We are blessed as a Parish to welcome Bishop McManus next Saturday, August 6, to the 4:00 Mass here at St. Anne’s. Deacon Bill Bilow invited our Bishop for this date, and he accepted Deacon Bill’s invitation. The reason for his presence concerns the events to take place after Mass in the Fr. Smith Parish Center. There will be an unveiling of a new Pastor’s Plaque, accompanied by a blessing of the plaque by Bishop McManus. The Pastor’s Plaque will consist of photos of all previous Pastors, including yours truly as present Pastor, as a way of noting the dedication and hard work of many decades that have built up St. Anne’s into the wonderful Parish it is today, and has been for quite some time. Likely well before I was born in 1960. Which is better than 1860.
I must admit, it would have been nice if 1860 was my date, having the opportunity to possibly meet Abraham Lincoln in one of the many meet-and-greet gatherings that took place at the White House back then, notably on New Year’s Day. Of course, I would have been a toddler in the arms of my parents, and no doubt Mr. Lincoln would have patted me on the head as my father carried me through the greeting line. If I was old enough to understand the “Lincoln head tap,” I probably never would have washed my head again. That’s how much I admire the 16th President of the United States. He was not perfect by any stretch, especially with his many bad jokes that drove his Cabinet crazy, but he was certainly most humble in his duties, being the right person at the right time to keep the Union together as one under the most trying circumstances America has ever known.
But back to the former Pastors of St. Anne’s Parish. The only one I knew well, as I’ve already stated at Mass during my first weekend here, was Fr. John Foley. I knew of Fr. Ed Moran a short number of years ago having heard his name, never having met him, while his tenure at St. Anne’s as Pastor preceded for the most part my priesthood that commenced in 2006 after the reception of Holy Orders by Bishop McManus, also known as “the laying on of hands.” While Fr. Moran was busy serving St. Anne’s Parish, I was busy working at UPS not far up the road on the other side of Shrewsbury, delivering packages for a living (like our own Paul Prunier), wearing the brown instead of the black, almost getting married along the way, attending Mass every Sunday at St. Bernard’s on Lincoln St. in Worcester, where, between St. Bernard’s and the Riley household, my vocation to priesthood was nourished to the sadness of a former fiancée. I think she’s still a little miffed at me. The good news? God isn’t.
Fr. Moran, I’m certain, left his good mark on the brown colored Parish on Route 9 with the cemetery outside its front doors. His photo will be, of course, most fitting on the Pastor’s Plaque in the Fr. Smith Parish Center. I have no personal knowledge of who the other priests prior to Fr. Moran are and what their accomplishments were. But, based on the fact that there are many, many longtime parishioners at St. Anne’s, this tells me you were not scared off by any zany priests who may have resided in the brown house next to the brown Church. It sounds like they all had their particular God-given gifts they put to good effect in their priesthood while serving St. Anne’s Parish. When not certain of something such as not knowing their accomplishments and personalities, it’s best to assume the best with regard to the goodness and mark of their priesthood. My sense early on is that St. Anne’s has a most positive and joyful congregation, one that is proud of being a part of all the Christian good accomplished over the decades.
As stated above, Fr. Foley is the one St. Anne’s Pastor I’ve known well while serving as his Associate Pastor at Christ the King in Worcester for three years after ordination. Fr. John taught a 45-year-old newly ordained priest the meaning of being a servant. Unforgettable are the many meals Fr. John would cook for his Associate – and his Deacon at the time, Joe Banieukewicz – throughout the three years of serving with him. They were all good-tasting meals. I even ate rabbit for the first time in my life. One must not forget that a Pastor cooking meals for his Associate was relatively unheard of shortly before Fr. Foley commenced with the idea, making him all the more a humble servant of the Lord, who came, not to be served, but to serve. I can name many more parts of effective priesthood that Fr. Foley taught yours truly during those three wonderful years, but for the sake of brevity, we’ll end with the above example of Christian service.
Again, we welcome Bishop McManus for 4:00 Mass and the unveiling and blessing of the Pastors Plaque next Saturday, August 6. All are welcome to attend the Mass and unveiling, or just the unveiling after Mass if you plan on attending Mass on Sunday. Come and enjoy some refreshments after the unveiling, and always remain proud of the much good work done in the name of the Lord Jesus here at St. Anne’s Church. Fr. Walter Riley
HOLINESS Christianity does not understand holiness (except for God's holiness) only as a given condition but also as a call. The New Testament not only calls the followers of Jesus a holy people, but it demands, in the imperative voice, that they become holy. The Corinthians, for example, are “called to be holy.” In that sense, holiness may be understood as part of the conversion process: a move away from that which is not God (aversion) toward that which makes us closer to God after the manner of Jesus (conversion). To use a traditional vocabulary, the call is the urging grace of God, while our conversion to God is a response to that prompting of grace. Holiness, then, involves both a condition and a choice in response to an offer. This turn to holiness involves decisions that are individual but accomplished within the context of the believing assembly. In the contemporary Church this call to holiness is most solemnly set out in the fifth chapter of the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium) of the Second Vatican Council. The title of that chapter, “The Call of the Whole Church to Holiness,” is not ornamental but essential. Holiness is not the domain of an elect or cultic group within the Church but the universal vocation of all Christians: “… all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.” It may well be - and the conciliar document outlines distinct ways of life in the Church - that people find themselves in various circumstances of life; nonetheless, everyone is called to the same holiness that is rooted in the same bedrock of charity, i.e., the love of God above all things and the love of others for the sake of God. Thus, a person may have the charism of virginity or the grace of marriage, but the holiness of each is tested by the same rule: Christian charity, by which we love all things in the love of God.” From The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality