Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

As tired as we may be of hearing it, we live in unusual times. And, in these unusual times, the need for the presence of Christ has perhaps never spoken louder to our hearts, as many of us have had limited access to those sure signs and channels of God’s grace, mercy, and presence: the Sacraments. Of course, this limited access is temporary. Many of our parishes have resumed their regular sacramental schedules and, once again, this great gift of God’s very self is held out for us to receive.

But imagine now, for a moment, a world with no priests at all…

St. John Vianney once called the priesthood, “the love of the Heart of Christ.” To be able to be the instrument that draws the divine love, a love stronger even than death itself, out from the Heart of the Good shepherd and pours it out on His people, to make it real in their lives—this is what makes priesthood such a beautiful, powerful, and humbling gift. And since that love knows no limits or bounds, neither does the priesthood.

There is no way around it: we need priests! That is why every diocese in the country has a priest dedicated to promoting priestly vocations and accompanying young men who are discerning if God might be calling them to this heroic life. Here in the Diocese of Bridgeport, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano has instituted a new model for promoting vocations: a vocations team, consisting of myself and Father Abelardo Vasquez working in collaboration with Father Paul Check, rector of St. John Fisher House of Formation. Each man who comes forward to offer His life to Christ as a priest has a unique story. They come from every corner of our diocese and, sometimes, beyond its borders. The call to each heart is so personal that the discernment of that call must be as well. By entrusting this important work to a team of priests, rather than only one individual, our hope is to cast a wide net and to raise up a new generation of priests that reflects all of the best aspects of our small, but diverse, diocese.

Of course, that is not an easy mission. As Jesus left the 99 to search out the one, fostering vocations must take on a missionary attitude. We, too, must “put out into the deep and lower [our] nets for a catch.” (cf. Luke 5:4). God is calling men to the priesthood. He is calling men to lay down their lives as a bridge for His merciful love to flood the world. We must go out, to help these men hear the voice of God whispering in their hearts and, most importantly, accompany them to echo Mary’s fiat to God’s will in their lives.

But the vocations team remains only one piece of the puzzle. There is an old saying: “It takes a village to raise a child.” What is just as true is that it takes a Church to raise a priest. The mission of fostering vocations to the priesthood must be inscribed on the heart of every faithful Catholic in the Diocese of Bridgeport. The creation of a vocations team is a sign of the collaboration that is essential to the success of the mission to ensure the Sacraments are available for our generation and every generation to follow.

The world is changing right before our very eyes but as the book of Lamentations reminds us, “The Lord’s mercies are not exhausted, his compassion is not spent” (Lam 3:22). The Heart of Jesus is crying out for His people, to make His love, His mercy and His presence known to them. Who will give voice to that cry for the next generation?

By Father Chris Ford

WASHINGTON—The Vatican has designated Sunday, September 27 as the World Day for Migrants and Refugees. The theme chosen by Pope Francis for the 106th observance of this day is “Forced like Jesus Christ to Flee” a focus on the plight of internally displaced persons. Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington, and chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration issued the following comment:

“The World Day for Migrants and Refugees is an opportunity to reflect on the global contributions of immigrants and refugees, and highlight the work of the Church to welcome, protect and integrate them. We are reminded that regardless of our background, we are all built in the image of God and should be treated as such. In his message on the World Day for Migrants and Refugees, Pope Francis has highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the forced displacement of people and the difficulties they encounter when seeking protection. This day is an opportunity to unite the world in addressing forced displacement and pray for the well-being of our immigrant and refugee brothers and sisters as we continue to work to bring solidarity, compassion and love throughout our human encounters.

“It is of vital importance for us to embrace love for our neighbor as we love ourselves and live out this commitment daily. Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, also noted in his annual message, ‘To preserve our common home and make it conform more and more to God’s original plan, we must commit ourselves to ensuring international cooperation, global solidarity and local commitment, leaving no one excluded.’”

Bishop Dorsonville will be celebrating a Mass to commemorate the World Day of Migrants and Refugees at St. John Neumann’s Parish on September 27, 2020, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern.  The mass will be live-streamed via St. John Neumanns’ YouTube channel.

For more information on internal displacement as well as educational resources related to the upcoming World Day for Migrants and Refugees, visit USCCB’s Justice for Immigrants website.

BRIDGEPORT—When the pandemic began, The Leadership Institute started hosting virtual prayers as a diocesan family. “Several hundred families continued to gather throughout the summer and were disappointed when we wrapped up our Summer Rosary series,” says Patrick Donovan, director of The Leadership Institute. “This served as a nice compliment to the many wonderful prayer opportunities our parishes were offering.”

Based on the feedback, The Leadership Institute is set to launch the Sunday Family Rosary

beginning in October 2020 and continuing every Sunday at 7:30 pm. Parishes and schools will be asked to invite one family to lead.

Families who wish to sign up to lead are invited to visit www.formationreimagined.org and click the praying hands image at the top of the screen. Once they sign up, families will receive a confirmation email with complete details.

No registration is necessary for families who simply wish to join in prayer each week at 7:30 pm.

(For any questions please email Rosary@diobpt.org.)

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco’s archbishop told hundreds of Catholics gathered near City Hall September 20 that “it is because of our Catholic faith that we are being put at the end of the line” by city officials in enacting what could be the country’s harshest pandemic restrictions on religious worship.

“The city continues to place unrealistic and suffocating restrictions on our natural and constitutional right to worship. This willful discrimination is affecting us all,” said Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone. “Yes, discrimination, because there is no other word for it.”

He made the comments in a homily at a Mass that followed eucharistic processions to a plaza near San Francisco’s City Hall.

On September 13, in a memo to all priests of the archdiocese, Archbishop Cordileone announced that three parishes were organizing eucharistic processions starting at different points and ending up next to City Hall, to be followed by Masses outside the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. He urged all parishes to participate.

More than 1,000 Catholics participated in the archdiocesan “Free the Mass” demonstration.

In his memo, in an op-ed in The Washington Post September 16 and in his homily, the archbishop said Catholics are asking to be treated like anyone else in being able to exercise their right to worship in public at a “level consistent with other activities” in the city, like shopping, protesting and gathering in a public park.

Church leaders have no issue with the faithful being asked to following safety protocols amid the pandemic, he said, and he has reiterated that being asked to adhere to these measures is within the purview of city and health officials, but keeping people from worship is not.

“Months ago, we submitted a safety plan to the city including masks and social distancing, just like indoor retail stores did,” explained in his homily. “The city said yes to indoor retail, but we Catholics are still waiting to hear back.”

Right now, he said, people can shop at Nordstrom’s at 25 percent capacity “but only one of you at a time is allowed to pray inside of this great cathedral, your cathedral? Is this equality? No, there is no reason for this new rule except a desire to put Catholics—to put you—at the back of the line.”

The archbishop made several references to the “back of the line” and “end of the line” in his homily, titled “Going to the End of the Line for the Glory of God.”

He said that Sunday’s Gospel reading from Matthew reminded him of the time he spent as pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Calexico, California, at the U.S.-Mexico border and his morning jog along the border fence.

“There I would see the exact scene Our Lord describes: men standing in the streets, waiting to be hired to work in fields so they could make a day’s wage,” he said. “Like the workers at the Eleventh Hour, these men were at the end of the line: the ones left out and ignored by society, the people barely able to survive.”

One time he gave a ride to the bus station to a man who had entered the country illegally and was trying to get to the next stop to start his new life in the United States. He bought the man a ticket so he could continue on his journey.

“I was aware that I was breaking the law, since it is against the law to provide transportation to an undocumented immigrant,” he continued. “But the highest law is love of God and love of neighbor, and that law has to take precedence over the human-made law of the state when government would ask us to turn our backs on God or our neighbor in need.

“Now in San Francisco, all of us here are being put at the end of the line,” he said. “No matter how rich or poor, no matter whether newly arrived or from families that have been here for many generations, it is our Catholic faith that unites us, and it is because of our Catholic faith that we are being put at the end of the line.”

Archbishop Cordileone noted that amid the pandemic, the work of the Catholic Church of San Francisco has been ongoing, such as Catholic Charities’ outreach to the homeless or and the efforts of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul assisting the needy at the parish level.

He thanked the priests, religious and “the sacrificing lay faithful, for what you are doing to keep the love of Christ alive and visible in these distressing times. This is what it means to go to the end of the line.”

He urged Catholics to remain spiritually grounded during this time by spending at least one hour a week in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and, fasting on Fridays and going to confession frequently.

By Catholic News Services

DANBURY—The tradition of First Holy Communion was celebrated at St. Joseph Church with more than a dozen children receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist.

Students from St. Joseph School and Religious Education classes, along with their families, participated in the Mass on a chilly but sunshine-filled Saturday morning.

“Today is a very special moment and milestone in the lives of our young parishioners,” said pastor, Father Samuel Scott. “We are so mindful of this precious gift of the Eucharist and we recognize what a great joy this is today.”

A total of 38 children prepared to receive the sacrament of Holy Communion in May but those plans were changed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Following the leadership of the Diocese of Bridgeport, the parish decided to hold three separate First Holy Communion Masses to accommodate the students and family members while adhering to social distancing protocols. This was the second group of students to receive the sacrament. A third set of students will receive the sacrament next weekend. The Mass was also live-streamed on the parish website.

All students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation the day before receiving First Holy Communion. Father Scott and Father David Franklin heard confessions from the children the night before the First Holy Communion Mass.

Girls wore a white mask to match their beautiful white dress and boys wore a dark colored mask to match their suit.

During the homily Father Scott said it was important now and throughout life to understand, “Things aren’t always what they appear to be. Sometimes they are more.”

To illustrate his point, Father Scott held up objects that on the surface looked like one thing but upon further inspection were much more. For instance, what looked like a Reader’s Digest book was actually a hollowed-out book meant for keepsakes to be hidden. He also held up a figurine of what looked like a bird but its beak functioned as a bottle opener.

He then held up a cruet with wine and a host of bread explaining that when the priest calls upon the Holy Spirit during Mass, these become, “the Body and Blood of our Savior.”

“A change that is unique but is invisible,” Father Scott said. “You are receiving this as a gift from Christ Jesus. It is the real presence of Jesus. It is invisible but very, very real.”

After the mass, the children received a certificate in addition to a gift bag they received the day before with a handmade Rosary by Our Lady’s Rosary Makers and an instruction booklet on how to pray the Rosary.

“The families were all so happy,” said director of Religious Education, Lynn Smierciak. “You could see their smiling eyes. It’s a joyous occasion despite the restrictions.”

Smierciak said some families opted to wait until next year for their child to receive the sacraments while others were excited to have an opportunity to do so now.

“We’ve been waiting a long time for this,” said Denise Maritato, whose daughter, Giovanna, received her First Holy Communion. “The kids did very well.”

“We are very proud and very happy,” said Margarida Wheeler, whose son Tyler received his First Holy Communion. “This is part of why we go to Saint Joseph’s, for the values. When we had this opportunity, we were very grateful.”

Father Scott said we are all living stones of this spiritual temple.

“There really is no substitute of receiving Christ Jesus. We are so proud of you,” Father Scott said. “We need Jesus every week to strengthen us every week and for a moral compass in our lives. This is not a one-time deal,” he said. “Come every week.”

BRIDGEPORT—We should learn to be grateful for what we have rather than being jealous of others’ talents or possessions, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano said in his homily during his weekly online Mass for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In addition to wounding others, jealousy blinds us to our own gifts and talents, and from feeling gratitude for our own lives, the bishop said.
Reflecting on the Gospel – Matthew 20:1-16 (1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard,”) the bishop said we may hesitate to admit our own jealousy but most of us have it in one form or another.

“It’s a sin and it can be profoundly serious. It harms others and ourselves because it hardens our hearts to what God has given us in our own lives and to the basic spiritual truths we need to come to grips with.”

In the parable, the landowner pays laborers who started working later in the day the same wage as those who began early in the morning.

The bishop said we are often like the laborers in the parable, asking why and failing to understand God’s love for us.

“If the landowner is God our Father, the truth is God gives gifts and talents according to his inscrutable will. They are given differently to each of us—and given to be given away in service of our neighbors.”

Looking back on his student days at Regis High School the bishop said he studied with a brilliant class of young men who seemed to master everything easily. He remembered struggling to improve his English prose skills while many of the students were learning Russian on the weekends as a second language.

Likewise, he said many people are jealous of others good looks or athletic talents, “while we struggle just to make the cut.” We may even be jealous of others who seem to be able to eat anything, while “We can just look at a piece of cake and gain weight.”

The bishop said that being envious of others masks an important spiritual truth.

“There is another deeper lesson at work here. That is, many times you and I are tempted to be jealous of our neighbor and envious of things they own because we have forgotten to be grateful. We spend too much time looking at those around us and not looking into our own lives. You and I are wildly blessed and many times we forget the gifts or take them for granted because they are part of the ordinary or in the fabric of our lives.”

The bishop recalled that as a young man he often disagreed with his father’s decisions and would question them.

“My father said, ‘I don’t have to explain them to you, though I may choose to for your own benefit. You need to trust me,’” the bishop said “The same is true for God our Father, as he gives each of us different gifts.”
At the end of his homily, the bishop issued a spiritual challenge for all to consider during the week.

“Why spend spiritual energy, waste time in comparing ourselves to one to another. It’s a dead end. The challenge is to spend more time celebrating and thanking the landowner for what he has given us. We should be less tempted to worry about what they have, and celebrate what we have… And then respond by giving our talents away. This is how we will learn to love our neighbor.”

In his brief remarks following Mass, the bishop invited all to watch the two-minute 2020 Annual Catholic Appeal (ACA) video and to help others who have been devastated by the pandemic.

“When this entire challenge began 7 months ago, we were hoping it would be over. Sadly it is nowhere near being over,” he said.

The bishop said that the diocese has been able to respond on many levels in recent months but there is more work ahead. “I come to you in this unique moment recognizing that need in our midst in diocese continue to grow,” he said, urging people to be as generous as they can be to help the ACA reach it goal.

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.

BRIDGEPORT—Best-selling author Jim Steffen’s book “The Secret of Growing True Love That Lasts,” found its way into Bishop Frank J. Caggiano’s hands…and then the pope’s!

When Steffen heard that Bishop Caggiano was on the USCCB committee on laity, marriage, family life and youth, he knew that “True Love That Lasts” was something the bishop would truly appreciate.

“In their book, Jim and Carol Steffen outline a very simple recipe for a strong and healthy marriage, said Bishop Caggiano. “By asking just one question a day, husbands and wives can work together to build a relationship that endures. I invite couples of all ages and experience to take up Jim and Carol’s challenge of growing true love that lasts.”

Steffen’s new book is the culmination of the author’s sixty-year quest to understand how couples can stay together and enjoy marriages that thrive. “The problem has a dual nature,” Steffen says, “the first is to discover what to do to grow true love that lasts and the other is remembering to do it.” In the book, Steffen offers a solution to both.

The book provides practical tips for couples to follow and simple questions to ask each day. The included habit builder solves the second part of the equation. With his background in time management, Steffen uses what he calls the QEP method: Quickto-learn, Easy-to-use, Proven-towork Method. The book is told as a story— following John and Maria on their romantic journey as they discover how to grow true love that lasts by asking just a single question a day. “I took the idea [for a story format] from Jesus Himself,” explains Jim. “Jesus did some of His best teaching in the form of a story and I wanted this to be a story that people could hang onto.”

In 2016, Pope Francis expressed his concern over the decreasing desire in young people for marriage. He explained that this is a great concern because the family is the basis of society. This issue is what Jim and Carol Steffen address in “True Love That Lasts.” “What can we do to make the family happier so that young people will want to get married?” Jim asks.

Jim Steffen has been working closely with Dr. Patrick Donovan, director of the diocesan Leadership Institute, in order to create a video series on True Love that Lasts.

“This movement is unique in so far as there is no diocese that has such an effort,” says Donovan, explaining that this is not just a premarital program but a program of continuing formation.

On June 25, 2020, The Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization released a new Directory for Catechesis, providing guidelines for the Church’s mission of proclaiming the Gospel through catechesis and evangelization. The timing of Steffen’s book and video series could not be better, Donovan added.

“In the new directory, Pope Francis challenges us to ‘make use of the valuable help of other couples with long-standing experience in marriage,’” Donovan says, quoting the New Directory. “The document goes so far as to challenge parishes and dioceses to lose the terminology, ‘marriage prep’ because it undermines the true meaning of marriage formation: an ongoing journey that takes a lifetime. What Jim and Carol have done is to take their own story and put it at the disposal of others. It will be a perfect tiein to our renewed formation for the sacrament of marriage, which launches in early September.”

The goal of the video series is to show people that the True Love That Lasts movement is both research based and practical.

Steffen explains that one can either follow along with the book as they watch the series, or use it to add something new, exciting and useful to their current understanding of relationships. He is most looking forward to being able to tell stories and share insights that wouldn’t have been able to fit in the book. “True Love That Lasts is not just for married couples,” says Steffen, “the principles can be applied to any and all relationships.”

(For more information on the True Love That Lasts video series visit formationreimagined.org; to purchase the book and accompanying materials, visit: truelovethatlasts.us.)

BRIDGEPORT—The 2020 Catholic Scout Awards Ceremony for the Diocese of Bridgeport will be held this evening tonight, Friday September 18, at St. Aloysius Parish in New Canaan. Because of Covid-19 restrictions, the gathering is by invitation only.

The ceremony will begin with a Scouts’ Color Guard and Pledge of Allegiance followed by their scouting promises and oaths.

Father Robert Kinnally, Diocesan Scouting Chaplain and Pastor of St. Aloysius Parish, will bless and award the Scouting Medals to young scouts throughout the diocese.

Awards to be distributed include Light of Christ, Ad Altare Dei (To the Altar of God), Parvuli Dei (Children of God), the Pope Pius XI Award, and the Pope Paul VI National Catholic Unit Excellence Award.

Photos by Chris Otis

Click here to view the live stream.

BRIDGEPORT—As the culmination of seven weeks of the well-received webinar series “Conversations About Race” hosted by The Leadership Institute, the diocesan Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism and the Apostolate for Black Catholics, last night’s “Conversations About the Conversations” brought about a lot of important discussions.

The two panelists were Janie Nneji a member of St. Mary Parish in Ridgefield and Father Reggie Norman, pastor of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Wilton and episcopal vicar for Black Catholics in the diocese. “I have been intensely interested in what the Church can do to heal the racial divide,” explained Nneji, who has piloted a study in her parish using Bishop Braxton’s 2015 pastoral letter, along with books and videos in order to facilitate a conversation and work toward healing.

“This is my third or fourth job,” explained Father Reggie of his role as the episcopal vicar for Black Catholics in the diocese, “but it was the one that I find the most passion in.”

Panelists began the webinar discussing highlights of the seven-week series, what moved them, change them and challenged them. Listeners were then invited to ask questions or begin discussions in the chat.

Patrick Donovan, director of The Leadership Institute shared that one of the things that was most eye-opening for him was when Gloria Purvis used the phrase “we can walk and chew gum,” referring to the fact that just because we say that Black lives matter doesn’t mean that white lives don’t and just because we say that racism in a pro-life issue doesn’t mean that we feel any less strongly about other pro-life issues. “I had never thought about it so simply,” shared Donovan.

Nneji shared that she was shocked to hear that some people had never heard it said that racism was a sin, and that racism was a life issue and contrary to the Word of God. “To me it was very important that I am also involved in many pro-life circles and have bemoaned the fact that it is not always as womb to tomb as I would like it to be,” shared Nneji.

Panelists enjoyed how both Chatelain and Villalobos discussed how to have a conversation and how it is important to listen to others’ stories when beginning to engage with others on these difficult topics and to find common ground. “I think that was an effective tool in having a conversation,” said Nneji.

“I thought the series was excellent. As a Black Catholic, having gone back and read some of the Bishop’s pastoral statements and my disappointment is that the Church has gone to battle over many different issues and I don’t think they have raised the racism issue up to the level of concern and dedication of resources to which they should,” shared Nneji. “But I think having the conversations was a good start,” she said.

Father Reggie said that Armando Cervantes’ conversation on multicultural voices allowed listeners to see the issue of racism as a bigger picture, and to recognize other cultures that are struggling as well.

“As a Black man I’m tired of talking about this. I talk about this all day every day and sometimes it’s very frustrating because no matter how much you talk some people are just not going to get it,” explained Father Reggie, sharing that Gloria Purvis’ discussion gave him a new perspective and approach and inspired him to speak up in areas where he might not have before.

Father Reggie encouraged listeners to work with their pastors and show them the way that they wish to learn more about certain issues. “You are the Church, if you can get some people together and do it that is a start,” he said.

Panelists discussed how important it is to make sure that parishioners of color feel welcome enough to continue coming to church. “The reality is that none of us own the Church, it’s God’s Church we are just temporary stewards of it and we should be welcoming and let anyone in who wants to celebrate God. We contradict ourselves when we say our doors are open but want to limit who comes through.”

“We need to make sure our parishes are places of acceptance and healing and preaching and teaching and all of those things,” said Donovan.

“The Church is not a sanctuary for Saints it is a hospital for sinners,” shared Father Reggie, explaining that that’s something we all need to work on recognizing as a Church.

Panelists discussed that the diocesan Ad Hoc Committee Against Racism is currently working on developing anti-racism training for diocesan staff as well as within the parishes, as well as plans for Black Catholic History Month in November.

(To watch all the webinars from the Conversations About Race series and for a growing list of resources visit www.formationreimagined.org.)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Human beings must change their relationship with nature and view it not as an “object for unscrupulous use and abuse” but as a gift they are charged by God to care for and protect, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis greets the crowd as he arrives for his general audience in the San Damaso courtyard at the Vatican Sept. 16, 2020. (CNS photo/Yara Nardi, Reuters)

People are called to contemplate creation as a reflection of “God’s infinite wisdom and goodness” and not act as if people are the “center of everything” and the “absolute rulers of all other creatures,” the pope said Sept. 16 during his weekly general audience.

“Exploiting creation — this is sin,” he said. “We believe that we are at the center, claiming to occupy God’s place and thus we ruin the harmony of creation, the harmony of God’s design. We become predators, forgetting our vocation as guardians of life.”

The audience was held in the San Damaso courtyard of the Apostolic Palace. While the pope maintained his distance when greeting most of the faithful, he approached several pilgrims to sign autographs, speak directly to them or briefly swap his signature zucchetto for one brought as a gift.

Continuing his series of talks on “healing the world,” the pope reflected on the theme of “caring for the common home and contemplative attitude.”

Contemplation, he said, is the best “antidote against the disease of not taking care of the common home” and falling “into an unbalanced and arrogant anthropocentrism,” in which humans place themselves and their needs “at the center of everything.”

“It is important to recover the contemplative dimension, that is, to look at the earth, at creation as a gift, not as something to be exploited for profit,” the pope said. “When we contemplate, we discover in others and in nature something much greater than their usefulness.”

Departing from his prepared remarks, the pope warned that those who are incapable of contemplating nature and creation, are often incapable of contemplating their fellow human beings.

“Those who live to exploit nature, end up exploiting people and treating them like slaves,” the pope said. “This is a universal law: if you do not know how to contemplate nature, it will be very difficult for you to contemplate people, the beauty of people, your brother, your sister.”

Recalling a Spanish proverb, the pope also cautioned that exploiting creation brings costly consequences because “God always forgives; we forgive sometimes; (but) nature never forgives.”

Citing a recent report that the Pine Island and Thwates glaciers in Antarctica are collapsing due to global warming, Pope Francis said the consequential rising sea levels “will be terrible,” and he called on people to “guard the inheritance God has entrusted to us so that future generations can enjoy it.”

“Each one of us can and must become a guardian of the common home, capable of praising God for his creatures (by) contemplating them and protecting them,” the pope said.

By Junno Arocho Esteves from catholicnews.com

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis reminded elderly and ill priests that they need not be afraid of suffering because Christ is always there to help them carry that cross.

With God’s grace, their situation, which was made even more difficult and risky because of the COVID-19 pandemic and strict protocols for containing its spread, can be “an experience of purification,” he said.

For priests, fragility can be like a fire that refines and soap that purifies, and which, “raising us up to God, refines and sanctifies us,” he said.

“We are not afraid of suffering; the Lord carries the cross with us,” he said.

The pope’s message was sent to priests taking part in an annual day of prayer and fraternity for elderly and sick clergy Sept. 17 in Italy’s northern Lombardy region — the region that had been hit hardest by coronavirus infections and deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vatican released the message the same day.

Over the past several months, the pope said, “we have all experienced restrictions. Days spent in confined spaces seemed endless and always the same.”

“We have missed the affection of those dearest to us and of friends; the fear of infection has reminded us of our precariousness,” and, he added, it has also given people an idea of what many elderly people experience every day.

Pope Francis said he hoped this period would help everyone understand how “it is necessary not to waste the time that is given to us; that it will help us to enjoy the beauty of encountering others, to heal from the virus of self-sufficiency.”

He said he was pleased the group could travel with their bishops to the town of Caravaggio and pray at the city’s Marian sanctuary.

He thanked them for their faithful and silent witness, and their love for God and the church.

By Carol Glatz | Catholic News Service

SAN ANTONIO (CNS) — Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller of San Antonio said that “we do not know exactly what God has in store for us,” but he hopes that while “we wait and work” for this COVID-19 crisis to be over, it will not “just be an episode in history from which we recovered.”

Instead, it must be “a turning point that we embraced allowing God to heal and transform each one of us, our archdiocese and the whole world into something better,” he said before promulgating a new pastoral during a Mass at San Fernando Cathedral Sept. 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

The pastoral, which is in English and Spanish, is titled “Transformed by Hope, Let Us Rebuild Our Tomorrow!” and addressed to all the people of the Archdiocese of San Antonio.

“In this challenging time, we ask the Holy Spirit to grant us freedom in spirit, in order to loosen ties and hold-backs that prevent our souls from flying toward the divine,” he said before signing the pastoral at the Mass, attended by ministry representatives from various institutions — primarily educational entities — in the archdiocese.

“We pray humbly and constantly for the virtue of fortitude, a gift of the Holy Spirit that is rooted in trust,” Archbishop García-Siller he said.

Copies of the pastoral letter will be distributed to parishes of the archdiocese as well as Catholic schools. It also is available on the archdiocesan website, www.archsa.org, and on archdiocesan social media outlets.

The 38-page document states: “Ignited by the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts, let us dive into the dynamics of the current times! Let us come in closer spiritual contact with God and with one another!

“Let us recognize and caress the face of the Lord — whom we adore — in the flesh of every suffering brother or sister. And may our perception, thoughts, feelings and actions become a channel of God’s love for his children. Ven, Holy Spirit, Ven!”

Archbishop García-Siller in the pastoral said that so many have suffered in numerous ways due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have lost their lives, millions have suffered from the illness or have lost dear ones. Countless more are currently undergoing financial turmoil, necessary seclusion or find themselves facing varied causes of seemingly unbearable distress,” he said.

The archbishop said he was “particularly heartbroken” by how the pandemic has exacerbated the “neglect and abandonment” experienced by the marginalized in society, those who are looked on “with indifference or disdain,” who lack access to health care, food and shelter and have other hardships — all of which has been made worse by the pandemic.

As the scientific community works on a C OVID vaccine, “we must also cure a larger virus, that of social injustice, inequality of opportunity, marginalization and the lack of protection for the weakest,” he said quoting Pope Francis from his Aug. 19 general audience.

More than ever immigrants “are being treated in less than human ways in many dimensions of our social life, including the legal system,” he said, and “some ethnic groups are suffering more than others.”

“Unequal opportunities and services, stereotypes and prejudices, still tremendously affect the way African American communities are generally treated, as opposed to most people of Western European descent,” he continued. “The same can be said about Native American groups, Hispanics and others.”

During this time, he said, an increased number of people of East Asian and Pacific Island heritage, “have been mocked, bullied and assaulted.”

The “tremendous recession” caused by the pandemic “has caused further exposed grave deficiencies in our economic system,” leading more low-income people and the middle class to struggle financially, while the rich get richer, he said.

He expressed concern the pandemic and the suffering it has caused have led some to promote “the business of abortion and euthanasia,” with the latter being used to deprive the elderly and the terminally ill of the natural end to their pilgrimage due to a lost sense of the meaning of life in their suffering, and because their treatments are considered too costly by people who care more about their own profit.”

Archbishop García-Siller also called it scandalous some use fetal cell lines taken from aborted babies for research purposes, including trying to develop a COVID vaccine.

He pointed to other important problems drawing attention during the last few months, including the “brutality of some police officers and its frequent connection with racism.”

“Legitimate indignation has triggered demonstrations, which have been infiltrated by violent agitators and ideological agendas. In addition to that, we have witnessed the desecration and destruction of religious and historic symbols,” he added.

“In one way or another the pandemic is affecting the whole world. … There are undoubtedly some very unique challenges,” he said.

“We are all called to share each other’s burdens as well as their joys. ‘We are in this together’ is a common hope expressed these days,” he added.

During this time “not only is God’s grace readily available for us … but perhaps the circumstances to which the pandemic is forcing us can be used as opportunities to get to know ourselves, God and the people around us better, in new and different ways, as we grow spiritually,” he said.

“It is a paradox that now that many people cannot go out, we can make a trip inside ourselves,” he added.

“As we strive to look ahead full of trust and hope, let us turn our hearts and our minds to Mary,” Archbishop García-Siller said. Quoting the pope, he added: “Our Lady is the star that guides us.”

By | Catholic News Service

Many of us remember the atrocities committed in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, in October of 2006, when Charles Roberts, the driver of a milk truck, took out his anger and frustration on defenseless victims. Along with the world, we watched with horror, and then, the most amazing thing happened. The Amish Community decided to forgive the perpetrator, forgoing retribution. They made the communal commitment to forgive, to view Roberts as a fellow human being, to the point of attending his funeral and embracing his mother. How was this possible, we all wondered? What was it about the Amish that they could even think of forgiveness, when their world had been shattered, their community torn asunder by the violence?

Steven Nolt, a professor who interviewed members of the Amish Community, wrote an article the year following the tragedy, in which he emphasized that the process of forgiving had not been arrived at emotionally…how could it have been? Rather, it was a decision, one grounded in the community’s belief that God expected them to forgive. They made the decision to forgive…choosing to live their way out of natural feelings of bitterness and revenge into new feelings of mercy and compassion. All this living into was a communal effort, not one left to the families of the victims alone. Professor Nolt concludes with this sentence: “The Amish remind us that forgiveness is possible, that it is both a short-term act and a long-term process. And that both are more likely in the company of others.”

We all live through the benefit of God’s forgiveness, and if we do not forgive the other, we lose that benefit. Not that God removes it from us, but that we become blind to the reality that ours is the God of seventy-seventh chances, as our Gospel says today. God keeps providing opportunities for us to remember that Jesus wasn’t kidding when he pronounced in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us.”

By: Dr. Eleanor Sauers Ph.D.

Parish Life Coordinator, St. Anthony Parish

TRUMBULL—St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Trumbull launched a new Pastoral Year on September 12 & 13 on a picture-perfect weekend. Father Joseph Marcello, pastor, Deacon Patrick Toole, and St. Catherine of Siena Parish staff were joined once again by the parish’s Welcome Team for our 4th annual kickoff weekend.

Masses were as full as state guidelines allow. Everyone could easily see by the smiles under every mask that friends were happy to see each other. Christ is alive and at work in our community!  Even though it’s an unsettled time for all of us, it’s going to be a great pastoral year at St. Catherine’s!

Do you know someone who is looking for a spiritual home? Invite them to come see what St. Catherine’s is all about.

The Parish of Saint Catherine of Siena warmly welcomes anyone who is new to our area, anyone who is searching for the truth, or anyone who is looking for a spiritual home. We are joyfully and faithfully Roman Catholic in belief and practice – a community of faith, worship, service, and formation – and with open hearts we invite all our brothers and sisters into a living and saving friendship with the Lord Jesus Christ, in the communion of His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.  We are conveniently located at 220 Shelton Road in the Nichols area of Trumbull.

(To view all photos from the event, visit: www.flickr.com/photos/stcathtrumbull/albums/72157715959120018.)