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Current Reflections Of The Week from Fr. Joe:
Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of August 1st, 2010:
My
dear parishioners,
Our Three-in-One Parish Evening, held last weekend on July 24th, was a wonderful celebration. The sun came out after the cloudburst; the Time Capsule was blessed
and buried; we shared cold soda, delicious appetizers, and lively conversation, and had live music, courtesy of Eric Covino. Special thanks to Bob Payette and Ron & Rose Bossie for the wonderful
audio-visual presentation.
Many thanks to everyone for their cooperation and support! A very special thank you to the committee: Kathy Coon for the site work and rock; Pat
Bell for the landscape design; Len Kostek for the trim work; Bob O'Neil for obtaining the vault; Joe Barile for the moisture proofing; Nancy Mignault, Wendy Majcher and Dot Gauthier for
organizing the party; and Jan Clancy, Eleanor Milller and Mary Ann Melgey for coordinating the capsule contents.
Celebrations help our faith community become a faith family. Thank you
for making this happen.
Yours Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of
July 25th, 2010:
My dear parishioners,
For the past two and a half years our Parish has been blessed by the service of our parish sexton, Bob Edwards. Bob, however, will soon be moving to Texas. The
community of St. Catherine wishes Bob all the best:
"Thank you, Bob, we will miss you! God bless you in your new home and this new part of your life."
We would like to fill the sexton position as soon as
possible so that the new sexton will have some training time with Bob to learn the details of the position. We are not currently advertising the position because I have received referrals from some
parishioners and have heard directly from others who have heard of the vacancy. Please contact the parish office at 860-887-9966 if you or someone you know might have an interest in the position.
Sincerely,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of
July 18th, 2010:
My dear parishioners,
This weekend Gospel reminds me of a story about a newly
ordained young priest fresh out of seminary who was assigned to his first parish in a small, farming community. Each Sunday he preached exegetical sermons that had nothing to do with the lives of the
people. In fact, over the years the village congregation had become quite patient and tolerant, gifted with the task of training young priests in the realities of church life. Months went by and then
one Sunday the elderly sacristan who prepared the sanctuary for the Mass left a note on the pulpit. Read John 12:21. That is all it said, John 12:21. Well, the young priest arrived in the sanctuary
to prepare for the morning’s Mass, he saw the note on the pulpit which read “John 12:21.” A curious thing to find in the pulpit, he thought. Therefore, he quickly thumbed
through his Bible and found the passage, which read: “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” In today’s gospel story while Martha was busy preparing to feed Jesus, Mary wanted to see
Jesus and listen to him.
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of
July 11th, 2010:
My dear parishioners,
In today’s Gospel, a scribe asked Jesus a very basic
religious question: “What should I do to inherit eternal life?” In answer to the question, Jesus directed the Scribe’s attention to the Sacred Scriptures. The
scriptural answer is “love God and express it by loving your neighbor.” However, to the scribe the word “neighbor” meant another Scribe or Pharisee – never a
Samaritan or a Gentile. Hence, the Scribe insisted on further clarification of the word “neighbor.” So Jesus told him the parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable clearly indicated that
a “neighbor” is anyone who needs help and anyone who gives that help. Thus, the correct approach is not to ask the question “Who is my neighbor?” but rather to
ask, “Am I a good neighbor to others?” The final command of Jesus, the Heavenly Good Samaritan, given during the Last Supper was: “Love others as I have loved you” because the
invisible God dwells in every human being.
Yours sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Joe
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From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of July 4th, 2010:
My Dear Parishioners:
Last weekend, we collected $985 for the mission diocese in India. On
behalf of my Bishop, I express my sincere gratitude to everyone in the parish for your generosity. Bishop Thomas had a safe flight back to India and sends his love, gratitude and blessing to all the
parishioners.
Mark your calendars to celebrate our Three-in-One Parish Evening: July 24, 2010 For the details please read the insert. Thank you.
Have a great July 4th weekend!
Fr. Joe
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Welcome to Most Rev. Thomas Thiruthalil,C.M., India for MCP in our Parish From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of June 27th, 2010
My dear
parishioners,
This weekend we welcome Most Rev. Thomas Thiruthalil, Bishop of Balasore, India to our parish for the Annual Missionary Co-operative Plan 2010. He is my own Bishop and is making
a Mission Appeal for his diocese in India, and the second collection this weekend will be for his mission diocese.
Thank you so much for your generosity to continue the work of Christ in the
mission diocese of Balasore, India.
Gratefully yours in Christ,
Fr. Joe
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Welcome to Most Rev. Thomas Thiruthalil,C.M., India for MCP in our Parish From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of
June 20th, 2010
My dear parishioners,
It will be our joy to welcome Most Rev. Thomas Thiruthalil, Bishop of
the Diocese of Balasore, India to our parish in the last weekend of June for the Annual MCP. He is my own Bishop.
Diocese of Balasore was a part of the Archdiocese of Calcutta until 1990
when Balasore was erected as a Diocese. Although there are 25,000 Catholics in the Diocese of Balasore, its work extends among seven million people. There are 45 priests, a good number of women
Religious and catechists rendering service to everyone in the region irrespective of religion and race. The Diocese has 30 Parish/Mission stations, one hospital, 16 dispensaries, three technical
institutions, 28 hostels, two Minor Seminaries and 14 schools. These resources, human and material, are far too short of what is required to carry on the evangelization and social development work
that is needed. The Diocese makes every effort to raise as much resources as possible locally. It depends on the support, generosity, and prayers of Catholics across the world such as you, to
continue the work of Christ in Balasore, India.
Yours sincerely,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of June 13th, 2010
Thank You Letter From Father Joe: (Parish Bulletin Insert)
Thank you note from the
Administrator
Alive with the faith and zeal of our forebears, our parish family cherishes the sacrifices and commitment of the Bishops, Priests, Religious and laity who with their foresight,
leadership and generosity to build up this wonderful parish family of St. Catherine of Siena.
What goes into any celebration? Planning, hard work, emotions, people; usually food; sometimes
music; and always money.
Our 50th anniversary celebration is no different: many people helped plan it; many people were involved in executing it; and the dear Lord knows there were all
kinds of emotions involved!
The most important part of our celebration, however, is the people. For fear of inadvertently leaving out a name, I will not thank individuals, with
one exception: our Bishop Most Reverend Michael Cote, for celebrating this thanksgiving Holy Mass and giving a very inspiring homily. Bishop Cote is a successor to the Apostles in whom the work
of Our Savior, Jesus Christ, lives and grows. He is our father in Christ. Bishop, your presence shows your love for the people of St. Catherine of Siena. Thank you for making our celebration
extraordinary. May I take this opportunity to congratulate the Bishop as he celebrates 35 years of his priesthood. Congratulations, Bishop.
Additionally, I would like to thank every
member of the Anniversary Celebration committee; in particular, the liturgy, the booklet, Ladies Guild and the K of C, and each and every individual who helped by donating their time,
talents and treasure. This celebration has been possible because of the hard work of each and every one of you.
I would like to thank all who attended: the parishioners, the
visitors, the religious, and the clergy. Many of you have been active members of this parish during the past 50 years and, as such, had a part of bringing our parish along the road to this
jubilee celebration.
A special word of thank you to all my brother priests for taking time to concelebrate this anniversary mass. In this year for priests, I would like to congratulate you
for your dedication. Thank you.
I like to acknowledge the beautiful choir, which made the celebration more prayerful. We cannot forget our wonderful altar servers and greeters.
Thank you.
We will continue our celebration in Siena Hall soon after the mass, where we will acknowledge the priests and the religious and a few dignitaries who worked in the past here at St.
Catherine of Siena. Please join us downstairs. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of
June 6th, 2010
My dear Parishioners,
Today, we celebrate the solemn feast of Corpus Christi. Corpus
Christi is the celebration of the abiding presence of a loving God as Emmanuel – God with us – in order to give collective thanks to our Lord living with us in the Eucharist. This feast
gives us an occasion to learn more about the importance and value of the “Real Presence” so that we may appreciate the Sacrament better and receive maximum benefit from it.
Jesus
instituted the Holy Eucharist during his Last Supper. Jesus commanded his disciples to repeat it. We explain the real presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist by “transubstantiation” which
means that the substance of the consecrated bread and wine is changed to the risen Jesus’ glorified body and blood by the action of the Holy Spirit and its accidents like color, shape, taste
etc. remain the same.
"The Catholic Church teaches that in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the God-man are really, truly, substantially, and abidingly present together with his soul and
divinity by reason of the Transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ. This takes place in the unbloody sacrifice of the the Mass."
Yours
sincerely,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of
May 30th, 2010
My dear Parishioners,
Today we celebrate the feast of the most Holy Trinity. The mystery of
the most Holy Trinity is a basic doctrine of faith in Christianity, understandable not with our heads but with our hearts. It teaches us that there are three distinct persons in one God sharing the
same divine nature. Our mind cannot grasp this doctrine, which teaches that 1+ 1+ 1 = 1 and not 3. But we believe in this mystery because Jesus who is God taught it clearly, the evangelists
recorded it, the Fathers of the Church tried to explain it and the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople defined it as dogma of Christian faith.
Importance in Christian life: 1) All prayers
in the Church begin in the name of the Holy Trinity and end glorifying the Trinity. 2) All sacraments are administered (we are baptized, confirmed, anointed) in the Holy Trinity’s Name. 3)
Church bells ring thrice inviting us to remember and pray to the Holy Trinity. 4) We bless ourselves and the priest blesses us in the name of the Holy Trinity.
Have a wonderful Memorial Day
weekend,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator: From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of May 23rd, 2010
My dear Parishioners,
As you might have noticed, our church parking lot is being fixed. It is going to
look wonderful as we celebrate the Anniversary of our church.
I would like to explain about the money involved in this work. We obtained three quotes and chose M&M, 331 Valley View Rd,
Sterling, CT. This company gave us the most reasonable price of $ 4,500.
In the maintenance account, we have $2,252. We will be receiving approximately $1,000 from the Booklet Committee because
the memorials and ads we sold generated more income than the cost of printing. We have, therefore, $3,252. That means we need $1,248 to complete the repair work of the parking lot.
At the
call to build a parish in Preston, the parishioners rallied. So, too, when the call came to build a rectory, to renovate the parish, and to purchase a pipe organ. Every time the parishioners saw a
need in their parish, they were always very, very generous with their time, talent, and treasure. Please know that your generosity is very much appreciated. Unfortunately, however, the physical
plant of our parish continues to age and deteriorate. In keeping with the spirit of maintaining our St. Catherine of Siena faith center, if you are able and willing, any donations toward meeting the
balance needed to repair the parking lot would be gratefully received. Thank you so much for your generosity. God bless you.
Gratefully yours in the Lord,
Fr. Joe
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Reflection from the Administrator:
From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of May 16th, 2010
My dear
Parishioners,
What do you remember about life in 1960? Some of you might be cherishing the memories. Do you remember women wearing a hat to church—or a hanky, if they forgot their hat?
Do you remember men tipping their hats when passing a woman on the street? Do you remember the music and TV shows of 1960? Getting “dressed up” to go into the city. No stores
being open on Sundays? Family dinners?
Do you feel that the old values are being left behind? Those traditions are being lost? Those religious beliefs are being ignored? Ever feel that
technology is leaving you behind? Those teenagers can program the digital clocks and you cannot? That news spreads almost before it happens. That time is racing by. That ATM cards,
video games, Twitter, email, Google, blogs are from another world.
If we feel this way in 2010, what will the world be like in 2060 - The Year of the Centenary of our Church? We cannot predict
what 2060 will bring, as change comes about so very quickly, but we CAN remind the parishioners of the 2060 St. Catherine of Siena Parish what the parishioners of 2010 held near and dear.
Join
the fun: we are going to make a parish time capsule, designed to be opened in 2060.
Watch the bulletin for more details to
follow…………………………..
Have a great weekend, Fr. Joe
Reflection from the Administrator:
From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of May 9th, 2010
My dear Parishioners,
The
origin of “Mothers’ Day.” Anna M. Jarvis (1864-1948) first suggested the national observance of an annual day honoring all mothers because she had loved her own mother so dearly. At
a memorial service for her mother on May 10, 1908, Miss Jarvis gave a carnation (her mother’s favorite flower) to each person who attended. Within the next few years, the idea of a day to honor
mothers gained popularity, and Mothers’ Day was observed in a number of large cities in the U.S. On May 9, 1914, by an act of Congress, President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed the second Sunday in
May as Mothers’ Day. He established the day as a time for “public expression of our love and reverence for the mothers of our country.” By then it had become customary to wear white
carnations to honor departed mothers and red to honor the living, a custom that continues to this day.
Mothers should be saluted 1) for their tenacious and sacrificial love for their children 2)
for the tremendous impact they have on their children and 3) for our intimate relationship with them from birth to death.
Happy Mother’s Day. Fr.
Joe
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From the Sunday Bulletin, the weekend of May 2nd, 2010
The History of St. Catherine of Siena
Catherine was born in Siena, Italy, on March 25, 1347. Her parents were Giacomo di Benincasa, a cloth-dyer, and his wife, Lapa.
As a tertiary or lay affiliate, Catherine lived at home rather than in a convent. Far from leading to laxity, this arrangement
allowed her to practice austerities that a prioress would probably not have permitted.
She is especially famous for fasting and practicing physical mortifications in ways that sound unhealthy today—modern scholar
Rudolph Bell uses her life as an example in his book Holy Anorexia.
In about 1366 Catherine experienced what she described in her letters as a Mystical Marriage with Jesus, and in 1370 she received a
series of visions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. After these visions she heard a command to abandon her withdrawn life and enter the public life of the world.
Catherine began to write letters to those in authority, begging for peace between the republics and principalities of Italy and for
the return of the papacy from Avignon to Rome. She had a detailed correspondence with Pope Gregory XI, asking him to reform the clergy and the administration of the Papal States.
In June of 1376, Catherine went to Avignon herself as ambassador of Florence to make peace with the Papal States, but was
unsuccessful. She impressed the Pope so much; however, that he returned his administration to Rome in January of 1377. In the Great Schism of 1378 she supported Pope Urban VI, who summoned her to
Rome. She lived there until her death on April 29, 1380.
Pope Pius II canonized Catherine in 1461, and her letters are considered one of the great works of early Tuscan literature. Her
feast day is April 29th. She is the patron saint of fire prevention, pestilence, and headaches.
St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us.
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