St. Agatha ParisH

Last Sunday right before I was about to leave the rectory to head over to the Church for the 11:30 Mass, our emergency phone rang. The only information about the caller was that the word “Restricted” came up on the cellphone. I answered the call, only to have the person at the other end of the phone disagree vigorously with our parish’s current outreach initiative to help a refugee family get settled here in Milton. She said words to the effect that we have many homeless people here already in Boston, and we should be trying to help them, and not refugees from another country. As I listened for a minute or two, I then told the person that I had to head over to Church for Mass, and promptly said “Good-bye,” and ended the phone call. I share this story with you for a couple of reasons. First, the reason for our emergency cellphone is in the event of true emergencies, such as a loved one being very ill and needing to receive the Sacrament of the Sick, or for a funeral home to touch base with the parish outside of regular office hours here in order to book a funeral. Or perhaps for a person in some kind of severe crisis, who wants to speak with a priest. It is for these sorts of reasons that we have an emergency phone—for us to deal with true emergencies.

The other reason for my column is for us to reflect on our own family heritage in this country of ours. In my case, on my mother’s side of the family, our forebears emigrated to the US from Germany and from Ireland. On my dad’s side, our family members came from Ireland and France. The French ones might well have entered the US after living for a time in Canada. Most of us are well aware of how our forebears faced prejudice and discrimination because of their ethnic background, and sometimes because of their Catholicism also. Knowing our own family histories in this regard should make us more sensitive to the challenges that immigrants and refugees to our country face today. The involvement of our Parish Outreach Committee in helping this refugee family is in partnership with some of the other communities of worship here in Milton: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim and also with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Boston. In addition to the common humanity we share with the refugees, there is also a Biblical basis for our outreach. Recall the Last Judgment scene in St. Matthew’s Gospel (MT 26:31-46). Jesus identifies Himself with people in need, and He doesn’t limit the needy to His fellow Jews or to His disciples. His words are as follows: “For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me a drink; a STRANGER and you welcomed me; naked and you clothed me; ill and you cared for me; in prison and you visited me.” The point is that when we reach out to help others in need—including the stranger, the refugee, and the immigrant, we are not only helping the person or persons in need, but we are also helping Christ Himself who identifies Himself with these needy people. And elsewhere in the Scriptures, what does Jesus state as the greatest of the commandments? To love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. And, in the parable of the Good Samaritan that we heard at Sunday Mass several weeks ago, Jesus answered the question about who is our neighbor by basically saying that our neighbor is basically anyone in need.
If you subscribe to the Boston Globe, as we do at the rectory, I’m sure you saw the story on Friday the 5^th on the top portion of the front page about a priest from Rhode Island who was removed from ministry because of inappropriate questions he is alleged to have asked children in the context of the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Confession). Because of what is called the ‘Seal of Confession’, the priest in question, Fr. Eric Silva, is not at liberty to speak publicly about anything that transpired in the celebration of that Sacrament. My remarks here are not to pass any judgment on this particular case, since all I know about it comes from my having read the Globe article, but I want to speak about how we as priests are supposed to act when hearing Confessions. I was blessed growing up to having known some great priests who were very formative of my own vocation to priesthood, and to have benefited from their wise counsel and their kindness, especially when I went to Confession to them. I am blessed to have a great priest to whom I go for spiritual direction and Confession, and, when I am not able to see him, I often go the Chapel of our Savior at Westgate Mall in Brockton. These very positive experiences in my own life, I hope rub off on the way I treat people who come to me for Confession.

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A FEW YEARS BACK KATHLEEN RIORDAN CREATED BIRD'S-EYE VIEW VIDEOS OF SAINT AGATHA CHURCH, BOTH INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR.

View the videos below then check out Kathleen's videos of our Centennial Mass and Feast on our Centennial Page HERE

Cardinal O'Malley requested each parish in the archdiocese to distribute information on two deeply troubling bills coming before the Massachusetts State Legislature. For information please click the image below.