From Father Steven - August 6, 2023

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Dear Brothers and Sisters,
 
Please see the attached letter from Stephen Hanley, our Director of Faith Formation.
 
God Bless, 
Fr. Steven
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Father Steven asked me to be the Faith Formation Director of Immaculate Conception Parish fifteen months ago and share my experience with you. It certainly has been a wonderful blessing and it has been amazing to see my son Gabriel Malachi become a Deacon.   When I retired as Principal of Immaculate Conception School in Revere,  I would take morning walks praying the Rosary and asking the Lord about work that would proclaim and honor His Name. God had His plan and my prayer lined up with His Will.   Our  Blessed Lord Jesus has placed me under the protective mantle of his mother particularly under the title of the Immaculate Conception. I received my sacraments at Our Lady of Lourdes in Boston.  As you may know, the apparition of the Blessed Mother to Bernadette Soubirous happened in Lourdes, France where the Blessed Mother declared, " I am the Immaculate Conception."   
 
This call to be a Faith formation Director began very early in my life with Mom and Dad who loved me and formed me in the faith of Our Jesus Christ in the Catholic church. So, I begin with this story. I have rarely ever called a child a "kid".  I learned this from my Mom and Dad who got married late in life and they could have been my grandparents.  Their generation would not refer to children as kids. My Dad would say, " A kid is a baby goat. A kid grows up to be a goat.  A child grows up to be a man or woman, and hopefully a gentleman or a lady."  My parents were my primary educators, and the church for 2000 years has taught that the parents are the primary educators of their children. Schools can provide an education, but sadly many schools only provide knowledge, organization, and sports.  They are without the other two columns of an education: wisdom and understanding. Without these gifts of the Holy Spirit; knowledge and organization become empty. I take faith formation very seriously because they bring meaning and eternal treasures to a person's soul.  One meaning of religion is to " tie back the ligament."  Without the ligament the bone and muscle fall apart. Catholic religion cultivates the Love of Christ Jesus in Word, Sacrament and Deed transforms the person, the family, the community and nation.  
 
My oldest brother, Matthew Francis, who passed away to see the Lord on September 22nd told me, "Do you see what the Lord has prepared to do with your life?  All your work in government and education has prepared you to carry out this mission to bring people to faith in Our Lord Jesus."  His words of wisdom touched my heart. That is the wisdom that God desires to give each one of us.  Because of this faith formation, I can see a child coming to class or church as I see my children and grandchildren.  In addition, when I see an adult, I see my brother or sister in Christ.  I am just a poor sinner, but Our Lord Jesus Christ, is an infinitely rich Savior and Redeemer who enriches us to do the impossible. When I was about five, a counselor came to my home to meet with my mother and me to discuss my speech impediment.  I could always talk, but often people did not know what I was saying.  This speech problem was on my health record throughout my school life.  My Mom had no time to take me to speech therapy.  She was a mother of eleven (11) children.  My Dad  would correct me and help me from time to time.  I could orally read very well, but speaking became just chatter. However, my Dad told me I had a gift in speaking.  My response was, "Me - speak!" He saw that my heart's desire was to speak and instructed me to pray to the Holy Spirit to receive the gift.  My Dad advised me during my late teen years on Saturday evenings to orally read three or four times the two readings, responsorial psalm and Gospel.  When I was ready, I would return to orally read the readings in front of him. He would turn his back to me and face the wall so he would not make me feel nervous.  Around the same time, a lead English teacher at my public high school, who was in charge of appointing judges of Oratorical Eloquence at the annual Boston Public School competition at Faneuil Hall, recognized my speaking ability.  He chose me to be a judge alongside a  School Superintendent, College Dean, and Journalist. This was an absolute miracle. My Dad extended his faith to me because he loved me, and nurtured the gift of courage within me. Before this age, I was never asked to proclaim the Word in church or formally speak in the school.  Following this miracle, the parochial vicar asked me to become a Catechist.  From the beginning of my childhood, the cross I received became the means of salvation for me and anyone I would encounter.    
 
What really matters in this life and our eternal life is what the Lord has in store for each one of us, whether we are a child or adult or on the last days of our life on earth.  I cannot be a true son, brother, husband, father, grandfather, or faith formation director until I realize that "Our Father who art in Heaven" loves me dearly through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ!  How do I know this? I know it because the  outpouring of their sacrificial love proceeds from the Holy Spirit which gives me the ability to educate and speak.  As Paul stated to the 2 Corinthians 3: 4-6, "Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God, Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us: our sufficiency is from God, who has qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit; for the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life."  At Immaculate Conception parish, our beloved Pastor, Father Steven Clemence has allowed the work of Christ Jesus to work in me to share with any child, young adult, adult or elder the "Good News."   I pray that this enthusiasm of Jesus Christ that lives within me becomes common among all the children of God.  These are the treasures and gifts that will last forever.
 
Yours in Christ,
Stephen Patrick Hanley