Divine Mercy Parish Newsletter
“Coming Together, Growing in Faith”
Vol. 3 Issue 9- June 2011
Divine Mercy Parish Mission Statement
“Guided by the Holy Spirit and in communion with the diocese of Manchester, we, the members of Divine
Mercy Parish, place our trust in God. We devote ourselves to the proclamation of the Gospel according to the
one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. We seek to provide a safe and supportive home dedicated to the
vibrant celebration of the Eucharist in Holy Mass and all the Sacraments. Through our acts and our words, we
embrace all those who are in need. We resolve to defend the sanctity of human life and to promote peace,
within our community and throughout the world.”
JACKIE CAPES AND THE SCHOOL OF LOVE
-by Jane Meneghini
music and planning a performance to be shared with
the parents at the family picnic on the last day of
VBS.
Jackie Capes, Divine
Mercy’s Director of
Religious Education
(DRE), has spent a lifetime
teaching children in public
schools and religious
education programs. “I
love the kids,” she says.
“It’s my niche.” She also
loves her Church and has
always been active in parish life. Combining these
loves keeps her happy and very busy.
Another favorite activity is the All Saints Day
celebration, in which the younger children first
research, then dress up like, their favorite saints to
process with Father Gerry at the beginning of Mass.
“The kids really get into the saints,” Jackie notes,
because they love heroes. She looks forward to
planning an All Saints Fair within the next few years.
She also feels good about the Family Catechesis
Program on first Thursday evenings, October to
April, when parents gather to renew their own
understanding of the faith and learn how to pass it on
to their children. Each enrolled family receives a
copy of the Catholic Catechism and packets of
educational materials appropriate to their children’s
ages. The 2010-11 theme was “Morality,” with
sessions devoted to the Ten Commandments, the
Two Great Commandments, The Beatitudes, and the
Precepts of the Church. Next year‘s theme will be
“Prayers,” followed in succeeding years by “The
Creed,” and “The Sacraments.” Over a four-year
cycle, the program covers the four pillars of the
Catholic Catechism. Any adult who would like to
brush up on basic tenets of their faith is invited to sit
in on these sessions, posted in the weekly church
bulletin.
Last year she completed the 3-year nationally
accredited program, “Called to Servant Leadership,”
at St. Anselm’s College to prepare for a leadership
role in the parish. She describes the program as
rigorous theological training that included courses on
Old Testament, New Testament, Spirituality, Canon
Law, and Vatican II. There were papers to write
(“lots of papers”) and special days devoted to
Retreats and Faith Formation.
What Jackie really likes to talk about, though, are the
exciting things going on in the education program at
Divine Mercy. Coming up this summer (Aug. 9-12)
is Divine Mercy’s fifth Vacation Bible School. Each
summer about 25 children plus 10-12 teen helpers
meet daily for a story from the gospels, discussion
and activities on a related theme; a snack; an outdoor
game with a Christian slant (“Leapfrog for the
Lord!”). Elizabeth Landry leads Story Time, drawing
on her extensive collection of Christian-themed
children’s books; Brenda Wesoly is in charge of the
The leader of all this activity, Jackie Capes, is a pro
in the classroom. A graduate of Boston College,
School of Education (1964), she taught in
Massachusetts public schools for 32 years, working
as a substitute while her 5 children were small and
moving into full-time teaching as they grew. When
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Divine Mercy Parish Newsletter
Issue 9 – June 2011
she arrived in Francestown in 1997, she got involved
in the Religious Ed. Program at St. Patrick’s,
Bennington, and took over as DRE in 2002, a job she
has never left.
that just as Christianity spread beyond tribal
identities, so too Islam spread beyond the early Arab
converts, forming the Islamic ummah, or nation. In
each of the three faiths, followers believe they are
connected to each other by a kind of kinship, a shared
obedience to God’s will, and the centrality of praise.
What plans does this dedicated, skillful and energetic
woman have for her future? She says she will
continue to be involved with the religious education
program because “the children are the future of our
faith and my love of teaching is a gift from God.”
Luckily for Divine Mercy Parish, hers is a gift which
keeps on giving.
Some examples of praise highlight this. Christians
are all familiar with the psalms, relying on them for
words of praise, as Jesus did. But translations do not
make it clear how often in the Hebrew scriptures we
hear of someone praising God by breaking into
poetry, since the distinction between poetry and prose
is unclear in most translations. Some of these poems
have become canticles. The Magnificat is just such
poem of praise, comparable to the one attributed to
Moses and his sister Miriam after the flight from
Egypt (Exodus 15).
JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY AND
ISLAM: TRADITIONS OF FAITH AND
PRAISE
Another interesting example of the centrality of
praise in Judaism is the prayer called the Mourner’s
Kaddish, the same kind of extended poem of praise
but in this case developed during the Babylonian
exile, said not in Hebrew but in Aramaic, the
language adopted by the Jews during the exile and
the spoken language of Jesus’s time. This prayer is
said in the congregation by those who have lost a
close relative, every day for a period of time, yet the
deceased is never mentioned and death is never
mentioned. Instead, with profound psychological
wisdom, the appropriate response to grief is to praise
God. The Kaddish is an extended doxology,
comparable to the familiar verse that begins “Praise
God from whom all blessings flow…,” or to the
Gloria – but doxology simply means a formula of
praise. Scholars make a connection between the
Kaddish and the doxology at the beginning of the Our
Father, and similarly with the doxology at the end
(which appears in late manuscripts of Matthew and in
the Didache but not in Luke, and is retained in the
Protestant version and occurs somewhat separated
later in the Catholic liturgy).
[In the spring of 2010, Mary Catherine Bateson, a
member of Divine Mercy Parish, gave a talk for
parishioners on the relationship between these three
faiths. She has since spoken on the subject in Keene
and Manchester – and Watertown SD. Her summary
of her talk appears below.]
There are many ways of comparing religions, but in
the case of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam there has
been so much misunderstanding and hostility that it is
helpful to start from what we have in common. We
all trace our faith in the one God, a God who is not
only creator but also sustainer, who cares about how
human beings live our lives, to Abraham. Probably
none of us has grown up with a belief in multiple
deities and spirits, but it’s worth trying to imagine
understanding for the first time that everything that
lifts the heart comes from one source. That idea
begets wonder, and is expressed in grateful praise and
the desire to obey, as Abraham obeyed when he left
home to live in a strange country, as Mary obeyed
when she was told she would be the mother of the
Christ, a movement of the spirit expressed in the very
name of Islam, which is translated as submission.
Many passages of the Quran are poetry of the same
kind, particularly the opening surah (chapter), called
the fatiha, which is an intrinsic part of Muslim daily
prayer, and recognizable as a doxology that could be
recited by any Christian or Jew:
Jews believe they are descended from Abraham
through Isaac and Jacob. Christians believe they are
spiritual children of Abraham, Arabs believe they are
descended from Abraham’s other son, Ishmael, and
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Divine Mercy Parish Newsletter
Issue 9 – June 2011
Praise to God, ruler of all worlds, the
merciful, the compassionate,
Ruler of the Day of Judgment, the merciful,
the compassionate.
You we worship, to you we turn for help.
Lead us the straight path, the path of those
with whom you are pleased,
Not those at whom there is anger, and not
those who go astray.
Getting the historical connections and distinctions
straight is helpful, but what is critical for Catholics is
recognizing, as Vatican II emphasized, that there are
shared truths in the three faiths that should lead to
mutual respect. A study of history reminds us that
Christians have at various times persecuted or made
war on both Jews and Muslims, while Muslims have
traditionally taught tolerance for the other faiths, and
the three have collaborated in works of art and
science under Muslim rule. Pondering and
responding to shared traditions of praise is a step
toward acknowledging that we may indeed learn
from each other in ways that will deepen our own
faith.
Another form of Islamic prayer/meditation is the
recitation of the 99 Beautiful Names of God, using
the Islamic rosary of 33 beads. These are the 99
nouns or adjectives that refer to God in the Qur’an.
By reciting and meditating on them, the worshiper in
some sense apprehends the divine attributes, which is
the way in which all praise brings worshipers closer
to knowledge of God.
So where does the conflict come from? Partly it
comes from the special kind of bitterness that arises
from quarrels “all in the family.” Partly it comes
from a compounding of real theological differences
by misunderstandings. There is tendency to see false
equivalencies between the three faiths. For instance,
Muslims speak of Jews and Christians as “people of
the Book.” But for Muslims the Qur’an has existed
from all eternity and is Itself the revelation, so it has
a place comparable to the place of the Torah among
the Hebrew Scriptures; for Christians, Jesus is
Himself the revelation, the Word of God or Logos,
begotten before creation, and the New Testament is
not revelation itself but the inspired writing of his
followers about him after his crucifixion and
ascension. Muslims venerate Moses, Jesus and
Abraham as prophets, and believe that Jesus’s mother
was a virgin, but find the term Son of God
blasphemous. For Muslims, the Prophet Muhammad
is not divine and not worshipped, but occupies
somewhat the same position as St. Paul (or from
another point of view, as the Virgin Mary), as playing
a critical role in bringing God’s self-revelation to
future believers. Muslims suspect that the Trinity is a
form of polytheism and think that Christians teach
that a man became a god – whereas Christians
historically teach that in Jesus God became man.
SAVING THE MADONNA AND CHILD- A
LOVE STORY
-
by Elaine Giacomo
This is the story of a small parish, a much-loved
stained glass window, and how the window was
saved by caring people. The story begins more than
10 years ago, at the now-closed St. Denis Church in
Harrisville.
A stained glass window covered the back wall above
the altar. The Madonna and Child are seated upon a
throne, their faces glowing softly in the morning
sunlight. Mary’s robe is a rich ruby red; Jesus’
simple gown is a muted peach; the other colors
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Divine Mercy Parish Newsletter
Issue 9 – June 2011
reflect upon the church walls like a rainbow. The
effect is dazzling, but somehow calming.
ultimately to New Jersey. He ordered the leading to
match the profile of the original leads. Tom then
carefully reassembled the window piece by piece,
soldering the lead to the glass. Turning the window
over, he repeated the process. He then grouted,
filling with waterproof putty the lead channeling that
holds the glass in place, and cleaned both sides.
After allowing the putty to set, he cleaned the
window again. The window was done. With the
help of several muscular parishioners, he returned the
window to its home above the altar. It was exquisite.
The window was originally installed in the early 20th
century; the precise date and artist are unknown. By
the turn of the 21st century, it began to show the
ravages of time. Some glass pieces were missing,
and the leading around each piece of glass was
beginning to crumble. The parishioners discussed
restoring the aging window, and preliminary
estimates put the cost at thousands of dollars. It
seemed hopeless, but the efforts of Helen “Vangie”
McCormick brought the project to fruition. Vangie is
not a Catholic, but she attended Mass with her
husband Ron and loved the parish, and especially the
windows. She vowed to raise enough funds to retore
the Madonna and Child. Holding bake sales, raffles,
and auctions, she raised almost $10,000.
Fast forward to Spring 2011. St. Denis
Church closed in fall of 2010, and the building was
donated to the town of Harrisville by John “Chick”
Colony, whose family had deeded the property to the
Harrisville Catholic community so many years
earlier. In negotiations held between Father Gerry
and Chick prior to the closing, Father requested, and
Chick agreed that Divine Mercy parish could remove
the Madonna and Child window from the building.
With the money raised, the next step was finding
someone to repair and restore the window. Former
pastor Father Thom Duston found the perfect
candidate virtually in Harrisville’s backyard – Tom
Gloudemans of Hancock.
The inestimable Gordon Auth now enters the story.
Gordon, who played a key role in the negotiation
process, contacted Tom Gloudemans, who agreed to
remove the window and replace the open space with
clear glass. Fortunately, the original shipping crate
was in the church basement, so Tom was able to
remove it relatively easily. Other than 10 years’
worth of grime, the window was judged to be in
excellent shape, and Tom took it back to his
workshop for cleaning. It is presently in storage.
Tom’s first inspection took place, of all days, on the
morning of September 11, 2001. After removing the
protective glass covering the outward-facing side of
the window, Tom discovered that the entire window
panel was being held in place by two bent, rusted
nails and some brittle putty. All the leading between
the glass pieces needed replacing, as did several
cracked and missing pieces of glass. Tom’s first
great challenge was to remove the window in one
piece.
What does the future hold for the Madonna and
Child? When Divine Mercy Parish builds a new
church, Father Gerry would like to incorporate
elements of all three original churches into the new
building; the St. Denis contribution is the window.
Former St. Denis parishioners agree - nothing could
better represent the St. Denis community better than
the twice-rescued, much-loved Madonna and Child.
Taking careful measurements, Tom returned to his
workshop and constructed a wooden case in which to
place the window. He returned to the church several
weeks later with scaffolding, the case, and a strong
assistant. Amazingly, they removed the 6’ x 5’
window in one piece. Once secured, they brought the
window to Tom’s studio, where Tom made a full-size
“cartoon” (pattern). He then disassembled the
window and painstakingly cleaned each piece of
glass (about 300 pieces).
NEWSLETTER STAFF:
Elaine Giacomo - Co-editor
Gail Caron – Co-editor
Jane Meneghini – Staff writer
Linda Kepner – Staff writer
Because of the uniqueness and age of the glass,
Tom’s search for replacement glass took him
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