instructional practices with diverse groups of student learners ranging from students with mild and moderate special needs to gifted and talented students.

• To maximize the use of technology to enhance instruction employing a blended learning approach and to create administrative efficiencies.

• To pro-actively and successfully reach out to and enroll diverse student populations with special focus on traditionally under-served groups such as Latinos.

• To grow tuition assistance funding to serve students living at or below poverty level.

• To become financially sustainable.

• To establish effective governing boards.

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To help with the accomplishment of these goals, our Diocese is blessed with the expertise brought by our new Superintendent of Schools and newly-formed Diocesan Catholic School Board. This is an incredibly ambitious agenda, but once again we are confident that God’s Grace makes all things possible if we commit ourselves to rebuilding our Catholic schools in faith and hope.

begins with each one of us. We must grow in our knowledge and love of our Savior Jesus Christ.

We must continually open ourselves to the Word of God and the Grace of the Sacraments. We must practice what we preach, setting aside our own wants and desires in order to serve others.

Shepherds. Vocations must be our number-one priority as we seek to rebuild the Church here in the Diocese of Fall River.

We are blessed with dedicated, holy priests today. However, the demand is growing fast and it becomes a great challenge to replace those who are reach-

Leadership Formation

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arish ministry demands fully committed and trained pastoral leaders. The same can be said for our schools and for all diocesan ministries. No Diocese can effectively carry out its mission without dedicated, faithfilled leaders (clergy, religious and laypeople) who collaborate with their bishop in his teaching, Sacramental and pastoral ministry.

The past two-and-one-half years have shown me — beyond any doubt — that our Diocese (our parishes, schools and our other Catholic ministries) are abundantly blessed with outstanding leaders. I would be negligent in my responsibility as bishop if I did not acknowledge these generous and talented women and men. Thank you!

At the same time, we need to renew and strengthen our ability to provide authentic Christ-centered leadership for the people we serve.

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ing retirement age in the coming years. We must remember St. Paul’s admonition that “God does the growing” but that we are required to plant seeds, cultivate the soil and provide water.

In response to the need to be more active in promoting vocaVocations tions and fostering a culture that supports vocations, we have crearish ministry demands fully committed and trained ated a Diocesan Vocation Board that is looking at the many aspastoral leaders. We begin, of pects of the Church, our Diocese, course, with the need for priests and how we can bring forth a to serve our parishes as Good To be successful in our personal and professional efforts to rebuild in faith and hope, we must have access to mentors (those who have been there before us and can show us the way).

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and Hope. Also, vitally important are the particular vocational calls that our parish and diocesan staff, teachers, lay ministers and other Church personnel receive from God. We acknowledge and respect the universal call to holiness extended to all baptized Christians, and we seek to nurture and grow all the diverse

closer to God: by participating in morning prayer, listening to the speakers, going to Confession, taking a moment in the Adoration Chapel and attending Mass.

Comments were made on how happy they were to attend, how touched they were by the speakers, how energized they felt and hoping there will be another

gifts and charisms given to the People of God in order to rebuild Christ’s Church in faith and Forming our Laity to Lead hope.

It is essential that we have opn addition to promoting vocations to the priesthood and portunities for Spiritual renewal and professional development religious life, we are responsible that can guide us in this internal for ensuring that our parishes rebuilding process — and that is have access to well-formed laywhy on March 11, 2017 we had women and laymen who can serve as staff and volunteers. The our first Women and Men’s Conference, “Thirsting For Hope.” leadership of laypeople is absolutely necessary to our rebuilding More than 800 people from around the Diocese and beyond efforts. We must commit ourselves to recruiting, training and gathered at Stonehill College for the opportunity to be renewed supporting the men and women in their faith and energized in who will serve as “construchope. Participants spent quality tion managers” and co-workers time preparing themselves to rein the demanding but rewardceive the Graces needed to draw ing work of Rebuilding in Faith

event next year. I can promise you this “first” won’t be our “last.”

greater awareness, understanding, and promotion of vocations.

Along with building up what already exists, some new efforts include: • Our parishes now have Vocation Awareness Teams. These teams look at their particular parishes and promote praying for vocations, educate parishioners, give support to those who are living their vocations, and create ways to challenge people to think about their own call.

• All parishes have been asked to pray for vocations every week in the Prayers of the Faithful at Sunday Mass as a direct response to the command of Christ to ask the Master to send laborers to the harvest.

• We are offering a variety of retreat experiences for boys and girls to learn more and reflect on how to know the Lord’s call.

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Looking Ahead

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very year during the celebration of the Chrism Mass during Holy Week, clergy and lay representatives from parishes in all regions of our Diocese gather at St. Mary’s Cathedral in a demonstration of our unity and solidarity as the Church in the Diocese of Fall River. This annual gathering is a powerful reminder of who we are — and who we are called to become — as missionary disciples called to give witness to the Gospel and to rebuild in faith and hope the Church The Anchor - April 7, 2017

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which has been given to us by the Grace of the Holy Spirit.

As we seek to rebuild the Church — both materially and Spiritually — we embrace a “theology of abundance” which reminds us that God has given us everything we need to cultivate, water and plant the seeds of growth in our Diocese.

Through prayer, reflection on God’s Word and Church teachings, and our collaborative efforts to rebuild Christ’s Church in faith and hope, we want to carry out our mission faithfully and

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cooperate with the Grace of the Holy Spirit so that our Diocese will grow in faith, hope and love.

Please join me in this call to action to “cultivate, plant and water” so that our loving and merciful God can rebuild the parishes, schools and other Catholic ministries throughout Southeastern Massachusetts, Cape Cod and the Islands.

My prayer for you, brothers and sisters, is that guided by the inspiration and example of Our Lady of the Assumption, we will be enthusiastic and engaged

co-workers with Christ. We are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us while looking forward in hope.

If we do our part, rebuilding in faith, hope and love, we can be confident that God will do the growing!

Sincerely yours in Christ,

The Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.V.D., D.D. Bishop of Fall River

For and About Our Church Youth

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went to a Casting Crowns concert recently. I am a fan of Christian music and praying with music is one of my favorite ways to connect to Christ. There is something different about being at the concert though. You can feel Christ in a very tangible way. If you look around the venue with your heart and not your eyes, you can clearly make out His image. If you let the words set in, in some cases it is as if Christ is speaking right to you. Casting Crowns has been one of my favorite bands since I started listening to Christian music and their stories that they share live always touch my heart. This concert was no different.

They released an album last September titled, “The Very Next Thing” that included a song by the same name. The lead singer Mark Hall spoke about this at the concert. He said it comes from this desire for us to follow Christ but that it cannot be on our terms. If we want to follow the path that Christ is calling us to follow, that must include every step He is asking us to take.

Including the very next thing that we are being asked to do.

The second verse of their song states so beautifully: “Let my very next breath

breathe out a song of praise to You. With my very next step be on a road that was planned

by You. Lord, wherever You’re leading me that’s where I want to be.”

I loved that thought that we are not waiting for some big moment to follow, but just the next step that we are being called to take. Our very next step that we take is on a path that God has designed for us. It’s not just in our future but it is very much in our present.

In the next verse we hear, “With the very next words of love to be spoken to the very next heart that’s shattered and broken. To the very next way You’re gonna use me show me the next thing. I’ll do the next thing.”

The next thing Casting Crowns reminds us that it is not in the life-changing moments that we are doing His will but in the words of love that

Be Not Afraid

By Amanda Tarantelli

we speak and the moments of compassion that we engage in. It’s that time when we reach out to a friend who is hurting, or when we forgive someone who has harmed us, or the generosity we show to someone in need, that we are doing the very next thing that God has called us to do.

Finally the chorus of this song sums up beautifully what we

need to do: “Eyes wide open I see You working all around me You’re on the move. Step by step I’m running to meet You in the next thing, in the next thing.” We need to run to meet Jesus, one step at a time, into the very next thing that He calls us to.

And when we have met Him there, we need to run to Jesus, one step at a time, into the very next thing He calls us to.

This is the summary of the Christian life.

Every day we should be taking one more step into the next thing that Christ is calling us to, whether is it something big like a new

job, a new house, a new child, or something in our simple day-to-day life; helping a stranger, reaching out to a loved one who is not feeling well, or helping with your Church. During this Holy Week, let us focus on the steps we need to take to follow Christ more closely. Let us listen to His voice to hear the next thing He wants to lead us to!

Happy Holy Week!

Anchor columnist Amanda Tarantelli has been a campus minister at Bishop Stang High School in North Dartmouth since 2005. She is married, a die-hard sports fan, and resides in Cranston, R.I. She can be reached at atarantelli@ bishopstang.org.

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For and About Our Church Youth

Under the direction of Principal Kathleen St. Laurent, junior Matthew Little of Bridgewater mobilized members of the entire Coyle and Cassidy High School community in Taunton to assist with staffing as well as donating blood to the American Red Cross. In total 38 students, parents and faculty were present at the blood drive. According to the American Red Cross this is a fantastic show rate. It was also noted that four people were donating for the first time. Out of those who were able to successfully give, 27 pints of whole blood and two units of red cells were received — for a total of 29 live-saving gifts. When you remember each donation is helping three patients, 87 patient lives have been potentially saved as a result of this drive.

More than 50 students participated in Bishop Stang High School’s 12th annual Cardboard Tent City in North Dartmouth to raise awareness and funds for the homeless in the area.

Students from Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River recently participated in a local art exhibit. From left: Julia Fitzgerald, Fangbo Bai, Emily Borges, Sydney Leandro, and Benjamin Medeiros display their artwork showcased at the UMass Dartmouth Emerging Young Artists 2017 Invitational Exhibition held at the College of Visual and Performing Arts Campus Gallery. The annual exhibit supports the future of the arts in Massachusetts by featuring promising young artists in a professional gallery environment and introducing them to working artists, designers and faculty in the university’s arts community.

Candidates and team from the recent 32nd YES! retreat weekend held at Cathedral Camp in East Freetown gathered for a group photo at the end of their experience.

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Visit The Anchor online at http://www.anchornews.org

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha’s pastoral letter, ‘Rebuilding in Faith and Hope,’ found as a pull-out section in this Anchor edition, will be available in booklet form at all parishes on Easter weekend. It will also be available in Spanish and Portuguese. It can be viewed as well at The Anchor and Diocese of Fall River websites. (anchornews.org and fallriverdiocese.org) In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests during the coming weeks

In Your Prayers

April 8 Rev. Please Alvin Matthews, OFM, Retired, Our Chapel, New Bedford, 1988 pray for these priests duringLady’s the coming weeks Rev. Bento R. Fraga, Sacred Heart Home, New Bedford, 2012 April 9 Rev. Cornelius McSweeney, Retired Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1919 Rev. Edward F. Dowling, Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 1965 April 10 Rev. John P. Doyle, Pastor, St. William, Fall River, 1944 April 11 Rev. John F. Downey, Pastor, Corpus Christi, East Sandwich, 1914 April 12 Rev. John Tobin, Assistant, St. Patrick, Fall River, 1909 Rev. Msgr. Alfred J. Gendreau, STD, Retired Pastor, Notre Dame, Fall River, 1996 Rev. Edward P. Doyle, O.P., St. Raymond, Providence, R.I., 1997 Rev. Bertrand R. Chabot, Retired Pastor, St. Anthony of Padua, New Bedford, 2002 Deacon Joseph P. Stanley Jr., 2006

April 13

April 14 Rev. Louis N. Dequoy, Pastor, Sacred Heart, North Attleboro, 1935 Rev. Cosmas Chaloner, SS.CC., St. Francis Xavier, Acushnet, 1977 April 15 Rev. Christopher G. Hughes, D.D., Retired Rector, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fall River, 1908 Permanent Deacon Oscar Drinkwater, 2011 April 16 Rev. Arthur E. Langlois, on sick leave, Denver, Colo., 1928 Rev. Norman F. Lord, C.S.Sp., Hemet, Calif., 1995 Rev. John W. Pegnam, USN, Retired Chaplain, 1996 April 18 Rev. Hugh B. Harrold, Pastor, St. Mary, Mansfield, 1935 Rt. Rev. John F. McKeon, P.R., Pastor, St. Lawrence, New Bedford, 1956 Rev. Joao Vieira Resendes, Retired Pastor, Espirito Santo, Fall River, 1984 Rev. Wilfred C. Boulanger, M.S., La Salette Shrine, Attleboro, 1985 Rev. George E. Amaral, Retired Pastor, St. Anthony, Taunton, 1992 Permanent Deacon Vincent P. Walsh, 2014 April 19 Rev. William Wiley, Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton, 1855 Rev. Msgr. Leo J. Duart, Pastor, St. Peter the Apostle, Provincetown, 1975 Rev. Daniel E. Carey, Chaplain, Catholic Memorial Home, Retired Pastor, St. Dominic, Swansea, 1990 Rev. Msgr. Antonino Tavares, Retired Pastor, Santo Christo, Fall River, 2008

Around the Diocese A special Palm Sunday Taizé prayer service will be held on April 9 beginning at 7 p.m. at St. John Neumann Parish, 157 Middleboro Road in East Freetown. The service, entitled “Hosanna to the King of Kings,” is open to all.

The Catholic movement Communion and Liberation will sponsor a Way of the Cross beginning at St. Joseph-St. Therese Church, 1960 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford, and processing through Brooklawn Park to Ashley Boulevard and Tarkiln Hill Road, on Good Friday, April 14, beginning at 11 a.m. All are invited to join this procession. The Way of the Cross will include prayers, readings, and hymns, and will be accompanied by Father Luca Brancolini, F.S.C.B., who will provide brief meditations at various stops during the procession. The Way of the Cross will conclude at 1 p.m. at St. Mary’s Church on Tarkiln Hill Road. For more information, contact Amanda Sampson at clnewengland2@gmail.com or call 508-817-7268.

Please join a loved one or friend in residence at Our Lady’s Haven, 71 Center Street in Fairhaven, on April 20 at 10:30 a.m. in the chapel following Mass for a morning of reflection with Living the Fatima Message. The group will revisit Our Lady of Fatima’s peace plan to convert hearts and the world. They pray together, venerate an image of Our Lady, and offer her private petitions. For more information or to book: email livingfatima@gmail.com, message facebook.com/livingfatima, or call 781-521-3677.

Sacred Heart Academy for Homeschoolers will sponsor a parent information night on April 26 beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue in East Taunton. This is a Catholic co-op and home curriculum for pre-K to 12 using a Catholic Classical Curriculum (Schola Rosa) based in Southeastern Massachusetts. Come and see what they did this past year and what’s being planned for the year ahead. All are welcome. For more information, contact Jennifer (jjrbbr10@gmail. com, 508-405-7041); Charisma (chadecas@yahoo.com, 508-863-7314); Rasa (rasa@abouzeidfamily.org, 617-842-5441) or Danielle (dcrain02@ gmail.com, 401-455-1756).

The United Nations International Pilgrim Virgin Statue of Fatima will be coming to St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue in New Bedford on April 29-30. The pilgrim statue ministry promotes Our Lady’s intercession through prayer. The statue will be accompanied by first-class relics of Blessed Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the child visionaries who witnessed Our Lady in Fatima’s apparitions in Portugal and will soon be canonized. Reserve the date, pass the word, and come join the celebration of the centennial anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima. For more information call 508-993-1691 or visit www.saintanthonynewbedford. com.

April 20 Rev. Edward F. Coyle, S.S., St. Mary Seminary, Baltimore, Md., 1954 Rev. James E. O’Reilly, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Seekonk, 1970 Rev. James P. Dalzell, Retired Pastor, St. Joseph, Woods Hole, 1999

Living the Fatima Message will offer an evening of reflection revisiting Our Lady of Fatima’s peace plan to convert hearts and the world on May 1 beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street in Fall River. The group prays the Holy Rosary together, venerates an image of Our Lady, and offers her private petitions. You can also discover how to share the Fatima message. To share the message with your group or parish: email livingfatima@gmail.com, message facebook.com/livingfatima, or call 781-521-3677.

April 21 Rev. John O’Beirne, Pastor St. Mary, Taunton Rev. Thomas Feeley, C.S.C., Holy Cross Family Ministries, Easton, 2004

To submit an event for consideration in The Anchor’s “Around the Diocese” listing, send the information by email to kensouza@anchornews.org The Anchor - April 7, 2017

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Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 April 9, 11:00 a.m. Palm Sunday

Celebrant is Msgr. Stephen J. Avila, pastor of St. Anthony’s Parish in East Falmouth.

April 16, 11:30 a.m. — 12:30 p.m.

Easter Sunday

Celebrant is Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., Bishop of Fall River

Eucharistic Adoration in the Diocese Acushnet — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Francis Xavier Parish on Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Evening prayer and Benediction is held Monday through Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

ASSONET — Beginning September 14, St. Bernard’s Parish will have Eucharistic Adoration every Monday from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed on the altar at the conclusion of 9 a.m. Mass and the church will be open all day, concluding with evening prayer and Benediction at 6:30 p.m.

ATTLEBORO — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the Adoration Chapel at St. Vincent de Paul Parish, 71 Linden Street, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

ATTLEBORO — The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette holds Eucharistic Adoration in the Shrine Church every Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. through November 17.

ATTLEBORO — There is a weekly time of Eucharistic Adoration Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. at St. John the Evangelist Church on North Main Street.

Brewster — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the La Salette Chapel in the lower level of Our Lady of the Cape Church, 468 Stony Brook Road, on First Fridays beginning at noon until 7:45 a.m. First Saturday, concluding with Benediction and concluding with Mass at 8 a.m. buzzards Bay — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Margaret Church, 141 Main Street, Monday through Saturday, from 6:30 to 8 a.m.; and every first Friday from noon to 8 a.m. on Saturday.

East Freetown — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. John Neumann Church every Monday (excluding legal holidays) 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady, Mother of All Nations Chapel. (The base of the bell tower).

EAST TAUNTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place in the chapel at Holy Family Parish Center, 438 Middleboro Avenue, Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. On First Fridays, Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Holy Family Church, 370 Middleboro Avenue, from 8:30 a.m. until 7:45 p.m.

FAIRHAVEN — St. Mary’s Church, Main St., has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 8:30-11:30 a.m. in the Chapel of Reconciliation, with Benediction at 11:30 a.m. Also, there is a First Friday Mass each month at 7 p.m., followed by a Holy Hour with Eucharistic Adoration. Refreshments follow.

FALL RIVER — St. Bernadette’s Church, 529 Eastern Ave., has continuous Eucharistic Adoration from 8 a.m. on Thursday until 8 a.m. on Saturday.

FALL RIVER — St. Anthony of the Desert Church, 300 North Eastern Avenue, has Eucharistic Adoration Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

FALL RIVER — Holy Name Church, 709 Hanover Street, has Eucharistic Adoration Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in the Our Lady of Grace Chapel.

FALL RIVER — Good Shepherd Parish has Eucharistic Adoration every Friday following the 8 a.m. Mass and concluding with 3 p.m. Benediction in the Daily Mass Chapel. A bilingual holy hour takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Park behind the church and enter the back door of the connector between the church and the rectory.

FALL RIVER — St. Joseph’s Church has a Holy Hour every Tuesday from 6-7 p.m., with Benediction at 6:45 p.m.

FALL RIVER — St. Michael’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with Benediction at 5:30 p.m.

Falmouth — St. Patrick’s Church has Eucharistic Adoration each First Friday following the 7 a.m. Mass, with Benediction at 4:30 p.m.

HYANNIS — St. Francis Xavier Parish in Hyannis, 347 South Street, Hyannis, has Eucharistic Adoration from noon to 3 p.m., daily Monday through Friday.

MANSFIELD — St. Mary’s Parish, 330 Pratt Street, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Benediction at 5:45 p.m.

MASHPEE — Christ the King Parish, Route 151 and Job’s Fishing Road has 8:30 a.m. Mass every First Friday with special intentions for Respect Life, followed by 24 hours of Eucharistic Adoration in the Chapel, concluding with Benediction Saturday morning followed immediately by an 8:30 Mass.

NEW BEDFORD — Eucharistic Adoration takes place 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 233 County Street, with night prayer and Benediction at 8:45 p.m., and Confessions offered during the evening. Please use the side entrance.

NEW BEDFORD — There is a daily holy hour from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Monday through Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 1359 Acushnet Avenue. It includes Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the Rosary, and the opportunity for Confession.

NEW BEDFORD — St. Lawrence Martyr Parish, 565 County Street, holds Eucharistic Adoration in the side chapel Fridays from 7:30-11:45 a.m. ending with a simple Benediction NORTH DARTMOUTH — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at St. Julie Billiart Church, 494 Slocum Road, every Tuesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., ending with Benediction. The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at this time.

NORTH DIGHTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Wednesday following 8:00 a.m. Mass and concludes with Benediction at 5 p.m. Eucharistic Adoration also takes place every First Friday at St. Nicholas of Myra Church, 499 Spring Street following the 8 a.m. Mass, ending with Benediction at 6 p.m. The Rosary is recited Monday through Friday from 7:30 to 8 a.m.

NORTH EASTON — A Holy Hour for Families including Eucharistic Adoration is held every Friday from 3-4 p.m. at The Father Peyton Center, 518 Washington Street.

NORTH EASTON — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Immaculate Conception Church Chapel on the first Wednesday of the month beginning after the 8:30 a.m. Mass, until 6:40 p.m. Those wishing to make a monthly commitment can sign up on the parish website at www.icceaston.org or call the parish office at 508-238-3232.

ORLEANS — St. Joan of Arc Parish, 61 Canal Road, has Eucharistic Adoration every First Friday starting after the 8 a.m.

Mass and ending with Benediction at 11:45 a.m. The Sacrament of the Sick is also available immediately after the 8 a.m. Mass.

OSTERVILLE — Eucharistic Adoration takes place at Our Lady of the Assumption Church, 76 Wianno Avenue on First Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to noon.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

Taunton — Eucharistic Adoration takes place every Tuesday at St. Anthony Church, 126 School Street, following the 8 a.m. Mass with prayers including the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for vocations, concluding at 6 p.m. with Chaplet of St. Anthony and Benediction. Recitation of the Rosary for peace is prayed Monday through Saturday at 7:30 a.m. prior to the 8 a.m. Mass.

Taunton — Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament takes place every First Friday at Annunciation of the Lord, 31 First Street. Exposition begins following the 8 a.m. Mass. The Blessed Sacrament will be exposed, and Adoration will continue throughout the day. Confessions are heard from 4:15 to 4:45 p.m. Rosary and Benediction begin at 5 p.m.

WAREHAM — Eucharistic Adoration at St. Patrick’s Church takes place 9 a.m. Thursday through 7 p.m. Friday. Adoration is held in our Adoration Chapel in the lower Parish Hall. ~ PERPETUAL EUCHARISTIC ADORATION ~

East Sandwich — The Corpus Christi Parish Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration Chapel is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week at 324 Quaker Meeting House Road, East Sandwich. Use the Chapel entrance on the side of the church.

NEW BEDFORD — Our Lady’s Chapel, 600 Pleasant Street, offers Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day. For information call 508-996-8274.

SEEKONK ­— Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish has perpetual Eucharistic Adoration seven days a week, 24 hours a day in the chapel at 984 Taunton Avenue. For information call 508-336-5549.

WEST HARWICH — Our Lady of Life Perpetual Adoration Chapel at Holy Trinity Parish, 246 Main Street (Rte. 28), holds perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. We are a regional chapel serving all of the surrounding parishes.

All are invited to sign up to cover open hours. For open hours, or to sign up call 508-430-4716.

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The Anchor - April 7, 2017

Sheep in wolves’ clothing

hey have long been the villains of the animal T kingdom — even in children’s stories. But nothing is much more further from the truth.

I’ve long had an affinity for wolves and its species which includes the beloved dog.

Perhaps it’s because the Jolivet blood line has deep roots in a place called Rivière du Loup, Quebec, Canada (River of the Wolves). My grandfather was born there.

And maybe it’s because my own Igor has so many wolfish features. In any case, I’ve long felt a kindred spirit with the wolf.

I recently learned of a wolf

My View From the Stands

By Dave Jolivet

reserve right here in the Commonwealth, where they raise wolves and teach humans of other humans’ efforts to allow this beautiful creature to slip into extinction.

Wolf Hollow is in Ipswich, a stone’s throw from the fishing mecca of Gloucester.

Last Sunday my pack and I visited Wolf Hollow, and we each came back with a renewed love, respect and concern for the wolf.

The hour-long presentation was given in front of the reserve’s serene natural habitat, where we could watch one pack in motion.

The wonderful folks at Wolf

Neveah, at Wolf Hollow

Hollow know their stuff and love the wolves unconditionally. It’s not a place to go to “pet a wolf,” as these creatures are not fond of contact with humans.

What struck me most was how loyal and loving these creatures are to their packmates: a lesson that would benefit many human families.

A prime example of this is what happened there a few years back. The alpha wolf died, but his story didn’t end there.

He was laid out in the habitat and his children each went up to the body and nudged it, as the staff told us, “As if to say, ‘Hey dad, wake up.’”

The wolf was buried and was covered with a mound of rocks and boulders. That night, oneby-one, the survivors let out a mourn howl (wolves howl as a group under normal circumstances).

Their routines were disrupted for several weeks as they continued to mourn.

Now, years later, the wolves still bring “gifts” to the site; bones from a feeding; frogs, etc.

For the 90 minutes we were there, I couldn’t take my eyes off these wonderful creatures in their natural environment.

They were far from evil and menacing. I was extremely moved by the visit and awestruck at their behaviors and instincts; wishing mankind could learn a lesson from them.

Thanks to man’s ignorance, wolves are endangered in this country — for no good reason at all.

This tiny column can’t do justice to the experience of visiting this reserve. To learn more visit wolfhollowipswich.org.

Even better, visit Wolf Hollow in person. Maybe you’ll get to see Jelly, a 16-year-old wolf (the average life-span is eight years). She captured my heart, especially since Jelly was my nickname as an adolescent. But I loved them all — just a pack of God’s creatures, great and small. davejolivet@anchornews.org.

The Anchor - April 7, 2017

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La Salette Shrine wins unanimous court decision continued from page two

control. The following year that property was actually deeded — conveyed, gifted — by the shrine to the Audubon Society. It was a fairly substantial portion of the tax assessment that, going forward beginning in fiscal year 2014, the shrine will not be responsible for.

“The only other portion of the property that the court found was taxable was the so-called ‘safe house.’ That, again, was largely due to the fact that the safe house, while recognized as having a

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charitable purpose that was consistent with the La Salette Fathers’ mission, the dominant purpose there was not religious worship or anything connected with it. And secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the court determined that the safe house was leased to another (non-profit) organization and the La Salette Fathers had pretty much given up complete control and exclusive use of that property to another organization.”

Moving forward, Father

The Anchor - April 7, 2017

Mattathilanickal said La Salette can file for a waiver under the Massachusetts “Return of Property Held for Charitable Purposes” exemption — known simply as Form 3ABC — for those portions of the shrine property that are not deemed to be used for “dominant religious purposes.”

“For the tax years 2014 through 2017 we are claiming an exemption based on charitable works and we have filed Form 3ABC (for those years),” Father Mattathilanickal

told The Anchor. “We did not file the form in 2012 and 2013. We filed it in 2014, but we were late. It has to be in by February 1 of every year. The following year we filed the form, but still the city did not grant us the exemption.”

Calling the decision a “very significant victory for us and for the Church in general,” Father Mattathilanickal noted how the case also drew the attention of many from outside the diocese who feared it might set a precedent for taxing religious entities in the future.

To that end, an “amicus curiae” or “friend of court” brief was jointly filed by the Massachusetts Council of Churches, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, the Council on American Islamic Relations Massachusetts and Our Lady of Fatima Shrine in Holliston stating that if the ruling were upheld it would have “sweeping, potentially disastrous effects for religious organizations across the Commonwealth.”

“There was a major conference of all religious communities and this really raised a red flag for them,” Father Mattathilanickal said. “For example, every parish has a parish hall or a pastoral center, and any city or town could decide to tax (those properties) and that would have been a real problem for all charitable works of the Church and also other denominations and other non-profits — this would have been a major blow to all of them.”

Tillotson agreed that had La Salette’s appeal been denied, it would have set a precedent whereby assessors could “go in and apportion certain uses and calculate that 60 percent of the welcome center was

utilized for religious worship purposes and 40 percent was used for purposes unrelated to religious worship and tax it on that basis,” she said.

“The court said you can’t take a property or a building or a portion of a property whose dominant use is religious worship and then go through, room by room, including the broom closet and the boiler room and say that these aren’t used for religious worship and are going to be taxed,” Tillotson said. “Again, I think it was a very important decision and I think people were starting to get very nervous about advertising bake sales and fund-raisers, and people were getting concerned about the taxability (of those things) based on what Attleboro had done.

Fortunately, the court rejected the notion that all those things could subject a property to taxation.”

Although she would have preferred that the entire National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette property remain taxexempt, Tillotson understands the court’s reasoning behind upholding the assessments on the conservation land and safe house.

“In my view, I think the two carve-outs are understandable and it’s probably the right decision,” she said. “Had the La Salette Fathers kept the (conservation land) and not conveyed the easement to the Massachusetts Audubon Society and more actively used it for retreats and prayer garden purposes, it would have been exempt as well. In terms of the (Abundant Hope) center, if the lease hadn’t been exclusive — I think if (La Salette) ran the shelter as part of the Church’s own mission — it probContinued on page 23

Continued from page 22

ably would have come out differently in that regards, too.”

Having previously paid all the tax bills due to the City of Attleboro while awaiting the verdict, La Salette Shrine can now expect to be refunded upwards of $300,000, along with eight percent annual interest.

“In order to challenge a

tax assessment, one of the prerequisites is you have to pay the bill — that’s a jurisdictional requirement,” Tillotson said. “So, sadly, they paid a lot of taxes over the past several years and most of it relates to the welcome center and those operations and they will be getting a fairly substantial amount of money back from the City of Attleboro.”

“Most of the money we’re getting back is going to go towards the lawyers’ fees anyway,” Father Mattathilanickal said. “We paid quite a bit of money to file the appeal and we even had to borrow money to pay for the taxes, so we’ll have to pay that back.

So we’re not going to be sitting on a pile of money, that’s for sure.”

Despite all the time, ef-

fort and money the shrine has expended over the last five years, Father Mattathilanickal doesn’t regret taking on this important battle.

“The challenge that the city raised was that we were appropriating these facilities for non-religious activities or non-religious purposes,” Father Mattathilanickal said. “But the court very clearly said: as long as the shrine maintains the dominant use of the (property) for religious purposes, which is very true — around 90 percent of the activities held here at the shrine are all religious in nature, and that includes religious worship and instruction — then it should be exempt.

“The court is saying that even the Church cannot live on prayer alone — and I’m quoting from

the opinion of what one chief justice said. Yes, we are occasionally using it for purposes that are not religious, but they help support our ministries at the shrine.”

Father Mattathilanickal also expressed his gratitude to everyone who supported La Salette Shrine throughout this process.

“All of the La Salette Missionaries and staff — the Fathers, Sisters and Brothers working here — are immensely grateful for all the prayers and support that we have received during this time,” he said.

“We’d especially like to thank everyone who supported us here in the Fall River Diocese and beyond.

On behalf of myself and the shrine, we thank you.

It was a big thing for all of us, and I’m glad with the outcome.”

The Anchor - April 7, 2017

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To advertise in The Anchor, contact Wayne Powers at 508-675-7151 or Email waynepowers@anchornews.org

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The Anchor - April 7, 2017

Visit the Diocese of Fall River website at fallriverdiocese.org The site includes links to parishes, diocesan offices and national sites.