Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

BRIDGEPORT— At a time of division in society and within the Church, “true unity is not making peace with ourselves, but making peace with Him,” said Bishop Frank J. Caggiano in his online Mass from the Catholic Center chapel on the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Reflecting on the Gospel of Mark (1:14-20 ) when Jesus invites the apostles Simon, Andrew, James and John to follow him, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men,” the bishop said that Jesus extends the same call to us “in the singular moment we are living as Americans and believers in Him.”

“The Lord invites us to allow the power of the Holy Spirit to help us get beyond what divides us,” he said, emphasizing that our shared faith in Jesus “gives us a greater purpose so our differences don’t matter anymore.”

The bishop said that the faithful can overcome its divisions and work toward unity and a common mission not simply by thinking that we can solve all of our own problems, but “by fixing our eyes on Him who is the truth, the way and the life.”

He began his homily by recalling that a few years ago when he led the diocesan pilgrimage to Washington D.C. for the dedication of a prayer garden alongside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, he found time to visit the Vietnam War Memorial.

Noting that the wall of black granite adorned with names of those who died serving the country was “beautiful to behold in itself,” the bishop said it was important to look behind the names to the lives that were lost.

“Each time I gaze on the names, I remind myself that behind every name is a person’s face, life, and history that needs to be remembered and honored. The name is a pathway to glimpse the beauty of each individual who is memorialized there.”

Likewise, as Jesus begins his ministry, we are introduced to the apostles by name, but we are also invited to be drawn into the story of their faith.

Describing the apostles as an unlikely group that was beset by differences, bickering, and lack of understanding of what Jesus was saying, the bishop said we may wonder why Jesus selected them.

“He loved them for who they were and who they could become,” said the bishop, adding that we should be encouraged by “the inexplicable fact that the bickering, envy, jealousy, and disunity ended in the Upper Room when the ragtime group of men accepted the Holy Spirit in their heart.”

He said that by “fixing their eyes on Jesus after first recognizing their own sinfulness, they allowed the Spirit to touch them with power and grace… They found true unity and began to imagine what men that they could become.”

Noting that there is presently much division in the Church between liberal and conservative voices, the bishop said that we are in need of reconciliation much like the apostles.

“Enough is enough, the Pentecost has come,” he said, adding that we often end up fighting over things that divide us superficially rather than deepen our lives in Christ’s as His modern day disciples.

He said the Lord loves us for who we are, but like the apostles, we can’t move forward without the admission of our own sinfulness and acceptance of His forgiveness in our lives.

“This is our singular moment, the time the Lord in the upper room is whispering to us, ‘I will lead you to what you desire. Will you come after me, follow me, become fishers of women and men?’”

The bishop said that when we have gone from this life, many may remember our names, but the lives we live behind the names are what matters, particularly if we unite in His love.

“Let us use this moment to go beyond the names of the Apostles to discover them for the true men and saints they became, and let us have the courage to follow their example, so we might heal divisions in our own Church, the division in our world and the divisions in our hearts—yours and mine.”

Before final blessing the bishop said he prayed for all families of the diocese that they remain safe and healthy, and he also asked for prayers for him and diocesan leaders during this difficult time. “Without the grace of the Holy Spirit we can’t find our way forward. With him there is no challenge we cannot meet.”

The Bishop’s Sunday Mass is released online every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and available for replay throughout the day. To view the Bishop’s Sunday Mass, recorded and published weekly, click this link or visit the YouTube Mass Playlist.

You are also invited to join Bishop Caggiano for the Sunday Family Rosary every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. visit: https://formationreimagined.org/sundayfamilyrosary/

The dedication of teachers during this pandemic never ceases to amaze me. Take Margarita Nicolasa Sulugüí, a 4th-grade teacher from Guatemala, for example. I found out about her from Catholic Relief Services, which helps train teachers in her area.

When the pandemic made its way to her community, she decided to start visiting her students at home. Wearing a mask and carrying hand sanitizer, she visits 4 – 5 students per day, spending extra time with those who need additional help. Margarita gives her lessons in an open space – usually outside on a patio, on rocks, or under shady trees. After the visits, she makes herself available by phone for the parents who have questions about the homework. In the words of the parents, “Her visits are very good because we feel supported, we’re happy, we’re not alone.”

Let’s make sure we thank all of our teachers who are doing their best during this very difficult time. My special thanks to the teachers of our Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Bridgeport!

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

There are few words that can describe the shock I feel to see our Capitol Building occupied by violent and unlawful rioters earlier today. As Americans, we should be deeply disturbed to see such an important symbol of freedom and liberty in our nation violated in such a way. Our nation is better than such behavior.

The peaceful transfer of power is one of the most important and revered aspects of our democracy. We must recommit ourselves to the values we hold dear as Americans: democracy, freedom, and peace. As people of faith we condemn violence in all its forms as a moral betrayal of the Gospel. We also know that our nation needs prayer, now more than ever, so that we may always remain one nation, under God.

In that spirit, please join me tonight in praying for the United States during this unprecedented and frightening time in our history. Let us pray for peace in our communities, in our capital, in our Country, but most of all, in our own hearts.

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

As I begin my seventh day of quarantine, I am grateful to the Lord that I have not developed any symptoms associated with the coronavirus. Unfortunately, a number of dear friends have recently contacted me by text or email and told me that they have received both a positive test result and also begun to experience some severe side effects from the virus. My heart goes out to them and their families. Let us continue to keep everyone who has been afflicted by this terrible disease in our prayers.

Given the fact that many who have recently contracted the Coronavirus fell ill through small gatherings that they attended at Christmastime, I urge everyone to remain vigilant in doing all that we can to protect ourselves and our families against this terrible disease. I recognize that we are all weary of what has become our ”new” way of life: wearing masks, socially distancing and frequently washing our hands. However, in those settings when we do not follow these protocols, precisely in small gatherings with family and friends, is when many have fallen ill. We need to persevere until the tide turns and this terrible disease is vanquished from our midst.

Please be assured of my daily prayers for all of you, your family and friends.

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

My dear friends, I am so deeply grateful for all the emails and texts you have sent me offering prayers as I begin my quarantine. I deeply appreciate your kindness and support. Thankfully, I remain asymptomatic which is very encouraging.

For those who join me for the electronic celebration of Mass, I am sorry that I will be unable to offer Mass until my quarantine is over. However, be assured of a remembrance in my own prayers as I celebrate Eucharist in private for the next ten days.

Finally, let us continue to pray for everyone who has been affected by the scourge of this pandemic in any way, especially those who are sick and our health care workers who care for them. May the Lord grant the sick a full and complete recovery and continued protection and well-being for all our health care workers.

Best wishes for a Blessed, Joyful, and Healthy New Year to you and your families.

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

BRIDGEPORT—“On this the last Sunday of Advent, Our Lady figures prominently as we stand on the threshold of Christmas,” said Bishop Frank J. Caggiano in his weekly online Mass from the Catholic Center.

“It’s her fiat, her “Yes” that begins this offer, this drama, this sacred message of salvation in the son she bore into the world,” he said in his homily at Mass for the 4th Sunday of Advent.

The Bishop said the Blessed mother’s obedience and willingness to do the will of God is an example of how to avoid the destructive entanglement of sin “that prevents us from doing what He asks us and mires us in paths that are destructive and worse.”

After reading Luke’s account of the Annunciation ( 1:26-38) when Mary is visited by the Angel Gabriel (“Behold, you will bear a son and you shall name him Jesus”), the bishop said the Blessed Mother gave us a new beginning and a path to salvation.

The bishop began his homily by noting that as a young boy he often struggled to untie the knots in his shoes– an effort that usually required his mother’s help in order to get him out of the house and off to school on time.

“I did know how to tie my shoes, but I usually couldn’t find where the knot was. To this day, I’m not sure why it was such a problem,” he said recalling his mother’s help and patience.

“Now I stand nearly 62 years of age at a time in my life that I still have a problem with knots–and perhaps you do too. Not knots made with shoe laces, but the knots you and I create by your sins and mine– knots that create entanglements that prevent us from being where we were meant to be in Christ.”

The bishop said that as we prepare for Christmas the example of the Blessed Mother can help us untie the knots that make us unhappy and separate us from God.

“The Blessed Mother is considered the new Eve, the un-tier of knots that our first earthy parents created, which entangled all of our lives,” he said.

He said that the word “obedience” describes the Blessed Mother’s reaction to God’s call, but it is also a word that has fallen out of favor in contemporary society.

Today, obedience has become a negative word for people who think “My life is all about me and what I want, and my desires,” he said.

He said Mary was a woman who had planned to consecrate her life but had no hesitation when she was called to a radically different task by God– one that could have led to her being shunned and ostracized as an unwed, pregnant woman.

However, she responded without hesitation because she knew how “to listen with open heart to God’s will and to do it.”

The Blessed Mother lived “her life in the holiness of grace, even when it took her to a place that was unforeseen, a place that was uncomfortable and a place that was unacceptable,” he said.

Likewise, we must learn to listen to God and not get entangled in our own plans and wants.

“We’re not ourselves when we do it our way—not God’s way; when we seek pleasure instead of purpose, when we’re self-promoting rather than neighbor promoting… when we live life in a way we choose and not the way the Virgin Mary’s son has taught us.”

“My earthly mother helped me untie my earthly shoes, and my Heavenly Mother helps us from falling into the sins that can entangle us,” he said. “She reminds us as a good mother, that if want to talk through life, get on with the journey and not fall on our face, we have to avoid knots and move on.”

The bishop concluded his homily by saying that he continues to wear a scapula that his mother gave him years ago, and sometimes in the morning it gets tangled with chain that holds the Cross he wears as a bishop.

He said that when he stands before the bathroom mirror trying to untangle them, he sometimes finds himself chuckling when he understands that both his “earthly mother and spiritual mother are teaching me the basic lesson of life– that it’s far easier to live without knots.”

At the end of Mass, the Bishop invited all those who will be unable to attend Christmas Mass in person to join him in the online Mass on Christmas day. “I look forward to praying with you through this electronic format for this most wonderful and joyful day of the coming into the world of the Savior and Redeemer,” he said.

The Bishop’s Sunday Mass is released online every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and available for replay throughout the day. To view the Bishop’s Sunday Mass, recorded and published weekly, click this link or visit the YouTube Mass Playlist.

For information on the Sunday Family Rosary every Sunday at 7:30 p.m. visit: https://formationreimagined.org/sundayfamilyrosary/

A few days ago, Debbie, my assistant, and I were puzzled with the arrival of a package to my office that listed no sender. Within it was an Advent wreath that had electrically powered candles- something that I had never seen before. After some thought, Debbie suggested that perhaps someone in the Catholic Center ordered it and it was sent to my office by mistake. The explanation seemed logical so I moved on to my other work.

Later that evening, I began preparations for the recording of my next podcast. Suddenly I understood the mystery of the wreath. For in my last podcast, I made mention of an incident a few years ago when I accidentally left the candles of my Advent wreath lit and only be sheer grace, having forgotten my keys, returned to my room to discover the danger. Since then, I keep my Advent wreath unlit- until the arrival of the electric wreath that was sitting in my office! A kind and generous person who listened to my podcast sent me the electric wreath, so that I could once again pray with the light of its candles in safety!

I cannot describe how moved I was when I realized this beautiful act of generosity and kindness given to me. In the face of all the challenges that have become a daily part of leadership, to know that there are persons who care enough to reach out in simple and anonymous ways, to provide support and encouragement, was one of the greatest spiritual gifts I have received in a long time. It powerfully reminded me that simple acts of kindness can revive the spirit and rekindle hope.

To whomever sent me the Advent wreath, I am praying for you, your family and your intentions each day that I light . Thank you for your kindness, generosity and support.

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

My friends, people say “water is life,” and that’s true…but water is also time. Many children and women all around the world spend hours every day just getting water because there’s no access to clean water at home.

A simple water pump or water tank can change all of that. 13-year-old Elisa Niyobyose, pictured in this photo, knows this first hand. Catholic Relief Services worked with members of her community in Rwanda to build a water tank. She said, “I used to spend at least one hour to collect water from the neighboring village. Now it takes me about 15 minutes because this tank is in the center of our village.” Thanks to the water tank, more time for children like Elisa often means more opportunity to do other important things, like her studies. What a difference a simple thing like a water tank can make.

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

Today, the Holy See has published its report on the institutional knowledge and decision-making process related to former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, prepared by the Vatican Secretariat of State by mandate of Pope Francis.

The 460-page report will receive intensive review in the coming days, and I believe, based on the 12-page summary, that it will prove to be another important step forward in the Church’s long struggle to confront the crimes of sexual abuse by clergy including Bishops and Cardinals.

At this time, my thoughts and prayers are first and foremost with all victims and survivors of sexual abuse, especially those who suffered at the hands of the former Cardinal McCarrick. I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering that you and your families have endured.

I also wish to reiterate my fierce and enduring commitment to continue to address this crisis and attack this evil in our midst. Our Diocese is currently implementing the final recommendations from the Independent Accountability Investigation conducted by Judge Robert Holzberg, and I hope to issue an update soon. Early last week, I promulgated a new Safe Environment Handbook, which incorporates the Judge’s recommendations and can be found on the diocesan website: www.bridgeportdiocese.org.

Lastly, I am working with a team of dedicated and faithful survivors of sexual abuse, many of whom I am blessed to call friends, on this year’s Service on Hope and Healing, which I hope to share details on shortly.

We remain committed to Safe Environments through verifiable policies, practices, and oversight that safeguards all children and vulnerable adults. I pledge that we will continue to move forward together in the solidarity of faith, a commitment to absolute accountability and transparency, and in the spirit of hope, and we will renew the Church.

Each week, I look forward to recording my podcast, Let Me Be Frank with Veritas Catholic Network. Recording my podcast has helped reinforce in me an appreciation for how powerful the spoken word can be, which is why I so appreciate how people in the Central African Republic — a country literally in the middle of Africa — use radio as an important way to provide accurate and essential information to stop the spread of COVID-19. Catholic Relief Services, which has been in the Central African Republic since 1999, works with partners and radio programs there to dispel rumors about the disease. In a country where the internet isn’t widely available, radio is one of the best tools for fighting the spread of the virus by providing people with accurate information. It’s a simple and effective way of reaching millions of people, and saving lives.

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

I am most grateful to everyone who took the courageous step to describe many of their personal fears. As you can see, we share many of the same fears. I am most thankful to everyone who took this first step in confronting whatever fears you may have. Now the question is: What is the second step?

Naming our fears unmask their presence and power in our lives. Whatever we are afraid of is brought into the light, where for a brief glimpse we can see it for what it really is. In that brief moment, we know that our fears cannot harm us. However, fear will always try to find its way back into the shadows of our hearts, seeking to reassert its destructive and painful power over us. So, it seems to me that the second step in facing and overcoming fear is to find a trusted friend or guide to whom you or I can sit and, with confidence that we will be taken seriously, discuss the fear that threatens to overwhelm us. Fear is best confronted when we are not alone in trying to conquer it.

Most often a person with whom we will discuss our fears will not have a simple answer that will eliminate them. They may initially have little or no advice to give. Yet, it is their very comforting and reassuring presence, their commitment to be of help and their desire to accompany as we confront our fears is truly a great gift. Their presence can give us the reassurance we need to unmask the reasons for our fears and to explore ways by which we can learn to cope with them, and even overcome them.

Jesus always asked his disciples to go out into mission two by two. When you consider the obstacles a disciple faced and the fears those obstacles created, the Lord was already giving his disciples the first two steps to overcome those fears. My friends, the time has come that we starting opening our hearts with one another and to do the same.

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

Over these past seven months during which we have endured the deadly consequences of the Coronavirus in our midst, each of us has confronted a myriad of personal fears, some greater than others. For my part, I have feared for the health of my family, especially my great-niece and great-nephew- that they escape the clutches of this deadly, invisible invader. I fear for the long term health of our Church that continues to struggle to resume our common, ecclesial life under difficult circumstances. I am afraid that there will be a second wave of the pandemic, possibly condemning tens of thousands of innocent people to suffering and possible death. I also fear the long-term, unknown consequences of the virus in those who were infected and recovered, especially our young people, who now may be carrying a dormant virus that may cause damage in the future, in ways unknown to us, at a time of its choosing.

I have learned in my life that the first step in overcoming my fears is to have the courage to name them. By naming them, one by one, those fears exit the shadows of our lives where they can do the most harm and allows us, with the grace of God and the use of our reason, gifts, and talents, to forge ahead with a personal plan that will prevent those fears from overtaking our lives. Naming our fears also allows us to bring them to the feet of Jesus and to ask for His grace to overcome them.

What are your fears at this moment in your life? I invite you to share them with all who read this posting, so that together we can move ahead with God’s grace to confront and overcome them.

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

My friends, as you know, I have the honor and privilege to serve as the chairman of the Catholic Relief Services board of directors.
 
I am so grateful for this vital work the Church does to assist the poor, both in the United States and overseas. I would like to share with you an example of recently shared with me.
 

Low-income people around the world don’t typically have access to traditional banks, making it difficult to get loans or save money. CRS works side by side with low-income communities to create savings groups using a holistic, microfinance approach that provides a safe place for families to save and borrow to increase their income. It truly makes a difference in people’s lives, like Remy. Her house in the Philippines would sometimes flood up to her waist when there were heavy rains, but after she got a loan through her local CRS savings group, she was able to start a small business selling coconuts. The money she earned allowed her to raise the floor of her house, so now she doesn’t have to worry about flooding. This is the Church’s love in action.

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

My heart is filled with deep gratitude to the Lord and Our Lady as I look back on these last seven years in which I have had the privilege to serve as the Bishop of Bridgeport. Today I celebrate the blessings to to collaborate with wonderful and dedicated priests, a curial staff that is second to none, lay leaders who are faithful, generous and committed to the faith in a Diocese that is rich in beauty and diversity. My ministry continues to be a daily blessing and joy, despite the lingering challenges we continue to face as a Church.

As many of you know, today also would have been my mother’s birthday. If she had lived, mom would have been 88 years old today. It was her care and encouragement that nurtured my vocation to the priesthood. Since her death, I have asked her many times for help during these years and I know that she remains present to me in powerful ways, both in times of challenge and those of joy. I am grateful for her constant love and protection.

Finally, in the Office of Readings, Saint Augustine offers these words of admonition to anyone who holds an office in the Church. As always, he has given me much to reflect upon:

“The day I became a bishop, a burden was laid on my shoulders for which it will be no easy task to render an account. The honors I receive are for me an ever present cause of uneasiness. Indeed, it terrifies me to think that I could take more pleasure in the honor attached to my office, which is where its danger lies, than in your salvation which ought to be its fruit. This is why being set above you fills me with alarm, whereas being with you gives me comfort. Danger lies in the first; salvation in the second.”

BRIDGEPORT–In his weekly online Mass celebrated from the Catholic Center chapel Bishop Frank j. Caggiano said the need to speak the truth may often be seen as judgmental in our society, but if done in love, it can help lead others closer to God.

“In a politically correct world, actions cannot be judged… In the world of faith we give testimony to the truth so that our actions can lead us to heaven,” said the bishop in his Mass for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.

The bishop said we have an obligation to speak the truth to those whose behavior may be sinful, self-destructive, and harming others.

“It’s a lesson the world does not understand, particularly in our contemporary society. Many a person in our midst can’t make the distinction that if I disapprove of what you do, I disapprove of you,” he said, adding that people mistakenly think, “I do not care for you, welcome you, do not love you.”

However “Love demands I speak the truth because I love you and wish to do what is good for you,” he said.

Reflecting on the Gospel of Matthew 18: 15-20, 5 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother,” the bishop said that confronting a person is not rejecting them but trying to save them from behavior that separates them from the fullness of God’s love.

He said that in the second reading of the day (Romans 13:8-10) St. Paul reminds us that we are responsible for loving one another as we walk through the journey of life together.

“Because I wish the good for you, we must always in mercy correct one another when we have made choices that are destructive and sinful.”

In the early Church, followers set up a system of “fraternal correction” so that a person could be guided in love to step aside from actions that can hurt others and ultimately offend God, he said.

“It was created to love them, not to condemn them or judge them but to lead them to Christ,” yet we are often reluctant and “hesitate in our heart of hearts” to say anything.

“How often in our own lives, particularly among those we love, do we not challenge their actions because we do not wish to offend them or we fear they will walk away,” he said. “

The bishop said the gospel reminds us that love demands we speak the truth to those around us so they may find the way to walk toward their promise and destiny in Jesus Christ.

The bishop said that something said to him by one of his Jesuit teachers at Regis High School in Brooklyn has stayed with him his entire life.

“God will never love your sins, but will always love you,” his teacher said.

The bishop said the message is simple and profound. “God being love himself has irrevocably covenanted himself with us. He will always love us who are his temple. He will never walk away from you and I even when our sin offends His majesty and disobeys His will.”

He concluded his homily by noting that when he was serving as pastor at St. Dominic Parish in the Diocese of Brooklyn at the time of the 9/11 attacks, almost overnight a saying immediately came into use and to this day it is written on every subway car in New York City.

“If you see something, say something.”

“The challenge to think about this week is, when we see something in the life of someone we love that is destructive, sinful or leading them into harm, for the sake of love, for the sake of Jesus Christ our savior, are we willing to say something?”

Following Mass the bishop thanked all those who are participating in the online Rosary and the weekly “Conversation about Race,” to root out the sin of racism in the diocese.

Conversations about Race: The webinar series, features talks by teachers and pastoral ministers, began on July 30 will run through September 3. The talks are live-streamed at 1 pm each Thursday and then rebroadcast at 7 pm each evening, with a question and answer sessions moderated by a member of the diocesan ad hoc committee against racism. (To view a recording of previous webinars, visit this page and click “previous webinars: https://formationreimagined.org/events-home/.)

Bishop’s Online Mass: The Bishop’s Sunday Mass is released online every Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and available for replay throughout the day. To view the Bishop’s Sunday Mass, recorded and published weekly, click this link or visit the YouTube Mass Playlist.