Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

When I was a young boy, Wednesday was my favorite day of the week for two reasons. First, it was the day when we had release time, allowing school to end at 1:00 PM so that the children from public school could come to religion class. The second reason was that it was the day when my mother would often make fresh bread and I had the chance to watch.

The ritual was the same. Mom would place the dry flour on the kitchen counter, forming it like a mini-like volcano, with the center hole being the place where the eggs, salt and yeast would go. However, it was not until mom added water that she was able to kneed the mixture into dough. For it was simple water that held the ingredients together and allowed dough to be baked into bread.

I often reflect on this fact when I hear the words of the second Eucharistic Prayer, which calls down the Holy Spirit upon the gifts of bread and wine on the altar as “dewfall.” For that image of “dew” powerfully reminds us that it is the added ingredient of the grace and power of the Holy Spirit that allows simple bread and wine to become the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. It is also the “dew” of the Holy Spirit who draws us together as members of the Church, despite our many differences, by strengthening our membership in the Mystical Body of Christ around the altar and in the world.

In a sense, it is the Holy Spirit, who is the divine principle of unity, that “holds us all together”, and makes us a living offering to God. So, as Saint Augustine rightly observes, we eat the Body of Christ, to become the Body the Christ in the world, all made possible by the “water” of the Holy Spirit.

In our increasingly dry and parched society, let us pray for an ever increasing outpouring of the “dew” of the Holy Spirit upon us and the whole world.

The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos!

As we strive to position our Catholic schools for greater academic excellence and long term financial stability, strategic planning is an essential tool. While we need to maintain the essence and heart of Catholic education, we must also adopt the best of modern practice and pedagogy, with a spirit of innovation that can help us to best serve the young people entrusted to our care.

One of the major innovations that we have embraced in our educational mission is the use of “personalized blended learning”. Simply put, this model blends traditional classroom instruction with an online diagnostic set of tools that allow teachers to understand the mechanics of how each student learns (personalized approach), allowing the teacher to give direct assistance in those areas that a student may find challenging, all the while allowing the same student to excel in areas that he or she can understand easily.

In the past, traditional classroom instruction tried to engage all students. However, what actually happened was that students who easily mastered the materials being taught got bored and those who could not understand were left behind. Web-based diagnostic programming now allows teachers to know exactly what a student may understand well, what is difficult for the same student and pinpoints the materials needed to help the student to overcome the difficulties. This innovation has been adopted throughout the country and we are introducing it into our schools with the hope of unlocking the full potential of every student.

An image comes to mind that can simply explain this innovation. If we are driving on a highway and we encounter potholes, our travel is slowed and difficult. If the potholes are filled, then we can travel as fast as the law allows. So too with education, for if the individual challenges or difficulties experienced by students are likened to potholes, then the more we can see them and “fill them in” for each student, the faster he or she can learn.

Change is never easy. We live in a world where change occurs at a faster and faster rate. True innovation in Catholic education does not make change for change sake but does so for the good of the students entrusted to our care.

The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos!

Tomorrow evening begins the celebration of the Baccalaureate Masses for our five regional Catholic high schools. For me, it is a blessing to pray with our seniors and their families as they prepare to begin a new chapter in their young adult lives. Graced with the power of the Holy Spirit and having been educated and formed in our Catholic schools, our seniors will begin college armed with the tools they need to continue to grow in wisdom and grace.

It is important to remember that moments of transition, such as graduation, are very important in the life of any young person. While they represent the start of exciting, new opportunities that college affords, such moments of transition also represent a challenge for young people, who will need to establish new friendships and find communities of faith in which they can be fed and encouraged spiritually. Research indicates that many young people, who enjoyed a wonderful high school experience that helped strengthen their Catholic faith, can easily fall away from the practice of the faith when they go to college, in part because they lose focus, direction and encouragement during the initial transition into college. For this reason, we need to strengthen our outreach to college freshmen, in part to ensure that they make the transition with a focus on maintaining and protecting their Catholic faith.

Parents also can play a crucial role in this transition. Please remain in steady contact with your teenagers during their first few months in college, even if such contact may not always be welcomed. Inquire whether your son or daughter is praying each day and going to Mass each Sunday. It may appear at first to be “nagging”, but young people need direction and will eventually understand the loving motivation behind such persistent questions.

We must also pray that our new freshmen in college find true supportive friendships as they begin their life on campus. For good friends can help our freshmen to deepen their discipleship in Jesus.

For now, let us rejoice in the many accomplishments of our high school seniors and pray that the collegiate chapter in their lives will be a blessed one!

The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos!

Thirty-two years ago today I celebrated my First Mass at Saint Sylvester Church in the City Line section of Brooklyn. I remember the day as if it were yesterday. It was a beautiful Spring day, with a church filled with parishioners whom I came to know and serve during my pastoral year in the parish and friends from throughout my life. I can still remember walking down the center aisle, wondering to myself if I were dreaming, having prepared for the day for over eight years and suddenly it was upon me. It was an indescribable feeling that still comes over me when I realized how blest I am to be have been called to live and serve as an ordained minister of the High Priest.

I also learned a great lesson during the celebration of my First Mass that has influenced much of my priestly life. When the time came for me to pray the Preface of the Eucharistic Prayer, terror stuck when I reach out for the green ribbon that marked the page, only to have the ribbon slip out before I got to the page. I immediately froze and then desperately tried to find the page with no immediate success. I could feel the eyes of hundreds of people looking at me, wondering how well I was trained if I could not even find the right page for the prayer. Then I had an inspiration. I looked up, smiled and said to the congregation, “Sorry, but I am new at this!”. With a roar of laughter, the tension dissipated, I found the page, Mass continued and I learned the power of humility.

I have since learned this same lesson over and over and again. I have come to realize that the people of God do not expect their priests to be perfect or never to make any mistakes. Rather, what they do expect, and deserve to have, are priests who are honest about their gifts and shortcomings, able to admit and laugh at their mistakes and who walk with them in humble faith.

After 32 years, I pray always to be such a priest, for there are many “ribbons” in life that should make us laugh and move on.

The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos!

Today the Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima. We remember the heroic witness of the three young visionaries, Lucia, Francisco, and Jacinta, who were visited by Our Lady and given the task to bear witness to her presence, even in the face of opposition. At Fatima, Our Lady called for the conversion of our hearts, repentance from our sins and dedication to prayer, especially the Rosary. This recipe for spiritual renewal remains desperately needed in our own age and in our own personal lives.

Fatima will always have a special place in my heart because it was one of the last places my mother chose to visit before her lung cancer prevented her from traveling. In fact, my sister and I accompanied my mother to Fatima in October 2010, three months before my mom died in January 2011. It was a beautiful, peaceful and spiritually uplifting visit for all of us, despite the sadness that we felt knowing that my mother’s earthly life was coming to an end.

It is in the stillness of our hearts that we can discover true order for our lives, recognize what is important and find the voice of God who always seeks to offer us consolation and peace. Fatima has always been a place of silence and reflection for me, as it was true for my mother. In its quiet and hushed corners, the power of Our Lady’s intercession can be powerfully felt, leading us onto simple paths to profound personal renewal.

I have not been back to Fatima since my mother’s death. My heart tells me that it is time to visit again.

The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos! Do not miss Bishop Frank’s video: What Does it Mean to Stand with Christ?

As I was reflecting earlier this morning on today’s Gospel, I realized that there is an interesting parallel between the birth and the resurrection of Christ. In both cases, the persons chosen by the angels to announce the presence of Christ are the very persons that society considered “outcasts”. In both cases, God reveals that those whom the world considers unimportant are actually His chosen messengers- far more important than those whom the world considers “important”.

Recall that at the time of the Lord’s birth, it was to the shepherds that the angels first appeared. In the time of Jesus, shepherds were often quite poor and looked down upon, since they spent their time with animals in the countryside. Yet it was to them that the good news of the Savior’s birth was first proclaimed.

Similarly, it was to Mary Magdalene that the angels in the tomb first proclaimed that the Lord had Risen from the dead. Once again, it was to a woman who had a sinful reputation among her neighbors that God chose to reveal the good news of Christ’s victory over sin and death. It was because of her persistent love for the Lord, that compelled her to stay at the tomb, allowed her to become as the Fathers of the Church called her, the “apostle to the apostles”.

Those whom the world believes are inconsequential, insignificant and perhaps a burden are the very ones who are honored above all others in the plan of salvation. The lesson is simple and clear: God stands with those whom the world wishes to forget.

If it is good enough for God to stand with the “forgotten”, who are we to do anything less?

In the coming days, Christians throughout the world celebrate the most sacred mysteries of our faith through the observance of Holy Week. Our journey accompanies the Lord on Palm Sunday with the jubilant crowd that joyfully welcomes into the city of Jerusalem as their liberator, only to conclude with the Lord’s suffering and death on the Cross five days later.

These days afford us a graced time to reflect upon the selfless gift of love that Christ offers the world through His Passion and Death. We are called to deepen our understanding that anyone who wishes to call themselves Christian must be prepared to love in that same way that Christ did. Through the solemn liturgies of the Triduum, we will join Christ in the upper room, vigil with Him in the Garden and walk with Him to Calvary and the empty tomb.

Our Easter faith is clear. In our daily lives, we are asked to love as generously and radically as Jesus did. In a special way, we must stand in solidarity with all those who are suffering because of physical or mental illness or because they are victims of violence, abuse, and injustice. We especially remember those who are suffering so terribly around the world because of their Christian faith. May the Lord grant them strength in their time of need and a share in everlasting life.

Yet we must never forget that the greatest gift from our Heavenly Father is Christ, His Son and our Lord. It is the Risen Christ who is our Easter hope and salvation! Despite the suffering and evil in the world, we who wish to follow Christ need to ask for the gift of joy, which our Father in Heaven will give to each of us.

Let us confront the challenges and difficulties of our lives, knowing that God will lead us every step of the way. We must never forget that the Lord promises us that our suffering will not end in pain but in glory and transfigured life.

I pray that the new life offered by our Risen Lord abundantly bless you and your family with joy, hope and peace of mind and heart this Easter.

Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano
Bishop of Bridgeport

According to Webster’s online dictionary, the definition of poverty is “the state of being inferior in quality or insufficient in amount.” If this is true, then every human being is in some sense “poor”, whether we consider either our sinfulness or that fact that no one is self-sufficient in this life. Each of us is in need of help from those around us, rendering us, in some sense, “poor”.

Despite this understanding of our general human poverty, it is undeniable that there are growing numbers of people who endure poverty because they are denied the basic necessities of life. These necessities include food, housing, medical care and employment that would allow them the resources to care for themselves and their families. Over the past few weeks, we have been reflecting on these many “faces of poverty” and how we, as a Church, are called to stand with the poor in our midst in concrete and effective ways. Such solidarity with the poor is never optional for a Christian, since it is a mandate given to us by Christ Himself. For as he reminded us in Matthew 25, “Amen I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”

As I reflect upon this divine mandate to stand in solidarity with the poor, a healthy recognition of our common poverty can help spur us into action to alleviate the concrete sufferings of our neighbor. More specifically, we can easily fall into the illusion that we are self-sufficient and not dependent upon our neighbor or even God for our basic necessities. This is both false and harmful. Rather, at a blink of an eye, at a moment when we least expect it, our poverty can become evident with a sudden diagnosis of disease, the loss of a job or the death of a loved one. On any given day, each of us can be only one moment away from joining the “least of my brothers and sisters”. And if this happens to us today, would we not want someone to reach out to us in our hour of need? And is we would expect such help to be given to us, why would we not be ready now to give the same help to those around us?

We have all faced times in our own lives or in the lives of our family members and friends when suddenly, often without warning, sickness or disease strikes. At such times, we are often filled with an avalanche of questions and a flood of emotions, especially when we are helpless to assist a person we love very much. At such times, the sick person experiences his or her vulnerability in a deep and profound way and needs to be reassured that they are not alone. Such reassurance can only come from those around them.

I remember when my mother was battling lung cancer, I accompanied her for every chemotherapy treatment she received at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. The doctors, nurses, and staff were simply outstanding in their care for all their patients, including my mother. Nonetheless, those months were filled with questions that I wished I could have answered for my mom and was simply unable to do so. Each day brought new challenges and questions. The only response I could have was to be present to her in a loving, reassuring way. My mother would often remind my sister and me that we are always in God’s hands. Hers was a faith that inspired my faith, despite her personal sufferings.

One day when mom was undergoing treatment, I went down to the cafeteria to get a snack. I accidentally pushed the wrong button on the elevator and found myself entering into the pediatric section of the hospital. Even after I recognized my mistake, I remained on the floor and was overwhelmed by the sight of little children battling cancers and at times, suffering so deeply. It reminded me of the Lord’s saying, “Let the children come to me”. I left that floor with a deep resolve to make sure that such children are never forgotten.

All who are sick, especially our children, need to be reassured, loved and supported in their hour of greatest need. And such support can only come from you and me.

As I have often shared in other postings, I am the proud son of immigrant parents who came to this country to seek a better life for my sister and me. This basic fact has shaped every aspect of my life, for which I am most grateful.

While I was growing up, my father would often tell stories of his youth which I often doubted, given the starkness and poverty that he described. It was only when I grew older and saw the very places that he described, long abandoned by my extended family because of their poor conditions, did I come to appreciate the hardships with which my parents grew up. What I took for granted as a child was for a luxury for my parents, including having a bathroom within the confines of their home. Escaping such poverty is understandable for anyone to aspire to achieve. To do it for the sake of another is truly noble.

Christ the Lord was no stranger to living as an immigrant. Recall that the Holy Family needed to escape the slaughter of the innocents at the hand of Herod, who was determined to kill the child he feared would become his rival. The Lord spent time as an immigrant and refugee in Egypt, along with Our Lady and St. Joseph, while the danger persisted. Of course, as God, all the world was His, as all the people of this world remain His. Yet, He was welcomed as a stranger in a foreign land.

As followers of the same Lord, despite our political differences regarding policy and how best to welcome the stranger in our midst, we are invited to stand with those sisters and brothers who are immigrating to seek a better life, freedom from poverty or safety from persecution. For my part, I have no doubt that I will do so, since my Lord was once an immigrant and so too was my family. For as Matthew 25 reminds us, to fail to welcome the least of our brethren into our midst is to fail to welcome Christ.

Gaius Plinius Secundus, a Roman philosopher better known as Pliny the Elder once said: “Home is where the heart is.” His point is simple. Home is meant to be a place shared with family and friends wherein we grow to appreciate our own self-worth, come to trust the fact that we are loved and where we are challenged in love to mature. As a physical location, it is also a place of memories- memories of meals shared, conversations spoken over a cup of coffee perhaps in the middle of the night and struggles faced and overcome with patience and love. For all these reasons, every person deserves to have a true home to share with his loved ones.

In light of all this, consider the plight and challenges faced by the millions of people in our world who never had a home or had their homes taken away from them. For example, there are children who are today born into homeless shelters, to join their parents who may have lost their homes due to unemployment, poverty or bad choices in life. Consider those who are refugees fleeing their homes because of war, violence, and persecution of all types, especially religious persecution. These people are forced to leave everything behind to escape being killed in the cross-fire of violence that they did not start. Also, let us ponder the plight of young people who have a physical home to live in but it is a structure that has no love, affection, encouragement or protection for them. For them, such a physical location may be more a prison than a home.

When we consider such suffering, it is our duty and responsibility as Christians to find ever more effective and personal ways to meet the needs of those in our midst who are homeless. They deserve what we often take for granted. Many cannot find a way out of homelessness on their own. Let us be resolved to help whoever wishes to receive our assistance, to find a place where their hearts can find a home.

This past Tuesday at Mass we heard the famous passage in the Gospel of Matthew when the Lord taught his disciples the prayer we now call “The Our Father.” For many of us it is one of the first prayers that we learned as children and remains the one prayer that all Christians offer. It combines our praise and thanks to God the Father, while offering a series of petitions that remind us of our own poverty and need for God to meet our needs.

As I reflected upon the prayer, and in light of our commitment to stand by those who are hungry in our midst, I was struck by the fact that two petitions that form the heart of the prayer follow each other. They are: “Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”

The second petition reminds us that we will be open to receive the gift of God’s forgiveness to the extent that we learn to forgive others who trespass against us. I wonder if we should not hold ourselves to the same obligation when we speak of the need for our daily bread? More specifically, as disciples of the Lord, should we not be committed to give our neighbors their daily bread, if we wish to receive daily bread from the hands of our loving God? In other words, how can we wish to receive daily bread if we are not open to help others to receive their daily bread?

In a world in which poverty, hunger and homelessness is growing, if we wish to honor our loving God and to have our own needs met, I believe that we must redouble our efforts to become the hands and feet of God in the world to bring bread to the hungry, water to the thirsty, shelter for the homeless and to feed our deepest hunger for daily bread by doing what the Father has asked from us.

The previous reflection originally appeared on Bishop Frank Caggiano’s Facebook page. Follow the Bishop for daily reflections and weekly videos! Do not miss Bishop Frank’s latest video: What Does it Mean to Stand with Christ?

During these difficult times for our good and faithful priests, who are often looked upon with suspicion by society because of the sins and crimes of other priests who have abused children, we need to pray each day for their strength, courage and perseverance. We must also find ways to encourage them, tell them how much we appreciate their sacrifices and generous service and ask Our Lady, the Mother of all Priests, for her maternal protection and care.

During an Ordination Mass celebrated by St. John Paul II on May 11, 2003, the Pope offered the following prayer for the priests he had ordained that day. I ask that you and I also offer this same prayer today for the tens of thousands of faithful priests throughout the world who serve as shepherds of the Lord’s flock during this time of purification and renewal in our Church:

“And, you, Mary, ‘Woman of the Eucharist,’ Mother and model of every priest, be close to these sons of yours today and throughout the years of their pastoral ministry. Like the Apostle John, they too welcome you ‘into their home.’ Help them to conform their lives to the divine Teacher who has chosen them as His ministers. May their ‘present,’ just spoken by each one with youthful enthusiasm, be expressed every day in generous adherence to the task of the ministry and blossom in the joy the ‘magnificat’ for the ‘great things’ that God’s mercy will, to work through their hands. Amen.”

As I reflect upon the desire to find effective ways by which we can support our young adults in their Catholic faith, I am more and more convinced that young adults themselves must take the lead in bringing other young adults to faith. In fact, I have found that an effective missionary of faith is usually a young adult, whose faith, life of integrity and willingness to befriend and accompany another young adult can help that person to encounter Christ in an effective and powerful way. So, if this insight is true, then we must find ways to empower young adults, already in love with the Lord, to go out and seek others of their own age to encounter the Lord Jesus.

How can we empower this new generation of young adult missionary Catholics? I would suggest that we can begin by identifying those who are now active in our parishes and schools, intentionally invite them to consider accepting the call to become “missionaries” to their peers and spend time with them in prayer, training and support. Let us find ways to equip them to go out, perhaps two by two, to invite other young adults to ask the questions they have and find the answers to those question in the Lord Jesus.

We also need to create communities where these courageous young adult missionaries can find support and accompaniment for themselves. Such communities will help them to deepen their own lives of faith in Christ. I imagine such communities will gather in “the upper room,” like the apostles and disciples did, to pray, share their own concerns and encourage each other. They can then go forth from these “upper rooms,” refreshed with the power of the Holy Spirit and strengthened in their Catholic faith, to invite others to do the same. It is my plan to create such “upper rooms” in support of our young missionary adults.

There are many reasons why young adults may have turned away from faith. However, the path to invite them back is become clearer. Let us stand with our young adults who are ready to lead their peers to Christ, one person at a time.

One of the earliest memories that I have from my first assignment as a newly ordained priest occurred during a conversation that I had one morning at breakfast with my first pastor. That morning he offered me valuable pastoral advice that came from his many years of service in a variety of parishes. The topic was how best to support young couples who were preparing to be married.

In the midst of our conversation, he said, “Frank, make sure that when you meet with these couples, you help them to prepare for both their marriage and their wedding. For their wedding lasts only one day, their marriage is for life.”

I was struck by the simple truth of his observation. Over the years, in my own ministry with engaged couples, I have seen how easy it is for them to be swept up with the overwhelming demands of planning a wedding, forgetting to pray and spend time preparing how to live a life together as husband and wife. While the wedding is important, their marriage is the gift that God has given them for the rest of their lives. One of the Church’s primary missions is to help support couples as they journey through life as husband and wife, and with God’s grace, raise children into the world.

As a Diocese, we have implemented a revised Pre-Cana program that has been warmly received, in part because it asks couples to reflect upon the life they will live after their wedding ceremony is over. It is a life that is an increasingly difficult one to live, in a world that sees every commitment as transitory or open to revision. As we move forward, let us work together to find new, innovative and more effective ways to stand with our newlywed couples, to help them to live the beauty of their married life in Christ, one day at a time.

Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

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