St. Ambrose Office of Faith Formation

09/12/2026

Join us tomorrow for Clambake 2026.

Rain or shine!

It's almost here! St. Ambrose's Annual Clambake

Join us on Sunday, September 13, 2026, from 12noon to 4pm.
Clam cakes, chowder, stuffies, hamburgers, hotdogs, fries, dynamite, and back this year...dough boys! We will also have a great themed-basket raffle, a mountain bike raffle and a special "dinner for six" raffle. There will be an indoor bake sale, and free games and crafts for the kids. No admission fee!

ALSO, tickets are still on sale for our Clambake Club Raffle. $5500.00 in cash prizes. Stop by the parish office, mail in your ticket request, or purchase tickets after Weekend Masses. There is no limit to the number of tickets you can purchase, but only 400 will be sold AND WE ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT! Purchase your ticket now...you could be a winner! Raffle drawn at the conclusion of the Clambake.

09/12/2026

The Quiet Corner by Father John A. Kiley 12 September 2026

Diocesan priests may indeed retire from their parishes at age 70 but they do not retire from the priesthood even into old age. Fr. Frank O’Hara, sixty-seven years a priest, is still at the altar at St. Mark Church in Cranston several days a week. Up north here in Woonsocket, Fr. Richard Desaulnier assists regularly at St. Joseph Church in this city. Fr. Raymond Tetreault ably assists the new pastor at St. Aidan/St. Patrick in nearby Cumberland.

Down in South County a good number of priests assist the local pastors. Fr. Joseph Creedon often leads the worship at the Christian Brothers home in Narragansett. Msgr. Carlo Montecalvo drove regularly from North Kingston to Westerly to help with Masses. And the East Bay is no different. Bishop Tobin has offered the Holy Sacrifice at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Bristol and Fr. David Ricard has a long drive from North Smithfield to help the pastor of St. Mary of the Bay in Warren.

Certainly offering daily and Sunday Masses at the diocese’s many parishes is the greatest service a retired priest may render. Yet their contribution to diocesan life does not end there. Years ago, area hospitals were sacramentally serviced by the nearest parish church. St. Anne’s rectory in Woonsocket was staffed with four priests who would take all the calls at the nearby hospital wards on Cass Avenue. St. Joseph parish in Pawtucket serviced Memorial Hospital ably, but again with four priests in residence. The Cathedral clergy similarly serviced Rhode island Hospital. Well there are no more four priest rectories! So the priests resident in an area (active and retired) take two and sometimes three days of duty per month for emergency calls. The duty, frankly and honestly, is not burdensome – but there is always that rare call at 3am when a bit more priestly dedication is required.

Again, with today’s limited priestly population, Catholic nursing homes especially and other senior citizen residences also rely greatly the ministry of retired priests. St. Antoine’s Residence and St. Antoine’s Villa in North Smithfield are entirely serviced by retired priests; a few are in residence, a few live the area. Mt. St. Rita Nursing Home in Cumberland also appreciates the attention given by retired priests. The Little Sisters of the Poor at the Jeanne Jugan residence in Pawtucket were recently delighted to have a retired pastor, Fr. Paul Grenon, take up residence and respond to their needs. St. Clare’s Home in Newport is equally grateful to the area’s retired priests.

For many years, two or three priests residing in a local rectory was the happy rule for most parishes in the diocese of Providence and for most of New England. Now there are fewer than a half-dozen Rhode Island rectories that can boast even two priests in residence. Alas, pastors who are alone might easily get two funerals on the same morning or a wake at the same time a parish council meeting had been scheduled or even a baptism on the afternoon of the parish picnic. Many a parish priest easily solves these challenges by a call to a nearby retired priest -- who is only too happy to save the day!

Fifteen years ago, upon my retirement from active ministry, Fr. Bernard Healy, then pastor of St. Ambrose parish in Lincoln, hired me to render part time help at the Albion parish. Week day and week end Masses there and at St. James in Manville have happily filled and fulfilled the past decade and a half. But retired priests not only render service. They are also well serviced themselves by the regular and affirming contact with the many assorted parishioners they encounter on the church steps and at the parish’s festivals, in the confessional and sometimes at the sick bed. The sacerdotal services of this diocese’s retired priests not only contribute to the area’s spiritual and ecclesial enrichment. The opportunity to continue priestly service, even on a part-time basis, is a boon for the aging clergyman as well! Offering the Word and the sacraments to a believing community is always reassuring.

On the weekend of September 19/20, the parishes of the Providence diocese will sponsor the annual collection for the support of the area’s many retired (or semi-retired) clergy. The financial and medical benefits which your donation guarantees for the local senior clergy will be outlined in next week’s Quiet Corner.
COMPLETE

09/05/2026

The Quiet Corner by Father John A. Kiley 6 September 2026

Walk into any Catholic church on a weekday morning before Mass. You will see twenty-five, fifty, maybe seventy-five people scattered about the church, each in his or her individual pew. Approach a Catholic church on a Saturday evening or a Sunday morning and again, worshipers will be scattered around the church. This time their number may well be in the hundreds. Sometime they might actually be sharing a pew. But, unless they are a family, worshipers have a distinct portion of that pew which does not overlap with the neighboring believer’s seat. Pious participants decidedly want their own time and their own space with God. Fellowship, fraternity, and friendliness are fine for the church steps after Mass. But during Mass, other than a wink or a nod to a few select chums, it’s time for “Jesus and me,” “I/Thou,” and “my lips to God’s ear” communication.

Now quiet spent in the Presence of God is certainly not to be shunned. St. Anthony of the Desert and St. Mary of Egypt were pioneers in the solitary life that would eventually bloom into the contemplative orders of men and women that have been powerhouses not only of prayer but of education, agriculture and spiritual direction as well. So solitude is certainly an instrument of the Holy Spirit. As the psalm response for this coming Sunday’s Mass advises, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts (95:8).” Yes, there is definitely a place in the Christian life for listening, for quiet time, for that “wee, small voice” (1Kings 19:12) that transformed Elijah’s life and that can direct our souls as well.

However this coming Sunday’s Gospel account from St. Matthew greatly broadens the popular notion of what Church is all about. According to the New American Bible, Matthew 18:17 is one of only two times the word “church” is used in any Evangelists’ writings. So perhaps a sense of community had to be encouraged even from the beginning. St. Matthew underlines the meaning of church quite well in verse 18:19: “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.”

The General Instruction on the Liturgy 2011 issued in the light of the Second Vatican Council’s solemn decree Sacrosanctum Councilium does not go as far as insisting pious souls should crowd into one pew but its directions definitely favor communal worship over private devotion. “In the celebration of Mass the faithful form a holy people, a people of God’s own possession and a royal Priesthood, so that they may give thanks to God and offer the unblemished sacrificial Victim not only by means of the hands of the Priest but also together with him and so that they may learn to offer their very selves. They should, moreover, take care to show this by their deep religious sense and their charity toward brothers and sisters who participate with them in the same celebration. They are consequently to avoid any appearance of singularity or division, keeping in mind that they have only one Father in heaven and that hence are all brothers or sisters one to the other (95).”

The psalm response this coming Sunday sings happily of communal worship: “Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him. Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the LORD who made us (95:1-2).” The General Instruction envisions the same shared experience: “Moreover, they are to form one body, whether in hearing the Word of God, or in taking part in the prayers and in the singing, or above all by the common offering of the Sacrifice and by participating together at the Lord’s table. This unity is beautifully apparent from the gestures and bodily postures observed together by the faithful (96).”

And, to be sure, this Sunday’s Gospel account from St. Matthew has high hopes for communal worship: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (18:20)." Indeed the Church expects fully bodily cooperation in all the liturgical celebrations: “The faithful, moreover, should not refuse to serve the People of God in gladness whenever they are asked to perform some particular service or function in the celebration (97).” St. Paul’s advice in this Sunday second reading applies to worship as well as to practical charity: “Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another (Rm13:8).” At Mass especially should a common concern for community be evident. COMPLETE

09/03/2026

It's almost here! St. Ambrose's Annual Clambake

Join us on Sunday, September 13, 2026, from 12noon to 4pm.
Clam cakes, chowder, stuffies, hamburgers, hotdogs, fries, dynamite, and back this year...dough boys! We will also have a great themed-basket raffle, a mountain bike raffle and a special "dinner for six" raffle. There will be an indoor bake sale, and free games and crafts for the kids. No admission fee!

ALSO, tickets are still on sale for our Clambake Club Raffle. $5500.00 in cash prizes. Stop by the parish office, mail in your ticket request, or purchase tickets after Weekend Masses. There is no limit to the number of tickets you can purchase, but only 400 will be sold AND WE ARE ALMOST SOLD OUT! Purchase your ticket now...you could be a winner! Raffle drawn at the conclusion of the Clambake.

08/24/2026

The Quiet Corner by Father John A. Kiley 23 August 2026

The ancient Christian world knew five ecclesial centers. Jerusalem, the oldest, was recognized as the mother of all churches and was initially led by the apostle James. Antioch in Syria was at first administered by St. Peter. Constantinople, now Istanbul in present day Turkey, was associated with St. Andrew and later became the center of the Byzantine Empire. Alexandria on the Egyptian coast, famous for its excellent library, is associated with St. Mark. And finally Rome, the center of the Roman Empire, was established by St. Peter and visited by St. Paul, both of whom were martyred and buried there. Rome being the empire’s Imperial City greatly enhanced its importance in all minds. And the presence of the Apostles’ tombs certainly made Rome a center for pilgrimage.

A quick search of the Internet produces much evidence of St. Peter’s presence and activity in Rome. In the first years of Christianity, St. Ignatius of Antioch refers to St. Peter and St. Paul having preached at Rome. St. Irenaeus of Lyons in the second century cites Saints Peter and Paul as founders of the Church at Rome and that St. Peter had nominated St. Linus to be his successor as bishop there. St. Clement of Alexandria wrote that St. Peter had preached the Word at Rome. Writers Origen and Eusebius cited that Peter “after having first founded the church at Antioch, went away to Rome preaching the Gospel, and he also, after the church in Antioch, presided over that of Rome until his death” Another ancient author wrote that “while Nero reigned, the Apostle Peter came to Rome, and, through the power of God committed unto him, wrought certain miracles, and, by turning many to the true religion, built up a faithful and steadfast temple unto the Lord."

St. Peter went to Rome not only fortified with apostolic zeal but much more importantly commissioned with Divine authority. All four Gospel accounts testify to St. Peter’s monumental act of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. St. Mark writes, “Along the way he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others one of the prophets.” And he asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said to him in reply, “You are the Messiah.” St. Luke wrote, “Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Messiah of God.” St. John, in another context, observes, “Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.” Clearly St. Peter’s faith in Christ was the foundation upon which Christ could entrust greater responsibilities.

This coming Sunday’s Gospel has the fullest account of St. Peter’s act of faith and Christ’s commissioning him as chief of the apostles: “He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven (Mt.16:19)."

In this passage from St. Matthew, Jesus entrusts St. Peter with the keys of the kingdom of heaven, which are certainly meant to symbolize St. Peter’s primacy in governing the Church in Christ’s name. And there are other compelling passages in Scripture that affirm St. Peter’s exceptional leadership. In St. Luke’s Gospel account, Jesus exclusively singles out St. Peter praying that the apostle’s faith “may not fail,” so that the chosen fisherman can “confirm his brethren (Luke 22:31-32).” St. John writes of Jesus’ command to Peter, calling him by name three times: “...feed my sheep,” thus affirming Peter’s responsibility to lead his fellow apostles and all believers faithfully and confidently.

The Church from ancient times has appreciated the role of the bishop of Rome as the authoritative head of the believing community here on earth. The Office of Peter continues today through the ministry of Pope Leo XIV, bishop of Rome and supreme head of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church on earth.
COMPLETE

08/16/2026

The Quiet Corner Father John A. Kiley 15 August 2026

Mary of Nazareth is rightly recalled and uniquely honored as both virgin and mother. Her dual vocation to dedicate herself entirely to God, effectively symbolized by her virginity, and at the same time place herself at the service of humanity, tenderly indicated by her maternity, indicates the balance that the Church and every believer must maintain in their common and personal religious lives. Christians, like Mary, are called to be both chaste and fruitful, to be respectful in their friendships and to be generous in their relationships.
Blessed Mary’s perpetual virginity, enjoyed before, during and after the birth of her son, was not a sterile refusal to embrace human relationships. In fact Mary welcomed human relationships and responded warmly to personal encounters. Mary hastened from northern Nazareth to southern Judea to tend to her cousin Elizabeth for six months. Mary was touched by the plight of Cana’s newlyweds, inducing Jesus to perform his first miracle to relieve their embarrassment. Mary welcomed a new companionship in later life when she and St. John joined households at Jesus’ final instruction. Mary offered her prayers, support and presence to the infant Church establishing itself after Pentecost. Although Mary did not “know man” at any time during her earthly journey, she was eager to reach out to her fellow men and women on any number of occasions effectively producing good fruit all during her life. Mary’s was a fruitful virginity.
Uniquely in human history, the Blessed Virgin Mary was also a mother. Dutifully responding to the invitation announced through an angel, Mary consented to bear the Son of God, Jesus Christ, while sharing parenthood with Joseph to whom she was espoused. Remaining a virgin, Mary embraced family life as mother and wife. Mary chastely entered into a close relationship with her husband Joseph, travelling ninety miles with him to register at Bethlehem, and probably walking all the way! As good wife and good mother, Mary endured exile in Egypt rather than endanger her son. Mary shared the responsibilities of Jewish family life with Joseph, presenting their infant son at the Temple for blessing and making sure that the solemn Jewish festivals were a regular part of their maturing son’s life. Mary shared maternal heartbreak with Joseph when the boy Jesus was not to be found and she rejoiced with Joseph as their son “grew in wisdom, age and grace before God and man” at home in Nazareth. In later life, Mary, now on her own, displayed great concern for her son’s ambitions, hoping along with other relatives that he was not overdoing his mission. Mary, in near solitude, stood at the foot of the Cross as her son breathed his last and then received his limp body into her loving and distraught hands. Mary’s proved to be a fertile maternity, placing herself entirely at the service of her son, her husband and her God. Hers was a uniquely chaste but abundantly fruitful motherhood.
Every Christian, like Mary, is called to chastity. Christians must be chaste, always and everywhere exercising their life-giving bodily functions in the service of God’s designs for the human race. Chastity is certainly expected from the unmarried Christian who has not made an enduring spousal commitment to stable family life. The unchaste and unstable extra-marital relationships that abound in today’s society serve neither God nor humanity. And chastity is also expected from the married Christian whose loving encounters must always be open to the transmission of life. Authentic family planning does require preparation and sacrifice. Yet such maturity can actually enhance romance, increasing longing and demanding respect.
Every Christian, like Mary, is called to fecundity. Virgin or spouse, married or unmarried, cleric or lay, the Christian must be fruitful within the Church and within society. Mary was certainly alert to the needs of the world around her – the pregnant Elizabeth, the hapless newlyweds, the infant Church. And Mary was alert to her own vocational demands as good wife, good mother, good Jew.
Christians can only venerate Mary’s singularity. Her role as virgin and mother is historically unique. Yet Christians can emulate Mary’s superiority. A modest chastity and a productive charity are within the grasp of every believer. COMPLETE

08/06/2026

Have you marked your calendar to save the date for St. Ambrose's Annual Clambake?

Join us on Sunday, September 13, 2026, from 12noon to 4pm.

Clam cakes, chowder, stuffies, hamburgers, hotdogs, fries, dynamite, and back this year...dough boys! We will also have a great themed-basket raffle, an indoor bake sale, and free games and crafts for the kids. No admission fee!

ALSO, tickets are now on sale for our Clambake Club Raffle. $5500.00 in cash prizes. Stop by the parish office, mail in your ticket request, or purchase tickets after Weekend Masses. There is no limit to the number of tickets you can purchase, but only 400 will be sold. We are already over the halfway mark. Tickets are selling fast. Purchase your ticket now...you could be a winner! Raffle drawn at the conclusion of the Clambake.

07/31/2026

The Quiet Corner By Father John A. Kiley 2 August 2026

The marvelous multiplication of the loaves and fishes by which Jesus fed more than five thousand followers focuses the believer’s attention on Christ’s “taking, blessing, breaking, and giving,” a solemn, four-fold action which is recalled not only here in the miraculous meadow but also in all the narratives of the Last Supper. Anglican Bishop John A. T. Robinson, while a chaplain at Cambridge, reviewed these four memorable steps which, to this day, still form the core of the Eucharistic celebration, the Mass.

Unlike Jesus’ other miracles in which his words and gestures are his only resource, Christ this time asks for a contribution from his beneficiaries. It is the crowds, in the person of the young boy, who offer Jesus the material that he is going to multiply and transform. As Jesus takes the loaves and fish from the lad, and as he holds the bread secured by his disciples at the Paschal meal, he is anticipating the presentation of the gifts at every Mass. The bread and w**e at Mass do not (or should not) originate from the sanctuary. They are placed in the midst of the congregation, brought to the altar by members of the community, then received by the priest as a presentation from the people of God. These gifts represent the people. They represent their daily lives. They represent the farmers and vintners and bakers and truckers and salespersons without whom the elements of bread and w**e would never make it to the parish church. Such manmade gifts are the secular intruding into the sacred. Thus all of life, not only prayers and pieties, are presented to God each week at Mass.

Once Christ took the loaves and fishes from the young man, he blessed them; he changed them; he transformed them. Food for a handful became food for the hoard of men and women sitting there before Christ. At Mass, the worldly elements of bread and w**e are similarly blessed, changed, and transformed into the sacred elements of Christ’s Body and Blood. Food for the body becomes food for the soul. Now, as then, Christ himself is the miracle worker, the catalyst, the change agent in the person of the priest. The people present their gifts (bread and w**e) to Christ and Christ will present his gifts (Body and Blood) to the people. At Mass as in the meadow, the blessing, the transformation, the consecration is entirely the generous action of Christ.

The breaking of the bread is not merely a practical gesture to insure that everybody participates in a large, communal meal. The bread broken draws the worshipper’s attention to the belief that the Mass is truly the re-presentation of Calvary. It is the broken, bruised and beaten Christ who is sacramentally present on Catholic altars every time Mass is celebrated. “This is my Body which is given for you…This is the cup of my Blood which is shed for you…” The Mass makes present again that moment of self-giving when Jesus handed over his body and poured out his blood for the salvation of mankind. It is certainly true that Christ is risen and dies no more and that it is the Risen Christ whom believers receive in Holy Communion. But they receive the risen Christ enshrined as at the moment of his death: the body broken, the blood poured out, the sacred elements separated as in death on Golgotha.

The loaves were taken, blessed, broken and finally given, that is, shared among the people for their sustenance and refreshment. The giving, or the sharing, occurs on two levels: Christ shares the bread with his followers, symbolized by the disciples, and then the followers, through the ministry of the disciples, share this bread with one another. It is not too difficult to see the role of the enduring Church in this scenario. At the grasslands, Jesus entrusts the blessed bread to his closest friends. They in turn do the work of Christ distributing that bread to the vast crowd before them. The disciples were the agents of Christ’s concern. Today the Church is Christ’s instrument of salvation among the masses of mankind. It is through the Church that the Bread of Life and the words of Revelation are brought to the nations of the world.

Taking, blessing, breaking and giving: the kindly actions of Christ on the grasslands of Galilee are recalled daily in the kindest of all his actions, the Catholic Mass. COMPLETE