The splendor of Easter is rightly reflected in the decorative elegance of even the humblest parish church. Budding tulips, blossoming azaleas, blooming hydrangeas and emblematic lilies accompany the …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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3/29/18
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Slightly more than a stone’s throw from my family home in Woonsocket are two parishes of Ukrainian heritage. St. Michael Ukrainian Catholic Church is located on Blackstone Street, and, just yards …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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3/22/18
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Retired priests engaged as part time help at a number of parishes, active pastors administering two adjacent parishes, and one or two priestly ordinations a year are unavoidable indications that …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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3/15/18
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Winston Churchill, certainly one of the great figures of the Twentieth Century, has recently been portrayed in two motion pictures concerning an epic event during World War II. About 400,000 British …
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3/8/18
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Just before Christmas Pope Francis “tweeted” a brief holy day reflection: “Without love, both life and faith are worthless.” And certainly it is true that a faith life lived without love can …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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3/1/18
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The Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul in Providence was brought into line with the liturgical directives of Vatican II by Bishop Russell J. McVinney in 1970-71. During the extensive renovation, as well …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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2/22/18
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A number of Woonsocket civil officials, educators, foster parents, clergy and interested neighbors met recently at the invitation of the Rhode Island Department of Children and their Families (DCYF) …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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2/15/18
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Over 50 years ago, when I was a seminarian at St. Bernard’s Seminary in Rochester, New York, Christine Jorgensen, the first American to undergo a sex change operation, made a guest appearance at …
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2/8/18
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Although I am well into my retirement years, I am still known among the family as “Johnny Boy.” My grandfather was “John;” my uncle was “Jack;” so my parents settled on “Johnny Boy” …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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2/1/18
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St. Mark does not lose any time in introducing his readers to the power of evil and specifically to the power of the Evil One. After only 23 verses into his Gospel, the evangelist writes, “Now …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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1/25/18
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The early Protestant reformers — Zwingli, Calvin and Cranmer especially — wisely insisted that all tokens of the old religion — altars, statues, rosaries, relics, pilgrimages, even saints and …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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1/18/18
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The ancient Jews cannot be chided too much for their shabby attitude toward foreigners. These ancient Jews had endured four hundred years of slavery under their Egyptian neighbors to the South. Their …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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1/18/18
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William Wilberforce was an eighteenth century English member of parliament and the main leader of the British movement to halt the slave trade. Although born into an aristocratic family, he was …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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12/21/17
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The East Blackstone Quaker Meeting House is an early nineteenth century building boasting a door, walls, roof, floor, windows, a few pews, a pulpit, an organ, and a wood burning stove. The dull blue …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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12/14/17
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The Sunday Gospel readings for this new liturgical year will be drawn mostly from the Gospel account according to St. Mark. Mark’s account is the shortest of the four Gospels, only sixteen …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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12/7/17
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The Jewish nation has been challenged to settle the land of Canaan several times both in ancient times and in modern history. The land originally donated by God to Abraham and his descendants, …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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11/30/17
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A familiar expression among Catholics that continues to linger from the old Latin Mass is the reference to the presentation and preparation of the bread and wine at Mass as the “offertory” of the …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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11/23/17
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Often, when a family bereaved at the death of their mother, wife or sister must make a selection for the Scriptural passages to be read at the Mass of Christian Burial, the passage from the Book of …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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11/16/17
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When I was ordained a priest fifty-one years ago, the bulk of the Mass had passed into English but the Canon of the Mass was still in Latin. The body of the Mass, although in the vernacular, was …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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11/9/17
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Chuckie probably never missed Mass in his entire life. As a child and even as a teenager he served Mass regularly at his parish Church. Then as a young adult he was only too happy to assist with the …
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Fr. John A. Kiley
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11/2/17
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