Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time—September 29, 2019

Dear Friends in Christ:

Once again I find myself in the midst of so many reasons for joy as the Pastor of this great parish. I am so thankful to everyone who gives of their time, talent, and treasure to make our parish family such an active and vibrant community.

Last Monday we had the annual Saint Bridget School Golf Tournament and wow did God give us such a beautiful day to enjoy! The tournament was a huge success thanks to the many organizations, companies, and individuals who supported it. I express Special Gratitude to Caroline Ramirez-Blier, Ken Blier, and Tom Burkhard who were the co-chairs of this year’s tournament. They worked very hard soliciting support and organizing a great day. I also express profound gratitude to the committee members and all those who volunteered at the tournament. It was great to see so many school parents and parishioners coming to help out for the day. We could not have done it without each of you!

The support of so many in our greater community is quite humbling. We are most grateful to our major sponsor, as well, The Legionaries of Christ Novitiate and College of Humanities! We are humbled by the dedication, generosity, and support the Legionaries of Christ offer to our school and parish. Their support makes a huge difference. We are grateful to The Parish Family of Saint Bridget of Sweden, who were our Dinner Sponsor; to All Pointe Home Care/All Pointe Care, our Lunch Sponsor; to F.F. Hitchcock and Webster Bank, our Cart Sponsors; to Horton Group LLC, who were our Beverage Station Sponsor; to Rowland Technologies, Inc., our Gift Sponsors; to Beauty from Ashes Catholic Family Therapy, our Cocktail Sponsor; to Blasius Chevrolet & Cadillac, our Hole-in-One Sponsor; to Alderson-Ford Funeral Homes, Brian Klanica, Canning Liturgical Arts, G.L. Capasso in memory of Dr. John Aversa, Ion Bank, The Supreme Office of the Knights of Columbus, ServPro of Milford-Orange-Stratford, and Saint Elizabeth of the Trinity Parish in North Haven, who were our Putting Green Sponsors!!! A word of gratitude also to our many Tee & Green sponsors, Flag Sponsors, and all who took out advertisements in our program book, and to all those who donated items for our raffle, thank you so very much.

In this 25th Anniversary Year since our reopening of St. Bridget School, we are so blessed with the amazing support from so many within our community. This support of our school makes such a difference in our ability to provide a safe, nurturing, and academically stimulating environment in which we attend to the spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, and physical needs of our students while they come to know Jesus Christ and His great love for them. Thank you all!

PARISH PICNIC additional words of gratitude to the following individuals and companies whose generosity helped defray the cost of our picnic: Arisco Farms, Rebecca and Barry Berkowitz, Clare Bernard, Steven Burt Seafood, Tracy and Vito Catalanotto, CK Greenhouses, Jay Cunningham and Family at Holiday Hill, William and Sue DeVylder, Keith Erickson and AES Remedial Contracting, Mario and Sue Ferrucci, Hilzinger Farms, Bruce and Nancy Humiston, John LaRosa, Anthony and Carmel Mongillo, Napoli’s Inc., Kathleen O’Neill, Scott Pagliughi, John and Marge Palmeri, Nancy and Michael Rasmussen, Patty and Larry Richard, A.J. Wallinger of A.J. Waste Systems LLC, Jeff Strange our Chef Extraordinaire, Louise White, Ernesto and Anna Zarra, Powerstation, Dee Ferry and her team at Mad Tents, and a few anonymous benefactors as well. Thank you to each and every one of you!

Thank you also to the many volunteers who helped to make our Parish Picnic a wonderful family event. Please see page 10 of this bulletin for a list of those volunteers.

WE WANT TO BRING YOUR INTENTIONS TO ITALY…TUESDAY IS OCTOBER 1ST and together with 21 other pilgrims I leave for our Pilgrimage to Italy to experience the food, wine, and culture. As we explore the great religious history of Italy, enjoy some exquisite cuisine, and visit the Vatican-the center of Roman Catholicism and home of Pope Francis, we want to pray for you and your intentions! We will visit the Floral Gardens of Caesar Augustus in Capri, the Saint Andrew Cathedral along the Amalfi Coast, the excavations in Pompeii, and the sites of the life of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio). We will also visit Lanciano, a town most noted for the Eucharistic Miracle which became the foundation for the Feast of Corpus Christi. Finally, we will spend a couple of days in Rome, the Eternal City, where we will see the Vatican Museums, Saint Peter’s Basilica, the Catacombs, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, and more.

Do you have a friend who is ill and needs prayers? Do you have a stress in your life you want relief from? Do you simply have someone you are keeping in your prayers? We want to bring your prayer intentions with us as we visit these historic, sacred, and moving sites. To facilitate this we have a link on our parish website at www.stbridgetcheshire.org for you to submit your prayer intentions for us to pray on your behalf throughout our pilgrimage. Your submissions will be forwarded to my email and I will share them each day with our pilgrims. The power of prayer at work! And as we pray for you and your intentions we, of course, ask for your prayers for us and a safe journey!

WITH THE 1st of OCTOBER ALSO BEGINS RESPECT LIFE MONTH. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has chosen as their theme this year for this respect life month, Christ our Hope in Every Season of Life. More information can always be found at the website http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/respect-life-program/index.cfm.

Our Parish Pro-Life Ministry under the leadership of Rosa and Peter Spilka have been busy planning for opportunities to help us build a culture of life. There will be a special Mass with Archbishop Blair at the Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Hartford on Sunday, October 6th at 11AM. There will be a Public Square Rosary held on Saturday, October 12th at 12 Noon at the Bartlem Park Gazebo across from the Cheshire High School. Our Parish Pro-Life Ministry will also be participating in the 40days for Life on October 26 (Saturday) standing and peacefully praying across the street from an abortion clinic in Hartford from 9AM until noon. Please join us before the Eucharistic Lord on Fridays from 1PM-4PM during our Eucharistic Adoration to join us in praying that He may move the hearts of all to a greater respect for life as we seek to build a culture of life.

This Respect Life Month let each of us call to mind the need to promote a Culture of Life in our families, in our parish, and in the wider community, and let us ask God’s blessings on us as we strive to treat each and every person we meet as the masterpiece that he or she was created to be in His love. May we do all in our power to recognize the truth of His words, and be people who promote a culture of life.

THE SAINT BRIDGET OF SWEDEN PARISH OKTOBERFEST is just around the corner! The Oktoberfest will be held on Friday, October 18th in the Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish Center. There is buzz going on about this event! Many parents in our religious education and our school have commented on what a great night out it is to just be with friends and relax. Tickets will be on sale beginning this weekend after all Masses and also at the School or Rectory during the week. Hurry and purchase your ticket to this year’s Oktoberfest so you don’t miss out on the fun!!!

Please join us for this ADULTS ONLY event on Friday, October 18th. Tickets are only $30 per person and include a meal of traditional German fare, a variety of beers, and live entertainment. This is another great opportunity for us to come together and get to know one another in a social setting. What a great way to gather with old friends and meet new ones as we seek to build up our family of faith. See you there!

A special word of gratitude and happiest congratulations…I wish to extend a very happy congratulations to Saint Bridget School Parents Annmarie Sullivan and Lauren St. Onge on receiving the Saint John Neumann Award from Archbishop Blair this past Tuesday evening at the Annual HOPES (Helping Our Parish Elementary Schools) Dinner at the Aqua Turf in Plantsville. Annmarie and Lauren are always willing and able to go above and beyond to help out our parish school. They consistently give of their time and talent in various ways to support Catholic school education. This award is named after Saint John Neumann whose prodigious efforts brought the Catholic school system into being in our country. Father Federico and I were able to be present to express our personal gratitude to them for their dedication in helping in so many ways to further the mission of our parish school and for all they do for our parish family as well.

Congratulations Annmarie and Lauren, and thank you for all you do!

As always, remember to pray for our parish family and ask God’s blessings as we build His kingdom here. Please know that I am praying for you, and I ask for your prayers for me, that together through the intercession of Saint Bridget of Sweden, our Patroness, and united in the Eucharist, we will reflect the presence of Jesus to the world.

Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time—September 22, 2019

Dear Friends in Christ:

A GIFT FROM GOD! The day that God gave us to celebrate as a parish family was truly a gift! The Parish Picnic was simply amazing thanks to the beautiful day, the organizers, the volunteers, and each and every parishioner who came to be together for a day of faith, food, fellowship, and fun!

It is one of my favorite days of the year. As your Pastor, it warms my heart to see our parishioners coming together in such large numbers, to see people enjoying the afternoon on our parish grounds, to witness firsthand old friendships renewed and new friendships made, and to see our young people so excited whether at the bouncy houses or under the arts and crafts tent. I love seeing everyone enjoying themselves and building up our parish family!

It was so wonderful to see the younger families spread out throughout the field with the children enjoying the bouncy houses, the corn hole game, face-painting, arts and crafts, other sporting games, and just enjoying being together on the field. That is what it is all about! We can learn so much from how our younger parishioners come together and have fun, can’t we?

Likewise it was a joy to see some of our “more seasoned” parishioners enjoying their meals under the big tent and being entertained by the DJ and of course the Cupcake Contest! Father Federico said he will NEVER eat another cupcake, but we all know that he will!

Here are some comments from those who attended:

One parishioner told me the other night at another event, “Thank you Father for the Parish Picnic. You know I was there eating with my wife and ran into some longtime friends. I didn’t even know they were parishioners! It was great to catch up.”

One of our volunteers said, “What a great turnout it was with lots of smiles and people connecting with one another. It’s events like this that make me proud to be part of such a vibrant parish family.”

One of our older parishioners told me at Mass the next day that she “couldn’t get over how many young families are in our parish and what a joy it was to see the kids having so much fun at their church.”

One of our younger parishioners who is also a student in our parish school said, “Father this is the best day ever! I got my face painted and then played all afternoon with my friends on the field and in the bouncy house. We should do this every week!”

It may have been a hot day to be out in the sun, just ask those who got sunburned!, but everyone seemed so happy to gather together and grow together as one family of faith, and we certainly benefitted from the gift of that day!

A huge thank you to Rebecca and Barry Berkowitz, Tracy and Vito Catalanotto, and Patty & Larry Richard our General Co-Chairs of this AMAZING Parish Picnic. (Pictured here) I am sure I speak for all of us when I say THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR HARD WORK, DEDICATION OF TIME, AND TREMENDOUS ORGANIZATION OF OUR PARISH PICNIC. It ran so smoothly. Words can never fully express our gratitude for all that you have done to organize such an amazing parish building event, but THANK YOU!

Thank you to the countless volunteers who labored over the past few weeks and most recently last weekend to make it all happen. So many people were involved in so many different ways, over 100 VOLUNTEERS plus our High School volunteers in the bright shirts, to bring about such a huge undertaking, and thanks to each and every one of them and their efforts the picnic was not only a success but it ran so smoothly!

A big thank you to the Committee Chairs who planned and prepared for our picnic:

Clean-up Committee—Manuel Ribeiro and Sal Dominello

Cupcake Contest—Madelyn Banti and Tina Poet

Decorating Committee—Krista Ostuno

Kid’s Activities Committee—Stacey and Shawn Simpson

Grilling Committee—Tom Burkhard and James Gragnano

Kitchen/Serving Committee—Patti Flynn-Harris who organized a huge team of volunteers and worked so well all weekend assisting Jeff Strange, our Chef Extraordinaire, without whom we would never be able to do this!

Parking Committee—Knights of Columbus

Picture Committee—Rick Ciaburri

Set-up Committee—Alison McCormack and Matt Poet

Welcoming Committee and 50/50 Raffle—Mary Beth Chamberlain and Jill Hale

Youth Committee—Sal Dominello

Special Gratitude as well to our Musicians!!! Thank you to Mrs. Julia Atwood, our Director of Music, who coordinated such a large effort bringing together all musicians from our parish and school to make joyful song in praise of our Lord. Thanks to Kathy Mahmood, Alan Smith, David Caldarella, Rachel Nott, our Children’s Choir, our School Chorus, our Adult Choirs, the Folk Group, and the many instrumentalists from our parish and school who joined in offering the music for our outdoor Mass! It was such a special treat to see all the musicians working together to lead us in song, your talents provided us with such a prayerful and powerful experience, thank you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the many, many people who assisted in any and every way that day to help make it a success! Your kindness and generosity made it all possible. Thank you! A list of those individuals and companies that helped defray the costs of the picnic will appear in next weekend’s bulletin as it was not prepared in time for this printing.

It is with great joy that we welcome to our Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish Family Victoria Clarizio. Victoria joins our parish staff as the new Administrative Assistant for Communications. Victoria earned her Bachelor of Social Work from Marywood University in Scranton, PA, and her MFA in Creative Writing from Fairfield University. She has extensive experience in communications working for Marywood University’s Wood Word Newspaper, and on the editorial staff at CausewayLit Magazine in Fairfield. She most recently was serving at Imago Dei Classical Academy in New Britain teaching academic writing, coordinating social media, and offering general administrative support. Victoria also spent four years discerning a call to Religious Life with the Franciscan Sisters, TOR, of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother in Steubenville, Ohio.

We are thrilled to welcome Victoria, and see her love for learning and her passion for the faith shine through her work helping us to utilize the media of today to spread the Good News. Welcome Victoria!

ABOVE ALL, please remember to pray and ask God’s blessings upon our family of faith as we build His kingdom here. Please know that I am praying for you, and I ask for your prayers for me, that together through the intercession of Saint Bridget of Sweden, our Patroness, and united in the Eucharist, we will reflect the presence of Jesus to the world.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time—September 15, 2019

Dear Friends in Christ:

One of my favorite days of the year is here!!! The Third Annual Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish Family Picnic!!! What a terrific opportunity for us to come together as a community and share a wonderful afternoon of food, fellowship, and fun. I pray that we may use this time to come to know one another better, to strengthen old friendships and create new ones, to share a meal together and build up our family of faith.

It really does build up our family when we come together, whether it be for spiritual or social activities. Families need to be together, whether we are speaking of our particular families or our parish family. Families need time to “be” together, to spend time with one another, to encourage one another, to support one another, and to care for one another. It is indeed a joy to come together today as the family of Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish!

Each year this occasion gets me thinking about who we are as a parish family! In particular this year, as I continue in my role with the Archdiocesan Synod, I am reflecting on what we do to Grow and Go. What we do as a parish family to grow together as disciples and what we do together to go and make disciples. So much happens each day.

To Grow as disciples we offer bible studies, book clubs, adult education programs, religious education classes, the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, and Theology on Tap. We have groups that include special programs to grow in our faith such as: the Men’s Club, the Women’s Society, the Knights of Columbus, our Cheshire Catholic Youth Ministry, and our Parish Pro-Life Ministry. In addition, we also have the ministry of St. Bridget School that serves our parish family and those from surrounding towns. So many of our programs which we strive to offer throughout the year are aimed at helping us to know Jesus personally, to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ, and to grow in our understanding of the faith.

To Go and make disciples we as a parish family work together to reach out to those who are in need: we work with the Cheshire Community Food Pantry by donating needed items each week, by harvesting the Garden at our South Campus, and through our Advent Giving Tree Program. We serve at the Saint Vincent DePaul Shelter and the Saint Vincent DePaul Soup Kitchen, we hold collections for items needed for Safe Haven and Carolyn’s Place, we work together on the Sandwich Ministry, and we have ministries designed to meet particular needs in the lives of others such as: our Ministry of Praying Hands and their prayer shawls, the Ministry of Hope and Healing and their bereavement programs and group, and the Parish Visiting Program and their outreach to the homebound. We strive to go make disciples when we work together to serve others in our community and beyond, when we serve one another as brothers and sisters of the Lord, and when we reach out to those in need out of love, regardless of their race or creed. The opportunities to make a difference in the lives of others as a family are faith are endless.

This past year has been one of blessing for our parish family. We have welcomed Father Federico among us as our New Parochial Vicar and almost 100 new families into our parish since January 1, 2019. We are seeing so many young families in Mass each week. We are connecting with hundreds of people through our use of social media and the Parish App:

Parish Facebook Page @stbridgetofswedenparish. We are going LIVE every Tuesday morning with #beyondthebulletin and Thursday morning with the new #catholicconversations. 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!

We have a Parish Instagram Account @sboscheshire! We have begun to use Instagram in an effort to reach out to those not on Facebook. We send out motivational and scriptural messages periodically as a way to connect with our parishioners and their spiritual lives.

Parish App…If you haven’t signed up for the Parish App yet please do so TODAY! 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 to help us grow in our faith as well.

This past year we have also expanded our weekly bulletin as we continue to use it as a means of communicating our faith in addition to it serving as a place to go for parish events and news. And NOW we are searching for a Youth Minister for our parish family to help us meet the spiritual needs of our youth. I am SO excited about what the future of our parish looks like. I am filled with hope as I think of all that is happening each day. I am overwhelmed with joy as I witness firsthand the work of God among us. What a blessing it is to be among you and serve as your Pastor. I truly love it.

I am profoundly grateful to you and all our faithful parishioners for your generosity of time, talent, and treasure that provides us the means necessary to be a vibrant presence of the Catholic faith here in Cheshire and beyond. I am humbled by the generosity of our parishioners each day that helps to make our parish family the warm, welcoming, and loving family of faith we have grown to be.

While we continue to face issues in our beloved Church and in society at large, we, at Saint Bridget of Sweden Parish, must also continue to do all that we can to come together as a family of faith to grow together, to spiritually and socially build up one another, and to fulfill our call to go and make disciples of all nations. This picnic provides us one occasion to do so, and I am so happy so many come each year. I know you believe, as do I, that together we must continue the journey, to live our lives in service and love to one another recognizing the presence of Jesus in each and every one we meet.

This weekend as we gather to rejoice as a parish family and to grow together in faith please consider how God may be calling you to become more active in the life of our parish family. You can watch the bulletin for information regarding all of our new organizations and ministries, or you can join their particular group on our parish App and keep informed that way. I invite, and encourage, every member of our parish family to become more involved in the ministries of our parish!

Visit our new and improved parish website…this past year we also redesigned our parish website to make it more user friendly. Check it out at www.stbridgetcheshire.org. You can find all sorts of information about the day to day programs, events, and activities taking place in our parish on the events page as well as an updated calendar. It is my hope that you will find an event or numerous events to come to and join your fellow parishioners as we continue to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ.

ONE LAST BLESSING…due to the amount of programs, events, and activities taking place in our parish each day we are in need of an additional staff person. We are HIRING a Parish Facility Coordinator. It is envisioned that this person would be responsible for welcoming groups and organizations who utilize the school facilities from 5PM until 9PM Monday through Thursday as needed. If there are no events taking place on a particular evening then there are no hours. A schedule will be provided the week prior. This is a good problem to have, as one of the Parish Finance Council members said the other night in our meeting when I brought up the idea of hiring someone. She pointed out that it is great we have so much going on that we need to hire someone to help make sure the facility is ready for our groups and organizations. If you are interested in learning more please email us at rectory@stbridgetcheshire.org. It is envisioned that some light duties will be required in addition to welcoming and opening the facility.

ABOVE ALL, please remember to pray and ask God’s blessings upon our family of faith as we build His kingdom here. Please know that I am praying for you, and I ask for your prayers for me, that together through the intercession of Saint Bridget of Sweden, our Patroness, and united in the Eucharist, we will reflect the presence of Jesus to the world.