April 2, 2024

Happy Easter Season at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish

April 2, 2024

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,

Easter greetings and blessings to one and all!!! We now bask in the afterglow of the Great Feast with its hope, joy, renewal, light, and peace. During our Holy Week/Easter celebrations we walked the journey to Calvary, the tomb and the Resurrection.

This past weekend we were able to celebrate the liturgies of the Holy Triduum with full churches. Our entire staff felt deeply blessed by your presence in person and online through these high holy days. We thank the countless volunteers who contributed in a myriad of ways to bringing our celebrations to life. In a special way we thank our music ministry and our parish music directors, Elizabeth Husmer and Joy O'Sullivan, for their faithful leadership.

The heart of the Great Feast of Easter is the amazing grace of God’s Mercy. A mercy that wants to set us free from fear, doubt, worry and sorrow. A mercy that wants to reign in our hearts, minds, and spirits. A mercy that wants to enlarge our hearts, so we too become mercy to one another.

During the Jubilee Year of 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Sr. Faustina Kowalska and declared that the universal Church would henceforth observe the Sunday after Easter as the Sunday of Divine Mercy. We are invited to contemplate the mystery of the resurrection in the light of God’s infinite mercy. The richness of God’s mercy radiates through the Sunday Scriptures and especially in Jesus’ compassionate response toward Thomas’ unbelief. The gift of mercy is explicitly given when Jesus commissions his disciples as ministers of divine mercy: “He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained’” (John 20:22–23). Through entrusting the first disciples with the gift of forgiving sins, Jesus initiated a waterfall of mercy for all of humanity.

Sr. Faustina repeatedly heard a call to proclaim God’s mercy to the world. She promoted the chaplet of divine mercy to raise spiritual awareness of God’s mercy. On Divine Mercy Sunday many Catholics will visit shrines devoted to divine mercy and pray the chaplet of divine mercy. Our Church announces to the world that God is merciful and that we are invited to rest in his loving embrace. May our hearts grow more aware of the mercy of God in our lives. In turn, may we actively show mercy to those who need it most.

Lisa Orchen, M.Div.

Communications Coordinator

Join Us For Divine Mercy Sunday

April 7, 2024

4:00 PM Vigil at St. James

9:00 AM at St. Elizabeth Seton

and livestreamed

11:00 AM at St. James

Stay for Coffee & Fellowship after the Sunday Morning Masses!

God of Mercy,

You rain down compassion

upon a world in great need of healing

and shower humanity

with unconditional love.

Pour your Holy Spirit

into our hearts today.

Help each of us to receive

your gift of mercy

and allow it to transform our lives.

As we celebrate in Easter joy

make us instruments of

peace and mercy

in our families, communities

and Church.

We ask this through Christ

our Risen Lord.

Amen.

Bakhita Bible Camp 2024

Seeking Adult Volunteers

Monday, June 24 -

Friday, June 28, 2024

9:00 AM - Noon

St. James Parish Center

We are excited to announce that we are presently planning for our 2024 Bakhita Bible Camp. Our theme this year is SCUBA: Diving into Friendship with God. If you volunteered last year, we are inviting you again to join us for a fun filled week! If you are a new volunteer, we welcome you to our bible camp this summer and invite you to register to help us provide the children with a week of fun and learning.

Please use this link to register to volunteer.

There will be another informational meetings for adults who would like to volunteer and/or are interested in learning more about the SJB Bible Camp:

Sunday, April 7, 2024 following 11:00 AM mass at St. James Church (Parish Center).

If you have any questions about any of the above information or you would like to volunteer to help, please contact Monica at monica@sjbrh.org.

Lisa Torneo, Camp Director & Monica Piombino, Faith Formation Director

Parish Works of Mercy

CRS Rice Bowl Collections

Many thanks to all the Faith Formation students and families who recently participated in collecting donations for Catholic Relief Services through the Rice Bowl Collection. All households who have filled their Rice Bowls during Lent are asked to return your collections now. If you wish to convert your change to check, please make them payable to St. Josephine Bakhita Parish. Kindly return your rice bowls to church before/after this weekend's masses 4/6-4/7. There will be greeters to accept your rice bowl donations. Thank you!

Thank you to all who so generously contributed to our annual Easter Basket and Gift Card Collection to benefit local Rocky Hill families in collaboration with Rocky Hill Human Services. Together we donated 30 beautiful Easter Food Baskets and $3350.00 in grocery store gift cards!

Keep St. Ann’s in Saintard, Haiti in Your Prayers

Father George has kept us up to date about conditions at St Ann’s in Saintard, Haiti. We have prayed for this community at every Sunday Mass for many years and have donated financial support for St. Ann’s through our contributions. In the past, small teams of parishioners visited our sister parish in Saintard before it became too dangerous.

St. Ann’s has shared handmade art with our parish, found at the Saint Elizabeth Seton campus. There is a Haiti wall in the worship space near the Reconciliation Room, a world globe in the foyer, a large metal art piece of Noah’s animals on a wall in classroom D as well as a large nativity set that we place in the foyer at Christmas. All are reminders of our connection and commitment to our sister community of St. Ann’s. Now more than ever, the parish community we have pledged to support needs our prayers.

Out of the depths we cry to You, O God for our Haitian sisters and brothers. We thank you for upholding them in their suffering. Give them continuing strength and comfort. Amen.

Archbishop's Annual Appeal

It is important that when you give to any charitable organization, you are confident that the funds received are being used wisely. Be assured that your gift to the Archbishop's Annual Appeal supports the ministries and programs indicated in the 2024 Appeal literature! Organizations in our local community received funding from the Appeal's Vicariate Outreach Program that makes a difference in the lives of our local neighbors. Please visit the Appeal website at www.archdioceseofhartford.org to learn more and make your gift today. All funds contributed to the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal are used exclusively for the purposes outlined in the Appeal literature, which can be found here. No Appeal funds are ever used for legal fees or settlements.

Other Fun Tidbits

Inviting Altar Servers

Girls and Boys who are in, or above, grade 4, and have received their first Eucharist are invited to become an altar server. In addition to children, we invite teens and adults to join our ministry. Those who serve at Mass learn about the liturgy firsthand and assist in the action during the Mass. Being an altar server teaches children from a young age to love, revere and praise God. Please contact Joy at Joy@sjbrh.org for more information or to sign up at either or both campuses.

Bereavement Support Group

A new Bereavement Support Group will begin in April under the leadership of Bill Pilkington. Bill recently retired from Hartford Healthcare where he served in Spiritual and Bereavement Services for over 30 years. The group will meet on the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at the St. James Rectory.

Contact Fr. George at frgeorge@sjbrh.org to learn more and to sign up to attend.