4.1.22

Bishop, youth celebrate life at annual Mass

By Dave Jolivet Editor

davejolivet@anchornews.org

Diocese of Fall River, Mass. † Friday, April 1, 2022

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., recently traveled to St. John’s Seminary in Brighton to visit the four diocesan transitional deacons who anticipate their ordination to the priesthood at St. Mary’s Cathedral on June 4. They are, from left: Gregory Quenneville, Lucas Dacosta (a first-year Theology student at the seminary); Matthew F. Laird, the bishop; William O’Donnell III, and Laurent M. Valliere. See Bishop’s Blog on page two.

Diocesan Office of Clergy Support to sponsor Novena for Priests

By Matthew S. Robinson, MA, MS

last time, in the blood of Jesus Christ? The priest — alDirector, Office of ways the priest. And if that Clergy Support soul comes to the point of “St. Bernard tells us that death, who will raise it up, who will restore it to calmeverything has come to us through Mary; and we may ness and peace? Again, the priest. You cannot recall one also say that everything has come to us through the single blessing from God priest; yes, all happiness, all without finding, side-bygraces, all Heavenly gifts. If side with this recollection, we had not the Sacrament of the image of the priest.”

That powerful quotaHoly Orders, we should not tion comes to us from none have Our Lord. Who placed Him there, in that Taberna- other than the Cure of Ars, St. John Vianney, the patron cle? It was the priest. Who saint of priests. It highlights was it who received your a fundamental notion about soul, on its entrance into the priesthood, that, again life? The priest. Who nourin the words of St. John ishes it, to give it strength to make its pilgrimage? The Vianney, “The priesthood is the love of the heart of priest. Who will prepare it Jesus.” As Catholics, we to appear before God, by experience the love of the washing that soul, for the

heart of Jesus in a most real and concrete way every time we receive a Sacrament from the hands of a priest, preeminently that of the Eucharist. Each one of us, clergy and lay alike, can probably recall one of those key life moments, discussed

by St. John Vianney, when the priest, acting as Christ at that moment, gave us access to the merits of the cross by way of the Sacraments.

Understanding these theological concepts about the nature of the priesthood, the Eucharist, and the Sacraments can be the impetus for intense Spiritual gratitude because in these theological concepts is displayed a deep truth about 8 Turn to page 15

DARTMOUTH —As has been the diocesan custom each year around the Solemnity of the Annunciation, March 25, area youth and faithful gathered with Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. for a Pro-Life Mass at St. Julie Billiart Church in Dartmouth, to celebrate life, from conception to natural death.

As is also the custom, the bishop presented one youth and one adult with the John Cardinal O’Connor Pro-Life Award, given to someone whose goal it is to promote and support life.

This year’s adult award was given to Paulette Martinville, a parishioner of Holy Trinity Parish in Fall River; and the student award was presented to Aleena Borra, an eighth-grader at Holy Family-Holy Name School in New Bedford.

This year’s annual Pro-Life Essay contest was themed, “St. Joseph, Protector of the Family, Defender of Life.”

Four winners were announced: first and second place in the High School Division and the Junior High School Division. The four winners read their winning essays at the Mass.

The winners, whose essays appear on pages eight and nine in this Anchor, were: High School Division, first place — Jade Biliouris, a sophomore at St. John Paul II High School, Hyannis; and second place went to Eamon Philip Martin, a freshman at Bishop Stang High School, Dartmouth.

The Junior High School Division winners were: first place — Aleena Borra; second place — Anna Higgins, grade eight at Holy Family-Holy Name School, New Bedford. Their photo appears on page 12 of this edition.

The annual Diocese of Fall River Pro-Life Mass was recently celebrated at St. Julie Billiart Church in N. Dartmouth. Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. presented the annual John Cardinal O’Connor Pro-Life Awards at the conclusion. Standing with Bishop da Cunha are, from left, award recipients: Paulette Martinville, of Holy Trinity Parish in Fall River, Adult Category; and Aleena Borra, Youth Category. The four winning Pro-Life Essays were also read by the authors, and appear on pages eight and nine. (Photo by John E. Kearns April 1, 2022 † Jr.) 1

Bishop’s Blog: A visit to St. John’s Seminary On Wednesday, March 9, I visited St. John’s Seminary in Brighton to celebrate Mass and share a meal with the seminarians and faculty there. While the snow was falling and intensifying during the afternoon, I wondered if I could make it to the seminary. The trip was challenging, but I finally made it. It was such a joy to

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celebrate Mass for the whole seminary community and to share dinner afterward with them.

Spending time with our seminarians — seeing and hearing the joy and enthusiasm of our four Deacons — Matthew F. Laird, William O’Donnell III, Gregory Quenneville, and Laurent M. Valliere as they antici-

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pate their ordination to the priesthood on June 4 at our Cathedral here in Fall River — was a source of inspiration for me. It made me completely forget the challenge of driving in the snow to get there. I give thanks to God for these young men who have answered the call of the Lord to serve His Church as future priests.

O

Male and female, He created them

ur bodies tell a divine story, making the invisible visible.

When we don’t have a clear understanding of the whys in life, it is difficult to have answers of conviction to questions such as: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where will we go?

From the beginning, God speaks to us of a solitude, called “original solitude.” St. John Paul II, in his writings on the Theology of the Body, delves into this theme of solitude. He concludes that the body of the first man, Adam, was incomplete and made no sense. Yet Adam’s loneliness was part of a deep awareness of himself. Adam understood his body, and therefore he understood his existence.

But he also knew that something was missing; Adam recognized an ache in the depths of his heart.

Adam knew that his body expressed a part of God’s plan for humanity. Adam’s identity and personhood were in his body as was the yearning to feel complete. God then created the other part of his plan called Eve, meaning “the first woman.”

Unfortunately, our first parents Adam and Eve decided to disconnect from God through disobedience, eating the fruit from the tree that God asked them not to eat from.

Today, we suffer from the same sin. We want to act and be like God without being in a relationship with Him, deciding who lives and who dies, which gender we want to be, and so on. Consequently, by

acting this way we are rewith my children have jecting the most precious been one of the biggest gift that God can give to blessings in my own life us, which is our life in as God’s grace manifests union with His. Our life His glory in our lives as is a gift, the most valuable a domestic church. It is a gift from God. beautiful and humbling We are beloved chilexperience to have. dren of God made in His In my evangelization image and likeness. For journey with my children, me, I like to say that I am a mother of three future Irina DeLucca saints of the CathoDirector of Family & lic Church, because Respect Life — it is my mission as Secretariat for the New given by God. Evangelization Even with all the daily blessings in our family, new chalI never run away from lenges continue to arise these words: Be in the as my children grow and light of Jesus Who is “the come to know who God Way, the Truth, and the has made them be, creatLife.” ing great, new opportuniGod is the author of ties for conversations and life and, therefore, I honor learning moments togeth- this in my role as mother er as a family. In the midst and first catechist to my of searching to understand children by speaking on our existence, we can topics such as the sacred sometimes lose sight of worth of all life and the God’s love and the desire duty to protect it. This that He has for us, for He involves sharing about the knows what is best for us. unique miracle that takes Communication is the key place during the develto opening the door for opment of a baby in the dialogue, the door for a relationship, and should be the main bridge that connects the members of the family.

We tend to forget quickly or even disconnect from the beginning of our story due to our fallen nature bringing great challenges into our families, like a distorted vision or image of ourselves.

During our weekly catechesis at home, I always like to remind my children who they are, where they come from, and where they are going.

These precious moments

mother’s womb, the importance of caring for the sick and the elderly at the end of their life, as well as the sacredness of the Sacrament of Marriage.

Today more than ever before, our world finds itself in a great conflict with the story of Genesis, lacking knowledge and a true comprehension for what we were made for.

God has placed in our hearts the desire to know Him, love Him, and serve Him as the “Catechism of the Catholic Church” tells us.

Therefore, in this pursuit for a deeper knowledge of ourselves and what we were created for, we are actually looking for true happiness which can only be found in our relationship with God. We came from God the Creator, and we will return to Him one day in the hope of seeing His glory face to face. Thus, until then, we are called to sanctity.

We are all called to proclaim the truth about the human person to the world, who is made in image and likeness of God. Helping anyone who needs to connect with the truth about his or her identity is one of the seven works of mercy that we can do today.

“Male and Female, He Created Them” is the title of the letter of exhortation written by the Congregation for Catholic Education, looking for a path of dialogue and truth on the question of gender theory in education. It is also the main topic of this year’s annual Diocese of Fall River Pro-Life summer boot camp which takes place at Stonehill College in Easton, where the teens, ages 14-17, participate 8 Turn to page four

April 1, 2022 †

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Male and female, He created them continued from page three

in age-appropriate talks focused on respect for the human person, as well as have the privilege of Mass, Confession, Adoration and more. The purpose of the event is to equip teens with the essentials they need to know about how to build a culture of life in today’s broken world.

This year’s theme was inspired by the great need for a deeper understanding of our identity as well as the beauty that it is in the differences between men and women.

To register or find out more information, about this event, contact idlecucca@dioc-fr.org, or Deborah Ledoux at dledoux@dioc-fr.org.

‘Enough!’ End war before it ends us, pope says as Ukraine invasion continues VATICAN CITY, (CNA) — Pope Francis has again lamented the war in Ukraine and appealed for peace more

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than a month after Russia’s invasion.

“Enough. Stop it. Silence the weapons. Move seriously

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toward peace,” Pope Francis said again in remarks after the Sunday Angelus March 27.

Speaking to a crowd of some 30,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, the pope said more than a month had passed since “the beginning of this cruel and senseless war that, like every war, represents a defeat for everyone, for every one of us.”

“We need to reject war, a place of death where fathers and mothers bury their children, where men kill their brothers and sisters without even having seen them, where the powerful decide and the poor die,” he said.

The pope noted reports that half of all children in Ukraine have been displaced due to the invasion.

“This means destroying the future, causing dramatic trauma in the smallest and

most innocent among us,” he said. “This is the bestiality of war – a barbarous and sacrilegious act!”

“War should not be something that is inevitable.

We should not accustom ourselves to war,” the pontiff said. “Instead, we need to convert today’s anger into a commitment for tomorrow, because if, after what is happening, we remain like we were before, we will all be guilty in some way. Before the danger of self-destruction, may humanity understand that the moment has come to abolish war, to erase it from human history before it erases human history.”

“I beg every political leader to reflect on this, to dedicate themselves to this!

And, looking on battered Ukraine to understand how each day of war worsens the situation for everyone,” said the pope.

“Let us continue to pray untiringly to the Queen of Peace,” he said, noting that he had consecrated humanity and especially Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on March 25.

That prayer of consecration was joined by scores of bishops, priests and lay faithful from around the world. Pope Francis thanked everyone for “such a huge and intense participation.”

The pope also took his plea to social media, using his English-language Twitter account to post his comments in English, Russian and Ukrainian to his nearly 19 million followers there.

The war in Ukraine has displaced some 10 million people from their homes, 3.6 million of whom have left for neighboring countries, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has said.

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Proclaiming the Good News in the midst of bad

n the midst of much bad news in the Church and in the world — the war in Ukraine, the manifold political divisions in our country due to attacks on human life and the family, multiple scandals in the Church leading family and friends to give up the practice of the faith, as well as discrimination, persecution and massacres against believers in various countries, etc. — Christians can sometimes feel they’ve lost their breath for proclaiming the Good News. Such situations can leave Christians like the apostles on Holy Saturday, devitalized and even traumatized.

For Catholic journalists and columnists covering the Church, this problem can be more acute. Not only do they have the challenges every communicator today faces — fake news, rampant propaganda, a denial of truth, click-bait tabloids, a merciless cancel culture, various economic challenges affecting newsrooms — but they also face Church leaders and faithful that can sometimes accuse them of hurting the Church they love by bringing scandals to light, or judge their work by political lenses rather than Catholic categories.

That’s why I was edified last week when I was asked by a group of Catholic journalists to speak to them about the spirituality of a Catholic communicators, how to keep their faith focusing on troubling indicators of faith decline or the fallen side of the hierarchy, how, in short, to keep the proper perspective and sanctify their work when they need to write about the sordid.

Insofar as the challenges they face on most days resemble those all Catholics face on some days, I’d like to share an overview of what I told them.

In the first of three sections, I focused on the big picture, that Catholic journalists are Catholics who have a baptismal vocation to holiness in the midst of their duties. They have been given God’s love so that they may love Him with all their mind, heart, soul and strength and love their neighbor on whom they’re reporting.

They have been sent out by the Lord to be the salt of the earth, light of the world and leaven. They are summoned to view all things from the lens of the dynamic process of redemption, in which every situation, however broken, can be redeemed as God wills to draw greater good out of evil. As members of Christ’s mystical body, they are called to live the four marks of the Church — one, holy, catholic and apostolic — by, respectively, striving for Church unity rather than division, taking the call to holiness as well as the holiness of holy things in the Church seriously even if individuals in the Church are not holy, focusing on the whole Church rather than narrow concerns, and sharing the faith and truth with others with a sense of history stretching back all the way to Christ’s calling, choosing and commissioning the apostles.

These parts of a Catholic’s job description apply to everyone.

I added that any authentic Catholic spirituali-

ty must follow the genuine voice of the Holy Spirit.

Guided by the Spirit, we will be helped by Him to pray, since we do not know to pray as we ought but the Spirit intercedes for us. We will be passionate for the truth, since Jesus promised that the Spirit would guide us to all truth. We will pursue communion, not to division, so that our bond may resemble the commu-

model and pattern of all communication,” St. John Paul II said in 2005, “is found in the Word of God Himself.” Jesus, of course, never appeared on radio or television. Other than writing on the ground twice as the Scribes and Pharisees were trying to stone the woman caught in adultery, He never penned an article, book or blog.

But God the Father communicated everything in Him and through Him. Examining His communication style is instructive to all of us who seek to pass on the truth to others, whether about current events or nion among the persons salvation history. of the Blessed Trinity, for Crisscrossing the Goswhich Jesus prayed on pels, I pondered with the Holy Thursday. We will journalists how Jesus told live by the Spirit, seeking the truth. He used every the things above, taking images — salt, light, leavadvantage of the gifts of en, fishing, doctors, shepwisdom, prudence, knowl- herds and sheep, wedding edge, understanding, cour- processions and banquets, age, reverence and awe of patches on clothes, wine the Lord, putting to death and wineskins, grains of in us whatever is earthly wheat and mustard seeds, and cooperating with the friends knocking on your Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, door, construction projects, peace, patience, kindness, unemployment lines, lost generosity, faithfulness, objects and family memgentleness, self-control. bers — so that people could We will discern what is our more easily understand “manifestation of the Spirit and identify. He was master for the common good” storyteller, conveying truths and use those gifts not for through parables so that our aggrandizement but people by analogy could for God’s glory and the less defensively acknowlgood of all. Finally, we edge and accept them. He will seek to pass on the used paradoxes — the befaith by witness and words atitudes, “whoever will save with ardent love, since on his life will lose it,” “the last Pentecost the Spirit will shall be first” — not only seek to give us a tongue, a to capture attention but to pen, or a keyboard on fire. show how the reality of His Every Catholic is called to kingdom transcends and this spirituality. upends worldly logic.

In the second part of We examined how the talk, I focused on 12 Jesus regularly refocused characteristics of Jesus His listeners on what was as a communicator. “The important, bringing them

back to first principles (as he did with marriage) and helping them to move from superficial curiosity to bottom-line practicality, telling people who asked how many would be saved, for example, how they might be saved.

We looked at how He met His interlocutors where they were and led them gradually toward the light, asking questions to engage them in a dialogue of life, provocatively challenging them because He knew they were capable of rising with faith to the challenge.

We studied how He was humble and modest, repeating what He heard the Father Himself say, fulfilling what was prophesied about Him. He was willing to suffer ridicule, as He did for doing good, and how He would dust the dirt of rejection from His sandals and move on to those who were capable of receiving Him and His words on good soil.

He didn’t attempt to say everything, because He said we “cannot handle it now,” but got to the essential. And He spoke even in silence, since silence opens up room for listening and contemplation.

All of these are elements of a spirituality of communication Jesus, the model and pattern of all communication, was beckoning us to follow.

In the final section of the talk, I focused on 15 journalistic virtues highlighted by recent popes in their annual letters since 1967 for the World Day of Social Communications.

They are virtues supposed to be found in every authentic communicator.

We’re called to be formed to inform. To be 8 Turn to page 11

April 1, 2022 †

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Editorial

A heart stronger than weapons of every kind

Last Friday, on the Solemnity of the Annunciation marking the Incarnation of the Son of God in response to the Blessed Virgin Mary’s fiat, Pope Francis, in communion with bishops, priests, religious and faithful throughout the world, solemnly prayed in front of the image of Our Lady of Fatima brought to St. Peter’s Basilica: “Mother of God and our Mother, to your Immaculate Heart we solemnly entrust and consecrate ourselves, the Church and all humanity, especially Russia and Ukraine. … Grant that war may end and peace spread throughout the world. The ‘Fiat’ that arose from your heart opened the doors of history to the Prince of Peace.

We trust that, through your heart, peace will dawn once more. To you we consecrate the future of the whole human family, the needs and expectations of every people, the anxieties and hopes of the world.”

The consecration was done not only in response to the petition of many faithful but ultimately to a request of Mary herself during her private revelations to the three shepherd children in Fatima in 1917. After showing them an image of the souls of what sinners would experience in hell, she stated, “To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate heart. … I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of reparation on first Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted and there will be peace; if not she will spread her errors through the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church, … [and] various nations will be annihilated.”

It’s not necessary for Catholics to believe private revelations, but it’s hard not to trust the credibility of the Fatima message, considering the incontestable miracle of the sun that occurred on October 13, 1917, as a foretold confirmation of the veracity of the apparitions, not to mention the clear fulfillment of Mary’s predictions to the shepherd children that “the Holy Father will have much to suffer” and a “bishop dressed in white” would be shot, something that happened on, of all days, May 13, 1981, the anniversary of the first of the Fatima apparitions. It’s clear that the popes have believed in and acted on Mary’s message in Fatima, consecrating the world repeatedly to her in 1942, 1964, 1982 and 1984.

Pope Francis was clear that he was recapitulating the consecration of his predecessors, saying in a homily moments before the act of consecration, “In union with the bishops and faithful of the world, … I wish to renew to her the consecration of the Church and the whole of humanity, and to consecrate to her in a particular way the Ukrainian people and the Russian people who, with filial affection, venerate her as a Mother.”

The word “renew” was an unambiguous clarification for those who have never accepted that the consecration had been done properly before, that Pope Francis believes it had been done appropriately — as Sister Lucia dos Santos, the surviving visionary, had affirmed, when she attested that St. John Paul II’s 1984 consecration was “done just as our Lady asked.”

Against other critics, who deem acts of devotion like a consecration to Mary’s Immaculate Heart as superstitious, Pope Francis responded plainly in his homily: OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 66, No. 7

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“This is no magic formula but a spiritual act. It is an act of complete trust on the part of children who, amid the tribulation of this cruel and senseless war that threatens our world, turn to their Mother, … reposing all our fears and pain in her heart and abandoning ourselves to her.” He framed it within the context of what Mary herself did in Cana, where she “interceded with Jesus and He worked the first of his signs.”

Pope Francis was asking Mary to intercede with that same Son for the gift of peace.

The ultimate meaning of this act of consecration to Mary’s heart was explained by the future Pope Benedict XVI in a commentary accompanying the June 26, 2000 publication the third part of the Message of Fatima. He noted that the remedy proposed by Mary to the shepherd children — devotion to her Immaculate Heart and consecration of Russia to it — might initially seem surprising. But he said that since the heart indicates the center of human life and since Jesus says that the pure of heart see God (Mt 5:8), “to be devoted to the Immaculate Heart of Mary means therefore to embrace this attitude of heart that makes the fiat — ‘your will be done’ — the defining center of one’s whole life.”

When Mary says, “My Immaculate Heart will triumph,” the future Pope Benedict XVI commented, she means to communicate that “the heart open to God, purified by contemplation of God, is stronger than guns and weapons of every kind.”

The fiat emanating from her pure heart, he continued, “has changed the history of the world, … because thanks to her ‘Yes,’ God could become man in our world and remains so for all time.”

Mary’s heart will triumph because a heart pure like hers is ultimately stronger than all the hearts full of hatred and violence, and ultimately more powerful than bullets, tanks, hypersonic missiles and even threatened nuclear bombs.

But what Pope Francis led the universal Church to do on March 25, the anniversary of Mary’s initial fiat, must not remain just a one-time extrinsic rite. The consecration he asked all the members of the Church to pray with him is meant to be lived and renewed by believers. Together with the Holy Father, we were asking Mary not only to pray for an end to war and restore peace but to grant each of us a heart like hers. That is an ongoing process, because what Pope Francis did was not a “magic formula but a spiritual act,” one that is meant to lead to a true spirituality of life.

Pope Francis pointed to this as he finished the act of consecration. He prayed: “Our Lady of the ‘Fiat,’ on whom the Holy Spirit descended, restore among us the harmony that comes from God. … In your womb Jesus took flesh; help us to foster the growth of communion. You once trod the streets of our world; lead us now on the paths of peace.”

The path of peace involves a fiat to God’s will not the will to power. It involves a heart like Mary’s that ponders, treasures and enfleshes God’s word. It involves an entrustment to Mary’s motherhood, prayers and powerful intercession. Let us renew the consecration of ourselves to her heart full of love each day until the war is ended — and beyond.

Daily Readings † April 9 - April 22

Sat. April 9, Ez 37:21-28; (Ps) Jer 31:10-13; Jn 11:45-56. Sun. April 10, Palm Sunday, Procession: Lk 19:28-40. Mass: Is 50:4-7; Ps 22:8-9,17-18, 19-20,23-24; Phil 2:6-11; Lk 22:14—23:56 or 23:1-49. Mon. April 11, Is 42:1-7; Ps 27:1-3,13-14; Jn 12:1-11. Tue. April 12, Is 49:1-6; Ps 71:1-4a,5ab-6b,15,17; Jn 13:21-33,36-38. Wed. April 13, Is 50:49a; Ps 69:8-10,21-22,31,33-34; Mt 26:14-25. Thu. April 14, 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 15, Good Friday, 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—19:42.

Sat. April 16, Holy Saturday, Easter Vigil: Gn 1:1—2:2 or 1:1,26-31a; Ps 104:1-2,5-6,10,1214,24,35 or Ps 33:4-7,12-13,20,22; Gn 22:1-18 or 22:1-2,9a,10-13,15-18; Ps 16:5,8-11; Ex 14:15—15:1; (Ps) Ex 15:1-6,17-18; Is 54:5-14; Ps 30:2,4-6,11-13; Is 55:1-11; (Ps) Is 12:2-3,4-6; Bar 3:9-15,32—4:4; Ps 19:8-11; Ez 36:16-17a,18-28; Pss 42:3,5;43:3-4 or (Ps) Is 12:2-4bcd,5-6 or Ps 51:12-15,18-19; Rom 6:3-11; Ps 118:1-2,16-17,22-23; Lk 24:1-12.

Sun. April 17, 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; Jn 20:1-9 or Lk 24:1-12 or, at an afternoon or evening Mass, Lk 24:13-35.

Mon. April 18, Acts 2:14,22-33; Ps 16:1-2a,5,7-11; Mt 28:8-15. Tue. Mar. April 19, Acts 2:36-41; Ps 33:4-5,18-20,22; Jn 20:11-18. Wed. April 20, Acts 3:1-10; Ps 105:1-4,6-9; Lk 24:13-35. Thu. April 21, Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8:2ab,5-9; Lk 24:35-48. Fri. April 22, Acts 4:112; Ps 118:1-2,4,22-27a; Jn 21:1-14.

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Prayer for the Sy no d We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we gather in Your name.

With You alone to guide us, make Yourself at home in our hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how we are to pursue it.

We are weak and sinful; do not let us promote disorder.

Do not let ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor partiality influence our actions.

Let us find in You our unity so that we may journey together to eternal life and not stray from the way of truth and what is right.

All this we ask of You, Who are at work in every place and time, in the communion of the Father and the Son, forever and ever. Amen.

April 1, 2022 †

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2022 Annual Pro-Life Essay Contest winners St. Joseph, Protector of the Family, Defender of Life The annual Pro-Life Essay contest was recently completed with high school and junior high school students from across the diocese taking part. The top two high school and junior high school entries were selected by judges and then read by the authors at the annual Pro-Life Mass held March 25 at St. Julie Billiart Church in Dartmouth. The four winning essays are printed here.

”To give life to someone is the greatest of all gifts; To save a life is the next.” — (Blessed William Joseph Chaminade, on St. Joseph) This gentle carpenter of Nazareth supported Mary in her pregnancy, assisted with the birth of our Lord, and when Herod threatened the life of Jesus, he left his homeland to flee with his family to Egypt. Pope Francis’ prayer says it best, ”Father, you entrusted to St. Joseph what you held most precious: the Child Jesus and His Mother, in order to protect them from the dangers and threats of the wicked.”

Searching for an answer to the question ”Where does life come from?” gave me different results. Biology says life came from spontaneous generation. Chemistry told me that a living cell is composed of atoms and molecules. Social Studies teaches about human evolution. My favorite answer, however, is the one taught to me by my faith: ”I believe in one God, the Father almighty, Creator of Heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.” Life, therefore, comes from God, and all life should be cherished, preserved, and defended.

Human life is holy and Sacred. When Mary and Joseph were entrusted to bring forth Jesus Christ, they braved all challenges to make sure He came into this world, and Joseph resolved to dedicate his life towards the wellbeing of his family. Even though his reputation was put to test, Joseph’s faith did not falter. Through his example, may we be reminded of our own obligation to defend God’s precious gift: the gift of life.

As a Catholic, I believe that life is given by God and no one has the right to take it. Sadly, the value of human life is being threatened every day. Abortion, for example, is now common. Our Catholic faith calls on us to pray for enlightenment and follow in the footsteps of St. Joseph.

We’re just children. We’re too young to be involved. Excuses! As middle schoolers, we are of the proper age to make a stand. Our diocese has various Pro-Life programs.

One perfect, age-appropriate example is this activity! We are asked to write an essay about St. Joseph as the Protector of the Family and Defender of Life. When I think about it, I never really bothered to learn about ”Pro-Life” until I had to write this piece. One may argue that this is just a local activity, and it’s not going to make a significant noise.

Remember, St. Joseph has always been far from the limelight. We barely read about him even in the Bible, but his contribution to our Salvation is enormous. Proof that a deed does not need to be loudly recognized for it to be great, it just needs to be right. So, let us pray: ”St. Joseph, help us to faithfully commit ourselves to the service and defense of human life — especially where it is vulnerable or threatened. Obtain for us the grace to do the will of God in all things. Amen.”

St. Joseph, Protector of the Family and Defender of Life, pray for us!

Aleena Borra, Grade 7, Holy Family Holy-Name School, New Bedford

As soon as I was old enough to speak and listen, I was told the amazing story of Jesus’ birth. My parents taught me about God and how He sent the Angel Gabriel to Mary in her little home, and told her that she was to have a Son named Jesus. While listening to this story, I always thought about how hard this must have been for Joseph, Mary’s spouse. Before having the angel appear to him and tell him about Mary, his soon to be wife, he must have been so confused and scared. As soon as all was explained, he took the Lord’s Son in and cared for Him as his own child. It didn’t matter where Jesus came from, Joseph loved Him as his own family. After hearing this story, I thought about how amazing it was, and how similar it was to adoption.

I soon became very amazed and started to learn more about the adoption process.

How adults who were not able to have children, and even single parents, could adopt a child and care for them throughout their entire life. I have many adopted cousins, and instead of seeing them as my ”adopted cousins,” I see them just as my loving and beautiful cousins and family. It doesn’t matter where they came from, they are, and always will be, my true family. I always loved learning about all of this, and adoption was explained to me at a young age.

With this, I believe that Joseph was a very strong person. He was called to holiness through obedience to God and provided for Mary and Jesus with no doubt. He is a person we should all look up to, and try to follow him in his faith and loyalty to his wife, and God. Joseph is an example of someone who has put all his faith in God, like the rest of us should continue to do.

Anna Higgins, Grade 8, Holy Family-Holy Name School, New Bedford 8

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2022 Annual Pro-Life Essay Contest winners St. Joseph, Protector of the Family, Defender of Life Life is always meant to be cherished. We hear stories in the news of how children are suffering in other countries, how a young boy was killed in an attack, how people and children are dying everyday due to political conflicts. We are meant to support the lives we are given, and a prime example is the life of Mary. Mary was told that she would be with Child as a virgin.

Instead of shunning the idea and running from the responsibility, she embraced the Child with love and affection. However, St. Joseph, Jesus’ adoptive father, reacted differently.

After learning that Mary was with Child without being with him, Joseph grew distant and angry with her. An angel visited him in his sleep one night, telling him that Mary was truthful and faithful. From this moment forward, Joseph loved Jesus as his own son and protected Him from harm during the years that He grew into a man. Joseph listened to the voice of the angel in his dream when he was told to leave the manger to go to Egypt to escape Herod, and again when he was told to return to Israel.

Joseph is not mentioned many times in the Bible. However, he played a large role in Jesus’ life before His ministry. He had taught the Son of God the art of carpentry, which he practiced as a trade. When he listened to the words of the angels, he protected Jesus as a baby. Passages within the Bible mention that loving and respecting your father will bring good tidings to your home with children and wealth. Although not explicitly mentioned, these passages were likely based on the relationship between Jesus and Joseph.

They were not related by blood, but they recognized each other as part of their family and respected each other throughout their lives. God trusted Joseph to protect the life of His Son. Similarly, He trusts us to protect the gifts of life that He bestows on us.

We are meant to protect unborn lives the way that Joseph protected the life of his adoptive Son. Joseph understood that this was not his baby, but that He was the Son of God, and he took responsibility for His growth. According to God, all lives are precious, whether born or unborn, and they are gifts that should be protected. We are meant to be protectors of life, especially of those who are vulnerable, such as children and others in need. In conclusion, we should be more like Joseph, protecting those who need it the most, and having the faith in God to realize that this is our responsibility as Christians.

Jade Biliouris, Sophomore, St. John Paul II High School, Hyannis

St. Joseph is the model of a defender of life and family. Unfortunately, since the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, it has been hard for us to be defenders of life because the attacks on life and family, such as abortion, have become much more ”normal” in our society. Throughout the beginning of the New Testament, St. Joseph proved to us that he was willing to stand up for life, no matter how difficult the circumstances were.

The Bible does not record any words that St. Joseph said, which could lead us to assume that he was a man of few words and a man who took action. We must all be like this too in the Pro-Life movement. When talking to someone about the tough topic of abortion, we shouldn’t argue, but instead listen and help the other person with patience. Patience is a virtue that Joseph constantly practiced as well. He was willing to walk slowly by Mary’s side on the way to Bethlehem, flee to Egypt with his family in the middle of the night, and teach Jesus how to be a carpenter like he was. Most women who are considering an abortion are in a tough situation, the same way that Mary was when she was conceived with Jesus. St. Joseph protected her and supported her, and we need to do the same.

Women considering an abortion are also on a tough journey. Their baby needs protection, and we need to help defend that baby’s life because they cannot fend for themselves.

But, the only way to protect an unborn child is to help the mother. If pregnant women feel as if they have support and guidance from others, it will help them to consider keeping their child. I believe that St. Joseph is the perfect example of this. He protected Mary on the way to Bethlehem and when they fled from Herod. Even his willingness to divorce her quietly when she was pregnant before their Marriage was so that she wouldn’t be ashamed or get into trouble.

Mary was in what many might consider to be a crisis pregnancy. Joseph and Mary were scared, and had many fears about what might happen because of this. Many women today are in this type of situation and feel the same fears that they both felt, not knowing how people will react to their pregnancy. Too many men in our world will advise these women to have an abortion to hide the shame and embarrassment that they feel. St. Joseph was in this situation, but he chose to defend life. He was willing to accept the possible consequences of supporting Mary and defending the life of her unborn Child. We must all be willing to do the same.

Even though we don’t know much about St. Joseph, one of the most important things we know is that he is a man of virtue. He was also willing to protect Mary and her unborn Son, Jesus, even though Jesus wasn’t his biological son. St. Joseph probably had plans for his life before the Annunciation, when Mary conceived Jesus. But he was willing to put that all aside to protect his wife and her unborn Son. He wasn’t afraid or ashamed to be the husband of Mary and the foster father of God Himself. St. Joseph is the perfect model for everyone who is Pro-Life. Even if it feels like the whole world is against us, it is of utmost importance that we protect life and family, just like our friend St. Joseph did.

Eamon Philip Martin, Freshman, Bishop Stang High School, Dartmouth April 1, 2022 †

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Miracles are still unfolding

have seen an unexpected miracle unfolding before my eyes at St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown. A couple months ago, someone dropped off to one of our adorers, two shoeboxes full of hand-made Rosaries and Rosary parts, and asked if she knew anyone who would like to put them together. She, in turn, gave them to me and asked if I knew anyone who might like to do that. Since I schedule the Thursday adorers, I put the word out to our adorers and asked if anyone was interested.

Two women came forward. In the meantime, I showed them to Father

Jack Schrader and told him a few people had come forward. About a dozen were already finished and Father Jack said he could

Guest Columnist

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Karen L. Howard use those, so I gave them to him. First mistake. I should have kept at least one as a model, for none of us knew how to put these pieces together. So, we looked at them and tried, but then decided the best thing would be to order a couple kits that came with instructions, so we could

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figure out how to do this.

The kits came in and then we began to think, who else might be interested in this? One of the woman’s husband had been making Rosaries for years, but they were the chain type and these were the corded type. He also traveled a lot with his business, and would not be home for a couple weeks, so we waited for his input.

Then I thought of another woman who started the Rosary before daily Mass and asked her. She was interested. Then I thought of another woman who goes to the Attleboro clinic to pray for an end of abortions, who was always try-

ing to get everyone to say the daily Rosary, so I asked her. She was interested.

Then the few of us decided, why not put something in the bulletin to see who else might be interested. A few more came forward.

One of those persons not only knew how to make corded Rosaries, but had been making them for years and had run out of places to donate them when her priest contact in Honduras had passed away. One who came forward had lots of contacts with the Catholic schools and thought they might be interested. I spoke with our DRE, who was not only interested in the children receiving Rosaries, but wanted them to learn how to make them them-

selves. Along the way, our parish had invited Father James Phalan, C.S.C., the 8 Turn to page 11

Our Lady of Fatima in Ukraine

Miracles are still unfolding continued from page 10

National Director for the Family Rosary at Stonehill, to one of our Monday Holy Hours. I spoke with him afterwards and he said he could use as many as we could make; he would find a home for them.

Before we got too much farther, other parish folks were telling us once upon a time people in the parish had made Rosaries for the Armed Forces, but they had to have no metal on them and use dark colors. We began exploring that and discovered that Veteran’s homes appreciated Rosaries as well. We could do that with corded Rosaries.

Some of those kits we had ordered were the chain types, so other parishioners began to donate the tools we would need. One woman was interested, but she didn’t want to make the Rosaries, she wanted to purchase those great little blue booklets for children for how to pray the Rosary. Then others wanted to do the same. Our DRE elicited the help of another parishioner to see how complicated these might be in order to teach the children, and they began to experiment.

We started meeting weekly and the woman who had made the corded Rosaries, began teaching that technique. The man who had made the chain Rosaries was home from his job and came to the meetings showing everyone how to make the chain Rosaries. We began shopping at Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics and Amazon to see about best prices for more supplies,

but then bumped into Our Lady’s Rosary Makers via Google (https://www. olrm.org/) in Kentucky and found we could purchase more beads, cords, crucifixes and medals there at cost provided we were making them to give away and not selling them.

Many were still learning, but once we got the technique down, we discovered we could make a corded Rosary in an hour.

We began amassing several hundred Rosaries — so, batch by batch, we asked Father Jack to bless them and off they went: the first 100 went to the Pastoral Care Office at St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, the next several hundred went to Catholic school elementary students — every single Catholic school student in New Bedford/Acushnet! Along with one of those wonderful blue booklets, Rosaries went to each student at St. James/St. John School, All Saints School, and Holy Family/Holy Name School.

St. Francis Xavier School in Acushnet received 245 last week, just in time for the Consecration. More went to a Confirmation class along with the booklets as well. The Sisters of Divine Mercy (St. Faustina’s order based in Poland) have their motherhouse in Lakeville, the next town over, and they often come to Mass at St. John Neumann. I spoke with Sister Katerina and discovered she would be going to Poland in the near future, and all their convents in Poland were taking in Ukrainian refugees and were over capac-

ity. I asked if they might like some Rosaries and she was very grateful for the offer.

The Rosary is such a powerful prayer. It invites us to meditate on the entire panorama of Salvation history from the joyful to the luminous to the sorrowful to the glorious events in Our Father’s plan for our Salvation. If we immerse ourselves in these mysteries each week, we can only grow closer to Mary’s Son and our Father. Our Lady is always pointing us to her Son. Our world is engulfed in incredible evil right now, but also some incredible love and selflessness is emerging. We have all seen what is going in the Ukraine, but we have also seen an unselfish outpouring of love by perfect strangers in Poland and Moldova and elsewhere in response. There are multiple organizations now trying to funnel in food, clothing, medicine, supplies, etc. for the massive waves of refugees.

Man does not always eat by bread alone. Perhaps some of our Rosaries will make their way to some of the refugees and provide them with a little hope and a link to their faith. Even if they do not, however, they have already made their way to hundreds of others who are now using them to pray for our brothers and sisters in harm’s way. That is what the Body of Christ is all about. Two shoeboxes of Rosaries parts multiplied into a new parish ministry providing hundreds of Rosaries for people, and they are still coming in. Even the 12 baskets of leftovers

are still multiplying. The hand of God — a miracle for our times — or the Holy Spirit and Our Lady moving in our midst?

One school principal sent a thank you note telling us she had shared them with students and faculty and that they would be praying for world peace: Dear SJN Rosary Makers, On behalf of St. JamesSt. John School, I want to thank you for your generous donation of Rosary beads and booklets. I have shared them with our faculty and students. We will be praying for World Peace.

God bless, Christina Viveiros-Serra

World peace! Our Lady of Fatima of the Ukraine must be looking down with such kindness on her children. So, if you want to see a miracle, perhaps it is time we all pick up our Rosaries, and if possible, head for the nearest Adoration chapel, fall to our knees and pray to our loving Jesus, our Bread of Life, for the safety of all the persecuted and refugees, and for conversion of Vladimir Putin and all of Russia.

Ave Maria!

Karen L. Howard teaches theology at Boston College and is a parishio-ner of St. John Neumann Parish in East Freetown.

Father Landry’s column continued from page five

faithful, prayerful, discerning and wise. To be hopeful even in the midst of bad news since we can see the bigger picture. To be charitable, just and fraternal. To have integrity and be truthful, sincere, honest, objective and, especially today, anthropologically forthright. To listen and be understanding. To be responsible and mature, seeking the truth and try to convey it in a way that disarms rather than detonates bombs. To be positive, striving to overcome evil with good. To be free, not excessively influenced by what others will say or think, including advertisers and donors. To be discreet, since not everything — especially calumny and unnecessary detraction — is fit for print.

To be courageous and resolute, willing to risk our wellbeing to bring to the light injustices that those harming others would prefer to remain hidden.

To be joyful, zealous and professional. These are all virtues every believer can imitate and are part of the spirituality needed to be an apostle, regardless of our profession.

In 1997, St. John Paul II reminded Catholic journalists that Christ is the way, the truth and the life and asked: What “way” do you point out? What “truth” do you propose?

What “life” do your offer?

To proclaim the Good News in every season and especially in the midst of bad, we must turn to Christ Who continued to preach from Calvary and become the echo not just of His words but of His virtues. This is something that Holy Spirit was sent by Him and the Father to help us to do — and that Gift is as needed now as ever.

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

April 1, 2022 †

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T he C hurch

I

t’s spring! After a long winter, those can be the some of the most exciting words that we can hear.

Easter is just around the corner. Are you ready for Easter and for summer?

During spring, we start to clean our houses and our yards in anticipation of summer. The days get longer, and it gets warmer.

We open the windows and let in that fresh air Spiritually, Lent is also in bloom.

It is a time set aside by the Church to help us prepare in anticipation of Easter.

What do spring and Lent have in common? They both represent a time for new birth; a new beginning. This week, I’d like you to consider getting some spring cleaning started — on your soul. Yup, that’s right, your soul!

Give your soul much thought lately? It’s easy to forget about it since we can’t see it, but it is our very essence as children of God. It is the center of it all. It is our authentic self. It is the

Y outh & Y oung A dults Use it or lose it!

and

part of us that will live forever. Yet, most of us spend very little time thinking about it, and very little time dusting it off or cleaning it out.

You see, you’ve got to work on your soul.

I’m always amazed, especially as I grow older and rounder, of the amount of money and time spent in working on that beautiful look, that special outfit or that perfect body. How many hours a week do we dedicate to those pursuits?

In contrast, just how many hours do we spend on our soul?

With your soul, you’ve got to use it or lose it! You can’t ignore your health and hope that you’ll be OK when you get older. You can’t ignore your studies and hope that you’ll pass.

You can’t ignore watering a plant and hope that it will live. Well, you can’t ignore

your soul and hope it will carry you into the next life either.

So how do we work on our souls? I’m not sure there is any one way. We can start by taking “time to just slow down” and “take

an opportunity to go on an inner retreat.” Many of us are afraid to be alone with ourselves, aren’t we? Is it because we just might be afraid of what we’ll learn?

In order to work on your soul you need to experience solitude and silence first.

It is only then that we can look into our very souls and begin to clean it out, to remove the junk and to dust things off. Then you’ll

be able to know what God wants from you. Only in that silence and solitude will you be able to hear God’s voice speaking to you. That is what will make your soul healthy.

Take some time this Lent and spring to work on your soul. Sit and just be.

Consider attending the Stations of the Cross on a Friday night or an extra Mass or two. Go to Reconciliation.

Read a passage in the Bible each day or maybe even a chapter!

Read some of the other articles in The Anchor. Tune in one of the religious TV channels and just listen.

Attend the beautiful services planned during Holy Week and really try to understand what is going on and why. Attend one of the Lenten services sponsored by parishes in the diocese.

All of these things will clear the cobwebs from your

soul. They might help you unburden yourself of all the junk that we all accumulate in our souls. All of these things will give your soul a good workout. All of these things will help you develop a stronger, more “beautiful”, more “perfect” soul.

It will be like you threw open the windows of your soul and let in that breath of fresh air! It will be like springtime for your soul, leading to a new and more active “summer.”

See you at the “gym” and I don’t’ mean Planet Fitness!

Anchor columnist Deacon Frank Lucca is a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Fall River assigned to St Mary’s Parish in Dartmouth, and a campus minister at UMass Dartmouth. He is married to his wife of nearly 44 years, Kristine, and the father of two daughters and their husbands, and five grandsons.

So blessed!

The 2022 Diocese of Fall River Annual Pro-Life Essay Contest Winners were, from left: Jade Biliouris, St. John Paul II High School, First Place, High School level; Eamon Martin, Bishop Stang High School, Second Place, High School level; Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V.; Aleena Borra, Holy Family-Holy Name School, First Place, Junior High School level; Anna Higgins, Holy Family-Holy Name School, Second Place, Junior High School level. (Photo by John E. Kearns Jr.) 12

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W

ith sterilization and Lebensborn being to slow to establish the mythical Aryan master race in Germany, and exile for “inferior” people being impractical, Nazi leadership embraced the “final solution.” Kill them!

I have seen the newsreels of bulldozers pushing bodies into mass graves. I

Genocide III have stood within touching distance of lampshades made of preserved tattooed chest skin. I have read accounts such as Shirer’s “Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.” I have heard accounts of survivors. But the depravity

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on the Portuguese Channel Sunday, April 3 at 7 p.m.

Broadcast from St. Anthony of Padua Church in Fall River

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass

on the Portuguese Channel Sunday, April 10 at 7 p.m.

Broadcast from Immaculate Conception Church in New Bedford

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, April 3 at 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Msgr. Stephen J. Avila, V.F., Pastor of St. Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family Parish in Falmouth

Sunday, April 10 at 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Riley J. Williams, Pastor of Holy Name Parish in Fall River

— they all stink!

In our nation and across the globe, so many people are finding a final solution to a problem pregnancy with death for the innocent. Are these rationalizations? You betcha!

I am a senior citizen now, an old man. This human entity that I am has too young to remember or been around for a long too old to sit in school for time. Years ago, in the prime of life, this human classes on genocide, then entity had a different apyou may take the journey through the pertinent his- pearance. The same can be said of my appearance as torical literature to learn adolescent, pre-teen and the facts. I shall stand in toddler. As a new-born I solemn silence with head was the same human entibowed before those victy. I was the same human tims. entity from the moment Of those who perpetwo gametes came togethtrated the deaths, some er in my mother’s body. enjoyed it, some felt it a O Christian! Can duty to the Reich, some you recognize the innate felt a twinge of conscience, dignity of every human some tried to rationalize entity of whatever color, their guilt away. I’ll tell nationality, wealth, health, you of one soldier desdisposition, intelligence, ignated a firing squad executioner. He said that if education or any other he had to execute a family, metric?

For those suffering he always shot the parents from addiction, I think I first and then shooting the did my part. My presence children was something at the meetings supported of a mercy because they them in their struggle. The had become orphans and New Bedford outreach there was no one to care program Positive Support for them!

Action Against Chemical This is called a ratioAddiction (PAACA, Goonalization. gle it) began in my rectory When I was in charge living room and its first of St. Anne Parish in furniture for its first walkNew Bedford, there were in site consisted of chairs Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous from St. Anne School.

Put aside all ratiomeetings in the school hall nalizations and hear the or rectory basement hall words of Jesus regarding several times a week, and the final judgment: “I tell I would often sit in. The you solemnly, insofar as other attendees shared what they gained from ex- you did this to one of the least these brothers of amining the excuses they gave for lapsing. Don’t we Mine, you did it to Me” (Mt 25:40). often try to give rationalReflections of Rabbi izations for our behavior?

Excuses or rationalizations Raphael Kanter, a friend and depth of evil of the Holocaust is beyond my vocabulary to express. It is truly ineffable. If you are

and colleague of Father Buote: In Genocide III Father Buote touches on the murder and mass killings of Jews that we have on film, visual proof of those atrocities. Those victims were the result of many fine people rationalizing horrible and evil actions that took them to the bottom of the human ethical ladder and then into hell.

The meditation on rationalization by Father Buote is a warning that any bad or evil can be rationalized. We can agree that there is always a danger of rationalization in the area of ethics. Faiths can approach controversial issues with different responses and yet every person must look into their heart, take account honestly, using the Divine word to guide the response. That is the primary directive and ultimately leads us to the path of redemption.

Father Buote is a retired priest of the Diocese of Fall River, and a regular Anchor contributor.

East Freetown parish to host Palm Sunday/Holy Week Taiz Taizéé EAST FREETOWN — All are invited to an inspiring Palm Sunday/ Holy Week Taizé service on April 10 at 7 p.m.

It will take place at St. John Neumann Parish, 157 Middleboro Road in East Freetown.

The theme of the service is “Come, still your self before the mysteries.”

April 1, 2022 †

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Return to the banyan tree

was the first to arrive at the venerable old tree. I had wanted to assure myself of a good seat before they had all sold out to the eager masses. Soon they all began to arrive, in ones and twos, on foot, in cars, vans and trucks. It was like the prelude to a football game. Then he approached the grassy verge of the banyan’s shelter, flanked by Dr. Wasserman and Baron Chan. It was like a reenactment of the Lord’s Transfiguration on the mountain all over again. Ken Seamon, our administrator, had abandoned his golf clubs and armed himself with a clip board. It was game time.

We had gathered on March 15 to hear the good news (if any) from the Board of Health representatives. I had hoped that we could dispense with our masks completely so that I would not have to cough or sneeze into my mask. Yuck!

That was not to be. While

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we would not have to wear a mask outdoors, we would still have to do so indoors in the usual places. Thank the Lord for the clean air of outdoor Kalaupapa enabling us to flush out our

lungs. The good news of the presentation was and is that we can now have visitors to our blessed shores of Kalaupapa but on a limited basis. For example, we residents can now sponsor four visitors at a time rather than the previous six. Visitors must fill out an application and provide proof of full vaccination ahead of time. Authorities just love to give us the needle in these times. Sponsors must ensure that all these requirements are met. I may need to hire (or conscript) a secretary!

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It was now question time and many questions were directed to the Board of Health in regard to these new policies and directives. So I figured it was now my chance to air my question. Although this is the season of Lent, and Jesus has said, “Not on bread alone does one live,” I stood up and asked, “When do we get our bread?” Then what happened to me some 59 years ago in the seminary, happened again when I was reminded that this was not the subject at hand and that I should sit down. I did so politely and we were told that the problem is being worked on. I hope so, since 12 months is a long time to go without bread and it is especially difficult to make a tuna sandwich without bread.

After this interaction there was some laughter, then the questions and conversation reverted to the subject of COVID and the new policies in that regard.

So since Ken seems to enjoy giving me the needle, I asked whether one would have to wear a mask while hitting golf balls alongside him. He replied, “No, but one should keep one’s distance.” I’m suggesting to Ken that he acquire an Irish golden retriever to find and collect all the balls he sprays all over the ball field.

I would volunteer to do it myself if there was a promise of some generous tips.

See you next month under the banyan tree.

Aloha.

Anchor columnist, Father Killilea is pastor of St. Francis Church in Kalaupapa, Hawaii.

In Your Prayers Please pray for these priests and deacons during the coming weeks: April 9 Rev. Cornelius McSwiney, 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, Sandwich, 1914 Rev. John Mackey Fee, SS.CC., 2012 April 12 Rev. John Tobin, Assistant, St. Patrick, Fall River, 1909 Rev. Msgr. Alfred J. Gendreau, S.T.D., 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 April 13 Permanent Deacon Joseph Stanley Jr., 2006 April 14 Rev. Louis N. Dequoy, Pastor, Sacred Heart, North Attleborough, 1935 Rev. Cosmas Chaloner, SS.CC., St. Francis Xavier, Acushnet, 1977 Rev. John Godelaer, SS.CC., 1990 April 15 Rev. Christopher G. Hughes, D.D., Retired Rector, St. Mary’s Cathedral, Fall River, 1908 Permanent Deacon Oscar Drinkwater, 2011 Permanent Deacon George H. Zarella, 2021 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 Patrick 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 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 April 21 Rev. John O’Beirne, Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton Rev. Thomas M. Feeley, C.S.C., Author; Former National Director of Family Rosary of Holy Cross Family Ministries, Easton, 2004 Rev. Gerard Shanley, SS.CC., 2017 April 22 Rev. James L. Smith, Pastor, Sacred Heart, Taunton, 1910 Rev. Thomas F. Fitzgerald, Pastor, St. Mary, Nantucket, 1954 Rev. Richard J. Segreve, C.S.C., Retired, Holy Cross Residence, Stonehill College, Easton, 2017

Office of Clergy Support to host Novena for Priests continued from page one

the love of God. At this moment, we can call to mind certain Scriptural passages where God promises each one of us that He is truly with us. We know that in John’s Gospel, our Lord promises, “I will not leave you orphans” (14:18). In a similar way, Christ promises at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, “Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (28:20).

But where and how does God keep these promises? We might say, in an extraordinarily concrete way, that God has kept these promises in the Sacraments that come to each one of us through the sacred hands of the priesthood. Calling these truths to mind, our hearts can only respond with gratitude, since, by instituting the priesthood and the Sacraments, God has shown us just how good He truly is, and that we have a Heavenly Father who keeps His promises.

“But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels,” St. Paul reminds us (2 Cor 4:7), which is to say, that the treasure of our faith (i.e., the Sacraments), in God’s plan of Salvation, is brought about in this time in Salvation history through a fallen and redeemed humanity. In this context, we are reminded that the glory of the priesthood is carried out by men who are human beings, and this is a great mystery of our faith.

In my experience being and working in the Church and in my role as the Director of Clergy Support for our diocese, it seems that forgetting the humanity of our priests is one of the most common errors that we make. We rightly see and love the glory of the priesthood, but can, at times, forget the mysterious truth that it is held in “earthen vessels,” that is, in human beings. Such an internal attitude can lead us, sometimes unknowingly, into certain types of criticism or negativity towards our priests who are our fathers in the order of grace. Forgetting that they are real human beings with their own thoughts, feelings, joys, and challenges, we can sometimes fall into a sort of overly critical, unrealistic, and unholy attitude towards our priests. I believe that the Church is of the mindset that one of the bases for supporting our priests is

simply remembering that they are human beings like each one of us.

Here are a few practical ways that we can support our priests as human beings: 1. Offer to help your priests by supporting them in their ministry and volunteering in the parish.

2. Avoid gossiping or complaining about priests.

3. Show priests our appreciation by offering to help, cooking them meals on busy days, saying “thank you,” writing them a note of gratitude, or complimenting them.

4. Look out for their well-being and offer words of encouragement if they seem stressed.

5. Make it a priority to celebrate them on their special days, such as ordination day, birthday, or Father’s Day. 6. Establish a relationship with your priest and let him know that you are in his corner.

7. Invite priests over for dinner.

8. Do what you can to encourage vocations to the priesthood.

Of course, we know that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle as well (cf. Eph 6:12), so another thing that we can do for our priests is to offer spiritual support. Currently, we host a monthly day of prayer and fasting for our priests. We also invite you to consider joining us for a special Novena for our priests taking place April 4-12, the nine days leading up to our diocesan Chrism Mass on April 12, when our priests renew their vows. We encourage you to go to www. fallriverclergysupport.org and sign up for emails to get involved in these and other spiritual practices.

Above all, let us commit ourselves to love and honor the beloved priests of our diocese. May we take the same approach as St. Francis of Assisi, who said, “I am determined to reverence, love, and honor these men [priests]. I refuse to consider their sins because I can see the Son of God in them. I do this because in this world I cannot see the most high Son of God with my own eyes except for His most holy Body and Blood which they receive and they alone administer to others.”

At the conclusion of the Pro-Life Mass at St. Julie Billiart Church in Dartmouth on March 25, Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., joined Pope Francis and all of the world’s bishops in consecrating Russia and Ukraine to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. At the conclusion of that Mass, the bishop, at noon, prayed the Act of Consecration in communion with Pope Francis’ recitation of the same prayer in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican in the Vatican at approximately the same time, which was 5 p.m. in Rome.. The same act was undertaken by all the bishops of the world. (Photo by John E. Kearns Jr.)

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