March 29, 2020 - Fifth Sunday of Lent

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

To say the last ten days have been weird is an understatement. Since the announcement of the suspension of public Masses on Monday, March 16th, life around here has been weird, strange, awkward at times, confusing, and sad. So much of what we do involves people, and well, they are not around.

The school is eerily empty, the majority of our parish staff is working from home except those deemed essential by the Archdiocese (I always think ALL our staff are essential but I get the need for such a determination), and it is just so strange around here. Even Fenway is wondering where everybody is. He is probably bored just hanging out with Father Federico and me.

The emptiness and quiet in fact causes in me a feeling of being uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong: a little quiet time in life is fine! We can actually all try to see these days as a retreat in the truest sense of the word, namely, a withdrawal to a quiet or secluded place. We can use this time to catch up with friends via the telephone or some sort of social media. We can reach out to family members we haven’t spoken with to check-in on them. We can use this time to do some spiritual reading! Dust off those Bibles, pick up the book we gave at Christmas Rediscover the Saints, or pick up that other book you have been procrastinating from reading.

I would be lying if I didn’t say I am sad and that I have a feeling of a sense of loss. Especially as the announcement was made this week that the Archdiocese has extended the cancellation of ALL Public Masses until April 30th! NO Masses for Palm Sunday, Holy Week, OR EASTER! If you were to tell me when I was ordained that we would one day close our churches for an extended period of time to fight a virus, I would have thought you were nuts. We never missed Mass growing up as a family, and I certainly could never have envisioned such a closure as being remotely possible, never mind necessary. Yet here we are!

Please know that while we cannot gather together in prayer in the church building, you can come by to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Bridget Church building is, once again, for now open every day from 10AM until 12Noon. Thank you to all those who donated more disinfectant chemicals to enable us to remain open. Yes, these are limited hours but they need to be to ensure proper disinfecting of visited areas. PLEASE NOTE…you are asked to enter and exit through the South Entrance of the Church building and you are asked to remain in that Side Chapel at this time. IF you wish to light a candle before the Blessed Mother Statue PLEASE bring your own lighter! If you come, please be sure to remain socially distant from any other parishioners who may be there praying at the same time.

During this time it is our hope to remain “connected” with you. Father Federico and I are attempting to stay “connected” with our parishioners to the best of our abilities by using the media tools we have available to us. See page 6 & 7 for details.

Parish App…If you haven’t signed up for the Parish App yet please do so NOW! It is a phenomenal source of information for the life and activity of our parish family and it offers resources helping us to grow in our faith as well. We are using this as another way to reach out to our parishioners during this time and to share information as it becomes available. Details on how to get the App are on page 7.

The Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish Website…www.stbridgetcheshire.org. This is the main source of communication for our Parish Family! I am so grateful to our Office Staff who work so hard to keep the website up-to-date and a resource for our parish family. Victoria has made it easy for those not on Facebook to see our LIVE posts each day. Scroll to the bottom of the website homepage and click on the @stbridgetofswedenparish link which is just below the words “Live at 1PM Every Day.”

Zoom, Google Meet, Google Hangouts, GoToMeeting, Skype, FreeConferenceUberConference, Facetime, and Facebook Live…a few weeks ago many of these resources were hardly a mention to the majority of us in our day-to-day life, and now we cannot go a day without them! Even the Archdiocese held a Zoom Meeting for all Pastors this past week. The faculty of St. Bridget School gather each morning via Zoom now (at first we used Google Meet) for morning prayer together before they head off to their “new classrooms” to begin their daily instruction of our students. It is amazing to see what is happening with the tools of today being utilized to best meet our daily needs to communicate and continue moving forward whether it is the parish, the school, or just to see friends!

One of my hopes these days is that during this time when we are not being able to come together to celebrate the Eucharist in our churches, a stronger desire, respect, and yearning will develop in our hearts for the gift of the Eucharist! One of my friends on Facetime Wednesday night said to me, “I need the Eucharist at least once a week like I need my coffee in the morning, like my medications, like water.” She went on to tell me how difficult this has been for her. It has only been one weekend since her diocese cancelled public Masses, like here, but she is yearning for the Lord. She also shared that she is joining us, as often as possible, for our 1PM LIVE posts but it is just not the same as receiving the Eucharist.

I suggested to her that while the Eucharist is the clearest place to encounter Jesus and receive His Body, it is not the only place. Open the Scriptures and encounter Jesus in His Word. A side note here…many Catholic publishers like Give Us This Day and Magnificat are providing free access to their materials during the duration of this crisis if you are interested. I also suggested to her that in this time, she is still in Lent too, and that her acts of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving will not go unknown. We then spoke about Matthew 25 and the great words of Jesus “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” Then we discussed some ways she can fulfill this call in her area without leaving her home!

This Lent, we are being forced into a strange sort of fasting from the body of Christ in our assemblies and in the Eucharist. We might notice the hunger, the absence that comes from this fast, as my friend did, so as to appreciate it yet more deeply when, in Easter joy, we are able to receive the body of Christ in these ways again.

Fasting now may help us appreciate Christ’s presence in the Eucharist and in the assemblies that celebrate it more clearly after this too has passed. It may not happen on the “official” date of Easter, but the lesson of the rhythms of our church is that Easter joy and feast follows Lenten sacrifice and fast.

Today is the Fifth Sunday of Lent. Today Jesus confronts a terrible reality - death, the death of a friend named Lazarus. The prophet Isaiah says death is "the veil that veils all peoples, the web that is woven over all nations." (25:7) Do we fear death? I don't sense that most people do. I think C.S. Lewis got it right. He used this quote: "I am not so much afraid of death as ashamed of it." We feel a disgust for death. We can see that shame or repulsion in our response to the coronavirus. The people of our country and most nations are making extraordinary sacrifices to prevent the death of others. The repugnance for death has caused people to adopt an "abundance of caution". Otherwise, we are told, a person could be responsible for someone else's sickness and death.

Jesus himself felt strong emotions in the face of death. When he stood before the grave of his friend, Lazarus, he wept. When his own horrific death approached, he begged the Father to take that chalice from him. Jesus fought against death by curing people who suffered grave illness. The Gospels also record three instances of Jesus bringing the dead back to life. He did it as a sign of greater things to come.

First and foremost, Jesus wants to rescue us from spiritual death. Bishop Barron writes that each of us "to a degree, is spiritually dead. Maybe you're like Lazarus - four days in your tomb. Maybe you feel there is just no hope for the likes of you…I don't care how dead you are. The voice of Jesus can pull you out of the tomb."

Yes, Jesus wants to rescue us from spiritual death. But he wants something more. What finally matters is your relationship to him. As he tells Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die." Jesus tells us that true life, eternal life, is nothing more and nothing less than a personal relationship to him. Isn’t now a great time to strengthen that relationship?

As I said last week, I would be remiss if, as your Pastor, I didn’t remind you that we NEED YOUR HELP! I am talking about something no priest likes to bring up, especially in a time of facing a pandemic, but we need your financial support! What weighs heavy on my mind these days is how are we going to make ends meet if this time of closure is a longer than expected period of time? How can we pay the bills without the weekend collection?

There are still bills to be paid I assure you—lights, gas, payroll, insurance, etc.—so I beg every family to support your Parish Family during this time. Please see page 4 for ways you can give to your Parish. Thank you to the many who sent in their envelopes these past few days. Your generosity makes a real difference!

Please find in the pages of this bulletin activities, prayers, and suggestions for you and your family during this time of unrest. I have asked the Pastoral Staff to offer you materials to assist you in growing together in faith. I hope you find these resources helpful. In this time without the usual rush to places to be and things to do, read together, pray together, and grow together in faith, hope, and love!

FINALLY, PLEASE BE SURE TO PRAY! Utilize this time, as individuals and as families, to pray for an end to the spreading of Coronavirus.

As always, remember to pray for our parish family and ask God’s blessings upon us all in this time of pandemic. With the gracious intercession of Saint Bridget of Sweden, our Patroness, may we be united with one another in prayer!

The Theology of Rest

Well...I really didn't expect to be giving this much up for Lent. I'm guessing this photo is a lot of us right now. Laying on the couch (or in bed) with a mug of something hot and a book (or laptop, smartphone, etc.) in our hands. Quarantine ain't the most fun thing in the world! Sure, it was nice to not go into work for the first couple of days, but if you're like me, you're probably going a bit stir crazy. That's why I want to talk about something that's very near and dear to my heart: the Theology of Rest.

Quick side note, I actually got to co-run a whole afternoon on this as part of a service week that I ran last year! I think this is something that would benefit all of us immensely, teens and adults alike, if we were to internalize it. American culture today is incredibly work-obsessed, at the expense of healthy rest. We often hear stuff like "the real go-getters don't leave at 5" and "put in the longer hours now so that you can relax later in life." These statements definitely have degrees of truth to them, but there is a LOT more to it than that.

This is the dilemma the entire world is facing right now. We're stuck between these two polar opposites of "OMG everything is closed I have to work all the time that I'm home so I still feel productive and don't melt into the couch" and "Eh, everything is closed anyway, let me play 10 hours of Call of Duty." The Truth, as with literally everything, lies somewhere in the middle.

Rest is a vital part of work. Having one without the other (i.e. buying into either of the extremes from the last paragraph) is inherently disordered. Why? Well, I'll tell you. Look at Genesis 2:2: "By the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on the seventh day He rested from all His work." This is the second chapter in the entire Bible, number 2 out of 1,189. If God speaks of rest this early in His Word, He simply must deem it important.

I propose to you that rest, true rest, is different from relaxation. And that, my friends, is what we are all struggling with right now. We have all the time to relax in the world, and that's good! But if we don't spend some of it resting, we will begin to feel the emptiness that comes with being cooped up for a long time (an emptiness I'm sure many of us are feeling today). Now I can hear you thinking, "how are rest and relaxation different? Kinda sounds like Regis is just playing with words." I promise, I'll explain.

Both rest and relaxation involve stripping away stressors and outside influences, but rest goes deeper. While relaxation simply removes the negative influences, rest adds something as well. Rest is intentional, with the concrete goal of renewing the whole person. Don't get me wrong, relaxation is fundamentally good! But it's temporary. While relaxation helps to distract us from our problems, rest helps us to deal with them.

Listen, we're all stuck inside with nothing but time right now. The news is stressful, the uncertainty about school and work is stressful, even being with our family so much can be stressful! Relaxing is good, and it can help distract us from these stressful things. But if we simply play video games, watch Netflix, make coronavirus Tiktoks, and Facetime our friends all day, we're just avoiding our stress. Rest, on the other hand, can help renew us. It can help us to deal with this uncertainty we're feeling and lead us towards a healthy trust that God will provide.

What does that look like? Who knows! It's different for everyone. Maybe read the Bible, take a nap, journal by an open window, listen to some uplifting music, check out a good book, do some stretching, I have no idea! You have to find what works for you. What I can tell you, though, is that renewing rest is the single best quarantine solution I can offer you. Rest isn't always comfortable (sometimes facing those stressors can be scary!), but it can bring us untold benefits.

I want to leave you with one final thought. It comes from Lord of the Rings, which I'm sure will shock you all. One of the very best quotes in the whole epic saga comes from Gandalf, in the Fellowship of the Ring. Frodo says, "I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish that none of this had happened." Gandalf responds, "So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

This is the time God has given to us, and He has given it to us specifically for a purpose. I don't think any of us know what it is right now, but He does, and that's what's important. So use the time well! Rest, start good habits, work on bad habits, and make sure to take care of yourself. If the Lord is for us, none can be against us. I pray that this time of confinement will bring us all closer to God and each other in the end.

Stay safe and be well,

Regis

P.S. If you need something to make you smile, check out Neil Diamond singing a *slightly* altered version of "Sweet Caroline"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPLgsV_Ms3Q

March 22, 2020 - Fourth Sunday of Lent

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

WOW. As I type this Pastor’s Article it is the Feast Day of Saint Joseph and we are on day three of no public Masses, no meetings and activities, and no school. It feels so strange to be on this property 24 hours a day (except for the occasional grocery store visit) and not see so much going on that normally is. It is heartbreaking for me really.

This past Monday, after watching the morning news, I realized we were heading to this closure here in Connecticut. I even said to those who attended the 9AM Mass on Monday that it might be the last public Mass for some time. Later that morning I received this communication from the Archbishop (see inset below).

When I received this notice it stung. While I thought it was coming, to see it actually happen was sad and painful. In these unprecedented times, such a call seems to go against our inclinations. In a time of crisis, we turn to our faith. We preach that God is bigger than human fear! Think of all the historical moments of crisis, war, terrorism, health scares: the churches were flooded with people turning to their faith as the source of strength and comfort. People are anxious. People are in need of support. People are fearful. They need prayer and connection. And yet, as the experts have indicated, large group gatherings are a hotspot for the spread of disease. Despite our best efforts at limiting contact during the Mass, with the elimination of the exchange of the sign of peace, and the encouragement of all to receive Holy Communion in the hand, the best way, sadly, at this point, at this moment, is to keep people apart right now.

So while school is cancelled, family trips perhaps are cancelled, so many sporting events are cancelled, professional sports are on hold, what hits us the hardest is that public Mass is cancelled. As much as it hurts, cancelling Mass is the responsible, compassionate thing to do. Yes, some who are not sick are going to think “well I still could go to Mass”, but what if they are carrying something they don’t know they have yet and pass it on to someone who may be immunocompromised?

Public Mass is cancelled but Mass continues. Father Federico and I are celebrating daily Mass privately. We are honoring the intentions that are designated for the Masses as outlined in the bulletin.

As I was celebrating the Mass yesterday in our small chapel in the rectory, I was moved to tears at the beauty of the Mass. In place of a homily, as I did not feel preaching to myself was appropriate (lol), I stood there at the altar looking out the window and thinking about the importance of the Eucharist. First I thought of how privileged I am as a Priest of Jesus Christ to consecrate the Eucharist. What an honor and a privilege to be that instrument through which Jesus gives His people His own Body and Blood.

Then my thoughts took me to the teaching of the Church that EVERY Mass is a Mass for the salvation of the world, because EVERY Mass is Christ’s own sacrifice for all of us. It doesn’t matter if it is a Mass with one parish priest at the altar in his residence, a weekend Mass with hundreds of the faithful, or a Mass with the Pope and thousands in Saint Peter’s Square. The Mass in all circumstances and at all times is for the salvation of the world. WOW. The Mass has power whether we are together or not, even in the midst of this unprecedented time of restriction, the Mass continues for the salvation of the world.

So my dear parishioners, know that Mass is being offered for you! Whether it is by your parish priest in a chapel in their residence, or in the eerily empty Cathedrals of the world, or via Facebook Live and television. It is being offered all over the world by priests offering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the salvation of the world!

Please know that while we cannot gather together in prayer in the church building, you can come by to pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Saint Bridget Church building is open Monday through Friday from 10AM until 3PM, and Saturday and Sunday from 9AM until 12Noon. During these hours, stop by and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. If you come, please be sure to remain socially distant from any other parishioners who may be there praying at the same time.

During this time it is our hope to remain connected with you. To that end we have various means of communication we are utilizing:

Parish Facebook Page @stbridgetofswedenparish. During this time of closure we are going LIVE everyday at 1PM.

1. Monday through Thursday, and Saturday—Eucharistic Adoration

2. Fridays—Stations of the Cross

3. Sundays—Celebration of the Eucharist (Mass)—Please remember that Holy Mass is celebrated EVERY DAY all yearlong on WCCT-TV (WB20) and WCTX-TV (MyTV9) at 10AM.

We are also continuing our usual #beyondthebulletin on Tuesday mornings and #catholicconversations on Thursday mornings. We also post a picture of my dog Fenway every Friday helping out around the parish and school called #fenwayfriday! Check out our page! Follow us @stbridgetofswedenparish!

Parish App…If you haven’t signed up for the Parish App yet please do so NOW!

Text APP to phone number 88202. You will receive a link, click on it, open it in the store, download, search, and enter St. Bridget of Sweden and then click get started! It is that easy! It is a phenomenal source of information for the life and activity of our parish family and it offers resources helping us to grow in our faith as well. We are using this as another way to reach out to our parishioners during this time and to share information as it becomes available. SIGN-UP TODAY!

The Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish Website www.stbridgetcheshire.org. This is the main source of communication for our Parish Family! I am so grateful to our Office Staff who work so hard to keep the website up-to-date and a resource for our parish family.

I am very grateful to our entire Parish Staff during this unprecedented time. The Pastoral Staff is working during this time to plan events and programs for the future. The Office Staff is working to continue to meet the needs of our Parish Family but also utilizing this quieter time to catch up on projects and organize ourselves for when we reopen. The Maintenance Staff is performing deep cleaning and disinfecting of our facilities as well as catching up on bigger projects since the buildings are free from use during this time.

Today is the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Today we would normally have the second scrutiny for our RCIA Catechumens (those preparing for the Sacraments of Initiation) - an exorcism prayer based on Jesus healing the blind man. It begins this way:

"As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth." The man represents all of humanity born with original sin, a kind of blindness if you will. We easily see other people's defects, their blind spots, but we often have great difficulty recognizing our own blindness. Like the blind man in the Gospel, we too need Jesus’ radical healing.

The healing of the blind man was done in a way that might make people wince. "He spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes." Kind of gross perhaps? But the ancients believed that saliva had healing power. According to Augustine, the combination of saliva and earth represents Jesus joining humanity with divinity.

Some cannot see it or even imagine it. Jesus' healing upsets the Pharisees (who themselves though having physical sight were spiritually blind). The Pharisees know everything, but they cannot see what is right in front of their eyes. They have put Jesus in a box. They think he's a "sinner" - someone they can write off. The man born blind gives a simple response:

"If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see."

When Jesus directly confronts the man born blind, he says, "'I do believe, Lord,' and he worshiped him."

What healing do we need? Are we willing to recognize our blindness before the Lord and our need for His healing grace?

I would be remiss if, as your Pastor, I didn’t remind you that we NEED YOUR HELP! I am talking about something no priest likes to bring up, especially in a time of facing a pandemic, but we need your financial support! What weighs heavy on my mind these days is how are we going to make ends meet if this time of closure is a longer than expected period of time? How can we pay the bills without the weekend collection? There are still bills to be paid I assure you—lights, gas, payroll, insurance, etc.—so I beg every family to support your Parish Family during this time. Even if the building is empty, bills and salaries need to be paid, and your support during this time will enable that to happen.

Here are ways you can give to your Parish:

1. Mail in your offertory!

2. Give online—sign-up for our Online Giving Program by clicking this link on our website:

a. Donations can be made directly from your checking account or by using any major credit card - so you can earn "points" while giving!

b. Donations can be scheduled for whatever frequency (weekly or monthly) you prefer (and if monthly, on whatever day is most convenient), or can be made on a one-time basis.

c. You can designate donations for different purposes: weekly, monthly, and holy day collections, diocesan/national collections, and Easter/Christmas flowers!

d. Your bank or credit card information is stored on secure servers contained behind firewalls and other defense systems to prevent unauthorized access. Parish staff cannot access your account information.

Want to learn more about Online Giving? Visit our website at www.stbridgetcheshire.org and click the Donate button in the menu on our homepage.

Please find in the pages of this bulletin activities, prayers, and suggestions for you and your family during this time of unrest. I have asked the Pastoral Staff to offer you materials to assist you in growing together in faith. I hope you find these resources helpful. In this time without the usual rush to places to be and things to do, read together, pray together, and grow together in faith, hope, and love!

FINALLY, PLEASE BE SURE TO PRAY! Utilize this time, as individuals and as families, to pray for an end to the spreading of Coronavirus. Here are some intentions sent from the Office of the Archbishop for you to incorporate into your family prayers:

For those who are suffering in the current outbreak of infectious disease, that they might be healed, and for the happy repose of all who have died from this illness in recent weeks, let us pray to the Lord.

For scientists, health professionals, public officials, and all who are serving the common good in this challenging and uncertain time, that they will be filled with insight, wisdom and success in their efforts, let us pray to the Lord.

That in times of illness our heavenly Father will strengthen our faith and trust in his goodness, mercy, and providential love, let us pray to the Lord.

That our compassionate Father in heaven will grant healing and peace to all those affected by the current outbreak with infectious disease, let us pray to the Lord.

As always, remember to pray for our parish family and ask God’s blessings upon us all in this of pandemic. With the gracious interecession of Saint Bridget of Sweden, our Patroness, may we be united with one another in prayer!