Saints John & Paul Church

Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
The RCIA  Program is for students, or adults who are in need of the reception of Baptism, First Eucharist and Confirmation, or for  any Catholic  who would like to learn more about their Catholic Faith.  Anyone not in need of the Sacraments, but has been away from the Church for a time is invited to RCIA.   The program usually begins in late September, early October meeting every Monday evening. The Reception of the Sacraments are celebrated at the Easter Vigil. Orientation for the program will be held on Monday, September 10th in the Lower Level of the Rectory at 7:00 PM. 
For more information, and if you are interested in the program and attending the orientation  please contact Mrs. Sharon Del Deo, or call the rectory office at (401) 821 - 5764. 

Details for an upcoming Bible Study "The Turning Point" are on the News & Events page.  Take a look, this could be of some interest to you.

Vigil: Tuesday, August 14th at 5:00 PM
Holy Day: 7:30 AM, 7:00 PM 
Holy Day Masses are celebrated in the Church

A few Sundays ago in my From the Pastor column, I spoke about the Church's teaching on birth control, as it was the 50th Anniversary of Blessed Pope Paul VI's Encyclical Humanae Vitae which dealt with that difficult issue. This Sunday, I'm afraid I need to talk about a topic just as controversial in the Church today, perhaps even more so for many Catholics: the Mass schedule!

People have been asking me if I'm going to have to change the Sunday Mass schedule, now that the parish has gone from three full time priests and a retired priest in residence, to two full time priests and a retired priest in residence. The answer to that question is, No! The Sunday and Saturday Vigil Mass times will be staying as they are in 2019: 5pm Saturday, 7:30am, 9:30am, 11:30am and 6pm Sunday. Please spread the word! Father Grenon several years ago thankfully anticipated that in the near future, the parish would have one less priest, and changed the Sunday Mass schedule to the one we have now. I've only been here for one month, but the weekend schedule is very manageable for Fr. Fleming, Fr. Duggan and me; even if it were just myself and one other full time priest, the Sunday schedule would also be manageable. Therefore, I intend to keep the Sunday schedule as it is, and allow people to begin booking these Masses for 2019, starting this September 17, 2018.

However, while the Sunday and Saturday Vigil Masses are manageable for the amount of priests we currently have, the weekday Masses are another story. The parish currently has a 7:30am Mass and a 5pm Mass, Monday through Friday, as well as a 7:30am Mass Saturday (the morning weekday Mass being by far the better attended of the two). Two scheduled Masses a day might not seem like much for three priests to get done at first glance, but add to that the over 100 funeral Masses a year that our parish has, bi-weekly or monthly nursing home Masses at four Nursing Homes, school Masses, and other special Masses for Confirmation or CCD all taking place during the week, not to mention wake services, burials, parish and school committee meetings, hospital visits, sick calls, and other special events which take place for us priests on a weekly if not daily basis. Remember too that priests don't get weekends off like most people do, we take a day off during the week, which means that two days during the week, myself or Fr. Fleming is away and not available for Masses. We also need to take time each day to pray the Liturgy of the Hours, the official prayers of the Church, the Rosary, and other prayers, plus like everyone else, we need to take a vacation every now and then. In other words, we priests are pretty busy during the week; anyone who thinks there should be married priests should realize, we have no time for a wife and kids, especially in this parish! Finally, the Canon Law of the Church mandates that priests are allowed to say Mass no more than two times a day during the week, and no more than three times on Sundays and Solemnities; this is mainly so that the priest will be able to say each Mass with the requisite reverence and attention that the Holy Sacrifice deserves.

Thankfully, Fr. Duggan is still able to help us during the week with 5pm Masses when we need him (which, since July 1, has been almost every weekday!), but given his advanced age and precarious good health, the reality is that we can't be certain that he will be able to keep helping us with the weekday Masses throughout all of 2019, and if we lose him in the middle of the year, Fr. Fleming and I would have a very difficult time covering all those weekday Masses by ourselves.

Because of all this and other considerations, when the Mass book opens for 2019 next month, while all the Sunday and Saturday Vigil Masses for 2019, as well as all the Monday—Saturday 7:30am weekday Masses for 2019, will be available for booking, the Monday – Friday 5pm weekday Masses will not be available for booking, as we continue to look further into the feasibility of continuing this afternoon weekday Mass. Again, this does not affect the 5pm Saturday Vigil Mass, the Sunday Masses, or the 7:30am weekday Masses. I regret that I have to do this, but given the fact that our parish has now one less full time priest, we need to be practical, and plan accordingly.

God bless, Fr. Woolley