A Blog Anniversary and Diocesan Events

Building Faith Blog Celebrates Its Third Year

On October 21, 2019, I launched this Building Faith blog which was one of the fruits of the diocesan “Rebuilding in Faith and Hope” initiative and a wonderful way to celebrate my fifth year as Bishop of Fall River. Throughout these three years, I’ve shared thoughts and images from many Priestly and Diaconate Ordinations, Confirmations, Pope Pius and Marian Medal Awards ceremonies, as well as homilies from Liturgies, celebrated in-person or livestreamed. 

The blog has proven to be an effective way for me to share Diocesan news -the good and the challenging, communicate important announcements and distribute information about local, national, and global Church initiatives and events. 
In my first post, I shared my desire to utilize this weekly Wednesday blog to build community within our diocese, strengthen our faith, and share the many activities a Bishop is blessed to participate in. I believe it has accomplished that and so much more—never missing a single week, even through the challenges of a global pandemic.

I look forward to continuing to use the Building Faith blog as a way of outreach, support, and an avenue of transparency to the faithful in the Diocese for years to come. I invite you to click this link and subscribe to the email distribution of the blog.

28th Annual Face Fall Scholarship Dinner

On Wednesday, November 2, 2022, at 6:00 pm, at White’s of Westport, the Foundation to Advance Catholic Education (FACE) will welcome guest speaker Devin McCourty, New England Patriots 3X Super Bowl champion and team captain, to the annual Fall Scholarship Dinner. The evening will also include the awarding of the Timothy J. Cotter Friend of Catholic Education Award to Sandra Sevigney. The event is made possible by the hard work of co-chairs—John Feitelberg, President, HUB International and Janna Lafrance, Lafrance Hospitality, along with their team. This year’s scholarship dinner will be emceed by Kait Walsh, WPRI News Anchor and Bishop Stang Alumna. You can view a special video invitation from Kait Walsh here. To learn more or purchase tickets, please visit the FACE website.
 

Mass for Peace and Procession

Our annual Procession and Mass for Peace took place on Monday, October 10, 2022.

During the Mass, I offered a few words of encouragement of how each of us can work, even in the smallest actions, toward peace. We need to have faith, the basis of all good things we can do in the world. I believe faith is the foundation for the moral life, justice, and for bringing about peace. When there is a lack of faith, then everything that is evil begins to penetrate and infiltrate our society. Faith leads to conversion, conversion leads to justice, and justice leads to peace. The work of justice, the prophet Isaiah tells us, will be peace.
During the Blessed Mother’s apparitions in Fatima, she made an urgent appeal to the shepherd children to pray the Rosary each day to bring peace to the world and to bring an end to the war. I believe we can all agree that the appeal remains as urgent for us today. Our prayers or actions to make changes in ourselves, even the smallest ones, will make a difference in our hearts, our homes, and most of all, our world.
You can watch the entire Mass for Peace on Facebook; you do not need a Facebook account to view this video.
 

World Mission Sunday

On World Mission Sunday, October 23, 2022, Pope Francis reminds us that in Baptism, we are all called by the Lord to be His missionaries: “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Joining Catholics worldwide this Sunday, we offer our prayers and generous financial support, through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, to the Pope’s missions. Learn more, including an informative video and more details on the distribution of funds for this collection, on our diocesan website.
Yours in Christ,
Bishop da Cunha

The Most Reverend Edgar M. da Cunha, S.D.V., D.D.

The Bishop of Fall River