Laura Kilgus, Associate Editor PROVIDENCE — Since 2005, the Keep the Heat On program has been an important aspect of Bishop Thomas J. Tobin’s ministry to the state of Rhode Island. Secretary James Jahnz of the Office of Catholic Charities and Social Ministry explains Bishop Tobin’s significant role in making Keep the Heat On a successful ministry over the years.
Our Lady has appeared in many places throughout the world in the last two centuries, some of which (such as Fatima and Lourdes) are familiar to most of us. But many Catholics are not aware of the one — and the only — officially approved appearances of Mary here in the United States. These apparitions took place in Champion, Wisconsin in 1859, to a Belgian immigrant named Adele Brise — a woman who dedicated her life to the catechesis of children.
Here in the Diocese of Providence, the spring confirmation season has just concluded. Bishop Tobin, Bishop Evans and I have been traveling across the diocese since April for the conferral of this beautiful sacrament. It has given me the opportunity to join some 25 communities and see how each in their own way celebrates and rejoices. I always strive to express my own joy for the confirmed and my gratitude to their parents and families. At this time of the year, when we also honor mothers and fathers, I have been thinking of and praying for “the domestic church.”