Saint Marianne Cope Parish Rev. Stuart H. Pinette, Pastor St. Catherine of Siena 6 Windsorville Road Broad Brook, CT 06016 Masses: Sunday, 8:30 a.m. Weekdays: Mon. - Thurs., 8:00 a.m. Holy Hour: Tuesday, 8:30-9:30 a.m. Parish Office: 6 Windsorville Road Broad Brook, CT 06016 St. Philip the Apostle 150 South Main Street East Windsor, CT 06088 Masses: Saturday Vigil, 4:00 p.m. Sunday, 10:30 a.m. Parish Rectory: 150 South Main Street East Windsor, CT 06088 Parish Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Phone: (860) 623-4636 (ext. 101) Fax: (860) 292-8550 Website: smceastwindsor.org Parish Office email: [email protected]Fr. Stu’s email: [email protected]Pastoral Assistant - Patty Woodward Director of Music - Wendy Quinn Pastoral Minister - Jan Albetski email: [email protected]Faith Formation Office: (860) 623-4636 (ext. 106) Prayer Shawl Ministry: Tuesdays - 1:30 p.m. at St. Catherine Church Altar Rosary Society Women’s Group: First Monday of the Month - 7:00 p.m. at St. Catherine Church Reconciliation Saturday, 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. • St. Philip Church Baptism Second and Fourth Sunday of the month - Please call the parish office to make arrangements. Pre-Baptism Class for parents and Godparents - 1st Monday of the month - 5:30 pm. at St. Catherine Church. Matrimony Please call the parish office at least six months in advance before making any other arrangements. New Parishioners Please call the parish office to register. Registration forms are also available in the church foyers. Church Envelopes These are a regular way to practice Christian stewardship. Please call the parish office for more details.
Prayer Shawl Ministry: Tuesdays - 1:30 p.m. at St. Catherine Church
Altar Rosary Society Women’s Group:
First Monday of the Month - 7:00 p.m. at St. Catherine Church
Reconciliation Saturday, 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. • St. Philip Church
Baptism Second and Fourth Sunday of the month - Please call the parish office to make arrangements.
Pre-Baptism Class for parents and Godparents - 1st Monday of the month - 5:30 pm. at St. Catherine Church.
Matrimony Please call the parish office at least six months in advance before making any other arrangements.
New Parishioners Please call the parish office to register. Registration forms are also available in the church foyers.
Church Envelopes These are a regular way to practice Christian stewardship. Please call the parish office for more details.
SAINT MARIANNE COPE PARISH EAST WINDSOR
NEW PARISHIONERS – Welcome! There are registration forms on the resource tables in the foyers of our two churches. Just fill out the information and drop it in the collection basket or return it to the parish office. You may also register by calling the parish office during weekday business hours.
YOUNG FAMILIES – At St. Philip Church, the quiet room is available for families with young children attending Mass and at St. Catherine Church the foyer is available if your child needs a break/quiet time.
PARISHIONERS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS - The first pew in both of our churches is available for parishioners that have any type of physical limitations, and you may also receive communion while staying in your seat if you choose. At St. Philip, those in the quiet room may proceed in front of the first pew for communion as well.
COMMUNION CALLS - Eucharistic Ministers from the parish bring Communion to parishioners who cannot attend Mass due to age or illness. If you know of a parishioner who is homebound and would like to receive the Eucharist please call the parish office.
ANOINTING OF THE SICK - can be celebrated at any time for those who are ill or infirmed. As soon as someone’s condition worsens, please call the parish office to arrange for Fr. Stu to visit and celebrate the sacrament as it is not preferable to wait until the last moment before death.
PLEASE PRAY FOR – Leona Bard, Joyce Benoit, Jeannie Bernier, Emery Berube, Maria Brenza, Brianna, Linda Brown, Inez Cabral, Helen Calsetta, James Conlin, Donald Daigle, Gabriel Desrocher, Eileen, Donald Fitzgerald, Laurie Gallipo, David Gieseke, Joanne Gird, Ciera Green, Mae Grigely, Regina Jackmauh, Concetta Kopp, Kristina, Auralie LaChance, Martha Leonard, Bill Mager, Ethel Morin, Rosemary Murak, Francine Nadeau, Rita Nadeau, Mabel Ouellette, Laura Palmer, Donald Quist, Florence Reed, Mary Rice, Rob & Lilly, Bob & Gen Roy, Maxine Schortman. Toni Theriault, Meghan Tully, Mike Urano, Mary Winn, Heidi Wormstedt, Deborah Wrann, James Wrann, Susan Dixon Wrann, Ellie Ziegler. Also, remember in prayer those who serve in the armed forces.
The Pastor’s Desk “When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” This verse from Matthew’s gospel read at last Monday’s weekday Mass could not have been more fitting as we reflect on the senseless killings in our country last weekend. There were many who spent time in grief and sadness, searching for solace, looking for God in the midst of such cruelty and disdain for life. The families of those who were gunned down are weeping, hearts broken, tossed about between deep remorse and bitterness, struggling to understand. There have been many times in my life when I’ve felt so fortunate that I follow a Lord who was so very human. Indeed, it was in the most trying and revealing moments that he showed us what it meant to be fully alive, his divine love was so clear. He mourned his cousin’s death, trying to find God in it and how it would be part of him in the days that followed. Matthew tells us that after his time alone, Jesus carried on, caring for the crowds who wanted to be near, as God’s healing flowed through him. He engaged his sadness and let it guide him with oth-ers, teaching his disciples about serving together. When they came to him at the end of the day seeking a meal for the people, he said “give them some food yourselves.” They couldn’t see it happening and questioned how they’d do it. Slowly he shows them how, gathering the people in grass-groups, blessing their small offerings, using the bread and fish as the means to bind them together as he multiplied what they had and passed out all that was shared. Their little became God’s bounty, their meager gifts fed everyone. Maybe that’s where we begin with our heavy hearts. It’s clear that there is a deep tear in the fabric of our land, with sprits wrenched by violence and strained by rapid bullets and torn bodies. The tears that have been shed and the cries of mourning that will be lifted-up are the signs of a crippled culture that too often breeds anger and hatred, at the expense of respect and dignity. We’ve become so weighed down by the multiple killings, that we risk losing our way as words and deeds of violence become an acceptable way to speak. But it doesn’t have to be this way; we can shape another language together that can restore our humanity and lead us to the sacred. It calls for us to sit down once again on the grassy patches, with mor-sels to share, listening to one another, bearing our hurts and hopes. It’s already happening, from the rubble of the scarred hillsides. Its all about human kindness and the stirrings of goodness that lies inside so many of us. It’s the hour-long lines outside the blood banks of El Paso, as donors talk and walk closer to the front door, joined in spirit with the rifled victims and their limping loves ones. It’s the endless cars and trucks driving up in another part of the city deliv-ering supplies to the Family Reunification Center, stocking their shelves and filling the floors with compassion. It’s the Venezuelan father and American citizen who remembers his son who lost his life in Parkland, Florida last year by painting murals of him outside El Paso buildings, two towns joined by violence but fragile healing too. And its about a crowd of men and women, teens and kids, folks of different color and creed, nationality and places of birth gathered on the Mexican border in a night vigil, cell phone torches turned on as they reach to the sky, calling down grace from heaven. A reminder of what really marks us as a country joined in our diversity, leaning on each other, trying to find the way together. And for we who follow the Lord of the grass-side feast, our gospel mission continues: share his ways and “feed them yourselves.”
Scripture Readings - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jeremiah 38:4-6, 8-10; Hebrews 12:1-4 Luke 12:49-53
Food Pantry Collection
Here at Saint Marianne Cope we live out our call to be eucharistic people by providing supplies for needy resi-dents to the Five Corner Cupboard Food Pantry in East Windsor. And the dedicated members of our Food Pantry Ministry take turns delivering the supplies to the Pantry each week on Mondays and Tuesdays. There are marked collection bins in the main foyers of our two churches for everyone to take part. During the summer months, when kids are home from school, the need is great and we are called as a community of faith to do our part. Together let’s reach out to our brothers and sisters in need.
Holy Day Schedule
Next Thursday, August 15 is the Solemn Feast of the Assump-tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholic Christians. The Mass schedule here at Saint Mari-anne Cope is:
Wednesday, August 14 - St. Philip Church at 6:00pm Thursday, August 15 - St. Catherine Church at 8:00am
Mark your calendars as we gather to praise God for the gift of the Blessed Mother who prays for us in heaven.
Mission Co-op 2019 Next week is the annual Mission Co-op weekend in our
parish, as we welcome Fr. Joseph Nguyen from the dio-
cese of Long Xuyen, Vietnam. Located on the southwest
corner of the country near the Cambodian border, there
are 185 parishes with 234,000 parishioners in a 6.500
square mile area. Many Vietnamese Catholics are mov-
ing from the countryside to isolated rural areas where
there are neither churches nor catechetical centers. The
hope is to build 5 new chapels with adjoining classrooms
while training catechists and outreach volunteers to help
evangelize the native people. Our support will assist them
as we listen to Fr. Joseph’s message at our parish Masses.
Prayer at Table
We give you thanks,
O God our creator,
for the bounty of the earth
that you set before us at this table.
With all your baptized people,
we give you thanks for Jesus,
the first growth of the resurrection.
Refresh us now with this food and drink
so that we might care for your creation
and share its many gifts with the hungry.
Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
In the gospel we hear: “Gird your loins and light your lamps and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding, ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks.” How is God knocking on your door? - Education for Justice, Aug 7, 2016.
NINETEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
Finding Myself in Food Pantry Shelves Stacking mountains of canned goods might be considered more of a backbreaking activity than a life-changing one. I was not looking for “life-changing” when I volunteered at my parish food pantry in Chicago. I had prayed that getting lost in the canned goods would provide some distraction while I figured out my career path. Because the task of sorting cans of corn and boxes of macaroni and cheese did not require much thought, I found myself observing the people who came through the pantry. I overheard one young couple respond ecstatically when they received a bag of groceries. I watched senior citizens push their heavy carts away from the building and toward the bus stop. I listened to the volunteers around me. I stopped worrying about my career and just sorted food. As the disorganized clutter of canned fruits and vegetables was transformed into neat stacks, I began to feel a sense of accomplishment. I witnessed in myself a renewed sense of purpose. Having a place to go where I knew that even my small actions would make a great difference in someone’s life was gratifying. It was an opportunity to live beyond myself and to care for others’ needs. Over a few weeks, I moved up in the volunteer chain, from putting items away to interacting with the food pantry’s clients when assigned to “window duty.” I began to realize how each of us was helping to contribute to a client’s well-being. Each member of the team had an important role to play, from greeting guests to helping them fill out paperwork, and then, most importantly, to serving them with the dignity and respect they deserved. The morning I was assigned to window duty was the morning all the puzzle pieces began to fit together. Now, I could finally see where all my work was going. It was going into the bags, then into people’s hands, and then out the door. My shift in thinking began when I could talk with the clients and form relationships. A few of them chatted about the weather or what was going on in their week. Several commented on how grateful they were for the work of the food pantry and volunteers, as it would help them feed their family this week. I remember doing a double take while standing at the window, thinking, “I am making a difference today.” The time I spent volunteering provided clarity for me. There were realizations I made during those weeks that would later shape what I was looking for in my ministry career. Because stacking and organizing canned goods was a tangible project, I knew that when I walked out of the pantry, I had moved things. The biggest thing I took away from my volunteer experience was the realization that I wanted to be in an environment that allowed me to be more hands-on. I needed to be in a place where forming and creating relationships was a cornerstone of my work. The pantry allowed me to see clients who were in need of food when they walked into the building, and when I said goodbye to them, they would have groceries in hand and, sometimes, a smile on their face. The whole volunteer experience helped to give me a better idea of who I could become.
Clarissa Aljentera, in Busted Halo, 1/16/17, All rights reserved.
Thank you for sharing your gift of treasure with our parish.
Am I waiting for the “right” time to become a good steward? Do I plan to share my time and talents “later”? Today’s Gospel warns those who are procrastinating about stewardship to be prepared—”at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.”
St. Catherine Cemetery Clean-up - continues this week. Lot owners are urged to remove any seasonal decorations or non-compliant items they wish to keep or they will be removed. Thanks for helping maintain an appealing final resting place for loved ones. - The Cemetery Committee
“Lord Jesus, you said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Keep us from being preoccupied with money and worldly goods, and with trying to increase them at the expense of others.”
