Dear Fellow Parishioners, The Yard Sale was truly a wonderful success thanks to all of you who took the time to go through your homes and donate items that we could sell. The number of items was tremendous, and so were all those who came forward to price things for two weeks as people brought their treasures forward. All hands were on deck at 7:00 A.M. to set everything up in the dark to open at 8:00 and many staffed tables right through till noon. Another crew arrived at Noon and many who worked all day worked together to clean up everything and get items ready for Salvation Army, Big Brothers and Sisters. We made over $3000.00. This doesn’t make up for all the fund raisers and Thrift Shop we hold during the year, but it sure is a huge help to making our expenses!
Dear Fellow Parishioners, I am calling all hands-on deck this weekend! This is commitment weekend for our Annual Stewardship Renewal, and we are trying to fit all the pieces of our Catholic Community puzzle together so that we can navigate this pandemic and keep our doors open! Not only is it our commitment weekend, we are also holding our one major fund raiser, a Yard Sale from 8:00 to Noon this Saturday October 24th. This yard sale is replacing the harvest fest, the Christmas Fair, Italian Night (Mardi Gras); since we cannot gather in our hall to serve meals and enjoy each other’s company.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, This is a very puzzling year for us all as we try to put the pieces together for Faith Formation and build community while social distancing. As I try to get my mind around this, the word “Sabbath” comes to mind. The word comes from the Hebrew Scriptures pertaining to God resting on the seventh day. Under the circumstances we find ourselves with social distancing, Covid-19, and remote learning for school and faith formation, I am asking us all to take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the opportunities for us to deepen our faith as “domestic church.” We need to remember that faith is “caught” not taught. So here are my recommendations:
Dear Fellow Parishioners, Mail-in ballots and in-person voting are all in the news these days. The bottom line is that we all need to practice our civic duty and vote, no matter how we do it. The same is true for all members of the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart during our Annual Stewardship Renewal. We need to know that we are on this faith journey together and will activate our Catholic GPS.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, ISOLATION! We are social beings and covid-19 has prevented us from being together and connecting with other people. I am personally missing my Zumba buddies and my theater friends who gather each month for dinner and a show at the Hanover theater. Others have mentioned bridge clubs, Weight Watcher meetings, athletic clubs, and so much more.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, We are making every attempt to pass on our faith and deepen our understanding of faith through our Faith formation programs and sacramental preparation. I am pleased with the efforts we are making with those of you who are assisting in these areas as we try to navigate learning and formation during covid-19. Many of our Faith Formation programs are aimed at the youth of our parish. Today I would like to speak to adults who may be interested in becoming Catholic, or wish to complete their Sacraments of Initiation, and or Sacramental Marriage. Life happens and some have been baptized Catholic and never had a chance or were not ready to receive their First Communion and or Confirmation. If you are ready at this time you are invited to enter the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA). If you are non-Catholic and interested in becoming Catholic, you too are invited to participate in RCIA. Deacon Tom Tierney will set a schedule with all those who are interested so that you can receive these sacraments of Initiation at the Easter Vigil. We just need to know who you are, and we will get you started. I am available to assist any couples who were civilly married and have a desire to have their marriage blessed. The Sacrament of Matrimony is inviting the presence of Christ and the community into your relationship and supporting you both in a life-long commitment surrounded by the encouragement and support of our Catholic Community. It is never too late to fully enter into the sacramental life of our Catholic Community. When you are ready please contact us and we will be happy to make the faith journey with you and support you in receiving the life-giving sacramental graces bestowed on us through our faith community. Fr. Bill
Dear Fellow Parishioners, The stress of Covid-19 and all it entails; social distancing, wearing masks, being high risk, another wave coming, and all the information has the potential of leading many into the dangers of isolation. We are the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart and as human beings we are built for community. It is essential for our mental health, sanity and spiritual growth and development that we remain connected, holding each other in love and support and carrying each other during these difficult times.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, The pandemic continues as we enter the 20-21 school year with fits and starts. There are many different start-up dates, many different models, new school supplies, hand sanitizer, masks and laptops. For those who are still employed, working from home, alternating days at the office, helping kids with lessons from the home office, grandparents assisting with childcare and homeschooling and now part of the “new normal.” Then there are those among us who are furloughed, unemployed, fearing evictions, wondering if there is any relief coming during this pandemic. Throw in a presidential election and it can all be quite overwhelming.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, Most of us are familiar with the song “The Lord Hears the Cry of the Poor.” Pope Francis in his Encyclical Laudato Si: On the care of our Common Home) asks us all to hear the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth. This week, along with Christians throughout the world we begin our annual celebration of the “Season of Creation” which runs from September 1st to the feast of St. Francis of Assisi October 4th.
Dear Parish Family: This certainly is an interesting time! The coronavirus pandemic has forced us into new ways of doing pretty much everything, faith formation included. As we plan for the upcoming Faith Formation year, we are well aware of the great stress families are under trying to adapt to the new models of schooling. We are excited to announce that we have developed a model of faith formation that will meet the needs of all families while keeping health and safety precautions at the forefront.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, There are many parishioners who regularly attended weekly Mass before the pandemic who may want to receive communion each week. We would be willing to provide them with Ministers of Care. To request a Minister of care please call the office and we will take down your contact information and make arrangement for you to receive the Body of Christ. Again, I am encouraging those who are able to come after either of the weekend Masses to receive communion. If you are concerned about numbers at the weekend Masses, consider joining us for weekday Masses where there are less people.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, There are many parishioners who regularly attended weekly Mass before the pandemic who may want to receive communion each week. We would be willing to provide them with Ministers of Care. To request a Minister of care please call the office and we will take down your contact information and make arrangement for you to receive the Body of Christ. Again, I am encouraging those who are able to come after either of the weekend Masses to receive communion. If you are concerned about numbers at the weekend Masses, consider joining us for weekday Masses where there are less people. To provide communion to those who are high risk, I am asking younger members in our community to consider being a Minister of Care. This role has changed due to the pandemic, no longer are “pastoral visits” made to homes. The Minister of Care wears a mask as do those receiving communion. Communion is shared with as little contact as possible. We want everyone to stay healthy and safe. If you are interested in being a Minister of Care, please call the office and let us know your contact information. Currently we can receive 110 people per Mass meeting the state and Diocesan requirements for social distancing. We have ample room for people to attend Mass with the two Masses offered at this time. As we approach the Fall, I am going to continue with the summer schedule, Mass Saturday at 4:00 P.M. and Sunday at 9:30 A.M. If the need arises, we will adjust the schedule to meet our needs. We have a scheduling challenge right now with those who are available to be greeters, ushers, readers, etc. You may notice that we have only a few who are available to assist. So, if you are interested in jumping into a ministry don’t wait till stewardship renewal in October to begin, call the office and we will be happy to share the ministries with the community at large. As we head into fall, we normally have nominations for at-large positions of the Pastoral Planning Team. So, let the self-nomination and nomination process begin. We have one adult and two high school youth positions open. We will be focusing on how we are community in a very different way in the months and years ahead. Want to add your wisdom to that conversation? Let your interest be known to the office by September 25th. We “meet” (Zoom meetings presently) the 4th Monday of each month from 7:00-9:00 P.M. Fr. Bill
Dear Fellow Parishioners, Last week I stated that we need to “be church in a different way.” Church as we know it has been changing at a tremendous rate and the speed of that rate has been accelerated by the pandemic. It is up to us to be flexible and willing to trust that the power of God’s Holy Spirit is blowing at our backs and not in our face. Like John Lewis, we need to see these times as “Walking with the Wind” and not resisting the opportunities that our political divisions, civil unrest, pandemic challenges present us. In light of that I would like to bring to your attention three ways that members of our community are being moved in a creative way by the Spirit.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, Being church in a different way, looking at the Catholic Community of Sacred Heart through a new lens; that is the challenge we face each and every day as we navigate through this pandemic. We are doing everything we can to gather safely each weekend for Mass at 4:00 P.M. on Saturday and 9:30 A.M. on Sunday. Someone pointed out that I sanitize hands during Mass more than they do the whole day! It is necessary for me to make sure that everyone is as safe as possible, so we are following the directives from the state and Diocese to protect everyone.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, We are beginning a new homily series entitled “Talking About Stuff that Really Matters!” It is hard to focus and keep focused on the things that really matter. The many distractions that clutter our thinking may prevent many of us from focusing on the important. Take the hazy, hot and humid weather for example. Due to the weather, which we can do nothing about, we focus energy on how HOT it is!
Dear Fellow Parishioners, First Communions and Confirmations are all completed for this calendar year. Normally the sacraments are celebrated during the Easter Season, but we were challenged by the pandemic. Still, the sacramental grace flowed, and we are so pleased to welcome our young people to the table of the bread and congratulate our confirmandi who completed their Sacraments of Initiation.
Dear Fellow Parishioners, We are working on two projects at this time and I am inviting others to join in if you feel so called. Due to the covid-19 pandemic we are postponing our parish Synod that we were planning for this fall. Since that is on hold, Deacon Tom Tierney and I are going to team teach Justfaith. It certainly fits into where we are in our country right now addressing the issue of what I call “Black Safety Matters.” Yes, “Black lives Matter” and how do the many of us who are privileged due to the color of our skin help to create an atmosphere where people are judged, not by the color of their skin, but as MLK has dreamed, all are judged by the “content of their character.”
Dear Fellow Parishioners, On Monday July 6th we celebrated the funeral of our Deacon Joseph Manella at Sacred Heart Church in Milford. Even though he was assigned here for 29 years he received all his sacraments of initiation at the Milford Parish. I had the honor of preaching at his funeral. As I reflect on Deacon Joe’s many years here at Sacred Heart, I recall the many conversations I had with him since we were “classmates!”
Dear Fellow Parishioners, I sleep very well at night. Someone called me the energizer bunny recently and it is because I sleep very well. Often in checking up on parishioners before we reopened, I would be asked, “And, how are you?” Do you really want to know? Well, I thought I’d let you in!
Dear Fellow Parishioners, As Catholics we are a Sacramental People. We recognize the grace of God coming to us as a community, celebrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation, and the gift of being nourished at the table of the bread in Eucharist. In an effort to make sure that family members can attend Confirmation and First Eucharist, and at the same time everyone in the parish can “fit” into the church and still “socially distance,” we are have scheduled three Confirmation celebrations, and four first Eucharist celebrations over the next several weeks. We also realize that due to travel restrictions and some relatives being in the high-risk category, they are not able to attend these celebrations. To accommodate their needs, we are so grateful to Ed Lavallette and Rob Russell who are willing to make sure all these services are live streamed so that everyone can be “present” at these important times in the lives of family members.