Superheroes, faith and miracles—Oh My! While it may be a wee bit dangerous to equate modern-day superheroes with Jesus, theologically speaking—this weekend’s Gospel of Mark (6: 1-6) does make you wonder why Jesus “was not able to perform any mighty deed in His hometown, apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them. He mentions their “lack of faith.” Was that faithlessness a form of “kryptonite” that prevented Him from His miraculous deeds? It seems, from Jesus’ own words, it was?

Last year the Presbyteral Council, a council of priests who advise the Archbishop, was asked by Archbishop Blair for discussion on the need and role of an archdiocesan synod at this time here in the Archdiocese of Hartford (AOH), as part of our ongoing Pastoral Planning efforts. In preparation for our AOH Synod in 2020, the Archbishop has met with all his priests at their respective Deanery Meetings to hear their desires and concerns for the AOH as she continues to meet the spiritual and corporal needs of the Church in the modern world.

On this 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time we hear in the Gospel of Mark two examples of faith-inspired requests for Jesus’ help. The first is from Jairus, a synagogue official seeking help for his dying daughter and the other from an unnamed woman who has been unwell for a long time. And just as in last weekend’s Lukan Gospel-the story of the birth of Saint John the Baptist—faith and trust in God are key to receiving the Lord’s blessings.

John as Herald. Luke’s Gospel this weekend gives us the story of the birth--and the naming--of John the Baptist. First we hear that eight days after his birth, the circumcision is to take place and the child is to be named. The crowds who gathered after hearing of the mercy God bestowed on John’s parents, Elizabeth and Zachariah who we advanced in years, expected that they would follow Jewish tradition and name their child after his father or someone else of importance in the family.

Our parish is seeking a qualified individual to fill this important position now open due to the retire-ment of Judy Pluta. Send letter & Curriculum vitae to: Reverend Michael Whyte, Pastor Saint Catherine of Siena Church PO Box 184 West Simsbury Connecticut 06092.....CLICK HERE FOR MORE DETAILS!!!

Will take place immediately following the daily Mass on Tuesday mornings. We will venerate the exposed Blessed Sacrament and conclude with Benediction. This Eucharistic devotion is meant to offer all the faithful an opportunity to spend time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament. We will begin at 9 am and conclude at 10 a.m. It is understood that some folks have to go to work or attend to a family members needs, this does not preclude you from spending some time before the Lord. If you cannot stay for the whole hour, that’s O.K

We are already in the Eleventh Sunday of Ordinary Time and this weekend’s Gospel of Mark (4:26-34) provides us with the well-known parable of the mustard seed. What does it mean? In this parable Jesus says, “To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade.”

We all know that recently the Archdiocese of Hartford reconfigured its parishes, closing some and merging others--into a stronger and proactive group of Catholic communities. For some, and understandably so, this is very difficult. It is hard and we must be honest about it. However, times are changing. People do not practice their faith, families do other things on Sundays--sports, work--and there is much confusion and misinformation about important Church teachings.

In today’s gospel from Mark (3: 20-35) we hear some pretty “disturbing” and usual statements of concern about Jesus—from His own family: “He is out of His mind,” they say. Jesus’ behavior is disturbing to them—and Mark states that they “want to seize Him” and take Him away. In fact, Jesus’ contemporaries call Him “Beelzelbul” But as many well educated and meaning folks have noted in the past, “You can’t judge the past with current knowledge (or devotion). And we can’t take our understanding of Mary and Jesus’ contemporaries and their role in His earthly life and apply our own understandings to the actual happenings of the day).

For everything there is a season…and the “season” is coming to a close for our current Baptismal font, which I believe is our parish’s original one since it matches the original and former altar, presider’s chair, ambo and tabernacle altar—or at least that what the “provenance” suggests.

On each Tuesday, our parish will venerate the Blessed Sacrament immediately following daily Mass (approximately 9 a.m.). This Eucharistic devotion is meant to offer all the faithful an opportunity for one hour to come before the blessed Sacrament and pray in silence for particular (stated) as well as silent personal intentions.

This Sunday we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, was formerly known as "Corpus Christi". It is a solemnity (the highest rank) and is celebrated on the first Thursday or Sunday after the feast of the Holy Trinity. This feast originated in France in the mid-thirteenth century and was extended to the whole Church by Pope Urban IV in 126

This Sunday we celebrate the “Birthday of the Church” (Pentecost) and the sending of the Holy Spirit, both corporately to the institutional Church and individually to each and every believer. This is a celebration of Love--the Love which the Father and the Son have for each other and so manifested as the Holy Spirit among us as well as the Love of Christ our Lord to be with us always until the end of the ages. The Holy Spirit is sent to remind us of all that Jesus taught us, to reveal His Truths, and them to lead us to the Truth so that we may live it out in our daily Christian lives.

Saint Catherine of Siena presents, "Maker Fun Factory". At Maker Fun Factory children will discover that God made them the way they are but for a purpose, too! Our Vacation Bible School Program is filled with incredible Bible-learning experiences. Some of our other STAND OUT activities include; science fun gizmos, team building games, COOL bible songs and tasty treats. Don't miss this life-changing adventure for your kids.

In the Catholic Church the month of May has always been “Mary’s Month” when we have honored and recognized Mary’s role in our own personal as well as collective faiths lives. This year for the first time in Church history, due to Pope Francis, there are three (3) Marian Feasts celebrated on the Church’s liturgical calendar. The Pope has added the Feast of the Role of Mary as Mother of the Church to our liturgical celebrations. The three feasts celebrated this month are: (1) Our Lady of Fatima on May 13th; (2) Mary, Mother of the Church on Pentecost Monday, May 21st; and, (3) The Feast of the Visitation on May 31st.

As we enter into the Sixth Sunday of this Easter Season and being only 15 days away from Pentecost Sunday—the birthday of the Church—we consider the meaning of the first Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to the Church (and the world) by God the Father to provide us with ALL TRUTHS and guide us to those truths, so that we can successful make our spiritual journey to deepen our Christian faith.

We are told by scripture scholars that the Gospel of John uses the word “remain” more than any other New Testament writer. And that there is a real significant meaning for the word “remain” for John, and that the evangelist uses the image of vine and branches to “develop a significance of Jesus remaining in the disciples and the disciples remaining in Him.”

Audrey VERONICA Andrews, Brett THOMAS Araniti, Patrick GEORGE Barnard, Francesca LUCY Beaver, Alexander FRANCIS Bourque, Madeline MARY Bourque, Tyler JOSEPH Brouillard, Jackson JOHN Bulger, Madelynn CHRISTINA Burkett, Zachary JOHN Calnan, Amanda HERMIONE Carucci, Mackenzie MARY Cellerino, Sophie MARGARET Cellerino, Tyler AMBROSE Coiro, Lillian CECILIA Connelly, Justin PETER DeFina, CLICK TO READ MORE!!

As we enter into the Third Sunday of Easter we hear once again of “disbelief” or “unbelief” or just plain “uncertainty” as the disciples encounter the Risen Lord and wonder if what they see is “real.” We know that the disciples and apostles needed some kind of “proof” and many searched for something in the here-and-now to connect with their faith beliefs. Jesus gives his followers this “here-and-now” moment when He tells them, “Why are you troubled?

As we celebrate the 50 days of the Easter Season in our Parish, we are each called to continue on as Christ’s Disciples in the ways we freely choose to live-out our Christian faith in our daily activities of life. The Lenten Season was the time in which we hopefully acted to well form our practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, so as to be more “perfect” Christian disciples living out our faith in-and-through the ways we fuse our faith into our families, work and social ethics. My Good Friday homily asked us to consider the question posed by the 11th Station of the Cross: “Is my soul worth this much?”