​These last few weeks have certainly been a whirlwind!  I have been very humbled by the welcome that I have received at all three parishes and by the community.  There are certainly a lot of good things happening in our Catholic Community.
 
I have done a lot of listening and learning. I’ve been learning about the history of the parishes, the hopes and dreams of our parishioners, the concerns that many have.  I have also been listening to those who don’t necessarily attend Mass on a regular basis or don’t attend at all.  One of the central tenants of our faith is that it is shared with others.  The Church isn’t a private club. As I have been listening and learning, I have also been learning how we can all better engage one another and those not attending Mass to extend Christ’s love and invitation to them.  If our parishes are going to thrive, it will require all of us reaching out to others, welcoming them at Mass and our parishes and walking the journey of faith with them.  
 
There is no silver bullet—no miracle program.  But, we do know what needs to happen to grow—there are many parishes who have successfully turned things around.  The starting point is simple: prayer.  Everything we do must be rooted in prayer.  
 
The conversion of hearts is the work of the Lord, not ours.  We prepare those hearts for an encounter with Him.  That preparation begins with prayer.  That is why we have added daily masses to the schedule as well as Eucharistic Adoration and more times for Confession.  
 
I invite you to consider stopping in for a visit during one of the times for Eucharistic Adoration.  If you aren’t able, I invite you take some time out of your schedule to pray for our Parishes, for our Diocese and our Church.

​There is a principle in Liturgical Theology called lex orandi, lex credendi, that is the law of prayer is the law of belief.  Basically, it maintains that how we pray will show what we believe in.  For example, enter into any Catholic Church, and there will be some very similar settings: a small font of holy water by the door, an altar, a tabernacle and lit sanctuary lamp, an ambo, etc. 
Christ interacts with us as priest, prophet and king.  We will find these three ministries present when we are at Mass.  Priest=altar, prophet=ambo, king=presider’s chair.  The altar will have a prominent place in the sanctuary of the Church.  Our belief is the Eucharist is central to the life of the Christian and the most sacred moment of the Church’s day is when the elements of bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. 
It’s not just the structure though.  Sitting here observing what we are doing, it would be apparent that the community is of importance to Catholics, and that not only do we gather to worship God, we are also being sent on a mission.  Recall the closing words of our Mass, “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life”.  
This expresses our belief that Christ is still active in our world and His love and presence is made known to others through us, who through our celebration of the Sacraments, become sacrament, that is, instruments of Christ at work in the world. 
In the Matthew and Luke, we hear Jesus teach his disciples (and through them, teaching us) the Our Father.  This simple, yet beautiful and powerful prayer is not just prayer to God that we recite at the end of our day.  It is, rather, a pledge in how we are to live in the world.  We are called to live what we pray.
Our lives should be focused on God.  Our actions and interactions should give glory and praise to God in some way.  
We are called to live trusting in God, that he will give us the graces and strength we need to persevere through the unknown, that he has not and will not abandon his people, that his love for us is unconditional.
We are called to grow in love of God; that means recognizing our weaknesses and failures and seeking his forgiveness so that we may grow closer to him and not be anchored in the depths of our darkness.
We are called to share the Lord’s gift of forgiveness.  We aren’t to hold grudges.  
Being Christian means we are a part of the family of faith, we are not lone rangers.  Abraham’s repeated prayers of intercession to God in the Old Testament model for us the responsibility we have for others: not just their physical needs, but also their spiritual needs.
Can others tell we pray the Our Father?  Would it be obvious to them after they have had an interaction with us? 

​I can recall growing up attending Mass each Sunday. For me, it was more something that we did than it was an occasion to worship God and to receive Him in the Eucharist. I didn’t really want to go and looked forward to the times when we didn’t make it.
 
When my parents divorced, I remember my Mom meeting with the parish priest, but didn’t think anything of it. I don’t recall praying to God for help in the time after the divorce, and don’t think I would have because I wouldn’t have seen why I would. God is an hour on Sunday (actually 45 minutes).
 
In high school I did have a powerful spiritual experience when on a confirmation retreat. I think I had a smaller such experience when I was confirmed. There were aspects of Catholicism that intrigued me. I did contemplate seminary at the time. Not sure why, I really didn’t know much about what a priest did and I did not really find prayer and exciting thing, so why would I want to spend my entire day in prayer.  In hindsight, looking back at those spiritual moments I think it was the peace that I experienced that really drew me, I wanted to experience that peace again.
 
So, what is the relevancy of God?
 
Even if Mass was something I looked forward to and I participated in all the activities that a parish offers, what difference does it make? Still must go to work, still have to pay bills, deal with people I don’t like, situations that are stressful and a completely packed schedule.
 
I think the relevancy of God is connected to what we all desire and ask: why? Why am I doing all of this? What is the purpose of my existence? Who am I? 
 
The Book of Genesis tells us that we are made in the image and likeness of God, meaning God is hardwired into our very being.  
 
Love, Beauty, Goodness, Truth: these inspire us and can create an enthusiasm and longing for more in our hearts. Why is that? Because in those experiences we encounter God himself.
 
The role of the Church (and Parish) is to help us to recognize God in these things each day and to help us to nurture a relationship with this God so that we can recognize His presence and action in our day-to-day tasks. This gives us strength to persevere through the mundane as well as the struggles and stresses that occur in life. This recognition helps us to understand who we are and what we are about so that we may live authentically whether at school, work, in our families, etc, etc.
 
This week we have some added daily Mass times and times for Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  These are opportunities to better connect us to the ‘big picture’ and help us to persevere each day in faith, hope and love.  

One of the great benefits of social media is that we can remain connected to people from our past that prior to its existence we would just lose contact and they would simply become a memory of our past. Certainly, there are many struggles and dangers that we need to be aware of, however, there have always been dangers and struggles that we have always needed to be aware of.  Don’t talk to strangers, don’t accept candy from a stranger, look both ways, etc.

I’ve noticed that there are more than a few people from my past, particularly people I knew as a kid, who have become active with their religion.  Some had been living lives or holding beliefs that perhaps were furthest from religion or God. Others, like myself, were indifferent to the whole thing.  Oh, there were times I had an interest, that I was intrigued by a belief or a practice. But I usually wandered back to a stance of indifference.

Something happened, with myself and with those from my past.  I’m sure you know of others who have had this change in life. Perhaps you are one as well.  While we all have different journeys of faith, I suspect that there is something similar in all of our stories.  I suspect that each of us has had some type of encounter with the risen Christ.

This encounter probably wasn’t Jesus ringing our doorbell.  It was more than likely that he was present in someone else who rang our doorbell, called us on the phone, consoled us, challenged us or said something that we needed to hear (whether we wanted to hear it or not!).
I have had many encounters with the risen Lord throughout my life, many I didn’t recognize as such, others I did.  I can’t say there was one moment that everything changed in a split second.  I feel I’ve been more like St. Peter or St. Thomas in the Gospels.  I get it for a moment and then I’ve strayed off course, but I keep looking for help from the Lord and with his help, pick myself up, dust myself off and try to take another step.
​
The one thing that consoles me greatly and allows me to persevere despite tripping all the time is that I have come to understand that I am a work in progress and that God’s love for me is perfect and as a result he continues to reach out to me to console me, to heal me and to challenge me.  He hasn’t given up on me so I guess I shouldn’t either.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________
The week of July 10 will see some additions to our weekday schedule to provide more people the opportunity for Mass and the Sacrament of Reconciliation:
Mondays and Wednesdays 8AM:  Mass at Good Shepherd 
Tuesdays and Thursdays 5:30PM: Mass at St. Stanislaus 
Tuesdays 6PM to 7PM: Sacrament of Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration at St. Stanislaus
Wednesdays 5PM to 6PM: Sacrament of Reconciliation at Good Shepherd

Dear Friends,

First, I am very excited and happy to be with you! This morning I spent some time before the Lord in the chapel here in the Rectory giving Him thanks for His blessings and for sending me here to Fall River to serve you as your Pastor.  I then spent time praying for each of you.  This is my first responsibility as your Pastor.  If you have any specific prayer requests, please do not hesitate to email them to me at frdfrederici@diocese-fr.org.

Our Community of the three parishes of Good Shepherd, St. Stanislaus and St. Mary's Cathedral are all on a journey together.  St. John Paul II referred to the Church as a 'Pilgrim People'.  Our journey is one of self discovery, a deepening relationship with Jesus Christ and one another and sharing our joy with others in the community.  The Lord gives us everything we need to persevere. Each of us has a role to play, not only in our own individual spiritual growth, but in inviting others and helping others on their journeys.  Jesus' last words in the Gospels were a command: Go, make disciples.  That is our purpose and mission as a Church.

In these next few weeks my task will be to learn about the three parishes that make up this community as well as to learn about those who live in Fall River.  Together with the Pastoral Team and with you we will look at how we need to grow and how we can continue to build up God's Kingdom in Central and South Fall River.

I am looking forward to sharing this journey with you!

In Christ,
Fr. David
​