May 17, 2022

Celebrating the Month of May, Giving Garden Plant Sale, Seeking Teen Volunteers and more...

May 17, 2022

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,

Greetings and blessings!

Just to let you know, I have returned from a wonderful trip to visit family in Florida. It has been nearly 3 years since my last visit (due to COVID). My sister Lucy and my brother-in-law Jim celebrated their 50^th wedding anniversary. My nephew and his awesome family reside in the same community….so I got to spend a nice bit of time with them as well. Finally, we reconnected to my aunt Jeannine on the west coast of Florida and caught up on her journey at a very fine independent living community. All is well…hope to see them again sooner than my last visit three years ago.

Unfortunately, due to my time away, I was unable to celebrate the funeral Mass for our beloved Ray Benedetto. He was our recently retired sexton here at St. James. He spent many years keeping our parish facilities in order doing his work with commitment, compassion, and diligence. It was delightful and quite fitting that Fr. David Baranowski was presider for the funeral. May Ray rest in the loving embrace of our God. May peace reign in the hearts of Dee, Ray’s beloved wife, and the devoted family.

Just before my departure for vacation, we were finally able to have the new air conditioning unit installed at St. James…just in time for the summer heat. It was a long and arduous process of seeking bids, getting permissions from the Parish Finance Council and the Archdiocese of Hartford, waiting a very long time for the backed-up supply chain for equipment and making sure we had the necessary funds to complete the project (approximately, $80,000). The process was successfully managed by our own facilities manager, Randy Martini and our Sexton Tom Dzimian…ever grateful to Randy and Tom and to the entire parish community for the financial support that made this project possible.

Finally, concerning COVID and our parish precautions. I am ever so grateful for those still wearing masks in church so that we keep our more vulnerable parishioners from possibly contracting the virus while in church. In the past three weeks, I have been hearing growing concern from many of our parishioners who have been impacted by the virus. Some quite adversely! I strongly advise that we all consider more patience with the call that masks should still be worn in church and other major parish gatherings. At Easter there was a local Catholic church that had to close for several weeks due to a massive infection of most of the parishioners.

I wish you and yours continued Easter Blessings!!

Fr George

Compassionate God,

you shower us with an enduring love.

May we open our eyes and hearts to your works.

In your goodness, you have promised

to wipe away every tear from our eyes

and bring us to a place free of pain.

May we open ourselves to embrace

your command to love one another.

Grant that we see you in our brother and sister

and love them as you have loved us,

and in so doing, glorify you.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Prayer © 2022 Liturgy Training Publications. 800-933-1800. Text by Catherine Johnson and Mary Kay Kelley, ssj. Scripture quotations are from the New American Bible, revised edition. Permission to publish granted by the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 22, 2022

4 PM Vigil - St. James

9 AM - St. Elizabeth Seton & livestreamed

11 AM - St. James & livestreamed

*Masks are strongly encouraged in our worship spaces!*

Watch on Facebook

Watch on Our Website

Celebrating the Month of May

We have many things to celebrate during this glorious month of May! Twenty-nine children in our faith formation program will celebrate their First Eucharist on Saturday, May 21, 2022 in two ceremonies at 10:00 AM and 12:30 PM at St. James Church.

We will then celebrate and honor Mary, our Mother, with the May Crowning during the 11:00 AM Mass at St. James Church on Sunday, May 22, 2022.

Please pray for our First Eucharist candidates this weekend and join us on Sunday in honoring Mary during the May Crowning.

Giving Garden Plant Sale

The Giving Garden Committee (our parish community garden) is sponsoring a Plant Sale of Vegetable Starters pm Saturday, May 21 from 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. at St. Elizabeth Seton. The proceeds will assist the team in upkeep of the garden. The vegetables of the garden support local soup kitchens and shelters. Each plant is $1. Learn more here.

Lectio Divina ~ Visio Divina

A Two-Part Series on Praying

With the Word & Praying with Images

Part Two ~ May 17

Saint James Parish Center

7:00 P.M.

This May, Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish will be offering a two-part series on praying with the the Word and Images. For ages and ages the spoken and written word and images have been effective means of bringing us closer to God. This brief series will help us to see and use the word of God and visual art as a means of enabling a deeper prayer encounter with God, in a way that can prove useful to us in our own spiritual and prayer lives.

The first session will explore Lectio Divina (prayer with Scripture) and the second session will explore Visio Divina (prayer with sacred images). The sessions are free and open to all members of the parish community and friends. You do not have to attend the first to come and enjoy the second session!

Food & Cereal

For Our Local Pantries

We continue to seek food and cereal donations for our monthly delivery to the Rocky Hill and Amazing Grace food pantries. Non-perishable food items and cereal boxes can be dropped off at either church location:

St. James Church:

Father Shea Hall, Mon - Fri (9:00 AM - 1:00 PM)

or before the masses at 4:00 or 11:00.

St. Elizabeth Seton Church:

Bins located near the kitchen, Mon - Fri (9:00 AM - 1:00 PM)

or before the Sunday mass at 9:00.

Questions? Contact Carl Bach abcb1922@yahoo.com

Hospitality Sunday is Back!

First Sunday of the Month

Coffee, treats, visiting with friends - old and new - will return on the first Sunday of the month, starting June 5, Pentecost. Parishioners who have volunteered to make this possible will serve treats after the 9:00 AM Mass at St. Elizabeth Seton and after the 11:00 AM Mass at St. James. Consider joining this ministry to keep this great social time going. A few teams of parishioners or families taking turns would keep this commitment feasible going forward.

Contact Elizabeth@sjbrh.org or Joy@sjbrh.org to learn more and find out how you can help.

Daily Mass Schedule

Monday: 8:30am-St. Elizabeth Seton

Tuesday: 8:00am-St. James

Thursday: 8:00am-St. James

Friday: 8:30am-St. Elizabeth Seton

Reconciliation

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

Seeking Help For the 2022 Holiday Fair

The Holiday Fair Committee needs volunteers to contact potential donors for items for the Silent Auction. Now is the time to begin contacting the businesses, individuals and sports teams who have generously donated items in the past for the Fair in November. We have all the materials needed to make these contacts but need someone to manage the task. If you have been wondering how you can help with the Fair or help the Parish in general, here is your opportunity!

Contact Jo-Ellen Vendetti at jtvendet@yahoo.com or 860-878-0432 if you are interested or if you would like more information.

The Archbishop’s Annual Appeal changes lives through service. In addition to assisting the under served of our communities, your gift helps those discerning a vocation to the priesthood. Your gift to the Appeal is an investment in the future of our Church and our faith. Please continue to pray for an increase of vocations especially in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Thank you to the parish families who have made a gift or pledge to the 2022 Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. If you have not yet participated, please prayerfully consider a gift today. Be assured every dollar of your gift will have a positive impact in someone’s life.

All donations 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.