March 18, 2025

Lent at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish

March 18, 2025

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,

This week’s Gospel Luke 13:1-9 sparked a reflection…that we do not always see things very clearly! We miss so much, especially the good stuff.

God is not like that. What do you think is the first thing God sees when God looks at us? It is exactly what any good parent sees, and that is all the good that is growing in their children and all the things we have already succeeded in getting right.

God sees all this and wants us to see it too. God wants us to see that in so many ways most of us really have been getting better. And why is it so important for us to see this? Because there is still a lot of work, a lot of growth for all of us.

God does not want us to lose heart, God wants us to know that, with God’s help, we can open the next door without being afraid of what we will find. Whatever we find we can work on together, just as we have in the past.

Much of what remains for us to do is still invisible to us—though probably not to those around us. So Jesus is urging us in today’s Gospel to take a closer look at ourselves. “Repent,” he says, which means, “Rethink what we are all about.”

God is not asking us to complete our whole life’s work in the remaining Lenten days. He is saying that for each of us, there is a door that needs to be opened now. There is in us something specific that is ready to be re-thought, re-formed, and re-shaped now.

If we pay attention, the Lord will show us what that is. And he will give us the wisdom and the courage to walk through the right door and to do what needs to be done there.

Our parish will be offering a myriad of spiritual opportunities to support your journey through Lent. Read on to learn all about them!

Wishing you a blessed Lent!

Fr. George Couturier

Click Here to See All We Have Planned for Lent

March 23, 2025

4:00 PM at Saint James

9:00 AM at Saint Elizabeth Seton

& livestreamed

11:00 AM at Saint James

Lent Prayer & Devotions

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.

Attend the Stations of the Cross

Friday Evenings

5:30PM at St. James

7:00pm at St. Elizabeth Seton

Lent Taizé Prayer Service

Sunday, March 23

7:00 PM at St. James

& livestreamed

Learn More Here

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

Please bring back your rice bowl when churches are open for weekend masses. Kindly return them no later than the weekend after Easter (April 26 & 27). There will be greeters to accept your rice bowl donations.

Thank you for changing lives this Lent!

Easter Food Baskets

Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish will be collecting Easter food “baskets” for families within our community on the weekend of April 12-13 so that they can be delivered before Easter. Rocky Hill Human Services is asking for "generic" baskets for families of four to six people. If your family or group would like to donate a basket, please sign up on the sheet located in the Foyer of either church so we know how many to plan for. If we get enough, some will also be donated to Catholic Worker in Hartford.

Please bring your basket (any container is acceptable as long as it looks nice) to the Rectory garage at Saint Elizabeth Seton or Father Shea Hall at Saint James on Saturday afternoon, April 12 or Sunday morning, April 13. A list of suggested items is available here. Please do not include perishable foods. People will be given gift certificates to use for their fresh foods.

During this weekend we will also be collecting grocery store gift certificates which Rocky Hill Human Services will add to the baskets when they are distributed. Please bring the gift certificates to Mass April 12-13 and give them directly to Fr. George.

Bakhita Bible Camp is Back!

Mark your calendars now for Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish Vacation Bible Camp to be held Monday, June 23, 2025 - Friday, June 27, 2025 from 9:00 AM - Noon.

Bakhita Bible Camp welcomes campers entering Kindergarten through Grade 6.

Registration forthcoming for Teen Volunteers entering Grades 7-12 and Adult Volunteers of all ages.

If you have any questions or would like to learn more about volunteering opportunities, please contact Lisa Torneo at biblecamp@sjbrh.org.

Click Here To Register Campers for Bakhita Bible Camp

Other Fun Tidbits

Palm Crosses for Sale

The Knights of Columbus will be taking orders for Palm Crosses after every Mass at the St. James & St. Elizabeth Seton campuses starting on Saturday, March 8 through Sunday, March 30. 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.

Clothing Collection

Support the Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish Clothing Collection. We accept clothing in clean, good to excellent condition. Place donations in the collection bin in the front foyer of St. James Church (behind the divider). Unfortunately we are no longer able to accept household goods.

Giving Garden

The Giving Garden of St. Josephine Bakhita has supplied the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Middletown with 460 to more than 900 pounds of fresh vegetables a year since 2017. The garden is on Brook Street, east of the rectory.

Our 14 volunteers manage the 20- x 30-foot plot as an organic, non-synthetic chemical garden.

This ministry is not hard work or a chore but a pleasure, where you work with and meet some very kind folks. But gardeners could use your help, either a one-time effort; once a week for an hour or so, or whatever you’re able to do. We’re looking for volunteers from high school age through seniors.

Some needs this year include:

One time efforts in April/May to improve the fencing and borders or shovel some mulch & wood chips.
Weekly plant & weed maintenance, limited to an hour per week, June - early October
One more picker/team of pickers for once every two weeks (once harvesting time arrives.)

If you have an interest in helping, please contact Bob Manzi at manzirj@sbcglobal.net or at 860 502-5097. You can even visit us anytime usually at 5 p.m. Mondays, starting in June.

Congratulations to longtime parishioners, Gil and Lori Andrada, on receiving the St. Joseph Medal of Honor from Archbishop Coyne on Sunday, March 16, 2025 at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph!

The 2025 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal is now underway in our parish. Your support of this year’s Appeal ensures that essential charitable, educational, and pastoral ministries of the Archdiocese of Hartford will be carried forward.

Since 1997, Archbishop’s Annual Appeal Vicariate Outreach Program has been able to provide over $22 million in funding to community-based local charities throughout Hartford, New Haven and Litchfield Counties to assist them in their important work of serving the needs of God’s people. In 2024, we were able to provide over $1,000,000 to over 160 various organizations, nominated by pastors, across the Archdiocese.

Organizations such as the Rocky Hill Food Pantry right here in our own town received funding from the Appeal’s Vicariate Outreach Program that makes a difference in serving our neighbors.

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.