06.10.22

Diocese of Fall River, Mass. † Friday, June 10, 2022

Guild for the Blind aided by generous Appeal donations FALL RIVER — The 81st annual Catholic Appeal “Journeying Together in Faith and Love” has raised $3 million to date, with three weeks remaining in the annual campaign, which ends on Thursday, June 30. There is still time to make a gift or pledge in support of the many agencies and apostolates that carry out the work of the Church throughout the Diocese of Fall River, assisting tens of thousands each year.

Gifts to the Appeal directly support the Guild for the Blind, one of the

many programs offered for persons with disabilities through Catholic Social Services. The Guild helps visually impaired individuals across the diocese keep, strengthen, and recover their faith through prayer, support, and fellowship.

Blindness, and the challenges associated with vision impairment, are an increasingly significant issue. According to the Centers for Disease Control, without effective interventions, cases of age-related macular degeneration will increase by 100 percent 8 Turn to page two

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. is surrounded by brother priests during the Prayer of Ordination for Fathers Matthew Laird, William O’Donnell III, Gregory Quenneville, and Laurent Valliere at St. Mary’s Cathedral on June 4. (Photo by Deacon Alan Thadeu)

Diocese ‘rejoices, celebrates and prays’ with four newly-ordained priests

By Dave Jolivet Editor

davejolivet@anchornews.org

FALL RIVER — Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. told the four men about to be ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Fall River, “We rejoice, celebrate

and pray with you here today.” Scores of priests, deacons, seminarians, family and friends filled St. Mary’s Cathedral on June 4 for the ordination, which was the largest single ordination Mass in the diocese in 20 years.

At the conclusion of the joyous ordination Mass, the bishop thanked all present and asked for prayers for himself, the newly-ordained priests, all the priests, deacons, seminarians and the diocesan faithful at 8 Turn to page three

ECHO of Cape Cod celebrates 50th anniversary

MASHPEE — After a two-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, ECHO of Cape Cod, a retreat program for high school youth, is finally celebrating a major milestone: 50 years. A special Mass and dinner will take place on Friday, June 17 in Mashpee to recognize and celebrate what may be the longest running retreat program in the United States.

Father Thomas Mayhew founded the ECHO program in 1968 at the request of Bishop James L. Connolly, former Bishop of the Fall River Diocese. ECHO, which stands for “Encountering Christ in Others,” was first active in the Fall River and Taunton areas of Massachusetts. Father Francis B. Connors and Father Edward E. Correia brought it to Cape Cod in

1970. The acronym was a suggestion from Msgr. John

J. Oliveira who was inspired viously been on an ECHO, by a quote from Benedicand Catholic spiritual directors. The weekends tine spiritual writer Don give young people the Marmion who said, “Joy is the echo of God’s life in us.” opportunity to reflect on Today, ECHO still operates their lives, develop lasting under the auspices of the friendships, and discover and/or grow their faith. The Fall River Diocese.

ECHO experience, cenECHO is focused around a number of threetered on the message of the day retreats held annually Paschal Mystery, provides for high school youth. The young people with the faith retreats are led by adults, they need to live in a world June 10, 2022 † teen-agers who have pre8 Turn to page 19 1

Plans shored up for start of Eucharistic Revival in diocese FALL RIVER — Plans are being finalized for the Saturday, June 18th Mass and Procession that will launch the nationwide Eucharistic Revival project in the Diocese of Fall River.

At 4 p.m. that afternoon, Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., will celebrate Mass for the Vigil of the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ in the auditorium of Bishop Connolly High School in Fall River. The Mass will be followed by an outdoor Eucharistic Procession on the school grounds and then Adoration.

Bishop da Cunha has extended an invitation to all members of the Diocese to attend. Bishop Connolly High School is located at 373 Elsbree Street in Fall River.

Similar celebrations will take place in dioceses across the country on that weekend as the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops opens a three-year grassroots initiative designed to inspire and to revive devotion and belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Bishop da Cunha said recently that he is looking forward to gathering with the faithful to inaugurate this National Eucharistic Revival in the diocese.

“It’s an important opportunity for us to re-kindle our love for the Eucharist, to recognize the presence of Jesus in the gift of the Eucharist, and to reconnect with Him, with the Church, and with our faith,” he said.

The bishop recalled, from the Gospel of St. John, 2

Diocesan Guild for the Blinded aided by Appeal donations continued from page one

and cases of vision impair- daily routines. “Technooffered their own unique the prayer of Jesus to his ment and blindness will logical advances can help, solutions. “She ended up Father before his betrayal increase by 150 percent by but only if you know about receiving three different and crucifixion. the year 2050. them,” said Stead. recommendations to help “I pray not only for Those struggling with Stead recalled a disher accomplish this daily them, but also for those vision task,” lindness is isolating, and COVID worsened that who believe in me through loss face a Stead due to certain services becoming unavailable. The said. their word, so that they may barrage of all be one, as you, Father, physical, Guild for the Blind offers a sense of community when facing Anyare in me and I in you, that psycho- a life-altering condition. one can “Being a source of spiritual comfort is paramount, bethey also may be in us, that logical, particcause spiritual health is the greatest measure of physical the world may believe that and ipate you sent me” (Jn 17:20-21). emotional health. Healing the spirit is our #1 priority.” — Cynthia in the Bishop da Cunha exhurdles Stead, Program Manager of the Guild for the Blind telephone plained that Jesus’ prayer every day.

Rosary is “that we may come to The Guild provides these cussion group in which by dialing 1-774-462-3143 believe in him through the individuals with spiritual a woman with glaucoma and entering PIN 8916. teaching and witness of the fellowship and comfort mentioned she was having There is no limit to the Apostles. We need not only they may not find elsetrouble brushing her teeth: number of callers and to believe that he came, be- where. it was difficult to make greater participation from came one of us, died on the “The most important visual distinctions between across the diocese is always cross and rose to life again, thing about the Guild for a white sink, white toothwelcome. Future goals for but also to believe that He is the Blind is that it allows paste, and white tooththe Guild include help with present in the Eucharist. people to pray together. brush bristles. Creative housing applications and “The Eucharist is the It helps people keep, and problem-solving kicked providing more forms of Sacrament of Unity. For possibly recover, their into high gear, as members everyday assistance. peace, for unity among faith,” said Cynthia Stead, of the discussion group For more information all God’s people, we must Program Manager of about the Guild for witness our faith in Jesus the Guild for the Blind. the Blind and how Present in the Eucharist.

“Small, everyday probto participate in the Through this witness, the lems can become the telephone Rosary, please world may also come to biggest issues; together, contact Cynthia Stead believe.” they can begin to eat by emailing cstead@ Diocesan Secretary for away at one’s spiritucssdioc.org or calling the New Evangelization al health. In this way, 508-771-6771.

David Carvalho is leading the spiritual and the Contributions to the a committee of clergy and practical can be very Catholic Appeal, which lay members in planning inter-connected. The runs through June 30, Eucharistic Revival in the Guild is here to help may be made either Diocese of Fall River. Carwith both.” through a one-time valho said that, as a sign of The Guild offers donation or through the unity of the diocese, par- telephone-based Rosamonthly, quarterly, or ishes have been encouraged ries on the second and semi-annual pledges. to send a delegation to the fourth Thursday of each Donations may be June 18th inaugural Mass month at 2 p.m. and mailed to the Catholic and Procession and that a 7 p.m. Following the Appeal office, 450 number of apostolates in the Rosary, participants take Cynthia Stead, Program ManHighland Ave., Fall diocese will also have repre- part in discussions that ager of the diocesan Guild for River, MA 02720, sentatives participating. help reduce feelings of the Blind, is shown here with a made online at www.

The Eucharistic Revival isolation and offer sug- special gift from the Vatican to GiveFRDiocese.org, is envisioned as a movegestions for easing com- the Perkins School for the Blind: or dropped off at any ment, not a program, and monly-shared, everyday a rare, full size replica of the parish in the diocese. aims to lead all Catholics challenges. Topics run head of Michelangelo’s ‘David,’ Please contact the to a renewed encounter the gamut and often cov- which will be a centerpiece in a Catholic Appeal office at with Jesus in the Euchariser adaptive aids to help planned sculpture garden hon- 508-675-1311 with any people continue their questions.

8 Turn to page 20 oring Helen Keller.

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“B

Four ordained as priests for the diocese continued from page one

large. He also said, “And please continue to pray for vocations because we have four ordained this year and we’re probably, God willing, counting on four next year.

“We need to continue this trend. But we need all of your help, all of your prayers, and all of your support.”

In his homily, the bishop addressed the four men: “First, I hope you realize that you are here today because God called you.

“Jesus told us in the Gospel today, ‘It was not you who chose Me, but I Who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain.”

“You will have a priestly life and fruitful ministry if you truly believe that God called you and that you are

where you are because God put you there.

“God did not call you because you were perfect or even because you could become perfect, but because He saw enough goodness and generosity in the depths of your heart to make you His servant to shepherd His people.

“Remember that you are being ordained, not for yourself, not for honor and privilege, but to the service of God and His people. The priesthood is not a career or professional choice you made in your life, but a response to God, Who chose you for the service of His people.

“The priesthood is given to you, but not for you. It is to be shared and to be at the service of God’s peo-

† Diocese of Fall River † OFFICIAL Appointments

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D., Bishop of Fall River, has made the following appointments: Reverend Matthew F. Laird, Parochial Vicar of Saint Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family Parish in East Falmouth Reverend William J. O’Donnell, III, Parochial Vicar of Saint Mary Parish in South Dartmouth Reverend Gregory K. Quenneville, Parochial Vicar of Saint Mary-Our Lady of the Isle Parish in Nantucket Reverend Laurent M. Valliere, Parochial Vicar of Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Osterville Effective: June 15, 2022 Reverend Gregory K. Quenneville, Parochial Vicar of Saint Mary-Our Lady of the Isle Parish in Nantucket, to Parochial Vicar of Saint Julie Billiart Parish in Dartmouth Effective: September 1, 2022

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., is photographed with the four newly-ordained priests on June 4 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fall River. From left: Father Gregory Quenneville, Father William O’Donnell III, the bishop, Father Matthew Laird, and Father Laurent Valliere. (Photo taken from diocesan Facebook page) ple. You have been chosen from among God’s people, now you are one for God’s people.

“As priests you are called to lead God’s people in prayer and worship, and work every day for your own holiness. In the prayer of Consecration we pray ‘Renew within them the spirit of holiness.’

“We don’t think enough about our call to holiness. We think it is not for ourselves or it is something we can achieve.

That is not true. From our Baptism, we are all called to holiness.

“And in order to be a man of God you must be a man of prayer, of meditation on God’s word, of contemplation before God’s wonderful deeds and His presence in the Mystery of the Eucharist.

“Remember this local Church of Fall River needs you. She needs your faith, your prayers, your service, your fidelity and generosity; she needs you, all of you, unconditionally.

After the four were or-

dained they received their vestments from a brother priest who made a big impact in their lives. Father Laird was assisted by Father John Oliveira, administrator of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Our Lady of Guadalupe parishes in New Bedford; Father O’Donnell was assisted by Father Thomas Frechette, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Pocasset; Father Quenneville was assisted

by Father David Mullen, pastor of St. Brendan Parish in Bellingham; and Father Valliere was assisted by Father John Kelly, a retired senior priest of the Diocese of Providence.

Each of the four newly-ordained priests celebrated their first Masses the following day, Sunday, June 5: Father Laird at Christ the King Church in Mashpee; Father O’Donnell at Holy Trinity in West Harwich; Father Quenneville at St. Theresa of the Child Jesus in South Attleboro;

and Father Valliere at St. Stanislaus Church in Fall River.

Effective June 15, the four will begin their assignments as parochial vicars: Father Laird at St. Joseph, Guardian of the Holy Family Parish in East Falmouth; Father O’Donnell at St. Mary Parish in South Dartmouth; Father Quenneville at St. Mary-Our Lady of the Isle Parish in Nantucket; and Father Valliere at Our Lady of Victory Parish in Centerville and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish in Osterville.

On September 1, Father Quenneville will be reassigned to St. Julie Billiart Parish in Dartmouth.

The bishop concluded his homily by telling the four, “You will become today instruments of God, so that through you God’s word, His grace and mercy will flow to His people.

“Remember to always conform your life to the Lord and the mystery of His cross.”

June 10, 2022 †

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wenty-nine-yearold Dom Brand of South Carolina, in an apparently random act in 2020, shot and killed an 80-year-old woman named Mary Ann Elvington. His action resulted in several tragedies unfolding simultaneously. Mary Ann could have lived many more years had she not been shot. Her children were unable to spend time with her for the rest of their lives. No longer could she babysit the grandkids or share the wisdom of her years. The shooter also upset any real prospects for his own future, as he became subject to the criminal justice system and lifelong incarceration.

So many future goods and future timelines were damaged or destroyed by one wrong action.

Then there was Michael

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Treasuring our future timelines Webb of Clermont County, Ohio, who set his own house on fire with his wife and four children inside in 1990. He poured gasoline on the beds of his sleeping children and around the house before sparking the blaze with a match. The prosecutor concluded that he intended to kill his family, collect the insurance money and start a new life with his mistress. His wife and three of his four children managed to survive the flames, but three-year-old Mikey perished from smoke inhalation. There were devastating consequences all around. Mr. Webb was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in jail. His wife and remaining children struggled to move on without the support of their husband or father. Little Mikey’s long future timeline, with all its youthful potential, came to an abrupt and tragic close.

Some of the longest timelines we destroy are those of unborn children with almost their whole

† June 10, 2022

earthly lives still ahead of them. This is often done in ways that virtually nobody ever sees or notices, through stealth abortions with the “abortion pill,” which, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, now accounts for about 54

percent of all U.S. abortions.

The lamentable power to destroy future timelines through abortion was poignantly addressed by Kathy Barnette in a riveting YouTube video entitled “It wasn’t a choice. It was a life.” Barnette was recently a candidate for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

Whatever her controversial positions may have been on some of the issues of the day, and regardless of what one thinks about her other political views, her personal testimony on abortion ought to be heard by everyone.

Kathy was conceived

after her mom, Mamie Jo, was raped at age 11. In the video, Mamie Jo, now in her 60s, stresses how abortion cannot be an answer to sexual assault, even as she acknowledges the trauma of her own rape: “It was hard. We were all devastated.

But my mother said: ‘You know, you’re pregnant, so we’re gonna get through this,’ and she helped me get through it. I don’t want to use the word ‘choice.’ [My daughter] was going to be born. I didn’t have a choice to say, ‘You are going to live, or I’m going to abort you.’

That wasn’t a choice for me, and I thank God it wasn’t a choice for me. Regardless of how old you are, and how the child was conceived, that child deserves a chance. If I had made that ‘choice,’ where would I be right now without my daughter?”

Kathy likewise speaks to the false and damaging “choice” that abortion can tempt us with. She stresses how profoundly her life matters, as well as the new lives and timelines of her children, grandchildren and further generations that will

unfold into the future: “Before the foundation of the world, God saw me and he decided that I would be, and He said in His word that not only did I see you, but I called you.

I predestined you. And so as a Christian, I believe in the value of life, that when I was in my mother’s womb, He was knitting me together. Even among Christians, even among staunch conservatives, an exception to the rule of being Pro-Life for many is in the case of rape. And yet my life has value. From me have come two very beautiful and charming and smart kids.

I’m married to a wonderful husband and we’ve made a life for ourselves, and none of this would have happened if the exception to the rule had applied…. You have to be able to see the difference…. I’m left with an overwhelming sense of gratitude, that not only did God see value in my life, but that my family saw value in my life. I’m very grateful for that. I’m eternally grateful that they chose to allow me to be born.”

Our choices today powerfully affect future timelines in either positive or detrimental ways. In choosing to protect human life, we open up a more beautiful and fulfilling future for ourselves and all those around us.

Anchor columnist Father Pacholczyk earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, and serves as the Director of Education at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia.

See www.ncbcenter.org and www.fathertad.com

Guarding sacramental integrity, Church Communion, and the salvation of souls

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n May 20, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco sent a letter to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and a resident of the city, informing her that “you are not to present yourself for Holy Communion and, should you do so, you are not to be admitted to Holy Communion, until such time as you publicly repudiate your advocacy for the legitimacy of abortion and confess and receive absolution of this grave sin in the sacrament of Penance.”

The letter was the result of many years of unsuccessful pastoral effort by Archbishop Cordileone to persuade Speaker Pelosi of the error and immorality of her support for abortion. It was also the direct result of her refusal of various requests to discuss one-on-one her more recent push to codify the Supreme Court’s Roe v.

Wade decision in federal law as well as her failure to respond to his April 7, 2022 letter warning her that unless she publicly repudiated her advocacy for abortion, or refrained from referring to her Catholic faith in public and receiving Holy Communion, he would have to issue such a decree, consistent with Church law.

Those who “obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin,” Canon 915 specifies, “are not to be admitted to Holy Communion,” and Speaker Pelosi’s persistent public support for the intentional killing of unborn human beings, despite having been privately corrected by her archbishop, certainly meets the canonical description.

Archbishop Cordileone — who says he finds “no pleasure whatever in fulfilling [his] pastoral duty here” — is simply doing his job, for the sake of Speaker Pelosi’s soul and to remedy the scandal and confusion her actions are causing with respect to the evil of abortion and to the worthy reception of Holy Communion.

Despite the lucidity of Canon 915, and a 2004 Letter to U.S. bishops by Cardinal

Joseph Ratzinger (the future Pope Benedict XVI) applying it to the situation of abortion and euthanasia, most U.S. bishops have been hesitant to apply the canon. They have preferred, rather, to emphasize Canon 916, which says that a person conscious of grave sin is not to receive Communion without previous sacramental confession. In their November 2021 document, The Mystery of the Eucharist in the Life of the Church, for example, the U.S. bishops reiterated, “If a Catholic in his or her personal or professional life were knowingly and obstinately to reject the defined doctrines of the Church, or … repudiate her definitive teaching on moral issues, … he or she should refrain” from receiving Holy Communion (48).

But what happens when someone — despite the precision of the Church’s teaching on abortion and the norm that those who consciously and stubbornly reject Church teaching on abortion should refrain from receiving Holy Communion — comes to receive any way? What occurs when a bishop meets with a member of his flock to speak about the incongruity of the person’s public actions and instructs the person to refrain, but the person defies the instruction?

The U.S. bishops, in their November pastoral, declare that it “is the special responsibility of the diocesan bishop to work to remedy situations that involve public actions at variance with the visible communion of the Church and the moral law,” which is what Archbishop Cordileone sought to do with Speaker Pelosi, unfortunately to no avail. The U.S. bishops did not unambiguously state, consistent with Canon 915 and the 2004 Ratzinger Letter, that the bishop must refuse, but they did say that the diocesan bishop in question has a responsibility to “guard the integrity of the sacrament, the visible communion of the Church, and the

salvation of souls” (49).

The integrity of the Eucharist is at stake when those who scandalously and intransigently persist in public grave sin, like support for abortion, continue to receive sacrilegiously.

The visible communion of the Church, moreover, is fractured when those who consciously separate themselves from what St. Justin Martyr in the second century described as doctrinal, sacramental, moral communion nevertheless pretend that they’re in communion. And

the salvation of souls is at stake when people live and die in a situation of unabsolved grave sin, rejecting communion with the truth of the faith about abortion and with the love of our littlest neighbors made in Christ’s image. Those who consume the Eucharist in a state of sin, St. Paul affirms, “have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord,” (1 Cor 11:27) and, as St. Thomas Aquinas warns in the Lauda Sion, “Bad and good the feast are sharing, of what divers dooms preparing: endless death or endless life.” That is what is on the line.

There are many bishops and faithful who hesitate, for different reasons, from publicly supporting Archbishop Cordileone’s decision. The larger issue, they say, is getting people back to Mass and into Communion, and it’s counterproductive to focus on refusing Holy Communion to those who are still attending. They worry that in remedying the scandal caused by a pro-abortion politician, the Church might be causing a greater scandal by making it seem the Church is letting the Eucharist be manipulated toward partisan political ends, or by discouraging those who disagree with Church teachings from thinking they’re

still valued members of the family. Some note, moreover, that because some parishes are effectively pro-abortion, and those in Speaker Pelosi’s situation will always somewhere be given Holy Communion, such a decree, rather than strengthening visible communion, might undermine it.

But even if people are uncomfortable with and distinguish themselves from Archbishop Cordileone’s straightforward application of canon law and its potential consequences, the unambiguous message of the Church — prelates and faithful — should be a resounding, “Speaker Pelosi should absolutely not be receiving Communion.” The U.S. bishops’ document, which passed 222-8 last November, and Canon 916, make that quite clear.

When a bishop, or a prominent Catholic voice, distances himself from Archbishop Cordileone’s action, while not simultaneously emphasizing, “but we all agree that she should not be receiving Holy Communion,” such an action cannot but suggest by omission — scandalously — that Speaker Pelosi, despite her pertinacious abortion advocacy, is fine receiving Holy Communion.

Some prelates have said that they would never refuse anyone Holy Communion, including those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin. Such a declaration suggests they wouldn’t refuse a busy abortionist who has just finished a full Saturday, a Satan-worshipper wanting to steal communion for a sacrilegious ritual, a mobster or school serial killer trying to receive with blood dripping from his hands, a Ku Klux Klan Imperial Wizard wearing his hood, a human trafficker gripping his teen-age victim, an avowed militant atheist, or a non-Christian with no idea what — or better Who — the Eucharist is.

Never to refuse anyone Holy Communion is the

equivalent of the Blessed Mother’s never refusing to give the Baby Jesus to anyone, including Herod’s henchmen.

It is the opposite spirituality of St. Tarcisius, who gave his life to protect the Blessed Sacrament from teen gang members wanting to profane it. Such dereliction is not a badge of honor, but a cowardly failure of Eucharistic stewardship and of love for Jesus in His extreme Eucharistic vulnerability.

Other critics argue that abortion is not the only grave issue and Speaker Pelosi is not the only scandalous figure violating Canon 915. Both true. But such whataboutism proves rather than undermines the importance of Archbishop Cordileone’s action: the path to remedy other such scandals, after all, has to start somewhere.

Others who have criticized Archbishop Cordileone’s action have quoted Pope Francis’ words that the Eucharist is not a “prize for the perfect but a powerful medicine and nourishment for the weak” (Joy of the Gospel, 47). The U.S. bishops point out in their recent document, however, that the “weak” refer to those with venial sins, not mortal (45).

Pope Francis, moreover, himself has regularly distinguished “sinners” from the “corrupt.”

Sinners, he says, are those who recognize they’ve erred and humbly approach God’s mercy.

The corrupt, on the other hand, are “solidified in sin,” “varnished putrefaction” refusing to acknowledge they’ve sinned. Those who obstinately persevere in manifest grave sin are, by Pope Francis’ terminology, “corrupt,” not weak. They are not beyond God’s mercy, but they first have to recognize that and why they need it.

That’s what Archbishop Cordileone is trying to do with Speaker Pelosi. And in his care for the integrity of the sacrament, the communion of the Church, and Speaker Pelosi’s salvation, he deserves the Church’s prayers and full support.

Father Roger Landry is Interim Executive Editor. fatherlandry@ catholicpreaching.com.

June 10, 2022 †

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Editorial

Responding adequately and effectively to mass killings

The list of deadly mass shootings continues to grow. The names of Tulsa, Uvalde, Buffalo, Boulder, El Paso, Virginia Beach, Thousand Oaks, Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, Parkland, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Bernardino, Sandy Hook, Aurora, Fort Hood, Blacksburg, Columbine, have become synonymous with such rampages. In the last 15 years alone in the U.S., there have been 20 different shootings killing at least 10 people.

After each, there is mourning and righteous indignation, but little action, especially at the federal level. In fact, as soon as politicians and media begin to clamor for gun control, gun sales skyrocket. This is an illustration of the fundamental chasm that exists in the national conversation about guns.

Some clearly want to eliminate all or most guns, even though the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms, 44 states have similar provisions in their state constitutions, and the U.S. Supreme Court, in its 2010 decision McDonald v. Chicago, held that the Second Amendment applies even in those states that do not have such a provision. Gun control activists nevertheless note that guns, especially semi-automatic assault weapons, facilitate the homicidal aims of those tempted to take the lives of one or more, and they argue that for the sake of our children and others, we must make it much harder, if not practically impossible, to own or possess them.

When atrocities occur, gun enthusiasts complain that gun control activities are exploiting the situation to try to take away their guns — and gun sales rise as insurance against that eventuality. They argue that guns don’t kill people, people kill people, and generally try to focus the attention of society on the killer rather than on the means the killer employed. They worry, sometimes to a paranoid degree, that if they give an inch toward gun regulation, they’re hopping on a slippery slope that will lead ultimately to the undermining of the constitutional order and to their being stripped of the ability not only to hunt but to protect themselves and their families against criminals, corrupt police and overreaching government.

The vast majority of people in the middle recognize that if we can get away from these extremes, there is ample room for progress. Most admit that there must be attention on the killers and not just their guns: studies have shown that many are loners from broken families who spend much of their time on the Internet or playing violent video games, who feel aggrieved, lack empathy and seek to be heard and taken seriously by attention grabbing massacres. There’s not just a mental health crisis, but a relational, familial, cultural and spiritual one. Most also admit, however, that such troubled boys and men should not have easy access to guns and ammunition, so as to diminish their capacity to carry out atrocities based on their interior demons.

It’s time for those who recognize the truths on both sides to come together to start addressing at least some of what almost everyone recognizes can be done.

In recent articles for the New York Times, Nicholas Kristoff has ably tried to sketch what’s possible.

“This will be painful for many of my fellow liberals,” he writes, “but I suggest that we work harder to engage centrists, talk about ‘gun safety’ rather than ‘gun control,’ and jump into the weeds … on technocratic details.” He cites surveys from Pew Research Center and Quinnipiac University that show that a majority of those who own guns and a majority of those who do not both support: background checks for all gun buyers as well as for private sales and at gun shows; preventing the mentally ill from buying guns; OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE DIOCESE OF FALL RIVER Vol. 66, No. 12

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† June 10, 2022

banning the sale of guns to those convicted of violent crimes or on no-fly or watch lists; federal mandatory waiting periods on all gun purchases; creating a federal database to track gun sales and banning the sale of magazines with 10 bullets or more; and banning modifications that make semi-automatic guns work like automatic weapons.

Kristoff also asks about raising the minimal age to own a gun from 18 to 21, since Americans 15-19 are 82 times as likely to be killed with a gun than teens of the same age in countries of similar socio-economic levels. Americans from 18-20, while comprising only four percent of the population, account for 17 percent of those who commit murder.

Such a regulation may have stopped the Uvalde and Buffalo shootings, both carried out by 18-year-olds. If 18-year-olds cannot legally buy a beer, he asks, should they be able to buy handguns and AR-15 rifles?

“These are pragmatic steps that won’t eliminate gun violence or avert every shooting,” Kristoff writes, “but they can make our country a bit safer.” And, he adds, “They would at least break the paralysis on sensible gun policy.”

He suggests doing with guns what we do for cars: focus on safety, license users and train them. Such policies would also impact and reduce the use of guns for other murders, accidental homicides and the spate of suicides.

The U.S. bishops have long advocated for practical steps to break the impasse. They have repeatedly urged for improved access to mental health care and earlier interventions, an honest assessment of the violent images and experiences that inundate the young, a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks, limitations on civilian access to high-capacity weapons and ammunition magazines, the criminalization of gun trafficking, gun locks and storage, a minimal age for gun purchases and the banning of “bump stocks” that help guns fire at the speed of automatic weapons.

On June 3, the heads of four different departments in the U.S. Bishops Conference jointly sent a letter to Members of Congress summoning them to action. They noted, “There is something deeply wrong with a culture where these acts of violence [like in Uvalde, Buffalo, Dallas, Laguna Woods and Tulsa] are increasingly common. There must be dialogue followed by concrete action to bring about a broader social renewal that addresses all aspects of the crisis, including mental health, the state of families, the valuation of life, the influence of entertainment and gaming industries, bullying, and the availability of firearms. … We must unite in our humanity to stop the massacres of innocent lives.”

While advocating bipartisan action on background checks and extreme risk protection orders (“red flag laws”), they note, “Not even the most effective gun laws, by themselves, will suffice to address the roots of these violent attacks in our country.” There is also a need, they say, to confront family instability, suffering and childhood trauma, as well as the moral state of cities.

They quote Pope Francis’ 2015 words to a joint session of Congress: “Why are deadly weapons being sold to those who plan to inflict untold suffering on individuals and society?”

That’s a question for which there can never be a justifiable answer.

Working together to prevent deadly weapons from ending up in the hands of those who intend or are at risk to massacre the innocent is what society and her leaders must now ensure.

Daily Readings † June 18 — July 1

Sat. June 18, 2 Chr 24:17-25; Ps 89:4-5,29-34; Mt 6:24-34. Sun. June 19, Corpus Christi Sunday: Gn 14:18-20; Ps 110:1-4; 1 Cor 11:23-26; Lk 9:11b-17. Mon. June 20, 2 Kgs 17:5-8,13-15a,18; Ps 60:3-5,12-13; Mt 7:1-5. Tue. June 21, 2 Kgs 19:9b-11,14-21,31-35a,36; Ps 48:2-4,1011; Mt 7:6,12-14. Wed. June 22, 2 Kgs 22:8-13; 23:1-3; Ps 119:3337,40; Mt 7:15-20. Thu. June 23, Is 49:1-6; Ps 139:1b-3,13-15; Acts 13:22-26; Lk 1:57-66,80. Fri. June 24, Ez 34:11-16; Ps 23:1-6; Rom 5:5b-11; Lk 15:3-7.

Sat. June 25, Lam 2:2,10-14,18-19; Ps 74:1b-7,20-21; Lk 2:41-51. Sun. June 26, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, 1 Kgs 19:16b,19-21; Ps 16:1-2,5, 7-11; Gal 5:1,13-18; Lk 9:51-62. Mon. June 27, Am 2:6-10,1316; Ps 50:16bc-23; Mt 8:18-22. Tue. June 28, Am 3:1-8; 4:11-12; Ps 5:4b8; Mt 8:23-27. Wed. June 29, Acts 12:1-11; Ps 34:2-9; 2 Tm 4:6-8,17-18; Mt 16:13-19. Thu. June 30, Am 7:10-17; Ps 19:8-11; Mt 9:1-8. Fri. July 1, Am 8:4-6, 9-12; Ps 119:2,10,20,30,40,131; Mt 9:9-13.

Fifteen diaconate candidates to be installed as acolytes

FALL RIVER — Fifteen candidates, who are currently studying for the Fall River Permanent Diaconate, will be installed as Acolytes by Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., Bishop of Fall River, on Tuesday evening, June 21, at 7 p.m. in Holy Trinity Church, in Fall River.

Assisting Bishop da Cunha will be Father Robert A. Oliveira, and Deacon

Frank R. Lucca, co-directors of the diocesan Permanent Diaconate.

The Ministry of Acolyte is the second of two ministries that candidates must receive and exercise as part of their preparation for ordination as a permanent deacon.

These candidates are the 10th class for the Permanent Diaconate of the Diocese of Fall River and have been in the formation

program for four years.

They will continue in one more year of academic and pastoral formation before ordination as deacons.

Those to be installed as Acolytes are: James “Gus” Adams, St. Anthony Parish, East Falmouth; Jeremias Carranza, Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish at St. James, New Bedford; Richard Fish, Jr., Christ the King Parish, Mashpee;

David Gaspar, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Swansea; Tyrone Gonsalves, Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich; Leonard Guyette, Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich; Philip Koch, St. Joan of Arc Parish, Orleans; David Laird, Christ the King Parish, Mashpee; Thomas Martin, Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich.

Joseph Martino, St.

John Neumann Parish, East Freetown; Americo Miranda, Our Lady of Grace Parish, Westport; John O’ Brien, St. Mary’s Parish, Mansfield; David Roderick, Corpus Christi Parish, East Sandwich; Shawn Seybert, St. Theresa Child of Jesus Parish, Attleboro; and Scott Taveira, Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Parish, New Bedford

Eleventh class of diaconate formation will begin in September FALL RIVER — The diocesan Permanent Diaconate Office has announced that Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V. has approved the formation of a new deacon class, the 11th class in the history of the diocese.

The class that will be formed, after a period of discernment, will begin academic study in September 2022 and the ordination date is scheduled to be in May 2027.

Deacons are clergy and

through Sacred Ordination the deacon becomes a herald of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This “clerical state” occurs during ordination by the laying on of hands by the bishop, a tradition handed down from the Apostles. As a result of the sacramental grace received, the newly-ordained deacons are empowered to fulfill their ministry to serve the people through the service of liturgy, word, and charity.

The origin of deacons

† Diocese of Fall River † OFFICIAL Appointments

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D., Bishop of Fall River, has made the following appointments: Reverend Mr. Brian P. Connors, to Holy Name Parish, Fall River Reverend Mr. John P. Garabedian, to Holy Family Parish, East Taunton Reverend Mr. Christopher D. Hughes, to St. Mary Parish, South Dartmouth

was recorded in the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles.

As people complained that the widows were being neglected in the daily distribution of food by the Apostles, the Apostles stated, ”It’s not right that we should neglect the preaching of the Word of God to serve tables.”

So they chose seven men ”full of the Spirit and Wisdom — men like St. Stephen who would become the first martyr for the faith.

In the story of Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles, we learn that he was martyred not for serving tables but for proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Here

at the infancy of the Church we find a model in St. Stephen of the link between love of God and love of neighbor. These two commandments are inseparable.

The account of the life and death of St. Stephen reminds us of how this Order began in the Church, with an extraordinary sacrifice, one man giving his life for the Gospel.

To be a deacon of the Church is to stand on the shoulders of giants — St. Stephen, St. Lawrence, St. Francis of Assisi, all deacons, who left an enduring mark on the Church.

By the fifth century, deacons were doing little except performing liturgical

† Diocese of Fall River † OFFICIAL Appointments

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., Bishop of Fall River, has accepted the nomination of the Reverend Alberto Barattero, I.V.E., Provincial Superior of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, and has made the following appointment:

Reverend Mr. Thiago M. Santos, to St. Jude the Apostle Parish in Taunton

Reverend Thomas P. Steinke, I.V.E., Parochial Vicar of Pastor of Saint Anthony of Padua Parish and Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish in New Bedford

Effective: May 28, 2022 through August 14, 2022

Effective: June 1, 2022 – April 30, 2023

functions. For more than 1,200 years, the diaconate was simply a step on the way toward priestly ordination. In 1957, Pope Pius XII spoke favorably about the possibility of restoring the permanent diaconate, but eventually concluded that “the time is not yet ripe.”

The Second Vatican Council decided that the time was ripe and St. Paul VI reinstated the permanent diaconate 54 years ago this year.

Deacons are sometimes asked, “What do deacons do?” and, “Why do deacons do what they do?”

The deacon administers Baptism, he protects and distributes the Eucharist at Mass and brings Eucharist to the homebound, he witnesses marriages, he proclaims the Gospel, he preaches and encourages the people, and he presides over prayer and officiates at funeral rites.

The exact nature of the ministry of permanent deacon can be found in the Rite of Ordination for Deacons. They are to make themselves servants of all — as the Gospel mandates all Christians. They are to help the bishop and priests at the altar and in their service. They are to do so 8 Turn to page 16

June 10, 2022 †

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Holy Union Sister Eileen Davey is a comfortable presence at area home ATTLEBORO — Sister Eileen Davey, SUSC, moved into the Attleboro Community in August 2020, during the midst of the pandemic.

She is a retired Holy Union Sister from New York and who will be also celebrating her 61st anniversary of Religious Life on September 8.

Moving into Attleboro and residing at Christopher Heights of Attleboro, she visited St. John Parish, introducing herself to Father Craig Pregana, and although faithful were not yet back to church due to the pandemic, she voiced that she sincerely wanted to be an active member of the parish community in

her retirement.

As she became known to fellow residents, she was asked of her if she would be able to bring ashes on Ash Wednesday and deliver palms on that first Palm Sunday during the pandemic, which she did.

As time went on, Sister Eileen was asked if she

would lead a prayer service on Sundays, for the residents to gather and listen to Mass readings and pray together. Sister then began to bring the Holy Eucharist to the residents.

Sister Eileen hasn’t stopped there. She has taken it upon herself to “go beyond the ministry of the church walls” she said, and was able to arrange for the Live-Stream Mass to be broadcast into Christopher Heights. An activities room is set up each Sunday for the residents to enter into a “comfortable space” that is quite and peaceful, and her small community is able to join

the parish Mass.

Sister Eileen said, “That the residents continuously comment on how much they appreciate being able to connect and participate in the Liturgy of the Mass each Sunday, having the Mass livestreamed, but how extra special it is to be able to have Father Craig visit and say Mass in person.”

She said that she is “enriched by their love of the Eucharist which is such a spiritual necessity to their lives, and how fulfilled she is, being able to give back, “this spiritual comfort that sometime they feel they have lost.”

Sister Eileen Davey, SUSC, gives the residents of Christopher Heights Holy Eucharist during the “Live Steaming” during Sunday Morning Mass at St. John Parish, both in Attleboro.

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At least 50 feared dead in attack on Catholic church in Nigeria WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNA) — At least 50 people were killed and others injured June 5 when gunmen attacked worshippers at a Catholic church in southwestern Nigeria, according to media reports.

A doctor at a hospital in Owo, a town in the Nigerian state of Ondo, told Reuters that no fewer than 50 bodies had been moved to the Federal Medical Center in Owo and to St. Louis Catholic Hospital.

The attack took place during a Pentecost Sunday service at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Owo, according to Ondo’s governor, Arakunrin Akeredolu.

A video posted on Twitter showed graphic scenes of bodies and blood inside the church.

Akeredolu said many children were among the dead.

“I am deeply saddened by the unprovoked attack and killing of innocent people of Owo, worshiping at the St. Francis Catholic Church, today,” the governor said in a tweet. “The vile and satanic attack is a calculated assault on the peace-loving people of Owo Kingdom who have enjoyed relative peace over the years.”

A state lawmaker, Ogunmola-

suyi Oluwole, told the Associated Press the attackers also detonated explosives.

The Vatican released a statement June 5 after Pope Francis learned of the attack.

“The pope learned of the attack on the church in Ondo, Nigeria, and the death of dozens of faithful, many children, during the celebration of Pentecost,” the statement read. “While the details of the incident are being clarified, Pope Francis prays for the victims and for the country, painfully affected in a moment of celebration, and entrusts both to the Lord, to send His Spirit to comfort them.”

Nina Shea, a human rights lawyer and expert in religious freedom at the Hudson Institute, a think tank and research center in Washington, D.C., told CNA June 5 that “war-like” attacks against Catholics and other Christians are escalating in Nigeria. Yet most of this violence, until now, has centered in northern Nigeria, while the southwestern part of the country where Sunday’s attack took place has remained relatively peaceful.

“This massacre in a church while filled with Sunday worshippers is an atrocity that we’ve repeat-

edly seen in northern Nigeria over the years. Those were the work of Islamist extremists,” Shea said.

“While the facts are still emerging about today’s massacre, it is clear that large scale, war-like attacks on Catholics and other Christians are spreading in a system of impunity,” she continued. “The Buhari government has allowed this to continue unabated and fails to protect Nigeria’s churches. This governmental passivity is being seen as a green light for extremists to target Christians.”

Shea also criticized the Biden Administration and Secretary of State Antony Blinken for being “passive” in response to the increasing attacks targeting Christian villages in the north.

“Kidnappings and murders of

priests and pastors, enslavement of Christian girls, and mob lynchings for alleged blasphemy against Islam” have intensified since the Biden Administration removed Nigeria from the United States’ “Country of Concern” (CPC) list of countries where egregious religious persecution is taking place, Shea said. “(Blinken) needs to address this crisis, stop making excuses for it based on a climate change narrative and designate Nigeria as a CPC. Anything less is unconscionable,” she said.

“Innocent, defenseless religious people are being slaughtered en masse in an aggressive, onslaught even in areas like today’s attack where peaceful conditions formerly prevailed,” Shea added.

Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., recently conferred the Sacrament of Confirmation on 41 young people at St. Francis Xavier Parish, Hyannis. The confirmands were from the three communities at the parish — English, Spanish, Brazilian — and are shown above with the bishop in the center of the back row. Father Michael Fitzpatrick, pastor, and Father Marcos Calderia, parochial vicar, assisted in the Mass.

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What’s wrong with Roe

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t appears that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court is ready to overturn the legal precedent and binding authority of Roe v. Wade, established nearly 50 years ago in 1973, as well as Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision 30 years ago that reaffirmed what it called the essential holding of Roe. I never thought I’d live to see this happen. I was 21 and a senior in college when Roe came out, and I remember quite well the disappointment on the Pro-Life side when Casey decided to dig in deeper in ensconcing abortion as a constitutional right. Those days seem numbered, God willing.

We know about it because of a

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draft majority opinion written by Pro-Lifers in general, including Justice Samuel Alito for at least five firebombing their offices. It seems justices, and possibly including the unlikely that the mobs agitating Chief Justice. This leak of a draft against this judicial opinion have opinion is even read it, unpreceas it makes dented in a very solid Supreme legal and Court logical arguhistory, ment. and has Ideally, Dwight Duncan unleashed this decision a torrent of should now pro-aborbe issued tion as soon as demonstrations, including at the possible, to avoid untoward pohouses of the majority justices, as litical or even violent interference well as pressure and outrage diwith judicial independence and the rected at the putative majority and orderly process of the rule of law.

The latest it should issue is by the end of the term in late June or early July, once the opinions, including dissenting opinions expected from the Court’s Democratic appointees, are finalized.

The pending Dobbs case, which deals with whether Mississippi’s law banning abortions after the 15th week is constitutional, thus threatens to overturn existing abortion precedent. Together, Roe and Casey stand for the proposition that prior to fetal viability, when the unborn child is capable of living outside his/her mother’s womb, abortions can only be regulated in incidental ways that do not pose a substantial obstacle in the way of a woman actually obtaining an abortion.

Subsequent to viability, approximately the third trimester of the pregnancy, abortions can theoretically be prohibited by law, but only if the woman’s health is not adversely affected. The companion case of Doe v. Bolton, decided the same day as Roe, decreed that medical judgment as to whether an abortion was necessary should include “all factors — physical, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age.” In practice this meant that abortion was available on demand throughout the pregnancy. Any woman who wanted an abortion at whatever stage of pregnancy, up until the moment of live birth, could get one. While a majority of Americans seem to favor the retention of Roe, they do

not favor the abortion-on-demand culture that Roe entailed.

Overturning these cases will return the regulation of abortion to the legislative process, will allow political compromises on the issue, as opposed to all-or-nothing constitutional litigation, and will result in a varied patchwork of abortion regulation throughout the nation.

Some places, like Massachusetts, have extremely permissive abortion laws that go well beyond Roe, but others have enacted or will enact more restrictive laws.

The nature of the constitutional law hitherto governing abortion was totally one-sided, since it viewed the unborn fetus as legally nothing, not a “person.” (Even the notorious Dred Scott decision that hastened the Civil War recognized that an African-American was a person, just not a citizen capable of bringing suit in federal court).

Roe recognized unborn babies as at most “potential life,” such that a mother’s health interest, no matter how slight, would always overcome a fetus’ life interest, no matter how compelling. This from a constitution that never uses the word abortion, nor pregnancy nor marriage nor family, for that matter.

There is a lot of phony fear-mongering in the media about this prospective overturning of Roe. Justice Alito’s draft opinion says in at least two places that the case is limited to abortion, since unlike contraception, homosexual sex and, most implausibly, interracial marriage, which we are now being told are under attack as well, abortion involves an innocent and non-consenting third party, namely the unborn child, who is unquestionably a living human being entitled to respect. So the substantive due process and equal protection cases that purport to ground those other privacy or autonomy rights in the constitution are not put into question by Dobbs, if it finally does overturn Roe and Casey. It’s about time.

Anchor columnist Dwight Duncan is a professor at UMass School of Law Dartmouth. He holds degrees in civil and canon law.

Diocesan school leaders complete BC’s post-grad Catholic Leadership Cohort FALL RIVER — In order for Catholic schools to continue to thrive and be strengthened for the future, the leaders of Catholic schools need to be able to think strategically more than ever. Future Catholic school leaders are required to learn how to build coherence, manage resistance, and foster relationships during a time when Catholic education is undergoing revolutionary change. Most importantly, Catholic school leaders must have a commitment to the vocation of leading that requires “special qualities of mind and heart, very careful preparation, and continued readiness to renew and adapt” (Pope Paul VI, 1965, #5).

On May 22, Catholic school leaders from around the country graduated from the post-graduate Catholic Leadership Cohort as part of the Boston College’s Roche Center for Catholic Education.

Five of the 16 graduates are from the Diocese of Fall River: Matthew Bourque, principal of St. Mary Catholic School in Mansfield; Charlotte Lourenco, principal of St. Mary-Sacred Heart School in North Attleboro; Kelly Gomez and

Jacob Curren from Bishop Feehan High School in Attleboro; and Dorothy Mahoney-Pacheco from Holy Trinity School in Fall River.

Dorothy Mahoney-Pacheco also received “The Magis Award” at the graduate award ceremony.

“The Catholic Leadership Cohort provides emerging leaders a diverse set of skills to effectively lead and transform their school communities,” said Molly McMahon, PhD, Program Director of Leadership Development. “This select group of Catholic leaders take courses over 20 months to obtain their Master’s in Educational Leadership and Policy. This program covers four key domain areas: Mission and Catholic Identity, Governance and Leadership, Academic Excellence, and Operational Vitality. This program is rooted in the Ignatian Tradition which challenges leaders to be humble, adaptable, joyful, visionary, joyful and attentive.”

According to Matthew Bourque, principal of St. Mary Catholic School in Mansfield, “The Catholic Leadership Cohort equipped me with the skills and mindset to be a

strong and visionary Catholic leader, and I am blessed to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from this wonderful group of leaders from around the country.

The pandemic and our school’s response to the challenges it has brought have confirmed the continued need for robust and vibrant Catholic leadership at our schools.

Families have high expectations of their children’s education as well as their faith formation, and this program reinforces and hones the skills Catholic school leaders need to ensure our schools meet and exceed these ever-changing expectations.”

Diocesan Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Daniel S. Roy,

added, “We are so proud of these school leaders who have dedicated their time and energy to achieve this very unique certification. Our goal at the diocesan level is to develop a pipeline of emerging school leaders, and programs such as this one clearly provide the education and skill development for our leaders.”

The launch of the Lynch School of Education and Human Development Catholic Leadership Cohort addresses the urgent need for strong leadership at Catholic schools. Participants are trained by respected faculty and leadership coaches to develop personal, interpersonal and organizational skills needed by every good leader.

Recently graduating from the post-graduate Catholic Leadership Cohort as part of the Boston College’s Roche Center for Catholic Education, from the Fall River Diocese were, from left: Jacob Curren, Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro; Kelly Gomez, Bishop Feehan High School, Attleboro; Dorothy Mahoney-Pacheco, Holy Trinity School, Fall River; Charlotte Lourenco, St. Mary-Sacred Heart School, North Attleboro; and Matthew Bourque, St. Mary Catholic School, Mansfield.

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A

Surrender: Seeds grow

s an adolescent, I never understood Jesus’ words, “I have more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when He comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you to all truth,” (Jn 16:12). Wasn’t the Sacrament of Confirmation receipt of the Holy Spirit? Didn’t we live in a world already gifted by the Spirit of Truth? I was mature enough to understand we read and celebrated past events (i.e. Nativity). There certainly was the impatience of youth. Beside that, though, was the respectful question, “Why can’t You tell me now Lord?” Beneath that was a heart beginning to appreciate that there must be more to truth than an honest yes or no. I was eager to grow in wisdom and understanding.

As my example of growth in understanding as one journeys with God, I use baseball. As a small child I sat beside my dad eager to understand what he saw in the Saturday TV games. My dad taught me and my two brothers to play baseball. Our family’s back yard was the baseball field for my neighborhood.

I tried out for Little League at age 12. With my

ponytail tucked up into my cap, I easily made it to final selections. Then, names and ages were taken. At the name Helen, my baseball career was over. Back then, each team had one token girl player — namely, the coach’s daughter. The best my parents could do was secure me a place in the league for eight-year-olds.

At 12, I was an AllStar in that league.

My take at 12 was how horribly unjust the world was. Since no one else was going to change it, I would do so! Father Michael Casey reminds us that God is speaking to us in those moments when reality is different from what we expected. He says, “We are being asked to cast our eyes in a different direction, open to the possibility that we are being asked to change course.” As I grew, I let go of baseball.

But I chose to devote my life as an educator focused upon moving each student past any academic difficulty.

The closest I ever got to addressing athletic inequalities was during my times covering Physical Education. Rules were set

to level the playing field.

Some days, I chose the least athletic kids first. You should have seen the joy radiating from their faces! In his reflection, “The Simple Truth,” Father Demetrius

Dumm reminds us that the question to ponder is “Were we a gift to others?”

He says, “Success means to have learned how to love and to become a positive and liberating influence in the lives of others.”

Walking in Providence is all about being a positive influence in the lives of others. Even so, I am human. Each spring Little Leaguers would fund raise.

The issue was a constant thorn in my side. When the little boys said that girls were not allowed to play, my donation stayed inside my wallet. Over time, that morphed into my withdrawal of financial support from any organization not

open to all.

One spring, a little boy said, “Icky girls were not allowed to play.” My mind brought me to my mom’s and my watching the U.S. women’s team take the gold medal in ice hockey. Just a few precious years earlier, my mom’s agonizing words were, “You are an eighth-grader.

Must you and your friends continue to play floor hockey?”

But my mom let me explore then find that special person within. Both the chance to explore and to be supported by my mom’s unconditional love were foundational in my growth.

In her reflection, “A Space for Calm and Comfort,” Judith Valente reminds us that although the ways of the world can seem cruel, peace is our inheritance. Judith says, “There is a space for calm and comfort within each hardship. It is the peace Christ promised, a peace beyond the suffering.” I looked to the adult coach behind the boy. I gently said, “Maybe it is time to let girls play baseball.”

In her book, “Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope,” Sister Joan Chittister says, “There is a time to put a thing down, however unresolved, however baffling, however wrong, however unjust it may be.” There is, of course, surrender. Easy to see in my baseball story.

Perhaps not so easy to see or live in whatever conflict may now be stirring one’s emotions. Sister Chittister says, “Surrender is the moment in which we realize that it is time to become someone new. Surrender is not about giving up; it is about moving on.” She describes courage as what you do when your heart is ready. Sister Chittister reminds us that the call to courage is the seedbed of hope.

I finally understand that the Spirit of Truth is meant to be a guide throughout one’s life journey. As Father Paul Turner says, “You can listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. When you act on that voice, you will make history — even if no one recognizes your name.”

Anchor columnist Dr. Helen J. Flavin, Ph.D., is a Catholic scientist, educator and writer.

† Diocese of Fall River † OFFICIAL Appointments

His Excellency, the Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D., Bishop of Fall River, has accepted the request to retire of: Reverend Andrew Johnson, Parochial Vicar of Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich, while continuing to reside at Corpus Christi Rectory with status of Retired Priest in Residence Reverend Daniel O. Reis, Pastor of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Parish in New Bedford Effective: July 1, 2022 June 10, 2022 †

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I

T he C hurch and Y outh & Y oung A dults The summer of 1987: Baby don’t hurt me

remember my very first encounter with love. I was about seven years old at a wedding, and completely enamored by one of the bridesmaids.

She was stunning. I was an innocent little kid who could not understand why I was so mesmerized by this person and what was this spell cast on me. I could not eat; I could not enjoy myself.

I walked around listening to my own “Wonder Years” monologue. The year was the summer of 1987, and I was in love with a stranger, and I didn’t know why. The whole night, I mustered up the courage to ask her to dance. When the time was right, I was going to do it. Finally, the DJ played my song “If you don’t know by now”

by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, and I asked her to dance. She laughed out loud, not like an LOL type laugh, but the original Laugh-OutLoud. An audible, deep from the diaphragm and loud enough for everyone to hear type laugh. It hurt me. But before I go any further, let us

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first chase this meaning of love together.

“What is love?” was a popular song made famous by one-hit wonder Haddaway and popularized via Saturday Night Live comedians Will Ferrel and Chris Kattan in their characters The Butabi Brothers.

The song, however, did not need The Roxbury Guys to help it, because its song title was a complex question of the dilemma of love and love’s true meaning. For many young people, spring and summer are the seasons of love, becoming more than just a song in “Grease” (“Summer Lovin”). Allow me, however, to help guide you in the direction of true love, so you don’t aimlessly seek an unfulfilling, empty love.

Venerable Fulton Sheen wrote in his preface to “Life in Christ”: “Satan may appear in many disguises like Christ, and at the end of the world will appear as a

† June 10, 2022

benefactor and philanthropist, but Satan never has and never will appear with scars.

Only heaven’s love can show the marks of love’s greatest gift in the night of forever past.” Fulton Sheen, in the first few lines of his book,

poetically and powerfully captures love’s nucleus: sacrifice. In order to understand God’s plan for love we have to understand Jesus, “heaven’s love” come down for us. Jesus’ model of love was a radical change from the world’s love, and His example of love revolutionized the way we embraced ourselves and the rest of humanity.

When asked which was the greatest commandment in the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus responded biblically (Deut 6:5): “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

This is the greatest and the first commandment” (Mt 22:37-38). What Jesus said next frazzled the biblical scholars of the time: “The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments” (v.39,40). Was Jesus saying that we cannot love our neighbors unless we know how to love ourselves? Yes. If you can not love what God has created perfectly in you today, then it will be harder for you to love the person that God created for

you. This is not the green light to take self-care to an unhealthy selfish level. I am proposing that you look at yourself via the eyes of your Creator and see as He does.

Love you as He loves you.

Prior to Jesus, love was a free-for-all. It was defined mainly by the senses. Hence, hedonism became a major player in various societies.

Hedonism in its simplistic form is the idea that pleasure is good, and pain is bad, therefore seek pleasure.

A more worldly definition comes from Jeremy Bentham’s opening words to his book “An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation.” He writes: “Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters pain, and pleasure. It is for them alone to point out what we ought to do, as well as to determine what we shall do.” But how could one serve two masters? One would have to be wrong and the other right according to sacred Scripture. “No one can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” In the world of hedonism, all that is pleasurable is good, and everything else is simply not. When Jesus introduced a new way of loving that involved sacrifice, people did not necessarily jump in line. Yet our very blueprint was designed for this type of love. Think about it, everything we want to excel in or love comes with a level of sacrifice. A guitarist needs to painfully build calluses for love of the music. A ballet

dancer doing pointe will sacrifice her feet for love of the dance. An athlete will put himself through a gauntlet to achieve the title of champion and for love of the sport.

Your very biology screams of the blueprint of suffering as good. In order to build muscle, muscles need to tear, and protein needs to fill in tears. Mothers giving birth is a sign of sacrificial love. The examples are endless. Therefore, our authentic design is counter to the hedonistic lifestyle: not all suffering and sacrifice is bad; they can be good.

Love truly doesn’t shy away from suffering, difficulties, and hurt. It “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:7).

It was the summer of 1987, and I asked my first love to dance, and she laughed. That deep laugh was heard by people but it was amplified by my fear of rejection and sounded louder in my heart. She put out her hands and said, “You are too cute” and danced with me. I never saw her again, but that moment was lived out in a new way when 21 years later I bumped into the woman my God prepared for me to marry. We danced in the summer of 2009 and have not stopped dancing since. A dance that comes with all that love has to offer, but through the grace of the Sacrament of Marriage, we continue to bear, believe, hope and endure all things, and our three children will continue the dance.

Anchor columnist Oscar Rivera Jr., is director of Youth Ministry in the diocesan Secretariat for the New Evangelization. orivera@dioc-fr.org

New St. Teresa of Calcutta school holds team building afternoon

Boswell, currently the admissions in the school’s main entrance.

NEW BEDFORD ‚— On the signed seat, which intentionally director for Holy Family Holy Elise Rego, the grade four afternoon of Friday, May 20, about mixed the groups. The conversaName School. “I feel that the time teacher at St. Teresa of Calcutta 35 educators from Holy Famition over lunch focused on why for team building is critical to School, praised the opportunity to ly-Holy Name and St. James-St. they chose Catholic education as ensuring that our students and John schools came together at their vocation. They also described build relationships with all team families have the best educational members. “While it is exciting to the St. Julie Billiart parish hall for their path of becoming a Catholic experience possible.” team building and prayer. This school educator as well as what or be a part of a new school, I feel Daniel S. Roy, diocesan combined team of educators feel that the time for team building is critical to ensuring that our Superintendent of Schools, represents the faculty and students and families have the best educational experience possible.”

— added, “One of the goals of staff of the newly-created St. Linda Boswell, currently the admissions director for Holy Family-Holy Name this activity was to adopt a Teresa of Calcutta School in framework to guide how the New Bedford which is slated School school leaders and faculty to open for 2022-23 school view the new school communithat I will be most successful if we year. The goal of the event was to who has helped reveal this vocaty. We want to take the best from are able to bond as a team,” she begin the process of assimilating tion to them. said. “Educators rely on each other each of the elementary schools and two distinct cultures into one uniIn addition to an extensive foster a new and authentic school daily, and this event was a great fied school environment. appreciative inquiry exercise opportunity for me to get to know culture. Additional team building Dr. Michael O’Connor from followed by a small group activteachers and staff with whom I will activities are planned to keep the Boston College’s Roche Center for ity designed to share what each momentum going.”

Catholic Education facilitated the person brings to the new team, the be working in the fall. We serve For more information about session. Immediately after arrivday culminated with their placing our students and families best St. Teresa of Calcutta School, when we are one cohesive team.” ing and choosing a St. Teresa of a symbol of a personal strength please contact Cristina Viveiros“As part of the office staff, Calcutta School T-shirt and lunch, that they bring to the new school Serra, principal, at principal@ we communicate with the entire each member went to their pre-as- community on a cross positioned stocschool.org. faculty and in many cases, are the front line for families,” says Linda

“I

Members of the staff and faculty of the new St. Teresa of Calcutta School in New Bedford took part in a team-building exercise during a recent gathering at the school.

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Eleventh diaconate class begins in September continued from page seven

in a way that they will be “recognized as disciples of Christ Who came to serve, not to be served.”

“This is the heart and soul of the permanent diaconate. Deacons are servants of Christ and His people. They are to serve with humility, generosity and obedience — in many different services, programs and ministries,” the Rite affirms.

Why does he do all this? “Certainly there is no obligation for anyone to become a permanent deacon.

Deacons don’t do it for any special recognition, power, or pay. Rather, they do it to fulfill the command of Jesus, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind ... and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” They do it to live

out the Gospel command to love — because the deacon has been chosen by God rather than the other way around.

Because experience shows that for men whose calling is sincere and truly based on a desire to serve, the Holy Spirit provides the strength required to meet the demands of formation. A prayerful approach brings men into an increasingly beautiful experience throughout formation,

Ordination and beyond.

For those men who are married, the reception of Holy Orders can enhance the Sacrament of Marriage that he and his wife share.

Progressing through the Rites of Candidacy, Lector, Acolyte and Ordination is a splendid, yet humbling journey, preparing the way for what Pope Paul II observed about the deacon: “You are meant to be living signs of the servanthood of Christ’s Church.”

Do you know someone who you think would make

a good deacon? If you do, tell him.

If you feel a calling to the Permanent Diaconate, information sessions are being held both via Zoom and in person in May and June. The General Information meeting will delve even further into the process of becoming a deacon for the Diocese of Fall River. Additional information and registration for an upcoming info night may be found on the website fallriverdeacons.com.

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on the Portuguese Channel Sunday, June 12 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, June 19 at 7 p.m.

Broadcast from St. Francis Xavier Church in East Providence

Diocese of Fall River TV Mass on WLNE Channel 6 Sunday, June 12 at 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father John M. Santone, C.S.C., Parochial Vicar at Holy Cross Parish in Easton

Sunday, June 19 at 11:00 a.m.

Celebrant is Father Michael S. Racine, Pastor of Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and St. Lawrence Martyr parishes and Parochial Administrator of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, all in New Bedford 16

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In Your Prayers

Brother James George Rukavina, SS.CC. FAIRHAVEN — Brother James George Rukavina, ss.cc., a member of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary-United States Province, passed away suddenly in Fairhaven, on Monday, May 24 at the age of 75.

Born on May 22, 1947, to Anthony and Helen (Horbachewski) Rukavina, Brother Jim attended the College at Brockport, State University of New York, where in 1970 he received a B.S. in chemistry, majoring in math and physics. From 1987 to 1990 he attended Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he was awarded his Bachelor of Science in nursing.

Brother Jim entered the East Coast Province of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts in August 1984, and attended novitiate in Hemet, Calif. He professed his first vows in Fairhaven on Aug. 19, 1985.

Brother Jim began working as a nurse at George Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. from 1991 until 1994, when the Congregation assigned him

to its new mission in India.

During his seven years there he became an integral part of the history of the SS.CC. work with leprosy patients and their families, a ministry that still continues there today.

He served as caregiver in the many leprosy colonies and at Damien Clinic, and assisted in the training of doctors in the project of leprosy awareness with treatment workshops and seminars.

When he returned to the U.S. in 2001, he began the next phase of his vocation as a registered nurse at Sacred Heart Home in New Bedford, a position he held until his “retirement” in 2016. But as anyone who knew him would attest, Brother Jim never really did retire as he continued to lovingly care for his SS.CC. Brothers, providing guidance and support as they faced medical challenges. Whether it was a doctor’s visit, a trip to the emergency

room, a hospital stay, or time spent in a nursing home, Brother Jim quietly and humbly always stayed at his brother’s side.

In an interview for an SS.CC. publication in 2006, he wrote, “Not long ago at work I realized the encouragement I get from people who are suffering. It’s from them that I derive my strength to go on to help them while at the same time they are helping me even more”.

In addition to his many SS.CC. Brothers and Sisters, Brother Jim is survived by his brother-in-law, John Pienta; nephews Mark Pienta, Michael Pienta and his wife Lucy; as well as several nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews. Along with his parents, Anthony and Helen, he was pre-deceased by his brother Anthony and his sister Carol (Pienta).

A Funeral Mass was celebrated at St. Joseph’s Parish in Fairhaven June 2, followed by burial in the Sacred Hearts Community Cemetery.

Donations in Brother Jim’s memory may be made to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts, P.O. Box 111, Fairhaven, Mass., 02719. Arrangements were handled by Fairhaven Funeral Home.

DIOCESAN TRIBUNAL FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS Decree of Citation Since her present domicile is unknown, in accord with the provision of Canon 1509.1, we hereby cite Ivan Robin L. Kappler to appear in person before the Tribunal of the Diocese of Fall River (887 Highland Avenue in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts) on June 23, 2022 at 2:30 PM to give his testimony regarding the question: IS THE KAPPLER-WILSON MARRIAGE NULL ACCORDING TO CHURCH LAW? Anyone who has knowledge of the domicile of Robin L. Kappler is hereby required to inform her of this citation.

Given at the offices of the Diocesan Tribunal in Fall River, Bristol County, Massachusetts on June 2, 2022.

(Very Rev.) Jeffrey Cabral, J.C.L. Judicial Vicar (Mrs.) Carol A. Rochefort Ecclesiastical Notary

Please pray for these priests and deacons during the coming weeks: June 18 Most Rev. William B. Tyler, First Bishop of Hartford, Founder of the Sandwich Mission, 1849 Rev. James M. Coffey, P.R., Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton, 1935 Rev. Declan Daly, SS.CC., Associate Pastor, St. Joseph, Fairhaven, 1984 Rev. Henri Laporte, O.P., Former Pastor, St. Anne, Fall River, 1992 June 19 Rev. Hormisdas Deslauriers, Founder, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1916 June 20 Rt. Rev. Msgr. James Coyle, P.R., LL.D., Pastor, St. Mary, Taunton, 1931 June 21 Rev. Owen F. Clarke, Former Assistant, St. Mary, Fall River, 1918 Rev. Desire V. Delemarre, Pastor, Blessed Sacrament, Fall River, 1926 Rev. Francis D. Callahan, Pastor, St. Patrick, Wareham, 1948 Rev. George A. Meade, Chaplain, St. Mary’s Home, New Bedford, 1949 Rev. Clement Killgoar, SS.CC., Pastor, St. Anthony, Mattapoisett, 1964 Rev. David A. O’Brien, Retired Pastor, SS. Peter & Paul, Fall River, 1976 June 22 Rev. Alexander Zichello, Pastor, St. Francis of Assisi, New Bedford, 1977 Rev. Christopher Grannell, SS.CC., 1990 Rev. Richard A. Delisle, M.S., Former Superior, La Salette Shrine, Attleboro, 2016 June 23 Rev. Finbarr B. McAloon, SS.CC.,Retired Pastor, Holy Trinity, West Harwich, 1980 Rev. George Wichland, CSSR, St. Wenceslaus Church, Baltimore, Md., 1992 June 24 Rev. Bernard F. McCahill, Pastor, SS. Peter & Paul, Fall River, 1907 June 25 Rev. Msgr. Louis A. Marchand, Retired Pastor, St. Anthony, New Bedford,1941 Rev. Raymond J. Hamel, Chaplain, St. Joseph Orphanage, Fall River, 1960 June 26 Rev. William Moran, Former Pastor, St. Peter, Sandwich, 1891 Rev. Charles P. Gaboury, Former Pastor, Sacred Heart, New Bedford, 1931 Rev. Msgr. Albert Berube, Retried Pastor, St. Anthony, New Bedford, 1973 June 27 Rev. John Corry, Founder, St. Mary, Taunton; Founder, St. Mary, Fall River, 1863 Rev. Dario Raposo, Pastor, Our Lady of Lourdes, Taunton, 1933 Rev. Msgr. Thomas F. Walsh, Retired Pastor, St. John the Evangelist, Attleboro, 1980 Rev. Msgr. Bernard J. Fenton, USA Retired Chaplain, Retired Pastor, St. Joseph, North Dighton, 1984 Rev. George F. Almeida, Retired Pastor, Our Lady of Fatima, Swansea, 2012 June 28 Rev. Thomas C. Gunning, Assistant, St. Lawrence, New Bedford, 1947 Rev. Kenneth J. Delano, Former Pastor, Immaculate Conception, Fall River, 2017 June 30 Rev. Simon Pease, SS.CC., Administrator, Sacred Hearts, Fairhaven, 1952 Rev. Alphonse M. Reniere, O.P., Dominican Priory, Fall River, 1961 Rev. Msgr. Thomas J. Harrington, Retired Fire Chaplain, Fall River Fire Department, 2017 Permanent Deacon Edward J. Hussey, 2020 July 1 Rev. Fernando A. Veiga, CM, Vincentian Mission House, Fall River, 1993 Rev. David Stopyra, OFM, Conv., Retired Pastor, Our Lady of the Rosary, Taunton, 2018

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June is for summer, daughters, iced coffees and Tommy

T

here’s not a June that goes by without my thinking of certain things: my eldest daughter’s birthday, the beginning of summer and the longest day of the year, pollen, and my dear friend and golf partner, Msgr. Tommy Harrington.

And did I say pollen?

The diocese lost a wonderful soul five years ago this June 30 when Tommy succumbed to a long-time illness. But his was such a wonderful life spent serving others and bringing joy and laughter everywhere the man went.

He was a hero with the Fall River Fire Department. I can still see the picture from the local newspaper of Tommy with his head out a second-floor window with smoke pouring out all around him, while he was assisting his brother firefighters in securing a burning building, making sure there was no one trapped inside. I’d

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say he was fearless, but I’m pretty sure he had his moments in such situations, but he never showed it, or talked about it — to me anyway.

Tommy was a close family friend for years, and when he found out I liked to hit the links, he was thrilled and we immediately became golf buddies.

I so miss the days when we would be out on the course, just he and I, and we would talk about so many things, in and outside the Church. And of course, he was the master of head games.

God only knows how many Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffees we could have shared these last five years if he were still around. That

was our payoff for our matches.

The loser would buy the victor the beverage of his choice at DDs. His was an iced coffee, regular; mine was an orange Coolatta. The price was minimal, but Tommy never lost an opportunity to ask, with a smirk on his face, “You sure want to hit it there?” or “Are you sure that putt is lined up?”

One day, I pulled out a blessed St. Kateri Tekawitha medal and used it to mark my ball on the greens instead of a coin. I told him it was to nullify his mind games.

He loved it.

There were so many great moments on the course with him, and countless laughs and Red Sox and

Patriots banter. But I also cannot forget the last time we played — the respiratory difficulties he was having while trying his best. I finally told him, “Let’s call this one a day.”

He felt horrible ending my outing so early. I assured him it was not a problem. He quickly answered back, “I still get my iced coffee though, right?” Yes Tommy, you got your coffee.

I hope he’s in heaven and God has set him up with a cart, a beautiful June summer day and he’s tearing up Augusta National or Pebble Beach. And I also hope there are Dunkin’ Donuts in heaven — but I don’t think God is as easy a foil as I was, when it comes to mind games.

God bless you, Tommy.

I miss you my friend. I raise a DD regular iced coffee in your memory. davejolivet@anchornews.org

ECHO of Cape Cod celebrates 50th anniversary continued from page one sometimes hostile to Christian values. Following the retreats, all members of the ECHO community are invited to weekly reunions across the Cape that truly sustain the program and further develop a deep sense of community. In addition to the retreats and reunions, members of the ECHO community participate in a number of service projects on Cape Cod and host fellowship events throughout the year.

In the last 50 years, approximately 15,000 people have participated in an ECHO weekend on Cape Cod. More than 100 priests have served on an ECHO weekend, which doesn’t include the vast number of deacons and Sisters who have also taken part. Sixty-two adults have been facilitators of retreat weekends, which have taken place at St. Francis Parish Center in Hyannis, the La Salette House in Brewster (now Ocean Edge), Briarwood Retreat Center in Monument Beach, and the Craigville Conference Center in Centerville.

Although COVID-19 stopped retreats from happening for some time, the pause gave leaders of the program needed time to reflect on the past 50 years, form task forces to lay the groundwork for the future, and ultimately start to implement positive changes to ensure ECHO will be around for another 50 years or more. One-day co-ed retreats will return in the fall with the hope for multi-day retreats in 2023.

Cheryl and David Ryan from Christ the King Parish in Mashpee have been involved with ECHO for many of the 50 years. “As high school students we both lived ECHO retreat weekends as candidates and student team,” Cheryl told The Anchor. “We participated in weekly reunions in Falmouth with Josie and Mel Gonsalves and in Centerville with Dick and Bobbi Paradise. The retreats and weekly followup helped to fully incorporate while personalizing our deep connection to our loving God.”

“Soon after college and entering careers and with 2 young children and a third on the way, we felt the calling to begin to host weekly ECHO reunions at Christ the King Parish in Mashpee,” added David.

“We were blessed to participate in and help provide this weekly meeting for many years. Our room at the parish hall became a safe place where people could come for love and support, to learn more about their faith, and to pray. It certainly was a benefit to us as a married couple to help keep faith an important and vibrant part of our lives.

“It was amazing for so many years to have the opportunity to watch families including grandparents, parents, and children all share their faith through this program at the same time.”

The couple shared, “The 50th anniversary of a program that so many of thousands of people participated in is certainly a little bittersweet. Even before the interruption caused by covid, ECHO faced the challenge of decreased participation that is consistent with church attendance and commitment in general. While the future of what the program may look like in the future is unknown, there is no uncertainty in what a special multi generational program ECHO has been for so many years in our diocese.”

The ECHO 50th anniversary Mass will be Friday, June 17 at 6 p.m. at Christ the King Church in Mashpee. A dinner will immediately follow in the parish hall.

Suggested donation is $30 for dinner tickets. All are welcome.

To purchase tickets, visit https:// echoofcapecod.square.site Visit www.echoofcapecod.org for more information about upcoming retreats, service opportunities, and more. ECHO of Cape Cod is a youth-driven faith community inviting all to discover and nurture a personal relationship with our loving Jesus Christ. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram for updates.

On a recent ECHO weekend, members of the youth board gathered nearby to make palanca to lift up the team and candidates.

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The new and fully updated Diocesan Directory 2022 is NOW AVAILABLE! Only $30 per copy, including shipping

Order TODAY! Please send _____ copy(ies) of Diocesan Directory 2022. I am enclosing $30 for each directory ordered.

Total amount enclosed: $__________.

Please make checks payable to “The Anchor”

Name: ________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________ City: ____________________________________ State: ________ Zip: _________________ Telephone: _______________________ Complete and return original form or photocopy to: The Anchor (Attention Directory) 887 Highland Avenue, Fall River, Mass. 02720

Diocesan Eucharistic Revival plans being finalized continued from page two tic — the source and summit of the Catholic faith — and to be inspired to share that gift with others. It will include over the next few years diocesan, parish and individual phases and will culminate in a National Eucharistic Congress in 2024.

The decision of the bishops to launch the revival comes in response to urgencies of the times.

“In the midst of these challenging times,” the bishops say on the Revival website, “we must increase our ability to provide to those

inside the Church and to the world a credible witness of the difference Jesus Christ makes in the life of every individual. As the people of God, we must be reminded that the Eucharist truly is the living God, Jesus, with us, ‘always, until the end of the age.’” (Mt 28:20).

To learn more, visit the diocesan website at fallriverdiocese.org/nationaleucharistic-revival and the national site at eucharisticrevival. org

A subscription to would make a wonderful gift for a loved one, a friend, or yourself. It’s a publication that provides a Spiritual uplift and keeps Catholics connected to our Church — locally and beyond.

One-year subscription — $29 Two-year subscription — $52 Name: _____________________________________ Address: __________________________________ City: _______________ State: _____ Zip: ________ Please enclose check or money order and mail to:

The Anchor 887 Highland Avenue Fall River, Mass. 02720

or visit www.anchornews.org 20

† June 10, 2022