October 31, 2023

Fall News From Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish

October 31, 2023

Dear Parishioners and Friends of Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish,

Greetings!

In this weekend’s Gospel reading from St. Matthew (Mt. 23: 1-12) we hear Jesus criticizing the scribes and Pharisees and how they were treating the people they supposedly served. He criticized them for preaching one thing, but not living what they preached in their lives. He also criticized them for laying heavy burdens on others without lifting a finger to help them to carry such burdens. Jesus was also perturbed with religious leaders for performing their works in public to get praise, and for taking seats of honor at banquets.

The big problem with the scribes and the Pharisees’ leadership style was that it was the opposite to the style of leadership Jesus asked his disciples to follow. Jesus summed up his own leadership style in this advice to his disciples: “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Mt 23: 11-12).

This type of leadership that Jesus asked of his disciples (us as well) is today known as the “servant-leadership model.” He demonstrated that model to his apostles when, at the Last Supper, he knelt and washed their feet.

It is a model of servanthood that our culture struggles to own and live whether in church, at work, in politics, in business, at schools, etc. And yet we would all agree and say that Jesus is the way the truth and the life. Ouch!

It behooves me to mention but a few things in our own parish life that reminds me/us of the truth, the way, and the life of a servant way of life. I beg your forgiveness for there is not enough room in the message to mention all the ways that I see folks witnessing to servanthood….but I do see a witness to servanthood in our food outreach to shelters and pantries, our gardeners in the our parish vegetable garden, our home visitors to our homebound, our knitters that offer comfort by their craft, our Homefront group that rehabs a home that is need of repair once a year, our volunteer catechists, etc., etc., etc. Bravo! Gratitude! Inspiring!

Peace and blessings!

Fr. George Couturier

All Saints Day

*** Holy Day of Obligation ***

Wednesday, November 1

8:00 AM - St. James & livestreamed

Noon - St. James

7:00 PM - St. Elizabeth Seton

All Souls Day

Memorial Mass

We Remember

Our Deceased Loved Ones

at Saint Josephine Bakhita Parish

Thursday, November 2

7:00 PM - St. James & livestreamed

We will be celebrating our annual Memorial Mass for those who have had funerals at Saint Josephine Bakhita since November 2022. All are welcome to pray and support those who are mourning, or be strengthened in the face of their own mourning by joining us in person or online. During the candlelit service, we will be announcing the names of those who had funerals at Saint Josephine Bakhita in the past year.

The 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time

November 5, 2023

4:00 PM at Saint James

9:00 AM at Saint Elizabeth Seton

11:00 AM at Saint James

Stay for coffee & conversation after the Sunday morning masses!

Scan the QR Code to Mark Your Calendars NOW for our Annual Parish Holiday Fair! We can't wait to see you there!

HELP WANTED! We Have a Job for Everyone! Click Here to Volunteer to Help at our Holiday Fair

HELP! WE NEED BAKERS TO SIGN UP ASAP!

CALLING ALL PARISH BAKERS!

Annual Holiday Fair

Bake Sale & Cookie Walk

Donations of baked goods and cookies are needed for our annual Holiday Fair. We have many talented bakers in our parish and each year they donate delicious homemade baked goods for our very popular Holiday Fair Bake Sale & Cookie Walk. We can never have too much! Every last crumb sells! Please sign up to donate one or more items.

Click Here to Volunteer to Bake For Our Holiday Fair

Annual Holiday Fair

Ornament Collection

We are seeking new or gently used holiday ornaments for the Holiday Fair. Collection Bins will be placed at the entrances of both Churches. Any questions, feel free to call Kathy Alexander at 860-563-5859.

Hang a Flyer About the Holiday Fair Where You Live, Work or Gather! Download & Print Flyer By Clicking Here.

Thanksgiving Food Baskets &

Grocery Store Gift Certificates

Create a Thanksgiving Food Basket for a household of 4-6 people to donate to Rocky Hill Human Services and deliver to either church the weekend of November 18-19.

Donate gift certificates to local grocery stores to compliment the Food Baskets and enable families to buy turkeys and perishable foods.

Please indicate your intention to donate a basket by signing up in either Church Foyer. Learn all about where to donate and how to build your basket, Click Here.

ABC Women’s Center

Annual “Baby Bottle Drive

From November 4-19, our parish community will be supporting the annual “Baby Bottle Drive” to benefit the clients of the ABC Women’s Center. This Center is a faith based pregnancy resource center located in both Middletown and New Britain. Clients are provided with a wide variety of services that are free of charge; this fund–raiser is vital to the accomplishment of that mission.

Beginning on November 4-5, baby bottles will be available in the entrances of both churches. Please take one home and fill it with your generous donation of change, currency or a check made payable to: ABC Women’s Center (not the Parish). (Credit card payments accepted by using the QR code on the bottle or by calling Idalis Moreno, the Development Manager, at 860-894-7402.)

Please return the baby bottle containing your donation to Church no later than the weekend of November 18-19!! For any questions or more information, call Lorraine Levesque at 860-534-0937. Thank you in advance for your generosity and support!!

GIVE BLOOD

Give Blood! The American Red Cross needs you! The next blood drive hosted at our Parish Center at St. James Church is scheduled for Tuesday, November 7 from 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM.

Go to www.redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED-CROSS to register to give.

Contemplative Dialogue Advent Series

All are invited to join our 5-week series that will be held on Tuesday evenings in person at the St. Elizabeth Seton campus in Room D from 6:00 – 7:15 beginning on November 28 and ending on December 26.

We will be reading ‘Bridges to Contemplative living with Thomas Merton.' Each week, participants will read a chapter and reflect on it in silence. There is then a sharing period when members may choose to share how certain parts of the readings were meaningful and relevant in their lives. 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 register (by email to mca0711@sbcglobal.net or call 860-604-2807) by November 12^th to allow sufficient time to order and receive books before our initial session.

Please contact Fran Mastro (at 860-810-2403 or Fmed6@icloud.com) with any questions or for more information.

Charismatic Prayer Group

Our Charismatic Prayer Group gives praise, honor, thanks and love to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Our gatherings include Christian music, charismatic prayer, discussion of biblical readings and sharing prayer petitions. We meet on the first Tuesday of the month from 7:00-8:30 PM online. Contact Kristie Witherspoon to learn more: kblicharz@gmail.com.

Daily Mass

Mon-8:30AM @ Seton

Tues-8:00AM @ St. James

Thur-8:00AM @ St. James

Fri-8:30AM @ Seton

Adoration

First Thursdays

8:30AM @ St. James

Every Thursday

3:00PM @ St. James

Reconciliation

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

Parish Visitors

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.