Dear Friends:

This Easter, we were privileged to welcome a new member into the Church. She was baptized, confirmed, and received the Eucharist for the first time at the Easter Vigil Mass. I have presided over numerous occasions such as that in my almost forty years as a priest, and they are always what I would call “moments of grace.” Welcoming new members of the Church is a joyful, hopeful, wonderful experience, one that can affirm powerfully our own faith in Christ.

To that end, we are now in the initial phases of reaching out to anyone who may wish to consider joining our Church, and professing the Catholic faith with us. If there is anyone who comes to Mass regularly each weekend, and who is, for whatever reason, not a Catholic, consider yourself invited to think about becoming one with us in our faith, a faith that is rich, timeless, and a faith that reaches all the way back to Jesus himself and his apostles. If anyone knows of anyone who may be interested in becoming Catholic or who has expressed such an interest, reach out to them and invite them to consider it seriously.

With that in mind, I would like to convene some “inquiry sessions” for anyone who may be considering becoming Catholic, be they already baptized in another Christian denomination or if they have not been baptized at all. If anyone is interested in at least exploring the possibility, please call the rectory and leave your name, telephone number, and address and we will contact you.

The Office of Vocations has announced a new vocations initiative that starts this Sunday, May 11, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. All parishioners across the Archdiocese of Hartford are being invited to come together boldly to pray collectively 100,000 rosaries, asking the Blessed Virgin Mary for a torrent of new vocations to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life. I would also add personally the intention for happy, healthy and holy marriages as well. In the coming weeks, there will be cards available for you to make a pledge of rosaries. The rosary is a timeless and very powerful prayer, and I do believe, that if we all pray it fervently, many graces and blessings will come our way, personally, as a parish, and as an Archdiocesan family.

Finally, the weekend of May 24-25 we will be sponsoring our annual Mission Appeal. This year, we have been assigned a diocese in India, one near the diocese from which Fr. Lijo and Fr. Alen come. We will have a bishop from that diocese speak at Masses that weekend and a second collection will be taken to assist the diocese in its work. I know you will be generous. More details will follow in next week’s bulletin.

Have a good week!

ARCHIVES