Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

ROME—Virtually everyone taking part in the Oct. 3-28 Synod of Bishops on young people has said that the presence of more than 30 young delegates inside the hall has altered the chemistry – it’s looser, more informal, more pumped-up, and above all, more raucous.

The young people, participants say, let you know immediately which speeches they like by cheering, applauding, even hooting like a studio audience at the filming of an American reality TV show.

Back in the day, such behavior would have been frowned upon, if not actively discouraged. In previous synods, officials have sometimes reprimanded participants for applause, considering it indecorous and unfair to those who don’t get it. This time around, however, such restraint has basically gone out the window, making audience reaction one useful gauge for which messages really resonate.

By that standard, one topic above all stands out, which may be no surprise given that synods are always an education in the realities of the global Church: Anti-Christian persecution.

The two most sustained ovations so far have been for an Iraqi youth and an Indian archbishop, both of whom recounted direct stories of suffering and persecution on account of the faith in the 21^st century.

Safa Al Alqoshy, a Chaldean Catholic from Baghdad, spoke during the synod’s second week, describing the suffering of Christians in his country at the hands of the Islamic State and other forms of jihadi radicalism.

“It’s very important to pay attention that there is not only persecution by killing, there is a persecution by psychology, by feelings. You feel that you are alone, that you are not supported,” he said in an interview with Crux shortly after his speech on the synod floor.

Last Thursday, Archbishop John Barwa of Cuttack-Bhubaneswa described the horrors of an anti-Christian pogrom that unfolded in the district of Kandhamal in 2008, which left more than 100 people dead.

He told the story of Rajesh Digal, a young catechist who was murdered by Hindu fundamentalists on Aug. 26, 2008. The mob tried to force Digal to convert, Barwa said, and, when he was buried in mud up to his neck, asked if he’d give up Jesus Christ.

“He closed his eyes, looked up at him and said ‘No!’ And the man dumped the stone on his head,” Barwa said. “He silently gave witness of the God of life. And this is only one story. There are so many powerful stories of faith.”

Barwa also spoke to Crux in an interview shortly after his talk on the synod floor. A member of India’s long-oppressed Tribal minority, Barwa’s own niece, a Catholic nun, was gang-raped during the violence.

What do we make of the fact that these are the two speeches so far that seemed to stir people and generate the loudest expressions of solidarity and appreciation?

First, that in this sense the Synod of Bishops probably is akin to any other random collection of people these days, in that what I once called the “global war on Christians” remains not only the most dramatic Christian story of our time, but the most untold.

In the wake of ISIS in Iraq and Syria, the idea of Christians as victims of persecution there has become depressingly familiar. However, the unawareness of the global scale of the scourge is likely what made Barwa’s account from India so compelling – despite the fact that, statistically speaking, India is among the most dangerous places on earth to be a Christian these days, with an average of one physical assault every other day.

Overall, the low-end estimate for the number of new Christian martyrs every year in the early 21^st century is about 7,000 to 8,000, while the high end is close to 100,000. (Precision is notoriously elusive due to the difficulty of obtaining counts in conflict zones, and also debate over what counts as “anti-Christian” violence.)

Either way, that works to one new martyr every hour or one every five minutes. Even aside from Christian concern, that’s a human rights crisis of staggering proportions.

If ignorance is the bad news, here’s the good: Once people become aware of what’s happening, they want to help.

Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, for instance, one of the American prelates taking part in the synod, said that he was inspired to think about ways in which his fairly affluent diocese could help – perhaps by twinning relationships with parishes in parts of the world where Christians are targets, for instance, or opportunities to involve his young people in direct service projects for suffering churches.

That’s just one bishop’s response, but it suggests a broader movement of hearts and minds in the synod in response to the stories of the new martyrs of the day.

Finally, these stories are also a sobering reminder for the synod against becoming exclusively bogged down with the problems of affluence, meaning the sorts of debates that are a luxury churches facing more existential threats can’t afford.

Such perspective is part of the price of admission for membership in a global Church – one in which, though you’d often never realize it from media coverage or professional society meetings, the affluent West represents an ever-shrinking share.

BROOKFIELD—Teacher Sarah Beck sits at a table in her classroom at St. Joseph’s with a handful of fifth—and sixth-graders, discussing subjects and predicates.

But across the room, other students are focused on different tasks. Some draw plot diagrams on their Chromebooks, while other students write personal narratives, making notes on their white board table top.

A girl decorates a banner on C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” and a boy uses his Chromebook while sitting on the ground on a pad—one of the new flexible seating options at the school.

These stations are a key part of St. Joseph’s new model, which focuses on personalized learning and grouping together students from multiple grades.

Teachers and students said they love it.

“The children are just remarkably embracing all of it,” said Mary Maloney, interim head of school and president of Immaculate High School.

Bishop Frank Caggiano implemented the new model, which is used in some other Catholic schools in the state, to save the school from closure. Along with the new paradigm, the school’s was renamed St. Joseph’s Catholic Academy.

Like other Catholic schools, St. Joseph’s has suffered from rising debt and shrinking enrollment. The school went from 170 students in 2016-17 to 150 students in 2017-18, making a traditional teaching model unsustainable.

This year, there are 102 students, but the model is flexible, so that number works.

Benefactors helped pay for new technology, flexible seating and more to make the program affordable. Fewer teachers are needed, as well.

Teachers worked over the summer to rewrite curriculum and learn the new model. Consultants also visit the school each week to help teachers hone their craft.

Unlike in traditional classrooms, multiple grades are grouped together in “bands.” The school has pre-kindergarten, kindergarten through second grade, third and fourth grade, fifth and sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade bands.

This has made class sizes larger, with the average band having 20 students. In comparison, last year’s second grade had four students.

“It’s better for socialization,” said Beck, who is in her third year teaching at St. Joseph’s.

She said her fifth and sixth graders immediately adjusted to the bands.

“This fifth through sixth group was made to be together,” Beck said.

The older students in the band are also seen as leaders, and the eighth-graders have “buddies” in the kindergarten through second grade band.

“The students are just embracing it,” Maloney said. “They love the idea of being able to help the younger ones.”

This has spilled outside the classroom, too, said Pam Fallon, the school’s director and the English language arts teacher for seventh and eighth grade. She said some older students have volunteered to help the pre-kindergarteners at parent drop-off time.

“It really extends our sense of discipleship,” Fallon said.

The students often do work on their Chromebooks using a software called Edmentum that tracks their progress and allows teachers and students to better see kids’ strengths and weaknesses.

The staff stressed this technology is not a replacement for the teachers, but an extra tool to tailor learning to particular students.

Fallon said the data was a big hit with parents at recent conferences with teachers.

“There was a lot of excitement that the parents actually had a chance to see, in black and white, their students’ skill profiles, where they were hitting those student proficiency outcomes and where there may be some gaps,” she said.

The Edmentum software is interactive, fun and allows students to review material they did not understand.

“It lets everyone learn on their own levels and pace,” seventh-grader Abby Cristaudo said.

Seventh-grader Sonny Williams said he has practiced many different subject through Edmentum.

“The sky is the limit,” he said. “You could work on it all day, all night if you wanted. It’s basically a teacher sitting on your shoulder all the time.”

By Julia Perkins | News Times

VATICAN CITY—The point of the Synod of Bishops on young people is not primarily to produce a document, but instead is to learn from Christ how to “bring God’s mercy into the world,” Bishop Frank J. Caggiano of Bridgeport, Connecticut, said in a homily at the synod.

“We have come to sit at the feet of the ‘Divine Physician’ and learn from him how to become physicians of broken hearts, among youth, young adults, and all God’s people,” the bishop said October 18.

Each day a different bishop is chosen to give a homily during midmorning prayer at the synod. Speaking on the feast of Saint Luke, Bishop Caggiano began by asking, “How can one heal a broken heart?”

“It is a question that no disciple of the Lord can avoid asking, since it was to heal broken hearts that our savior came among us,” he said.

The young physician, Luke, was among the many doctors who sought to “remedy the brokenness of life” with their own skills and tools. But he learned that there was a better way to heal after the Holy Spirit inspired him: He unlocked the power of divine mercy, the bishop said.

God’s mercy offered through the life and death of Jesus healed “hearts burdened by the frailty of disease and old age, hearts that struggle with doubts and fears, hearts that question whether I am either lovable or will ever be loved by anyone,” he said.

“My friends, we cannot truly heal anyone on our own,” Bishop Caggiano told synod members. “Only Christ brings authentic and lasting healing. Luke understood this and lived his life serving as a simple channel of Christ’s mercy.”

St. Luke also “gave voice to the poor, the Samaritan, the prodigal son and the women forgotten by society” in a world that had grown blind to the needs of the helpless, he said.

“His Gospel compels us to walk into the shadows of our modern world and become channels of Christ’s mercy for those whom the world has left behind,” Bishop Caggiano said.

“Let us bring God’s mercy into the world, one broken heart at a time.”

By Anne Condodina | Catholic News Service

FAIRFIELD—Words of gratitude and humility set the tone for the dedication of the newly renamed Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality on Thursday, September 27, as a wall plaque was blessed and a specially commissioned oil portrait was unveiled. The painting bears the likenesses of the parents of University Trustee Robert J. Murphy Jr. ’71, Robert J. and Elizabeth K. Murphy, for whom the Center has been named.

As the final rays of sun warmed the late-September evening, Bob Murphy addressed those gathered in front of the picturesque stone façade of Dolan House on the northeast corner of Fairfield’s campus, “It’s an honor to be joined by family, lifelong college friends, professional colleagues and Jesuit mentors who have gently lived and taught by powerful example what the spiritual message of St. Ignatius really means.”

Murphy recently pledged $3 million to the center, as well as a gift of $500,000 to support its ongoing operating expenses, ensuring that for generations to come, Fairfield University will continue to offer the transformational experience of Ignatian discernment to all Fairfield community members and those from the Diocese of Bridgeport who seek to deepen their relationship with God.

“In grateful recognition of these foundational and sustaining gifts, and in gratitude to Bob for his profound personal commitment to the mission of the center, Fairfield University respectfully dedicates this center to the enduring memory of Bob’s parents,” announced Rev. Gerald Blaszczak, S.J., director of the center and vice president for Mission and Identity. “May the Murphy Center serve as an enduring tribute to them, and be for this University, our diocese, and the surrounding community a lasting resource for our growth as women and men of faith, and as collaborators in bringing God’s Kingdom of reconciliation and hope, of justice and of peace.”

While Murphy said that his parents never formally took part in the exercises or actively practiced Ignatian spirituality, he reflected that the lives his parents lived and the lessons they taught their eight children were an early introduction to the Ignatian way, which has been a part of their family dating back to at least the mid-nineteenth century.

“Fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, uncles, cousins and in-laws across three different centuries have attended Jesuit institutions and passed on the unique lessons of that common experience,” Murphy noted.

Describing his own journey through the full 19^th annotation of the Ignatian spiritual exercises as “the most profound experience in my adult life,” Murphy expressed hope that his gift will grant succeeding generations of Fairfield students early and ongoing access to this life-changing opportunity. He stressed the necessity of equipping graduates with the strength of character and firmness of faith to navigate the increasingly complex world in which we find ourselves.

Murphy also pointed out that the dwindling number of Jesuits combined with other contemporary challenges faced by all private institutions of higher learning creates a responsibility to maintain and grow a sustainable model for the University. “I firmly believe that in the success of continuing to make Ignatian spiritual development synonymous with what it means to be Fairfield, we will endow a long and solid future for this institution.”

President Nemec agreed, offering his personal heartfelt thanks to Fr. Gerry Blaszczak for his leadership of the center and Bob Murphy for his extraordinary generosity noting, “The Murphy Center for Ignatian Spirituality embodies all our commitments as a modern, Jesuit Catholic university and reflects our pursuit of truth grounded in faith and reason.”

REDDING—On October 12-14, hundreds of Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and their families from the Connecticut Yankee Council’s Pomperaug District converged on the John Sherman Hoyt Scout Reservation in Redding, CT for a weekend of fun and learning. Scouts camped & cooked in the woods, learned essential survival and safety skills, all while getting to know more about the BSA’s High Adventure destinations in the United States.

One Troop, however, believed there was a key piece missing from the weekend’s packed agenda: Catholic Mass. Troop 68 Committee Member Ben Strong resolved to provide the missing piece not just for this fall’s camporee, but also for each of the main camping events this year. The CT Yankee Council plans and organizes three camporees annually: a Fall Camporee in October, a Spring Camporee in May, and the annual favorite Klondike Derby in January.

Strong reached out to St. Patrick’s Parish in Redding to see if a priest would be available and willing to meet the scouts in the woods, where they are.  What he found was a most enthusiastic reply.  Father Joseph Cervero celebrated Mass on Saturday evening, with more than 35 people in attendance: Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and their families.  Dylan Dos Santos and Nick Strong of Trumbull’s Pack 468 and Sean Murphy of Trumbull’s Troop 68 provided the readings.

In his Homily on Saturday, Father Cervero reminded the scouts that the central values of our Catholic faith mirror those of the Scout Oath and Scout Law: to put God before all things and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

Also in attendance, were Sean and Kevin Murphy, great-nephews of Father John Conlisk, who was Pastor of St. Patrick’s from 1977 to 1989. Prior to Father Conlisk’s service, St. Patrick’s was a mission church of St. Mary in Bethel then of Sacred Heart in Georgetown.

BSA Troop 68 is chartered by Father Brian Gannon of St. Theresa Parish in Trumbull CT. It is the only BSA Troop in Trumbull chartered by a Catholic Church, and is very proud of their Catholic association.

BRIDGEPORT—Those who read the four Gospels and understand the power of the messages each Gospel carries has the opportunity to grow more deeply in faith. There is, according to the late Benedictine monk, Fr. Bargil Pixner, a fifth Gospel. Whereas the first four record the life of Jesus, the fifth invites you to walk in Jesus’ footsteps.

In March 2019, The Leadership Institute invites those between 19 and 35 to visit this “fifth Gospel” and travel to the Holy Land to study Sacred Scriptures and the life of our Lord and Savior. Beginning in Bethlehem and ending in Jerusalem, the pilgrimage will follow the life of Christ chronologically. The trip will also include a boat ride across the Sea of Galilee, a visit to the Mount of Beatitudes, and day in Capernaum, where Jesus taught and performed many signs of wonder.

“Pilgrims will celebrate Mass together each day, take turns leading reflections, and participate in classes that assist in their faith development,” said Bishop Caggiano, who led the 2018 pilgrimage in January. “This year’s pilgrimage falls during Lent and I cannot imagine a more powerful place to contemplate our Lord’s death and resurrection than the Holy Land.”

“My own pilgrimage experience was a powerful week of reflection, prayer and spiritual growth,” said Grace Shay, who participated in the 2018 pilgrimage and will help guide the 2019 pilgrims on their journey. “There is something very special about traveling with others who are energized on the trip, but also working to navigate what it means to be a faithful disciple back home.”

Shay’s desire to grow in her faith was one of the reasons she took part in the inaugural pilgrimage. “There is no better way to continue our Catholic education and explore the foundations of our Catholic identity than by traveling to the source of our faith.”

Another one of the original pilgrims, Marcelle Morrisey, agreed. “We were in the same spot, physically and mentally, that the disciples were in. They had to figure out what they were going to do next. They had to muster up the courage to step out and be the witnesses they were called to be, which is exactly what my fellow pilgrims and I were called to do after what we experienced on our trip.”

Looking ahead, Shay hopes that other young adults will join the 2019 journey. “This is a chance for a personal encounter with the Lord,” Shay said. “Challenge yourself to grow more deeply in your faith in the place where it all began. Feel the breeze of the Sea of Galilee, read the Gospels among the olive trees and attend Mass in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre—and risk having your life turned upside down.”

Patrick Donovan, executive director of The Leadership Institute, will lead the 2019 pilgrimage, which will take place from March 21-30, 2019. “The cost is $3200 per person,” Donovan said, “which includes just about everything pilgrims will need.” Some scholarship money is available, and the complete registration process and scholarship information can be found on the Institute’s website, www.formationreimagined.org.

“Many of those who traveled with the bishop last year still get together to pray and study,” Donovan said, “Those who were friends before we left have only grown stronger and those who were strangers when we departed quickly became friends. One of the beautiful things about pilgrimages is the lasting impact the journey has on those who participate. I anticipate that will be no different this year. In fact, post-pilgrimage meetings are built into our schedule.”

“The bishop invites those that fall in this target age to consider joining the pilgrimage. Because of the timing, the key audience is likely to be those who are out of school and in the workforce,” Donovan said. “I know it is a sacrifice to miss work or to try to arrange to be away from school. But the benefits far outweigh the costs. To wake up each day and find yourself walking in the footsteps of Jesus is a powerful antidote to the busyness in which we so often find ourselves.”

To learn more about the journey or how you can help sponsor participants, please email institute@diobpt.org.

To sign up and learn more, click here.

VATICAN CITY—“Other than faith,” Bishop Frank Caggiano reminisced, “the gifts of how I was raised and who I was raised by are the greatest gifts I have ever received in my life.”

“The most inspiring people in my life were my two parents, without a doubt,” Caggiano added. “Without a doubt.”

Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport, Connecticut, is a delegate to the 2018 Synod of Bishops, discussing young people, the faith, and vocational discernment. He told CNA that his own youth was shaped by the lessons of his parents.

“My father was a longshoreman. My father unloaded ships. My father had a third-grade education. He did not speak English very well. And yet at a time when in the docks of Brooklyn it was common to steal, my father never came home with a blessed thing.”

“The two things my father spoke about always were integrity and respect,” the bishop said.

“A warrior, a courageous witness, ‘you got to stand by your guns, even if it costs you your life’—That was my father.”

While he praised his father, Caggiano, 59, minced no words about his mother: “My mother was a saint…Simple as that.”

He told CNA that while both parents taught him lessons he continues to carry, he brought especially his mother’s inspiration to Rome this month, where his short synod speech emphasized beauty.

“All of this animation in my mind about beauty began with my mother,” he said.

Beauty “was the engagement of the heart in faith. It was the piety. It was the gentility. It was—the house itself—you knew the seasons of the Church’s year in my house. It was the ritual. It was the traditions that we had. In my mind, all of that is wrapped up in beauty. The conveyance of meaning apart from that written word—that’s beauty. And that was my mom.”

During his synod speech, Caggiano said bishops “must unlock the power of beauty, which touches and captures the heart, precisely by utilizing the many opportunities now afforded by digital communication and social media to accompany young people to experience beauty in service of the Gospel.”

He told CNA that beauty is an important way to evangelize contemporary young people who “wonder whether or not they are lovable or loved.”

“When you encounter beauty it reflects back who you are,” he said. “Beauty is the encounter with the insight that you are beautiful.”

“The most beautiful image of the Lord is the Lord crucified, because he looks back and says ‘in my physical ugliness and my suffering—that is what you are worth.’ That’s what we’re missing.”

Caggiano said that beauty—in liturgy, art, music, poetry, and in new forms and mediums offered by digital technology—captures hearts.

“Try to imagine the first time you fell in love. The two immediate responses to falling in love are ‘I want to know about this person,’ and ‘I want to spend time with this person.’”

“If we can have the moment of being captivated by Christ,” he said, “and then encounter the path of goodness and the path of truth- then you begin a lifelong journey.”

The bishop said that the ongoing Vatican synod cannot by itself prescribe the best ways to evangelize young people through beauty. His hope is that the synod will encourage dioceses and episcopal conferences to experiment with ways to evangelize with beauty.

The Diocese of Bridgeport, which Caggiano has led since 2013, has focused on finding ways to reach young people through “the power of image” on social media, along with an online catechetical institute that aims to marry intellectual formation with images and video, and by offering pilgrimages for young people.

“Pilgrimages for young adults are a powerful way to engage with beauty,” the bishop told CNA. He said that the diocese has received grants allowing young people to go to the Holy Land and on other pilgrimages even if they are unable to pay for the trip.

Caggiano said that donors support those trips because they see the fruit. He shared the story of a young woman who accompanied him to the Holy Land, and despite beginning the trip uncertain about faith, began going to Mass daily, and had a powerful conversion to deeper faith.

“Pilgrimage is an act of beauty.”

Beauty, Caggiano said, must also characterize Catholic liturgy. He said that after a diocesan synod three years ago, a small commission begin revising sacramental norms and liturgical policies in the diocese, with careful attention to the importance of beauty. A new policy document is set to be released later this year.

“It will cause a great stir,” he said, because it will call attention to ways in which greater reverence is needed in the diocese.

He told CNA that “how we conduct ourselves at the liturgy can reveal” something about what priests and other ministers believe about the importance of worship.

To foster a greater spirit of reverence among priests, Caggiano is planning to launch next month the “Confraternity of St. John Vianney,” an association of priests, including himself, who will commit to celebrating Mass daily, regular public and private participation in adoration of the Eucharist, and regular sacramental confession.

He said plans for the group are still developing, and that he hopes it will grow “organically.”

“We are going to sit before the Lord and let him be our teacher.”

“There is a natural stance that flows from a spirituality that is embedded in the belief in the real presence,” he said, adding that he aims to help priests develop deeper Eucharistic spiritualities.

Caggiano said the synod of bishops has helped him to develop other pastoral ideas he has been considering. His goal, he said, is to help young people to better know Jesus Christ.

“An encounter with the person of Jesus Christ can be truth, beauty, or goodness.”

“It’s the middle path, the way of beauty, that I think is the most interesting. It’s the glue between the two. So what’s going to capture a young person’s imagination? That’s the question in my mind.”

“The path of beauty,” he concluded, “can be a path of awakening.”

By JD Flynn | Catholic News Agency

DANBURY—Immaculate High School’s Third Annual Scholarship Breakfast will be held on Thursday, November 15 at the Amber Room Colonnade in Danbury from 7:30-9 am. The event raises scholarship funds for deserving students whose parents choose to send their student to Immaculate High School but have difficulty meeting their tuition obligations due to financial hardship. RSVP here at www.immaculatehs.org/support-ihs/events. Tickets are $30 per person.

A long-time advocate for Catholic education and friend of Immaculate High School, Monsignor Robert E. Weiss, will serve as the keynote speaker.  Recognized for his spiritual guidance after the Sandy Hook tragedy and for supporting numerous community causes, his wisdom, spiritual leadership and generosity has impacted the lives of many.

Currently Pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Newtown, Monsignor Weiss has also served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Shelton, Spiritual Director at Trinity Catholic High School in Stamford and Parochial Vicar at St. Andrew Parish in Bridgeport, St. Leo Parish in Stamford and St. Jude Parish in Monroe.  Monsignor Weiss is a long-time special friend and supporter of Immaculate High School, serving as Chairman of the Catholic Identity Committee of the Immaculate High School Advisory Board and celebrating numerous masses and special events with students and staff. His commitment to the mission of the school has been extraordinary. He understands the many reasons why students attend Immaculate as well as the financial hardships and sacrifices families make to send their students to a college-prep Catholic high school. Having attended Catholic school elementary through high school, Monsignor Weiss understands and appreciates the life-long impact that a faith-filled, contemporary education has on preparing students academically, morally and socially.  Monsignor Weiss will share why and how Catholic school education has evolved over the years to ensure that students are grounded in their faith, are provided an exemplary academic program that opens opportunities and are enabled to foster authentic leadership skills.

Monsignor Weiss has received many awards and honors for his service to the community including the Association of Religious Communities “Spirit of Faith” Award, the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award, the Knights of Columbus Caritas Award for Service to the Sandy Hook community after the school shooting, the Hands and Heart Community Service Award, the Saint Augustine Medal of Service and the IHS Nancy K. Dolan Leadership Award, to name a few. Additionally, Monsignor Weiss’ story about how he helped his community heal after the Sandy Hook school shooting was featured in a short documentary “Lessons From a School Shooting:  Notes from Dunblane,” which placed first in the documentary category at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

TRUMBULL—St Joseph High School is thrilled to announce that Junior student, Cayden Porter, has been selected as a nominee for the 2018 Heart of a Giant Award, which recognizes and rewards Tri-State area high school football players who demonstrate an unparalleled work ethic and passion for the game. Cayden Porter is one of only two Connecticut nominees.

According to USA Football, “having a Heart of a Giant means possessing characteristics like commitment, character, teamwork, dedication, and will.”

Cayden Porter is now in the race to be one of the six finalists who will receive $1,500 worth for their high school football program. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000 worth of equipment as well as on-field recognition during a New York Giant’s home game in December.

In order to be selected as a finalist, Cayden will need the most votes of his week’s group. Cayden is part of Group Six and voting will continue until November 4^th. Votes can be cast at http://www.usafootball.com/hoagvote . Individuals can vote once every twenty-four hours.

In an interview, Cayden writes, “I realized if I changed my mindset when approaching a new goal or obstacle, the thoughts alone would positively influence the outcome regardless if I achieved the objective. This mindset for me has always been dedication. If I dedicate my time, commitment, and energy towards a goal, I know the outcome will be in my favor.” You can read more of Cayden’s story at http://www.usafootball.com/hoagvote .

About St Joseph High School

St Joseph High School (SJHS) strives to be the premier Catholic college preparatory school in Southern Connecticut. SJHS encourages young women and men to realize their potential, helps them excel in higher education, and provides a moral foundation to guide them throughout their lives. St Joseph High School is a member of NCEA, NAIS, NEAS&C, and CAIS.  www.sjcadets.org

BRIDGEPORT—On a rainy day last May, I journeyed with seminarian Chris Ford on a bus trip to City Field to see the Mets take on the Toronto Blue Jays in an afternoon game. It rained all day and we watched the grounds crew every half inning pile sawdust on the infield to get the game in…it was the longest game of life and indicative of the kind of season we were in for as Met fans.  This was just a couple of weeks before Chris was ordained a Transitional Deacon in the diocese and Chris and I talked about ways to help foster vocations to the Permanent Diaconate. We imagined consistent gatherings for men of faith to come to pray with one another, build community and share how they feel called to perhaps serve the Church as a deacon.

Our imaginations took on form on Thursday, October 11 at St. Stephen Parish in Trumbull with our first of monthly Diaconate Discovery Evenings. It made perfect sense to me as I drove there that it was raining and reminded me of that day last May when the concept was born, and the Holy Spirit was present in the rain that day at City Field.

One of the thoughts of inspiration that has been given to me these past months was to hold these evenings in two parishes named after the first deacons of the Church, Stephen and Philip, as I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have them by our side walking in prayer with us as we respond to Bishop Caggiano’s request to: “Build his Diaconate.” What was revealed to me on the day of the 11^th was it was also the day that our Church celebrates the anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council as well as Saint John XVIII.  It occurred to me in that moment that it was so appropriate and never planned, to have Pope John XVIII with us also as it was his openness to the movement of the Holy Spirit that led to the Council, which led to the re-instituting of the Permanent Diaconate.  It was also revealed to me by an Episcopal Deacon that in their tradition on the 11^th they celebrate the Feast Day of St. Philip. Indeed the Saints were walking with us as we go forward to build the diaconate!  What a Grace to experience and to be given.

So it begins. Six men gathered in prayer. Two men discerning and four deacons. We prayed and shared our experiences of our call to the diaconate. We created a safe space where the men there felt comfortable to ask questions, some that were difficult. I am confident that they felt heard by our responses and our focus not on details, not on logistics, not on programs, but on discernment and listening with their hearts to how God might be inviting into a deeper relationship with him, that perhaps might lead them both to serve as deacons in our Church. Trusting they were exactly where God wanted them to be that evening. We were all richly blessed in our time together. We were building Christian community and affirming our faith together.  We closed in prayer for the Diaconate here in the Diocese of Bridgeport and trust more fully that the Spirit was indeed moving among us.

Have you ever wondered if you were being “called” to discern the diaconate? Has someone, your pastor, a priest or a deacon ever mentioned to you that they can see you as a deacon someday? Do you feel that God calling you to live your faith differently, perhaps as a deacon? Want to learn more about how to sort this all out?

Join me and explore some of these questions and others that you may have about the Diaconate.  Diaconate Discovery Evenings will be a consistent space to wonder, explore, pray and share with other men of faith regarding serving the Church as a Permanent Deacon.

• Be with other men of faith who are wondering if God is calling them to serve as a deacon.
• To have an opportunity for prayer and reflection.
• To form relationships and build community.
• Meet deacons from around the diocese witnessing their ministries and journeys of faith.

If you are interested in attending a Diaconate Discovery Evening, or have any questions, please feel free to contact Deacon Tim Bolton, Coordinator of Diaconate Vocations, dnbolton@diobpt.org. 

By Deacon Tim Bolton

VATICAN CITY—Meet the seven people Pope Francis will officially recognize as saints of the Catholic Church on Sunday.

Below are brief biographies on each of their lives, as well as photos of each saint’s banner currently on display at the Vatican.

Blessed Pope Paul VI
Born Giovanni Battista Montini in 1897 and ordained a priest in 1920, he did graduate studies in literature, philosophy, and canon law in Rome before beginning to work for the Vatican Secretariat of State. In 1954, he was named Archbishop of Milan, and in 1958 was made a Cardinal by Pope John XXIII. As a Cardinal, he helped to arrange the Second Vatican Council and chose to continue the council after he became Pope.

Montini was elected as Pope Paul VI in 1963 at age 65, not long after the start of the second Vatican Council. This was a difficult time for the Church and for the world, as the “Sexual Revolution” was in full swing and the struggle for civil rights in the United States in particular was at its peak. Paul VI is perhaps most noted for his 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae, which served as the Church’s official rebuke to artificial contraception, prohibiting its use.

Paul VI died in 1978 and Pope Francis beatified him in 2014.

Blessed Oscar Romero

Born in 1917 in El Salvador, Romero was auxiliary bishop of San Salvador for four years before being elevated to Archbishop in 1977. He was an outspoken defender of the rights of the poor in El Salvador, who were being terrorized by right-wing military death squads mainly because of protests over the extreme economic inequality in the country in the 20th century.

His weekly homilies, broadcast across the country on radio, were a galvanizing force for the country’s poor as well as a reliable source of news. In addition to speaking out against the government’s actions El Salvador, he also criticized the US government for backing the military junta that seized El Salvador in 1979, and even wrote to Jimmy Carter in February 1980 asking him to stop supporting the repressive regime.

In March 1980, Romero was assassinated, likely by a right-wing death squad, while celebrating Mass.

Pope Francis beatified Romero in 2015.

Blessed Vincent Romano

Born in 1751 and ordained a priest in 1775, Romano had studied the writings of St. Alphonsus de Liguori and developed a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He spent his whole life as a priest in Torre del Greco and was known for his simple ways and his care for orphans. He worked to rebuild his parish, often with his bare hands, after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1794. He died in December 1831 of pneumonia and was beatified by Paul VI in 1963.

Blessed Francesco Spinelli

Born in Milan in 1853, Spinelli entered the seminary and was ordained a priest in 1875. He began his apostolate educating the poor and also served as a seminary professor, spiritual director, and counselor for several women’s religious communities. In 1882, Fr. Spinelli met Caterina Comensoli, with whom he would found the Institute of the Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. The sisters dedicated themselves to Eucharistic adoration day and night, which inspired their service to the poor and suffering.

He died in 1913. Today his institute has around 250 communities in Italy, Congo, Senegal, Cameroon, Colombia, and Argentina. Their ministries include caring for people with HIV, orphans, drug addicts, and prisoners.

St. John Paul II beatified him in 1992.

Blessed Nunzio Sulprizio

Born in Pescosansonesco, Italy in 1817, Sulprizio lost both of his parents at age six and was brought up by an uncle who exploited him for hard labor. Fatigued and often given dangerous assignments, he developed gangrene and eventually lost his leg. Despite his tremendous suffering, he would reportedly make statements such as: “Jesus suffered a lot for me. Why should I not suffer for Him? I would die in order to convert even one sinner.”

He recovered from the gangrene and dedicated himself to helping other patients before his health deteriorated again. Sulprizio died of bone cancer in 1836, when he was only 19 years old.

Pope Paul VI beatified him in 1963.

Blessed Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa

Born in 1889 in Madrid, Spain, Nazaria was the fourth of 18 children. Growing up, her family was indifferent and sometimes even hostile to her desire to enter religious life, but later she led several family members back to the Church when she entered the Franciscan Third Order. Her family moved to Mexico in 1904, and Nazarie met sisters of the Institute of Sisters of the Abandoned Elders, who inspired her to join their order. In 1915, she chose to take perpetual vows with the order in Mexico City and was assigned to a hospice in Oruro, Bolivia for 12 years.

Beginning in 1920, she felt a call to found a new order dedicated to missionary work. In June 1925, she founded the Pontifical Crusade, later renamed the Congregation of the Missionary Crusaders of the Church, with the mission to catechize children and adults, support the work of priests, conduct missions, and to print and distribute short religious tracts. Many opposed her work, but Nazaria pressed on. Her order cared for soldiers on both sides of the 1932-35 war between Paraguay and Bolivia, and she herself survived persecutions in Spain during the Spanish Civil war. She died in July 1943, and four years later Pope Pius XII finally granted papal approval to the Congregation of the Missionary Crusaders of the Church, which by that time had spread throughout South America and begun work in Portugal, Spain, France, Italy and Cameroon.

Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1992.

Blessed Maria Katharina Kasper

Born in Dembach, Germany in 1820 as Catherine Kasper, she attended very little school because of poor health. Despite this, she began to help the poor, the abandoned, and the sick at a young age. Her mother taught her household chores, as well as how to spin and weave fabric. After her father died when she was 21, Catherine worked the land as a farm hand for about 10 cents a day. Her helpfulness toward others attracted other women to her, and she felt a call to the religious life, but knew she needed to stay and support her mother, who was in poor health.

After her mother died, Catherine started, with the approval of the bishop of Limburg, Germany, a small house with several friends who also felt the call. In 1851 she and four other women officially took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and formed the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Catherine, known in the religious community as Mother Mary, served five consecutive terms as superior of the house and continued to work with novices and to open houses for their order all over the world. Today there are 690 sisters in 104 houses in Germany, the Netherlands, the United States, Mexico and India.

She died of a heart attack in February 1898, and Pope Paul VI beatified her in 1978.

All photos, Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA.

By Jonah McKeown | Catholic News Agency

VATICAN CITY—Carrying Pope Paul VI’s pastoral staff and wearing the blood-stained belt of Archbishop Oscar Romero of San Salvador, Pope Francis formally recognized them, and five others, as saints of the Catholic Church.

Thousands of pilgrims from the new saints’ home countries — Italy, El Salvador, Spain and Germany — were joined by tens of thousands of others Oct. 14 in St. Peter’s Square to celebrate the universal recognition of the holiness of men and women they already knew were saints.

Carolina Escamilla, who traveled from San Salvador for canonization, said she was “super happy” to be in Rome. “I don’t think there are words to describe all that we feel after such a long-awaited and long-desired moment like the ‘official’ canonization, because Archbishop Romero was already a saint when he was alive.”

Each of the new saints lived lives marked by pain and criticism — including from within the church — but all of them dedicated themselves with passionate love to following Jesus and caring for the weak and the poor, Pope Francis said in his homily.

The new saints are: Paul VI, who led the last sessions of the Second Vatican Council and its initial implementation; Romero, who defended the poor, called for justice and was assassinated in 1980; Vincenzo Romano, an Italian priest who died in 1831; Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, a Spanish nun who ministered in Mexico and Bolivia and died in 1943; Catherine Kasper, the 19th-century German founder of a religious order; Francesco Spinelli, a 19th-century priest and founder of a religious order; and Nunzio Sulprizio, a layman who died in Naples in 1836 at the age of 19.

“All these saints, in different contexts,” put the Gospel “into practice in their lives, without lukewarmness, without calculation, with the passion to risk everything and to leave it all behind,” Pope Francis said in his homily.

The pope, who has spoken often about being personally inspired by both St. Paul VI and St. Oscar Romero, prayed that every Christian would follow the new saints’ examples by shunning an attachment to money, wealth and power, and instead following Jesus and sharing his love with others.

And he prayed the new saints would inspire the whole church to set aside “structures that are no longer adequate for proclaiming the Gospel, those weights that slow down our mission, the strings that tie us to the world.”

Among those in St. Peter’s Square for the Mass was Rossi Bonilla, a Salvadoran now living in Barcelona. “I’m really emotional, also because I did my Communion with Monsignor Romero when I was eight years old,” she told Catholic News Service.

“He was so important for the neediest; he was really with the people and kept strong when the repression started,” Bonilla said. “The struggle continues for the people, and so here we are!”

Claudia Lombardi, 24, came to the canonization from Brescia, Italy — St. Paul VI’s hometown. Her local saint, she said, “brought great fresh air” to the church with the Second Vatican Council and “has something to say to us today,” particularly with his 1968 encyclical “Humanae Vitae” on human life and married love, especially its teaching about “the conception of life, the protection of life always.”

In his homily, Pope Francis said that “Jesus is radical.”

“He gives all and he asks all; he gives a love that is total and asks for an undivided heart,” the pope said. “Even today he gives himself to us as the living bread; can we give him crumbs in exchange?”

Jesus, he said, “is not content with a ‘percentage of love.’ We cannot love him 20 or 50 or 60 percent. It is either all or nothing” because “our heart is like a magnet — it lets itself be attracted by love, but it can cling to one master only and it must choose: either it will love God or it will love the world’s treasure; either it will live for love or it will live for itself.”

“A leap forward in love,” he said, is what would enable individual Christians and the whole church to escape “complacency and self-indulgence.”

Without passionate love, he said, “we find joy in some fleeting pleasure, we close ourselves off in useless gossip, we settle into the monotony of a Christian life without momentum where a little narcissism covers over the sadness of remaining unfulfilled.”

The day’s Gospel reading recounted the story of the rich young man who said he followed all the commandments and precepts of Jewish law, but he asks Jesus what more he must do to have eternal life.

“Jesus’ answer catches him off guard,” the pope said. “The Lord looks upon him and loves him. Jesus changes the perspective from commandments observed in order to obtain a reward, to a free and total love.”

In effect, he said, Jesus is telling the young man that not doing evil is not enough, nor is it enough to give a little charity or say a few prayers. Following Jesus means giving him absolute first place in one’s life. “He asks you to leave behind what weighs down your heart, to empty yourself of goods in order to make room for him, the only good.”

“Do we content ourselves with a few commandments or do we follow Jesus as lovers, really prepared to leave behind something for him?” the pope asked people gathered in St. Peter’s Square, including the 267 members of the Synod of Bishops and the 34 young people who are observers at the gathering.

“A heart unburdened by possessions, that freely loves the Lord, always spreads joy, that joy for which there is so much need today,” Pope Francis said. “Today Jesus invites us to return to the source of joy, which is the encounter with him, the courageous choice to risk everything to follow him, the satisfaction of leaving something behind in order to embrace his way.”

By Cindy Wooden | Catholic News Service