February 21, 2023

Welcome to Lent at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish

February 21, 2023

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,

The season of Lent (from the Latin meaning “lengthen”) is a gift of time to focus on spiritual preparation for the celebration of Easter. The season begins tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday, and will conclude at sundown on Holy Thursday, the beginning of the Sacred Paschal Triduum. As daylight in the Northern Hemisphere incrementally lengthens, so does our spiritual focus.

In the days ahead we encourage you to read the season of Lent as a great love letter from God. Look for the invitations in the Scriptures to turn your heart toward God and receive the gifts of mercy and love offered. God summons us unceasingly. The scriptural invitations move from gentle calls to fervent supplications.

As you embark on your journey through the next forty days, seek to live spiritual practices such as prayer, devotion, fasting, reconciliation, and generosity as gestures of adoration for our beloved. If you have not already done so, reflect about where growth is needed and how you plan to personally embrace Lent as time for transformation.

Our parish will be offering a myriad of spiritual opportunities to support your journey through Lent. We hope you will receive our offerings as invitations of love. Read on to learn all about them!

Lent starts February 22 - Click Here to See All We Have Planned

February 22, 2023

8 AM Mass & Ashes

Saint Elizabeth Seton

Noon Prayer Service & Ashes

Saint James

7 PM Mass & Ashes

Saint James

February 26, 2023

4:00 PM at Saint James

9 AM at Saint Elizabeth Seton

11:00 AM at Saint James

Lent Prayer & Devotions

Create a Prayer Space for Lent at Home

All members of the Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish community are invited to set up a special place for prayer time during the Lenten Season. Use the color purple, a sign of reflection and conversion, on a table or shelf. Include a simple cross and a Bible.

Pray the Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross invite us to use all our senses as we reflect prayerfully and walk intentionally with Jesus through his suffering, death on the cross and resurrection. Here are some of the ways available:

Attend the Stations of the Cross

Friday Evenings

5:30PM at St. James

7:00pm at St. Elizabeth Seton

Pray The Stations of the Cross

with Fr. George Virtually

Available anytime on YouTube

Women of SJB: Make a Retreat this Lent

Women of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish are invited to join us for a weekend of rest, relaxation, refreshment and renewal on March 10 to 12, 2023, on retreat at Our Lady of Calvary Retreat Center in Farmington, CT. The retreat begins at 7:00 PM on Friday (there is a Soup Supper from 5:30 to 6:30 for those who prefer to arrive earlier) and ends at 12:30 PM on Sunday after Mass and brunch. Financial assistance is available for those who find themselves in need. For more information, contact Pat Meskill at (860) 613-2288 or patmeskill@aol.com.

To register, contact Our Lady of Calvary at (860) 677-8519 or Click Here.

Learn more & sign up here

Lent Reflection Series

Wednesdays

March 1, 8, 15

10:00AM at St. James

7:00 PM online

Led by Deacon Michael

Still time to sign up

if you order your own book.

Learn more & sign up here

Lent Evening of Reflection for Couples

Tuesday

March 21

7:00 PM at St. Elizabeth Seton

Navigating a Deeper Relationship

Presented by Lil & Rick Baruffi

Learn more & sign up here

Lent Afternoon of Reflection

Saturday, March 4

1:30 PM at St. Elizabeth Seton

Praying with Mind, Body & Spirit

Learn more & sign up here

Lent Taizé Prayer Service

Sunday, March 5

6:30 PM at St. James

Learn more here

Contemplative Dialogue Lenten Series

Mondays

March 6, 13, 20, 27

April 3, 10

Online via Zoom

Our group will read Bridges to Contemplative Living with Thomas Merton. Each week, participants will read a chapter and reflect on it with the practice of contemplative dialogue. Everyone is asked to listen to each other’s sharing without comment - to listen deeply is to cultivate inner silence. If you would like to participate, please sign up in either church foyer by February 25th to allow sufficient time to order the books before our initial session. For more information, contact Fran Mastro at 860-810-2403 or Fmed6@icloud.com.

Daily Mass

Mon-8:30AM @ Seton

Tues-8:00AM @ St. James

Thur-8:00AM @ St. James

Fri-8:30AM @ Seton

Evening Prayer

Fr. George leads evening prayer Monday - Friday at 5:00 PM on our parish Facebook Page. All are welcome!

Reconciliation

Fr. George welcomes all to celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Monday evenings at 6:00 PM at St. Elizabeth Seton.

Lent Almsgiving

Each Lent, Catholic households across the country unite to put their faith into action through prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Through the CRS Rice Bowl Program, we learn about how our sisters and brothers across the globe overcome hardships like hunger and malnutrition, and how through Lenten alms, we have the power to make the world a better place for all. Rice Bowls are available in both Church foyers. Fill them with your Lenten alms and return them at Easter time. Our parish will send all our collected donations to Catholic Relief Services. Learn more about the Rice Bowl Program, discover meatless recipes from around the world and watch weekly stories of hope at www.crsricebowl.org.

Other Fun Tidbits

St. Patrick's Day Dinner

Join the Knights of Columbus for our annual St. Patrick's Day celebration featuring a traditional corned beef dinner with all the fixings and dessert.

Saturday, March 18

4:00 - 7:00 PM

Saint James Parish Center

Tickets on sale Feb. 18 - Mar. 12.

Learn more here.

Palm Crosses for Sale

The Knights of Columbus will be taking orders for palm crosses after every mass at the St. James and St. Elizabeth campuses for the following dates: February 25 - March 19. Palm crosses will be available for pick up after every mass on Palm Sunday. The cost of the palm crosses is $13. Please contact David Mikol at (860) 726-3585 with any questions.

Youth Choir Opportunity

Children in grades 2-5 who would like to sing in our church youth choir are invited to rehearsals on Thursdays after school from 4:30-5:30 PM at Saint Elizabeth Seton. Rehearsals start on February 23. See Mrs. Husmer after the 9:00 AM mass or register by email at elizabeth@sjbrh.org.

The Souper Bowl of Caring

was a Super Success!

The Souper Bowl of Caring was “Game On” from the minute our Year I & II Confirmation Candidates walked thru the Parish Center doors with overflowing grocery bags that held over 1,400 items. They came to play as did the Parish in their overwhelming support of throwing donations in the soup pots the students held after Mass.

It was an exciting finish to the Football Super Bowl but nothing in comparison to what we did as a Parish. Just as Carol Rizzo announced that the collection total was $20 short of making it to a record $4,000, a Confirmation Candidate stood up and asked if they could donate the $20 needed to close the gap. The room erupted in cheers as they ran over waving the $20 to get us over the goal line! Words cannot express the gratitude to such generous parishioners who made this the most successful Souper Bowl ever. So many will benefit from your generosity.

Huge cheer of thanks to our awesome catechists who led the students thru the day’s activities as Year II had a repeat win in taking home the trophy but not without the help of their parents, many of whom volunteered to help!

Faith Formation and Social Justice Committee will be working together to joyfully distribute the money and goods.

Enjoy a Gallery of Pictures of the Souper Bowl of Caring

This coming weekend marks the start of the 2023 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal in our parish. If you haven’t already, you will soon receive a letter from Archbishop Blair seeking your support. As Catholics in the Archdiocese of Hartford we can have a profound impact on our local communities not only in the spiritual realm, but intimately connected to it, the realm of social services and many charities and outreach services performed by, or with help from, our Church.

To view some of the wonderful things accomplished through your generosity, the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is continuing the web-series called, The Annual Appeal at Work. The season premiere will be airing on Thursday, March 2nd on all Archdiocesan Social Media sites as well as the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal webpage.

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.