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July 10, 2022: Thank you for your warm wishes and open-hearted welcome
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Just wish to extend a short note to all the good people of St. Anne’s for your many warm wishes and open-hearted welcome I received last Sunday after each Mass. I left a good Parish in Westborough, St. Luke the Evangelist, to come to another wonderful Parish in our Diocese here at St. Anne. One never knows where God is going to land us. If nothing else, I’ve learned this over the past year or more. After spending 11 years as Pastor of Immaculate Conception in Worcester, a Parish my grandparents and my father attended for many years when residing next door to Strand’s Ski Shop, and with my grandfather’s name being Walter Riley, the same as mine (not William with three L’s), being named Pastor of a Parish whom my namesake grandfather belonged to, it was hard to leave last July after becoming so close to so many folks I call family. But in this business, one is meant to go where God calls us.
My one year that began last July at St. Luke’s up Route 9, take a right on Otis Street and you're almost there, was a year of meeting many, many men, women, and children with what I would call a most beautiful faith. Such steadfast Catholic faith, found at St. Luke’s, is something that any priest worth his salt will cherish. For myself, I feed off the faith of those I serve. There was much to feed off in Westborough. It was a year in my priesthood I carry forth with many good thoughts, some challenges encountered, the opportunity of growth presented (for any priest who stops growing spiritually and stops learning from his people may as well retire and move to Florida), and many graces given by God. I love the story of two parishioners (sibling sisters) from St. Luke’s telling me of their experience during the Eucharistic Prayer at the vigil Mass for the Ascension of our Lord back in late May. Without getting into details, let’s just say it was one of revelation and pure grace what they quickly witnessed, one of those religious events we carry with us to our grave. My prayers remain with both above parishes, as well as Christ the King in Worcester, my first assignment after ordination.
Speaking of which, my first Pastor was someone familiar to many, if not all, folks at St. Anne’s: Fr. John Foley. I couldn’t have asked for a better first Pastor to learn from, even at my ripe old age of 45 at the time I began the assignment. Fr. John was a true servant to God’s people over the life of his priesthood. He had his funny quirks, like I do and the rest of us wearing black. I guess we could say that even Jesus had his “quirks,” sitting down to eat with tax collectors and sinners, along with the “quirk” of healing the sick and lame on the Sabbath. If only we could all be so quirky. Fr. Foley, besides being a true servant, was also a humble leader, and a very effective one. He knew he could take his vacation for a couple of weeks in the summer, which I plan on doing the second half of August, and the Parish would run like a well-oiled machine. Similar to an offense run by Tom Brady. Having good, faithful, dedicated workers alongside him was the trick. I knew coming to St. Anne’s that would be the case. And it is. Yes, even the wonderful, long-serving, dashing Judy who spelled my name wrong on the bulletin and got my position incorrect (I’m a Pastor, not administrator), is a central part of a smooth running Parish.
The column I normally write is much longer than this. To make sure I do not hog all the precious space in our Parish bulletin, I close with a thought from this Sunday’s first reading. We look to Moses teaching the Israelites something fundamental about our Catholic faith. The commandments of God are not up in the sky, or over in the Far East, or on Mars or even Pluto (now that Pluto has regained Planet status), under the bleachers at Fenway Park, or God forbid anywhere in Yankee Stadium. The commandments of the Lord are very near to us, in our mouths and in our hearts. We have only to carry them out. Learning our faith in Christ Jesus is a lifelong endeavor. There’s no good reason to ever stop chewing on Catholicism. To stop is to create a dangerous space between the Lord and us in our daily lives. I see already we have many folks at St. Anne’s who understand and live this teaching of Moses. Continue to keep Him close and near. A most effective way to do so is to keep the non-burdensome teachings of our Lord in our mouths and hearts.