By Tanya Connor

WORCESTER – He’s 100 years old, and right with the times. And the Lord. And his people.
You get that sense talking with Father Oliver Blanchette, an Augustinian of the Assumption, and those who know him. An estimated 200 people celebrated his actual birthday with him March 12, 2016, at a Mass and brunch at Assumption College.

He lives near the college with other retired and elder Assumptionists, though he’s not the retiring type. His reach has extended beyond his congregation to the diocese, civic life, and across the world.
“I can hardly say, as did Jeremiah, that I am too young to speak,” Father Blanchette quipped, in prepared remarks for his birthday Mass.  “Yet, I may hasten, before it’s too late, to thank God for creating and loving me as my Father all these years, and giving me his Son Jesus as my Savior and friend.” Father Blanchette also expressed thanks for his life as an Assumptionist, and for family and friends.
Gratitude is a trademark of his, according to Lena Langlois, of St. Anne and St. Patrick Parish in Sturbridge, which Assumptionists staff.

When Father Vincent Machozi – a priest who served at Everett’s Immaculate Conception Church – asked those who had come to kill him on Palm Sunday in his Parish, “Why are you killing me?” it was a very simple answer.

Those who killed him killed for the same reason they had killed hundreds of others before him, people Machozi had tirelessly defended while in Everett, and later, while serving as a teaching priest in the Congo.

Father Machozi was killed for some rare rocks – rare Earth minerals to be exact.

Those items are things that most reading this article have in their pockets – likely in their cell phone or computer device, as they are the minerals used in making computer chips. Huge deposits sat underneath the village where Father Vincent served, and warring factions in the Congo wanted access to.

To do so, they killed people, lots of people in what has been called the ‘Blood Minerals’ conflict, and Father Vincent had dedicated his life to spreading the word about the slaughter through his graphically honest blog on the Internet.

Eleven members of the 2015-16 Assumption College women's soccer team traveled to Haiti over the winter break to volunteer their time working with children in the impoverished country. This marks the second year in a row that members of the women's soccer team have been involved with the project, in conjunction with the Hands Together organization.

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY HERE

WATCH VIDEO OF THE HOUNDS IN HAITI HERE!

The eleven Hounds to make the trip increased from four last year and include Paige Radomski (Kingston, Mass. / Silver Lake Regional), Meg Campbell (Springfield, Mass. / Cathedral), Katie Bealka (Freetown, Mass. / Apponequet Regional), Caroline Arnold (Foxboro, Mass. / Bishop Feehan), Nikki Callini (West Springfield, Mass. / West Springfield), Kelsey Pietruska (Durham, Conn. / Mercy), Tayla Morais (Taunton, Mass. / Taunton), Amanda Arnold (Saco, Maine / Thornton Academy), Carolyn Cook (South Hamilton, Mass. / Hamilton-Wenham Regional), Kallie Villemaire (Plattsburgh, N.Y. / Beekmantown) and Rose Lipinski (East Bridgewater, Mass. / East Bridgewater Jr-Sr).

Hands Together is a nonprofit organization devoted to educating, inspiring and encouraging people to understand the importance of responding to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged. The organization has several project locations, including Hands Together Catholic Schools.