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St. Mark Church 


9 Garden Court, Cranston, RI 02920-5787


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Weekend Masses

Saturday: 4:00 P.M.

Sunday: 8:00 A.M. 

Sunday: 10:00 A.M.







Daily Mass
M-W at 8:00 A.M.

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Saturday at 3:00 P.M.


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Catholic News & Perspective

28 Oct, 2023
by Catherine Cavadini This Sunday we encounter a familiar description of the life of faith, given to us straight from the mouth of Jesus: “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart , with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” — Mt 22:37-39 It is worth noting that Jesus says that these twin commandments to love God and neighbor are the foundation of the law and the prophets. In other words, these commandments are presented in the Old Testament as the Way of God and of life with God. Indeed, the first of the two commandments cited by Christ — to love God with your whole heart, soul and mind — is a citation of Deuteronomy, and one that is closely linked to the Shema, the daily prayer of the Jewish People. The Shema is also found in Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord” (Dt 6:4). The second of the two commandments referenced here by Jesus comes from the Book of Leviticus: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). This commandment, too, is linked in the Old Testament to faith in God and God’s Way. In fact, in this instance, God himself says so: “Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Lv 18:18). Jesus lives these commandments It is also worth noting that Jesus does not just refer to these two commandments. He lives them. In the Gospel of Matthew, Christ identifies with the “little ones” who are his neighbors, those for whom he came to work the works of mercy: the hungry, the naked, the doubting, the lonely and the sick. “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Mt 25:40). Through the Incarnation, God made of us his neighbors. And then he loved us as himself. We are to respond likewise — with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind. St. Justin Martyr’s understanding St. Justin Martyr (martyred in 165 under Marcus Aurelius) gives us an understanding of our “response in kind.” This response, says Justin, is a neighborly exercise of Eucharistic love . The following is an excerpt from Justin’s “First Apology,” written to the Roman Emperor in the year 155 as a defense of Christian life and worship — oriented to God, but poured out upon the “little ones” in union with Christ: “And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles or the writings of the prophets are read … Then we all rise together and pray, and … when our prayer is ended, bread and wine and water are brought, and … in like manner offers prayers and thanksgivings … and the people assent, saying Amen; and there is distribution to each … and to those who are absent a portion is sent by the deacons. And they who are well to do, and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the presider, who succors the orphans and widows, and those who, through sickness or another cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need” (Justin Martyr, “First Apology,” Chapter 67). To take “ care of all who are in need” has been God’s way since the beginning. The law and the prophets tell us so. And Christ, in his gift of his whole self to us, absolutely and completely, specifies this way as Eucharistic. “Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” and I have loved you so. October 29 – 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time Ex 22:20-26 Ps 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 1 Thes 1:5-10 Mt 22:34-40
28 Oct, 2023
by Kenneth Craycraft Beginning in 1973, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has designated October as Respect Life Month . Respect Life Month was implemented in the year of the infamous United States Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade, preventing states from making reasonable regulations on access to abortion. The overruling of Roe by the 2022 case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization did not eliminate the need for a specific month dedicated to thinking, praying, and educating about abortion policy. On the contrary, the matter is even more urgent than when Roe was the law. The Dobbs case did not end the war over abortion but only moved the battles to each of the 50 states. Now more than ever, Respect Life Month is an urgent call to dedicate ourselves to the problem of abortion and its various implications. The theme of Respect Life Month in October 2023 is “Radical Solidarity,” emphasizing women facing challenging pregnancies. Solidarity is one of the four principles of Catholic Social Doctrine, along with subsidiarity, common good, and dignity. All four must be considered in any question of public morality or social policy issue. But dignity is always the first consideration, as it lays the foundation for the other three. Unique among God’s creatures, God made man in his image and likeness. The human person stands apart from the other animals for special moral consideration. Thus, in its material for this year, the USCCB has explained, “The Church’s entire social doctrine is guided by the fundamental principle that every human life has innate dignity.” But what is “dignity”? How do we know it when we see it? And what implications does it have for “radical solidarity,” as it applies to unborn children and stressful pregnancies ? Can dignity be found? Bob Dylan’s 1991 song “Dignity” is a wonderful musical illustration of the elusiveness of the definition and recognition of dignity. In a series of vignettes, Dylan explores common human quandaries and wonders if dignity can be found in the persons or predicaments he describes. “Searchin’ high, searchin’ low,” he sings, “Searchin’ everywhere I go/Askin’ the cops wherever I go/Have you seen dignity?” The singer in Dylan’s song feels the same sense of futility that often attends an attempt to define “dignity.” The problem is that the singer has started his search for dignity from the assumption that it is constituted by a range of external characteristics rather than an inherent quality. Popular notions of dignity usually associate it with a series of peripheral traits or attributes, absent which one person has relatively less or more dignity than another. “Sick man lookin’ for the doctor’s cure/Lookin’ at his hands for the lines that were/And into every masterpiece of literature/For dignity.” When the various people he encounters do not seem to have the attributes he thinks are necessary for dignity, the singer concludes that dignity cannot be found. Ultimately the quest is elusive, and the song ends without a resolution either of what dignity is or who possesses it: Someone showed me a picture and I just laughed Dignity never been photographed I went into the red, went into the black Into the valley of dry bone dreams So many roads, so much at stake So many dead ends, I’m at the edge of the lake Sometimes I wonder what it’s gonna take To find dignity Human solidarity The singer concludes that dignity is elusive, even non-existent, because he cannot find anyone who meets his criteria. Now, contrast this vision with the Catholic understanding of inalienable dignity, rooted in the very nature of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God. Dignity is not the sum of some arbitrary inventory of attributes but inherent in every human being. The difficulty of Dylan’s singer’s quest is aggravated when it is conducted within the constraints of an individualist moral anthropology. This theory reduces the human person to an autonomous atom, separate and alienated from his fellow persons and possessing claims against them. In other words, this moral theory fundamentally rejects the notion of natural human solidarity. In contrast, as the USCCB has emphasized, inherent dignity is the foundation for the doctrine of solidarity. Solidarity has both a descriptive and prescriptive quality. It describes the nature of the human person as a social being. In the first creation account in Genesis, the human is created as a community of persons: “Male and female” God created them. In the second account, the first person is not complete until God creates the second to accompany him. Man is complete in society with others toward whom he is oriented. From these descriptions of solidarity, we derive the prescriptive sense. Created in relationship to one another, we are called to affirm and sustain that natural relationship by living for others. As the USCCB has put it (quoting Pope St. John Paul II ): “Solidarity is the means by which we put our love for others into action, making the good of others our own. Solidarity ‘is not a feeling of vague compassion or shallow distress at the misfortunes of so many people. … On the contrary, it is a firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the common good … to the good of all and of each individual, because we are all really responsible for all.'” This includes committing time, prayer, money and other resources to aligning ourselves with and standing in support of expectant mothers and their unborn children, regardless of external attributes or characteristics. This is “radical” solidarity rooted in authentic human dignity. This article comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.
28 Oct, 2023
by Simcha Fisher Without really meaning to, I seem to have adopted adoration as a mainstay of my spiritual life . It’s the thing I keep coming back to in all seasons, and I’ve done so since I was in college, and I hope to keep it up until I’m one of those creaky old people who makes everybody hold their breath while they shakily lower themselves down for a little genuflection, possibly never to get up again. I have been to all kinds of adoration chapels: ornate, baroque ones and glossy, minimalist ones, ones that feel like waiting rooms of some kind (waiting for what?), ones that feel like a Polish grandmother’s rummage sale, and ones that feel like raves. The funny thing is, the people you meet at the adoration chapel tend to be the same, no matter where you go. The not-so-quiet adorers Everybody knows, for instance, about the classic Jesus Whisperer: The adorer who simply cannot pray without whispering. Maybe it’s how they keep track of how many Hail Marys they’ve said, or maybe Sister Mary Scrupulosa back in 1952 actually taught them it somehow doesn’t count if it’s not audible; but by gum, as long as they’re there, everybody else in the room is gonna hear about it. Some people can simply smile and shrug and say their own prayers, but for others, the Jesus Whisperer is a good reminder that earbuds are cheap and there’s nothing wrong with Googling “one hour of rain sounds” before you pop in to pray. But there are a few other adoration regulars who turn up almost as reliably. For instance: The Juicy Mouth. A close cousin to the Jesus Whisperer. These folks seem to realize that it might be disruptive to others to actually whisper prayers, so instead, they simply mouth them. And for some reason — and I’m willing to admit that the reason is that I’m crazy — this is far, far worse than whispering. It’s just an hour of barely audible, faintly wet, somebody-else’s-mouth noises, and it’s the absolute worst. Yes, I have heard of offering things up. No, it’s not getting me anywhere. Complicated prayer routines The Accessorizer Supreme. Many people bring rosaries, chaplets, Bibles or other prayer books, maybe a journal, perhaps a chapel veil. The Accessorizer Supreme brings THE WORKS. She (and it’s generally a lady) sits down, unpacks her tote bag that says “this is the day the Lord,” pulls out a binder that says “has made,” unzips it, flips it open to the correct page, whips out a little box that says “let us rejoice” that holds dozens of miniature color-coded Post-it Notes and starts applying tabs to the chart in the front so she can get caught up on which color highlighter she’s supposed to be using today. The highlighter has a little bespoke leather tag tangling off it that says “AND BE GLAD.” Once she establishes that the color of the day is pink, she pulls out the retractable matching pink bookmark to note the spot where she started reading for the day, and then smartly tears open the Velcro on the little fanny pack where she keeps the thematic hand puppets, with which she acts out the Bible verses. This can occasionally be a little distracting for the people around her, and once somebody complained when she got up to the Song of Songs puppets, but this is HER SPIRITUALITY and she is a TACTILE LEARNER and also if you are interested, she knows where you can BUY THIS EXACT KIT and she will EARN A SMALL COMMISSION. The Medievalist. This guy has his own little set of observances that range from the pious (that is one very profound genuflection, both knees and, ope, he’s slo-oo-owly bowing his head to the ground as well! And he’s just kind of leaving it there, how … devout!) to the alarming (please tell me that jingling sound is some kind of keychain and not his latest impulse buy from www.MortificationsMortificationsMortifications.com). You can see by his bumper stickers that he fancies himself something of a modern-day knight templar, and you just hope that means he’s going to be extra chivalrous in the parking lot, rather than, you know, crusading anybody. Probably just enthusiastic, and more power to him. But these are strange times. Being judgmental The Insider. A church employee, or possibly just someone who’s very generous with their time and talent, who spends so much of that time cheerfully cleaning and decorating and setting up and bustling around and fetching things from closets and crawling around under pews and adjusting the thermostat and being the last one to turn the lights off, that they’ve gotten to feeling a little TOO at home, and it seems like you need to keep an eye on them so they don’t go over and absentmindedly hop up on the altar for a chat, or pat the monstrance on the head. Ora Et Sopora. Dude just finds a seat and takes a nap. Me. As you can see, I’m an idiot and sometimes I just go in there and be mad for an hour, because there are other people there. In the universal Church. I know better, but I do it anyway, and I will probably never stop. Luckily there’s also Jesus. The only one in the world who is always glad to see me , even when I’m being an idiot. How sweet it is. This article comes to you from O ur Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

Faith in Action

28 Oct, 2023
Mary recently shared an experience that touched her and another: “It was a simple thing. All I did was smile at a time when Connie needed to know she wasn’t alone. I saw her sitting by herself as I planned to run through, get my cup and be on my way. But Connie’s demeanor told me she needed something. So I stopped for a moment, said hello and smiled. She lit up! I asked how she is doing, knowing that things have been challenging at home, and she said she is taking things day by day. She thanked me for stopping by, and asked about my family. The whole exchange took only a few moments, but I am convinced it was time well spent, and now I think about it often. How many more times in a day might a simple smile and a few kind words make a difference for a friend, or a stranger?” This article comes to you from Grace In Action (Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.
28 Oct, 2023
St. Teresa of Avila (1515-82) founded 16 convents — a true labor of love — earning the nickname “roving nun.” Her spiritual writing led her to be named a Doctor of the Church. This month, think about the simple things you do each day and consider how your actions are stewardship of your life, talents, time or resources. How might you more intentionally be a good steward of: Your faith: Do you share your faith with family, friends, co-workers or neighbors through your actions or in your words? Your love: Do you serve others humbly as a continuation of Christ’s love for those who most need God’s care? Your hope: Do you bring hope to those who might otherwise find it difficult to go on, or do you hold on to hope when all around you seems empty or filled with trial? How is your stewardship a work of faith, labor of love, endurance in hope? This article comes to you from Grace In Action ( Our Sunday Visitor ) courtesy of your parish or diocese.
28 Oct, 2023
Three men were sitting together on a park bench, sharing stories on an autumn afternoon. The first man recounted one tale after another about his past. He longed for the simplicity of yesteryear. He spoke of nostalgic days of yore, recalling events of times gone by. The first man yearned for his youth. He closed his eyes and pictured things the way they once were, frustrated at what had been lost. The second man spun yarns about the future. He imagined lavish vacations he planned, picturing places he would go near and far. He imagined things he would do once he retired. He envisioned a boat he would build. He fantasized about all the free time he would have for fishing. Lost in his reveries, the second man closed his eyes and sighed in anticipation of things to come, frustrated by waiting for what would be. The third man did not step back into his past nor did he lean into his future. Instead, he pointed out the fair day. He called attention to the beautiful colors of the changing leaves, the deep blue skies. He greeted people as they passed; and they returned his good cheer. The third man felt the sun on his face. He smelled the scent of purple grapes ripe on vines covering a nearby arbor. And he was content in the moment. The good steward understands the importance of the present, neither dwelling on nor forgetting the past, neither anticipating nor ignoring the future. This article comes to you from Grace In Action (Our Sunday Visitor) courtesy of your parish or diocese.

Family Living

28 Oct, 2023
by Cory Busse, Take Out: Family Faith on the Go If your marriage is anything like mine, there’s only one thing you can count on: perfect marital bliss 24/7! The upcoming holidays never add an ounce of stress to our Rockwellian portrait of the perfect, Catholic American family. If you believe that, I have a flying sleigh I’d like to sell you. For the rest of us, here are three ways to turn some of the most stressful marital moments into opportunities for a stronger union. Get Over It — There is very simple prayer that goes, “Greed, anger and ignorance emerge endlessly. I vow to end them.” Say this prayer together. It’s important to acknowledge the first part of the prayer. Greed, anger and ignorance emerge endlessly. Those attributes are a persistent part of the human condition, and there’s no avoiding them. After you’ve acknowledged that these vices emerge, work together on the second half of the prayer. End the miserly hoarding of wealth and compassion that can come with the holidays. End the anger at old hurts. End the ignorance of the needs of others at this most sacred time. Find examples of these vices in your own marriage, and vow to end them together. Acknowledge Ambivalence — Ambivalence gets a bad rap, especially in marriage. Too often, “ambivalence” (having contradictory feelings about something) is confused with “apathy” (not caring). As human beings, it’s perfectly natural to feel conflicted about parts of our lives. Even Jesus in the garden showed some ambivalence about his forthcoming crucifixion. We are programmed to believe, though, that ambivalence is wishy-washy. It is natural. Be gentle with one another in moments of ambivalence. While it is important not to become paralyzed by indecision, choices made in moments of uncertainty — especially when the choice is forced — can do a lot of damage to a marriage. When you’re uncertain: wait. Play or Pay — My wife and I used to scoff at other couples who kept a “date night.” What kind of a healthy relationship has to schedule a standing appointment for fun? It was obvious to us that the spark and spontaneity was long gone from those marriages — that is, until we hit a really rough patch in our marriage. Each of us accused the other of taking us for granted. We never spent any “quality time” together. We were always working, or with the kids, or stressed out about a million other things. We looked around at the couples who had been diligent about their date nights (those losers), and we realized they were, as we say in our house, “clam happy.” Make time for one another. Be intentional about your fun. You’ll be glad you did.This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.
28 Oct, 2023
How can you tell if your use of technology is throwing your life off- kilter? Consider some of the following warning signs: You have fewer deep, close relationships with people than you used to (even if you’re in contact with more people than ever before). You often feel resentful when family, work, or social commitments interrupt your online activities. You frequently use handheld devices to get online or text message during mealtimes, church services, family celebrations, or other occasions that are traditionally times of bondng with God or the people around us. You spend far more time online for “fun” than you do in prayer or meditation. If more than a couple of the previous statements sound familiar, your Internet and social media use is probably throwing your life out of balance. It’s a good idea to seek out moments for “unplugged” silence throughout your routine, or re-center yourself through brief retreats from your ordinary environment — perhaps going outdoors into nature or stopping by church for a visit. This content comes to you from Our Sunday Visitor courtesy of your parish or diocese.

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