October 2004
October 14, 2004
Dear Sisters and Brothers at St. Bernard Parish,
By now, we have all had a week to reflect on the news of Fr. Murray’s retirement and my appointment as the first pastor of Holy Family Parish. The reality that two parishes will close, that two priests will begin new chapters in their ministry and that a new parish will be established -all at 12:01 p.m. on October 25th- only intensifies the mix of bittersweet emotions we all are experiencing. Being the closing pastor of Our Lady Parish is perhaps the saddest piece of work I have ever done in my 31 years as a priest, while the opportunity to help establish a new parish for the Catholic community of Concord is likely the greatest blessing and challenge I will ever have as a priest.
I am deeply grateful to the Transition Team with whom it has been my privilege to work over the summer. This opportunity to work with some of the leadership of St. Bernard Parish has been a great introduction to my new assignment. I’m grateful, too, for the opportunity to have worked for nearly a year and a half with a joint religious education coalition (StB and OLHC) in preparation for the inauguration of our Generations of Faith program. And of course, the Confirmation and youth ministry efforts our two parishes have shared for a number of years have been another opportunity for me to collaborate with the people of St. Bernard Parish. For nearly 7 years I was the Cluster’s convener and I’m pleased to recall that the collaboration established between the two Concord parishes was the most successful of all the Cluster’s efforts.
Having had a number of opportunities to meet and work with the leadership of St. Bernard Parish, I’m anxious to meet and know, to serve and work with all of you in Holy Family Parish. Moving forward, we will all need focus on the task ahead of us. I sincerely hope that you will look upon me not as the former pastor of Our Lady Parish, but as your pastor, the pastor of your new parish. It is my fervent desire that, working together, all of us will be united as one holy family. I remember saying often at meetings of the Concord Cluster, “When we work together, when we share our resources and personnel, it’s a win-win situation. Nothing is lost when we collaborate and share: together we can do things we cannot do alone.” Well, we now have a unique opportunity to pray and work together as one community of Catholic people in Concord. Pray with me for God’s blessing on this work and for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Some things will remain the same as we become the people of Holy Family Parish and some things will change. The most important things, of course, will not change while, inevitably, some smaller things will. We all need to pray for the wisdom to see the difference between the two and to move forward together in faith.
The one thing that never changes in our life as Roman Catholics is the centrality of the eucharist as the heart of our parish life and our life as God’s people. The first times that the people of Holy Family Parish will gather will be at the Lord’s table where he will nourish us with the sacrament of his life and presence: food for the journey and the work he sets before us. I rejoice in the opportunity to serve you at the Lord’s table and very much look forward to meeting you there!
A few practical items... The archdiocese wants Holy Family Parish to retain the parish center in West Concord and notes that fact in the decree of our parish closings. The archdiocese also recognizes that a number of issues need to be resolved with the town and so the decree notes that Holy Family parish retains the center pending the final disposition of the larger parcel of land. I believe that all parties hope that the center remains as a parish facility. Please be patient with the staff of Holy Family Parish as we consolidate the parish offices in the center at 55 Church Street. We have a lot of moving and settling in to do!
At Fr. Murray’s helpful suggestion, I think I may, for a short time, delay moving into the rectory on Monument Square until after some painting is done in the pastor’s rooms. Fr. Walter Woods at St. Elizabeth Parish in Acton has offered me a place in the rectory there for the meantime.
Many people in both Concord parishes have asked how they might help me as we make a transition to our new parish. My answer is always the same: please give our new parish your support, especially by your presence at mass on the weekend. The Lord’s table is where we will begin our life as Holy Family Parish and it is where we will return every week to be nourished for the work Christ entrusts to our hearts and hands.
Peace,
Fr. Fleming
October 7, 2004
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Many have asked me in the last 24 hours how I feel about my appointment as the first pastor of Holy Family Parish in Concord. I feel like I have received, all at once, a wonderful gift and the greatest challenge of my ministry. Just a few months ago I had to figure out how to be a good pastor when a parish is closing and I believe that God was generous in helping me know how to do that. Now I need to figure out, with the help of God and the Catholic people of Concord, how to be a good pastor when a parish is opening.
I applied for the new pastorate in June, but it was only about six weeks ago that I met with Bishop Lennon to talk about the possibility of my being appointed the pastor of Holy Family Parish. He asked me at that time to write a short reflection on why I believed continuity in pastoral leadership should be preferred to new blood. Truth be told, I could make a good argument on either side of this question but I wrote to the bishop that my living through this summer of reconfiguration with the people of Our Lady’s and my work on the Transition Team with people from both parishes afforded me an experience and perspective which would serve Holy Family Parish well, an experience that a newcomer would not have. I also wrote about how reconfiguration has affected the Concord community at large and how continuity in the pastorate could provide a significant bridge across these troubled waters both for Concord’s Catholics and their neighbors. It seems that Bishop Lennon and Archbishop O’Malley think I might be right in this and I’m grateful for their trust in me. The response I’ve received locally in the last two days tells me that many other share that trust for which I’m very grateful.
How do I feel? I feel like a dense fog has lifted and I can see again. Still, not everything I see is easy to look at. I see sadness and anger, I see betrayal and confusion, I see disappointment and mistrust, I see loss... Though many are happy to hear that I will be the pastor of the new parish, that does not take away the pain of our loss. I know that loss from the perspective of a decade, others know it from a life time. We have difficult days ahead of us and we will need each other’s prayerful support. I believe we have that strength within us and among us to offer and to receive and I know we will be there for each other.
What is the status of the Parish Center? The archdiocese has indicated that it wants the Parish Center to be retained for the use of Holy Family Parish but it is also aware that a host of decisions must be made and issues resolved in order to achieve that. Thus, while the rectory and church will be closed at noon on October 25th, the Parish Center will remain open for the use of Holy Family Parish pending the final disposition of the larger property.
With the closing of OLHC Parish, my assignment as its pastor ends. With the opening of Holy Family Parish, I begin a brand new assignment as pastor. My assignment as pastor for HFP is not “finishing out the last two years of my term at OLHC” but, rather, starts the clock again.
We will be taking with us to Holy Family Parish: our statues of Mary and Joseph, our Alleluia banner, our altar and ambo candles, our new altar and ambo cloths, our processional cross, and our thurible (incense pot). With the exception of the altar cloths which need to be resized, all of these items will be used in the entrance processions at the liturgies of the first weekend at Holy Family. We will also bring our outdoor crèche, leaving for future discussion how Holy Family will make use of the two outdoor nativity scenes it will receive from OLHC and StB. Our tabernacle, monstrance and a cope (white vestment) will be given to the Catholic chaplaincy at MCI Concord. I will keep you updated as the disposition of other items in our church is decided.
With regard to the panel recently appointed by the archdiocese to review the reconfiguration process, I doubt that this panel’s recommendations will substantively impact the closing of parishes While a better system of communication with closing parishes might result from this, I do not anticipate that the archdiocese will reverse its decisions. To believe at this point that the archdiocese might in some way yield its authority to an independent review board is to underestimate what has brought the church of Boston to this point.
On Sunday of this weekend, October 10, we begin the last two weeks of the
life of Our Lady Parish. I hope that you will join us for some special events,
information for which you’ll find on the reverse side of this letter.
I’m especially concerned about Sunday night, October 17, our time to
pray and sing with the people of West Concord Union Church. The number of
parishioners joining us for the first two of our closing Sunday night services
has been smaller than I had anticipated. I know that a large number of folks
from West Concord Union will join us on the 17th and that they are providing
the collation following the service - I hope an equally large group of OLHC
folks will be there, too!
Sincerely,
Fr. Fleming
October 2, 2004
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This past Sunday night (Sept 26) was the first of our four Sunday evenings of prayer leading to the closing of our parish on October 25. As you know, this first service was a Prayer of Lament. I have never prepared such a service before, nor have I ever experienced one. It proved to be one of the most moving and profound experiences of prayer that I’ve ever been part of. The music was exquisite, poignant and prayerful. The scriptures spoke to our hearts. The opportunity to write our lament on cards, the invitation for any who so desired to pray those aloud, and the procession of people to place their written prayers in a basket on the altar: all of this made for an experience of community prayer that touched all of those present in their heart of hearts. We concluded with a litany of intercession in which we prayed by name and town for each of the 82 parishes being closed in the archdiocese, and also for the 49 parishes that were closed between 1985 and 2003. Hearing the names of those parishes read aloud was helpful in broadening our appreciation of how wide and deep the pain runs.
Our Prayer of Lament was an important step along the path to October 25. I regret, indeed I lament, that more parishioners did not join us last Sunday night. Having pleaded with you at all the Masses last Sunday, I can only renew my invitation and hope that you will join us along the way...
This Sunday night we will offer a Prayer for Healing. Pat Gomez (parishioner, choir member, member of our baptismal team and a previous preacher for Evening Prayer) will preside and preach at this service. Jennifer Harney, Jim Barkovic and I will provide the music ministry. This evening will include our last opportunity to sing the Litany of the Saints at OLHC. Please join us at 7:00 p.m.
I am most grateful to the Events Committee for all their work on Friday morning’s Mass for Seniors. Another event prepared to mark the closing of our parish, this special Mass for our senior parishioners included the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and was followed by a wonderful catered luncheon. About 100 seniors attended. As I told those gathered, many of our seniors have lived their whole lives in West Concord and at Our Lady Parish. The wonderful parish we have become is built on their faithfulness over decades and we owe them a debt of gratitude.
Reminder: we invite you or your family to make a poster of photographs from your home with OLHC events as their subject matter. A sample poster is on display in the entry way to the church. In the church hall, we have displayed portraits of the Our Lady’s pastors over the last 97 years. Beginning next week, the walls of the church will bear scrolls listing those who have been buried from Our Lady Parish since 1907. Smaller take home editions of the scrolls will be available soon.
Please remember that on the weekend of October 17th, priests who have served at Our Lady Parish over the years have been invited to concelebrate the 11:30 Mass. We are expecting Fr. Dick DeVeer, Fr. Pat Sullivan, Fr. Michael Regan and Fr. Sean McCarthy. I’m waiting to hear from several others who have been invited. On that same weekend (Oct 16/17) there will be a light, catered reception after each of the liturgies. Please plan now to join us after Mass.
Once again, I ask that on the weekend of October 23/24 you make plans to come to the Mass you usually attend lest the number of people at the 11:30 Mass be such that people are unable to enter the church. Each Mass on that weekend will be of equal solemnity and beauty. Your cooperation with this request will help us to worship reverently and gracefully at all four liturgies.
Sincerely,
Fr. Fleming
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