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Dear Friends,
Our readings this weekend challenge us to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, to deny ourselves and to take up our cross. When I consider how we can achieve this, my first thought is to volunteer for one of our Parish’s thriving ministries. On our website, there is a page called ‘Get Involved’ that highlights the various opportunities to volunteer. I encourage you to take a moment to look through the options and see if anything calls you. Consider attending one meeting of the Prayer Shawl Ministry, Music Ministry Rehearsal, Adult Bible Study, Growing Garden, volunteering as a Faith Formation Catechist or so many more of our ministries, to see if you can get involved in our parish in a new way. We would love to have you!
As the Parish Picnic approaches on September 13, 2026, preceded by a large Mass at St. James, I was thinking about something each of us can do from the pews. Since I became the Music Director here, I have been astonished by the attendance at every Mass! I have a bird’s eye view, and there are people standing in the back every time. First of all, how lucky are we that so many of us gather to worship together in Rocky Hill? Secondly, how can we invite people to sit in the pews with us? Many of us know that feeling when we are sitting on a plane, and we put our head down to quietly discourage someone from sitting in the dreaded middle seat next to us. It is tempting to do the same thing at church. Many times, there are people sitting on the far ends of the pews or rows with empty seats between them. Can we challenge ourselves to invite people to come into our pew? Perhaps we readily stand to offer them seats in the middle or even shift in so there’s room on the end. This would be an invaluable welcoming statement that each of us could make, especially with large masses for the Picnic and upcoming holidays.
In music news, we would love for you to save the date for our free Haiti Concert on Sunday November 1, 2026 at 3:00 PM at St. James. The adult and youth choirs, along with some wonderful soloists, will present a program of Broadway and movie favorites, with some sacred and classical mixed in. More details will be shared soon about our lineup, but please let me know if you would like to sing at the concert! Send me a note at rochellebard@gmail.com or catch me after Mass.
Rochelle Bard
Director of Music Ministries
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