Monthly Newspaper • DIOCESE OF BRIDGEPORT

SMALL GROUP OPPORTUNITIES

The Future, and Present of our Church

“The One” is our commitment to focusing every aspect of the Church on bringing individuals closer to God. We achieve this goal by creating opportunities for encountering God and fostering communities that accompany and support each other on their faith journeys. Throughout our diocese, communities of young adults are coming together, exemplifying what “The One” is all about.

All across the Diocese, from Danbury to Bridgeport to Stamford, these communities bring together young adults (aged 18 to their mid-30s). These ministries serve those entering college or the workforce, discerning vocations, alongside young couples navigating dating, engagement, marriage, and family. The communities throughout the Diocese are as diverse and varied as young adults themselves. You will find communities gathering for professional networking events, Adoration and Mass, service projects, Bible studies, social gatherings, and more.

These communities are created by young adults, for young adults, addressing the diverse needs of a vital part of our Church. What ties these communities together is a common mission: to build a space where Catholic young adults can walk alongside each other in community and experience opportunities to draw closer to God. This is fundamentally what the “The One” calls our Church to do.

While having local communities of young adults is beautiful, it also presents a significant challenge: with these communities being small and local, how can young adults across the Diocese seeking community easily find it?

To address this challenge, young adults of the Diocese launched Catholic203. Aptly named after the area code of Fairfield County, Catholic203 serves as a central hub connecting Catholic young adults with the communities that serve them.

It is often said that young adults are the future of our Church, but we must not forget that they are also the present. Engaging and welcoming young adults, bringing them into communities that strengthen their faith, and providing opportunities to encounter God are of utmost importance. You can support young adults in the Church by sharing the resources available to them, within your parish and with young adults you know.

For more information on how young adults are coming together to encounter God and community, visit Catholic203.com, follow them on social media, and subscribe to their weekly newsletter.

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Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Frank J Caggiano
Bishop of Bridgeport

SEEDS OF TRUTH

Introducing Catholic Chat

Artificial Intelligence has been all over the news lately. Screen writers in Hollywood are on strike, in part, because they do not want computers auto-generating scripts. Educators worry about students using AI to create content instead of doing their own homework. Corporations are afraid workers will let AI complete tasks assigned to employees. Most of us, however, have more to worry about than whether AI will replace us.
I believe there is a flip side to the argument. Artificial Intelligence can be used for good. If used wisely, AI can interface with documents, websites, and texts so the user can interact with the words on the page more than ever before.

Enter Catholic Chat, a web app that provides an interactive and engaging opportunity for users seeking answers from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Once you land on the page, you can choose to have a conversation as a child, an adult, or a scholar. Enter any question about the Catholic Church and in a few moments, the site responds using only the Catechism as a source. Still have a question? Enter it and participate in a conversation with AI and the Catechism that can allow you to dig deeper into what the Church professes.

Though it will never replace a teacher or a parent, Catholic Chat does provide a place where the faithful can engage with a text that can seem daunting or unfamiliar to many. Families can use it to start a conversation about any element of the faith. Teachers can use it to ensure what they teach is the truth. Students can use it to look up questions about their faith. Even clergy can use it to infuse a little bit of the Catechism into their homilies at Sunday Mass.

I encourage you to visit Catholic Chat and use intelligence that is artificial to engage with teachings that are true. While you are at it, check out all the other great things our Institute for Catholic Formation is up to.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Frank J Caggiano
Bishop of Bridgeport

Beauty is who God is.

Whenever we see something that provokes a sense of awe and wonder within us, we are, in fact, gazing upon God. Our ability to discern beauty doesn’t need to serve any practical end: it’s simply because we are made in God’s image that we can discover Him in the things He has made. For this reason the Guild of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus exists – to foster the experience of beauty in our Diocese.

Jesus GuildThe Guild seeks to showcase ‘the art of the possible’ – discerning excellence in a broad array of creative projects – all of whose aim is to inspire the Arts in our Catholic life. As such, the Guild is a key component of ‘The One’, exploring various ways to promote an encounter with Christ – and following up such encounters with a community of like-minded people.

You can find us anytime ‘at home’ at 30 Church St, Redding CT 06896, where we run the Georgetown Oratory Church as our chief apostolate, or ‘on the road’ in a parish near you: perhaps you might like to participate in Heart to Heart, our nights of contemporary praise and worship; or your kids might like our Art School on Saturday mornings, where they learn to paint and draw using time-honored techniques. If Gregorian chant is more your thing, then our weekly Sung Vespers on Wednesday nights at 7:30 PM truly is balm for the soul; and don’t miss our concert series and guided tours of local churches and galleries with expert presenters, amongst a broad range of other events.

For all our news, sign up to our vibrant Wednesday Newsletter, which lists all activities, articles and sermons from the Rector; or check out our website www.jesusguild.org for regular updates. We look forward to meeting you soon.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Frank J. CaggianoBishop of Bridgeport

Welcome to our weekly messages on “The One”!

Allow me to begin by offering my sincere thanks to everyone who attended the gatherings of parish leaders that began in January and ended a few weeks ago. More than 2,300 parish leaders attended these nine meetings. I am deeply grateful for the commitment of time and travel made by those who were able to participate in what I believe is an audacious invitation by the Holy Spirit to foster a true and lasting renewal of our Church. I call it “The One” because it is the single greatest priority we will embrace as a diocesan family in the years ahead.

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