by Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A.

September 29, 2020

St. Anne’s Pavilion, Fiskdale MA

Scripture readings: Job 19:1,23-27; Psalm 23; Romans 8:14-23; John 14:1-6

Fr. Donald liked to call people “Kiddo.” I thought it was reserved for younger people, but I was at least 50 before he stopped calling me “Kiddo.”

It was a term of endearment, and we shouldn’t be surprised that he favored terms of endearment. Donald found life to be dear. His heart was easily moved by the beauty of relationships and, I would say, by the hope and promise offered by the Gospel. When he was operating at full throttle, his heart and soul were taken up by the prospect of a renewed Church.

He was at his best when he could work with others on a project that he was invested in, something that he saw connected to the renewal of the Church and the renewal of the Assumptionists. In a group of that kind, he was the idea man. For him, the well never ran dry as far as ideas were concerned. It made for long meetings, and he may not have been quite so good at follow-through, but the good mind, the fine intelligence that God had given him was so generative in looking for ways to develop the community in the widest sense of that word.

"My soul longs for your salvation; I put my hope in your word. My eyes long to see your promise." -Psalm 119

We pray for the eternal rest of Fr. Donald Espinosa, A.A. who passed from this life earlier this afternoon. May he enter into the peace of the Risen Lord, to whom he gave his life.

In a recent interview, Fr. Donald shared his hopes for our congregation, "my dream and hope is to see a significant growth in the extended Assumptionist family...It is important for us to contribute, through the reality of partnership, to the Church and the world. That is who we are: religious and lay with Christ at the center. We are all sons and daughters of Emmanuel d’Alzon. Together we must continue to proclaim the Coming of the Kingdom!"

You can read more about Fr. Donald Espinosa and his 57 years of joyful service to the people of God as an Assumptionist by clicking the link below:

https://www.assumption.us/.../237-fr-donald-espinosa-aa

Details on funeral services will be forthcoming.

The article was first reported by The Catholic Free Presss.

BY SUSAN BAILEY  | CFP CORRESPONDENT

Patrice Metcalf came full circle in her journey to becoming the music director of St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge: She grew up in the parish. After majoring in music at Westfield State University, Ms. Metcalf applied for the position, but not without some hesitation.

“After graduating from Westfield, I actually took on a job as a music director at another church in western Massachusetts,” Ms. Metcalf said. “I didn’t really feel like I fit in with the church so I did have my eyes open for other job opportunities.

“Then I found out that St. Anne’s was hiring. I put off applying because I thought it might be kind of silly for me to apply to the church that I had grown up at; I felt uncomfortable. After a while they weren’t hiring anyone, so I went ahead and applied, and it worked out.”

She has been serving as music director there since October 2019, but began singing at the parish when she was a sophomore in high school.

“I became a cantor when I was 16,” she said. “I also joined the adult choir. I continued to sing on a volunteer basis at the parish for weekends and holidays until I went to college. During college I would occasionally sing during my winter and summer breaks.”

Ms. Metcalf discovered, as a student at Tantasqua Regional High School, she enjoyed singing and creating music in many different ways. A soprano, she was a member of the regular chorus plus the Choraleers, an a capella group. She was also a member of the Treblemakers Jazz Ensemble.

She wanted to major in music in college but also felt a desire for something else.

“I had this yearning of wanting to be in charge of music ministry in some way,” she said. “So even going into college, I remember being interviewed for something on campus and they asked me what I wanted to be and I said, ‘I want to be a social worker and a church music director.’ I gave up on the social worker path.”

Faith has always been important to Ms. Metcalf, fueling her desire to become involved with sacred music. It was during confirmation formation that she realized how she could combine sharing her love of God with her passion for music.

Dear Brothers and friends of the Alliance,

This letter is the fruit of long reflection on vocations in the Church and particularly at the Assumption. As we know, our congregation has always had a concern to serve as intermediaries of God’s bidding to men and women. The Kingdom that is at hand needs workers, whether they be priests, lay-people, religious, or consecrated persons. Our Rule of Life reminds us that we work « to support Christian vocations, particularly religious and priestly vocations » (#16). Three other numbers (#133-135) specify the demands of vocation ministry. Emmanuel d’Alzon tirelessly urged the Assumption to awaken vocations, saying that it was an essential apostolic priority of the Institute. Alumnates, the work of Our Lady of Vocations (Notre-Dame des Vocations), residences for young people, schools, chaplaincies at universities and at other educational institutions…. all of these demonstrate our family’s concern to reach out to young people and invite them to reflect on the meaning of their lives and to help them to find the right path under the Lord’s watchful gaze.

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“My friend, I am not cheating you.
Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?
Take what is yours and go.
What if I wish to give this last one the same as you?
Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money?
Are you envious because I am generous?”

The following is Fr. Dennis’ homily from Sunday Mass on September 20th.

The Gospel was the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.

What makes this Sunday’s parable work is that God, in the person of the landowner, precipitates a crisis. Nothing much would have happened if the landowner had followed the usual course, paying the full-day laborers first and then, in turn, the workers who came later. Having received the agreed upon wage, the first group would have left the vineyard content that they had been treated fairly. They got what was coming to them. But instead, the landowner reverses the expected order and pays the latecomers first, giving them the full daily wage. Not surprisingly, those hired in the morning cry foul that these others, who were spared the searing heat of the midday sun, not to say the weariness of a full day’s work, were given the same wages.

Read more...

Yesterday the Kenyan Ministry of Education announced that, due to low Covid-19 infection rates, schools will not wait until January 2021 to reopen, as previously scheduled, but will open next month.

At Assumption High School - Nairobi we are busy with renovations required by government regulations for a safe reopening, including the installation of additional water points for hand washing, setting up classrooms and dormitories for social distancing, and ensuring we have enough masks for all staff.

In addition, we are excited to announce that there will be five Assumptionists involved at Assumption High School this academic year:

Fr. Luc Martel – Director
Fr. Benard Odhiambo – Deputy Director
Fr. Moses Musavuli – School Chaplain and Counselor
Dn. Kennedy Sakawa – Resident advisor for male students
Br. Kizito Juma Shebella – Resident advisor for male students

Their presence is a sign of our continued commitment to the flourishing of Assumption High School and all of its hardworking students and staff. May God bless and protect us in the year ahead.

Homily for the Mass of the Holy Spirit and Celebration of Assumption University

Chapel of the Holy Spirit, September 6, 2020

Very Rev. Dennis Gallagher, A.A.

Scripture readings: Ezekiel 33:7-9; Romans 13: 8-10; Matthew 18: 15-20

“If your brother sins [against you], go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that ‘every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector. Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, [amen,] I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

I hesitate to say this, but the Gospel today is about protocols. Oh no, not that. Maybe we should agree to retire this word from the language once the pandemic has left us.

But these are protocols not for the purpose of keeping people safe from physical disease, but for keeping intact the bonds of charity that bind the members of the Christian community to one another. Those bonds have been at least temporarily weakened by one member’s sinning against another.

So how do you proceed, what are the protocols? It’s quite interesting how specific this is There are three steps: first, take up the matter, one on one with the person himself; if no reconciliation comes from that, you bring in one or two others as witnesses; and if nothing comes from that, then you bring the matter to the whole church.

A couple of thoughts on this ...

At each of these levels, an appeal must be made to something that all the parties involved understand as binding them together. This is a community that is centered in Christ, who is the measure for everything that takes place in the community.

The other thought is in the form of a question: why go to this bother for one brother who has sinned? Through this rather elaborate protocol? Because much is at stake here, there’s a great good that needs to be upheld: that’s the unity in the community and by extension the good of the offending brother whose own well-being is tied to being a full member of this community.

So, does this have anything to do with what we are celebrating today, Assumption’s becoming a university? Well, let’s see… Unity… university…. There must be something.

On June 10, 2020, Assumption College officially became Assumption University—a landmark moment in the institution's 116-year history. Here, Fr. Roland Guilmain, A.A., recalls memories as a student at Assumption Prep and Assumption College and congratulates the institution on it's recent achievement.