Four County Catholic March 2014

Pr ay er

Volume 26 Number 3

March 2014

The Sacred Season of Lent Stations of the Cross Saint Matthias Church East Lyme, CT

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Four County Catholic March 2014

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- Mission statement of Hobby Lobby Stores as they contest in court the HHS mandate forcing them to pay for health insurance that violates their moral beliefs.

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Celebrate sisters who lead by serving, who show up with great faith and open hearts, seeing God in each stranger on the street.

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- Pope Francis greeting the 19 new cardinals at installation ceremonies in St Peter’s Basilica.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

The Most Reverend

Michael R. Cote, D.D.

Bishop of Norwich

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ: As we enter the season of Lent, we take on the 40-day journey as an opportunity to strengthen our relationship with the Lord. It is a contemplative time of intense soul searching. It is also an opportunity to think beyond ourselves.

As Christians alive in our faith, we turn with love and compassion during this season of hope toward our brothers and sisters who most need our help. More than any other time of the year, Lent reminds us that love for one another is how love is ultimately defined at the cross of Jesus.

“Taking care of one another,” in the words of the Holy Father, “is the foundation of human existence.” It is through charitable acts that we demonstrate our caring for each other and our commitment to the teaching of Jesus

Christ. As a Christian community, we reach out and live our faith through many charitable ministries and acts of kindness.

When facing the severe winter we have been experiencing this year, the need to help the poor and vulnerable with food and shelter calls us to action. Catholic Charities, as always, is right there to help, as is the Saint Vincent de Paul soup kitchens and assistance programs, along with diocesan food pantries and many parish programs providing clothing and comfort.

These services lift and save lives in whose Name we all serve. Can we do more?

We are increasingly aware of the crisis of housing in a persistent recessionary economy. The lack of affordable housing requires creative solutions to gradually overcome the shortfall. It has been with this objective in

mind that we launched the diocesan Housing Initiative this past year as a beginning effort to create more affordable housing by repurposing existing underused buildings. The Ministry Director, Peter Harding, continues to evaluate parish and diocesan buildings and continues to explore partnering opportunities with local businesses, not-for-profit community groups, other churches, private developers, government and financial institutions to make new housing opportunities become a reality. I am particularly grateful to those pastors who have closely cooperated with Peter.

We are finding that bringing these housing opportunities to fruition requires patience and collaboration. Such projects do not happen quickly. Yet there is clearly an urgency to this work.

The Catholic Church has traditionally viewed housing as a basic human right. This conviction is grounded in the view of the human person and the responsibility of society to protect the life and dignity of every person by providing the conditions where human life and human dignity are not undermined, but thrive.

I bring these efforts to your attention to help expand your awareness of this critical initiative.

We should all be concerned about how the lack of decent housing threatens the dignity and rights of the poor. Adequate housing is important if a person is to find fulfillment, both as an individual and as a member of a family and society. As we become more aware, any one of us might know of an individual or organization that could work with us to help move along a housing opportu-

John 13:35

nity identified by the Housing Ministry. Let us stay alert and help if we can. The Housing Initiative has very promising potential. Let us help it take root and generate life-lifting opportunity for those who most need it.

I thank everyone who so generously support and voluntarily help the many ministries in the diocese, all of whom work so hard to restore dignity to the lives of our brothers and sisters who may be hungry, suffering or without a roof over their head.

During this sacred season of Lent, may we pray for those most in need and may we renew our true Christian spirit and be “true disciples who love one another”.

Sincerely yours in Christ’s love, Bishop Michael R. Cote

“En esto todos conocerán que ustedes son mis discípulos, si se aman los unos a los otros.”

Queridos Hermanos y Hermanas: Al entrar en tiempo de Cuaresma, tomamos el viaje de 40 días como una oportunidad para fortalecer nuestra relación con el Señor. Es un momento contemplativo de intensa búsqueda del alma. También, es una oportunidad para pensar más allá de nosotros mismos. Como cristianos vivos en nuestra fe, durante este tiempo de esperanza nos dirigimos con amor y compasión hacia nuestros hermanos y hermanas que más necesitan de nuestra ayuda. Más que cualquier otra época del año, la

Cuaresma, nos recuerda que el amor de los unos por los otros es como el amor se define en última instancia, en la cruz de Jesús.

“Cuidar de los unos por los otros”, en las palabras del Santo Padre, “es la base de la existencia humana.” Es a través de actos de caridad demostramos nuestra preocupación por cada uno y nuestro compromiso a la enseñanza de Jesucristo. Como comunidad cristiana, nos acercamos y vivimos nuestra fe a través de muchos ministerios de caridad y actos de bon-

dad. Cuando enfrentamos el severo invierno que hemos estado experimentando este año, la necesidad de ayudar con alimento y refugio a los pobres y vulnerables nos llama a la acción. Caridades Católicas, como siempre, está allí mismo para ayudar, al igual que los comedores soup kitchens y programas de asistencias de San Vicente de Paul, junto con las despensas de alimentos diocesanos y muchos programas parroquiales que proporcionan vestimenta y comodidad. Estos servicios levantan y salvan vidas en

cuyo Nombre todos servimos. ¿Podemos hacer más?

Cada vez somos más conscientes de la crisis de la vivienda en una economía en persistente recesión. La falta de vivienda asequible requiere soluciones creativas para superar gradualmente el déficit. Ha sido con este objetivo en mente que pusimos en marcha el año pasado la Iniciativa diocesana de Vivienda comenzando un esfuerzo por crear más viviendas asequibles mediante la reutilización de existentes edificios infrautilizados.

El Director del Ministerio, Peter

Juan 13:35

Harding, continúa evaluando edificios parroquiales y diocesanos y continúa explorando oportunidades de asociación con empresas locales, grupos sin fines de lucro de la comunidad, otras iglesias, promotores privados, el gobierno en todos los niveles e instituciones financieras para convertir en realidad nuevas oportunidades de vivienda. Estoy particularmente agradecido a aquellos sacerdotes quienes cercanamente han cooperado con Peter. Estamos Aman los unos a los otros

Continued on page 4

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Aman los unos a los otros encontrando que traer estas oportunidades de vivienda a buen término requiere paciencia y colaboración.

Tales proyectos no suceden rápidamente. Sin embargo, es obvio que

Continued from page 3

existe una urgencia de este trabajo.

La Iglesia Católica tradicionalmente ha considerado la vivienda como un derecho humano básico. Esta convicción se basa en la visión de la per-

sona humana y la responsabilidad de la sociedad para proteger la vida y la dignidad de todas las personas al proporcionar las condiciones donde la vida humana y la dignidad hu-

Holy Hour for Vocations The Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, D.D., Bishop of Norwich, leads the Holy Hour: March 20, 2014 • 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm St. Mary, Jewett City April 10, 2014 • 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Our Lady of Sorrows, Essex May 15, 2014 • 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm St. Mary of Czestochowa, Middletown June 26, 2014 • 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm St. John, Cromwell Reverend Brian Christopher Maxwell, Ordained to Priesthood on May 25, 2013, by the Most Reverend Michael R. Cote, D.D., Bishop of Norwich at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Norwich

July 25, 2014 • 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Cathedral of St. Patrick, Norwich August 21, 2014 • 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm All Saints, Somersville September 18, 2014 • 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm St. Agnes, Niantic October 16, 2014 • 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm St. Francis of Assisi, Lebanon November 20, 2014 • 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm St. Thomas Aquinas, Storrs

mana no estén reducidas, sino que prosperen.

Traigo estos esfuerzos a su atención para ayudar a expandir su conciencia de esta crítica iniciativa.

Todos deberíamos estar preocupados de como la falta de vivienda decente pone en peligro la dignidad y los derechos de los pobres. Una vivienda adecuada es importante para que una persona encuentre realización, tanto como individuo y como miembro de una familia y de la sociedad. A medida que nos hacemos más conscientes, cualquiera de nosotros puede conocer a una persona u organización que pueda trabajar con nosotros para ayudar a avanzar la oportunidad de vivienda identificada por el Ministerio de Vivienda. Quedémonos alerta y si podemos ayudemos. La iniciativa de Vivienda tiene un potencial muy prometedor. Ayudemos a que eche SERVICES OFFERED: Companionship Light Housekeeping Meal Planning/Prep

raíces y genere oportunidades levantando la vida de aquellos quienes más lo necesitan.

Doy gracias a todos los que tan generosamente apoyan y ayudan en forma voluntaria a los muchos ministerios de la diócesis, todos los cuales trabajan fuerte para devolver la dignidad a las vidas de nuestros hermanos y hermanas quienes pasan hambre, sufren o no tienen un techo donde vivir.

Durante este tiempo sagrado de Cuaresma, que podamos orar por aquellos que más lo necesitan y que podamos renovar nuestro espíritu verdaderamente cristiano y ser “verdaderos discípulos que se aman los unos a los otros.”

Sinceramente, en el amor de Cristo, Obispo Michael R. Cote Translated by Paulina Angulo

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Director of Priestly Vocations

Reverend Gregory Galvin

Growing Spiritually During Lent In last month’s column, I wrote about the theme at the Student Leadership Conference in Dallas as being focused on surrendering to and going deeper in our relationship with Christ. As Lent has begun, this is truly a time for every one of us to re-surrender ourselves to the Will of God and to deepen our relationship with Christ. This can be a very special time for those who may be actively discerning a call from our Lord to serve Him by serving His Church as a diocesan priest or as a consecrated religious brother or sister.

Additionally, the whole family of God have many different opportunities to re-surrender our lives during this very prayerful preparation for the events of Holy Week, the Holy Triduum, and the Easter celebration and season.

A few reminders and suggestions of how to “make Lent worthwhile”. Lent for many generations in the Church was always a time to try going to daily mass to receive the Eucharist more regularly.

Why? Because it truly is, “our daily bread” given to us by Christ Himself. Remembering to abstain from eating meat on Fridays has always been part of the Lenten discipline as a reminder of Friday being the day that our Lord’s flesh and blood were offered on the cross for our sins. Joining your parish community in praying the Stations of the Cross on Friday evenings is another way of uniting ourselves more deeply to Christ.

Returning to or increasing your commitment to the sacrament of

reconciliation because Christ died and rose from the dead so our sins could be forgiven is also an important action to take during Lent.

Commit to reading/reflecting on the Word of God, Holy Scripture, for five minutes a day; and by doing so learn to listen more carefully to what Christ is saying to you on a daily basis. Fasting on the required days and other days for special intentions is also important to our spiritual growth and union with the Lord.

As you decide what you will try to do this Lenten season to deepen your surrender to Christ, do not forget to pray for our priests, deacons, and the many religious sisters and brothers who serve in the diocese. In a special way Lent can be a good time to recall the many good priests and consecrated religious who have served and passed on to eternity. For example, since November 2013 we have four extraordinary priests who have gone home to God. Reverend Robert McNulty, Reverend Adam Pupsys, Reverend Joseph Finnerty and most recently Reverend Monsignor Willis West. This underlines greatly the need to also be offering prayers and sacrifices for an increase of priestly vocations for the diocese. If you need extra motivation in making a Lenten commitment, please pray for our seminarians, those preparing for priestly ordination this coming year, and especially for those men around the diocese who are maybe on the cusp of deciding to embrace a call from God to serve

Pope Francis @Pontifex Feb 13 Let us pray for seminarians, that they may listen to the voice of the Lord and follow it with courage and joy.

Him by serving His Church here in the Diocese of Norwich.

If you have not yet had the occasion or opportunity to join us for one of the Monthly Holy Hour for Vocations, come this March 20th to Saint Mary

Church in Jewett City. Make it a pilgrimage, make it one of the special steps you take this Lent in surrendering more to Christ and going deeper in your relationship with God who loves and calls each of us to a oneness with Him for all

eternity. Thank you for your prayers and support, and please know you are all in my prayers during this Lenten season that each of you may experience the special love of God through His Divine Mercy.

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Father Greg Galvin 860-887-9294 www.God-Calls.com Office of Vocations • Diocese of Norwich, CT • vocations@norwichdiocese.net

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Saturday, March 1 St. Patrick, East Hampton Confirmation At the Cathedral of St. Patrick, Norwich. 10:00am-Bishop Cote celebrating.

information please call 860-8870702.

Wednesday, March 5 Ash Wednesday Wednesday, March 5 TV Mass - A Blessed Lent Ash Wednesday at 10:00am Channel 20, WTXX Charter, Channel 11 WCCT, Comcast. Father Ray Introvigne is the Celebrant.

Sunday, March 2 St. Peter, Higganum Confirmation At 11:00 am - Bishop Cote celebrating.

Mon. -Tues., March 10-11 St. John Lenten Event Prepare for Easter by attending the St. John Lenten Event! ValLimar Jansen, a nationally renowned singer and leader of worship and prayer, will be the presenter of the 2014 Lenten Mission at St. John Church, 5 St. John Ct., Cromwell, from 7:00-8:00pm each evening, followed by refreshments. The mis-

Sunday, March 2 St. Luke, Ellington Confirmation At 1:30 pm – Monsignor Brown celebrating.

Tuesday, March 4 Prayer, Praise, Worship Adoration At the Spiritual Renewal Center, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. For more

Be My Witness

Calling Women of All Ages!

4th Annual Catholic Women’s Conference of the Diocese of Norwich Co sponsored by the Office of Faith Events and the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women

Mail in registration: 4th Annual Women’s Conference 4/5/14 Name Phone Address City State/Zip Email Parish/Town Any dietary restrictions?

Deadlines for all registrations is March 27 We invite each of you to bring canned goods to donate to St Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen from the women of the Norwich Diocese

Tuesday, March 11 Prayer, Praise, Worship Adoration At the Spiritual Renewal Center, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. For more information please call 860-8870702.

Sunday-Tuesday, March 16-18 Parish Retreat Our Lady of Sorrows At Our Lady of Sorrows, Essex.

For more information please call the Renewal Center at 860-8870702.

Tuesday, March 18 Prayer, Praise, Worship Adoration At the Spiritual Renewal Center, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. For more information please call 860-8870702.

Tuesday, March 25 Prayer, Praise, Worship Adoration At the Spiritual Renewal Center, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. For more information please call 860-8870702.

Friday-Sunday, March 28-30 Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat Weekend Healing, forgiveness and peace from post abortion grief can have a beginning with a Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat. Retreat March 28-30 in RI call 401-421-7833 ext.118. Retreat March 28-30 in Hamden, CT call 203-631-9030. Inquiries are confidential. www.rachelsvineyard.org Saturday, March 29 St. Bridget, Moodus Confirmation At 10:00am Bishop Cote celebrating.

Sunday, March 30 Diocesan Confirmation At the Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Norwich. 10:30am, Bishop Cote

The Norwich Diocesan Council of Catholic Women presents

Doors open at 8:30 am & Program ends at 3:15 pm

The Annual Layette Program & Catholic Charities Sunday

9:00 am Mass with Bishop Cote

Sunday, April 6, 2014 at 1:00pm

Saturday, April 5, 2014 Saint Bernard School Uncasville, CT

Dr. C Vanessa White

sion theme will be ‘Created, Transformed and Sent by God’, focusing on a deep and uplifting faith experience with songs and reflection.

Admission is free. For information call 860-635-5590.

 Live Music  Inspiring Talks  Lunch Eucharistic Adoration Confession  Exhibitors

Registration: (Price Includes Lunch)

By March 15, 2013 ..............................$25 After March 15, 2013 ..........................$30 Students ................................................$15 Religious are free! There will be no refunds and no event transfers.

Mail registration and payment to: Office of Faith Events 199 Broadway (860) 848-2237 ext. 312 Norwich, CT 06360

St. Andrew’s Church 128 Norwich Ave., Colchester, CT Guest will be: Most Reverend Micahel R. Cote, D.D., Bishop of Norwich Jim Maffuid, Executive Director, Catholic Charities and supervisors of Catholic Charities offices All ladies of the Parishes are invited to attend.

Please collect baby items, diapers, clothes (0-3 years), blankets, etc. to donate to the Layette Program for distribution to the Catholic Charities offices in Norwich, New London, Middletown & Willimantic.

celebrating.

Monday March 31 Parish Retreat SS Peter & Paul At 6:00pm. For more information please call the Renewal Center at 860-887-0702.

Tuesday, April 1 Prayer, Praise, Worship Adoration At the Spiritual Renewal Center, from 7:00pm-8:00pm. For more information please call 860-8870702.

Tuesday, April 1 Parish Retreat SS Peter & Paul At 6:00pm. For more information please call the Renewal Center at 860-887-0702.

Wednesday, April 2 Parish Retreat – St. Joseph At 6:00pm. For more information please call the Renewal Center at 860-887-0702.

Friday, April 4 St. Mary, Portland Confirmation At 7:00 pm- Bishop Cote celebrating.

Saturday, April 5 St. Mark, Westbrook Confirmation At 11:00 am – Father Les Janik celebrating.

Saturday, April 5 Be My Witness: 4th Annual Catholic Women’s Conference of the Diocese of Norwich Co-sponsored by the Office of Faith Events and the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women. Held at St. Bernard School, Uncasville.

Doors open at 8:30am and program ends at 3:15pm. Featuring special guest speaker Dr. C. Vanessa White. There will be a 9:00am Mass with Bishop Cote.

Live music, inspiring talks, lunch, Eucharistic adoration, confession, exhibitors. For more information please call the Office of Faith Events at 860-848-2237 ext 312.

Sunday, April 6 Annual Layette Program Beginning at 1:00pm at St. Andrews Church, 128 Norwich Ave., Colchester. Guests will be The Most Revered Bishop Michael R.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Cote, Bishop of Norwich, Jim Maffuid, Executive Director, Catholic Charities and supervisors of Catholic Charities offices All Ladies of the Parishes are invited to attend. Please collect baby items, diapers, clothes (0-3 years), blanket, etc. to donate to the Layette Program for distribution to the Catholic Charities offices in Norwich, New London, Middletown and Willimantic.

Thursday, April 10 St. Edward, Stafford Springs Confirmation At 7:00 pm- Monsignor Brown celebrating.

Friday, April 11 St. John, Cromwell Confirmation At 7:00pm- Monsignor Brown celebrating.

Friday April 18 Way of the Cross A Public Procession of Scripture and Prayer. Good Friday, April 18, 2014 at 6:00pm for the celebration of the Way of the Cross. Chelsea

St. Patrick’s Day

Parade. We look forward to welcoming people of all Christian traditions. Committee Members: Reverend William Dunlap, Reverend Nancy Forsstrom and Monsignor Robert L. Brown.

Thursday, April 24 19th Annual Secretaries Mass From 12pm – 1pm at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick.

Passion Play The 10th Annual St. Andrew Church

Passion Play

will be presented Friday & Saturday, April 11th & 12th 7:30 pm at St. Andrew Church (Doors open at 7:00 pm) 128 Norwich Ave, Colchester, CT The play is a musical performance of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

A cast of over 100. A 60-Voice Choir and a 40-Voice Children’s Choir. Tickets for the performance are free; however, offerings to help defray production cost will be gratefully excepted. Tickets are available in Colchester at Merciful Saviour, the Parish Office or by phoning Gary Dziatko at 860-295-8315. A limited number of tickets are available. No more than 10 tickets per person.

March 17, 2014

“You (your name) did not choose Me (Jesus) but I chose you!”

Mathew 5:13-16

TV Mass-A Blessed Lent Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2014 @ 10:00 am Ch. 20, WTXX Charter, Ch. 11 WCCT, Comcast Celebrant, Fr. Ray Introvigne

Monday, Mar. 10th & Monday Mar. 24th , Masses of Healing Twice Monthly @ 1:00 pm Spiritual Renewal Center Fr. Ray, Celebrant, Judith Hughes-Healing Prayer

Parish Mission – Our Lady of Sorrows, Essex, St. Joseph, Chester Sun., Mon., Tues., March 16, 17, 18, 7:00 pm At Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 14 Prospect St., Essex, CT

One Day Life In The Spirit Seminar Saturday, Mar. 22nd, 9:00 am-4:00 pm Our Lady of Sorrows Hall, Essex, CT

Portland St. Mary Prayer Group Mass

59th Annual Convention

NORWICH DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN

Saturday, May 17, 2014 • 9:00 AM St. Mary’s Church in Putnam, Connecticut The day will begin with registration at 9 a.m. and the keynote address will be given by Sister Mary Ellen Ryley, SCMM (Sister of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy.) Her topic will be The Trans formative Power of Dreams. Dreams are a unique and powerful re source for the spiritual life journey. They can provide us with insight as we seek to understand struggles and decisions. Even dreams which seem confusing or frightening often contain within them a message which invites us to wholeness and healing. During this presentation we will experience some practical ways of working with our dreams in order to discover the messages contained within the dream symbols.

May the choicest blessings of Saint Patrick always be with you.

May happiness good luck and good health be yours forever too!

“You (your name) are the SALT of the Earth. You (your name) are The Light of the World. A Light is placed on a Lamp Stand for ALL to see. Your Light (Jesus’ reflection through you) must SHINE before ALL people, so that They (all people) may see GOODENSS in your ACTS – and Give PRAISE to your HEAVENLY FATHER.”

Sr. Mary Ellen SCMM (Sisters of Charity of Our Lady Mother of Mercy), received her training in Spirituality and Dreams from the Institute for Spiritual Leadership in Chicago. She has been in volved in the training of Spiritual Directors for more than 20 years as a member of the Institute for Spiritual Leadership, the In stitute of Spiritual Companionship and the Center for Spiritual Direction at North Park Seminary. She continues to be involved as a Spiritual Director, supervisor, retreat and workshop facilitator in the Chicago area. Sister Mary Ellen holds a Master’s Degree in Religious Studies from the University of Detroit and a Master’s Degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago.

Wednesday, March 26, @ 7:30 pm St. Mary Chapel, 51 Freestone Ave., Portland, CT

Unbound Prayer Ministry (Freedom) Saturday, March 29, 2014 10am to 3pm Spiritual Renewal Center, Norwich, CT Call for an appointment (860)887-0702 Fr. Ray, Judith Hughes and Team

Parish Retreat - Ss. Peter & Paul, St. Joseph, Norwich Monday, Mar. 31, & Tuesday, Apr. 1, 6:30 pm@ Ss. Peter & Paul 181 Elizabeth St., Norwich, CT Wednesday, Apr. 2, 6:30 pm @ St. Joseph, 120 Cliff St., Norwich, CT

Parish Mission-All Hallows Church, Moosup, CT Sun, Mon, Tues, Apr. 6,7,8 @ 7:00 pm 130 Prospect St., Moosup, CT

“Everyone’s welcomed to these programs!

spiritual renewal services Diocese of Norwich

Dial-A-Prayer (860) 887-7767

P.O. Box 6 • 11 Bath Street Norwich, CT 06360 • (860) 887-0702 email: Renewal@catholicweb.com

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Four County Catholic March 2014

The Two Great Feasts in Lent The liturgical season of Lent, as we know, is a special time of prayer and penance. Its mood

By Sister Elissa Rinere, CP, JCD Office of Worship

is somber. Vestments are purple, there is no “Alleluia” sung or spoken, there is no “Gloria” on Sundays. All the liturgical signs remind us over and over again of the message of Lent, and the saving work of God on our behalf - except for

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two days.

Twice during Lent we turn from the somber to the joyful. The priest wears white vestments, we sing or recite the “Gloria,” and the Church commemorates two pillars of our faith: the Solemnity of Saint Joseph (March 19) and then the Solemnity of the Annunciation (March 25).

The celebration of Saint Joseph was established in Rome by the 15th century, although it had been observed in other parts of the Christian world much earlier. In 1870, Pope Pius IX declared Saint Joseph to be the patron of the Universal Church, and in 1962 Blessed John XXIII had the name of Saint Joseph inserted in the Roman Canon (now Eucharistic Prayer I). In June 2013, Pope Francis, acting on a plan begun by his predecessor, decreed that the name of Saint Joseph should be added to every Eucharistic Prayer

at every Mass celebrated in the Church.

Although very little is known about who Joseph was, the responsibilities he assumed as protector and guardian of Jesus and Mary, especially when they were most vulnerable, are well

known to us. Because, according to tradition, he died in the company of Jesus and Mary, Saint Joseph is honored as the patron saint of a happy death. Because he lived in a relationship of peace and love with Jesus, he is also praised by many saints, Saint Teresa of Avila among them, as a great teacher of prayer

to those who seek his help. Because he was sensitive to God’s voice even in sleep, he is also known as the saint of dreams.

The celebration of Saint Joseph in the midst of our Lenten journey provides much food for thought about how we might listen for God’s voice in dreams or otherwise, how we cultivate a spirit of quiet and prayer in the presence of Jesus, and how we understand what is meant by a “happy death.”

Saint Joseph has a part to play in the second celebration we meet in Lent, that of the Annunciation of the Lord. The feast celebrates the fact that Mary accepted her role in God’s plan for our salvation, even though she did not know what that would mean in her own life. Saint Joseph, as her protector in an otherwise hostile culture, played an important part in the fulfillment of that plan.

Although the beginnings of this feast of the Annunciation are lost to us, there is documentation that

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its observance was well established in Jerusalem by the end of the 5th century. From there, the feast spread to other parts of the Christian world. Although the date of the celebration has been changed several times, its importance has not been diminished. For several centuries, and until the 19th century, the Annunciation was a holy day of obligation in the universal church.

What can this feast contribute to our Lenten journey? The story (Luke 1: 26-38) presents us with, as Scripture scholars explain, the model believer. Mary is the model for all Christians as she responds wholeheartedly to God’s plan for her. As a young woman of her time, Mary was among the least influential people of her society. Even so, she was beloved of God and filled with grace. Since God loves and has a plan for each one of us, Mary’s response of complete acceptance can be our response, as well. The season of Lent, somber and quiet, is intended to provide us with the time and space to ponder such a possibility.

9

Four County Catholic March 2014

The Light of Hope The Diocese of Norwich encompasses four Connecticut counties and Fishers Island, New

By MaryLou Gannotti Director of Planned Giving

York. If you add up those living in New London, Middlesex, Tolland, and Windham County, plus Fishers Island, this accounts for approximately 710,000 people.

There is no specific profile of the individuals in our region who benefit from the generosity of your stewardship through the Annual Catholic Appeal. Just as the world in which we live is large and diverse with people of different nationalities and creeds, with varying personalities, beliefs and socio-economic circumstances, those who participate in ACA supported programs and ministries are a diverse group.

Some have lived with poverty for many years, others have fallen into hardship due to job loss, illness, or circumstance. So, if you were to ask who the Annual Catholic Appeal helps through the over 25 ministries and programs it supports, the answer might be thousands upon thousands! The ACA serves the very young and the very old, those who are homeless and those who are home bound. We reach out to the newly born and the unborn, those who celebrate their faith, and those who have turned from it and yearn for renewal.

The ACA is decidedly Catholic in its mission to promote Christ in our region through service and compassion to others. One of the most basic ways to preserve our

faith is through the education of our young people. The Annual Catholic Appeal supports Catholic education through our Diocesan School Office. We currently have five high schools with an enrollment of 2,208 and elementary schools with an enroll-

ment of 2,310. The Office of Faith Events through its Youth Ministry reaches out to Diocesan young people, offering a variety of programs including Scouting, Youth Council, and the ever popular Youth Explosion, a day of gospel, music and evangelization that reaches over 500 young people.

The Annual Catholic Appeal also strongly supports our soup kitchens in our mission to feed the hungry, as Christ asked of us. St. Vincent de Paul Place in Norwich helps thousands of families who are food insecure, serving nearly 80,000 hot meals this past year and an additional 237,000 food pantry meals. At St. Vincent de Paul in Middletown, soup kitchen meals totaled 83,135 for 2013.

In the course of one year, Catholic Charities, a Diocesan ministry, will serve over 3,000 adults and children through emergency food, clothing, rent and utility assistance programs. As economic circumstances becomes more difficult during the harsh

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There are countless other stories and statistics to share thanks to your generous donations to the ACA. Your gift makes these stories possible!

When you support the Annual Catholic Appeal, you support the work of Christ and help to “Shine the Light of HOPE” on others. Please consider making your gift today by visiting www.norwichdiocesedevelopment.org, or call 860-886-1928 to learn more.

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Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation All parishioners are invited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during the season of Lent.

Your church will be open one night a week, with the lights on and a priest available to hear confessions.

Check with your church for night & hours.

The peace of mind and soul which this sacrament imparts is one for which there is no substitute. Our sins are forgiven and we are reconciled to God, the Church and one another.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Catholic Charities Helping Hundreds with Housing Counseling and Foreclosure Prevention Services “My husband had been laid off and we began having trouble making mortgage

By Anna DeBiasi Development Coordinator, Catholic Charities, Diocese of Norwich

payments. We had no idea where to turn,” Marie, a wife and mother of 2 remembers.

“We were so leery in reaching out for help because there are so many programs that are scamming people out there and sure enough we fell victim to one of them.” The couple had searched the internet to find places to turn to help them deal with their situation before it became worse.

They paid one website $2,500 to help them-- but never received services or ever saw that money again.

Desperate, Marie and her husband Mark came to Catholic Charities for help after hearing about the Foreclosure Prevention Program. What they found there was hope.

Hope that there were people who were going to help her, and for the first time she thought t h a t maybe this overwhelming situation could be worked out.

The 3 housing counselors at Catholic Charities are the only housing counselors who provide foreclosure prevention services

from Willimantic to New London, and services are provided at no cost to the individual.

The counselors provide individual credit and budget counsel-

ing with clients, in addition to workshops on Foreclosure Prevention and First-Time Homeowners Education.

“Few people are aware of the free services available here. We are

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here to offer education and guidance on how to best navigate the foreclosure and first time homebuying processes,” explains housing counselor Jay Gelfond. “ W e have a success rate of a b o u t 90% of families who come to us who are able to remain in t h e i r homes. For others, we come up with the best solution possible given the circumstances.”

For Marie and Mark, the program was successful in helping them to remain in their home.

“The counselors at Catholic Charities worked with us through what seemed like an impossible situation. It was a blessing that I found Catholic Charities, and after working with them we were able to navigate the process and get our modification approved. It was like an incredible weight was lifted off my shoulders.”

For those facing foreclosure in Eastern Connecticut, Catholic Charities’ Foreclosure Prevention Workshop offers information about the foreclosure process in general, and referrals to additional

programs that provide assistance.

For those interested in purchasing a home for the first time, The First-time Homeowners Education Program provides one-onone assistance and counseling in regard to rental and mortgage delinquency issues, landlord/tenants’ rights, financial assistance for rent or mortgage, credit counseling, pre-occupancy counseling, and money management.

Participants also have the option to meet with the educator to more clearly define goals and plan to overcome obstacles as they arise. A separate, three-hour class is held to review the responsibilities of home ownership with participants who have qualified to purchase a home with a focus on maintaining and sustaining homeownership.

In 2013, the program helped over 700 households who were facing court foreclosure filings throughout New London, Tolland, Middlesex, and Windham Counties. Over the course of that same year, the First-Time Homebuyers Program worked with an average of 30 individuals per week, and helped complete 4,000 sales in New London and Windham Counties alone.

If you would like to support the Foreclosure Prevention or First Time Home-Buyers programs, please call 860.889.8346 x285.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

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“True Love Waits” Mass and Commitment Service celebrated by Fr. Charles LeBlanc, Pastor at St. Josephs.

“True Love Waits” Program for Teens was Held at St. Joseph’s, North Grosvenordale Every day our culture is bombarding our youth with misleading, confusing and dangerous

By Susan Williams Office of Family Life, Catholic Charities

messages about love and sex that can lead to devastating repercussions and regrets. The music, movies, TV shows, commercials, public school, the internet and the innermost personal lives of so many celebrities are the dominant messengers defining love and sex.

What is “True Love” and an actual loving relationship? What is the reality of sexually transmitted diseases, heartbreak, abortion? “True Love Waits” a Catholic and national program for high school students about true love, sexuality and promoting the values of chastity was held at St. Joseph’s Parish in North Grosvenordale this past January on four Sunday evenings. Over seventy ninth and tenth graders from the hosting parish St. Joseph’s, Most Holy Trinity in Pomfret and Sacred Heart, Webster, MA participated in the program presented by Jim Leonard, who, for over sixteen

years has presented the program to hundreds of teens in our diocese, and The Office of Family Life.

The final Sunday concluded with a Mass and Commitment Service in which students participated. A beautiful and moving testimony on chastity and true love was given at Mass by a former “True Love Waits” participant, Valerie Voccio, now a student at St. Joseph University in West Hartford. Following the Mass, teens and their families enjoyed pizza and refreshments in the church hall.

“True Love Waits” communicates to teenagers the power of commitment and the spiritual, emotional and physical values of remaining sexually pure as a single person, the most loving choice for themselves. “True Love Waits” is based on God’s definition of love, the teachings of the Church and Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body”. Promoting “Abstinence Only” programs to teens has proven to work. However, “True Love Waits” elevates this to a much higher level, to the virtue of chastity…. the why of abstaining. There is a spiritual and emo-

tional as well as a physical price tag of the choice teens make on sexual relationships outside of a marital relationship.

“True Love Waits” is a way to help parents in supporting their teens to embrace the truth and benefits of a commitment to sexual purity. True Love Waits communicates a preferred alternative to the dangerous “safe sex” message being delivered today. In our culture the definition of “love” is confusing. Teens are searching, looking for answers to the questions: what is love? How do I know what real love is? Every day teens are thinking about love and their sexuality as they search for meaning in their lives. “True Love Waits” and Pope John Paul II’s teachings define real love as selfdonating gift and contrasting with “lust”, that which is self-seeking and using another person. Pope John Paul II,” We are all created for love, to love and needing to be loved, this is to be human”.

Chastity frees us to love as God loves and affirms the sacredness of a person’s sexuality; it is true happiness.

IMMACULATA RETREAT HOUSE A Ministry of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate 289 Windham Road, Rte. 32 Willimantic, Connecticut

HOLY WEEK RETREATS: Come spend Holy Week 2014 (April 13-20) on the Hill. Father BIll Sheehan, OMI of Contemplative Outreach will conduct a contemplative retreat from Sunday to Thursday Noon, and Father Ron Rolheiser, OMI, noted author and preacher, and President of Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX, will conduct a Sacred Triduum Retreat from Holy Thursday afternoon through Easter Sunday Mass.

The general themes are “Preparing for and Celebrating the Paschal Mystery.” The retreats are open to men and women, lay and religious.

Offering for each retreat is $275.00. If you wish to participate in both retreats, the offering is $525.00. Space is limited, so early registration is advised.

To register or for more information: Phone: 860-423-8484 E-mail: info@immaculataretreat.org

12

Four County Catholic March 2014

The Deacons Call to Service Bishop Michael R. Cote, supported by the Diaconate Advisory Board, successfully restarted the

By Deacon Michael Puscas Director of Permanent Deacon Personnel

Permanent Diaconate Formation program in September 2013. The Permanent Diaconate Formation program has been redesigned to align with the “National Directory for the Formation, Ministry, and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States”, which was developed by the Bishops’ Committee

on the Diaconate of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). It was approved by the full body of United States Catholic bishops at its June 2003 General Meeting and received the subsequent approval of the Holy See. The renewed Permanent Diaconate Formation program aligns with Bishop Michael Cote’s Pastoral letter entitled, “Diakonia: Instrument of God’s Own Charity”, promulgated on the Feast of Saint Ephrem, June 9, 2012, which describes the diaconate formation program in the Diocese of Norwich and emphasizes the Deacon’s call to service.

T w o

groups are currently in formation. The first group of three men is halfway through their formation program.

From left to right, Octavio Flores, St. Francis of Assisi Church, Middletown, CT; Benjamin LoCasto, St. Andrew Church, Colchester, and Wayne Gignac, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Norwich, CT. All three men are continuing their Permanent Diaconate Formation studies at Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, CT. They have already completed two years of academic study and will continue their academic studies for another two years. Upon completion of their academic studies the three Di-

aconal Candidates will be assigned to a series of “Service Ministries” for a period of one year to complete their formation and engage in final preparation for Holy Orders.

The second group of five men were invited by Bishop Cote, in consultation with the Diaconate Advisory Board, comprised of Very Reverend Dennis M. Perkins, Rev-

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erend Gregory P. Galvin, Deacon Michael L. Puscas, Ed.D., Sister Elissa Rinere, C.P., J.C.D., and Reverend Richard J. Ricard, to formally begin their first year of discernment in what is known as the “Aspirancy Year”. During this time the church and the Aspirant mutually engage in the vocational discernment process.

Year one Aspirants include Left to Right, Jeff Naples, St. Andrew Church, Colchester, Bryan Jones, St. Augustine, Canterbury, CT; Daniel D’Amelio, St. Bridget of Kildare, Moodus, CT; Kim Thompson, St. Mary’s Church, Coventry, CT; and Philip Lussier, All Hollows, Moosup, CT. Upon successful completion of their Aspirancy year, the men will be invited to begin their four year Permanent Diaconate Formation program at Holy Apostles in Cromwell under the direction of the Diaconate Advisory Board.

Please keep these men in your prayers.

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intentions for March The Pope's universal prayer intention for March is “that all cultures may respect the rights and dignity of women”.

13

Four County Catholic March 2014

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Dear Four County Catholic Editor, I am writing to you regarding the article in the February issue titled “People's Pope Has Everyone's Attention.” I enjoyed your perspective on Pope Francis' unique approach toward his papacy. He truly has caught the attention of those outside and inside the church. There is one sentence, in particular, from the article that I found thought provoking. That which states: “Catholics recognize the unchanging teachings of the church in his message; …” Catholics may recognize those teachings, but do they put them into practice? The fact is, there are those faithful who disagree with a number of key church teachings (i.e. Her stand against contraception, abortion and same-sex marriage). And validate their disagreement through support, action or indifference.

Pope Francis has opened his arms to all. He has caught their attention because of his refreshing outward practice of humility. Yet will those who are drawn to the church's alternative to the modern world, find that, or an incomplete practice of what is professed.

To aspire to be Christ-like, we must follow His ways and teachings, even when most uncomfortable to do so. Many have lost the understanding of Christ's purpose. He didn't. He knew he was here for one reason -- the cross. To make the ultimate sacrifice of love, to complete God's reconciliation with man, through the forgiveness of sins by His death. The cross symbolizes all that is contrary to the world. On it one is detached from wealth, pleasure, honor and power. All those desirable things are lost. But what is found is the greatest good. The truth.

Sure it is difficult to be a complete Catholic. But that is what Christ required when He founded His church. He, through Pope Francis and all clergy, past and to come, opens His welcoming arms to embrace all. To inherent all that He promised and fulfilled on the cross, we need only to embrace his ways.

Will we falter in the process? Very likely. But that is why Christ gave us the sacrament of penance. Not simply forgiveness, but also a challenge to amend our waywardness. To pick us up, dust us off, and continue on the road He paved for us. The road back home to God. Collectively, we can then see our way to restoring Christ's church to that which He has intended for all eternity. And by such an accomplishment we will have wiped away a distorted image of Christ's church. The unobstructed image will clearly reveal Christ's purpose to those who seek the comforting and protective embrace of Holy Mother Church.

For those who strive to do God's will, find peace in knowing that His judgment is equaled by His mercy.

In Christ, Alan A. Malizia St. James Parish, Danielson, CT

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The Diocese of Norwich through the “Bishop’s Initiative on Housing” is looking to develop a number of vacant or underused buildings into multi-family housing units throughout Eastern Connecticut.

The Developer should have a minimum 10 years experience in the development and funding of multi-unit housing in New England and have knowledge of the Affordable Housing Market.

Please email information to: housingdirector@norwichdiocese.net Attention: Peter Harding, Director of Housing Development

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Monsignor Willis W. West Jr. July 14, 1937 ~ February 21, 2014 Norwich - Monsignor Willis W. West Jr., 76, retired priest of the Diocese of Norwich, died Friday, Feb. 21, 2014, in Willimantic. Monsignor West had served in several parishes in the diocese, including as assistant pastor at St. Mary Star of the Sea in New London, St. Patrick in Mystic, Cathedral of St. Patrick in Norwich, and as pastor of St. Phillip in Warrenville and St. Joseph Parish in Willimantic where he served as pastor for 23 years prior to his retirement in 2007. Monsignor West was born in Rockville, July 14, 1937, son of the late Connie M. (Phillips) of Rockville and of the late Willis W. West Sr. A graduate of Assumption College, Worcester, Mass., he received his theological training at St. Bernard Seminary, Rochester, N.Y. and Christ the King, St. Bonaventure, Olean, N.Y. Monsignor West was ordained to the priesthood on May 23, 1963 by The Most Reverend Vincent J. Hines, D.D., Bishop of Norwich at the Cathedral of Saint Patrick, Norwich. Among his many distinguished diocesan assignments were his appointment as dean of the Willimantic Deanery, the board of directors of Domus Vitae and diocesan director of cemeteries. He is fondly remembered for his inspirational love for the church. As described by a former St. Joseph Church secretary, Monsignor West was “a priest’s priest. Priesthood came first and church came first, everything else came second.” Monsignor West is also gratefully remembered as having been instrumental in the founding of the Saint Joseph Living Center in Willimantic, and for his service as president of the Board.

Monsignor West is survived by his brothers, Richard of Rockville, and Robert of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; along with his loving nieces and nephews. The Bacon Funeral Home, 71 Prospect St., Willimantic, 860-423-1234, was in charge of arrangements, and is maintaining the online guest log.

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Sister Angela Joseph Caldarone February 18, 1912 ~ February 20, 2014 Sister Angela Joseph Caldarone, DHS, (102), a member of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, died February 20, 2014 at Holy Spirit Health Care Center where she had been in residence since 1996. Sr. Angela Joseph was born Maria Lucia Caldarone on February 18, 1912 in Waterbury, CT, the daughter of the late Joseph and Angela (DeCicco) Calderone. She entered religious life in 1931 and made her religious profession on August 8, 1935 at the Motherhouse in St. Brieuc, France. During most of her religious life, Sister taught the primary grades in various Catholic Schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts until retiring in 1991. Survivors include one sister, Tessie Masi of Waterbury, CT, and several nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Monday, February 24 at the Holy Spirit Provincial House Chapel by the Reverend Richard Archambault, chaplain who also gave the homily. Concelebrating with him was the Reverend Robert Gariepy, of Shrewsbury, a retired priest of the Diocese of Worcester who was a former student of Sr. Angela’s in the second grade her first year teaching.

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Defending Religious Liberty The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to listen to oral arguments in the case of Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby on March 25th. In its mission statement, Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., a nation-wide chain of craft stores, includes: “Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.” Hobby Lobby is arguing that it should not be forced by the government to pay for provisions of the federal health insurance mandate that violate its moral beliefs.

If you haven’t done so already, please voice your opposition to the mandate by calling President Obama at the White House at 202-456-1111 or Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius at 202-205-5445. Let them know that the mandate is in violation of our First Amendment right to religious freedom.

By Reverend Walter Nagle St. Patrick Church, East Hampton, CT 35260

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wich. For some, that is a reason to exclude my opinion from the current discussion of Physician Assisted Suicide in Ct. This reflects the prevailing societal philosophy/attitude that one’s dignity and worth derive from what one does or can produce. I reject that philosophy. My primary identity is that of a son and it is as a son that I wish to speak on the topic of Physician Assisted Suicide.

On February 3, 2014, I received a text message that no one wants to receive. My dad was trying to contact me. It stated simply. “Please call asap. Emergency.”

Unable to contact my father or my brother I immediately called Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London where my mother had been admitted as a patient on Friday, January 31. I was told the words that no son ever wants to hear: “I am very sorry but your mother has passed.” Joking with the nurses just moments before, the nurses returned to her room and were unable to revive her. She died of cardiac arrest brought on by sepsus (MRSA). Jeanne, my mom, was suffering from dementia.

Some say it is a blessing that she went so quickly and did not have to suffer. My heart does not agree.

Bedridden since Labor Day, Jeanne Nagle became a beacon of light in her suffering and pain.

Her diminished mental capacity and physical capacity became a daily struggle but it is one my dad accepted with grace. She was not able to feed herself, she would constantly call me by my brother’s name (Marty). As a family we were fortunate to have the loving care of the Visiting Nurses of Southeast CT, Utopia, and Angel Care. This was an incredible blessing. Their care enabled my parents to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on November 30, 2013. The aides even came on Christmas Eve and one

of the Angel Care aides sang a German Christmas Carol in German. One very important point: Not long before my mother’s death she looked at me in perfect clarity and said “I didn’t expect it to end this way.” I didn’t expect for her to die alone, unattended, in a hospital room. I always envisioned her entering eternity surrounded by a loving family at her bedside. Regardless, beneath the dementia was a person very much alive and very alert to what was happening.

Why do I say all this? Some people, if physician assisted suicide were to be made legal, may choose to end their life prematurely. This is a line that cannot be crossed. The argument is often made that no one should have to suffer uselessly. These days with advances in Palliative Care, physical pain can be treated. In fact the father of Palliative Care in North America, Dr. Balfour Mount, himself a cancer survivor, is vigorously opposed to a Physician Assisted Suicide Bill in Quebec. So is Jean Vanier, founder of L’Arche, a community of people with mental disabilities. Both Dr. Mount and Jean Vanier can see the dignity of the human person beneath the outer appearance of physical or mental illness. It is argued that there will be strict provisions on who can qualify and who cannot.

This is very subjective. Where does the medical community draw the line on what types of pain qualify for life ending medication, and which ones don’t? It is like trying to compare grief. You cannot. It is personal. So is pain.

What I and others learned from Jeanne Nagle is that suffering can bring out the best in people. The aides loved to stop by the house and here her say “You are pretty” or “You look really nice today.”

Just because she couldn’t feed/bathe/wash herself and produce something for society does not mean her life was without meaning. Her suffering brought ought heroic love in those who cared for her. What does that say about us as a people? All she had was love….and that love trans-

formed everyone around her.

In the last week Belgium has passed an assisted suicide law that allows for children of any age with a terminal illness to receive life ending medication. An op-ed piece in the LA Times lauded the decision and recommended that such laws be passed in the US. Do you see the slippery slope that Physician Assisted Suicide brings?

By their logic if you can take the life of an adult why not administer life ending medication to children? You see how acceptance of Physician Assisted Suicide opens a pandora’s box of other evils.

Nobody likes to suffer. Nobody likes to be in pain. Instead of focusing efforts on how we can terminate a life under the guise of words like “Compassion” and “Choice” shouldn’t we build up a community of caring people who can be the hands and feet to build up the most vulnerable in our population? Was Jeanne Nagle’s story unique? No. There are many who suffer from Alzheimer’s/Dementia. Have others suffered greater and longer and not had the positive experience we did? I am sure. However, every person created in the image and likeness of God has something unique and special to share with us. What is that something? Life is Beautiful and it should be protected and cherished.

Please Contact your State Representative and State Senator and say “No” to a bill promoting Physician Assisted Suicide.

There has been Assisted Suicide in Oregon for 11 years. A Doctor from Oregon has testified that there is not ONE documented case of a person dying with uncontrollable pain. In that period the suicide rate has increased by 40%.

State Representative: Melissa Ziobron 800-842-1423 melissa.ziobron @housegop.ct.gov State Senator: Art Linares 1-800-842-1421 (CT only) 860-240-8800 (out of state)

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Pope Francis Greets 19 Inmates from Pisa Vatican City - Pope Francis set aside his schedule Wednesday to meet briefly with 19 inmates CNA/EWTN News

from prisons in Pisa and the island of Pianosa, greeting each one individually and blessing them.

According to ANSA, the secretary for the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, had organized the inmates’ visit to the Vatican and was celebrating Mass for them at the Vatican Grottos when the Pope learned of their arrival and decided to invited them to his residence.

He spent a few minutes greeting them at St. Martha’s Resi-

dence, where he lives at the Vatican, before going to St. Peter’s Square for the Wednesday General Audience. “It was a truly beautiful and moving encounter. The Pope wanted to greet and bless each one of them. He encouraged them, and his gesture was one of great spiritual fatherhood,� Archbishop Baldisseri said.

Inmates said the 15 minutelong visit was “very beautiful and emotional.�

Chaplains from prisons across Italy are taking part in spiritual pilgrimages for inmates to Rome to attend the General Audiences with Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square.

Diocese News Brief The Gift of Grace Prison ministry volunteer training program trains volunteers to minister to over 4700 men and women in the state of CT who are incarcerated. The Office of Prison Ministry will be sponsoring its first Restorative Justice Forum in the Fall of 2014.

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Pope Francis greets prisoners from Pisa and Pianosa jails during a private meeting at the Vatican February 19, 2014. Photo by Reuters/Osservatore Romano

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Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and Charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore of you to obtain for me (state request here). The answer to my prayer may require a miracle, even so, you are the Saint of Miracles.

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

Promise publication and for nine consecutive days, pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be.

~ JR ~

18

Four County Catholic March 2014

National Christian Leaders Oppose Mass Incarceration Newark, NJ - Christian leaders sat transfixed as Rev. Darren Ferguson, pastor of Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Far Rockaway, NY, told the story of his decline from adolescent years with promise to incarceration and God’s power to restore and redeem. The leaders of Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A represent the broadest coalition of church leaders in the United States, including: Historic Protestant, Evangelical/Pentecostal, Catholic, Orthodox, and Historic Black Churches. They came together for the group’s annual meeting in Newark, NJ, February 4-7.

On this night, the leaders were struck by one thing: Jesus loves the prisoner and he was one.

For the past six years, CCT has educated itself and taken action on issues of poverty, racial justice, and

immigration reform. This year, the group furthered its commitment to these issues by engaging the issue of mass incarceration in the U.S. The message was clear from speakers that included formerly incarcerated faith leaders, a federal judge, a former prosecutor, a director of state corrections and a social worker, as well as the deliberation among CCT participants: Mass Incarceration is not just an issue. It is first and foremost about people created in God’s image with lives, families, hopes, and dreams ensnared within a web of personal struggles and choices exacerbated by social conditions, laws, structures, and historic dehumanization of people of color.

Mass incarceration is a destructive system of human control where certain ethnic minorities experience

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inequitable interaction with the nation’s penal system. Current realities include: • With only 5 percent of the world’s population, the U.S has 25 percent of the world’s imprisoned people. (The Sentencing Project) • Incarceration rates have increased from 500,000 inmates in jail and prison in 1980 to more than 2.2 million in 2010. (The Sentencing Project) • For-profit prison companies commonly demand 90 percent occupancy from the states that contract with them. (6 Shocking Revelations about how private prisons make money, by April M. Short on Salon.com) • CCA and Geo Group, the nation’s two major private prison companies, “have had a hand in shaping and pushing for criminal justice policies such as mandatory minimum sentences that favor increased incarceration.” (In the Public Interest Report, September 2013) • The “War on Drugs” dramatically increased the U.S. prison population from 41,000 drug offenders in 1980 to half a million in 2010. (The Sentencing Project)

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• African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population and use drugs at the same rates as people of other races, but represent 45 percent of those imprisoned for drug violations.

(Drug Policy Alliance Report) • Criminal prosecutions of immigration suspects in federal court districts along the U.S. southern border have increased by 1,475 percent over the last 20 years resulting in increased demand for prisons and detention centers to hold inmates (War on Undocumented Immigrants Threatens to Swell U.S. Prison Population, by Chris Kirkham on Huffington Post and TRAC Reports) • 1 in 3 Black men and 1 in 6 Latino men are likely to be imprisoned in their lifetime. Only 1 in 17 white men will experience the inside of a jail or prison in his lifetime. (The Sentencing Project) In light of these facts and others corroborated by the personal testimonies of several speakers, agreement among CCT’s leaders was palpable. The group declared: The church in the United States has a moral and ethical imperative to protect human dignity and must address the problem of mass incarceration in our nation.

First, we recognize that the legacy

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of the dehumanization of people of color has borne lasting effects in current-day society. These effects are perhaps most acutely experienced by our African-American brothers and sisters who were deemed non-human, “chattel,” by law in the days of antebellum slavery and whose human equality was challenged by the Jim Crow system of subjugation until passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 attempted to right it.

We see the vestiges of these systems of human control in America’s current system of mass incarceration.

Second, we recognize that these systems are not only affecting African-Americans. They are now impacting all people of color, the poor, the marginalized, and the immigrant in the United States. Latinos and other immigrants, in particular, are experiencing the brunt of increased detention rates in the midst of their struggle for immigration reform.

Third, while there is a role for prisons to address violent offenses, we recognize that our nation’s justice system has lost the hope embodied by its historic vision to “correct” and restore broken people back to society. As followers of Jesus Christ, we believe in the redemption and reconciliation of all things, rather than retribution. This includes the prisoner and broken systems. This is the essence of the gospel.

As Christian leaders, CCT declared: “Mass incarceration must stop. We are challenging ourselves together with government and the nation to seize this moment when multiple forces are aligning toward positive action to correct the injustices within our ‘justice’ system.”

CCT in the U.S.A. is encouraging its member denominations and organizations to increase awareness, educate, and take action to oppose mass incarceration in the public square. CCT also committed to developing guiding principles for the Church in its efforts.

19

Four County Catholic March 2014

Reality-TV Vet Mark Burnett’s Film ‘Son of God’ Assembled Out of Re-edited Footage From Last Year’s ‘The Bible’ For his first foray into feature filmmaking, reality-TV veteran Mark Burnett turned to an unBy Erich Schwartzel

likely source: the cutting-room floor.

“Son of God,” currently in theaters almost everywhere, is assembled from re-edited footage and deleted scenes from “The Bible,” his hit miniseries that aired last year on the History Channel—an unusual if not unprecedented approach to putting together a big-screen feature.

The effort also means that the roughly $20 million spent producing the original 10-hour series has now spawned a two-hour-plus feature at little additional cost to Mr. Burnett’s LightWorkers Media or Hearst Corp., his partner in the production company One Three Media.

Twentieth Century Fox is distributing the film at more than 3,000 theaters in North America and an overseas rollout will follow in the coming months, part of an unusually expansive push for faith-based entertainment.

The greatest story ever told has long been a tough sell for Hollywood. Biblically inspired entertainment is typically the domain of niche production companies and straight-to-DVD distribution. The surprise box office success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” in 2004 set off a feeding frenzy among the major studios, which rushed to produce copycat features targeting Christian audiences, most of which fizzled.

Still, Mr. Burnett’s low-cost foray onto the big screen begins a year of high-profile projects that trace their origins to the post-”Passion” boomlet. “Noah,” a $125 million spectacle starring Russell Crowe aboard the ark in the title role, opens one month after “Son of God,” and Fox is set to release “Exodus,” starring Christian Bale as Moses, in December.

Mr. Burnett and his producing partner and wife, Roma Downey,

predict a healthy number of people will come to the multiplex to see Jesus’ life, death and resurrection on the big screen, free of the distractions that come with serialized television. “The series was a great over view, but it was told over 3½ weeks, with commercial breaks.

You couldn’t really settle in,” said Mr. Burnett.

Ms. Downey, an actress from the former CBS show “Touched by an Angel” who stars as Mother Mary in the film, has indicated that more productions are expected to spin off from the success of “The Bible” miniseries in 2015, when two more minis-

eries produced by the couple will air on network prime time. CBS will carry the four-hour “The Dovekeepers,” and NBC will air the 12-hour “A.D.”, a sequel of sorts to “The Bible” tracing the world-wide growth of Christianity.

“Son of God” was concur-

rently edited with the miniseries for more than 12 months.

Unfailing Prayer to St. Anthony

Prayer to St. Jude

O Holy St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and Charity for His creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ever ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I implore of you to obtain for me (state request here). The answer to my prayer may require a miracle, even so, you are the Saint of Miracles.

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Sweet Infant Jesus, who loved to be folded in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

Promise publication and for nine consecutive days, pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary and one Glory Be.

Most holy apostle, St. Jude, faithf l ser ant and iend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes you universally, as the pat on of hopeless cases, of things almost despaired of. Pray for me, I am so helpless and alone.

Make use I implore you, of that par icular privilege given to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help is almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this g eat need that I may receive the consolation and help of heaven in all my necessities, t ibulations, and sufferings that I may praise God with you and all the elect forever. I promise, O blessed St. Jude, to be ever mindf l of this g eat favor, to always honor you as my special and powerf l pat on, and to g atef lly encourage devotion to you. Amen.

~ JR ~

~ RS ~

20

Four County Catholic March 2014

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Four County Catholic March 2014

St. Patrick Cathedral School, Norwich 860-889-4174 www.St-patrickschoolnorwich.org

Academic Excellence. Character. Self-confidence.

Sacred Heart School, Taftville 860-887-1757 www.sacredhearttaftville.org Sacred Heart School, Groton 860-445-0611 www.sacredheartgroton.org St. Edward School, Stafford Springs 860-684-2600 www.stedward-stafford.org St. James School, Danielson 860-774-3281 www.stjamesdanielson.com Blessed John Paul II Regional School, Middletown 860-347-2978 www.jpii.org St. John School, Old Saybrook 860-388-0849 www.saintjohnschoolos.com St. Joseph School, Baltic 860-822-6141 www.stjosephbaltic.org St. Joseph School, North Grosvenordale 860-923-2090 www.schoolofstjoseph.com St. Joseph School, New London 860-442-1720 www.sjsnl.com St. Mary-St. Joseph School, Willimantic 860-423-8479 www.smsjschool.org St. Michael School, Pawcatuck 860-599-1084 www.stmichaelschoolct.com

Mount Saint John Continues to Evolve and Grow!

Since 1904, the mission of Mount Saint John has been to support boys and

By Kathy C. White Chief Administrator/Education Director, Mount Saint John

St. Matthew Pre-School, Tolland 860-872-0200 www.stmatthewct.org St. Bernard Pre-School, Rockville 860-875-0753 x113 www.saintbernardchurch.org

young men who are struggling with life circumstances and need assistance with

educational and vocational skills and emotional support. Although our programming continues to evolve, our mission still meets those needs. Our current mission is to “provide high quality clinical and educational experiences that empower individuals and families with

the skills, confidence and fortitude to achieve their full potential�.

As you may know, Mount Saint John was originally established as an orphanage in 1904. We still have 80 year old men who return to visit and exclaim that Evolve & Grow Cont. on page 22

To learn more, contact the Diocesan School Office, 860-887-4086, www.norwichdso.org or contact one of the diocesan schools.

22

Four County Catholic March 2014

Mount Saint John Continues to Evolve and Grow! Continued from page 21 they remember living in a particular room and which staff helped them to overcome their challenges. In the mid 1960s, MSJ became a residential treatment facility for boys involved in the juvenile justice system, Department of Children and Families (DCF) or with mental health or school challenges. Various men in their 30s and 40s are sharing their fond memories online and comment that Mount Saint John provided what they needed in terms of encouragement, discipline and safety. Over the past several years, DCF dramatically reduced the use of residential facilities, following the national trend that youth are best served in their communities. Our residential treatment facility closed to DCF referrals on 6/18/13.

In an effort to help young men who are now in their communities but continue to need support, we renamed our clinical day school program, “The Academy at Mount Saint John”. Youth from local districts (within an hour drive) attend our program, which offers flexible scheduling

our culinary program. Our music production and graphic arts programs allow youth to enjoy and produce art through a therapeutic environment.

Our students benefit from earning more credits that they can in most public schools. Students can earn up to 8 credits per school year (as opposed to 5 – 6 in most schools). They are motivated to work during the vocational/work study portion (2:15 – 4:15PM) because they learn hands-on skills, earn credits and also earn a stipend of $5 – 6 an hour. Their earnings provide opportunities to learn financial literacy and budgeting skills. Often these additional credits allow youth to graduate within a reasonable time, saving school districts money and preventing students from dropping out.

The Academy at Mount Saint John offers youth another chance and a different way of learning.

How many of you know a boy who learns much better with a hands-on approach? How many need the security of a program with staff who know them well

I continue to meet adults in all walks of life who hear about our school and say they would have benefitted from such an educa-

for young men ages 11 – 21, with high academic rigor and vocational offerings. Two of our vocational courses offer certifications: Home Builder’s Institute/PACT certification (Basic Skills, Plumbing, Electrical, Carpentry, Landscaping, Facilities Maintenance) and ServSafe certification through

and believe in them and will provide a safe learning environment?

How many need clinical support to resolve the emotional and behavioral challenges that are impeding their academic success?

How many would benefit from learning at a beautiful, spacious college-like campus?

tion. Traditional schooling was not for them. And yet, they have talents and skills that are amazing.

Our State and Country need a

skilled workforce and productive citizens!

Please consider...Is it not worth investing in the alternative education of youth in need, so that they may have a productive life and we won’t need to provide for them through social services for years or life? We hear in the news every day about underprivileged youth who end up committing crimes because they know of no other way. Research shows that there are increasing numbers of youth who don’t feel comfortable in a traditional, large school environment and therefore become school avoidant. The Academy at Mount Saint John continues to show youth another way to learn and grow.

Please contact us to arrange a visit in person or visit us at www.mtstjohn.org . We welcome your support and involvement and hope we can be helpful to someone you know.

23

Four County Catholic March 2014

Let’s Hear It For the Nuns!

When Mary Margaret Gefre’s boyfriend drove her to the train station in their small North

By Christina Capecchi Four County Catholic Contributor

Dakota town, the 19-year-old farm girl didn’t tell him where she was headed on that brisk December day, clutching a small bag containing a rosary, her childhood prayer book, a few dresses and a pair of shoes.

She was bound for a cloistered convent in St. Paul, Minn. She was going to become a nun.

Today, at age 84, she marks the passage of that heartwrenching winter by three feast days.

It was on Dec. 28, the Feast of the Holy Innocents, that her boyfriend Baltzer took her to the train station, giving her a peck on the cheek before driving away. The dark-haired young man had won her over with his deep faith and gentle ways. “I was sure he was going to be my husband,” she told me. “I could envision a happy life with him, babies.”

It was on Feb. 2, the Feast of the Presentation, that Mary Margaret officially entered the Sisters of St. Joseph’s community, a bundle of hopes and fears.

In the open fields back home, she could see for miles: every sunrise engulfed her, every cloud floated overhead, every star pierced the midnight sky. But in the city, trees crowded in on her.

“I felt imprisoned,” she said. “It was sort of like the end of world.”

It was on Feb. 14, the Feast of St. Valentine, that Mary Margaret received a love letter from Baltzer. Her superior, Sister Sara Claire, had already read it and handed it to Mary Margaret soberly. The sight of his neat cursive and urgent plea to come home opened a floodgate of

emotion. “It all came back to me. I had to do lots of thinking.

It was very hard to give him up, but I just knew my call by then.

In my heart I felt that this was my home.”

To modern ears, this may sound like a tragedy, but Mary

Margaret – who for 65 years now has been Sister Rosalind – describes it as a happily ever after that keeps getting sweeter. Her life has been wildly, richly full: working as a nurse and witnessing childbirth, establishing an esteemed massage school to bring the healing touch to people in pain, fielding teary confessions and appeals for prayer at every turn.

She is a short, wrinkled woman with stardust in her eyes and a mile of joy coiled in her body, compelling her to hug repairmen in the elevator and hold your hand as you walk to lunch.

“I am so glad I chose the sisterhood!” she said. “I would not exchange it for anything in the world.”

I believe her.

Many sisters have told me that religious life enabled them to do more than they ever could’ve hoped, opening up new avenues and awakening new desires. For 20-something women facing big decisions, sisters have surprising wisdom to offer. They’ve been there, they get it. And for those of us who feel frustrated by times when the urgent-but-notimportant manages to trump the important-but-not-urgent, as Stephen Covey puts it, sisters model an integration – daily actions that perfectly correspond with their dearest values. Walking the walk, seldom needing to talk the talk.

Their profound impact is being recognized this March

through Women’s History Month. National Catholic Sisters Week is a worthy addition to a month that celebrates movers and shakers, sisters who lead by serving, who show up with great faith and open hearts, seeing God in each stranger on the street. I can’t imagine our country, our church or my life without them.

Christina Capecchi is a freelance writer from Inver Grove Heights, Minn., and editor of SisterStory.org, the official website of National Catholic Sisters Week.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Mercy High School Preparing to Celebrate 50 Years of Tradition Mercy High School turned 50 years old this year. When the school opened in 1963, it was housed on one floor of Xavier High School. The ground breaking for the actual school was in 1964 and the building opened in 1965. “We have a few dates to celebrate in our 50 Years of Tradition, stated Sr. Mary A. McCarthy, RSM and President of Mercy High School.

We have various committees comprised of students, alumnae, faculty and staff, past and present parents and friends of Mercy working on three very special and unique events.”

Mercy High school will be kicking off its 50th Anniversary with a special Mass on March 24th for the current student body, faculty, staff and honored guests. The original ground breaking for the school was held on March 22, 1964.

Current students as well as representatives from each past graduating class will be at the Mass

which will be followed by a school luncheon and events for the students in the afternoon. Ms. Ann Derbacher, Campus Minister is the Chairperson for the Student Mass.

March 29 will be the official 50th Anniversary Celebration to commemorate 50 Years of Tradition. Tickets are available via the Mercy online store ( w w w. m e rc y high.com). This celebration will include cocktails and dinner. Tickets are $80 per person.

Mrs. Maria Bergan ‘73, Administrative Assistant to the President and Principal is the Chairperson for this evening of celebration.

On May 4, they entire

school campus will be busy. The day starts with Mass at 10 a.m. including a special offertory for charity. Brunch will be served immediately following Mass.

Guests will then be able to shop in the school store for special 50th anniversary jewelry and items, tour the school, meet and talk with current students, view memorabilia including videos, scrapbooks, posters, school treasures. If any past Peer Ministers are planning on attending Mercy’s 50th Anniversary Mass on May4 and would like to be involved with the Mass, they should contact the Campus Minister,

aderbacher@mercyhigh.com or call 860-346-6659 Ext. 114 to volunteer. “I am seeking past Peer Ministers to be a lector, cross bearer, candle bearer, altar server, or present the Offertory gifts,” stated Ann Derbacher, Campus Minister.

At 1:30 p.m. will be the premier of the play, “We Know by Heart – 50 years of Mercy.” This musical has been written by Mercy alumnae and current faculty member Rose Masselli Morse ‘80. In the tradition of Catherine McAuley, foundress of the Sisters of Mercy, a “comfortable cup of tea will be served with Irish scones after the play.

“Although the events of May 4th are free for participants, online registration for the Mass and play will begin on April 1 because of the limited seating in the auditorium,” add Marilyn Skoge, Associate Director of Alumnae and Development and Chairperson for the May 4th open house.

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WOMENS LENTEN RETREAT

DAY OF RECOLLECTION

March 14­16, 2014 “Quest for Personal Holiness” With Deacon Paul G.

March 28­30, 2014 “My Beautiful Broken Shell” With Fran Karpiej, OSF

April 16, 2014 Holy Week With Kathy Irr

TRIDUUM RETREAT April 17­20, 201 “On the Third Day” With Fr. Marcel Rainville, SSE

St. Michael’s Institute of Sacred Art May 13­15, 2014 Gregorian Chant “Communion Chants; An Introduction to Hildegard of Bingen; Evening Prayer” With Dr. William Tortolano

March 15­21, 2014 Manuscript Illumination & Gilding With Valerie Weilmuenster

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Four County Catholic March 2014

St. Bernard Boys’ Hoops Tops Griswold to Win ECC Small Division Title Montville - Remy Bonser scored 20 points as St. Bernard School held off Griswold, 53-49,

By Tali Greener Reprint from The Day

to win the Eastern Connecticut Conference Small Division boys’ basketball championship.

Anthony Malchiodi added 11 points for St. Bernard, which is 12-5 overall and finishes 9-1 in the division, one game ahead of Windham.

“I’m really happy for our kids to be able to win a title,” secondyear coach Mark Jones said. “I told them this is something they’ll never forget.”

Jones said his veterans namely Bonser, Malchiodi and Paul Pepas - learned a tough lesson from a year ago when the

Saints had a big lead in the division race only to let the title slip away late.

“They saw that and they learned from it,” Jones said.

“And they wanted to make sure that didn’t happen this year. We have a lot of talent ... not as much as a Double-L school ... but our kids worked hard this summer and it really paid off. I am extremely happy for them.”

St. Bernard’s Anthony Malchiodi (20), center, grabs the rebound away from Griswold’s Nick Faulise, right, and Zane Peterson, left, assisted by St. Bernard’s Paul Pepas, second from right, during the division title basketball game at St. Bernard High School in Montville, Monday, February 17, 2014.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

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St. John School of Old Saybrook announces recent scholarship winners for Mercy and Xavier High Schools. Eighth graders Gabriel Bartalotta, Lila Fraser, and Kevin Ryff earned scholarships for significantly high scores on the school Entrance Exams, with Kevin Ryff scoring the second highest of all students taking the Xavier exam. Kevin Ryff also placed first in the State for the Modern Woodmen Speech contest representing St. John School. We congratulate them and wish them well!

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Did You Know?

March 5

Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. It’s time to prepare your heart for Easter.

March 17

St. Patrick’s Day and a time to share your faith like the saint did.

March 20

Spring begins and hopefully warmer weather.

Look for signs of new life.

by Karen H Whiting

March 25

Annunciation of Jesus. Read Luke 1:26-37 when the angel spoke to Mary.

March 30

Honesty Day so be sure today and all days that you tell the truth! See what Jesus said about the truth in John 14:6 and John 8:32.

R

y

X

Math & the Bible

What Jesus Told Satan

Pi day isn’t about eating pies although you may want to have one to celebrate on March 14th.

It’s a day to celebrate math and numbers. Pi is a ratio between a circle’s circumference (distance around the edge) and its diameter (distance across the middle). Circles and numbers are all around you.

Numbers are also in the Bible. Jesus had twelve disciples, fasted for forty days (that’s why we have forty days of lent), named the two greatest commandments, and is part of the triune(3 persons in one) God. Look at a few number facts that make life great:

Look at the letters rolling around on this wheel. In the code below, each letter needs to be switched to the one above or below it in the wheel to solve for the message. For example A=Q and Q=A.

s B

i

H

Q

c

z j

A C

p

d

t

A

o

k

n

n

e

B What did Jesus tell Satan after Jesus fasted forty And Jesus tried to tempt Jesus?

g

m f

u

l o

w p

v

• God subtracts all your sins (down to zero) when you confess and ask for forgiveness.

• He measures according to your giving (Luke 6:38, Malachi 3:10) to give you an equal return or more.

• He divided waters (Exodus 14).

• The angels rejoice when one person turns to God and believes (Luke 15:10) Enjoy a day that celebrates numbers and have a piece of pie too!

___ ___ ___ W U D

___ ___ ___ ___ Q G Q I

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ C Q D Q K

Satan had wanted Jesus to worship him.What did Jesus remind Satan?

___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ G L B C X Y M

___ ___ ___ W L T

___ ___ ___ ___ L K O I Answer: Get away Satan, Worship God only

• He multiplied bread to feed many (John 6) and can still perform miracles.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Pope Francis Appoints 19 New Cardinals in Vatican Ceremony Pope Francis created 19 new cardinals Saturday in a ceremony in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica

By Laura Smith-Spark CNN

-- the first such appointments since he was elected pontiff last March.

The new cardinals come from countries around the world, hailing from as far afield as Brazil, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, South Korea and Haiti.

The pope presented them with the traditional biretta, or red cap, and ring at a formal ceremony called a public consistory.

The scarlet color of the cap symbolizes the cardinals’ willingness to die for their faith.

Looking frail, Benedict, the Pope Emeritus, lined up with the existing cardinals for the ceremony in the historic church.

When last year he became the first pope in almost six centuries to stand down, Benedict said he would live a life of seclusion and study.

His presence in St. Peter’s Basilica alongside that of Francis and the cardinals who will one day vote for his successor is a highly unusual event.

Francis spoke Sixteen of the new cardinals are under the age of 80, making them eligible to elect a new pope when the time comes, according to Vatican Radio.

Three of them are over age 80 and “are chosen for their distinguished service� to the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church, it said.

One of those is 98-year-old Archbishop Loris Capovilla, who was the secretary of Pope John XXIII. He was not present for the

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ceremony, but will be presented with his biretta in the coming days.

Two of the newly appointed cardinals already hold top Vatican positions -- Archbishop Pietro Parolin is its secretary of state, while Archbishop Gerhard Mueller is head of the church’s chief doctrinal office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

No Americans were named among the new members of the college of cardinals, but there is one Canadian, Quebec Archbishop Gerald Cyprien Lacroix.

Francis: Not a promotion In a letter sent last month to the chosen clergy, Francis gave some words of advice about remaining humble.

Becoming a cardinal “does not signify a promotion, an honor nor a decoration: it is simply a service that demands a broader vision and a bigger heart,� he said. “And, although it seems a para-

dox, this ability to look further and love more universally with greater intensity can be acquired only by following the way of the Lord: The way of lowliness and of humility, taking the form of a servant.�

Commenting last month on the clergy named by Francis, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi highlighted the geographical range and diversity of the countries they come from. “The choice of cardinals of Burkina Faso and Haiti shows concern for people struck by poverty,� he is quoted as saying by Vatican Radio.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Cardinals Give Pope Recommendations on Vatican Bank, Financial Affairs Vatican City - Pope Francis met for the third time in late February with his international Council of

By Cindy Wooden & Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service

Cardinals, an eight-member group advising him on the reform of the Vatican bureaucracy and other issues.

The Feb. 17-19 meetings focused on financial and bureaucratic matters even as the council was rumored to be working on a draft of an apostolic constitution that would reorganize the church’s central administration, the Roman Curia.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, told reporters Feb. 19 that the council members had followed up their discussions earlier in the week by giving the pope a set of recommendations regarding Vatican fi-

nancial management and the future of the so-called Vatican bank.

He did not provide any detail on the content of those recommendations.

Father Lombardi also announced that the pope would meet with the council again April 28-30 and July 1-4, maintaining a pattern of gathering roughly every two months.

The eight cardinals joined Pope Francis on the first morning for Mass in his residence, when he preached on the subject of patience.

“Christians must live their lives in time with the music of patience,” the pope said, “because it is the music of our fathers, of the people of God, of those who believed in his word, who followed the commandment that the Lord gave to our father Abraham: ‘Walk before me and be blame-

less.’”

Father Lombardi was asked about rumors that the council could have a draft of a Curia reorganization plan ready as early as May. “I have the impression that this is a work that is going forward intensely,” he replied, but it does not seem to be on the verge of finishing.

Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa told the French newspaper La Croix that the council was considering putting a married couple at the head of the Pontifical Council for the Family and he repeated the idea that the reformed Curia could have a Congregation for the Laity rather than the lowerranked pontifical council.

Father Lombardi said his impression was that those ideas were being discussed, but that nothing had been proposed formally yet.

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When the council met in December, it began an overview of Vatican offices by focusing on the existing congregations, he said.

The fact that the cardinals have not even started reviewing the pontifical councils seems to indicate they have a way to go before coming up with a comprehensive plan.

In reviewing the Vatican bureaucracy and the governance of the universal church, the pope and the cardinals began Feb. 17 with a discussion of the Vatican’s financial operations, meeting in the morning with three members of the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Economic-Administrative Structure of the Holy See. The commission is investigating accounting practices in Vatican offices to devise strategies for greater fiscal responsibility and transparency.

The second day of the pope’s meeting with the council also was dedicated to financial matters, but looking more specifically at the activities and mission of the socalled Vatican bank. The morning meeting included a discussion with four of the five members of a commission the pope established in June to look at the Institute for the Works of Religion, the bank’s formal title. Mary Ann Glendon, a Harvard law professor, was not in Rome, so did not participate in the meeting, Father Lombardi said. The commission gave the cardinals a “full report,” Father Lombardi said.

The final day of the pope’s meeting with his cardinal-councilors was to include a conversation with the 15-member Council of Cardinals for the Study of the Organizational and Economic Problems of the Holy See, which oversees budget making for the Holy See and Vatican City State.

Looking at the administrative and economic institutions of the Holy See, Father Lombardi said, the pope and cardinals are trying to put every office into context and understand how they could work together better for the good of the church.

Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, participated in all of the meetings of the Council of Cardinals, Father Lombardi said, and although he has not formally been named a member of the council, he was participating on an equal footing as the cardinals.

In addition to Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, the other members of the council are: Cardinals Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa, retired archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, India; Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya of Kinshasa, Congo; Sean P. O’Malley of Boston; George Pell of Sydney; and Giuseppe Bertello, president of the commission governing Vatican City State.

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Four County Catholic March 2014

Court Denies HHS Mandate Protection for Notre Dame South Bend, Indiana - A Chicago appellate court has upheld a previous ruling denying

bY CNN/EWTN News

Notre Dame University legal protections while it moves forward in challenging the federal contraception mandate.

“We imagine that what the university wants is an order forbidding [insurer and plan administrator] Aetna and Meritain to provide any contraceptive coverage to Notre Dame staff or students pending final judgment in the district court,” wrote Judge Richard A. Posner of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.

However, he said in the Feb. 21 decision, “we can’t issue such an order” without the insurance companies also voicing objections to the mandate.

Judge Posner was joined by Judge David Hamilton in supporting a lower court's Jan. 1 decision to deny Notre Dame University temporary relief from having to comply with the Obama administration's federal contraception mandate.

The mandate requires employers to offer health insurance policies that cover contraceptives, sterilization, and some early abortion-causing products.

A wave of protest and scores of lawsuits followed the mandate’s announcement, and religious nonprofit organizations were subsequently granted an accommodation, under which they can sign a form indicating their objection to providing the products and prompting a third-party administrator to facilitate the coverage instead.

Notre Dame has argued that authorizing an outside administrator to provide the objectionable coverage still amounts to immoral cooperation on its part.

The university filed a lawsuit and asked for a temporary injunction to shield it from penalties and fines for violating the mandate while its case worked its way through the courts. After a lower

court initially denied the injunction request, the school appealed, but agreed to sign the authorization form to avoid heavy penalties in the interim.

H o w e v e r, Judge Posner argued in the majority decision for the appeals court that Notre Dame is not

directly responsible for providing the objectionable coverage and has not shown that its free exercise of religion is substantially burdened by signing the authorization form.

He said that he and Judge Hamilton “have trouble understanding how signing the form that declares Notre Dame’s authorized refusal to pay for contraceptives for its students or staff, and mailing the authorization document to those companies, which under federal law are obligated to pick up the tab, could be thought to 'trigger' the provision of female contraceptives.”

He suggested that the insurance companies “must provide the services no matter what; signing the form simply shifts the financial burden.”

For the coverage to be halted by a court order, he said, the school's insurance companies would also have to be “joined as defendants”

Pope Appeals for Peace in the Ukraine

in the case.

Judge Joel M. Flaum dissented from the majority opinion, pointing to 19 other cases in which religious nonprofits were given court-ordered protection from mandate compliance.

Flaum also addressed the court's ability to judge whether the university would be “complicit in a grave moral wrong” if it authorized the objectionable coverage.

The court, he observed, is composed of “judges, not moral philosophers or theologians; this is not a question of legal causation but of religious faith.”

“Notre Dame tells us that Catholic doctrine prohibits the action that the government requires it to take. So long as that belief is sincerely held, I believe we should defer to Notre Dame’s understanding.”

Notre Dame spokesman Paul Browne told the South Bend Tribune in a Feb. 21 interview that the government's action is troubling.

“Our concern remains that if government is allowed to entangle a religious institution of higher education like Notre Dame in one area contrary to conscience, it's given license to do so in others,” Browne said.

Vatican City – Following the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis launched an appeal for harmony in Ukraine, asking the faithful to pray for the delicate situation in the country is currently experiencing. “While I hope that all the parties within the country will make efforts to overcome misunderstandings and to build the future of the nation together, I also make a heartfelt appeal to the international community to support every initiative in support of dialogue and harmony”.

The Pope mentioned that this week sees the beginning of Lent, “the path of the People of God towards Easter: a path of conversion, and of struggle against evil through prayer, fasting, and mercy”. He added that “humanity needs justice, reconciliation, peace, and we can obtain these only by returning with all our hearts to God, their source. We are all in need of God's forgiveness. Let us enter Lent with a spirit of adoration for God and of fraternal solidarity with those who, in these times, suffer as a result of poverty and violent conflicts”.

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