December 24, 2024

The Christmas Season at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish Tuesday, December 24, 2024 Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish, Merry Christmas to All! This coming Sunday, December 29, 2024, we will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family, when we venerate Jesus’ earthly family, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and his foster father, Joseph. The feast offers encouragement and a model of holiness to all families.  In the Sunday scriptures we recall all that happened to the Holy Family when they journeyed to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover when Jesus was twelve years old. Mary, Joseph and Jesus traveled as part of a large caravan of relatives and acquaintances from their hometown of Nazareth. On his own accord, Jesus stayed behind when the caravan started home and remained in the temple, engrossed in dialogue with the teachers and religious leaders. The narrative offers a glimpse of Mary and Joseph’s intense anxiety when they realize Jesus is not with their group and return to Jerusalem in search of their missing son. The story describes a universal experience of adolescence to which we can all relate in some way. By sending Jesus into the world through a human family, God shows us tangibly that God desires to be close to us in our everyday living, in the mix of our closest relationships and in the complicated life of our homes. God embraces family life in all its messiness. At the same time, God acknowledges that family life brings both joys and trials. Families are called the hearth of the “Domestic Church” because it is within our families that we are first formed in faith and nurtured in love.  The second reading from the Letter to the Colossians gives us a blueprint for household living. Read it with loved ones and together prayerfully discern some resolutions for the new year. Lisa M. Orchen, M.Div. Communications Coordinator Text by Lisa M. Orchen, M.Div., edited by Suzanne Gagne Bregman, M.A., used with permission. The Feast of the Holy Family December 29, 2024 4:00 PM Vigil at St. James 9:00 AM at St. Elizabeth Seton and livestreamed 11:00 AM at St. James A warm thank you from Fr. George and the staff at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish for all the ways you generously gifted us this Christmas Season. Thank you for your kind gestures, cards, gifts and support through this holy time of year! We are truly grateful! The stockings were hung by the chimney with care. In hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there. He was THERE in the hearts of the parishioners of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish! Every tag on our Giving Tree made it home to our parish families who filled the wishes of those in need during this Advent season.  Those who helped coordinate our Giving Tree ministry were moved to tears when they collected the abundance of donated gifts.  We coordinated with The Friendship Service Center in New Britain, helping 10 families have a brighter Christmas as we filled their wish list from the smallest wish of a new pillow to a set of pots and pans.  Apple Rehab in Rocky Hill was overwhelmed as we were able to provide a gift for all 94 residents, many of whom have no one to remember them at Christmas. They didn’t have the staff to wrap them, so we brought in a team of elves from our parish to wrap and tag all 94 gifts. Thank you to those who donated the gift bags to help with this mission. We built a wall of diapers, baby wipes, socks and lotion that are the essentials of parents in need and then we clothed teens in a mountain of coats and boots to keep them warm this winter.  The generosity of the gift cards was more than we could ever have hoped for. Truly a gift that will keep giving! For each and every one of you who donated, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish Outreach Ministry Thank you to our 8th grade Faith Formation students who decorated and filled 72 bags of gifts including candy, hand and feet warmers, toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss and Christmas ornaments for the guests of the ImmaCare Homeless shelter in Hartford! The early childhood students in grades pre-K - 1 gathered to make Advent wreaths, participate in the Nativity story, and engage in a family activity making “Giving Mangers.” This was followed by a reception of cookies and other treats! Our Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion are available to bring Holy Communion to our homebound parishioners and those recuperating from surgery or illness. Please contact the parish office to request a visit: 860-529-8655. Read the Parish Bulletin Visit our Website Stay Connected Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish l The Catholic Community of Rocky Hill

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